One Piece of Song Dynasty

Tao Xuangan climbed up the city wall and saw about three to four hundred Jin Army cavalry outside the city. The dust was flying in the distance, and cavalry kept galloping towards them.

By five or six o'clock in the afternoon, there were about ten thousand cavalry and golden soldiers standing on the edge of the moat. A man holding a scroll of documents in his hand shouted loudly to the city: "Your Majesty asked me to recruit the officials, soldiers and civilians in your city. There is a message here. Put down the rope and take it up to the city. I ask you, will you surrender or not?" If you don't surrender, your Majesty will lead his men and horses from Jiangzhou to cover you up and see where you can go." No one in the city answered.

The man asked again: "Why don't you say anything? We are all coming to attack your city now. It's already late, so let's go. I'll give you one more night to discuss. The city will be broken by this time." The Jin army retreated one after another and went Set up camp four or five miles northeast.

At this time, the soldiers in the city gradually climbed up the city wall, but no one from the people or state officials came to the city.

Tao Xuangan found Liu Rui and said to him: "If Lin Jingzhi can't go to the city, how can he lead the officials and soldiers?"

Liu Rui said: "I have sent someone to invite him, but there is no one there."

Tao Xuangan said: "I will go and invite you personally."

Tao Xuangan rode to the state capital and saw nothing but silence in the yamen. Tao Xuanqian asked a gatekeeper: "Is Lin Jinglue here?"

The man replied: "We have entered the city."

Tao Xuangan immediately went back to the city wall to look for him, but he still couldn't see him. He came to the west of the city again and asked the soldiers and civilians passing by: "Have you ever seen Lin Jinglue?"

Someone replied: "He was wearing white cloth and was cleaning the city alone from here."

Tao Xuangan saw that Lin Jinglue had abandoned the city and fled, so he hurriedly found the two supervisors and the first supervisor, and said to them: "Don't leave, sir. We can guard the city together."

Tao Xuangan immediately went down to the city and went to the streets and alleys to recruit people from house to house. However, those who stayed at home, whether old or young, women or strong men, all fled out of the city.

Finally, all the soldiers and civilians in the city climbed onto the city wall, but due to insufficient manpower, they could only guard the east and south walls, while the west and north walls were left unguarded.

Although both soldiers and civilians climbed onto the city wall, some people still took advantage of the chaos and fled the city. Even after beheading more than a dozen people, they could not stop them. At night, among the people guarding the southeast wall, three or four out of ten people wiped out the city and escaped. By the time the fourth watch patrolled the city, all the defenders on the city were gone.

When Tao Xuanqian was guarding the south gate until five o'clock, someone from his entourage suddenly reported that Liu Tongzhi planned to leave the city through the west gate. Tao Xuangan hurried to the west gate, but Liu Rui had already left the city. Tao Xuangan then fled out of the city. After walking fifteen miles, he heard the Jin army beginning to beat drums to attack the city. After walking for twenty-five miles, at dawn, the Jin army's pursuers came from behind and intercepted all the frightened and fleeing people, their vehicles, and more than mules and horses. Residents and women who were fleeing on the road were supporting the elderly and the young. Some people were shouting loudly because they were separated. The sound was so shrill that it was unbearable to hear.

On that day, because all the officials of Pingyang Prefecture abandoned the city and fled, the residents who stayed in the city opened the city and surrendered.

At this point, the eastern and western commandery mansions that the Song Dynasty hastily established in Hedong, namely Longde Mansion and Pingyang Mansion, were both defeated by the Jin army. It can be seen that the Song Dynasty's defense in Hedong was very fragile. There are subjective reasons such as the commander's fear of enemies and war, such as Lin Jiren, the strategic envoy of Pingyang Prefecture. But there are also objective reasons such as insufficient soldiers and lack of food and grass.

For example, Huiniuling is as steep as a wall. The Song army could have controlled this place and fought a successful blocking battle. However, due to the lack of food, the soldiers could only eat two liters of peas or old wheat every day, so they were unwilling to work hard. The soldiers smiled and said: "The military food is so good that it makes me fight."

The Jin army came to the foot of Huiniuling and looked up at the steep mountain top. The officers and soldiers said: "If they attack from top to bottom with arrows and boulders, we will be seriously injured. What can we do?" The Jin army hesitated at the foot of the mountain. , has been reluctant to launch an attack.

However, soon after, the Song army on the mountain dispersed on its own initiative. The Jin army then easily crossed back to Niuling and advanced towards Pingyang Mansion. The fall of Pingyang Mansion marked the complete collapse of the defenses in the Hedong area of ​​the Song Dynasty.

On October , the soldiers who dispersed from Pingyang Prefecture and other places to Jiangzhou joined forces with the local soldiers to set fire to the city and create chaos. All the officials and residents in the city fled outside the city for refuge.

Li Bichuan, the governor of the state, also fled the city in a sedan chair. The people who carried his sedan chair were Jiangzhou Yamen soldiers. After they carried Li Bichuan out of the city, they abandoned the sedan chair and ran back to the city to rob the gold and silver treasures. Li Bichuan fled to Gaole on foot.

Only Shi Bingyi, the city Yiwu official, did not run away. He felt that he could not escape anyway, so he simply picked up a gun and knife, killed and captured more than a dozen defeated soldiers, and the rebellion gradually subsided.

The reason why the defeated soldiers set fire to Jiangzhou was because they knew that there was a military warehouse containing many gold and silver treasures. There are about three million pieces of gold, silver, silk, grain and dendrobium from Caosi. The annual income of Caosi in Hedong is stored here. In addition, there were pieces of silk that Tong Guan used to pacify the goods yard, totaling yuan for both categories. All the treasures in the warehouse were looted by the defeated troops.

In the Hedong War Zone, the Jin Army's offensive on the West Route was fierce and unstoppable. The Song army had collapsed across the board and was completely defeated, falling thousands of miles away. In another war zone, the Hebei War Zone, the Jin army on the East Road drove through it with great ease. Although important towns such as Zhongshan and Hejian are still in the hands of the Song army, they have become isolated cities and the situation is also precarious. On October , Hu Shunzhi, the imperial censor, sent a memorial requesting rescue to Zhongshan Mansion.

He said in his memorial: "I saw a secret letter written by Chen Hengbo, the magistrate of Zhongshan, and the words were sad. The book said that the city of Zhending was destroyed and tens of thousands of people were slaughtered. Now that the Jin people are occupying Gaocheng, it will be more difficult to retreat. I read it With tears streaming down his face, he secretly lamented how the imperial court could tolerate such a situation and not even send a single soldier or horse for reinforcements. Li Miao reported thirty or forty times but received no response. Could it be that the imperial court no longer cherishes this land and its people just because it wants to After making peace with the Jin people, we dare not use troops. This is such a misguided move. Please tell your majesty: In ancient times, when countries fought at war, the envoys deduced the benefits and disadvantages among them in order to eliminate the disasters between the two countries, and the purpose was to reconcile the two countries. , so that the people can rest and recuperate. Today the Jin people send envoys, and I also send envoys. If the two sides stand still and do not move, it is called peace. However, while the Jin people send envoys, they continue to use their troops. Today, a city is captured, and tomorrow, a city is destroyed. Gradually moving south, with great ambitions to annex and sweep.

From time to time the Jin people send envoys to ask for treasures, ostensibly to negotiate peace, but in reality they make me unprepared. For the envoys who leave, I often threaten them so that they dare not speak and can only respond according to the opinions of the Jin people. However, the imperial court did not check the authenticity of the peace talks between the Jin people, so they said that the peace talks were finalized. Seeing that peace had been made, the Xuanfu Division did not send troops to rescue. As a result, Zhending fell.

Therefore, Chen Hengbo said that the Jin people left my peace envoy in the stronghold, and then attacked the city and plundered the land at will, but no one from the court came to rescue him. The Jin's conspiracy succeeded many times, but I was often fooled and made mistakes.

Now the Jin people are concentrated at the foot of Zhongshan City, and they will attack the city day and night. If the imperial court does not order the Xuanfu Division to rescue because of peace, Zhongshan will be lost. If Zhongshan is lost, the counties in Hebei will not attack but will retreat. If Hebei is lost, the capital will no longer be the capital, and the ancestral temple and the country will be in danger.

Chen Hengbo also said that it is unreasonable for the Jin people to attack the city, kill people and set fire to them, but our army rescued them. If the imperial court allows the towns to survive and perish without caring about them, then there is nothing to say; if they want to save the towns, please quickly order the Xuanfu Division to send troops to rescue them.

Chen Hengbo's words were so blunt and urgent. If your Majesty continues to listen to the ministers' opinions and thinks that since peace has been made, sending troops to rescue Zhongshan will hinder the country's overall plan. Then, I am afraid that both the land and the people's hearts will be lost.

If the minister thinks that there are no soldiers today, why should we ask for reinforcements? Then I think that all the people in Hebei are soldiers. The counties and counties can be asked to take out all the money and grain in their inventory and distribute it to the people, and then the court will offer high-ranking officials generous rewards as incentives. Why bother people and not use them depends on how to take measures.

Chen Hengbo asked the Xuanfu Division to send troops from Shenzhen and Hebei to march towards Qizhou and join Ma Zhong's troops. The soldiers and horses of Xuanfu Division moved from west to east, the soldiers and horses of Ma Zhong of Qizhou moved from east to west, and the soldiers and horses of Zhongshan City acted as internal response. Using troops in this way can turn disaster into blessing, and defeat can lead to success.

His words seem to be reasonable, and I hope that His Majesty will order the three provinces and the Privy Council to meet immediately to discuss and implement it. "