Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Regarding the arrangement of the chief envoy, Zhu Guoxiang did not purely consider his background and political achievements.

Zhang Xiaochun, who had always stayed in Taiyuan, was appointed as the Shanxi Zuobu envoy. To put it bluntly, he had to be able to control the situation.

But there must be a deputy, and this deputy will not conflict with Zhang Xiaochun.

Yu Qi took his son into the palace to meet the emperor. He was a little excited and felt ashamed of Zhao Song.

When Zhu Ming led his army to besiege Kaifeng, Yu Qi was already the military commander of Yongxing in the Song Dynasty. The city of Kaifeng was destroyed, and with the surrender of Zhongshidao, a message was sent to the Guanzhong area, and Yu Qi was also summoned to Tokyo with his family.

"Chen Qi, pay homage to your majesty and pay homage to the prince." Yu Qi bowed and saluted.

Zhu Guoxiang smiled and said: "Sit down and call me an official."

"Guanjia" is a term of honor and endearment, and it doesn't matter how you say it in private. But when you really meet the emperor, only those who are close to him can call him this. Of course, you can shout if you are estranged, but it will inevitably be a bit abrupt and may make the emperor unhappy.

Zhu Guoxiang felt that this title was good and could bring him closer to the minister.

"Thank you, officials." Yu Qi sat upright.

Yu Yunwen, who was about to turn sixteen, was sitting behind his father and peeked at Ju Ming curiously.

When he was just a few years old, he heard his father often mention Ju Ming, and asked him to learn more from Ju Ming, so that he could be the most beautiful girl in high school when he was a boy. Until Zhu raised his army, such words were finally stopped.

"Brother Qinian, why do you have to be so reserved?" Zhu Ming said with a smile, "You and I were Jinshi in the same year. When I was an official in Lizhou, we often exchanged letters. Now that we are no longer enemies, and we are both officials in the Ming Dynasty, we should open our hearts. .”

Yu Qi replied: "Your Highness is right."

Zhu Ming looked at Yu Yunwen again: "Your father said in the letter that you can write poems at how old you are, and he also showed me a collection of poems you wrote when you were eight years old. Has your knowledge improved in recent years?"

Yu Yunwen quickly stood up: "Report to His Highness the Crown Prince, I have been working hard to learn. Your Highness's poems and prose books are banned, and I still secretly read them in private. I first studied Shu studies, then learned new ones, and reviewed Luo studies. In the past two years, I have studied Your Highness' Taoism. of learning.”

Ju Ming laughed loudly: "How old are you to learn so much knowledge?"

Yu Qi explained: "He has an unstable temperament. He has learned some things from the east and some from the west. Although he has dabbled in a wide range of subjects, he has not mastered them."

"Young people should be like this. Read all kinds of books and don't limit yourself to one area." Zhu Ming nodded in approval and asked, "Are you willing to work beside me?"

Yu Yunwen's blessing reached his heart: "It's true that what you want is true, but you are overwhelmed with fear!"

Zhu Ming smiled happily: "First, I will do some paperwork in the Generalissimo's Mansion and help copy some official documents. I can read more and ask more questions. Don't let your knowledge fall behind. Read more when you have time. You need to read classics and history, as well as military books. . If you don’t understand anything, you can come and ask me.”

The Generalissimo's Palace has not been abolished, it is similar to the Dudu's Palace in the Ming Dynasty, and it was the Dudu's Palace during the Zhu Yuanzhang period.

Yu Qi was greatly surprised when he heard this, and at the same time he was overjoyed.

He and Ju Ming were just Jinshi scholars in the same subject, and they didn't have much contact with each other in private. When Zhu Ming was an official in Lizhou, he happened to be an official in the next state. They corresponded with each other for a year, and there was no contact after that.

Now Ju Ming actually keeps his son by his side. It seems that he wants to train him carefully and make him a proper confidant from now on!

Yu Yunwen was also a smart man. He knew that he had great luck, so he bowed and thanked him again.

Only then did Zhu Guoxiang speak: "You went to Shanxi to help Zhang Xiaochun manage civil affairs. Don't have any conflicts with him. In terms of military affairs, you can also stay away from it."

"I obey the decree!" Yu Qi raised his hand.

"Shanxi civil affairs are really difficult to handle, so we need to pay more attention to them." Zhu Guoxiang warned.

Yu Qi said: "I understand. The Jin people ravaged the prefectures and counties in northern Shanxi and besieged Taiyuan for a long time. The people's livelihood is in ruins and food and grass are scarce. It is difficult for Shanxi to be self-sufficient. The imperial court must allocate money and food."

Zhu Guoxiang shook his head: "Money can be transferred, but food is not available. There is a shortage of food everywhere this year. Shanxi can only find a solution for food."

Yu Qi opened his mouth, lowered his head and said, "Yes!"

Since Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty purchased Youzhou and other places, Shanxi, like Shandong, has been allocated a large amount of money and grain to provide relief to Yanshan Prefecture, and money and grain have also been used to resettle the Han people who migrated from Liao.

After a while, Shanxi's money and food were exhausted, and its people were extremely exhausted.

Shanxi natives hate Liao immigrants and have tense relations with these Liao Han people, and even deliberately bully those immigrants.

Similarly, the Han people in Liaoning also had a hard time. They were moved to Shanxi and were allotted barren land. Not only were they exploited by officials, but they were also often bullied by locals.

So when the Jin came to kill them, the Han people from Liao who immigrated to Shanxi became leaders and helped fight the war.

There are several cities in Shanxi that were not conquered by the Jin people at all, but by these Han immigrants from Liaoning!

At the end of last year, Zhang Guangdao led troops to rescue Taiyuan, and Yin Shu, who had insufficient troops, could immediately withdraw from the siege.

But they did not retreat far at all. Yin Shuke led troops to station in Pingding. The Jin people also captured Chengtian Village (Niangziguan), connected with the Zhending Mansion where the puppet emperor of Hebei was, and firmly controlled the extremely important Jingxing. in hand.

Zhang Guangdao now has no shortage of soldiers, but he is seriously short of food and grass!

The next task for the two Shanxi chief envoys, Zhang Xiaochun and Yu Qi, was not to defend the territory, but to obtain more food to feed the army without forcing the people to death.

After some warnings, the Yu family father and son bowed and resigned.

After leaving Donghua Gate, Yu Yunwen couldn't wait to say: "The officials and the prince are very kind, and the prince is not as cold and tough as the rumors."

Yu Qi warned his son: "Don't talk about this behind your back. You went to the Generalissimo's Mansion. Watch more, learn more and talk less."

"I understand, kid," Yu Yunwen said.

After the two left, Ju Ming also went to the East Palace Office.

A young man named Li Fa was called to Zhu Guoxiang to obey orders.

Li Fa was from Jingyan, and he belonged to Leshan in later generations. According to the genealogy, he was a descendant of Li Shimin, but it is difficult to say whether this thing is true or false.

Two years ago, on behalf of the Jingyan Li family, he took the initiative to go to Hanzhong to serve.

Zhu Guoxiang saw that he was young, not yet twenty years old, and asked him to teach him some knowledge, so he stayed with him to learn from him.

Li Fa is unknown in history. His son Yi Sunchen was slightly famous in the Southern Song Dynasty, and his grandson Li Xinchuan was even more famous.

Zhu Guoxiang ordered: "You are a pedestrian and go to Taiyuan to reward officials and soldiers. Your attitude should be more enthusiastic, and you must not be arrogant. Don't chill the hearts of the soldiers guarding the city."

"I obey the decree!" Li Fa said.

Zhu Guoxiang pointed to the two pairs of telescopes in front of him: "I assembled these myself and handed them over to Zhang Xiaochun and Yang Weizhong."

"yes!"

It is said that there is no food for Shanxi, but some must be sent.

If there is not enough food, make up for it in terms of goods.

Luoyang and Chang'an are both preparing supplies, sending them to the Tongguan warehouse for storage, and then transporting them to Taiyuan with Li Fa.

Not only Zhang Guangdao was granted the title of marquis, but his soldiers were also granted rewards.

Zhang Xiaochun and Yang Weizhong, who stayed in Taiyuan, were not given titles, but the former was directly promoted to Shanxi Zuobuzheng envoy, and the latter was promoted to Shanxi military commander-in-chief.

The Shanxi soldiers under the two men will soon be ordered to be reorganized and will still be under the command of Yang Weizhong. Most of the soldiers and armor of the demobilized Zhongjia Army were shipped to Taiyuan to improve the combat effectiveness of these Shanxi soldiers.

The Zhai brothers who were recruited by Han Shizhong to surrender in Luoyang, together with their troops, were integrated into Yang Weizhong's new army.

Today's Zhu regime is really surrounded by enemies on all sides!

There is Zhao Ji in the southeast, Zhong Xiang in Jinghu, Xixia in the northwest, and Jin in the north, and they are all in a state of war.

Prime Minister Zhong has already taken action. In winter, he sent a partial division to seize Baishui Town and Yidu, and assigned 70% of the navy to garrison Yidu in an attempt to block the outlet of the Yangtze River waterway.

Most of Ju Ming's navy went downstream, and Li Bao was training and expanding his navy, preparing to cross the river and pacify the southeast in the summer and autumn. In this way, there is no way to defeat Zhong Xiang's naval army. Now Sichuan's materials must go to Hanzhong, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive and the transportation losses are extremely high.

Local officials are also having a headache and are asking Ju Ming to deal with Zhong Xiang's navy first.

"It seems that we have to change the plan," Zhang Bor looked at the information sent by Jing Xiang. "If Zhong Xiang is not removed, it will be inconvenient to transport supplies in Sichuan, and the food consumed in the process will more than double. Even if Zhong Xiang is not removed, we will have to First eliminate the Pseudo-Chu Navy!"

Wang Yuan said: "If we don't attack Zhao Ji this year, judging from the temperament of those ignorant and treacherous officials, they will not take the initiative to send troops to the north. But Zhong Xiang cannot say for sure. When this person pacifies Fang Qifu, it is very likely that in the summer and autumn Attack Jiangling and Jingmen! Now it’s not a question of who we attack, but who will definitely come to attack us.”

Shi Yuangong said with a smile: "Li Xiang (Li Bangyan) still knows people in the southeast. He can send people to send money to ensure that Zhao Ji will not send troops this year and enjoy the wealth in the southeast."

Zhang Bor said: "That will be easier. This year, we will attack the Puppet Chu with all our strength. It does not necessarily have to be destroyed, but at least two goals must be set. One is to severely damage or completely annihilate the Puppet Chu navy, and the other is to occupy the city on the south bank of the Jingjiang River. . Yidu, Songzi, Gong'an, Shishou, Jianning, Huarong, Yueyang, these seven prefectures and counties must be captured. As long as these seven cities are occupied, no matter how large the army is, Prime Minister Zhong will be unable to achieve anything."

Ju Ming sighed: "If we don't fight Zhao Ji but Zhong Xiang, the scale of the war will be unstoppable. Tokyo will have to mobilize more troops to go south. After reorganization, some of the new troops from the Huaihe River and Huaihe River will also have to be pulled over. This year's South Provinces, don't even think about saving any more food, it will all be consumed in the battle against Chu."

Lack of food, lack of food, lack of food!

Huizong of the Song Dynasty overdrafted the people's power and made the people in the world miserable. This is how the Zhu family and his son built up their army.

But now that we have taken over a bunch of sites, we have to bear the negative consequences. Not to mention the massive grain levy, the Zhu family and his son were content as long as the people did not need government relief.

With so many people, troops can be detonated immediately, soldiers and armor can be produced quickly, and even military discipline is not a problem.

But food cannot be changed at all!

"We need to collect grain from the Huaihe River and Huaihe River," Ju Ming said, "and then transfer 10,000 troops from Tokyo to the south to defend the cities on the north bank of the Jingjiang River first. After the summer grain harvest in Nanyang and Xiangyang is harvested, we can send troops to fight against Zhong Xiang. We can win quickly. Best. If it lasts until autumn, we can levy grain support from Huainan and Huainan. Although the people's livelihood in Huainan is in decline, the big households have a lot of grain stored, forcing them to buy low-interest war bonds!"

Zhang Boring said: "If the Puppet Chu navy is quickly eliminated, Sichuan grain can be supplied to the battlefield through the Yangtze River."

Zhu Ming shook his head: "We can't all count on Sichuan's grain. After all, we have to transport some to Shaanxi. If Xixia doesn't want to negotiate peace, Shaanxi will continue to fight. Moreover, the Jin people may go south again this year, so they must leave more grain for preparation." Golden man!”

The lack of food is already a headache, and there are enemies on all sides.

Jin Guo, Xixia, and Zhong Xiang are all crazy, but Song Huizong is the most worry-free.