Great Song Pirate

Chapter 606

Wanyan Zongqiang here was depressed, but Wanyan Zongwang, who was carrying the second Emperor Huizong back to the north, was also depressed.

But now that they are back, it is far less convenient than when they went. After the first battle in Xingzhou, and on the way to Zhending Mansion, soldiers and horses who came out of nowhere and kept attacking them In the face of harassment, these soldiers and horses knew at a glance that they were not the Song army, they could only be regarded as a group of volunteers, but the volunteer army composed of these village braves was actually more difficult to deal with than the regular army of the Song Dynasty.

They often retreat with one blow, take a little bit of money and leave. The fighting power is not good, but they are as numerous as a cow's hair. They are also annoying when they harass them, like lingering mosquitoes. They can't kill you but make you uncomfortable!
Especially after the rear army was attacked by the troops led by Yue Fei and robbed a large number of royal women, Zongwang was even more annoyed, so he sent troops to burn, kill and loot along the way, causing great harm to the Hebei area, and the local people in Hebei had no choice but to deal with it. They rose up one after another, formed Xiangyong, and fought against Jin Bing, and a large number of villagers began to flock to Zhending Mansion and served under Zhang Suo's command. Originally, Zhending Mansion didn't have many soldiers and horses, but they gathered during this period of time. Tens of thousands of people set up their positions to stop Zongwang's army from withdrawing northward.

Zongwang is very anxious, he doesn't want to stay here now, after all, someone is making trouble in their old den of the Kingdom of Jin, and he, the Generalissimo of the Right Route Army, is in charge of the southern Zhongjing Road prefectures, and two cities in his old den have been taken away. Naturally, he didn't look good on him, so he decided to return to Dading Mansion immediately to see who had the guts to attack Dajin Kingdom.

After Zongwang's army made up their minds, they immediately gathered the soldiers and horses they had sent out to plunder, and rushed towards Zhending Mansion like a tiger, and smashed heavily at the soldiers and horses organized by Zhang. The two sides were on the south side of Zhending Mansion. A fierce battle took place. After all, Zhang Suo's army was composed of the village braves who had just gathered up. Their equipment and combat effectiveness were very poor. How could they be the opponent of Zongwang's army? After the first battle, they were immediately defeated and killed by Jin Bing Corpses littered the field, and even Zhending Mansion was breached by Zongwang's army in one fell swoop. If Zhang Suo hadn't been under the desperate protection of some of his subordinates, he might not have escaped the murderous hands of Jin Bing.

When Zhending's mansion fell, Zhang Suo had no choice but to pack up the remnants and retreat to Xingzhou, where he defected to Zongze. Since then, northern Hebei has basically fallen into the hands of the Jinren.

After the Zongwang army occupied Zhending, they left a group of troops to guard Zhending Mansion, threatening the Song army on Hebei West Road, Hebei East Road, and Jingdong East Road. Ma kidnapped the second Emperor Huizong and rushed directly to Yanshan Mansion, while the other led by Wanyan Zongbi (Wu Shu) approached Hejian Mansion and Baozhou (Baoding City) in an attempt to occupy all of northern Hebei and firmly Control is in the hands of Jin Guo.

After the division of troops, Zong Wang led the army to defeat some Song rebels along the way, basically did not encounter any major resistance, and soon entered the Yanshan Mansion that had already belonged to them, completely cutting off the Song people's attempt to rescue Huizong Zhao. The second Emperor Huan's idea, arrived at Yanshan Mansion, Wanyan Zongwang realized the seriousness of the matter. It turned out that the news he received was true. Jizhou City and Pingzhou City had indeed been razed to the ground by a Song army. All the funds were also taken away by them, and the reinforcements sent by Dading Mansion were defeated by the Fubo Army in Pingzhou City. The Fubo army killed one outside the city of Jizhou and returned in a big defeat. They were almost defeated and wiped out. Those who have returned from the defeat in Yanshan Mansion still have lingering fears when they mention that battle.

Zong Wang was shocked, and immediately asked about the current situation. After all, he was far away from the Kingdom of Jin and went deep into the hinterland of the Song Dynasty. It is impossible for him to be well informed, so the general of Yanshan Mansion told him that the tens of thousands of Fubo Army had already arrived in Liaoyang. The Suzhou Pass in the south of the mansion landed ashore, took control of the entire Liaodong Peninsula in one fell swoop, captured Fuzhou City, and was confronting the Dajin army there.

Zong Wang was shocked again. Since he started to attack the Song Dynasty, he has basically never encountered a decent Song army who dared to fight the Jin people head-on. How could such a fierce Song army suddenly appear, repeatedly Will they defeat the Golden Army?Could it be that this Fubo army came out of the ground?Zong Wang really couldn't figure out what was going on, so he asked again, and found out that this Fubo army turned out to be the big Song pirates who were entrenched in the Bohai Bay and attacked and killed the envoys of the Kingdom of Jin, so he was amused on the spot !
"A bunch of idiots! It's just a group of pirates from the Song Dynasty, but you people have been defeated by them again and again, and you still have the face to tell me here! No matter how powerful they are, how can they be so powerful? I think it's you people If we refused to use our lives before the battle, if we Jurchen warriors, we would never be defeated by this pirate!" Zong Wang immediately reprimanded these subordinates.

Most of these generals are former ministers of the Liao Kingdom, who surrendered to the Jin Kingdom, and some of them were Song generals who were acquired when Zongwang captured Yanshan Mansion. When he scolded them, these people were frightened enough, and they all knelt down to plead guilty and defend themselves It's definitely not that they are unwilling to use their lives, but that this Fubo army is indeed superior, their weapons are too sharp and so on.

Zongwang didn't listen to their explanations at all, he scolded them, and then ordered them to send troops to support the Wushu army that was attacking Hejian Mansion. At the same time, he ordered Guo Yaoshi to lead the army to Jizhou, and from there to attack the Cangzhou area on Hebei East Road. It is imperative to take down the entire Hebei East Road, and he immediately led the troops to escort the second Emperor Huiqin, and left the Yanshan Mansion to head towards the Huining Mansion in Shangjing. For the trouble, it is better to send it back to the old lair first, and hand it over to Jindi Wu Qimai for him to deal with.

At this time, Zongwang also received the news that Zhang Bangchang had returned the throne to King Ji Zhaoxu. Zongwang was so angry that he jumped up and vowed that after they solved the Fubo Army in Liaodong, they would go south again and completely wipe out the Dalai Lama. Song can't.

After Zhao Xu took over the throne, he also moved into the palace and began to sit in the palace. Ever since the Zongwang army kidnapped the second emperor and returned to the north, Zhao Xu did not relax at all. He and many places in the south were ignited with beacon fires. Taking advantage of the chaos in the world, some thieves raised their troops and started to make chaos. It was like a single spark starting a prairie fire. Zhao Xu was a little caught off guard. The already tense situation became even more tense. .

While sending Zhong Shidao to lead the army across the river and march towards Taiyuan Mansion to relieve the danger of Taiyuan, he immediately issued an edict to mobilize more soldiers and horses to suppress those rebels who tried to make trouble. However, Li Gang, the Grand Priest, kept asking him to execute Zhang Bangchang and others immediately, as a warning to others, and Zhao Xu would die if he bothered.

In Zhao Xu's mind, although Zhang Bangchang is not a good minister, at least he did what he should do when the Jinren threatened him to ascend the throne. Although he was suspected of overstepping, he still saved the Daming Mansion Hundreds of thousands of people, and supported Zongwang's army to return to the north. After learning that he was proclaimed emperor, he immediately returned the jade seal to himself, and gave himself a righteous name. Although he was guilty, he was not guilty of death. Not to mention pursuing him first, Li Gang urging him to kill Zhang Bangchang is a bit messy!

Now when this mess is handed over to him to take care of, he knows how bad the Song Dynasty has become. Among the many clues, he doesn't know where to start. Right now, the Jin soldiers are attacking cities and lands in Hebei. , and the treasury was extremely empty, and the overstaffing and overstaffing made him unable to use his hands and feet. There were rebellions everywhere in the world, among which there were many rebellions involving the routs of the Great Song Dynasty. Instead, he turned his spearhead and swung the butcher's knife at the people of the Song Dynasty. They made a living by plundering the people, and urgent reports from all over the country were sent to Bianliang in Tokyo. Zhao Xu was really about to faint!

And there are really limited capable people around him now, how to deal with this mess, these ministers under him are expressing their opinions, but no one can come up with a suitable solution.

Zhao Xu summed up the current situation. The first is how to solve the problem of lack of money. If the Song Dynasty had no money, it would be impossible to raise troops to fight wars. Moreover, the Song Dynasty is blooming everywhere, and there are chaos and wars everywhere. There are Jin people outside. Raiding and plundering wantonly, there are rioters burning and killing everywhere. Zhao Xu is at a loss as to whether to secure the outside first or to fight the inside first. It turns out that being the emperor is really not an easy job, especially if you want to be a good one. It is even more difficult for the emperor, he is a little bit at a loss as to what to do when he is on the throne for the first time.

Finally, after thinking about it for a while, Zhao Xu called a group of ministers to discuss the matter. First of all, he raised the issue of money. Now there is nothing that can be done without money. A large number of troops need to be raised, a large number of officials need to be raised, and a large number of retired people need to be raised. how to do

After raising this question, Li Gang came out of the class and replied: "I think the most important thing right now is to repel the Jin soldiers' violations. I implore you to consider how to deal with the Jin soldiers first! Expedition to the north as soon as possible and welcome back the second emperor." To be humiliated by the Second Emperor Xue!"

After Zhao Xu glanced at Li Gang, he said unhappily: "I understand Li Xiang's thoughts, the Northern Expedition must be carried out, but the Northern Expedition needs soldiers, and the troops cannot be separated from food and other things. If there is no money, how do you ask me to mobilize them?" The soldiers and horses went to the north to fight against the Jin soldiers? Without food and pay, how do you ask me to pay the soldiers and generals? If the soldiers have no food and pay to support them, how can we talk about the Northern Expedition?"

Li Gang was pushed back by Zhao Xu, and he felt that what Zhao Xu said made sense. It is the autumn harvest season in the north, but due to the invasion of the Jin army, most of the land in the north was deserted, and a large number of refugees flocked to the south. In addition, the north has been suffering from wars and disasters in the past two years. The reserve has long been either plundered by the Liao people or by the Jin people. After the military disaster in Bianliang City some time ago, although there was some money, the food and grass were very short. It was empty talk, so he went on to say: "Your Majesty has really considered carefully. I think that it is better to transfer food and salaries from the Jianghuai Lakes and the middle of Sichuan as soon as possible, and quickly transport it to the capital to prepare for military needs!"

Zhao Xu nodded and said: "That's right, it will always take some time. Now we are suffering from wars in the north, urgent reports are coming in from all over the country, and even though we are transporting grain and grass, many places are plagued by bandits, causing food roads to be blocked. , what should these bandits do?"

Zhao Xu then raised this question again. Now he is facing too many problems, and he can only say that one is one. After discussing with the ministers for a long time, Zhao Xu finally made up his mind that if he wants to work hard, he must solve it first. Internal problems, to resist the Jin soldiers, if we don't first suppress these rebellious troops who take the opportunity to rebel, I am afraid that sooner or later there will be a big problem, so Zhao Xu immediately sent an order to order the local officials to send troops to suppress the local rebellious troops. The conquest was completely wiped out, and it was ordered to transport food from Zhejiang, Zhejiang, Fujian and other places to Beijing as soon as possible to support the northern armies and Jin soldiers to fight. Although there is Zongze's army in the north, the situation is still not optimistic. The soldiers of the Song Dynasty are still unable to Blocking the iron hooves of the golden soldiers, Taiyuan was still under siege by the golden soldiers, and the Zongwang army aggressively attacked the Hejian mansion area. The Song army in Hebei was still retreating steadily. It may not be easy to reverse the situation in a short time.

There are some things that can't be rushed, besides, there is a trace of resentment in Zhao Xu's heart, his father Zhao Ji didn't want to see him since he was a child, why is he in such a hurry to rescue him back?Could it be that after he was rescued, he was still allowed to be the throne, even if he didn't sit, he would have to give up the throne to his elder brother Zhao Huan. If the Song Dynasty was handed over to them, wouldn't it be that sooner or later he would be destroyed by the Jin people?Now from the bottom of his heart, Zhao Xu didn't want to hear someone say to welcome the Second Emperor back. If they were to be welcomed back, where would he be placed?This is his selfishness, not that he does not want the Northern Expedition. After all, he still has too little weight in his hands, so he can only hope for the time being that the anti-gold army in Hebei and other places can survive this difficult moment and give him For some time, let him rectify the administration of officials, stabilize the situation in the rear first, and then plan the Northern Expedition.

In order to reduce the consumption of redundant officials on the national treasury, Zhao Xu thought of many ways, among which was the one Xu Yi gave him at the beginning, suspending the imperial examination, first reducing a group of literati to be promoted to officials, and now the province is supporting a group of literati It has no effect, and at the same time, it is ordered to remove the salaries of officials without real positions and make them fend for themselves. Although this has offended a group of literati, there is no other way at the moment.

Then Zhao Xu set an example and decreed that the whole country should avoid extravagance. It is better to save the money that local governments can avoid spending. An order was issued to investigate and deal with officials or big households who were extremely angry with the people, return the land to the people, free up some land, resettle the people who lost their land, and quell the anger of the people. If it is, it will save him calling about the Northern Expedition every day.

Concerning the problem of soldiers and horses in various places causing harm to one side, Zhao Xu also issued an edict that all localities should not suppress bandit soldiers and horses. Rebellion will be severely punished.

In just a few days, Zhao Xu issued several imperial decrees, trying to reverse the crisis in Song Dynasty in a short period of time. Although these measures offended a group of people, they could win more people's hearts and weigh the pros and cons. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages, I just hope that the country can settle down as soon as possible, so that he can free up his hands and energy as soon as possible, and mobilize available soldiers and horses to go to the north to fight against the golden soldiers.

In short, after Zhao Xu came to power, he didn't rest for a moment, he was busy in the dark, and initially showed his iron fist methods. At least in some counties near Bianliang City, these measures were very well received. As a result, several civil uprisings in the Central Plains and Huainan were quickly subsided.

Zhao Xu's actions in Bianliang fell into Xu Yi's hands within a short period of time, because Xue Tu's intelligence system was not damaged in Bianliang City, and all kinds of news could be sent to Xu Yi continuously.

Xu Yi also understood Zhao Xu's intention in doing so, so he didn't blame him for not immediately mobilizing a large army to fight against the gold. At this time, try to make as much noise as possible in the Kingdom of Jin, hold the Jin people back, let them be busy fighting with themselves, and have no time to look south, buy some time for Zhao Xu to work hard, don't be at this weakest time, Then the Jinren sent an army to the south and stabbed Zhao Xu.

Before Xu Yi arrived in Fuzhou City, a tragic battle had already begun in Fuzhou City. Of course, the word tragic can only be used on Jin Jun for the time being, because as soon as Wanyanzong's powerful army arrived outside Fuzhou City, he would Immediately under the protection of the heavy-armored guards, he climbed to a high place to check the deployment of the Fubo Army in Fuzhou City. After seeing it, he couldn't help but take a breath, because although he attached great importance to the Fubo Army, his subconscious Zhong still thinks that the Fubo army is a pirate, but they are just a little more fierce, but when he climbed up and took a look, he realized that things were not as simple as he imagined.

The outside of Fuzhou City is covered with criss-cross trenches everywhere, and there are Juma, deer villages, barriers and other things everywhere, tightly wrapping the northeast, west and west sides of Fuzhou City, and looking from top to bottom, faintly The city of Fuzhou is full of a murderous aura. The city walls of Fuzhou, which were not very tall and thick, have been reinforced like iron barrels. The trenches are full of sharp wooden thorns. As long as the open ground is filled with these things up.

Fuzhou City has become a murderous place, and what Wanyan Zongqiang showed is no longer the Fuzhou City in his previous impression.

Looking further into the distance, groups of Fubo soldiers in black clothes and black armor walked through these positions, and the barracks of the Fubo Army were also scattered, implying a kind of formation, which naturally formed a formation with each other. It is a kind of support, without any messy feeling. Violet-colored military flags with the word "Fubo" written all over the top of the city are everywhere, hunting and fluttering in the wind. Armored men with swords and guns are like a forest, arranged in an orderly manner on the top of the city. The majestic aura of waiting in battle.

After reading these, Wanyan Zongqiang immediately put away the last bit of contempt in his heart, and now he understands why the Fubo Army was able to break through Jizhou City and Pingzhou City on Zhongjing Road, defeating his own Jin Army It's been a while, how can this be a mob of pirates!I'm afraid even their elite Jin army is inferior. When did Song Dynasty have this number of troops?Even though Wanyan Zongqiang broke his head, he couldn't figure out this problem.

I can't figure it out, I can only think about it, now that he is here, it is impossible for him to be intimidated by the opponent's state, and then return to Liaoyang Mansion. He eunuched himself, entered the palace and became an eunuch and pulled him down!
It turned out that Wanyan Zongqiang's plan was that as soon as the army arrived in Fuzhou City, they would immediately repeat the old tricks and use the siege tactics they used to attack the Liao Kingdom to capture Fuzhou City in one fell swoop, massacre the city quickly, and then kill Fubo The army rushed to the south, waved the army to cover up the past, and completely strangled the Fubo army in the Liaodong Peninsula, but now it seems that his plan is completely unfeasible. The cavalry they rely on has been lost in such terrain. In order to be effective, in addition to using large-scale advances to break through and fill up these obstacles outside Fuzhou City one by one, otherwise, his army would not even be able to touch the edge of Fuzhou City.

Attacking, he had no choice but to attack, Wanyan Zongqiang brought the guards full of irritability and began to return along the original road, but at this moment, he suddenly heard a familiar voice in his ears, after a long battle He and his guards in the formation immediately figured out what these voices were, so some guards shouted: "Enemy attack! Protect the commander, raise the shield to protect the commander..."

The guard hadn't finished shouting, a sharp arrow nailed hard on his face, blocked the rest of his words, sprayed a stream of blood on the spot, and fell on his back on the ground.

Wanyan Zong was so shocked that he immediately drew his knife, and with one knife he chopped off two arrow feathers that were aimed at him. He escaped this round of surprise attack, but he was still covered in cold sweat from the shock, and cursed the enemy for being too cunning. He actually set up an ambush here, waiting for him to take the bait, so he immediately called the guards to line up to block the enemy, and then pulled his horse and ran down the mountain.

There was another sound of bowstrings from the woods behind them, and then another round of arrows rained down on Wanyan Zongqiang's guards. A sharp arrow was like a poisonous snake coming out of a hole, and it flew straight at Wanyan Zongqiang who was pulling his horse and fleeing. This guy is really not an ordinary person, he knew something bad was wrong when he heard the noise behind him, so he immediately threw off a stirrup, turned over and fell to the side of the horse, quickly came to hide in a stirrup, barely escaped He took this sharp arrow and was not nailed to death here. He did escape the arrow, but his horse was not so lucky. The arrow was nailed to the neck of the horse like lightning, almost The horse's thick neck was pierced through, and the horse hissed sadly, jumped up suddenly, raised its front legs, and then fell heavily to the ground, narrowly missing Wanyan Zongqiang who was hidden under the horse's belly. This is really a big blow!

(End of this chapter)