Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

After days of heavy rain, the sky finally cleared up.

Just looking at the rainfall in the Xiangjiang River Basin, it is estimated that there will be another flood in Dongting Lake this year. Moreover, the rainy season has not passed yet, and it might start raining again someday.

Anyway, the climate is quite complicated and related to solar activity.

The world has been in the same weird shape for the past two hundred years. The temperature has gotten hotter and then colder, and the coldness has only happened in the past 20 to 30 years.

In fact, the temperature has been rising in the Northern Song Dynasty, but it was dry and wet, drought and flood.

The global situation is similar. The Mayan civilization in Central America declined during this period. Heavy rainfall from Arabia to India comes at the cost of insane drought in East Africa and North America.

Today, the world is getting colder and the climate is getting worse!

The dividing point was just a few years before Song Huizong ascended the throne. The temperature was getting lower and colder every year, and the cold winter was getting longer and longer every year.

Let's say that the rain stopped and the Ming army began to attack the city.

To the north of Changsha City is the Liuyang River and to the west is the Xiangjiang River, both of which have swollen water levels and rapid flows.

The Ming army first went around to the upper reaches of the Liuyang River to cross the river. The crossing speed was extremely slow, and only two to three thousand people passed through in the whole day.

The wooden cannon was almost unusable. The gunpowder was well protected from moisture, but the wooden barrel was seriously affected by moisture.

Large siege equipment cannot be used, and it is too difficult to push forward on the muddy ground. Therefore, I am too lazy to build them for the time being. Fortunately, I brought many flying ladders from Xiangyin.

The flying ladder is to install a wooden handle and an iron hook on the top of the wooden ladder. The iron hook can hook the parapet, and the wooden handle can prevent rolling wood.

All Ming army officers and soldiers took off their shoes and walked barefoot in the mud.

If you want to attack the city, you have to wait a few more days, at least build a moat bridge and build a pontoon bridge to pass through the moat.

Without half a month of preparation, you can't even think about crossing the moat.

It is estimated that the garrison in the city could not wait any longer, so they began to test and communicate with each other, and soon a surrender faction was formed with the Yin family as the center.

Yin Mingdao once again sent someone to contact him, explaining that the army only needed to send two to three thousand people across the moat and pretend to attack the city, and the surrendering forces in the city would take the opportunity to launch an attack.

Bai Qi discussed with Wang Yuan and Lin Chong and decided to send Yang Hua to lead a feint attack.

Anyway, Yang Hua's soldiers all surrendered, and Yang Hua was eager to make meritorious deeds, so he didn't feel bad no matter how many people died in fake surrenders.

The next day, morning.

Yang Hua personally led two thousand soldiers and began to cross the moat by boat. Tens of thousands of Ming troops beat drums and shouted in the south and east of the city, and approached the moat with flying ladders.

A Chu general named Wu Liang ran to Zhong Xu and volunteered: "The thieves have not filled in the moat and built a pontoon, but they want to come by boat. The last general is willing to lead eight hundred soldiers out of the city to intercept and kill him, and severely defeat him." Spirited!"

Zhong Xu carefully checked the situation outside the city and felt that he should take the initiative to fight out.

The several city gates are all occupied by Zhong Xu's trusted troops.

At the moment when one of the city gates opened, Wu Liang, who was supposed to lead his troops out of the city to fight, suddenly raised his sword at the friendly troops defending the city gate.

"kill!"

Wu Liang led his troops to shout while attacking and killing.

When the remaining surrendering generals received the signal, they immediately attacked nearby friendly troops and shouted for them to put down their weapons without killing them.

Yang Hua saw that the city gate was opened and fighting began at the top of the city. He shouted excitedly: "This is the time to make great achievements!"

They climbed from the moat to the shore, and before they could form a team, they rushed towards the city gate in a swarm.

"Lin Chong, you lead the troops to follow us, and the rest of the troops will respond later!" Bai Qi ordered.

There was a lively fight outside, but Yin Mingdao led his troops and rushed to the palace, shouting to the few remaining imperial guards: "Quickly open the city, there is a rebellion outside, I want to lead the troops to protect the queen and the prince!"

The imperial uncle arrived in person, and the imperial guards opened the palace door in a hurry without suspecting that he was there.

Yin Mingdao rushed in and took action. After killing the Imperial City guards, he went to protect his sister and capture the prince.

When Mrs. Yin heard the commotion, she sent someone to fetch Zhong Ziyi and called the second prince to her side.

Seeing Yin Mingdao leading his troops to attack, Zhong Ziyi turned to look at her stepmother in horror: "Is the queen also going to surrender to the enemy?"

Yin said with a calm expression: "If you don't take away Li Herong's military power, Changsha City can still be defended. Li Herong is under house arrest, and the soldiers are alienated. How can we defend the city together? Prince, surrender. You are young and ignorant, maybe You can still save your life.”

Zhong Ziyi cried: "Uncle, I was wrong. I told you that General Li should not be arrested!"

Yin Mingdao took the queen and prince to the outer city and ordered the defenders to surrender. Those Chu troops who were still resisting put down their weapons.

Only Zhong Xu was still leading the troops to fight, but he was also blocked on the city wall and could not continue.

"Boom!"

Thunder sounded again in the sky, this time only showers fell, and soon the sun came out.

Zhong Xu did not survive the shower and was stabbed to death in the rain.

The city gates were wide open on all sides, and Ming troops rushed in to take over Changsha in batches.

…

Hengyang.

The day after receiving the urgent report from Changsha, Prime Minister Zhong led his troops out of the city for a decisive battle in the rain.

The ground outside the city was muddy, and some rice fields were filled with deep water. There was not even an open battlefield suitable for fighting.

How could the coalition forces accept the challenge?

Zhong Xiang attacked the coalition camp and suffered heavy losses on the first day. He retreated to the city in embarrassment to lick his wounds.

That night, the coalition generals held a meeting.

Li Gong was now very proud of Cao Cheng and said: "General Cao is a veteran general. He must have guessed that there is probably an emergency behind Prime Minister Zhong."

Cao Cheng was reminded by these words, and his thoughts became clear in an instant: "Changsha must have been besieged, and the Duke of Shu's side has been victorious one after another. Otherwise, how could Prime Minister Zhong be so eager for a decisive battle? The road is not easy to walk now, and it is difficult to even step into the mud. Even if you pull it out, it will be slippery even if you walk on it on tight ground. The more armor you have on your body, the harder it will be to move. The Pseudo-Chu soldiers have better armor than we do, so they will suffer a loss in the battle at this time!"

Yang Zaixing said: "Then we can't leave the camp, and we will drag Prime Minister Zhong to death!"

"Will Prime Minister Zhong run away? Leave one to guard Hengyang and lead the majority to rescue Changsha?" Tang Danian expressed his thoughts.

Yang Zaixing said: "The water in the Xiangjiang River has risen and the flow is very fast. Even if it doesn't rain, it will take another two or three days before it is easy to sail. If he wants to leave, it will be two or three days later."

"Whether he leaves or not, let's hold on to the camp first," Cao Cheng said.

Like coaxing a child, Li Gong nodded and said, "What General Cao said is absolutely true."

But he said that in Hengyang City, Zhong Xiang got caught in the rain when he went to battle, and he was worried about the situation in Changsha. He became more and more angry until he fell asleep in the middle of the night.

It was already midnight the next day, and Prime Minister Zhong hadn't gotten up yet, so the soldiers could only remind him outside the door.

After shouting several times, Zhong Xiang finally agreed: "Help me up!"

As soon as he heard something was wrong in the voice, his voice became hoarse, and the soldier quickly opened the door and went in.

Zhong Xiangzheng was suffering from a high fever and told his soldiers: "Call Xie Shenggong. Don't let others know that I am sick, not even the doctor."

Xie Baoyi soon came to pay homage and was shocked when he saw Zhong Xiang: "Master, this is not the time to be sick!"

"Well, I'm getting older, and I've been exhausted these days. It rained again yesterday," Zhong Xiang said, leaning on the bedside. "Changsha will probably be lost, and Dachu may be gone."

Xie Baoyi said: "With Li Herong in Changsha, it will not be a problem to hold on for two or three months."

Zhong Xiang said: "The enemy troops came to the city, and Zhong Xu took away Li Herong's military power."

"What?" Xie Baoyi shouted in shock.

"This idiot is so stupid," Zhong Xiang said helplessly. "I asked Li Herong to lead the defense of Changsha because I was afraid that someone would do something wrong. I didn't expect Zhong Xu to be so courageous as to trap Li Herong and put him under house arrest. God is going to destroy Chu. , what can I do?"

Xie Baoyi stood stunned on the spot, not knowing how to react.

Zhong Xiang said: "I have a merciless request."

Xie Baoyi said: "It's just what I command."

"Your wife, children, and children are all in Changsha. I shouldn't let you abandon your family," Zhong Xiang said, "but I don't trust others, so I can only ask you to do it. There are no enemy camps in the north. After nightfall tonight, take your The prince ran away in the dark and found a place to live incognito. Don't think about revenge or start a rebellion. Let the prince find a village woman to marry, so that the incense of my Zhong family can be continued. "

"If I leave and the master falls ill again, what will happen to Hengyang?" Xie Baoyi asked.

Zhong Xiang said: "After three days, I will surrender. In these three days, you can go as far as you can with the prince."

"I... obey the order!" Xie Baoyi had tears in his eyes.

These tears were shed not only for Zhong Xiang and Da Chu, but also for his wife, children, and children. He knew that he would never see his family again in this life.

That night, Xie Baoyi, wrapped in gold and silver, left the city with Zhong Ziang, who was crying bitterly, hanging a basket and told the city defenders that he was going to Changsha to bring reinforcements.

The two of them disappeared from the world.

Zhong Xiang endured the high fever without treatment, without calling a doctor the whole time, and actually managed to get over it on his own.

By the third day, only symptoms such as coughing remained.

He called all the generals and told him: "Most of Changsha is gone. You have followed me for four years and have not enjoyed much wealth. Now that we are at the end of the road, we can open the city and surrender the enemy. But we cannot surrender to the people outside the city." , their military discipline is not strict, and they will definitely loot and kill indiscriminately after entering the city. The military discipline of the Ming army is very good, tell those bastards outside the city to ask the Duke of Shu of the Ming Kingdom to come and take over Hengyang City in person."

"His Majesty!"

All the generals fell to their knees, and some were crying loudly.

Zhong Xiang shook his head: "Your family is small, and most of them are in Changsha. If you surrender early, you may be able to save it. Please step aside and let me be alone."

All the generals burst into tears again, and some advised Mr. Zhong to defend to the end.

Zhong Xiang waved helplessly. After a long time of commotion, he was the only one left in the room.

Zhong Xiang wrote his last words, which were nothing more than asking Bai Qi to be kind to the surrendered soldiers and the people in Chu State.

After I finished writing, I put it in an envelope and placed it squarely on the table.

Zhong Xiang held the handle of the knife, feeling a little nostalgic for this wonderful world. After hesitating for a long time, he finally drew the knife across his neck and ended his life.

It wasn't until the soldiers brought the food and they shouted several times but got no answer that they opened the door and came in to see what was going on.

"His Majesty……"

In Hengyang City, the entire army was in silence.

The remaining soldiers defended the city and refused to surrender to the coalition forces outside the city. Instead, they waited for Bai Qi to personally lead his troops to take over.