Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

South of Tokyo, outside the moat.

Groups of infantry moved forward slowly, and many civilians brought food and grass from the boats.

The Sichuan Gorge rebel cavalry spread out towards the east and west of the city, keeping an eye on the Jin soldiers on the other side of the river.

"The thieves are about to attack the city!"

The defenders in the city shouted in fear, and some troops even considered surrendering if they could not win.

Zhang Shuye, Zhongshi and other generals rushed to defend the city in person, and asked the supervising team to monitor the suspicious troops.

Wu Min and He Su encouraged Zhao Huan to go to the city in person, saying that this would boost morale.

Zhao Huanzhan came out of the palace tremblingly, but Wu He and others put him on the city wall.

The emperor waited here and there, and couldn't help but ask: "Why haven't the traitors made any move yet?"

"Your Majesty, look!" Nie Shan shouted.

However, they saw two groups of thieves begin to mobilize, and the soldiers kept adjusting their positions, and even used their bodies to form two big characters outside the city: Sell rice!

The civilians carried the white rice to the front of the battle and poured it into baskets, as if they really planned to sell the grain to the soldiers and civilians in the city.

A few soldiers rowed across the moat, then carried the inverted boat to guard against arrows. They came to the city and shouted: "Generalissimo is benevolent and righteous. The two armies are fighting and will not hurt the people. Recently I heard that there is a shortage of food in the city and the people are starving. The marshal is willing to pay for it." Sell ​​grain to the common people. Please also ask the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty not to make mistakes, allow the people to go out of the city to buy rice, and don't let the people starve to death!"

As soon as he said this, the civil servants, generals and soldiers on the nearby city wall all looked stupidly at the rice selling point outside the moat.

Zhao Huan asked in surprise: "Are the bandits trying to trick the city gate into attacking?"

Zhong Shizhong said: "Your Majesty, the thieves are not attacking the door, but the heart. The red thieves have a very good reputation among the people in Tokyo, and now they say they are willing to sell grain to the people. If we prohibit the people from going out, they will inevitably cause complaints. If If you allow the people to go out, even if the thieves don't take the opportunity to attack the city, the people will remember the kindness of the thieves when they buy food. If things go on like this, the people will lose their support, and the people may not be willing to defend the city. They only hope that the thieves will come in soon so that they can sell grain openly. .”

"What...what should we do?" Zhao Huan said in a panic.

Zhang Shuye said: "This is a conspiracy and cannot be resolved."

Zhao Ye shouted: "Ordinary bows and arrows are useless, use the divine arm bow to shoot through the boat!"

Several soldiers carried boats to guard against arrows and ran along the city wall shouting so that the defenders everywhere could hear them.

The God-Arm archer received the order and aimed at the shouting soldiers, but he raised his hand and deliberately missed the target.

The defenders are also human beings. Although the Tokyo soldiers are treated slightly better, they still go hungry every day. They have not had a full meal for two or three months, not to mention that they still have family members who are hungry.

The traitors and soldiers shouting under the city were not here to persuade them to surrender, but to sell grain.

The God-Arm Archer just wanted more people to hear and forced the court to allow the people to go out of the city to buy food, so that his family would be less hungry.

Outside the moat, all the bandits were sitting down, and dozens of squatting tiger cannons were lined up in front of the formation.

There are also several wrought-iron field cannons and several pig-iron cast cannons, respectively on the banks of the Bianhe River and on ships in the Bianhe River.

Xu Bingzhe, the governor of Kaifeng, was troubled by the people who made trouble every now and then due to the lack of food in the city. At this moment, his mind turned around and he came up with an idea: "Your Majesty, you can ask the sergeants to pretend to be ordinary people and go out to buy food. If you go out of the Wengcheng, you won't be afraid of the bandit army taking the opportunity to attack. If you can buy food, you can alleviate the food shortage. If you can't, Buying food will expose the thieves’ lies!”

"Great kindness!" Zhao Huan thought it was feasible.

The cultivator said: "Your Majesty, you must not do it. Once you buy food from bandits, the consequences will be unmanageable."

Xu Bingzhe said: "What are the consequences?"

Zhong Shizhong asked: "What will the people think when the news spreads? The emperor clearly said that the food is sold to the people, but the court only lets the officers and soldiers pretend to be the people buying food. It will only take a day or two for this matter to spread throughout the country. In Tokyo, the people will only feel that the imperial court has robbed them of their food!"

Xu Bingzhe said: "Just take out some of it and resell it to the people. The Zhu Thief said that selling grain at a fair price and not selling it at a fair price is a lie. The court can take this opportunity to publicize it. If he sells grain at a fair price, the court will buy it and sell it to the people. It just happens to be enough to make a fortune, which can be used to pay salaries and military pay to officials and soldiers."

Zhang Shuye was furious: "At this time, you still want to make money!"

Zhao Huan said: "Just follow Xu Aiqing's plan."

The master knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, I am willing to lead the troops to fight out and drive away the bandits outside the moat!"

Xu Bingzhe asked: "If the imperial court sends troops to disperse the grain sellers, what will the people think? The top priority is to get more grain into the city, no matter who sells it."

"Just do it." After Zhao Huan said that, he left the tower.

Hundreds of Forbidden Soldiers, who had taken off their armor, came out of the Wengcheng shakily, carrying piles of copper coins in baskets, ready to turn around and flee at any moment.

The bridges on the moat had been demolished by Geng Nanzhong's order. Fortunately, the bandits provided many boats.

As soon as they rowed across the river and stepped onto the shore, the bandits sitting on the ground suddenly stood up. They were so frightened that they jumped back into the boat, not even caring about the copper coins they had brought ashore.

The officer in charge of selling grain shouted: "Come back quickly, don't be afraid!"

The Imperial Guards were so frightened that they just rowed their boats to escape.

The grain-selling officer had no choice but to order: "Come quickly, twenty people, and rescue those who fell into the river ashore."

When they were escaping just now, hundreds of forbidden soldiers pushed each other, and more than ten people accidentally fell into the river.

The rebel spearmen ran over and stretched out their spears. The Imperial Guards who couldn't swim quickly grabbed them and nodded and bowed in thanks after landing.

The officer selling grain said: "We agreed to sell the rice at a fair price, and we won't charge more than that. It's 800 coins per stone for a large amount of white rice."

"How cheap?" The Forbidden Army soldiers were in disbelief. The price of rice in Tokyo rose to one thousand and fifty cents last year. At its highest, it was even two to three thousand cents per stone.

The officer selling grain said: "The marshal is afraid that the people in the city will starve to death. If the price is too high, how can the common people afford it? In order to avoid plundering and buying more, the marshal also said that each person is limited to one bucket."

"It doesn't matter if it's a dou, just save some food. A family can eat it for three or four days." said the Forbidden Army soldier.

While measuring the rice, the officer who sold the grain took the opportunity to say: "Marshal Zhu raised his troops to make the people of the world live a better life. I heard that the Jin soldiers were going south, and he was afraid that the people in Tokyo would be massacred, so Marshal Zhu led his troops to rescue him. Never imagined, you are a foolish king. We colluded with foreign tribes and even had to borrow troops to suppress us even if we had to cede territory and pay compensation. The Jin people are just wolves that have not been raised well, how can they be easily dismissed? Once the rebels leave, the Jin soldiers will definitely enter the city and plunder!"

"That's right." The Forbidden Army soldier didn't care what he said, he just wanted to buy food and go back.

After the rice was measured, a small boat was sent to transport the Forbidden Army across the river. The grain-selling officer also pointed to the copper coins on the riverside and said: "A lot of money has been left here, and the rebels don't take a penny. Let them all come and buy grain."

These forbidden soldiers returned with food. When the forbidden soldiers who had fled to the city saw them, they immediately dropped their guard and came back.

When Zhang Shuye saw this scene, he muttered: "It's over, the military morale is completely gone."

outside the city.

Wang Zhen held the telescope and laughed loudly: "Since ancient times, there has never been such a strategy. The attackers actually sold grain to the defenders. This will be remembered in history and be passed down as a good story."

Wang Yuan turned around, bowed to Ju Ming, and said sincerely: "Marshal Langjun is full of wisdom and cares about the people. Only then can he come up with the strategy of selling grain."

"I'm afraid that if thousands of people flock to buy food, our military food will not be enough." Bai Chongwu said worriedly.

Ju Ming said: "If thousands of people come out to buy food and sell the rice the day before, we can attack the city the next day!"

But he said that when the more than one hundred forbidden troops bought the grain and returned to the city, they were immediately blocked by Fan Qiong and ordered to hand over the rice to confiscation.

Immediately afterwards, hundreds of forbidden troops were sent out of the city disguised as ordinary people to buy food.

The Imperial Guards who had been deprived of food were all dissatisfied and murmured privately when they returned to camp.

"We risked going out to buy rice. Each of us bought a bushel. Even if we had to hand it over, we should keep two kilograms."

"That's right, my parents, wife and children are almost starving these days."

"Marshal Zhu is really benevolent and righteous. He is afraid that the people will be hungry, so he sells grain as he says. The price is cheaper than in the city."

"If you ask me, Marshal Zhu should be made emperor. Everyone will have a good life."

"..."

When these forbidden soldiers returned, they poured out their grievances to everyone they met. Paoze and the neighbors soon learned the truth.

In fact, even if they didn't say anything, people from Shi Yuangong and Li Bangyan would still cooperate with the propaganda in the city.

On that day, there were more than 2,000 imperial troops, disguised as ordinary people, going out of the city to buy food. Each person was limited to one bucket, which means they bought more than 200 stones and entered the city.

The next day, continue selling grain.

But the location for selling grain was changed to the intersection of Huimin River and Moat.

Ju Ming did not need to send too many soldiers to protect him. He would immediately board the ship and leave if there was danger. Food could also be placed on the ship and he could move off as much as he could sell.

Since the rebels did not mobilize on a large scale, the defenders completely let down their guard and no longer came out of Wengcheng. Instead, they went out of the city through the nearest Xuanhua Gate to buy food.

In the middle of the morning, more and more people gathered inside Xuanhua Gate.

They heard the news that Marshal Zhu was afraid that the people would starve and was willing to sell rice at a low price. They were initially skeptical and came here with the mentality that they would rather believe it. But I actually saw officers and soldiers dressed as ordinary people, returning quickly after leaving the city, and each of them brought food.

"Why don't you let us leave the city?"

"That's right, Marshal Zhu sold rice to the people, but you soldiers bought it all!"

"Give me rice quickly!"

"..."

A civil servant from Kaifeng Prefecture appeared with a group of government officials: "Don't make trouble. Yesterday I left the city and only bought a hundred shi. I will sell you sixty shi today. You all go to the yamen gate to buy food!"

Only then did the people flock to the government office, pushing and scolding each other, because it only sold for sixty dan, and it must have been sold out if they went late.

When they arrived at the government office, there was an instant uproar.

Because the price of rice in Kaifeng Mansion is two thousand yuan per stone, which is more than twice what Marshal Zhu sells for rice.

Moreover, what Marshal Zhu sells is white rice, but what Kaifeng Mansion sells is old rice that is yellow with black in it!

Xizuo, who was mixed in the crowd, did not immediately take action. It was not until the sixty shi of rice was sold out and the people's anger reached its peak that they shouted: "Yesterday, Marshal Zhu sold more than a thousand shi of rice, and all of it was embezzled by these corrupt officials! Rice worth a few hundred cents per dan is sold at a high price of two thousand cents, and it is replaced by old rice that even dogs will not eat! Neighbors and elders, rush into the government office to grab rice!"

"Come on!"

Some people encouraged, others responded, and the crowd became excited in an instant.

There are already thousands of people coming to buy rice one after another, and the number is constantly increasing.

When the mood is aroused by the fine work, someone rushes in.

Any official who dared to stop him would be beaten to death in a daze.

They rushed in and rummaged around, grabbing things if they didn't find any food, and even took away office supplies.

The people quickly rushed into the back house of the government office and found Xu Bingzhe, the governor of Kaifeng, hurriedly building a ladder to climb over the wall and escape. There were also wine and food in the pavilion, and a group of singers were also running for their lives in panic.

The governor of Kaifeng is actually drinking and enjoying singing and dancing?

The people were furious, and countless people rushed forward and grabbed Xu Bingzhe.

"Don't fight, don't fight, I am an official of the imperial court!" Xu Bingzhe shouted in horror.

But his voice had long been drowned out by angry roars, and he was beaten to death in a short while.

In history, more than 20,000 people from Tokyo besieged South Street, smashed several Denwen drums, demolished the doors of the three major Denwen institutions, and even rushed into the imperial city to seek an explanation from Zhao Huan. .

"Your Majesty, it's not good, the governor of Kaifeng was beaten to death by the mob!"