Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

In the history books of the peninsula, Miaoqing has always been the image of a demon monk.

He is obviously a monk, but he claims to be proficient in Taiyi Yuzhang's footwork, which is also a kind of yin and yang Feng Shui prophecy technique.

Moreover, his brain seems to be a little abnormal, and he has become obsessed with "anti-gold". When all the officials of Goryeo disagreed, he directly launched an army and launched a coup, forcing King Jianyuan to proclaim himself emperor and send troops to conquer gold.

This incident caused great trouble. Although Miaoqing was suppressed, Goryeo declined and the king was ousted by the wealthy family.

Late September of the lunar calendar.

Miaoqing was ordered to send an envoy to the Ming Dynasty and crossed the sea to Dengzhou Port.

Before they even got off the ship, they saw a large number of ships moored at the port, and bags of food were being moved ashore.

"There seems to be a real war between the Ming Dynasty and the Jin Kingdom!" Monk Miaoqing muttered.

Deputy envoy Zheng Zhichang said: "We should seize the opportunity to gain the support of the Ming Emperor, so that we can force his Majesty to move the capital."

Monk Miaoqing said: "I hope the Ming Dynasty can win. There are too many lackeys of the Jin Kingdom in the court!"

Zheng Zhichang was born in the imperial examination and is currently a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. He is the most prolific poet in Goryeo. He hates red tape, advocates Lao-Zhuang thought, and is incompatible with mainstream Confucianism.

Both of these people are from the Xijing faction and want to move the capital to Pyongyang, representing the interests of the wealthy families in the Xijing area.

But the Kaijing faction was more powerful and scared the king away from him. In fact, the king also wanted to move the capital. He had lived in Kaijing since he was a child, and was psychologically affected by the wealthy families there. It happened that the Kaijing palace was burned down by powerful officials. .

This time, Monk Miaoqing and Zheng Zhichang went to the Ming Dynasty as envoys to gain the support of the Ming Emperor.

After leaving the ship and landing, officials soon came to contact them and took them to the state city to stay.

Before the two of them entered the city, they saw a large number of soldiers heading to the dock.

The armor of these soldiers has been carried on the ship, and they only hold various weapons in their hands. But even if they only have weapons, they are very powerful when marching. At first glance, they are the elite among the elite.

Zheng Zhichang couldn't help but ask: "Which general is commanding this army?"

Although the accent was weird, the official understood it and replied with a straight face: "Your envoys should not inquire about military affairs, otherwise they will be suspected of being petty."

Zheng Zhichang could only shut up.

A general ran past with his own soldiers. He stood on the shore and watched the soldiers board the ship. He cursed and said: "Zhi Niang, after resting for more than half a year, I can finally lead the troops to fight again!"

This person was of course Li Bao. His mission was very simple. He cut off the Liaoxi Corridor across the sea and blocked the Jin Kingdom's most convenient food route, so that subsequent military supplies from Liaodong could not be quickly transported to Youzhou.

Historically, the Eastern Route Army of the Kingdom of Jin sent troops to the Northern Song Dynasty twice, both of which set off from Liaodong in the eighth or ninth month of the lunar calendar.

Why did you choose this time?

One is to harvest new wheat, and the other is to avoid the rainy season.

Every year from April to July of the lunar calendar, the Liaoxi Corridor to the Liaohe River Basin will be soaked in mud by rain, making it difficult for troops and food to move.

Therefore, troops sent to Liaodong should avoid summer. If they cannot avoid it, they can only take a detour.

It was similar this time. Wanyan Yanmu arrived in Jinzhou with her army and the first batch of grain and grass in the late eighth month of the lunar calendar. At this time, the Liaoxi Corridor was much easier to travel.

In order to prevent the Ming army from crossing the sea and attacking the grain road, Wanyan's mother also divided her troops to garrison.

There are two thousand troops stationed in Jinzhou, one thousand troops stationed in Haibin, one thousand troops stationed in Zongzhou, two thousand troops stationed in Haiyang, and the other small grain stations have troops stationed between three and five hundred.

Nearly ten thousand troops were wasted guarding the grain road.

Of course, they all use issued militiamen to garrison, not to defeat the incoming enemy, but to protect various grain transportation stations.

It was acceptable for the grain transporting troops to be attacked along the way, and the losses would not be too great. After all, the Ming army also had to bear risks when attacking across the sea.

The Jin Kingdom could also transport grain from the north and enter Youzhou through Lulongsai, but that road was rugged and mountainous and the distance was far away, so the transportation consumption was too great.

Due to Zhang Jue's rebellion against Jin, the Western Liaoning Corridor was also in a semi-abandoned state after successive battles.

Xu Kangzong was on his mission to the Kingdom of Jin a few years ago and passed through the Liaoxi Corridor. His evaluation of this was: (The city east of Yuguan) is not as good as a small town in China and North Korea... After the war, it became even more desolate.

Let's put it this way, the location of Shanhaiguan in later generations was once the Qianzhou City of the Liao Kingdom. Now even the city has been razed, leaving only a resettlement town. Counting the staff at the inn, the total permanent population is less than a thousand.

Wanyan's mother knew to be on guard against the grain road, so how could Ju Ming not come and disturb her?

After several months of repairs, the Song Dynasty warships that could still be used in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong were sent to Shandong to gather at Dengzhou Port.

Maritime merchant ships from these three provinces also received "orders to enter China" from the imperial court.

As long as they transport grain to Dengzhou, they can obtain a corresponding amount of salt or tea.

Guangdong and Fujian are short of food, but Zhejiang is not. This year, Jiangnan has a bumper rice harvest. There was also grain from the Huaihe River and Huaihe River, which was also purchased frantically by maritime merchants just to transport it to Shandong in exchange for salt.

Private grain transport ships one after another are heading to Dengzhou from the southern coast along the monsoon currents. The grain in the port warehouse has piled up like a mountain.

These military rations can be used not only to send troops across the sea, but also to the battlefield in Hebei!

Li Bao will use Lushunkou as his base to harass the direction of Jinzhou first. It is best to mobilize the enemy's troops. Even if the Jin soldiers are not fooled, they can attack anywhere they want, as long as they are careful to avoid the Bohai storm.

South Xinzhai was Li Bao's first target. There was a Liao naval force there to send gold, and it would definitely become the Jin Kingdom's grain transfer station. Its location was in the middle area between Shanhaiguan and Suizhong County.

The second target was the relocation town, which was later known as Shanhaiguan.

After all the soldiers boarded the ship, Li Bao stood on the deck and ordered with high spirits: "Let's go!"

A large number of civilian ships helped transport troops and food.

The imperial court does not pay transportation fees, but when they return with the goods, they can obtain corresponding tariff reductions in the south. And there is no need to waste time. Anyway, we need to wait for the winter monsoon in Shandong.

Li Bao led the fleet to Lushunkou. After unloading the baggage, he immediately sent the fleet to the waters of Dalian Bay.

Pu Jianu was personally in charge of Huacheng County (Jinzhou). When he heard the warning sound of the bell, he quickly climbed up the tower to check. The densely packed ships on the sea shocked him and shouted: "Send an order to Liaoyang Prefecture and Posu Road to send additional reinforcements. No matter what, give me another five thousand soldiers. Also, ask Hu Sha to send a thousand Fuzhou soldiers immediately!" "

Posu Road is on the north bank of the Yalu River, and the garrison there is to guard against Goryeo.

The Liaoyang Mansion had just been conscripted, and if they wanted to conscript again, they would have to go crazy to capture young men, or even ask the Liaoyang clan to send slaves.

Liaonan cannot be lost. Since Li Bao has "increased troops", Pu's slaves must also defend heavily. Otherwise, Liaoyang may be in danger, which is one of the two ruling cores of the Jin Kingdom.

…

More than a month before Li Bao sent troops, Ju Ming had already gone north to Dezhou and Yongjing Army (Dongguang).

There are also two elite soldiers there.

One team was transferred to Shandong by Han Shizhong and personally organized and trained for one year. The soldiers came from various rebel armies in Shandong. For example, many of Song Jiang's old brothers served as officers under Han Shizhong.

The other group is Li Cheng's Shandong and Hebei rebel forces, which once captured Jinan City and were quite powerful in combat.

Li Cheng came to Dezhou by boat and greeted Ju Ming together with Han Shizhong: "Meet His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Just a military salute." Zhu Ming went to help Li Cheng with his own hands, because the old man knelt down and kowtowed.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Li Cheng was very excited.

This man is very interesting, treats his soldiers very well, and truly loves his soldiers like his own son. He has a bad attitude towards his boss and occasionally disobeys his orders.

But when he met a real top person like Prince Zhu, he seemed to become a commoner again.

Zhu Ming just helped him with his own hands. Li Chenggong was so excited that he was shaking all over. He felt that he was being taken seriously and wished he could die generously for the prince.

Very weird psychological activity.

Ju Ming slapped Li Cheng on the arm: "You are indeed a strong man. I heard that you can shoot a three-hundred-jin strong bow?"

Li Cheng said with a simple and honest smile: "But it's not that strong. Two hundred pounds is more than enough."

This guy was tall and tall, estimated to be 1.9 meters tall. He gave off a sense of intimidation just by standing there.

Ju Ming casually warned: "From now on, we will have enough food and salary, so we can no longer allow our subordinates to blackmail wealthy households."

"The last general will strictly abide by military law!" Li Cheng promised.

After a few more words of encouragement, Ju Ming turned to Han Shizhong and said, "Old Han, long time no see."

Hearing this kind of address, Han Shizhong was no longer restrained and said with a playful smile: "I also miss His Highness very much. I wonder if His Highness has brought a burning knife."

Ju Ming said: "I didn't bring the burning knife with me. I can drink it when you return to Beijing in triumph. Let's go to the city first. Deng Chun will arrive with his army in a few days."

Han Shizhong perked up: "Is there going to be a war?"

Li Cheng also pricked up his ears.

Ju Ming invited the two of them to get on the carriage and said on the way into the city: "The Shandong army is going to attack Hejian Mansion this time. If you encounter Jurchen elites, fight if you can. If you can't win, retreat. Change the attack to containment." .”

"I can definitely beat him," Li Cheng clenched his fist and said, "I not only want to capture Hejian Mansion, but I also want to lead my troops back to Xiongzhou!"

Li Cheng is from Xiongzhou and looks forward to returning to his hometown day and night.

Ju Ming asked: "How is the situation in Hejian Mansion?"

Han Shizhong said: "The Jin people are recruiting troops and food, and every day there are people from the river who can't stand the exploitation of the Jin people and sneak across the Yellow River to defect to the Ming Dynasty."

Li Cheng said: "I heard from the people who escaped that the Jin people and the Puppet Dynasty did not care about their life or death. No matter how many men there were in the family, they would either hand over food or let their children serve as soldiers. Rich households even had to pay food. They want to go out again, and if they don’t give them food, they will ransack their homes.”

"How long has this been going on?" Ju Ming asked.

Han Shizhong said: "It's been almost a month, and the Jin people are preparing for war."

Li Cheng said: "In the Yongjing Army stationed at the end, there were righteous soldiers who fled to Gonggao Town a few days ago. But it was the Jin people who conscripted soldiers and grain, forcing the wealthy households in Beilin Town and Yongning Town to rebel. The gentry took them with them The peasants resisted the donation and gathered more than 3,000 rebels. Unfortunately, they were suppressed by the Jin people with puppet officials and soldiers, and only a few hundred people died and escaped across the Yellow River."

"What the people want, this battle will definitely save the people of Hebei from fire and water." Zhu Ming said with emotion.

The Jin people are really fucking lunatics, but under their puppet rule, Hejian Mansion actually went so far as to force the landlords to rebel in order to collect military rations.