Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Yingchang Fucheng.

A fast horse flew over and went straight to the government office to report: "Prefect, the bandits have broken through Xiangcheng, and the Xiangcheng county magistrate has abandoned the city and fled!"

Magistrate Cai Zhuang pretended to be calm: "I know, let's go find out more."

After the sentry left, Cai Zhuang was restless.

He only had two concubines around him, and he couldn't find anyone to discuss it with, because those guys couldn't talk to each other.

Another day later, the sentry came again and reported: "Prefect, the thieves are already thirty miles away!"

Cai Zhuang scolded: "Where did the traitors come from? They are clearly rebels!"

The sentry was obviously stunned for a moment, and quickly changed his words: "Report to the prefect, the rebels are already thirty miles away."

"When you go to guide the rebels, tell them that we have prepared the household registration map. All the officials and people in Yingchang City are looking forward to the arrival of the rebels," Cai Zhuang ordered.

The sentry got the job and left happily.

Cai Zhuang immediately summoned the officials of Yingchang Prefecture and Changshe County, and declared with great righteousness: "The ignorant king has no moral principles, and the violent Song Dynasty He deserves to be destroyed. Zhu Xianggong and Marshal Zhu, the Xingyi Division, defeated Jie and Zhou, and the Huanghuang Benevolent and Righteous Division has now been in San Ten miles away, you all will greet me together."

"It all depends on the prefect!"

Officials at the prefecture and county levels all agreed.

This is Yingchang Mansion, one of the areas in Xicheng that has suffered the most serious harm to the people.

A truly good official was demoted to another place by eunuch Li Yan long ago because he opposed the land included in Xicheng. The remaining officials either aided the tyranny or remained silent.

The prefect Cai Zhuang also has a good background. His father is the famous former prime minister Cai Que. His elder brother is married to Feng Jing's daughter, and his younger sister is married to Wen Yanbo's grandson.

When Cai Jing took control of the court, their whole family held high positions, and even a number of their daughters and sons-in-law were promoted to high positions.

Cai Jing was dismissed as prime minister, Wang Fu came to power, and Caizhuang's family was liquidated.

After going around and around, Cai Zhuang climbed up to the eunuch Li Yan again, wagging his tail and acting like a dog for Li Yan, crazily killing the people in order to cooperate with Xicheng's exploitation.

Now, Song Huizong has run away, and Li Yan has also run away with the Supreme Emperor.

When the new emperor takes the throne, Cai Zhuang will definitely die miserably, because his father and brother have persecuted too many ministers in the past!

Since the new emperor can't tolerate him, he might as well offer his city to the Zhu Thieves.

In order to show his sincerity, Cai Zhuang used a carriage to carry official seals, household registers and maps, and led officials at the prefecture and county levels out of the city, intending to grandly welcome the rebels ten miles away.

In the southern suburbs, in a manor.

More than a dozen big landowners in Yingchang Prefecture are gathering together to plan.

Suddenly, an official burst in: "The Caizhuang dog thieves are going to go ten miles out of the city to meet the rebels!"

A strong middle-aged man stood up immediately and said: "If Caizhuang defected to the rebels and this bird official was so popular, how would you avenge your hatred? Each family must gather all the villagers, intercept and kill Caizhuang outside the city, and then seize the opportunity. Dedicate the city to the rebels!"

"This...isn't it bad to kill an official?" said another older landowner.

The middle-aged landowner sneered: "We are all going to join the rebels. Do we still care about killing officials? Those who don't have eggs will go home and raise their grandchildren. Those who have eggs will follow me!"

Cai Zhuang has been in charge of Yingchang Mansion for only two years. He wants to curry favor with Xicheng and make money for himself. A bunch of officials under him are also making money.

In the entire Yingchang Mansion, except for a few gentry with strong backgrounds who could collude with the government to prey on the common people, even many big landowners could not bear it. As for the small landowners and farmers, almost all of them were bankrupt, and all the land under their names had been sold long ago. They could only work as tenants for the big landowners, or run away as refugees.

Caizhuang led the officials and documents and walked for seven or eight miles, beating gongs and drums, and it was full of pomp and grandeur.

Suddenly, thousands of people carrying hoes, poles, sickles and other farm tools rushed towards them in a swarm.

The people leading the team were several big landowners. They all carried swords and guns, and some even carried bows and arrows.

"The unruly people have rebelled!" Changshe County Lieutenant reacted first, turning around and running away regardless of anything else.

Cai Zhuang was horrified and said to the government officials and archers: "Stop them and kill them without mercy!"

Before these people took action, the civil servants had already started to run away, and the government officials followed them.

An archer had no head, his mind was spinning rapidly, he drew his sword and shouted: "Kill the corrupt officials and welcome the rebels!"

Cai Zhuang hurriedly shouted: "Don't kill me, I'm also going to meet the rebels!"

Who do the archers care about this?

Just a few steps after Cai Zhuang escaped, he was hit in the back with a knife and stabbed in the lower back with a gun.

Officials at the prefecture and county levels were almost wiped out.

When the armed landlords and peasants rushed in, the archers were already hunting down the civil servants, and corpses lay everywhere.

"Where is Cai Zhuang?"

"Here, dead!"

"Don't think about having a good time even if you die, just cut your body into pieces and take them back to the villages to feed the dogs!"

"..."

This guy, whose whole family and relatives were officials, was cut into hundreds of pieces by the angry farmers because he had caused so much harm to the people of Yingchang.

Some people were guarding official documents, while others were fighting to seize the city from Yingchang.

The villages passed along the way heard that Caizhuang was dead, and landlords and farmers joined in one after another to help capture the city and donate it to the rebels.

Some farmers planned to take revenge because some gentry colluded with the government to harm the people.

The news quickly spread throughout the countryside, and countless peasants rushed to the homes of the evil gentry. The situation quickly got out of control. Not only did the entire family of the evil gentry be killed, food and money were robbed, but innocent women were also insulted.

Yingchang City was also in chaos.

The archers first controlled the city and then clashed with the peasants who came later. Because these archers, when they were in the fields enclosed by Xicheng, were also those who helped the tyranny, and they destroyed many farmers' families.

The archers fought with the peasant army, and then the gangsters in the city took advantage of the situation and robbed them.

The gangsters shouted to eradicate profiteers and evil gentry, instigating neighborhoods to cause chaos, and looted wealthy households indiscriminately. Even some well-off homes were looted.

When Zhang Guangdao arrived with his troops, the city of Yingchang was already smoky, and several streets and alleys were even on fire.

Ge Shengzhong came to be the prefect of Yingchang. The situation in front of him made him extremely dizzy and said to Zhang Guangdao: "General Zhang, please lend me three hundred soldiers to suppress the chaos."

"Pack it up early and recruit refugees to transport food for the rebels!" Zhang Guangdao warned.

Ge Shengzhong obtained 300 soldiers. While suppressing the lawbreakers, he organized the neighbors to put out the fire.

The wealthy households in the city seemed to have a backbone, and they and their families sought protection. Ge Shengzhong made them cooperate with everything they did.

"Rumble, rumble, rumble~~~"

The thunderous sound of horse hooves came from outside the city, but it was Deng Chun and Chen Ziyi's cavalry arriving. Their war horses were less than 5,000, but there were nearly 20,000 poor horses, donkeys and mules used to carry armor and food.

After resting for half an hour outside the city of Yingchang, both the people and the horses ate, and then continued on their way after regaining some strength.

They were ordered to rush to Moutuogang, which is the official racecourse in the northwest of Tokyo!

…

Liyang (Jun County).

When the news came that Huizong of the Song Dynasty had been enthroned, Wanyan Zongwang frowned, feeling that something was wrong.

Military advisor Shi Liai analyzed: "The Emperor of the Song Dynasty issued a sinful edict and passed the throne to the prince. Some ministers must be planning to force the emperor to abdicate while our army is marching south. I heard from Song Dynasty who was an official in Youzhou People say that the crown prince of the Song Dynasty is frugal, simple, courteous to the corporal, and has the demeanor of a wise king. If he succeeds to the throne, I am afraid that the Song army will fight to the death."

Pharmacist Guo was eager to make meritorious deeds and said quickly: "I have met the crown prince of Song Dynasty in Tokyo. He is nothing special. He is very thin and submissive in his words and deeds. He is not as good as the emperor of Song Dynasty."

But Shi Liai said: "How can you, a warrior, know how to be patient? The weaker the Song Dynasty's crown prince is, the more worthy of vigilance he is. Our army is still halfway on the way, and the Song Dynasty Emperor issued an imperial edict to abdicate. It must be the Song Dynasty's crown prince. Forced by the ministers. A prince who dares to force the emperor to abdicate will be such a weak person? "

Wanyan Zongwang was deeply convinced and nodded and said: "It seems that the Song Dynasty has been prepared. Our army hastily moved south and there is no supply of food roads. We must withdraw our troops and go back to attack the city and open up the food roads before talking about anything else."

Pharmacist Guo panicked. He was more eager to make meritorious deeds than anyone else, and he tried to persuade him: "No matter how deep the palace of the Song Dynasty prince is, can he conjure soldiers out of thin air? Without an army, and the prince is popular no matter how popular he is, what can he do to resist?" Heavenly soldiers?"

Shi Liai said: "How can Baozhou and Dingzhou hold on to their cities without the elites of the Song Dynasty? Kaifeng is the capital of the Song Dynasty, and there is no need to recruit troops and horses. It is difficult to conquer the city by organizing the people in the city to defend the city. What's more, the four sides of the capital are King Qin’s army on the road must be on its way to Kaifeng!”

Pharmacist Guo had no choice but to throw out the bait: "There is Moutuogang in the northwest of Kaifeng City. I used to play ball there. It was the Tiansi prison of the Song Dynasty. It had 20,000 war horses and piles of fodder! It was easy to conquer there, and No need to siege the city.”

Wanyan Zongwang, who had decided to temporarily withdraw his troops, heard that there were 20,000 war horses and countless fodder that could be obtained without attacking the city, so he immediately decided to continue advancing with the army.

…

The kings and ministers of the Song Dynasty were discussing how to defend Tokyo.

The situation in this time and space is more complicated than in history, because Ju Ming's army is coming from the south.

Li Gang had already selected a slightly stronger Forbidden Army from among the old, weak, sick and disabled, and recruited young men and women from inside and outside the city to supplement them. Reluctantly, a force of tens of thousands was formed. Although the soldiers and armor were uneven, they were still usable.

However, if Ju Ming's army is sent to the north to guard the Yellow River, what will happen to Ju Ming's army in the south?

Sent to the south to defend, who will stop the Jin soldiers from crossing the river?

Li Chao, a colleague of the Privy Council, actually said out of the blue: "If we don't defend the south or the north, we will defend the city of Tokyo. The city here is high and the pond is deep. No matter whether the gold soldiers or the bandit soldiers, it is impossible to capture it at once. No matter who comes first, The two groups of thieves will definitely encounter each other, and maybe they will fight among themselves!"

Li Gang worriedly said: "If we passively defend the isolated city and King Qin's army has not arrived, Tokyo City will be difficult to defend."

At this moment, Bai Shizhong was thinking about dedicating the city to Ju Ming, and did not want any accidents to occur, so he suggested: "The imperial court's troops are stretched thin, and it is impossible to defend on both sides. We can only defend Tokyo to wait for King Qin's reinforcements."

Li Bangyan also said: "You should defend Tokyo!"

Zhao Huan looked at Geng Nanzhong: "What do you think, Aiqing?"

Geng Nanzhong knew nothing about military affairs, but he was in charge of the Privy Council. He said in confusion: "We should guard Tokyo and wait for reinforcements."

Military and national affairs were decided happily. They didn't care about the situation outside the city. They just had to defend Tokyo City anyway.

What else can more than 10,000 ill-armed soldiers do except defend the city?

Li Gang had no other solution and decided to recruit more martyrs to join the army, at least to increase the number of defenders to more than 30,000.

"Your Majesty, the vanguard of the Red Thieves is here!"

The emperor and his ministers were horrified when they heard this. Only Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan were ecstatic.

The extremely timid Zhao Huan actually dared to go to the outer city in person and climb the city wall to observe the situation.

I saw an overwhelming number of red thieves cavalry coming from the southwest of the city. They did not stop outside Tokyo City, but went straight north.

Moutuogang Tiansi Prison, located on the south bank of the Yellow River, occupies a very large area, which is later known as Yan'an Village, Shuanghepu, Shamen, Peanut Village and Army Farm in Paddy Township, Longting District.

Deng Chun and Chen Ziyi came here first with their cavalry.

There were also some soldiers stationed in Tiansi Prison, but when they saw the Zhu Thieves cavalry coming to kill them, they all fled long ago.

Deng Chun captured several horse-breeding officials and ordered them to gather manpower to gather all the 20,000 horses from Tiansi Prison.

After working for a long time, Deng Chun looked at the three to four thousand sick and thin horses in front of him with an expression as if he had seen a ghost: "That's all? Aren't there twenty thousand war horses?"

The horse breeder said with a sad face: "The quota is indeed 20,000 horses, but all parties have taken more, the tea and horse owners have sent less, and some people have secretly sold them. Hearing that the Jin soldiers were coming, the Supreme Emperor took his favorites to hunt south, and then Horses can be used to transport goods. In the past few days, the people of Tiansi Prison have changed their minds, and many people have stolen horses and returned home."

No matter how introverted and generous Deng Chun is, he can't help scolding his mother at this moment: "Straight mother, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, your trip is in vain!"

Chen Ziyi was also crestfallen: "I still thought that when I had war horses, I would make up for the full quota of three thousand heavy armored cavalry. Now it seems that I don't know if I have to wait until the year of the monkey and the month of the horse."

"Da da da da~~~"

Several riders came galloping over: "The golden man is here, he's on the other side of the river!"

Wanyan Zongwang personally led the cavalry on the way, hoping to get 20,000 horses as soon as possible. However, he saw countless cavalry on the other side of the river. He was surprised and said: "The Song army is indeed prepared!"

Shi Liai had an expression that was just as I expected, and said with a cupped hand: "Your Highness, the Second Prince, it is better to withdraw the troops as soon as possible."

Wanyan Zongwang said: "If you want to withdraw, just withdraw early. We have already arrived in Tokyo. How can there be any reason to withdraw our troops now?"