Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Guo County (Chencang District, Baoji City) has been occupied by the rebels, and Yao Pingzhong is stationed in Wucheng Town (Qianhe Town) fifteen miles away from the county seat.

"Brother, why do I feel something is wrong? I'm afraid the young general is not here to suppress bandits as he approaches Guoxian County in such a arrogant manner." Wu Lin, who was already twenty-three years old, leaned close to his brother and whispered, "It's more like he is leading troops to surrender." Thief."

Wu Jie also had a premonition, but still scolded: "Don't talk nonsense!"

Wu Lin asked: "If the young general really wants to become a thief, how should my brother choose?"

Wu Jie was silent and found it difficult to answer.

Wu Lin is still quite confused. Although he is young and has no actual position, he can only serve as a captain of his brother's personal soldiers, but he has repeatedly made military exploits and been praised by the closed sect.

This thing belongs to the seventh-grade military position. In the early Song Dynasty, there were only three or five people. During the Yuanfeng period, the number increased to ten.

Although it has spread now, there are only 108 people in the entire Song Dynasty.

If you are in Tokyo, this job is dedicated to doing miscellaneous work for the emperor. For example, when the emperor held banquets, went to court, and inspected, the Xuanzanshe people were responsible for maintaining etiquette and serving as guides for distinguished ministers.

If you are in the local area and have this position, you are equivalent to an outstanding reserve general of the Song Dynasty, who may be transferred to lead troops and own troops at any time.

Wu Lin also planned to continue to perform meritorious service, hoping that the emperor would let him lead the army.

After setting up camp outside the town, general Wang Tong used the excuse of inspecting the military camp to quietly come to Wu Jie: "Brother Wu, the young general may want to surrender to the thieves. What are you thinking?"

"It's not necessarily that they surrendered to the traitors," Wu Jie didn't answer directly. "Maybe it's because the Minister of Economic Affairs (Yao Gu) planned to attack Guoxian County and asked the major general to lead us as the vanguard."

Wang Tong looked around and said in a low voice: "Earlier, the Major General sent Qingqi directly to Guoxian County. They must be to contact the bandit general. You never obeyed?"

"Let's talk about it then." Wu Jie couldn't answer.

Generals like the Yao family, who were born in Guanzhong but led troops in Xihe all year round, may not necessarily be able to lead their troops to become thieves.

Because the soldiers under his command are probably not the masters!

The Northern Song Dynasty was an early version of using culture to control military force, and all aspects of the system were not yet perfect.

The civil servants of the Song Dynasty did not personally lead the troops, so they were not responsible for the loss of cities and territory, but they could still give instructions to the generals. The Ming and Qing dynasties were different. Civilian governors had the power to command troops and were the first person responsible for the defeat of the war.

In the Song Dynasty, military generals were controlled by civilian officials, and they had to take full responsibility for problems in the war, and they could not even recruit troops on their own (this improved in the Southern Song Dynasty).

Even a de facto warlord like the Zhe family must recruit soldiers through the help of civil officials and magistrates. But Zhizhou obviously didn't have the ability, so he subcontracted the recruitment project to powerful people. The powerful people had to look at the family's face and go through this big circle to recruit soldiers.

The Yao family was even worse. Because Yao Gu did not command the troops locally, it was difficult to effectively control the troops thrown by powerful local officials. They had to accept them obediently.

The generals in the northwest of the Northern Song Dynasty gradually grew larger because wars became more frequent. Military generals were often appointed as magistrates and received the right to recruit troops granted by the court. For example, if a member of the Zhe family has served as the magistrate of the prefecture for a long time, there is no need to go around in circles and directly recruit troops.

When Wang Tong and Wu Jie joined the army, they were recruited by the magistrates of Xihe Road, not Yao Gu and Yao Pingzhong's private tribe!

Wang Tong said: "I am from Qinzhou (Tianshui), and my hometown has been occupied by bandits. Brother Wu is from Longqian (Jingning). Li Yanxian raised an army to occupy Longxi, and the bandits occupied Qinzhou. Sooner or later, Longqian will be occupied." Captured by thieves. Let me tell you, no matter if you surrender to the thieves, your clan members will be able to keep it, and you might even be able to be granted the title of wife and son in the new dynasty."

Wu Jie seemed a little confused. He and his younger brother Wu Lin were both lucky and their military achievements had never been engulfed. Therefore, the brothers were promoted very quickly and had no complaints against the Song Dynasty court.

Moreover, they were far away from the court and had little contact with those bullshit things. They just resented Tong Guan's gang members for messing around on Xihe Road. Now Tong Guan is running away with Song Huizong, the Privy Council and the three provinces have all changed people, Xihe Road is in a power vacuum period, Yao Gu also takes charge of the Tea Horse Division, which is the time when military generals are most prosperous.

That evening, a group of light cavalry came back, and the leader went straight into Yao Pingzhong's tent.

Immediately, Yao Pingzhong summoned Wang Tong and Wu Jie for a meeting, and two of his lieutenants were also present.

Yao Pingzhong did not beat around the bush: "The court is unruly and the monarchs and ministers are ignorant, which has led to the foreign invaders ravaging the Central Plains, and the people of the world are living in dire straits. I plan to join Marshal Zhu, clean up the universe, and rebuild the world. If you are willing, follow me, if not, you can leave immediately. But you cannot take away the soldiers under your command."

Although several generals looked at each other, they were not too surprised because they had already guessed it.

The main reason is that Yao Pingzhong sent troops strangely this time. With several thousand soldiers, he dared to camp fifteen miles away from Guoxian County. It was very likely that he would be attacked by the rebels from Guoxian County and Baoji County.

"Since no one quits, it means everyone agrees to follow me to station in Yangping Town tomorrow!" Yao Pingzhong said.

Yangping Town is sandwiched between Guo County and Xi County, and is located on the bank of the Wei River.

Yao Pingzhong camped there, which was equivalent to being blocked by the rebels from front to back. If there was any change, the entire army would be annihilated.

This move was enough to win the trust of the rebel generals.

The rebels also reciprocated the favor. Li Jinyi led only a group of soldiers and went straight into Yao Pingzhong's camp in Yangping Town.

Both parties were sincere and the first meeting was extremely harmonious.

Yao Pingzhong led his generals to greet him at the gate of the camp. He bowed and said, "Pingzhong and the generals are here to pay homage to the general. I dare to ask him his name."

Li Jinyi bowed in return and said with a smile: "Forgive me, my surname is Li, and I am called Li Jinyi. Two years ago, your army took the Chencang Road to attack Hanzhong, and I demolished all the plank roads. I can be considered an old friend."

Yao Pingzhong didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "It turns out that General Li is guarding Chencang Road. It's really hard to get to know each other without fighting."

Li Jinyi said: "I am in charge of Baoji. General Yang, the commander-in-chief of the West Route Army, is at Wugong. Your Excellency, you can lead the troops there to provide food and grass support along the way. After going to Wugong, General Yang will make his own arrangements."

At this moment, Fufeng, Qishan, and Fengxiang are all in the hands of the rebels. They have occupied nine counties in Fengxiang Prefecture, and have also fought their way out to occupy Wugong County in Jingzhao Prefecture (the prefecture governs Chang'an).

After some explanations, Yao Pingzhong led his troops eastward again, and Li Jinyi assigned them some ships to transport baggage.

When the troops arrived outside Wugong County, Yao Pingzhong took Wang Tong and Wu Jie into the city to pay their respects.

Yang Zhi had already heard the news and felt extremely comfortable. What he lacked at this time was soldiers, not to mention Yao Pingzhong came to pitch in.

After welcoming him warmly, Yang Zhi asked, "What are your plans?"

Yao Pingzhong said: "My father still has doubts, but I have already surrendered. He has no other choice. As long as we open up the situation in Guanzhong, my father will definitely bring the whole army to surrender. Please inform the general of the situation in Guanzhong, and I may be able to help you a little." busy."

Yang Zhi said: "The Zhong family's army is guarding Chang'an and Xianyang, and the Liu family's army is stationed in Jingyang."

Yao Pingzhong suddenly laughed and said: "My hometown is Yunyang. I can lead the troops north to capture Fengtian (Qian County) first, and then follow Ganshui to attack Yunyang. The heroes of Yunyang are all my old friends, and I can recruit thousands of troops immediately , Yunyang County can be captured in a day and night. If Yunyang is lost, Liu Yanqing's retreat will be cut off. If I write him a letter again, Liu Yanqing will definitely think that all the Yao army has joined the rebel army!"

"Haha, what a good plan!" Yang Zhi could guess Liu Yanqing's reaction.

That night, Yang Zhi entertained the generals warmly and gave Yao Pingzhong's soldiers delicious food.

Yao Pingzhong set out the next day, and Yang Zhi assigned him a large number of ships, so that even soldiers could ride on the ships throughout the journey.

In this way, the troops marched faster and arrived at Fengtian (Qian County) that afternoon.

Fengtian only had the county magistrate guarding the city. Hearing that Yao Pingzhong had joined the bandits, he thought that all Yao Gu's troops had surrendered. The Fengtian magistrate was so frightened that Kaicheng surrendered.

Yao Pingzhong was indeed well-known in Guanzhong. He led his troops and continued to march east. When the heroes and rangers in Fengtian County learned that Yao Pingzhong had defected to the rebels, they also raised troops to respond. Yang Zhi inexplicably sent more than a thousand troops.

In Yunyang County, Liu Yanqing divided three thousand troops to garrison.

After Yao Pingzhong arrived with his troops, he immediately sent letters to the city and sent people to recruit troops from all over the country.

This was the Yao family's home base for decades. "Little Lieutenant" Yao Pingzhong issued an order to recruit troops, and he still wanted to follow Marshal Zhu to fight, which quickly caused a sensation in various villages and towns.

The powerful people and common people who had long hated the imperial court, as well as countless knights and knights, came to join the army one after another.

Within a few days, Yao Pingzhong's troops exceeded ten thousand, and the defenders in the city were so frightened that they abandoned the city and fled overnight. If you don't run away, you won't have a chance, because there are also connections in the city, and someone might set fire to them one day as an internal response.

…

Jingyang.

"What? The Yao family and his son were thieves, and Yunyang is gone!" Liu Yanqing was shocked.

Liu Guangguo said: "Father, with the fall of Yunyang, our army's retreat has been cut off. The Yao family's army has been guarding the border at Xihe all year round, and their combat power is quite strong. After they joined the thieves, everything west of their martial arts fell into the hands of thieves. We are absolutely invincible. Either we surrender to the traitors, or we retreat along the Weishui River and the Yellow River, and we absolutely cannot defend the city with the Zhong Family Army!"

Liu Guangshi also said: "My brother's words are reasonable and we should make a decision quickly."

Liu Yanqing had the same idea as Yao Gu. He was unwilling to hand over his military power and planned to continue to wait and see for a while. After thinking over and over, he said: "Withdraw the troops, but don't withdraw too far. Just withdraw the whole army to Yueyang, and let the Zhong family troops stand in front."

Tens of thousands of Liu's troops just ran away without firing an arrow and directly sold the cultivation method.

After Liu Yanqing escaped, Xianyang was surrounded by two sides. The Zhong family army there was trapped in an isolated city, and even the connection with Chang'an was cut off.

Yang Zhi still did not attack the city, but let Yao Pingzhong continue to intimidate Liu Yanqing.

Yao Pingzhong immediately marched eastward and occupied Gaoling. Liu Yanqing was so frightened that he retreated again and rushed to Weinan with his army overnight.

Yang Zhi sent partial troops to capture surrounding counties and surrounded Chang'an and turned it into an isolated city.

Since Zhong Shidao divided his troops to serve the king in Tokyo, his current military strength is also stretched, and he can only defend Chang'an and Xianyang, completely cutting off contact with the outside world.

Yao Gu received a letter from his son and learned that Liu Yanqing "left in defeat", and finally made up his mind to seek refuge in Hanzhong.

In order to perform meritorious service, Yao Gu wrote to the civil servants and military generals in various states and counties on Xihe Road, asking them all to change their flags and submit to the Zhu family.

Any city that does not change its flag will be attacked by Li Yanxian!

(The next chapter will be updated in the evening.)