Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 970 0965 [End of the Road]

Han Shizhong was still blocked outside the Keyi Gate.

There was some progress. Han Shizhong had already figured out the valleys and forts there.

He had captured two forts and taken down seven watchtowers.

At the current speed, in another month or two, they should be able to break through the Keyi Gate - this is already very impressive. Genghis Khan led tens of thousands of troops and was blocked for two months against the Keyi Gate. In the end, the Western Xia was short of food and grass, and the defending general took the initiative to lead the army to fight, and Genghis Khan took it.

The commander of Keyi Gate was named Wang Shu, who served as Privy Councilor in Western Xia. At the beginning of the year, he replaced Richard to defend this place.

Wang Shu was from the Wang family of Shazhou (Dunhuang).

Around the time of Emperor Xuan of Han, the ancestors of the Wang family had already moved to Dunhuang. They multiplied and grew from generation to generation, and by the Northern Wei Dynasty they had become a prominent family in Dunhuang.

When Tuoba Tao was the emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the commander of Dunhuang was named Wang Shiliang. According to historical records, his ancestors were from the Wang family of Taiyuan.

They repeatedly resisted foreign invasions during the Tang Dynasty, but were finally forced to submit to Tubo.

Many members of the Wang clan revolted under the rule of Tubo.

There was also a man named Wang Xi who refused to lead troops to attack the Tang territory. As a result, Wang Xi was tied up with his hands and feet shackled, and was escorted along with the Tibetan army to the battle, as if this could prove that Wang Xi had completely surrendered to Tibet.

Finally, the Guiyi Army emerged, and the Wang family became an important force in the Guiyi Army.

The heroic deeds of their ancestors gave the Wang family a place in Xixia. They intermarried with the royal family of Xixia for generations, some even became imperial concubines, and many ministers were born in the central government.

These good days are coming to an end.

Wang Shu had been extremely anxious for the past half month. In the north, Han Shizhong had breached two of his camps, and in the south, Yue Fei and his troops were running around everywhere. He was caught in the middle and did not dare to retreat or escape.

They even didn't dare to send troops to retake the unguarded Dingzhou City!

What you fear will come to you. Yue Fei led his troops back to fight.

When the defenders of the fort at the Yellow River ferry behind Keyi Gate saw Yue Fei coming, they fled.

Yue Fei led his troops to the city. With only a few thousand cavalry, it was impossible for them to capture the fortified city. However, Wang Shu and his soldiers all looked dejected.

Because Yue Fei threw a head over, and it was Brother Richard's head.

The armies of Deng Chun and Li Yanxian have already surrounded Xingqing Prefecture. If all the civilians and surrendered soldiers are counted, the number of troops exceeds 400,000.

The logistical pressure was too great, so the soldiers from various Xixia tribes had to go home on their own, leaving only the tribal chiefs and nobles behind to prevent them from rebellion after returning.

The suburbs surrounding Xingqing City were densely packed with Ming army camps.

There was no need for Yue Fei there, he rushed south and made a big splash in the center. It seemed that there was no hard battle, but he messed up the Xixia defense line and at least shortened the war time by half.

He has gained enough military merit.

The achievement of conquering the Xixia capital must be left to friendly forces, otherwise Yue Fei would offend countless people.

On the contrary, as long as Yue Fei leaves Xingqing Prefecture, he will be able to gain countless favors, and everyone will have to give face to General Yue in the future.

Yue Fei did not even attack Jingzhou City. He handed over Jingzhou, where the morale of the defenders had fallen to the bottom, to Xu Ning's troops who arrived.

A basket was hung on the top of the city wall, and Wang Shu's nephew Wang Qingxiang came in front of Yue Fei and bowed to greet him.

"Xingqing Prefecture is already an isolated city, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of troops. How long are you going to wait here?" Yue Fei asked.

Wang Qingxiang said, "My uncle asked me to ask what would happen to the Wang family if they surrendered to the Ming army?"

Yue Fei said with a stern face: "This is not something I can decide, and it is not your place to ask. Either you open the city and surrender immediately, or wait for the army to arrive, and then attack from both sides to take down Keyimen City. If you force the city, the commander of Keyimen will surely die!"

Wang Qingxiang hesitated to speak.

He was sent by his uncle to negotiate terms of surrender, but he did not seem to be qualified to do so.

After a moment of silence, Wang Qingxiang bowed and said goodbye, and was carried back to the top of the city wall in a basket.

Wang Shu quickly asked, "What did the other side say?"

Wang Qingxiang replied: "He said either surrender or fight. If the city is captured in the battle, the commander will die. As for surrender, he is not qualified to deal with the surrendered generals. It depends on the opinion of the Ming court."

Wang Shu stood there in a daze.

The Xixia generals gathered around Wang Shu. They were confident that they could hold the Keyi Gate, so no one had considered surrendering. But when Richard's head was sent to them, they immediately lost their fighting spirit and had already guessed how the friendly army in the south had been defeated.

Wang Shu looked at the generals and asked, "Surrender?"

"Surrender." Li Yijie, a member of the royal family, was dejected.

The rest of the generals kept silent, which was considered as their tacit surrender.

After a moment, the city gate opened.

Yue Fei sent someone to remind them: "Open the north gate, and surrender to the north."

So Wang Shu ordered the north gate to be opened.

He also ordered the defenders of all the forts in the north to lay down their weapons and move into the valley.

Wang Shu led a group of generals who had taken off their armor and walked towards Han Shizhong's camp with sad faces.

"Protector General, the enemy has left the city and surrendered!"

"Why did it suddenly drop?"

"I don't know. There are also many Xixia soldiers, all of whom are unarmed and not wearing armor."

"Haha, it must be Protector Yue who caused chaos in the south!"

Han Shizhong laughed heartily and took his generals to accept the surrender.

"Your humble servant Wang Shu, along with all the generals from Keyi Gate, is here to pay a personal visit to General Han." Wang Shu knelt a few steps in front of Han Shizhong's horse, and the Xixia generals behind him knelt on the ground.

Han Shizhong cursed and said, "You are a good defender. You have blocked me in the north for more than a month!"

Wang Shu responded, "Each of us served our respective masters and performed our duties faithfully." Han Shizhong asked, "Do you know where General Yue is? He is the one who bypassed the Keyi Gate and went south."

Wang Shu said, "General Yue is outside the South Gate. He asked me to open the North Gate and surrender."

"Good man, good brother!"

Han Shizhong was deeply moved and stopped talking nonsense with Wang Shu. He sent troops to occupy Keyimen City and several forts, and then rode south to meet Yue Fei in person.

Yue Fei was standing by the moat leading his horse. When he saw Han Shizhong coming, he smiled slightly.

Han Shizhong jumped off his horse and punched Yue Fei in the chest: "You led the army back to Keyi Gate. I think the situation around Xingqing Prefecture has been settled, right?"

Yue Fei said: "Except for General Wu Jie's army that is attacking the Hexi Corridor, the rest of the armies have already joined forces to besiege Xingqing Prefecture."

"It was completely penetrated so quickly?" Han Shizhong was surprised.

Yue Fei said: "All the generals are capable people. How long can Xixia hold out?"

Han Shizhong smiled and shook his head: "No matter how good they are at fighting, they can never be so fast. It must be you who messed up the area around Xingqing Prefecture, causing the various armies on the Xixia front to lose sight of one thing while focusing on another."

Yue Fei smiled, which was considered as his agreement.

Han Shizhong said, "I appreciate your kindness. Your second daughter is about the same age as my eldest son. How about arranging a marriage for them? We will be a family from now on."

Yue Fei said: "After asking His Majesty, we can exchange the marriage certificate."

"Hahahaha!"

Han Shizhong laughed loudly, and after a while he said, "We have to deal with the affairs here quickly and head south as quickly as possible. We may even be able to participate in the siege of Xingqing Prefecture."

"It's better not to go." Yue Fei whispered what he had done.

Han Shizhong curled his lips after hearing this and said, "We can't go anymore. Let's stay here. We can at least give some credit to our allies."

……

Xingqing Prefecture, the Western Xia Imperial Palace.

Li Renxiao sat on the emperor's throne, and a group of civil and military officials were kneeling in the hall.

Although they were besieged by hundreds of thousands of people, they could still hold out for a month or two as long as they wanted to.

Given the thickness of the city walls of Xingqing Prefecture, it was difficult to destroy them directly with artillery fire, so siege equipment had to be used to climb the city walls and fight.

It takes time to build a floating bridge over a moat that is dozens of meters wide, and it takes even more time to fill it up directly. Ladders, Lu Gongche, Maiden Wall, siege vehicles... are all being urgently built.

"Prime Minister," Li Renxiao asked Li Renzhong in despair, "Is my Great Xia really going to be destroyed? I haven't done anything wrong. I have only been the emperor for more than half a year."

Li Renzhong cried bitterly: "Your Majesty is not at fault, it is all our fault."

Li Renxiao asked: "Should I surrender the whole city, or die as an emperor?"

Li Renzhong could not answer this question.

Li Renxiao asked again: "Did the King of Jin really die in defeat?"

Li Renzhong said: "He is really dead."

Li Renxiao sat on the throne and stopped talking. He was now frightened and confused, and exhausted both physically and mentally. He was so scared that he did not sleep the whole night.

Li Renli suddenly said, "Your Majesty, open the city and surrender, maybe you can save the lives of the people in the city. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is still very tolerant. The King of the Jin Dynasty, Wuqimai, was captured but not killed. He was given a Ming title and died in Luoyang at a ripe old age."

Cao Tuan, the emperor's uncle, also said: "Wu Qimai died of old age, and countless people in Luoyang know this. He drank whenever he had money, and often slept on the street drunk. He died of drinking, not because of the Ming Dynasty's conspiracy."

Hearing that he could still live, the little emperor suddenly became energetic again.

Li Renzhong shouted sternly: "Your Majesty, even if you want to surrender, you must first execute those treacherous officials!"

Li Renxiao asked in confusion: "Who are the treacherous ministers?"

Li Renzhong pointed at Rela Gongji and angrily said, "As the Chief Censor, he colluded with Richard, accepted bribes from Ren Dejing, deceived the late emperor with lies, and even made a girl who had been in the palace for half a year the queen. He also teamed up with the King of Jin to cultivate his followers and buy and sell official positions. The officials they promoted were all corrupt and perverted the law, which caused the national treasury to be empty, the people to be poor, and the soldiers to be useless!"

Rela Gongji immediately retorted: "What about you? Wang Cunli is most responsible for this defeat. He led a large army, but was defeated again and again, and even retreated to Huaizhou in disgrace. Tens of thousands of troops were stationed in a strong city, but they lost the city overnight. Whose followers are Wang Cunli? Who proposed to make Wang Cunli's daughter the queen?"

Li Renzhong hurriedly distanced himself from the matter: "Your Majesty, I have not received a penny from Wang Cunli. The reason why I promoted him is that the Wang family has always been married to the royal family, and has produced many queens and imperial concubines over the past hundred years. The Wang family is closely related to the country, and at this critical moment, Wang Cunli will not surrender to the enemy with his troops."

"He certainly didn't surrender to the enemy, but he abandoned his army and fled many times!" Rela Gongji sneered.

Li Renzhong didn't know how to refute because Wang Cunli was indeed too fucking abstract.

Xixia officials did not strictly distinguish between civil and military officials. Wang Cunli was born into a family of aristocratic family. He had fought in battles when he was young and had been the commander of the Sixth Guard of the Imperial Garden. He was very knowledgeable about military affairs and was even proficient in Sun Tzu's Art of War. Even in his middle age, he was still skilled in archery and horse riding.

God knows what a war will be like!
Li Renzhong felt extremely regretful that he should not have recommended Wang Cunli to lead the army.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty!"

Li Renzhong knelt down and kowtowed.

Li Renxiao said helplessly: "It has come to this point. The Prime Minister should stop admitting any guilt and organize the military and civilians to open the city and surrender."

Li Renzhong took off his official hat and said: "After I die, please execute those treacherous officials!"

After saying this, without waiting for others to react, Li Renzhong stood up and rushed towards the pillars of the hall.

"Oh!"

There was a muffled sound, and you could tell from the sound that it was a good head.

Li Renxiao was shocked: "Hurry up and save him!"

Li Renzhong had fainted, with blood oozing from his forehead.

The vast majority of civil and military officials turned a blind eye to this.

Compared with the hundreds of thousands of enemy troops outside the city, what does the prime minister's suicide matter?
(End of this chapter)