Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

"Zhang Boring has captured Xingren Mansion, Guangji Army, Puzhou, Shanzhou, and Xuzhou, and has joined forces with Li Bao's army in Huainan." Ju Ming passed on the latest battle report.

Wang Yuan was surprised and said: "So fast? Three states, one government and one army, just marching will take a month or two."

Li Bao smiled and said: "I was faster in attacking the Huaihe River. Many prefectures and counties sent partial divisions to occupy it, and all the officials fled."

Ju Ming took out another urgent letter: "The so-called partial army you left behind was betrayed by Zhao Ji!"

The smile on Li Bao's face faltered, and he hurriedly read the urgent letter, and then he was so angry that he slammed the table: "This bastard, all officials know that he will join the rebel army, but he can actually be recruited by the coward Zhao Ji!"

However, Li Bao was anxious to go north to join forces with Ju Ming, and he did not personally attack most of the prefectures and counties in Huaidong.

At that time, many rebels were recruited in Huaixi. These temporary newly formed troops were led by generals in the inspection system, allowing them to quickly capture various prefectures and counties in Huaidong.

In addition, Fang Mengqing, the deputy envoy of Huainan transfer, was temporarily appointed as the general manager of Huaidong after leading his troops to join the rebel army, and unified command of the newly formed troops.

Due to the uneven distribution of money and grain, being punished for robbing the people, and being lured and instigated by Liang Shicheng's men, Liu Qing, a military general with a background of banditry, killed the inspector and civil servants who arranged for him to go there, and actually accepted the invitation of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty in Taizhou. .

Not only that, Liu Qing also asked his soldiers to pretend to be defeated, captured Rugao County in one fell swoop, and colluded with the salt lord Han Shun to capture Tongzhou (Nantong).

Song Huizong, who had been restored, was overjoyed and publicized that this was the first step in his Northern Expedition.

Then he appointed Liu Qing as the military governor of Taizhou and Han Shun as the military governor of Tongzhou, giving them all taxation powers except salt tax, and ordered them to raise grain and grass and recruit troops to counterattack.

Fang Mengqing, who was attacking Lianshui, was furious and stopped attacking Lianshui. He led 10,000 troops south to quell the rebellion.

Ju Ming took out another official document: "Chuzhou soldiers robbed the people, but the county magistrate of Lai'an could not control it. There was a conflict between the two sides, and the magistrate was killed by the general. There were hundreds of people in rebellion, all of whom were bandits. Fortunately, they were quickly wiped out. ”

Li Bao scratched his head: "The army is expanding too fast, it's really difficult to identify. Overall, it's good that there won't be any big trouble."

"These are just those who openly rebelled. I don't know how many recruits are doing evil things secretly," Zhu Ming said. "They must be reorganized after the war, otherwise the reputation of the rebels will be ruined in Lianghuai."

Li Bao chuckled and didn't answer the question again.

"Is it time to attack the city?" Zhang Guangdao helped change the topic.

Zhu Ming shook his head: "To attack such a fortified city, it requires a ripe melon. Now it is just a half-ripe melon. If there are no Jin people watching eagerly, we can attack the city tomorrow. But the Jin people have been on the north bank of the Yellow River. Once our army attacks the city, it will be very difficult. There is a possibility of being attacked by Jinmen.”

The total strength of Jin soldiers and Song soldiers is about 140,000 to 50,000.

Ju Ming only had 60,000 to 70,000 men, of which only 50,000 belonged to the regular army.

If they were attacked by Song and Jin, the consequences would be disastrous.

The monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty believed that the coalition forces had a strength advantage, so they had been urging the Jin people to send troops. But the Jin people are always extorting money. If they want to get more benefits, they must at least get Taiyuan City.

Tokyo, the imperial city.

Wang Jun angrily rebuked: "You Song people are dishonest in your words. Taiyuan is unwilling to give up, let alone mention it. You can't even remove a single Zongze. Now not only Cizhou is anti-Jin, but Xiangzhou and Mingzhou are also raising anti-Jin banners. So incompetent. You are so insincere that you still want me, Dajin, to send troops?"

Geng Nanzhong had no choice but to explain: "The imperial court is already dealing with it, so the envoy doesn't need to worry too much."

"You don't need to deal with it. I, Daijin, will take care of it myself. Let's talk about sending troops in a few days!" Wang Jun walked away with a puff of his sleeves.

Zhao Huan was startled and asked: "What does it mean that the Kingdom of Jin will solve it on its own?"

The seed master half-squinted his eyes: "The Jin people are going to attack Xiangzhou, Mingzhou and Cizhou."

Wu Min said: "Since Zongze is unable to advance, Wang Boyan and Wang Lin should be obedient. We must quickly send someone to order them to seize military power."

Wu Min was a member of Cai Jing's party, and he was almost recruited by Cai Jing as his son-in-law. Then he joined Cai You and became Tong Guan's retainer. However, he had a good reputation and was able to hang out with Li Gang.

Now that you are involved in the whirlpool of political struggle, you have completely exposed your true nature and completely abandoned etiquette, justice and integrity.

However, it was said that many civil servants and military generals in many prefectures and counties in Hebei surrendered to the Jin people, and they collected food and transported it to the Jin soldiers. The Jin people will also send some cavalry to go north to collect the food.

Zongze, Wang Yan and Yue Fei fought against the Jin by attacking grain transport teams and occasionally ambushing Jin cavalry.

"General Yue, the prefect summoned him to discuss the matter of resisting the Jin soldiers." A government official came to pass the message.

Yue Fei had already discovered that the Jin soldiers were heading north and heading straight to Xiangzhou. He immediately doubted his presence and rode to see Wang Boyan of Zhizhou.

With a smile on his face, Wang Boyan asked Yue Fei to sit down: "The Jin soldiers are coming to kill, do you know?"

Yue Fei replied: "I am planning to discuss defense matters with the prefect."

"There's no need to be on guard," Wang Boyan shouted, "Here comes someone!"

More than a dozen government officials rushed in and surrounded Yue Fei, but Wang Boyan had already retreated to the door.

Yue Fei was surprised and asked: "Prefect, why is this?"

Wang Boyan said: "The imperial court allied with money to suppress the bandits. You got Zongze's order, and you actually disobeyed the imperial edict and obstructed the suppression of bandits! Your Majesty is so kind that he will not kill you. He will only let you lead troops to Tokyo to serve the king. Tie them up!"

Yue Fei subconsciously wanted to resist, but he pulled out the sword only two inches from its sheath. He suppressed his anger and inserted the sword back, saying, "There is no need to tie me up, Governor. Since it is the emperor's will, I will lead the troops to Tokyo to serve the king."

"But I'm afraid that if you resist the order again, I'll tie you up!" Wang Boyan ordered.

Yue Fei obeyed the restraints without any resistance, but he had already suppressed his anger.

He was escorted to a military camp outside the city. When Wang Gui and other generals saw him, they also cursed him, but they had to follow Yue Fei to Tokyo.

Yue Fei recruited less than two thousand local warriors. When he heard that he was going to Tokyo to serve the king instead of staying in Xiangzhou to defend Sangzi, hundreds of soldiers immediately fled back home.

The remaining soldiers followed the bound Yue Fei all the way to the boundary of Tangyin County.

But they saw that many cavalrymen from the Kingdom of Jin had come and were robbing money and food from all over the countryside, but the government turned a blind eye to this.

When he was young, Yue Fei was not so honest, he was also reckless.

The things he did were strictly punished and he had to be beheaded countless times, but it was only someone who loved him that saved his life every time.

The more Yue Fei thought about it, the angrier he became. The more he watched, the angrier he became. He said to the officer escorting him: "We are in urgent need of help. Untie me."

They were almost out of Xiangzhou territory. Yue Fei was very honest all the way, and the officials didn't pay much attention to him. They quickly released Yue Fei's bonds.

The moment the rope was untied, Yue Fei kicked the front official over, turned around and punched the loosened official, grabbed his knife and killed the official before they fled.

The more than a thousand officers and soldiers who went to the capital with him to serve the king were frightened when they saw this situation. They killed officials and disobeyed orders. These are all capital crimes.

Yue Fei raised his sword and shouted: "The Jin people are ravaging Xiangzhou, but the government turns a blind eye. You are all the children of Xiangzhou. Those who are willing to resist the Jin will follow me, and those who are not willing to go home quickly to protect their relatives!"

Hundreds of people were afraid of being questioned by the court, so they bowed their hands to Yue Fei and said goodbye, turning around and running back to their hometowns.

Including Wang Gui and other generals, a total of more than 800 people followed Yue Fei to fight guerrillas, specifically ambushing small groups of Jin cavalry who were robbing food.

In Mingzhou next door, the prefect Wang Lin also took action and arrested Wang Yan who insisted on resisting the Jin Dynasty.

Wang Yan was much more honest than Yue Fei. He was tied up and led troops to Tokyo and became a member of King Qin's army.

As for Zongze, he still led his troops to defend Cizhou and refused to surrender when the Jin people besieged the city.

Those Jin men were all cavalry and their number was small. They dispersed after two days of siege and plundered the towns and villages in Cizhou.

Let’s also say that as Wang Yan went south, everything he passed was devastated.

After entering Tokyo City, I found that there was no shortage of soldiers here at all, but there were too many soldiers and a serious shortage of food.

General Zhang Yi said angrily: "The princes in the court don't know the soldiers. How can tens of thousands of people be placed in the city and waste food and grass to defend the city? They don't think there are enough soldiers, so they tricked us to defend the city!"

Wang Yan sneered: "Others don't know how to fight, so don't you know how to fight? The emperor issued an imperial edict and ordered King Qin's army to go to Tokyo. Who dares to openly resist the edict?"

General Bai Anmin said: "If the imperial court acts like this, Tokyo will be destroyed sooner or later. It is better to leave us in Mingzhou to fight against the Jin."

All of the soldiers under Wang Yan are true men.

During the Jingkang period, Wang Yan was defeated and retreated, and was offered a large reward by the Jin people.

At that time, many anti-Jin generals were killed by their subordinates, and Wang Yan had to move to another place every night when he slept. In order to reassure him, the soldiers took the initiative to tattoo the words "Serve the country with all my heart and vow to kill the golden thief" on their faces. From then on, Wang Yan's army was called the "Eight-Character Army".

At present, these real men of the Eight-Character Army cannot fight with the Jin soldiers, but are thrown into Tokyo city.

They are all from Hebei, and their hometown is being ravaged by the Jin people!

That afternoon, when the soldiers received the food, they found that not only was the quantity wrong, but it was also mixed with a large amount of sawdust.

Zhang Yi was furious: "If you don't let us kill the gold thief, but you still cheat us like this, what do you think of us Hebei people?"

Wang Yan was speechless. He knew that the morale of the army had been lost.

When they were in Hebei, the soldiers were united and willing to fight against the Jin people.

But after crossing the Yellow River, everyone wanted to return home and their family members far away in Hebei.

Now that food and grass have been withheld, he is even more resentful. The army that dared to fight the Jin people no longer existed, and no one was willing to fight for the imperial court.

"Control, look!"

Bai Anmin came over with a note: "My soldiers picked it up."

Wang Yan took the note and opened it to read, only to see a line written on it: "The ignorant king of the Song Dynasty cut off lands for money, betrayed the country and sought glory, and trapped the people in misery. Sons of the Han family, stop being obsessed with Marshal Zhu's attack on the city." On that day, you all can defect and join us, and drive out and kill the gold thieves together. It’s time to make achievements!”

Zhang Yi also came over to take a look and muttered: "I'm afraid we are not the only ones who have received the note."

Bai Anmin said: "When the bandits attack the city, I don't know how many people will defect. What is the idea of ​​​​control?"

Wang Yan didn't know how to make a decision, so he just ordered: "Burn the note."