Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

It is easy to attack a county town, but it is really difficult for Song Huizong to attack a state town.

Facing Xue Su's longing eyes, Song Huizong decided to fool him casually, since he could still escape if he lost.

Song Huizong asked: "How is the prefect of Quzhou like a man?"

Xue Su was not sure, so he replied: "It seems that the surname is Li. He is a bird official anyway, and he cannot be a good person."

"How many soldiers are there in Quzhou?" Song Huizong asked again.

Xue Su was also unclear about this and replied: "Probably not many."

A confused leader and a mischievous military strategist started planning a big plan.

Song Huizong said: "Recruit young men and women inside and outside the city as soldiers, and then recruit unemployed old and weak people to make up the number. Make more flags, let the old, weak and some young men go to fight outside the city. It is best for the Quzhou prefect to abandon the city and flee. , if he dares to go out of the city to fight, he will definitely kill the old and weak. He can use elite soldiers to set up an ambush along the road, so that the young and strong mixed in with the old and weak can lure the enemy into an ambush when they flee."

Xue Su asked: "What if the bird officer neither runs away nor fights, but just sticks to the city?"

How did Song Huizong know what to do? He pretended to be an outsider, stroking his beard and said perfunctorily: "Then we can only discuss it in the long term."

Xue Su was really a bit reckless. He clapped his hands and said, "Fuck you, try it first before you talk!"

One really dares to talk nonsense, and the other really dares to do it!

The cloth shop in the city was the first to suffer. All kinds of cloth were robbed to make large and small flags.

Xue Su recruited young men for training, and soon he had three thousand "elite soldiers" including the original bandits. They also forced homeless people to join the army, including beggars, and ordered them to carry flags and go with the army.

It was so vast that there were more than 10,000 people.

If Li Bao encounters this kind of mob, he can defeat it by sending a few mandarin duck teams!

Song Huizong excused himself to stay in Longyou to defend the city, but was forced to go out by Xue Su, saying that he wanted to listen to the military advisor's teachings at any time.

They set up an ambush several miles away from the city and asked a bandit leader to lead 500 young men and nearly 10,000 old and weak people holding flags to Quzhou to call for battle.

Quzhou City Head.

Prefect Li Zhuang looked at the flags fluttering in the wind and said with a horrified expression: "The bandit army is powerful, what should we do?"

Yang Yingyan, the general judge, said: "Don't worry. Although there are many flags, the rebels are in disarray. We can recruit the young men in the city as soldiers, and let the people in the city help defend the city. It will be more than enough to defend Quzhou."

Since someone had an idea, Li Zhuang took the opportunity to shirk the responsibility of defending the city: "You come to defend the city, and I will sit in charge of the government office!"

"Guaranteed to be foolproof." Yang Yingyan was also afraid that Zhizhou would give random orders, so it would be better to make the decision himself.

The two seemed to have a clear division of labor, but Li Zhuang couldn't even sit in the state government office.

He asked the government officials to collect carriages and horses from all over the city, and also asked his personal followers to carry the goods. The wealth was actually loaded into more than thirty carts.

Li Zhuang was not appointed by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty after he went south. This guy used to be the sixth official in Tokyo, but he was suddenly dismissed and beaten to death. Then he became an official again and became the magistrate of Quzhou. He has been searching hard in Quzhou.

Moreover, Li Zhuang was reinstated as magistrate of the state, thanks to Ju Ming's rebellion.

At that time, the finances of the Song Dynasty court collapsed, and the censor Zhang Pu once again raised the issue of redundant officials. Among them, only six Cao Lang officials were dismissed, and sixteen of them were dismissed.

Zhang Pu named the officials one by one, saying that Wang Shixin was "very low in talent and tended to be despicable", that Huang Yuan and Wang Xidan had "little temperament, soft and sycophantic appearance", and that Li Yang was "frivolous, noisy and careless about his duties" "...

As for Li Zhuang, he was evaluated as "shallow, impetuous, and underestimated by juniors."

It happened that Zhang Pu was Zhang Gen's younger brother, and Zhang Gen followed Ju Ming to raise an army. He himself could continue to serve as an official in the Song Dynasty by relying on his family connections, but the corrupt and mediocre officials who were impeached, demoted, and dismissed by him took the opportunity to make a comeback.

In this way, Li Zhuang was restored to the position of prefect of Quzhou.

The people of the whole city were mobilized by Yang Yingyan, the general judge, and even the old, weak, women and children were carrying supplies to defend the city.

Those government officials were ordered by Li Zhuang to collect carriages and horses. Except for a few leaders, most of the government officials were just running errands. Although they usually bully the people, they don't get much from their hard work. Now they saw with their own eyes that Li Zhuang's wealth was loaded into more than thirty carts.

"The people defended the city with all their might, but this bird official wanted to escape with his money!"

"He usually calls us to death. The Dog Emperor is dead. Now it's a new dynasty. Why can he still call us?"

"That's right, the emperor is gone, and the new heavenly soldiers will come to kill him soon. Why do you still have to work for this bird official?"

"It's better to kill this bird official. The brothers can share the money and have food and drink for a few lifetimes."

"Tongxuan is still guarding the city. If he knew that the prefect was killed, he would definitely kill us to establish his authority."

"We might as well rebel and welcome the rebels from outside into the city!"

"But that's not enough for us. We also called the Yaqian brothers from the Tongpan Hall."

"..."

The general magistrate Yang Yingyan was arranging the city defense. Although the archers, Xiang troops and people guarding the city were panicked, he was confident enough to rely on the strong city.

What the hell are those rabble outside the city?

"The judgment is bad!"

The civil servants from the Tongpan Hall rushed over and said: "The prefecture government and the Yamen of the Tongpan Hall have rebelled. They have killed the prefect and looted his property, and then killed the officials in the city. The gangsters in the city also took the opportunity to cause trouble and were robbing rich households everywhere. , maybe even set fire to the house!”

While they were talking, fires and smoke broke out in many places. Seeing this, the people who were guarding the city went home to put out the fire or protect their families.

Yang Yingyan shouted: "Don't leave the city wall, I will arrange for people to put out the fire! Send the order quickly, don't leave the city wall..."

Those government officials were guilty of being thieves and were afraid of being punished by Yang Yingyan, so they kidnapped his whole family and threatened: "Yang Tongxuan, quickly issue an order to open the city gate, otherwise brothers will not be polite! The dog emperor is gone, how can you still guard it?" What city? If you follow the rebels, you can still serve as an official in the new dynasty!"

Although Yang Yingyan was furious, the situation was irreversible and he had to order the city gate to be opened.

The bandit leader outside the city was overjoyed. He led five hundred young men and thousands of old and weak men and rushed towards the city. At the same time, he sent someone to notify Xue Su, who was still ambushing.

An hour later, Song Huizong looked at Quzhou City with the gate open, dumbfounded and didn't know what to say.

How could I really capture Quzhou with my random nonsense strategy?

Is it so easy to rebel?

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Xue Su laughed wildly and showed the most heroic spirit in the world. He sincerely admired Song Huizong and said: "The military advisor is so good at knowing things, and Quzhou City is really vulnerable. If I had obtained the military advisor earlier, I would have had half of the country, and I wouldn't have to rely on that army anymore." Emperor Zhu!"

"Ashamed, ashamed!" Song Huizong was heartbroken and secretly cursed that these officials were all just losers.

But he saw a civil servant running towards him on horseback. It was Yang Yingyan, the general judge.

He was stopped by Xue Su's soldiers. He reined in his horse and asked, "Is the general going to rebel against the new dynasty or against the old dynasty?"

Xue Su replied: "He is a rebel who created the old dynasty."

Yang Yingyan said: "Then quickly suppress the rebellious people and soldiers in the city. The general's soldiers are burning, killing and looting everywhere. Quzhou is owned by the general, so the general allows the rebels to commit such abuse? If there are too many killings, Emperor Zhu will investigate him in the future. The general should How to deal with it with excuses?”

"Damn it!"

Xue Su was awakened by a few words, and he called to the elite soldiers around him: "Hurry up and follow me into the city to appease the people. Anyone who dares to loot will be shot to death!"

Seeing that the rebel leader was willing to listen, Yang Yingyan finally breathed a sigh of relief. He suddenly glanced at Song Huizong and frowned: "This gentleman looks familiar, but where is he from?"

Song Huizong was shocked and deliberately changed his accent: "I am from Huainan."

Yang Yingyan shook his head: "But it doesn't sound like the Huainan accent."

Song Huizong explained: "I have been waiting in the shadows in Tokyo for many years, and I can no longer speak the local accent well, but I mix it with the Gyeonggi Mandarin."

Yang Yingyan looked at it carefully, and Song Huizong was very upset.

At this moment, Xue Su had already led his troops into the city, and Yang Yingyan whispered: "Your Majesty, take care of yourself."

Song Huizong felt like a bolt from the blue. He was sure that he had been recognized and couldn't help but ask: "I don't know your surname."

Yang Yingyan replied: "I am Yang Yingyan, the general magistrate of Quzhou. The deputy commander-in-chief of the Liangzhe Horse Infantry Army who accompanied Tong Guan to Fujian to suppress the bandits is none other than Yang Yingcheng, my brother from the same mother."

"It turns out that after being an imperial relative, he is indeed very loyal and loyal." Song Huizong quickly emphasized "imperial relative" and "loyalty", for fear that the other party would reveal his identity.

The biological aunts of Yang Yingyan and Yang Yingcheng were none other than Empress Zhanghui, the concubine of Song Zhenzong and the adoptive mother of Song Renzong!

This relationship is really far away, and the court cannot give too much preferential treatment. Yang Yingcheng was promoted by conquering Fang La, while Yang Yingyan was a serious Jinshi.

Song Huizong followed Yang Yingyan into the city, bowing his head all the way for fear of being recognized by other officials.

Yang Yingyan pretended not to know him and even deliberately refused to communicate with him. This at least made Song Huizong feel relieved.

The chaos in the city lasted for most of the day. Xue Su killed hundreds of people one after another, and finally order was gradually restored.

Xue Su summoned all the surviving officials and also called Song Huizong for a meeting. Except for Yang Yingyan, no one really recognized the Dog Emperor anymore - even though there were many Jinshi officials who had met Song Huizong several times from a distance.

Xue Su, who was a bandit, felt a little ashamed when he suddenly faced a group of high-ranking officials. He was even more afraid that he would not be able to suppress them. He immediately said to Song Huizong: "May I ask the military advisor, what should I do next?"

"Cough cough cough!"

Song Huizong covered his face with his sleeves and coughed, and said in a hoarse voice: "I occasionally caught wind and cold on the way, and I felt dizzy and it was difficult to do anything. Yang Tongpian is the real sage. You can consult him on everything from now on."

Yang Yingyan didn't waste any time: "Quzhou also has three counties: Changshan, Kaihua, and Jiangshan. If the city is lost, the three counties are prone to chaos, so we should send people quickly to appease them. The first one declares that the officials will not change and asks them to stick to their duties; the second one is exempted. Pay taxes and taxes to calm the hearts of the farmers. The general can lead the governor of Quzhou himself and wait for the new dynasty to send people to recruit him."

Xue Su's ambitions were not big. He was just bragging outside the city. It was enough to be the prefect of a state. He smiled and said, "According to Yang Tong's decision, I will be the prefect to protect the country and the people. The brothers under my command also We need to arrange some civil and military positions."

The bandit leader serves as the prefect, and a group of bandit leaders also hold important positions. How should the Ming court arrange it in the future?

Song Huizong pretended to be ill and rested in bed. Lying in bed, he began to recall his experiences along the way. He finally had a personal understanding of the country he governed.

Knowing is knowing, but personal experience is different.

Song Huizong felt extremely desperate that he could capture the city with just a casual suggestion.