Xianxia version of Water Margin

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Time flies, time flies.

In the blink of an eye, ten years have passed since Jiang Hongfei and Wang Qing became sworn brothers.

In these ten years, Wang Qing became more and more powerful due to chance encounters. Later, the Zhao Song Dynasty transferred soldiers to him, and he bribed Cai Jing and Tong Guan, or bribed Yang Jian and Gao Qiu. He didn't care about cowardice when he got bribes. The soldiers spent money to get power, and they arbitrarily deprived the army of food, killed innocent people to take credit, let the soldiers plunder, harassed the local area, and forced the children to follow the bandits. Since then, his power has gradually increased, and he let the soldiers go south. In total, he occupied eight military states and 86 counties. He called himself "King of Chu". In Nanfeng City, he built a palace, inner garden, and palace, usurped the title and changed the year; he also learned from the Song Dynasty, set up civil and military offices, provincial government officials, and internal and external generals. He ruled a region. He was indeed a hero.

Jiang Hongfei was even more powerful. He successively destroyed the Liao Dynasty, Tian Hu, Zhao Song Dynasty, and Goryeo Dynasty, defeated the Jin Dynasty, shocked Xixia, ascended the throne and became the emperor. He dominated one side, with tens of thousands of civil and military officials and millions of soldiers and horses, and was invincible in the world.

If these two people join forces, who in the world can defeat them?

In fact, Jiang Hongfei tried to persuade Wang Qing to surrender many times, promising that as long as Wang Qing was willing to bring his men to surrender, he would be crowned as the King of the Side by Side, and rewarded with a thousand big houses, five million spiritual money, and a thousand beautiful maids.

But Wang Qing would rather be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix. He wanted to secede from one side and live a carefree life, and was unwilling to submit to Jiang Hongfei.

For this reason, Wang Qing did not hesitate to unite with the Southern Song Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty, and Xixia to harass the Yuan army together.

Wang Qing thought that although Jiang Hongfei's Yuan Empire was strong, it should not be able to withstand the union of the four families.

Unexpectedly, not long after the four families united, the most powerful of the four, the Jin Kingdom, suffered a great defeat. The second largest, the Western Xia, fought repeatedly with the Yuan army in the Hengshan area, and the small Southern Song Dynasty court was driven to the south of the Yangtze River by the Yuan army.

Wang Qing and his gang felt that things seemed a little bad.

Military Advisor and Prime Minister Li Zhu advised Wang Qing: "The king did not listen to me and insisted on uniting the Northern Di, the Western Rong, and the remnant Song to be the enemy of the Yuan emperor. Now that the four of us have united, it is difficult to defeat the Yuan. The other three families have all stopped fighting. I am afraid that my Great Chu will bear the brunt of it and face a disaster."

Over the years, alcohol and sex have hollowed out Wang Qing's body, causing him to indulge in excessive desires, with sunken eye sockets, and no longer as handsome as he used to be.

But Wang Qing is a hero after all, and his demeanor is still intact.

Wang Qing laughed and said, "If others don't know, how can the military advisor not know? The reason why I dare to provoke my brother is because I have a back-up plan. With this back-up plan, what is there to fear?"

The back-up plan Wang Qing mentioned was Tong Guan.

Back then, Wang Qing committed adultery with Jiao Xiu, the daughter of Tong Guan's brother Tong Ren, the grandson of Yang Kan, who was raised by Tong Guan as his own daughter and betrothed to Cai You's son, but was actually the daughter-in-law of Cai Jing's grandson.

Three months later, it was the time when joy turned to sorrow. One day, Wang Qing got drunk and exposed himself in front of Zhang Bin, the regular army of this prefecture, so he made the matter public, which inevitably reached Tong Guan's ears. Tong Guan was furious and secretly sent someone to order the prefect to find a crime to frame him and exile him to a remote and evil military state to eliminate his traces. Later, he was broken twenty back sticks, and a calligrapher was called to tattoo his cheeks. According to the distance of the place, he should be exiled to the prison city of Shanzhou under the jurisdiction of Xijing.

This is why the Duan family solemnly recruited a new son-in-law, Fangshan Village merged with the old strongman, and the King of Chu, Wang Qing, was born.

In this respect, Wang Qing and Tong Guan can be said to have a grudge.

But then again, it was Wang Qing who stole Tong Guan's adopted daughter and destroyed the marriage between the Cai, Tong, and Yang families first, which led to Tong Guan's revenge on Wang Qing. Seriously speaking, it was all Wang Qing's own fault.

The key is that Wang Qing got a blessing in disguise, ruled a region, became one of the four major bandits, and enjoyed a ten-year life of a powerful man.

More importantly, the Zhao Song Dynasty was destroyed, but Tong Guan still had hundreds of thousands of elite Pingnan Army soldiers who were good at fighting.

Let's look at the Cai family and the Yang family that Tong Guan wanted to marry.

The former had completely surrendered to the Yuan Empire and became Tong Guan's enemy.

The latter had long been in decline, with his family broken up.

And Wang Qing was the King of Chu who ruled a region.

The key point is that the Jiangnan area occupied by Tong Guan and the eight military states and eighty-six counties occupied by Wang Qing are adjacent to each other, or even back to back.

Tong Guan and Wang Qing became natural allies.

So Tong Guan took great pains to find his adopted daughter Jiaoxiu and marry her to Wang Qing as a concubine, and the two quietly completed the marriage.

Because Tong Guan was still a minister of the Song Dynasty, it was not good to marry Wang Qing, a big bandit who had already established the Yuan Dynasty, so the two sides did not publicize this close relationship.

Wang Qing believed that with Tong Guan and his hundreds of thousands of elite Pingnan troops, he would not be afraid even if Jiang Hongfei attacked him. He did not believe that the 500,000 or 600,000 troops in his hands, plus the 500,000 or 600,000 elite troops in Tong Guan's hands, could not stop Jiang Hongfei's attack.

Li Zhu said leisurely: "Which of Tian Hu and the Song Dynasty did not have millions of troops, and which one could withstand his attack? The king underestimated the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty too much."

Wang Qing smiled disapprovingly.

Seeing this, Li Zhu sighed in his heart, and then left silently...

...

To be fair, Zhao Gou did not resist and was determined to escape, in fact, he had his own reasons.

First, Zhao Gou was not capable enough to completely integrate the huge resources left by the Northern Song Dynasty in a short period of time to turn the tide. This was definitely true.

Secondly, Zhao Gou was very worried that his throne was not legitimate. He even attributed the fact that those Song army soldiers obeyed orders but not orders to his throne.

However, the slogan of the war faction was to welcome back the two saints.

How could Zhao Gou listen to the war faction? Of course, he had to side with the peace faction that maintained his ruling position.

Again, to be honest, Zhao Gou didn't have much affection for Zhao Ji, Zhao Huan and his people.

Concubine Wei Xian was a woman favored by Zhao Ji, who was not the most romantic emperor and had more concubines than Jiang Hongfei at her peak.

The reason why Concubine Wei Xian was able to give birth to Zhao Gou was all because of Concubine Qiao's help and her own ambition.

In other words, except for sowing a seed in Wei Xianfei, Zhao Ji and Wei Xianfei almost never interacted again.

There is a scene that happened when Zhao Gou was a child, which has always lingered in Zhao Gou's mind.

That is, every time when the sun goes down and lights are turned on, Concubine Wei Xian will always stand in the palace courtyard admiring the flowers. Her eyes seem to be staring at the flowers, but in fact she is looking at the other side of the palace wall. Her face is sad and her expression is melancholy, until she is no longer young. Again, the frown has never been relieved.

After growing up, Zhao Gou gradually understood that it was Zhao Ji that Concubine Wei Xian was waiting for year after year.

It's a pity that Concubine Wei Xian never waited for Zhao Ji.

Even Zhao Gou is not Zhao Ji's favored son.

Zhao Ji's attitude is the attitude of the royal family and clan of the Zhao and Song Dynasties towards people.

It is conceivable that Zhao Gou would have any feelings for the royal family and clan members of the Zhao and Song dynasties who had not been kind to him at all.

Back then, Jiang Hongfei would detain anyone Zhao Huan sent to negotiate peace with the Yuan Empire.

It is no exaggeration to say that this mission is a narrow escape.

As a result, Zhao Huan sent Zhao Gou to negotiate peace.

This actually means asking Zhao Gou to die.

In order to make Zhao Gou die with peace of mind, Zhao Huan specially rewarded Concubine Wei Xian and Xing Bingyi.

As for Xing Bingyi and other Zhao Gou’s concubines?

How many women can a man who does big things still be reluctant to part with?

What about Zhao Gou’s five daughters?

Zhao Gou felt that he was still young and could still give birth.

Furthermore, those five are all daughters, not sons, so why would they be reluctant to part with them?

The only thing Zhao Gou couldn't bear to leave was his mother, Concubine Wei Xian, who depended on him for life.

Concubine Wei Xian was also the only person Zhao Gou really wanted to save.

However, in Zhao Gou's opinion, it was not the time to rescue Concubine Wei Xian yet. Besides, he had also heard that Concubine Wei Xian was living well with Jiang Hongfei, and he was not in a hurry to rescue Concubine Wei.

In short, Zhao Gou will not throw himself into a trap just because of his emotions.

Finally, and most importantly, Zhao Gou believed that although there were many Song troops, most of them did not listen to his command. The two most typical examples are Zongze and Tong Guan, who had heavy troops. When fighting against the Yuan army, the other one remained stationary. Zhao Gou had no way to deal with them.

Moreover, only a few of the Song armies dared to fight the Yuan army. When the more Song armies saw the Yuan army coming, they either surrendered directly to the city or fled in all directions. Even if there were some who resisted to the end, it was only for protection. Their own strategic space and their own hometown are not to protect Zhao Gou's country and country.

Zhao Gou wanted to deal with these people as a warning to others.

But in the face of this common phenomenon, Zhao Gou couldn't investigate it at all.

The key is, Zhao Gou is afraid that if he really pursues the case, these people will surrender to the Yuan Empire, or even less listen to his orders.

In short, in Zhao Gou's view, the Song army in his hands not only refused to obey his orders, but also had bombs that could kill him at any time.

Zhao Gou took it for granted that he could never lead such a Song army to resist the attack of the Yuan army.

So Zhao Gou could only run.

But after escaping the Yangtze River, Zhao Gou found that he had nowhere to escape. If Jiang Hongfei continued to pursue him, he would become a turtle in the urn.

There was no other way, Zhao Gou could only beg Jiang Hongfei to let him go.

For this reason, Zhao Gou even did not hesitate to move his mother out, implying that he and Jiang Hongfei were not outsiders.

Maybe it was Zhao Gou's sincerity that impressed Jiang Hongfei.

The Yuan army did not cross the river.

Not only that, Jiang Hongfei also sent Chai Jin and Xiao Rong to negotiate peace with Zhao.

Zhao Gou was overjoyed and entertained Chai Jin and Xiao Rong warmly.

Chai Jin told Zhao Gou that his mother, Concubine Wei Xian, gave birth to a son for Jiang Hongfei. Jiang Hongfei and Longyan were delighted. Concubine Wei Xian took the opportunity to plead for Zhao Gou. Because Jiang Hongfei was in a good mood, he agreed to let Zhao Gou go.

After hearing this, Zhao Gou felt extremely disgusted.

But on the surface, Zhao Gou still flattered Jiang Hongfei with a smile on his face and said: "Your Majesty is really a dragon, a dragon and a tiger!"

Zhao Gou's shameless look made many Song ministers look disappointed, and some even showed contempt for Zhao Gou.

Of course, some Song ministers felt that Zhao Gou had done the right thing and had to endure it when the small court of the Southern Song Dynasty was completely defeated by the Yuan Empire.

During the Chu-Han War, the Chu army found Liu Taigong, Lu Pheasant and others and took them back as hostages.

The Chu and Han armies faced each other in Guangwu, and the stalemate lasted for several months without a winner.

Liu Bang then sent general Peng Yue to attack the Chu army's food routes, causing the Chu army to be short of food and grass. Xiang Yu was very worried about this, so he asked someone to make a very high chopping board, put Liu Taigong on it, and put a big pot under it. Then Xiang Yu shouted to Liu Bang: "Surrender quickly, or your father will be cooked."

Liu Bang replied: "You and I accept the order of Emperor Yi and we become brothers. My father is your father. You must cook for your father. I hope you can share a cup of broth with me."

This is the quality that people who do great things need to have.

Compared with Liu Bang, Zhao Gou is nothing to mention.

Chai Jin did not laugh at Zhao Gou, but advised Zhao Gou: "The king and your majesty are of the same family, and there is no need to fight and kill each other. Your majesty said that as long as you agree to a few small conditions, you will reward the king with all the counties in the south of the Yangtze River. "

Zhao Gou was overjoyed and said hurriedly: "I would like to hear the details."

Chai Jin said: "There are three conditions: First, your majesty has abolished the Zhao Song Dynasty, and it is inappropriate for you to call yourself the King of Song Kang. In my opinion, you might as well change your surname to your majesty's and become the King of Kang of the Great Yuan Dynasty. How about that?"

When Chai Jin said this, Zhao Gou, who was as thick-skinned as him, was also very embarrassed!

You know, the reason why Zhao Gou was able to become the emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty was not because he was very capable, wise, wise, and good at appointing people, but because his surname was "Zhao" and he was the last royal family of the Zhao Song Dynasty.

And now, Jiang Hongfei actually wanted to deprive him of his only reliance, making him even more unjustified.

Not only Zhao Gou, but also those Song officials who hoped that Zhao Gou would make peace with Jiang Hongfei at all costs, were also embarrassed by the harsh conditions offered by the Great Yuan Empire.

But if you say that the conditions offered by the Great Yuan Empire were unreasonable, it is not true.

After all, Zhao Gou's biological mother remarried Jiang Hongfei, so it was reasonable for him to change his surname to Jiang Hongfei.

The key point is that Jiang Hongfei has already announced the destruction of the Zhao Song Dynasty. Zhao Gou is eyeing the name of the Zhao Song Dynasty. How can you let Jiang Hongfei let him go?

After Zhao Gou crossed the river, he dismissed Wang Boyan and Huang Qianshan from their positions as prime ministers.

On the one hand, Wang and Huang were indeed incompetent, and their reputation of not knowing how to resist and only running away was already bad. If they were used again, it might cause public outrage;

On the other hand, Zhao Gou also felt that Wang and Huang were harming the country.

Of course, Zhao Gou did not think that Wang and Huang were harming the country because they were good at flattery and flattery. Zhao Gou felt that Wang and Huang were deceiving him, saying that as long as he begged for peace from Jiang Hongfei, Jiang Hongfei would let him go. As a result, this was useless, and it also caused the Yuan army to be at the gates of the city, forcing him to flee from Yangzhou in a hurry.

After Wang and Huang were removed by Zhao Gou, Zhao Gou appointed Zhu Shengfei as prime minister and Wang Yuan as privy envoy and commander of the imperial camp.

Zhu Shengfei shook his head at Zhao Gou, indicating that Zhao Gou could not agree to such conditions.

But Zhao Gou hesitated for a moment and said, "I wonder if your majesty has any other conditions?"

Seeing this, Chai Jin and Xiao Rong smiled secretly, knowing that they should be able to complete their mission this time.

But neither Chai Jin nor Xiao Rong showed it.

Chai Jin smiled and said, "The remaining two conditions are simple. First, give us the covenant, imperial pen, letter and oath signed by your family with Jin, Xixia and Chu and take them back to the capital, so that your majesty can use it as evidence to settle accounts with these families; second, now that my Yuan Dynasty is one against four, talents are inevitably a bit stretched, and your majesty wants to borrow a few talents from King Kang..."

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