The Song Dynasty has been deliberate for 16 years, only to know that it is the Water Margin

In the third year of Jingkang's reign in the Song Dynasty, on the first day of April, it was the time when the flowers and trees were green and the flowers were in bloom.

The city of Tokyo is warm and warm, the scenery is pleasant, and the scenery is beautiful. However, from the court to the people, there is no atmosphere of joy at all. It seems that there are invisible black clouds covering the sky, making everyone breathless.

The atmosphere was extremely heavy and pessimistic for a while.

The Jurchen East Route Army marched down Zhongshan Prefecture, Hejian Prefecture, and Xinde Prefecture one after another, and had already reached the north bank of the Yellow River.

Originally, Wanyan Zongwang's idea was to go to Bazhou, cross the Yellow River from Bazhou, then attack Cangzhou, and kill Tokyo in a shallow arc in the southeast.

But Wanyan Zongbi did not listen. He was anxious to use the Iron Buddha. He wanted to familiarize himself with the advantages and disadvantages of this heavy armor from successive battles and how to maximize its effect. However, initially crossing the Yellow River to transport it to the east bank would too much delay the time to test the heavy armor. , so he killed him straight away.

He had great ambitions. He wanted to unite in this battle and directly destroy the Song Dynasty. At the worst, he would go to the south of the Yangtze River to see the three-autumn osmanthus and the ten-mile lotus.

It would have been impossible to have such an idea without the heavy cavalry. Having the heavy cavalry gave me infinite confidence to complete this battle.

Now, with the invasion of Jin soldiers from the south, only Zhendingfu, Damingfu and Enzhou have not been lost in the two important towns in Hebei.

The situation in Zhending Mansion is unknown. The last urgent report to the court was sent by the commander of Zhending Mansion, Wang Boyan, the envoy of the West Hebei Road Economic Strategy. He said that he was full of passion, repaying the king and the country, and resisting the golden thieves. Spread the land to the north, vowing to live and die with the city.

The ancient city of Zhending is tall and majestic. Although it is not as good as Bingzhou, that is, Taiyuan, it still has a lot to offer.

If we insist on defending, we can normally defend for a while, but with the Jurchen Wolf Jackal on the opposite side, which is good at attacking cities, it's hard to say.

After Wang Boyan's revelation, there has been no more news, but Zhending City should not have been lost. If Zhending City was lost, there will be news. After all, it is the capital of Hebei West Road, and the Jurchens will also publicize that they fled along the way. The common people will also bring information to Gyeonggi.

As for places such as Daming Mansion and Enzhou, they are on the southeast bank of the Yellow River, not on this side of the Yellow River, so the Jurchens cannot be hit for the time being. Zongbi experimented with heavy armor. He did not want to cross the river first, but wanted to kill in a straight line due south. Then directly cross the Yellow River to Beijing.

On this side of the Yellow River, except for Zhending Mansion, important towns and ordinary cities, including Baozhou, Luozhou, Cizhou, Xiangzhou, etc., were all lost. The Jin army burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of evil. They massacred and burned cities, and even animals could not tolerate them. Compare one or two.

In the morning court, the atmosphere was depressing. Emperor Daojun no longer had the energy to beat and beat him. He had lost his temper for many days before. He would lift tables and throw things every day during the court, but it was to no avail. The Song army was still defeated thousands of miles away. When they arrived at the bank of the Yellow River, the Jurchens followed them.

Just yesterday, Zhongshi Road made a report on the battle situation. About today there will be a decisive battle with the Jin army on the north bank of the Yellow River. If the people are in the Yellow River, Hebei will be completely destroyed.

After Emperor Daojun received the discount, he immediately summoned everyone to discuss the matter, but there was no way to do it. Now there is no money, no food, no food, and there are not many soldiers and horses in the capital, so he can only watch the Jurchens wreaking havoc.

In the end, He Li petitioned Emperor Daojun to send 30,000 imperial guardsmen to the south bank to support them. After all, even if they were defeated again, they could not just watch Zhong Shidao and others being ruined there. They had to withdraw and start planning again.

Emperor Daojun thought for a long time before giving the order. He sent troops and horses yesterday evening and asked Liu Qi to lead them. Liu Qi was originally stationed in Yandi, but after the Jurchens went to Yanyun, Emperor Daojun questioned Liu Yanqing and escorted him away. When he returned to Beijing, he recalled Liu Qi and followed Liu Yanqing's prison car back to Tokyo.

Sitting in the main hall now, Emperor Daojun looked down with dull eyes and said, "Is it time for a fight in the north?"

None of the ministers dared to answer. Only He Li took a step forward and said, "Officials must be labeled."

Emperor Daojun nodded blankly: "Zhongshi Dao and the Western Army were defeated all the way to the Yellow River. Can they be defended now?"

When these words came out, even He Li didn't know how to answer them.

Emperor Daojun was silent for a long time: "Do you want to negotiate a peace?"

He Li immediately paled when he heard this, and then said: "Guan family, the other party is now in full swing. It is difficult to meet the three conditions proposed before. What else can we do to negotiate peace at this moment?"

Emperor Daojun was silent.

At this time, Qin Hui came out and said: "Your Majesty, we must not negotiate for peace. Female straight women are greedy and cruel. If we take the initiative to propose peace, the other side will definitely squeeze us endlessly and seize our Song Dynasty territory bit by bit. At the end of the day, I am still a humble minister but I am willing to lead the troops north to resist the enemy, dedicate myself to death, and then die!"

"You want to lead the army?" Emperor Daojun was speechless. Qin Hui was now Yushi Zhongcheng, the chief official of the Yushitai. In the Song Dynasty, Yushi officials rarely dismissed their titles, so Yushi Zhongcheng was the highest official of the Yushitai.

But even if the literati of the Song Dynasty led troops, Qin Hui had never led them before, not even to the capital. He had always been a capital official, so what kind of troops could he lead?

There are also conditions for a civil servant to lead troops. A civil servant who has never led troops or governed a local government will not be asked to lead troops no matter how stupid the Daojun Emperor is. At least you must have the qualifications to serve in local government. Knowledgeable?

If you have been a local official, that means you have been in charge of both the government and the military. The local officials of the Song Dynasty were responsible for military and political affairs. They can understand some military affairs. You, who have never been in the capital, are definitely not qualified.

Qin Hui is a common type of literary man with many sides, good and bad, and negative sides. However, the second half of his life was too hidden and was not directly exposed when he was alive.

Everyone has two sides, good and bad. He is arrogant at first and humble at the back. He speaks out his loyalty while studying, and bends his knees when captured. This is the kind of person he is.

When the country is in crisis, it may be true that he behaves passionately and cries for war.

And after being captured, it is true that he will grovel, be servile, beg for mercy, and sell himself to others.

This is the multi-faceted nature of human beings, not only among the literati, but also among other people, but the literati are more destructive and typical.

As normal history goes on, not only Qin Hui secretly paid gold, but Qin Hui's wife Wang, including many of Wang's relatives, and Qin Hui's father-in-law Wang Zhongshan, all paid gold and became a scum. However, when Qin Hui first fell to Jurchen, he was a different person. One manifestation is the current situation, which is the main fighting faction.

Qin Hui once wrote a letter about the four military affairs, persisted in resistance, and opposed the cession of territory to seek peace. Later, the war was greatly defeated and the territory had to be given away. Qin Zong summoned hundreds of officials in Yanhe Hall to discuss countermeasures. Fan Zongyin and other seventy people agreed to cede territory, and Qin Hui Thirty-six others firmly disagreed.

The city of Tokyo was lost, and Emperor Qinzong surrendered. He was detained in Jinying and deposed as a commoner. Mo Chou and Wu Kai came back from Jinying and reported that the marshal of the Jin army had ordered him to establish a different surname as emperor. King Shiyong who stayed behind called all the officials to discuss it. Zhang Bangchang was established. Ma Shen, the supervisory censor, advocated a joint petition to preserve the Zhao family. Qin Hui expressed his support and wrote a petition to Wanyan Zongwang to establish the Zhao family as emperor. Zongwang was furious and detained him in Jinying.

Then Zhang Bangchang was established as the puppet emperor of Chu. Qin Hui was detained by the Jin army to the north along with Emperors Hui and Qin. He Li, Zhang Shuye, Sun Fu, Sima Pu, Chen Guoting and other ministers were also detained Walk.

From then on, he went north to Yanshan and was about to leave the Song Dynasty. He Li looked up to the sky and mourned, and died on a hunger strike. He was only thirty-nine years old. Zhang Shuye also went on a hunger strike all the way and choked out when he reached Baigou. die.

Sun Fu and others were all loyal and unyielding, but Qin Hui succumbed to coercion and inducement, turned around, sold himself, and became a traitor. He was ordered by the Jurchens to sneak back to the Song Dynasty and became a spy. As a result, the Northern Expedition of the Song Dynasty was repeatedly interfered with, and finally lost his power. The best time to regain the country.

After Qin Hui returned to the Song Dynasty, he claimed to have killed the Jin soldiers who were watching him, grabbed the boat and fled back. This was actually the biggest loophole.

He was kidnapped to the Kingdom of Jin. How could he, with his strength as a scholar, kill the Jin soldiers with his bare hands, drag his family with him, flee for thousands of miles, and return to the Song Dynasty with his family?
If he had not surrendered to the other party, the Jin Kingdom would never have allowed him to return south with his family. The betrayal was certain. The Jin Dynasty intended to allow him to return to the Song Dynasty and act as a spy for the Jin Kingdom to sabotage the Southern Song Dynasty and Northern Expedition counterattack.

Emperor Daojun looked at Qin Hui and shook his head. He was not that confused yet and asked Qin Hui to lead the army.

At this time, Li Gang came out and said: "The official family, I am also willing to lead the troops to resist the female straights and defend the country. I will not return until I die."

At this time, Li Gang served as Taichang Shaoqing, the adjutant of Taichang Temple, in charge of sacrifices, rituals and music.

Emperor Daojun looked down upon Li Gang and disliked him for being upright, so he accused him of doing things in his family.

In the first year of Xuanhe, there was a huge flood in Kaifeng Prefecture. The disaster was so serious that no one dared to speak. Li Gang, regardless of his official position, wrote a "Report on Flood Disasters" and said that the floods had flooded the houses and destroyed hundreds of people's houses. Officials should do their best and sacrifice their lives to serve the country and save the people from disasters. However, several days after the flood, the victims have yet to receive relief.

Soon, Li Gang wrote a letter to criticize the current affairs of the country, advising Daojun and emperors not to just enjoy themselves, but to find ways to make the people of Li live a better life, reduce taxes for the year, provide relief to the victims, stop doing harm to the people, and severely punish those who neglected their duties during the floods. Officials, punish them with canonical punishment, and promote some knowledgeable people who care about the suffering of the people.

The two imperial edicts hit the key points of the government and offended Cai Jing and other powerful officials. They even made the Emperor Daojun displeased and directly demoted him to Sha County in Nanquanzhou as a minor official in charge of taxation.

However, Li Gang's two petitions aroused great repercussions between the government and the public. He was loved by some Qing officials and common people. Chen Guan praised Li Gang greatly and compared him to Di Renjie, a famous official in the Tang Dynasty. Li Gang became famous all over the world.

In the sixth year of Xuanhe's reign, Li Gang went to Xiuzhou. In July of the following year, he was transferred back to the court and granted the title of Taichang Shaoqing.

Emperor Daojun looked at Li Gang at this time. Although he was dissatisfied with Li Boji, he sighed at this moment, loyal minister, loyal minister!

He secretly thought, Qin Hui and Li Gang are both loyal ministers. How many civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty dare to ask for orders to go on an expedition at this moment? It’s just these two people. It turns out that adversity reveals a person’s heart, and national adversity reveals a loyal minister. This is true!

Emperor Daojun sighed with emotion, but still shook his head. It was impossible to ask Li Boji to lead the army. Although he had been in charge of local affairs, his official position was somewhat insufficient. The Taichang Shaoqing of the Song Dynasty was a fourth-rank official. In this crisis situation, it was not enough at all. He was the leader of an army, let alone sending 30,000 imperial troops to support Shidao Zhong. He regretted it. Regardless of sending out more troops, the troops would be retained to protect the city of Tokyo.

He shook his head and didn't say a word. Silence suddenly fell in the Zichen Palace. Everyone just stayed there. They didn't know what to say and didn't dare to say anything. They were also afraid that Emperor Daojun would be unhappy and punish him if he said it. .

Emperor Daojun did not leave the court, but he was actually waiting for news from the other side of the Yellow River. He was still holding on to a ten thousandth chance of luck, hoping that Zhongshi Dao would suddenly show his power and block the Jin army from coming over.

Although he knew that there was little hope, since Emperor Daojun was quite artistic, he loved to dream. His mind was running wild with random thoughts. Until towards the end of the afternoon, the officer suddenly came into the palace to report that there were soldiers on the front line of the Yellow River. Deliver letters.

When Emperor Daojun heard this, his eyes widened immediately and he ordered the people to be brought in.

After a while, a flag soldier whose blood stains on his clothes had dried and turned black walked in with the support of two palace officials.

He staggered a few steps on top of Danxi, then fell to his knees with a thump: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the other side of the Yellow River has been lost, Marshal Zhong, Marshal Zhong has died for his country..."

"What!" Emperor Daojun felt bad when he saw the image of the flag soldiers coming in. At this moment, he couldn't help being struck by lightning when he heard the words. All illusions had been shattered, and he was stunned in his chair.

He Li took a step forward, looked at the flag soldiers and said, "Old Mr. Zhong died for his country. How many of the Western troops are left below, and where are they?"

The flag soldier said: "There are only ten or twenty thousand soldiers and horses left. When I came, they were being led across the Yellow River by two major generals, Zhong Yanchong and Wu Jie."

Zhong Yanchong is the grandson of Zhong Shidao. Zhong Shidao's two sons died early, and the other two grandsons also died, leaving only Zhong Yanchong.

Although the Zhong family is a large family in Guanzhong, with a large number of people and branches, the only bloodline of the Zhongshi Dao branch is Zhong Yanchong.

Wu Jie is a capable subordinate and disciple of Zhongshi Dao, and is the second deputy general of Jingyuan Road.

When He Li heard that it was these two people who were leading the retreat, his expression changed greatly: "Where are the other generals? Where are the others?"

There are many generals of the Western Army on this road of Zhongshi Road. Many people from Jingyuan Road, Huanqing Road, and Yongxing Military Road are among them. Even Huanqing’s Jinglue pacification Zhongshi is included. If Zhongshi It was impossible for these two young men to lead the army because they were martyred for their country. So where were the others?

The flag soldiers suddenly burst into tears and sobbed: "The heavy cavalry of the Jin Kingdom is fierce, and our army cannot stop it. There was a battle on the north bank of the Yellow River, and the army was directly scattered. Some of the other generals died for their country, and some disappeared... …”

He Li couldn't help but take two steps back when he heard the words and looked towards Emperor Daojun on the dragon throne.

Emperor Daojun's face was pale at this time, his body was shaky, and he opened his mouth, but did not spit out a word.

At this moment, the officer in charge outside the palace suddenly came in again to report that there were flag soldiers delivering messages on the front line.

When I called him in and took a look, I found that it was even more tragic than before. Half of his arms were almost chopped off and the man was already dying.

The flag soldier threw himself to the ground and said in a weak voice: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the golden soldiers have crossed the Yellow River and are on their way to Tokyo..." (End of this chapter)