Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

In order to prevent the Jin soldiers from going south, the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty had demolished the permanent pontoon bridge on the Yellow River.

Wanyan Zongwang rushed to get the horses, and only brought five thousand cavalry with him. Among them, three thousand cavalry were Jin cavalry, and the remaining two thousand cavalry were the victorious army cavalry who had been recruited to surrender.

As for Deng Chun and Chen Ziyi, they didn't even have five thousand riders.

The two sides faced each other across the Yellow River, fearing that they would be attacked halfway across the river. It would be difficult to cross the river, let alone fight.

"Where's the fodder?" Deng Chun asked.

The horse breeder said: "There are hayyards and granaries over there, that is..."

Chen Ziyi was a little impatient: "What is it?"

The horse breeder said: "There are not many left, and it is difficult to even raise these three or four thousand thin horses."

Deng Chun and Chen Ziyi went to check the supplies in person and were extremely speechless after reading it. There is actually a lot of fodder left, but the salt, beans, etc. that the horses need have been emptied out a long time ago.

Deng Chun said angrily: "Who did it?"

The horse breeder simply opened up and said: "The imperial army in the city has been underpaid all year round, and the horses in Tiansi Prison are naturally underpaid. Although the imperial court has a quota of 20,000 horses, it is less than 10,000 all year round, so the food for these 10,000 horses is also insufficient. Being deducted. It's not that we don't want to raise the horses well, it's just that the food provided by the court is not enough. Moreover, people's salaries are not enough, so people have to steal the horse's feed if they want to be full."

"This violent Song Dynasty deserves to die!" Deng Chun gritted his teeth.

Ever since he became a cavalry general, he had a special affection for horses and wished he could serve them as his ancestors.

In the Song Dynasty, there were only three to four thousand horses left in Tiansi Prison, and they were actually kept very sick and thin. In Deng Chun's opinion, everyone from officials to horse breeders should have their heads chopped off as punishment!

In addition to regular cavalry, Deng Chun and Chen Ziyi also had some logistical support such as retinues, veterinarians, and blacksmiths.

Everyone got busy and moved the remaining food from Tian Si Prison to the three or four thousand thin horses to carry it. The horse breeder of Tiansi Prison was also taken away, and the entire army moved towards Wansheng Town to the west of Tokyo City.

This was Ju Ming's order. After obtaining the Tian Si Supervisor war horse, he immediately left the vicinity of Tokyo City and waited for the arrival of the main force.

It is best to let the golden soldiers cross the river!

These golden soldiers came so quickly, there must be a logistical problem. As the confrontation lasted for a long time, the army's food and grass would soon be exhausted, and the soldiers had to be scattered around to grab food. As long as they dare to cross the river, don't even think about going back.

Of course Wanyan Zongwang did not dare to cross the river. He did not know the strength of the Song army, and he saw a large group of cavalry on the other side. He had to wait for his follow-up troops to arrive.

Of course, it’s not just a matter of waiting.

Wanyan Zongwang first moved to Chenqiao Town to camp, and arrested the people of the Song Dynasty nearby to work as laborers, and ordered them to demolish the houses in the town to collect a lot of wood - around Tokyo City, due to the dense population, the trees have been cut down almost .

At the same time, he asked Pharmacist Guo to lead his cavalry to collect ships along the Yellow River and search for more suitable ferries.

The situation became strange, and the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty looked at each other in confusion.

The two groups of enemies from the north and the south actually moved in a tacit understanding. One group went to Wansheng Town in the northwest, and the other group went to Chenqiao Town in the northeast.

Li Gang guessed: "The Jin people and the bandits must be wary of each other, so they are unwilling to cross the river to attack and wait for the follow-up army to come."

"This is beneficial to us, as we can delay waiting for King Qin." Wu Min said.

Zhao Huan breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that he could buy time. He just asked the Western Army to come to the rescue as soon as possible.

The Zhejia Army had already rushed to aid Taiyuan, but the Zhong Jiajun, Liu Jiajun, and Yao Jiajun were ordered to go straight to Tokyo.

Historically, when the Western Army arrived, the Song Dynasty was very likely to win the war.

At that time, the Jin soldiers were so frightened that the main force retreated to the north of the Yellow River, leaving only some troops to build a defensive barrier at Tiansi Prison.

Tokyo even dared to open the city gates so that people could go in and out normally to buy vegetables and food. The Jin soldiers who approached the city without permission did not dare to retaliate even after being killed, so they could only ask the envoy to question Zhao Huan.

At that time, Wanyan Zongwang had already given in.

Then, the infighting begins!

First, the war faction and the peace faction quarreled. Zhao Huan favored the peace faction, and King Qin wanted to negotiate peace when his army arrived.

Seeing that the Jin people were too frightened to leave the camp, Zhao Huan quickly supported the main fighting faction.

In order to compete with the Zhong family army, Yao Jiajun went to Zhao Huan to make slanderous remarks. Even Li Gang was deceived by Yao Pingzhong. He was afraid that Zhongshidao's family would dominate, so he handed over a large number of troops to Yao Pingzhong's command.

Zhao Huan, who had been eager to negotiate peace before, now forced Zhong Shidao to fight every day. However, Zhong Shidao still wanted to wait for his brother's reinforcements and then attack Jinying when he was fully confident. He wanted to engage in a battle of annihilation against the enemy who was deeply alone.

In the end, Li Gang and Zhong Shidao agreed to attack at the Spring Equinox.

As a result, there were still eight days left before the agreed time. In order to gain credit, Yao Pingzhong went to attack the camp at night and gained the support of Zhao Huan and Li Gang.

The main peace faction saw that the main war faction was very likely to win, and was afraid that they would lose power after the war, so they secretly informed the Jin people of Yao Pingzhong's plan in advance (Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan were the most suspected).

Yao Pingzhong led his army to conduct a night attack and broke through several camps of the Jin soldiers, only to find that they were all empty. At this moment, the Jin soldiers suddenly came out from the side. Yao Pingzhong's entire army was wiped out, and he fled thousands of miles alone on a mule.

After this battle, the peace faction regained the upper hand, and Li Bangyan began to lead the cession of territory and compensation.

The so-called peace faction and the war faction are actually a power struggle between the old ministers left by Song Huizong and the new ministers promoted by Zhao Huan.

After the defeat of the Song army, some new and important ministers also began to advocate for peace, led by Geng Nanzhong. Because Geng Nanzhong was an official of the East Palace, the main battle and the main peace had little influence on him.

In this time and space, Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan no longer want to gain power through peace. Because the Jin people can negotiate a peace and withdraw their troops, but it is absolutely impossible for Zhu Ming to withdraw, so just take advantage of the great contribution of dedicating the city!

They are waiting for an opportunity.

Just when Li Gang was struggling to recruit young men and expand his army with limited money and food, an opportunity came for Bai and Li.

Zhang Guangdao's army recruited civilians and boats in Yingchang Prefecture, and approached Tokyo from the southwest along the Huimin River. When they arrived in Weishi County, they sent soldiers to row a small boat to escort Shi Yuangong to Tokyo for negotiations.

"Let's revisit our old place!" Shi Yuangong looked up at the tall city wall.

After revealing his identity, the defenders did not dare to neglect and hurriedly ran to report.

The envoys of the Kingdom of Jin are still in the city eating and drinking well. Naturally, Ju Ming’s envoy also wanted to entertain him!

Soon, Shi Yuangong was summoned.

This time he seemed polite and bowed respectfully to Zhao Huan: "The Prime Minister of Sichuan Gorge, Grand Marshal Lang Jun of Sichuan Gorge, would like to ask about the well-being of the Emperor of Song Dynasty from afar, and congratulate the Emperor of Song Dynasty on his enthronement and proclaiming himself emperor."

The envoys from the Kingdom of Jin were extremely rude. In comparison, Ju Ming's envoys were much more pleasing to the eye.

Zhao Huan finally gained the respect he deserved. He had a great sense of Shi Yuangong and ordered: "Give your envoy a seat."

"Thank you, Emperor Song!" Shi Yuangong bowed again.

Zhao Huan had already discussed it with the important ministers. At this moment, with the illusion of making peace, he actually started to build relationships and get closer: "Are the two empresses okay?"

Shi Yuangong said: "The two ladies and the general are very affectionate. When I left Xiangyang, Emperor Maode was already pregnant."

Zhao Huan was overjoyed when he heard this. His sister was pregnant with Ju Ming's child, and the relationship was now stronger. Immediately used Geng Nanzhong's strategy and said: "I have succeeded to the throne not long ago, many new policies have not been enacted, and I am planning to restore the old system of this dynasty. The emperor Ji is still called the princess, the Maode emperor is promoted to the eldest princess of Qin, and the Xunde emperor is promoted to the eldest princess of Qin. Princess Lu."

Shi Yuangong immediately said: "The Emperor of Song Dynasty is Shengming!"

Princesses in the Song Dynasty were first given beautiful names, such as Maode, Xunde, Shoukang, Baoshou, etc. When entering a feudal state, the name of the country is used, such as Qin, Lu, Wei, etc.

Zhao Huan added: "When Zhu Jinglue and Marshal Zhu were in Beijing, I had admired their names for a long time. Unfortunately, the treacherous officials at that time were causing trouble in the court. As the East Palace, I was not allowed to make friends with foreign ministers. I have never been able to have a drink with them. This is really a great regret in my life. !”

Shi Yuangong followed the words and said: "Marshal Langjun also said that the prince of the Song Dynasty was thrifty, studious, smart and wise, which was completely different from the foolish king. Marshal Langjun was unwilling to raise troops at the beginning, but the foolish king and his treacherous ministers were rebellious The country, the people all over the country are in dire straits. Does the emperor still remember the "Public Security Manual"? "

"Of course I remember." Zhao Huan was deeply impressed. In addition to scolding the emperor and his traitorous ministers, the rest of the memorial was to speak up for the prince.

Shi Yuangong said with emotion: "Alas, Marshal Lang Jun actually wanted to help the prince succeed to the throne. With the prince's wisdom, he will definitely be able to revive the Song Dynasty and bring peace to the people of the world."

Zhao Huan was greatly moved after hearing this, and even wanted to cry: "It's a pity that the emperor is ignorant and was bewitched by treacherous ministers."

Shi Yuangong said: "Things have changed and people have changed, so there is no need to mention the old things again."

Zhao Huan had no reason to fantasize: "It's not too late to mention it again. Zhu Jinglue and Marshal Zhu have not been established, and there is still room for change. What's more, the emperor's sister is pregnant with Marshal Zhu's heir. I plan to canonize Zhu Jinglue as the King of Han , princes with the same rank but different surnames, I treat each other as an imperial uncle. From now on, the Zhu family will always be in Sichuan Gorge. How about the Zhao family and the Zhu family marrying and sharing the Song Dynasty Zuo for generations?"

Shi Yuangong sighed: "It's too late. Even if the husband and the prince agree, the civil and military officials under his command will object. They all want to be the founding heroes of the country."

Zhao Huan was startled and quickly made up his mind: "Civil and military officials in Sichuan Gorge are all granted the title of wife and son-in-law. The rank of the prime minister of the Han Dynasty is the same as that of the Grand Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty!"

"Not enough." Shi Yuangong shook his head.

Zhao Huan added: "The land on the southwestern road of Beijing is still owned by the Zhu family, and the Jinghu Road is also awarded to the King of Han. I...I will grant marriages again, and there are several imperial sisters who have reached the age of marriage, and they will all be married to Zhu." How about the marshal?"

Li Gang couldn't listen anymore and interrupted: "Your Majesty, the Zhu family has already reached dozens of miles away from Tokyo. How can we treat military and national affairs as child's play? Since the Zhu family has sent an envoy, it is better to negotiate peace terms directly. !”

Li Bangyan had the same idea as Zhao Huan, hoping to canonize Zhu Guoxiang as the King of Han, and the King of Han with territory, officials and troops. In this way, he could continue to serve as prime minister in the Song Dynasty, and secretly flirt with the Zhu family and his son.

Li Bangyan scolded: "Li Gang, don't say too much, or ruin His Majesty's important affairs! The Zhao family and the Zhu family have been married for generations and share the country, which is of great benefit to the country and the people!"

Bai Shizhong also said: "Your Majesty, Li Gang has different ambitions. He has severed ties with his father-in-law and refused to go to Sichuan to serve as an official, thus offending the Zhu family and his son. He prevented Zhu Jinglue from being canonized as King of Han because he was afraid of the King of Han's revenge. From then on We can’t gain a foothold in the Song Dynasty!”

Li Gang almost went crazy after hearing this. He was Zhang Gen's son-in-law, and he was Ju Ming's brother-in-law.

Now we no longer impeach him for colluding with the Zhu family, but instead question him for obstructing the Zhu family from becoming the king. What the hell is this?

Huang Qianshan, who was waiting in Huiyou Pavilion, also said: "Your Majesty, when I was an official in Hanzhong, I also had an old relationship with Marshal Zhu. At that time, Marshal Zhu saved my life when the mob was in chaos. Marshal Zhu cares about the people, why not also enthrone him as King? Zhu Jinglue is the King of Han, and Marshal Zhu is the King of Chu. The two kings have been married to the Zhao family for generations, sharing the country and the people. This will be a good story for the ages!"

Not to mention that Li Gang almost vomited blood after hearing this, Wu Min couldn't help it anymore and cursed loudly: "You treacherous villain, how can you consecrate two kings with different surnames to rule the world together?"

Shi Yuangong smiled and said nothing, sitting and watching the antics of the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty.