Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty originally agreed to send troops in spring.

It’s been dragging on and it’s almost summer and there’s still no movement.

The reason for delaying the dispatch of troops is simple. Money can be levied at will, but food cannot be conjured out of thin air.

Wheat is harvested in May in the north, and it will be at the end of June at the earliest before military rations can be received.

Song Huizong was not short of money now, so Wang Fu increased levies several times in succession, and only targeted the first, second, and third-class households. He knew that the fourth- and fifth-class households could no longer squeeze out money.

In April, Zhao Liangsi came back from the Kingdom of Jin to report the news, and Ma Kuo stayed in Yanjing to continue negotiations.

Song Huizong asked: "What did the Jin people say?"

Zhao Liangsi elaborated on the process: "I wanted to seize Luan and Pingzhou, but the gold master said that this was not within the agreement. He also said that our country violated the oath, firstly, it failed to fulfill the period of joint attack, and secondly, it failed to fulfill the agreement not to accept the surrender. Again. The Yan Dynasty earns 6 million guan every year. If we, the Song Dynasty, want to get it back, we have to pay 6 million guan in taxes every year. The ministers and Ma Kuo tried their best, but the money owner relented a little. It happened to be that King Xi returned to Libao to rebel and become independent. As the emperor of the Xi Kingdom, Zhang Yao from the Liao Dynasty separatized Pingzhou, and the sponsor finally agreed to pay taxes of one million guan every year."

Xi Guo controlled the mountainous area from Qinglong County to Shanhaiguan, while Zhang Yao separatized Lulongsai and its surrounding areas.

There were rebellions every day in the old land of Liao Kingdom, and the financier Wu Qigong also had a headache. This wretched place cannot collect taxes. The people are so hungry that they cannibalize people. We still have to waste troops to suppress them. We have to find someone to sell them to.

Song Huizong asked: "What can be redeemed for one million yuan in tax every year?"

Zhao Liangsi replied: "Yanjing and the six prefectures of Zhuo (Zhuo County), Yi (Yixian), Tan (Miyun), Shun (Shunyi), Jing (Zunhua), and Ji (Jixian)."

"Juyongguan, are you willing to give it?" Song Huizong asked.

Zhao Liangsi said: "I won't give it."

Song Huizong was silent and began to regret in his heart.

He insisted on writing the letter of credence himself and did not discuss it with the ministers. As a result, Pingzhou and Luanzhou could not get it back. Now that the Jin Kingdom does not allow Juyong Pass, it means that the east and west gates are open, and the Jin Kingdom can send troops to attack Yan at any time.

Wang Fu suddenly said: "Guan family, if we don't redeem it this time, I'm afraid Yanjing will never get it back. We should give full credit to the great cause of conquering Liao Dynasty."

Song Huizong was weighing the pros and cons in his mind. He thought that this deal was a good deal for him, and he thought that he would pay taxes of one million yuan per year and add 400,000 yuan in exchange for the land of Yanjing and Liuzhou.

But thieves and bandits were swarming there, causing even the Kingdom of Jin to feel a headache. After buying the territory, they had to spend troops, money and food to suppress it.

Suppression alone will not stop the killing. Food must be diverted to provide relief. This is a bottomless pit.

Song Huizong said: "It is better to wait until the Zhu thieves are eliminated."

Zhao Liangsi couldn't bear to take the credit, so he quickly advised: "Your Majesty, when I returned, there were people from Jin who criticized this matter and opposed selling Yanjing to me in the Song Dynasty. There was a scribe who bowed to the left and wrote a poem saying: 'And Attack the Liao League and seek them together, the success is both shallow and deep. The king must not listen to the proposal of donating to Yan, every inch of mountains and rivers is worth an inch of gold.' This poem was widely circulated in the Jin Kingdom. The gold owner Wu Qimai had not long succeeded to the throne, and he was afraid that it would be delayed and suppressed. Don’t stop public opinion.”

"Officials, this opportunity must not be missed, or the time will come again." Wang Fu also advised him.

If Yanjing was defeated, Tong Guan would have the greatest credit.

If Yanjing was bought back, Wang Fu would have the greatest credit.

Wang Fu also wants to be crowned king!

Song Huizong worried: "The Xi people established their own country, and Zhang Yao separatized Pingzhou. Although these places belong to the Jin Kingdom, they are close to the six states and must be garrisoned for defense. Yanjing and the six states have refugees everywhere, and they have to transport food." Relief. I am short of both food and troops."

Wang Fu said: "You can send Pharmacist Guo back to Yanjing to recruit refugees as soldiers. As for money and food, collect it in Hebei and Shandong. In this way, you can have soldiers, money and food, and solve the problems of the refugees. For officials, it is the ancestral instruction to recover Youyan. !”

This last sentence moved Song Huizong.

As long as he takes back Yanjing, he will be able to fulfill the legacy of all previous emperors, and he, Zhao Ji, will become the emperor with the greatest martial arts skills in the Song Dynasty!

Paying 1.4 million yuan a year is nothing. The people of Hebei and Shandong only need to bear the hardship for two or three years before the newly recovered territory can produce their own food.

Tong Guan, who was preparing to suppress the bandits, soon received the news and went into the palace to face the sage and said: "Guan family, please lead troops to recover Yanshan Mansion!"

Song Huizong frowned and said, "Aren't you going to take charge of Xiangyang to suppress the bandits?"

Tong Guan said: "There is not enough military rations, and it will be difficult to suppress the thieves for a while. I ask you to lead three thousand forbidden troops to recover Yanshan Mansion first, and then come back quickly and rush to Xiangyang. If there is not enough time, let Xin Xingzong lead the army to Jinzhou first." "

Song Huizong knew that the eunuch was crazy about wanting to be crowned king. After thinking about it carefully, it was not a big problem, so he nodded and said, "That's okay. He took Tan Zhen as his deputy and led the imperial army to Jinzhou."

Tong Guan hesitated to speak, but finally lowered his head and said: "The official sage!"

Tan Zhen was also an eunuch. He performed meritorious service during the siege of Fangla. He was specially promoted by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty to check and balance Tong Guan.

Tong Guan insisted on running to recapture Yanjing, so Song Huizong let Tan Zhen seize the command of the imperial army.

This can no longer be said to be a beating, but an expression of dissatisfaction by the emperor in Chi Guoguo.

In order to become the king, Tong Guan pretended not to understand.

Since Tong Guan has left, Cai You must also go.

As a result, Cai You, who was the privy envoy, and Tong Guan, who was the commander-in-chief of the suppression of bandits, completely ignored the war in Sichuan and rushed to recapture Yanjing.

In addition to the more than one million yuan paid to the Jin Kingdom, they did not bring any excess military supplies. Everything was extracted from Hebei and Shandong.

I arrived in Xiongzhou in early May, and a large amount of supplies had been stocked here.

Guo Yaoshi, a surrendered general from the Liao Kingdom, took supplies stained with the blood and sweat of the people and went to Yizhou and Zhuozhou to recruit young refugees, and obtained 10,000 new troops to defend Yanjing.

Before Tong Guan and Cai You entered the city, they saw a large number of Yanjing people dragging their families out of the east gate.

Tong Guan hurriedly stopped him and soon saw Wanyan Zongwang: "General, what does this mean? Why do you want to take away the people of Yanjing?"

Wanyan Zongwang asked, "Why can't you take it away?"

Tong Guan was speechless. Whether it was the previous letter of credence or the subsequent negotiations, the Song Dynasty only said that it wanted territory and did not prohibit the Jin Kingdom from taking away the population.

Of course, it’s not just an empty city left.

The Jin people only took away officials, nobles, wealthy households, craftsmen, and beauties, and looted all the common people by the way, leaving no money or food left in the city.

"This is the map." Wanyan Zongwang handed over several atlases.

As for household registration, etc., it is of no use anymore. It doesn’t matter whether it is given or not.

Wang Anzhong also came this time. As deputy prime minister, he served as the first prefect of Yanshan in the Song Dynasty.

Looking at the devastated city and the hungry people waiting for food, Wang Anzhong felt like crying without tears. How the hell do you manage this? What Wanyan Zongwang did was equivalent to leaving a city full of beggars.

The good deputy prime minister will be the leader of the Beggar Clan next!

Tong Guan didn't care about this. When Yaoshi Guo arrived with the new army, he immediately led the imperial army back to Tokyo.

The victory over Yanjing is now in hand.

He hurried back to Kaifeng, but the army of thieves had not set off yet, and Tong Guan's expectation of being crowned king was not fulfilled.

Song Huizong already knew the specific situation. The city of Yanjing and the other six prefectures had been completely looted, and the outside of the city was full of refugees. The situation was worse than expected.

This information was urgently sent by Guo Pharmacist from eight hundred miles away, asking Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty for money, food and soldiers.

The emperor refused to grant him the title of king, and Tong Guan did not have the courage to ask for it, so he led his troops to suppress the thieves in despair.

In addition, Tan Zhen was officially appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief of the bandits, and also served as the commander-in-chief of the Southern Route Army, essentially dividing Tong Guan's military power.

In the three-pronged battle against thieves, Tong Guan could only command the East Route Army, which could be said to be a waste of money.

The series of confusing operations performed by the monarchs and ministers of the Great Song Dynasty are no longer surprising. They are nothing more than crazy monsters to lower the limit.

…

But it was said that Gao Qiu took his own soldiers and rushed all the way to Shaanxi. He arrived in Fengxiang in April and summoned the generals of the Western Army to discuss matters.

This time, Gao Qiu turned out to be the most competent coach of the three teams.

Gao Qiu was an old minister of the emperor's latent residence and a dignified Taiwei. He also led troops in Shaanxi many times. As the head coach of the Western Army, he is much more reliable than Liang Shicheng. Liang Shicheng has only trained an army for his own pleasure in these years and has no actual combat experience at all.

"My nephew, see the captain!" Liu Qi was the first to arrive.

Gao Qiu took Liu Qi's hand and said, "Uncle Xin is much stronger. This time, you will be the leader of the rear army when we suppress the bandits."

Liu Qi said: "I am willing to die for the Taiwei!"

Gao Qiu saved Liu Qi's father's life and promoted Liu Qi.

Maybe some people have never heard of Liu Qi, but you only need to know one thing: his posthumous nickname was Wu Mu!

Not only can he fight against the Jin Dynasty, but he can also govern the local area. He is a comprehensive military and political talent.

Liu Qi's death was particularly aggrieved. At that time, Wan Yanliang's army was moving south, and he was responsible for guarding the Yangzhou front line.

Due to serious illness, Liu Qi was no longer able to command personally. His vanguard of hundreds of people encountered thousands of Jin soldiers, and took the initiative to attack Gao Jingshan, who killed ten thousand households in the Jin Kingdom (not the one who took refuge with Ju Ming). The Jin soldiers suffered more than 3,000 casualties and hundreds of prisoners.

It was originally a good start, but Huaixi general Wang Quan suddenly escaped, leaving the flanks of Liu Qi's army exposed, and could be surrounded and annihilated at any time.

Liu Qi had no choice but to retreat again and again, suffering several defeats in a row, and narrowly blocked the Jin soldiers in Zhenjiang.

Yu Yunwen, who had won the great victory in Caishiji, passed by Zhenjiang to visit him.

Liu Qi held Yu Yunwen's hand and said: "There is no need to ask about his condition. The imperial court has been raising troops for thirty years, but nothing has been accomplished. Today's great achievements were made by a Confucian scholar. We, the military men of our generation, are ashamed to death."

He returned to Jiankang with a serious illness and stayed temporarily in a post house.

Because he had to receive peace envoys from the Kingdom of Jin, Tang Situi (Qin Hui's confidant, who later became prime minister) actually asked Liu Qi to move to the Biexiyuan.

After Liu Qi moved there, he found feces all over the floor and no one had cleaned the room. Then he thought about his military life, but he had to make room for the envoys of the Kingdom of Jin. In grief and anger, his condition worsened, and he was so angry that he vomited blood and died on the spot.

At this time, Liu Qi was only in his twenties and already had a great reputation in Xixia. He could stop children from crying at night.

He said to Gao Qiu in high spirits: "Captain, my nephew does not want to stay in the rear army. Please go forward to clear the way and capture the two thieves for the Crown Prince with your own hands!"

Gao Qiu shook his head and said: "I may not be able to deter the Western Army generals from being so domineering. You must stay by my side. If anything happens, you can make up for it."

"yes!"

Liu Qi was a little disappointed.