The surrounding area of ​​Miyagi in Gaochang City is the center of the city, and it is also the most prosperous place. Naturally, it is also the first choice for high-ranking officials and nobles to live in. Originally, they were fortunate that the Song Army's artillery had a limited range so that their mansions could be preserved.However, as the earth barriers built by the Song army in the north of the city became higher and higher, it showed that the disaster of extinction was about to befall them.What is more terrifying than death is waiting for death, knowing that death is coming, but being powerless to resist, this kind of suffering can be imagined.

The high-ranking officials and nobles living in the north of the city couldn't sit still. Once the artillery fire of the Song army came, they would lose not only their lives, but also the wealth accumulated by the Shudai. So they also joined the ranks of petitions with the common people, demanding that the king He negotiated peace with Song Jun again, and was willing to take part of his property as a gift to Song Jun.And Bi Lege doesn't want to negotiate at this moment, the north palace wall of the palace city is the north wall of the inner city, and his old nest is also under the artillery fire of the Song army, but the problem is that the Song army has rejected his "good intentions" .

Under the pressure of fear and public opinion, Bi Lege was afraid. The evasive eyes of the generals showed that they were already afraid of the sharp firearms of the Song army, and they no longer had the confidence to fight.And those usually gentle and elegant civil servants also began to complain that he cut off the trade channel with Song Dynasty regardless of the overall situation and tore up the arbitrariness of the covenant for petty profits, which caused today's disaster.Directly pointing out that he is not worthy of being a king, implying that he abdicates to let the virtuous to dispel the anger of the Song emperor.

Under the raging public opinion, Bi Lege could only order the prime minister to bring five carts of gifts out of the city to negotiate with the Song army again, and sent a letter of credence saying that as long as the Song army retreated, he was willing to be a minister to Song.Double the annual tribute, and cut off all contacts with Xiliao and Jin.Sincerely serve the Song Dynasty for generations and never betray the Song Dynasty.But the result was unsatisfactory. Song Jun accepted the gift but did not agree to their conditions.It is said that Bi Lege, the leader of Gaochang, colluded with the enemy country and repeatedly violated the emperor's prestige, so he must sell his title and leave the city to wait for the emperor's disposal. Other conditions are interviewed.

Of course, Bi Lego would not agree to the harsh conditions of the Song Dynasty. Self-declination of the title would be tantamount to losing the position of the king and becoming a pariah.And before the conditions were negotiated, he would lose his last sanctuary and become a plaything in the hands of the Song army. It would depend on the emperor's mood to fight or kill.Therefore, he asked to open the city to "welcome" the heavenly soldiers into the city while retaining the safety and status of the Gaochang Kingdom and the royal family, and sent his son to the Song Dynasty as a hostage.To show his determination to make good friends with Song Xiu.

The prime minister ran away several times and had all the good words, but he still failed to impress the commander-in-chief of the Song army, so he could only reciprocate sadly.The emperor's order was to destroy the country, which was too far from Bi Lege's conditions. Of course Gao Chong and Zhao Li did not dare to agree, but the gift they gave was of course meat buns and dogs that would never return.And they had no choice but to continue fighting until they were conquered, but it was a pity to destroy such a good place...

The day after the second negotiation broke down, the Song Army resumed shelling.The Song army's shells seemed to have eyes, and they accurately hit the mansion of the Prime Minister and General Zuo. Fortunately, they were prepared to withdraw in time and did not lose their lives.The royal palace is naturally also the main target of shelling. It is possible that the obstruction of the tall buildings in the palace made the Song army's observation post overlooked.It failed to hit Bi Lege's sleeping hall, but it blew up the inner garden into a mess, and the rare birds and animals kept in it.The ligers, tigers, and wolves were frightened and went mad, running around in the palace.Killed more than a dozen servants and maids, and finally had to use the army to hunt and kill these beloved things of the king.

The home of the head of the kingdom was shelled, causing an uproar in the city.Those whose homes have already been destroyed by artillery fire are gloating, and have a lot of balance in their hearts. Now everyone is the same. This is the end of your unwillingness to cooperate with the Song Army, right; and those who 'dodged' this round of shelling are also panicked. , I don't know if it will be my turn next time.All the shells fell into the palace city, which means that the city is under the attack of the Song army. Where you want to fight depends on the mood of others. Now the only condition is to persuade the king to agree to the Song army as soon as possible is the only way to protect yourself Methods!

It is not entirely correct to say that there is no safe place in Gaochang City. So far, no shells have fallen in any Buddhist temple in the city.And this is by no means that the Song army can't see it. Most people in Gaochang believe in Buddhism. There are many Buddhist temples in the city, and they often build majestic and tall buildings, especially the resplendent and magnificent halls. .At first, everyone believed that the Buddha used his magic power to protect his home from artillery fire.

But as the city was bombarded everywhere, everyone gradually understood that it was not because the Buddha had boundless magic power, but that the Song people believed in Buddhism like them, and consciously avoided the temples when they fired, which not only gave them a temporary shelter The reason is to make them believe that Song people who have the same belief will not hurt themselves at will, and they are only targeting the king who has always refused to agree to the conditions of the Song army. It is precisely because of his treachery that everyone has brought this innocent disaster!

In fact, Gaochang people should be most grateful to Zhao Li, the supervisor of the Song Army.After the first few rounds of shelling, everyone found that those Gaochang people and officials who had lost their homes had taken refuge in the temples. Only one artillery attack could achieve major results, so they demanded that the temples be targeted.However, the artillerymen's suggestion was flatly rejected by Zhao Li, and he issued a strict order prohibiting bombardment of temples under any circumstances, and no shooting of monks.

It is said that all battles against the enemy are based on the premise of annihilating the enemy's vital forces and striking important targets, so the order of the supervising army puzzled the generals, even Gao Chong was puzzled, so Zhao Li had to explain it.He had seen the battle between monks and Taoists during the Daguan period. Under the premise of the emperor's advocacy of Taoism, Buddhist temples were destroyed and Taoist temples were built everywhere in the country. This triggered conflicts between monks and Taoists that lasted for several years. , Even the prince Zhao Huan at the time was involved in it, and finally the power of the government was used to force it to continue.

The dispute between monks and Taoists left a deep impression on Zhao Li at the time, and it also made him understand the powerful power hidden in religious beliefs, so that the princes at that time had to play tricks to confuse everyone to achieve their own goals.Since then, the emperors who conquered Xixia and Dali used the power of Buddhists to stabilize people's hearts and weaken the hostility of the people.In Gaochang, both the ruler and the lowest slaves believed in Buddhism. Those temples were their spiritual sustenance and their spiritual home. Especially here, where the cultural conflict between China and the West was at the forefront, the people had a stronger sense of religious belonging.

If the temple is destroyed rashly regardless of the local people's sentiments, the Gaochang army and people will definitely regard it as an invading heretic, which will instead arouse their resistance and make them unite against the Song army.Contrary to the original goal of destroying the enemy's sense of resistance through firepower strikes and disintegrating enemies from all walks of life, then everything done before will be wiped out, and countless potential enemies will be added to oneself...

In the next few days, the Song army concentrated on attacking several strategic locations and city defense facilities in the city, especially a granary in the inner city was burned by incendiary bombs.Although the loss was not large compared to the total amount of grain stored in the city, this made the soldiers and civilians in Gaochang even more worried. Once the Song army launched an artillery attack on the warehouses in the city and destroyed all the grain, it would only be the Song army who persisted until the end. But he himself was reduced to starvation because he couldn't endure it.At the same time, the soldiers have already regarded the top of the city as a fear of the road, without the cover of the city defense facilities, going up is no different from dying, and the morale has dropped to freezing point.

Due to the heavy casualties of the officials, the situation in the city is already showing signs of getting out of control. Vicious incidents of robbery, theft, murder and extortion continue, and there are even attacks on soldiers enforcing the curfew. In fact, everyone knows that soldiers were involved in many of these incidents. .People dared not go out to avoid shelling, merchants dared not open their doors for business, and conflicts caused by the depletion of food stocks emerged endlessly.But the weather is getting warmer, the people and animals killed by the bombing are not buried, and the stench is gradually emitted, which will inevitably cause plague in the long run. The chaotic situation turned Gaochang City into a dead city.

Bi Lege was also in panic all day long. The shells falling from time to time in the palace made it unsafe. He was constantly changing palaces in surprise to prevent the Song army from finding out his location and killing him. Where is the heart to deal with government affairs.And the bad news from outside the palace also made him uneasy. The soldiers transferred from other places had been at the forefront, causing heavy casualties, especially those tribal soldiers at the bottom were cannon fodder. They knew that they were not the opponents of the Song army at all. If this continues, sooner or later, he will die here, so he began to plot to kidnap the king, open the city gate and surrender, in order to save his life.

At this time, the envoy sent to Xiliao passed through the blockade of the Song army and returned to the city, bringing bad news.Now the envoys of the Seljuk Empire have arrived in Xiliao, claiming that more than [-] troops have gathered at the border. If Xiliao does not surrender, they will launch a holy war, vowing to destroy the country of Xiliao, and slaughter the soldiers and civilians.However, Yelu Dashi, the Great Khan of Xiliao, rejected the "good intentions" of the Seljuk Empire and was determined to fight. Naturally, he did not have extra troops to take care of Gaochang.

Gaochang Kingdom has reached the brink of collapse, and Bi Lege will also suffer in torment. It is because he believes that Xiliao will not give up on them, so he tries his best to support him and refuses to accept the request of the Song Army.But now the news that Xiliao refused to send troops to aid him was like a bolt from the blue, which meant that Xiliao had abandoned him and no longer cared about his life or death.In desperation, Bi Lege sat in the hall without eating or drinking for a whole day without making a sound, until late at night he suddenly ordered the prime minister, privy envoys, and generals of the left and right guards to enter the palace to discuss matters... (To be continued...)

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