Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Yanjing.

After the Song soldiers withdrew, internal strife began in the Liao Kingdom (Northern Liao).

The powerful officials Li Chuwen and his son felt that the future was worrying, so they sent someone to liaise with Tong Guan, planning to kidnap Concubine De of Liao and surrender to the Song Dynasty. At the same time, he secretly contacted the Jin Kingdom and was willing to be an internal agent of the Jin people to help the Jin Kingdom capture Youzhou.

Concubine Liao De took the lead and killed Li Chuwen and his son, and made five surrenders to the Jin Kingdom. The only requirement is to establish Yelüding as emperor.

The Jin people did not allow it, so Concubine Liao De defended Juyongguan.

The Jin soldiers broke through Juyong Pass and then rushed into Yanjing City, and the Northern Liao regime was declared destroyed.

The Kingdom of Jin is not interested at all in the land of Youzhou. Due to years of wars and natural disasters, the place was so poor that the Jin people regarded the rest of their property as a burden after robbing the nobles of the Liao Kingdom.

The population was still somewhat useful, and those Liao people whose tribes still existed were sent by the Jin State to the edge of the Songnen Plain (east of the Greater Khingan Mountains) for resettlement.

Who would want to go to a bitterly cold place with a severe shortage of supplies?

During the migration, a large number of people surrendered and fled to the grasslands to seek refuge with Emperor Tianzuo of the Liao Kingdom.

Emperor Tianzuo recruited these tribesmen, cheered up a little in the grassland, and planned to regain the Youyun area.

Aguda was dead at this time, and Wu Qimai succeeded him as emperor of the Jin Kingdom.

Wu Qimai sent envoy Li Jing to Kaifeng to discuss the sale of Yanjing to the Song Dynasty: Liao people rebelled every day in Youzhou, and hungry people were everywhere, crying for food. This wretched place must be sold as soon as possible for money.

Before the Jin envoy Li Jing arrived, the Sichuan war report had already arrived.

Only documents reporting victory were published, while documents reporting defeat were urgent and secret and had to be quickly forwarded to the Privy Council.

Zheng Juzhong died of illness in early winter, and the current privy envoy is Cai You.

Cai You opened the battle report and looked at it. His body was shaking and he almost fainted.

Zhao Yu has sent several letters in succession, all about the fall of Jianzhou, asking the court to send reinforcements, money and food as soon as possible. Cai You replied every time, hoping that he would be able to hold on to Zitong and Guanghan until the spring when reinforcements would arrive.

Regarding the Sichuan War, the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty were still very confident.

Jianmenguan and Zitong blocked the main force of the bandits for a long time. The officers and soldiers on Kuizhou Road also fought successively to regain lost ground. With more than ten victory reports in a row, they had recovered the entire territory of Quzhou, Bazhou, Pengzhou and Guang'an Army.

Judging from the battle reports, the bandits have turned from prosperity to decline, and Sichuan officers and soldiers are launching a major counterattack.

"Why is Chengdu lost? Why is Chengdu lost..." Cai You looked at the eight hundred miles in his hand and was in a state of confusion.

After waiting for a long time, Cai You took the emergency report and rode towards Gen Yue.

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty was hosting a banquet for his close ministers and Pharmacist Guo. Although the expedition against Liao was a complete mess, Pharmacist Guo was extremely favored.

This surrendered general from the Liao Kingdom had served as a general of the Northern Liao Guards (for details on how awesome he was, please refer to the major general of the national army who was remotely appointed in 1949). Even though there is a lot of moisture, it sounds nice to say that this is the highest official of the Liao Kingdom who surrendered to the Song Dynasty.

What's more, Pharmacist Guo also proposed a surprise attack on Yanjing. If the Song army hadn't entered the city and acted blindly, Yanjing would have been captured by the Song Dynasty.

As soon as Medicine Master Guo arrived in Kaifeng, he was immediately received by Song Huizong and given a mansion, concubines, and servants. He was often invited to accompany the emperor to visit Gen Yue.

"Why is Liu Lang in such a hurry?" Song Huizong asked.

Cai You said nothing and looked at the people around the emperor.

Song Huizong smiled and said: "There is no need to hide it, they are all members of our own family."

Cai You remained silent.

Song Huizong's smile suddenly disappeared. He knew something big had happened and immediately waved away everyone.

There were only two eunuchs left at the scene. Song Huizong asked: "But which city did Song Jiang capture?"

Cai You said: "After the Shengjie Army reorganized and retrained, they have killed Song Jiang and fled to Hebei, no longer threatening Tokyo. We just received an urgent call from 800 miles away, and the bandits from Hanzhong have... already occupied Chengdu."

"What?"

Song Huizong was shocked and turned pale, and then said angrily: "Didn't the officers and soldiers on the Kuizhou Road win back the four state armies with consecutive battles and victories? Why don't you attack to the west, cut off the retreat of the bandits, and attack the bandits in front and behind with the officers and soldiers on the Chengdu Fulu Road?"

Cai You said: "The Privy Council has issued this order to allow the officers and soldiers on Kuizhou Road to advance westward. Now that Chengdu has fallen, there is no movement on Kuizhou Road. There are only two possibilities. One is that the officers and soldiers on Kuizhou Road encountered bandit troops on the way and were stopped. On the border of Zizhou Road; secondly, the officers and soldiers on Kuizhou Road were avoiding fighting from the beginning to the end and did not dare to confront the bandits head-on!"

Cai You guessed it right. He probably discussed it in detail with civil and military officials.

The officers and soldiers on Kuizhou Road first moved westward, but were stopped by Li Bao's partial division. They suffered defeat and avoided the battle.

Song Huizong sat on the golden throne in despair. Sichuan was a land of great wealth, and the terrain was extremely easy to separate. Once the bandits rely on the dangers of mountains and rivers to defend, no matter how powerful the Forbidden Army and the Western Army are, they will be difficult to destroy.

Cai You said: "Your Majesty, please summon all the ministers and ministers as well as the Minister of War and Hubu to discuss the matter!"

"Yes, yes, yes, quickly recruit them to Genyue." Song Huizong finally reacted.

Not long after, all the virtuous people in Genyue arrived.

They are: Wang Fu, Tong Guan, Liang Shicheng, Bai Shizhong, Zhang Bangchang, Wang Anzhong, Li Bangyan, and Zhao Ye. Chen Shenzhong (the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu, a member of Wang Fu's party), and He Zhitong (the Minister of the Ministry of War, whose father was Cai Jing's political enemy and former prime minister He Zhizhong).

Originally there was Feng Xizai, who belonged to Cai Jingyu's party. He was thrown out by Wang Fu last month to be the governor of the state.

"Meet the official!"

While all the wise ministers were saluting, Song Huizong said impatiently: "Stop bowing, Liu Lang, tell them quickly."

Cai You said: "The red thieves have occupied three of the four roads in Sichuan Gorge, and only Kuizhou Road is still intact."

"Chengdu is gone?"

"What kind of battle did Zhao Yu fight?"

"The road to Shu is naturally dangerous, how can the officers and soldiers suffer defeat?"

"Send out the troops quickly to annihilate us!"

"..."

All the ministers present were panicked and began to speak in confusion.

Song Huizong asked Tong Guan: "When can the Imperial Army and the Western Army go to suppress the bandits?"

Tong Guan replied: "Your Majesty has experienced the Hebei War. The armies were all uneven in strength and had to be reorganized one by one. The Victory Army has been reorganized and is encircling the Song River with the Shandong Xiang Army. The Song thieves were hunted down to Hebei and The border with Shandong. The rest of the Forbidden Army is still being reorganized. The Western Army has returned to Shaanxi for reorganization and should be completed by the beginning of spring."

Liang Shicheng said: "It snows heavily in the middle of winter and it is inconvenient to march. How can we wait for the snow to melt in spring?"

Song Huizong said dissatisfied: "Sichuan doesn't get heavy snow. If we wait until spring starts to suppress the bandits, I'm afraid the Kuizhou Road will be gone! Why don't these two roads, Jingnan South Road and Jinghu North Road, go into Sichuan to suppress the bandits?"

Cai You said: "There are also rebels on these two roads to suppress, especially the Jingbei Road. They are sending troops to the Jingnan Road to conquer the remaining seven Buddhas of Fangla. I have asked the Guangxi Road to send troops to attack the seven Buddhas from the north and south. In addition, these two Ludu said there was not enough money and food, and it was not until the autumn food was replenished that the situation eased slightly."

A sudden sentence came from the depository of the Ministry of Household Affairs: "The autumn grain tax on Jingnan Road and Jinghu Road has not been transferred to Tokyo this year. Not a single grain of rice or a penny has been transferred to Tokyo. Gyeonggi, Southeast, Lianghuai, Shandong, Hebei, Shaanxi, all roads Everyone is reporting famine, and I really can’t afford the money or food to fight the war!”

Tong Guan said angrily: "You just cry about poverty. If it weren't for the insufficient transportation of money and food, how could we have been defeated in the Liao Kingdom?"

Shen Zhong said angrily: "I'm not a god, how can I be able to provide money and food!"

After Tong Guan returned to Beijing, he not only passed the blame to the generals, but also to the Minister of Household Affairs. Historically, Wang Fu's confidant in Shen Zhong would soon be squeezed out by Tong Guan to promote Taoism.

Song Huizong suddenly missed Cai Jing. If Cai Jing was still here, his finances would not be so embarrassed.

Song Huizong looked at the group of deputy prime ministers: "What can you do?"

Zhang Bangchang said: "Your Majesty, don't worry. When we send out the army in the spring, we will definitely wipe out the red thieves in one fell swoop!"

Bai Shizhong said: "You can ask the astronomical officer to choose an auspicious day to send troops. Your Majesty is the eldest son of God. With the blessing of the gods, the little thief is not worth mentioning."

Li Bangyan said: "Can I recruit you?"

Zhao Ye said: "Yes, you can try to recruit people. If you can succeed, it will be the best. If you can't, you can also paralyze the red thieves."

Song Huizong thought for a while, pointed at Li Bangyan and said, "You have an old relationship with the Zhu Thief, so you should go to Sichuan."

Li Bangyan wanted to slap himself in the face twice, so what kind of recruitment could he say? Got myself into a trap.

What if the red thief kills himself to sacrifice the flag?

Wang Anzhong said: "Zhang Gen was an official in Jinzhou and was the father-in-law of a Zhu thief, so he must have become a thief. His brother (Zhang Xiang), his son (Zhang Tao), and his son-in-law (Li Gang) cannot be reused. He must be Relegated to sinecure."

Song Huizong nodded and said, "This is reasonable."

The virtuous ministers immediately found the direction to make suggestions. Bai Shizhong said: "Zhao Yu, Huang Gai, and Gao Jingshan have lost their city and territory, and they should be punished. The brothers and relatives of these three people should also be dismissed from their posts."

Song Huizong said: "This is not necessary. The whereabouts of the three of them are unknown, and they may have died heroically for the country. Especially Gao Jingshan, Huang Gai was impeached by his superiors for surrendering to the traitors, but Zhao Yu's superiors said that this person had disappeared."

Tong Guan said: "Your Majesty, it would be better to decide on the strategy to suppress the thieves as early as possible."

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty said: "You are a man who knows the military. Do you have any good strategies?"

Tong Guan had already formulated a strategy to suppress the bandits: "When the snow melts in the spring, the Western Army will march from the south of Shaanxi to Hanzhong, the Imperial Army will attack Jinzhou from the south of Beijing Road, and the officers and soldiers from Jinghu Road will enter Sichuan from Kuizhou. With these three routes attacking simultaneously, the Zhu bandits will surely It’s difficult to control the situation.”

He Zhitong, Minister of the Ministry of War, said: "We can send envoys to Dali, commend its king, and order Dali to send troops from the south. Then we can send envoys to appease the Tubo tribes and the Xishan Yechuan tribes (from Xiaojinchuan to Luding), and order these Tubo and Qiang people to Attack western Sichuan. If we cooperate with the three groups of officers and soldiers, it will become a six-group attack!"

Song Huizong was overjoyed and said: "This is a wonderful plan!"

Song Huizong appointed Tong Guan as the commander-in-chief of the war against thieves, and asked Tong Guan to be responsible for dispatching troops and generals. He also asked the Ministry of Rites to send envoys to contact Dali, Tubo, and the tribes of Xishan and Yechuan.

All the wise ministers retreated, leaving Li Bangyan alone.

Song Huizong said to Li Bangyan: "When I went to Hanzhong to recruit people, I said that I thought highly of him and his son. If he is willing to submit to the imperial court, Zhu Guoxiang can be granted the title of Grand Master and Marquis of Hanzhong, and Zhu Ming can direct Longtuge, promote Dali Temple Minister, and recruit him as a minister." Prince Consort. I miss them so much that I have left a mansion in Tokyo and am waiting for them to move in."

Li Bangyan sighed: "The officials are so generous and generous, and the Zhu family and his son will definitely be willing to recruit them."

"Go and bring my gift." Song Huizong said with a smile.

Li Bangyan bowed and retreated. Song Huizong's face instantly turned gloomy. He wished he could kill the Zhu family and his son with a thousand knives.