Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Stepping on the frozen Yellow River, the Jin Dynasty envoy came to Chenqiao Town.

The merchants here still refused to sell them food and clothing. It was obvious that the imperial court had sent someone to say hello.

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

There was the sound of horse hooves, and a group of cavalry came running.

Yan Ping, Li Yanxian's cavalry general, was ordered to be transferred back to the capital during the major case. He was stationed near Chenqiao Town and has not yet left.

Yan Ping rushed to the envoy office of the Kingdom of Jin and scolded: "Since you are leaving, don't drag your feet and harass the people of the Ming Dynasty along the way. Come, give them something to eat. If they starve to death in the Ming Dynasty, it will look too much for the Celestial Empire." mean."

More than a dozen cavalrymen came with spare horses, took the food from the horses' backs, and threw it on the snow.

"Thank you!" Zuo Guangqing took people to pick up the grain bags and even smiled in apology at Yan Ping.

Wanyan Yuying clenched her fists with both hands, feeling a sense of shame and humiliation. When he rewarded slaves, he also threw food on the ground like this.

Yan Ping said: "What can't you do if you dare to offend His Majesty in person? Barbarians will be barbarians after all. The prince is afraid that you will plunder along the way, so he asked me to lead the troops to escort him out of the country. After you have eaten, hurry up and hit the road."

The smile on Zuo Guangqing's face disappeared and he said seriously: "We, the Jin Dynasty, serve the people and inherit the unification of the Liao Kingdom. Jin and Ming have also established diplomatic relations. How can a general be called a barbarian?"

"Barbarians are just barbarians, but they are no longer the same if they change their skins?" Yan Ping said scornfully, "Your ancestors were Han Chinese and you have read books yourself. Haven't you ever heard of wearing a crown after wearing a monkey?"

"It's too much!"

"Qiang!"

Wanyan Yuying drew his sword and his soldiers also showed their weapons.

The cavalry of the Ming Dynasty were not polite. They all drew their bows and arrows and shot them as soon as they received military orders.

The atmosphere was tense and on the verge of breaking out.

As long as a fighting breaks out today, regardless of the outcome, the two countries will inevitably go to war.

Zuo Guangqing no longer cared about saving the face of the Kingdom of Jin, and quickly bowed and said: "It's all a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding. When we return to the country, we have to rely on the general to escort us all the way."

Immediately afterwards, he turned around and pressed Wanyan Yuying's right hand: "Calm down, calm down."

"snort!"

Wanyan Yuying returned the knife to its sheath, of course he knew not to hit.

Not to mention whether to provoke a war between the two countries, it would be difficult to win even regardless of the consequences. There were only a few dozen Jin envoys, including civilians, but Yan Ping's cavalry team had 300 people.

Both sides put away their weapons and headed north through the snow.

The envoys of the Kingdom of Jin walked in front, and the Ming cavalry followed closely, ready to shoot them in the back at any time.

They rested in delivery shops along the way. Due to the shortage of rooms, the Jin envoys often slept in straw huts, and fell asleep smelling the smell of horse manure every night.

From time to time, Yan Ping would make sarcastic remarks, clearly trying to anger the other party.

From the chief and deputy envoys to the ordinary soldiers, the Jin envoys were all filled with anger.

When we arrived at Haiyang (Qinhuangdao), it was already spring.

The Jin envoys did not eat well, sleep well, and did not even have a hot bath during the trip. When they arrived outside Haiyang City, they were like beggars.

"Strengthen the alert, the Ming Dynasty may send troops!" Wanyan Yuying said to the Haiyang defender.

Before the Ming Dynasty, there was no Shanhaiguan, only Yuguan.

Yuguan is a military defense system, not just a specific Guancheng. The vast area from Shanhaiguan in the east to Funing in the west all fell within the scope of Yuguan, which was used to defend Goguryeo during the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

After the establishment of the Liao Kingdom, Yuguan became Yuguanyi. In addition to conveying military information, it was mainly used to collect tolls.

Guancheng collapsed long ago and has never been repaired.

At this time, in order to block the Banghai Road, the Jin Kingdom stationed heavy troops in Haiyang (Qinhuangdao) and also reinforced Haiyang County.

There are also different voices within the Jin Kingdom. Wanyan Zonghan plans to abandon the Liaoxi Corridor and retreat directly to Jinzhou to station troops, which is more conducive to combat. However, this proposal was rejected because if the Liaoxi Corridor was lost, the Jin Kingdom's Lizhou and Jianzhou would be exposed on their flanks.

After taking a bath in Haiyang Haosheng, Zuo Guangqing and Wanyan Yuying each rode a fast horse towards Harbin.

…

Jin Kingdom, go to Beijing.

"Why is father drinking again? Can't you cheer up and fight with them?" Wanyan Zongpan was angry and refused to argue.

Wu Qimai laughed: "Come over and have a drink."

Wanyan Zongpan took the wine glass and said angrily: "You asked me to be patient, but I lost my ambition. Those people under Nianhan are becoming more and more arrogant and domineering, and many nobles are willing to fall over to us. How can we do this every day at this time? Drinking and having fun?”

Wu Qimai sighed: "If you can't fight, don't ask for trouble."

Wanyan Zongpan stared at his emperor father. He wanted to know if Wu Qimai was just pretending, or if he was really lying flat and letting others manipulate him.

The internal fighting in the Jin Kingdom seems to have eased, but in fact it has become more complicated, and the ancestral line has been torn apart.

The first largest force is the military sect headed by Wanyan Zonghan, with leading soldiers and generals from all races united together.

The second largest force is the Taizu sect headed by Wanyan Zongqian. Its core members are the sons of Aguda, and it has the support of Han and Bohai civil servants.

The third largest force was the Taizong sect headed by Wanyan Zongpan. Its core members were the sons of Wu Qimai, as well as the marginalized Jurchen nobles and some civil servants from various ethnic groups.

In addition, the Taizu Sect also vaguely split into factions, such as the aristocratic faction headed by Wanyan Zongfu. They control part of the military power in Liaodong and central Liaoning areas. They belong to the Taizu sect in name, but in fact they have a semi-independent tendency.

Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zongqian joined forces and always wanted to ease the factional conflicts.

But it can’t be suppressed at all!

First, because the Military Merit Sect was arrogant and domineering, as Wanyan Zonghan brought troops to Beijing, conflicts continued with the top nobles of the Jin Kingdom.

The second reason is that Wanyan Zongqian cultivated party members and wanted to completely control the court, which caused dissatisfaction among a large number of Jin nobles.

The two men each have their own interests, and they seem to tolerate each other for the sake of the country, but in fact they join forces to gain power.

Some people gain power and others lose it.

The Jurchen nobles who were marginalized turned to Wanyan Zongpan one after another. However, their strength is still relatively weak and they dare not make big moves openly. They can only work in secret and hide in secret.

The status of Wanyan Zongfu, Wanyan Zongbi (Jin Wushu) and others has become increasingly embarrassing. On the whole, they supported Wanyan Zongqian, but they were dissatisfied with Wanyan Zongqian's behavior of seizing power, so they led the army to form a semi-independent faction.

Such a grass-roots team could still maintain restraint simply because of the existence of the enemy Daming.

In order to ease the conflicts, various factions met several times to compromise, and Wanyan Zongpan also obtained a Bojilie status, which allowed him to attend the conference on behalf of the emperor and the Taizong faction.

"Let's go to the meeting!" Wanyan Zongpan pulled Wu Qimai out of the house, smelling of alcohol.

The scene of the Bojilie meeting.

Wu Qimai sat in the main seat, followed by Wanyan Zongqian, Wanyan Zonghan, Wanyan Zongpan, Wanyan Zongfu, Wanyan Zongbi...

Wanyan Zongqian's status is so high not only because he is the eldest son of Aguda and has the support of a large number of nobles, but also because the crown prince of Jin Kingdom is also raised in his family. After the death of Aguda's eldest son, his wife and son were taken in by Wanyan Zongqian. Continue.

In other words, the current crown prince of Jin Kingdom is actually Wanyan Zongqian's stepson.

"Tell me about your experiences in the Ming Dynasty." Wanyan Zongqian said.

Zuo Guangqing said: "I arrived in Kaifeng before autumn, but I didn't see the Ming Emperor until after the winter solstice. I asked the Ming Emperor for traitors and deserters, but the Ming Emperor denied it, so I said This would cause war between the two countries. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty thought this was a threat to him, so he expelled us all from the Sifang Pavilion..."

"It's snowing heavily in Kaifeng City. We don't even have a place to stay, so we can only hide in caves to keep out the cold. On the way back home, the Nanbarbarians insulted us in every possible way and even made us sleep in hay houses and stables..." Wanyan Yuying counted herself in detail The useless things I encountered.

Zuo Guangqing was relatively restrained, but Wanyan Yuying was adding fuel to the fire.

After the two of them finished speaking, the group of Bo Jilie did not get angry.

Wanyan Zonghan said: "The Ming Dynasty wants to provoke a war. They will definitely send troops this year or next year."

Wanyan Zongqian said: "We have also saved some food and grass. If we can hold on until the autumn food is collected, there will be no problem in fighting a big war for half a year."

Although famine and rebellion continued in the Jin Kingdom, they did not delay hoarding food and grass.

Wanyan Zongfu asked: "How many troops can be collected?"

Wanyan Zonghan said: "Including Yunzhong and the grassland, at least 120,000 troops can be sent. But the Han people in the clouds, the Khitans in the grassland, and the ancient Tang tribes were sent to the battlefield, and there may be rebellions and defections. . Especially in the various tribes of the Tang Dynasty, there were spies from the Ming Dynasty operating, colluding with tribal leaders to rebel and surrender to the Ming Dynasty. The caught spies were tortured to extract confessions, and he said that all tribal leaders were willing to surrender to the Ming Dynasty."

This was caused by the high-pressure policy of the Jin State, and various tribes in the ancient Tang Dynasty were excessively exploited by the Jin State. Not to mention the rebels turned over, some even defected to Xixia and helped Xixia seize the Baotou area.

Wanyan Zonghan continued: "If the war goes well, I can ensure that they do not rebel. If the war goes wrong, I am afraid many troops will defect."

"No matter what, we must fight with all our strength." Wanyan Zongfu said.

Wanyan Zonghan said: "You can't fight on your own, and you can't just retreat and defend."

"My idea is to abandon Banghai Road and retreat to the Jinzhou area. Liaozhong, Liaodong, Liaonan, Jinzhou... focus on defense. Don't send troops indiscriminately, because the Ming army may raid across the sea at any time."

"Yunzhong (Datong) is also focused on defense. There are many fortresses there. Even if the Ming army can break through one, it will not have much impact on the battle situation."

"The main force of our army is waiting for opportunities from all over Yanshan to move south. It does not fight for a city or a place, but plunders and harasses everywhere, tempting the Ming army to run exhausted, and finally looking for fighter planes to encircle and annihilate. If you can encircle and annihilate one force, if it is difficult to win, He immediately withdrew from the siege and fled far away, luring the Ming army to pursue him..."

Wanyan Zongpan snorted coldly: "You gave the land of Youyan to the Ming Kingdom, but now you have to fight there."

"What do you know?"

Wanyan Zonghan sarcastically said: "There is a vast plain, sparsely populated and barren land. If we keep occupying it, there will be no danger at all and we will have to station troops everywhere for defense. But now the reverse is true. The Ming army is defending everywhere, and we can come and go freely. And Ming The Han people were moved to the country and cultivated there for two years. Our army could plunder food everywhere. The land is dead, but the people are alive. It would be beneficial to us to cede the land to the Ming Dynasty."

"Da da da da..."

Before the Bojilie Conference ended, a fast horse galloped into Beijing, and soon officials came in to announce: "The Nilon Mongols have rebelled!"

Genghis Khan's great-grandfather officially launched an army to rebel against the Jin Kingdom!