Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Hengyang, Quanxi Town.

The miners' rebel army from Guiyangjian has fought hundreds of miles, conquering cities and territories all the way to this point.

The soldiers were no longer just miners, but also ordinary Han people and Yao people in the mountains.

There are three leaders among them, named Tang Danian, Fang Zhong and Pan Shaojie.

Eighty years ago, during the reign of Song Renzong, their ancestors also rebelled together.

First, the Han people could not bear the heavy taxes and were forced to flee into the Yao territory and farm together with the Yao residents. Then the government controlled the Yao people's salt, forced the Yao people to pay high salt taxes, and killed Yao people at will when inspecting illicit salt.

Huang Zhugui, a private salt dealer in Jiangxi Province, clashed with officers and soldiers while selling salt to the Yao people, which triggered a joint uprising by the Han and Yao people.

The government turned the ruling conflicts into ethnic conflicts, alienated the Han and Yao rebels, and killed Huang Zhugui after recruiting him. They also forced the Han people down the mountain to move away and were not allowed to interact with the Yao people in the mountains. They designated a twenty-mile no-farming zone and destroyed farmers' crops and houses.

Such brutal rule immediately aroused a greater wave of resistance.

The uprising lasted for six years and even spread from Jingnan to Guangxi. In the end, the three leaders Tang, Fang and Pan led the remaining troops to surrender.

Eighty years have passed, and the ties between the Han and Yao ethnic groups have become even closer. Especially in river valleys and on the edges of mountains, the two ethnic groups have intermarried and lived together for a long time, making it difficult to distinguish one from the other.

Many "mixed" descendants speak Chinese but claim to be Yao people. This is because Yao people do not have to pay land taxes.

But the government was not a fool. Twenty or thirty years after the Han-Yao uprising, it gradually began to levy taxes on the Yao people at the foot of the mountain.

Moreover, the levy becomes more and more serious!

When Zhong Xiang just fought, the civilians of both Han and Yao tribes supported Zhong Xiang and helped Zhong Xiang kill officials and landlords.

In just two or three years, the brave man turned into a dragon.

Guiyang prison was soon stolen by speculators and the power to rule the countryside was colluded with the henchmen sent by Zhong Xiang.

"Da da da da..."

A fast horse galloped over, and the knight said to the Guiyang rebels who were still encamped: "Who is your leader? General Cao, please go and discuss matters!"

Fang Zhong stayed here to command the camp, and Tang Danian and Pan Shaojie were invited to Cao Cheng's camp.

Now, Hengyang is besieged on three sides.

Li Gong's camp is to the west of the city, Cao Cheng's camp is to the south of the city, and Yang Zaixing's camp is a buffer between the first two.

Now the Guiyang rebels are here again and camped in the southwest of the city.

Theoretically, Li Gong was the economic envoy of Guangxi appointed by the imperial court, and all rebel armies were under his control. However, this king had been suppressing the rebels in Guangxi, Hunan, and Jiangxi for a long time. He was notorious to the rebels of all ethnic groups, and everyone was more willing to listen to Cao Cheng.

Even though Cao Cheng was killed and defeated half a month ago...

"Meet General Cao!"

When he stepped into the camp, leaders from all walks of life greeted him one after another, and Cao Cheng felt quite pleased.

After introducing each other, Cao Cheng described the current situation and started to make nonsense again: "The imperial court has 200,000 troops in Dongting Lake, and there are 100,000 troops in Jiangxi. Sooner or later, Changsha will be taken. We only need to take Zhong Drag Xiang here, and when the news of the battle in the north comes, Prime Minister Zhong will definitely have his army in chaos, and then we can attack the city and defeat the thieves. Regardless of whether we capture him alive or behead him, as long as we capture Prime Minister Zhong, everyone present will be able to become high-ranking officials!"

"We all listen to General Cao!" leaders from all walks of life shouted.

The rebels didn't have much food, so they specially prepared wine and meat today, and everyone ate heartily.

The banquet was over and everyone dispersed.

Yang Zaixing stayed, and after everyone else had left, he said to Cao Cheng, "Should we contact Li Gong? After all, we are friendly forces now."

Cao Cheng shook his head: "It's better not to have any contact. He is now a high-ranking official, and we all have to listen to him. But when he issues military orders, which rebel army is willing to listen? It would be weird if he didn't start a scene on the spot."

Yang Zaixing hesitated to speak. He knew Cao Cheng's temper well and finally stopped trying to persuade him.

Back in the camp, Yang Zaixing called his soldiers: "Send two jars of wine to Li Jinglue and say it is from the Guiyang Rebel Army."

Yang Zaixing was originally hostile to Li Gong, but they joined forces to conquer Shaoyang and then Xidu Town together.

After days of contact, the relationship between the two parties has eased a lot.

Li Gong was a man who valued rules and credit. Seeing that Yang Zaixing had few soldiers, he gave Yang Zaixing 2,000 new soldiers.

But it was said that three leaders of the Guiyang rebel army gathered for a meeting after dark.

Tang Danian said: "Once there is a change, withdraw to Leiyang immediately!"

"Hengyang is besieged by armies from all walks of life. How can they still be defeated?" Pan Shaojie asked strangely.

Tang Danian said: "The army is not unified. Li Gong and Cao Cheng have the strongest troops here, but they are hostile to each other. Cao Chengcheng did not even invite Li Gong to a banquet. The military camps are also far apart, so it will be difficult if they are attacked. Quick rescue.”

"Second Brother Tang is right." Fang Zhong nodded.

Among the three, Tang Danian is Han, Pan Shaojie is Yao, but Fang Zhong is a Han-Yao "mixed" who calls himself Yao.

Moreover, Tang Danian had read a book, and his family used to be landlords. After the property was confiscated by Prime Minister Zhong, all the men in the family were thrown into mining. Having traveled hundreds of miles along the way, the miners in Guiyang Prison now listen to Tang Danian's words.

…

In Hengyang City.

An urgent letter was delivered to Prime Minister Zhong. The content could be summarized in one sentence: Lujiao Village is gone. The Ming army besieged Xiangyin, but the Chu army can still hold on for the time being.

Just six days ago, the news of Chen Yang's siege was already known to Zhong Xiang.

There is nothing Zhong can do about this. He is now short of soldiers and food. With the resources of half of Hunan, how can it withstand the siege of several provinces?

Prince Zhong Ziang was also in Hengyang. Seeing no one around him, he couldn't help but whisper: "Father, why don't you surrender?"

"Everyone can surrender, except you and me, father and son." Zhong Xiang glared at his son.

Zhong Ziang shut up immediately.

Prime Minister Zhong added: "The enemy troops in Jiangxi have been defeated. The enemy troops outside Hengyang City, you can tell by looking at their camps that they are not united. If we delay for a while, we may be able to find an opportunity to defeat the enemy. Yang Hua still has 8,000 elite troops. , tell him to leave the Jiangxi enemy alone and immediately return to Xiangyin City to defend against the enemy."

"Where is Dingzhou?" Zhong Ziang asked.

Zhong Xiang said dejectedly: "The navy is defeated, and Dingzhou is destined to be unable to defend itself."

The war in the south mainly relied on water transportation. The Ming Dynasty Navy completely controlled Dongting Lake, which was equivalent to dividing the northern battlefield.

Chenyang and Yuanjiang were besieged. Although Yiyang was very close, the defenders of Yiyang did not dare to move due to the shortage of soldiers and food.

Three days later, Prime Minister Zhong sent Chen Gui, a fierce general, to lead a thousand elite troops out of the city to attack at night.

There are the Daozhou and Hezhou rebel camps with Cao Cheng as the center. They are all nominally under the command of Cao Cheng, but in fact they are divided into more than ten forces.

Chen Gui successfully lit a camp on fire. The flames soared into the sky, accompanied by shouts of killing, and the rebels in nearby camps fled.

In the darkness, Cao Cheng did not dare to save him, fearing that his troops would collapse. He can quickly pacify his headquarters and prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the situation, so he can be regarded as a good general.

However, the camps of Li Gong, Yang Zaixing, and Tang Danian were far away, and it was too late to save them. When they arrived with troops, Chen Gui had already led the Chu army back to the city.

After losing two games in a row, the morale of the army was not unified. After Cao Cheng gathered his defeated troops, he actually retreated twenty miles to camp.

Tang Danian immediately contacted Yang Zaixing and then contacted Li Gong. After detailed discussions, the three parties finally joined forces and abandoned their prejudices to deal with Prime Minister Zhong together.

At this point, Zhong Xiang has found it difficult to break the situation.

His only way was to take the initiative to go out of the city and fight the coalition forces by relying on the elite troops in his hands. It is almost impossible to attack at night, and to stay in the city is to wait for death.

Among the coalition forces outside the city, Li Gong's troops were the best equipped, but most of them were from rural soldiers, the so-called landlords' armed forces. It had only been three or four months since they had surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, and they hadn't even had time to reorganize, so their combat effectiveness and morale were just like that.

As for the troops of Tang Danian and Yang Zaixing, if they were to be equipped with armor and armor, they were only three to four thousand men in total, and many of the soldiers even lacked leather armor.

If Zhong Xiang goes out to fight in the city, he still has a chance to win, because his opponent is "too bad"!

After repeated calculations, Zhong Xiang asked his son to defend the city while he personally led the main force in the decisive battle.

Li Gong, Yang Zaixing, and Tang Danian, however, stood firm and refused to leave the camp. They knew that their troops were too weak and they had to recruit Cao Cheng's troops to be sure.

Li Gong called Yang Zaixing and Tang Danian over and repeatedly discussed the battle plan, but still felt that his troops were insufficient.

After the two left, Li Gong walked around in the tent. He thought for a long time and finally made up his mind. He gritted his teeth and said: "That thief Cao Cheng wants face, so give him enough face!"

Leaving the camp to his son to defend, Li Gong rode south in person, detouring more than thirty miles to Cao Cheng's camp.

"Why is Li Jinglue here? He is really a rare visitor." Cao Cheng became angry when he saw Li Gong. One of his clan brothers died at the hands of Li Gong.

Li Gong said: "General Cao, in the past, you and I were our own masters. On the battlefield, swords without eyes would inevitably lead to death and injury. In fact, there is no personal enmity at all. Today, we are both ministers of the Ming Dynasty, and we should work together to serve the court. If I have made any mistakes, I will I will apologize to the general today, and I hope the general will take good care of him. After the thief is defeated, we will have a wine banquet to apologize!"

After saying that, Li Gong suddenly knelt down on one knee and raised his hands to Cao Cheng in front of everyone.

Cao Cheng was so startled that he took two steps back, his vest already sweating.

Li Gong was now the Ming Dynasty's economic envoy to Guangxi. How could Cao Cheng, a general who had just been named commander, afford to put down his arrogance and apologize in public?

Once you don't give face, how can you get away with it if word spreads? It was simply a slap in the face of the Ming Dynasty!

Moreover, Li Gong's low profile also greatly benefited Cao Cheng, who inevitably felt a bit proud in his heart, and the resentment accumulated in the past was wiped away.

"Jing Lue, please get up quickly!"

Cao Cheng hurriedly went to help him: "I also have something wrong. Now that we are both ministers of the Ming Dynasty, we should abandon our grudges and work together with the general to work together for great things."

Li Gong was actually very aggrieved. He was lifted up by Cao Cheng, held Cao Cheng's hand and said: "All the elite soldiers in Hengyang City are Prime Minister Zhong. Without the help of the general, I really have no chance of winning. I also ask the general to hurry up." Lead the troops back."

"I'll set off tomorrow, do some planning and go back to wait for news!" Cao Cheng immediately promised.

With Li Gong kneeling down on one knee, these ragtag groups in the south were finally able to unite to fight, instead of the previous situation of fighting independently.