One Piece of Song Dynasty

Now, Hu Zhiru and Zhang Yaozuo were sent into the city by the Jin people. Hu Zhiru later continued to serve as an official during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty. He was promoted to a bachelor of Longtuge and was appointed to the Longxing Mansion. Before his death, he also served as Minister of the Ministry of War.

Zong Han also sent people to suggest to Song Qinzong that Gao Shiyou, the former magistrate of Zezhou, should stay in Xijing, and Zhang Youji, the former Hedong transit envoy, should accompany the army as a transit envoy. The reason why Zong Han did this was, on the surface, to tell Song Qinzong that since the peace agreement had been concluded, although the Xijing area was under the control of the Jin army, they did not want to deprive the Song Dynasty of its right to appoint local officials.

However, Song Qinzong knew very well that Zong Han's suggestion on the surface was actually an order, and there was no room for negotiation. He just asked himself to follow the procedures.

On December , after some preparations and Zong Han's approval, Chen Guoting and other envoys finally set off with the Jin people.

According to the request of the Jin people, Song Qinzong ordered ten more territorial envoys to be added to the official department. In this way, a total of thirty-six court officials in Beijing went to the Lianghe area to cede territory. Song Qinzong once promised them that when they return, each of them will be promoted to three levels.

Zong Han asked to speed up the pace of moving silk and urged Song Qinzong to seize the time to raise gold and silver. Ten million pieces of silk were not a problem for the Song Dynasty. However, the Song Dynasty was really unable to pay million ingots of gold and million ingots of silver.

On December , Xiao Qing was ordered to enter the palace to supervise Song Qinzong and asked him to find a way to pay the gold and silver quickly. Xiao Qing said: "If you want the Jin people to withdraw their troops, you must pay gold and silver as soon as possible. If the gold and silver cannot be paid, the Jin people will not withdraw their troops."

Emperor Qinzong of the Song Dynasty hoped that the Jin people would withdraw their troops as soon as possible. He immediately issued an order to Yushitai, Dali Temple and Kaifeng Mansion, saying that because the Jin people could not complete the amount of gold and silver, the responsibilities would be very severe. It is hoped that Yushitai, Dali Temple and Kaifeng Prefecture will step up efforts to eradicate the problem and arrest those who fail to pay overdue payments, no matter who they are.

The gold and silver officials, headed by Wang Shiyong and Xu Bingzhe, launched a severe campaign to plunder gold and silver throughout the city in the name of the order. Regardless of whether they are powerful and wealthy people in Qili, or high-ranking officials or envoys, or even women who are granted a title, the most respected people and their wives, they must all pay gold and silver. Otherwise, they will be taken to Kaifeng Mansion and detained until the gold and silver are produced. .

On the same day, Song Qinzong also issued an edict, allowing people to use gold and silver to buy tea and salt banknotes. The agreed price was one tael of gold for thirty-two guan, and one liang of silver for guans.

Then, Song Qinzong gave the Kaifeng Mansion three more orders to make announcements. The first announcement was: All those from various states, counties and towns who come to Beijing on official business to do business must turn into cash and go to Kaifeng Prefecture to pay as soon as possible from now on. Anyone who hides will be subject to military law.

The second announcement was: All wealthy merchants in the capital and the world should pay the gold and silver collected from all shops and residences to the Kaifeng Mansion as soon as possible, and be allowed to report it. Failure to report the information will be the same crime, and those who conceal it will be subject to military law.

The third announcement was: Officials below the rank of Prime Minister should pay the gold and gold belt to Kaifeng Mansion together.

Emperor Qinzong of the Song Dynasty also issued an edict to dismantle all the golden treasure wheels in the Shenxiao Palace to add gold.

It can be seen that in order to collect the amount of gold and silver, Song Qinzong and his ministers racked their brains and tried their best.

The next day, Song Qinzong sent envoys to the gates of each city to pay gold and silver separately. The person responsible for receiving the gold medal often points out flaws and often asks for a return or exchange. Those who "gold is not very red, silver is not a bee's nest, and jokes are thin" do not want it. Some envoys argued with him and were beaten. These Jin people actually want to use their power for personal gain and obtain bribes. Some envoys understood this and bribed them with garlic, sugar, needlework, flower vines and other items.

Recently, the weather in the capital has been extremely cold. Many people in the city froze to death due to lack of firewood for heating. As early as December , Song Qinzong sent people to request Zong Han and Zong Wang, hoping to open the city gate and let the people go out to cut firewood and collect grass for heating. However, Zong Han disapproved and said: "Let them demolish the house and set it on fire."

On December , the weather became colder and colder, and many citizens froze to death. Song Qinzong was very uneasy after learning about it, so he issued an order to demolish some official houses on the four walls of the city and set up a market for officials to sell firewood to help those families who were short of firewood.

On December , heavy snow fell, and some displaced people froze to death on the streets. Song Qinzong felt very sad when he learned about it, so he issued an edict: "It was snowy and cold, and the people lacked firewood, which often caused them to freeze and get discouraged. This is all unethical on my part. There are bamboos on the Long Live Mountain, and the soldiers and civilians are allowed to cut them down at will."

As soon as the edict was issued, soldiers and civilians in the city swarmed to Long live Mountain to cut down trees. Due to the chaos of the crowd and the loss of order, many stampedes occurred one after another, resulting in numerous deaths. But people were not afraid and continued to go up the mountain to snatch wood, resulting in many group fights. Hundreds of people were killed on the spot, mostly by soldiers.

Cao Fu returned to Tokyo on December . He first went to the Jin Army's tent in Qingcheng and reported to Zong Han his search for King Kang. Finally, he said: "I didn't find King Kang during this trip, and I don't know where he is." Then, he handed Zong Han the military order of Zeng Mao, the defender of Caozhou. , as proof.

Zeng Mao said in the military order: "Cao Fu, the minister of the Privy Council, signed a letter and came to the palace to visit King Kang. He conveyed the emperor's edict saying: The Jin people have climbed to the city and can't gather their troops. Peace has been made. You and other leaders are not allowed to move lightly. They were afraid that they might harm the country. At the same time, the order of the Privy Council was also conveyed: Dajin has made peace but has not yet withdrawn its troops. All the soldiers and horses of the Jin Dynasty can be stationed in the near future, and they will be disbanded on the day when Jinshi retreats. "

Regarding the whereabouts of King Kang, the Jin army sent out many detectives to search for him, but they could not determine his whereabouts. Therefore, Zong Han was not suspicious of Cao Fu and immediately sent someone to send Cao Fu into the city.

After Cao Fu returned to the city, he reported the truth to Song Qinzong and speculated: "It is estimated that King Kang should receive the secret edict at this time."

Cao Fu saw Song Qinzong's sad face and asked: "What happened recently that makes your Majesty so worried?"

Song Qinzong sighed and said: "What else can be done? The Jin people asked for a huge amount of gold and silver, and even all the capital could not get it together. However, if the gold and silver were not collected for a day, the Jin army would not retreat for a day. If the capital continues to be besieged like this, , the consequences will be disastrous."

Cao Fu thought for a while and suggested that he go to Xiao Qing and ask him to tell the second commander to see if he could defer part of the payment. Song Qinzong nodded in agreement and asked Cao Fu to immediately invite Xiao Qing into the palace for discussion.

After a while, Xiao Qing came to the Xiangxi Palace, and Song Qinzong said to him sincerely: "The amount of gold and silver negotiated for the peace was too large, and it was difficult for the court to collect it at the moment. I am willing to spend all the gold and silver in the capital to show my sincerity in fulfilling the contract and keeping the promise. The rest will be spent later." I will gradually make up for it in the future, and I hope Xiao Shangshu can be accommodating to the second commander." Xiao Qing agreed to give it a try.