One Piece of Song Dynasty

Early the next morning, the Jin envoy Zhao Shaojian conveyed the order of the supervisory army at the left-behind department: Mei Zhili and other promotion officials were asked to leave the city and go to Nanxun Gate to receive training orders.

Upon hearing this, Mei Zhili and others felt that the situation was not good and that the matter was somewhat serious. Some people were worried: "When we go out, we will stay in the camp and never return."

But some people disagreed and said: "The gold man has just been given a deadline of five days, and we need to take care of him. Moreover, the amount of gold and silver collected in the first three days has doubled compared to the previous month, so what crime can be retained?"

Just when they were hesitating, the Jin people sent Xiao Qing to urge them. As a last resort, they had to set off.

As soon as Mei Zhili and others walked out of Nanxun Gate, they saw the supervisor, known as Jinya Langjun, with a dark face, sitting under a flag, surrounded by golden soldiers holding weapons.

The supervisory army first scolded them, and then ordered Mei Zhili, Cheng Zhen, An Fu, and Chen Zhizhi to be beaten to death with maces without any excuse. Afterwards, they beheaded them and "abandoned their corpses under the door", and ordered their families to redeem the corpses with gold and silver.

Then, the supervisory army ordered that Hu Shunzhi, the censor in charge, Hu Tanglao, the censor in the palace, Yao Shunming and Li Que, the censors in the palace, should carry more than a hundred sticks on their shoulders. The four people were beaten with bruises all over their bodies and almost died.

Finally, the supervisor ordered: "Guan Genkuo has been sentenced to death. He has to pay all the gold and silver within five days. If it is not enough, he should ask for it himself."

As for the reason why Mei Zhili and four other people were killed, one theory is that they were unwilling to cooperate with the Jin people in searching for gold and silver, and "the gold and silver were falsely used to cause harm." Another theory is that because they "wanted to form an army to save the two saints" and they had conflicts with Wang Shiyong, Wang Shiyong secretly reported to the Jin people. The gold man "wanted to have his crime vindicated, but was afraid of disturbing the hearts of the people, so he killed him with gold and silver."

At that time, the Jin people had indeed discovered that Kang Wang Lingzong was stationed in Chanzhou, Lu Qiusheng was stationed in Puzhou, Huang Qianshan was stationed in Caozhou, Zhaoye, Fan Na was stationed in Nanjing, Xiangziye was stationed in Juye, and He Zhitong was stationed in Xuzhou. Zong Han has always been highly alert to this.

Perhaps on the night of February , after Mei Zhili and others returned to the city, Wang Shiyong secretly reported to Zong Han, saying that he promoted Mei Zhili, Cheng Zhen, Chen Zhizhi, and An Fu, and wanted to gather the defeated soldiers in the city to serve as King Kang's internal response. . So, Zong Han issued an execution order the next day.

On the twenty-fifth day of February, "the sky was full of darkness, and all the people were crying and sighing with anger." From then on, people in the capital became even more worried. People think that the Jin people killed their attendants and beat the platform to remonstrate, and "the beginning of chaos will be at dawn and dusk." As a result, many citizens began to patrol with weapons again, just like they did when the Jinmen first came to the city.

Soon, the gold envoy came to the left-behind department to convey the commander's order: the amount of gold and silver to be paid was too small, so the officials in Beijing were ordered to pay according to the official order. The consul pays two hundred taels of gold, two thousand taels of silver, and five hundred pieces of pieces from the imperial court; the attendant pays one hundred taels of gold, three hundred taels of silver, and one hundred pieces from the imperial court. The rest of the officials are graded and numbered by Kaifeng Mansion and Yushitai. He also ordered the money to be delivered in the afternoon. If it was late, the whole family would be escorted to the front of the army.

After emergency consultations between the Kaifeng Mansion and the Yushitai, officials above the ninth rank in the capital were divided into nine grades. After determining the number of gold and silver watches, people were sent door-to-door to collect them. According to the different economic conditions of each family, it is divided into three levels, and is apportioned and claimed on a household-by-household basis.

The Jin people have made it clear that this matter must be completed on the same day. Otherwise, the officials of the left-behind department and Kaifeng Prefecture and their whole families would be escorted to the front of the army. In order to protect their families and lives, these high-ranking officials jumped up and down, rushing around, eager to spark a fire. The other officials at all levels could not bear the suffering and complained, causing "a riot in the city".

Since Song Qinzong was deposed as a commoner on February , every time the Jin envoys entered the city, no matter morning or evening, they entered the palace directly, "like entering a private room", which was very casual. They even folded flowers and drank wine to entertain themselves. Sometimes they even get drunk, put flowers in their heads, ride horses "in tandem", and walk through the city in a swaggering manner, as if there is no one else around.

The spectators in the capital all hated him, "I hate not to crush his head, but to eat his flesh."

On the evening of February th, a sad news suddenly came from Jinying: Zhao Fobao, the sixteen-year-old Yongfu Emperor, died in Liujia Temple.

After General Kang Wang stationed in Jeju, he was very worried about the military's lack of funds and lack of food. On February , Liang Yangzu, the envoy accompanying the army, analyzed the situation at that time and proposed a practical solution to King Kang.

Liang Yangzu said: "The capital is surrounded, the salt law is blocked, and private business is carried out by the public. The source of the country's interests is in vain. I begged for expediency and compared it with the cargo law in Beijing, and dealt with the printing of salt banknotes for the east and north, and allowed merchants to join When you see the money, buy some money, go to the Lianglu Salt Fields, and ask for the salt, and wait until the Jin people retreat and the capital city opens to live there."

King Kang agreed and appointed General Liang Yangzu to handle the finances of the Marshal's Mansion and be responsible for supervising the matter, with Yang Yuan as deputy.

Liang Yangzu then convened personnel to open a printing bureau to print salt banknotes in the name of the Generalissimo's Palace, and distributed them to Jezhou, Puzhou, Guangjijun, Xingren, Dongping, Jinan Prefecture, as well as states and militaries along both sides of the Yellow River.

Soon, "businessmen came in, and the number reached more than one million yuan." From then on, "the public and private affairs were at ease, and the army had to provide hundreds of millions, so there was more than enough to envy." Printing salt banknotes can be said to kill two birds with one stone. It not only solves the financial difficulties of the Marshal's Office, but also reduces the military burden on the people.

Also on February th, at the Liujiasi military camp outside the capital, Zong Han and Zong Wang sent Liu Yanzong, Liu Si and Gao Qingyi to meet with Zhang Bangchang and inform him that all the officials in the city recommended him to be emperor.

Zhang Bangchang was shocked when he heard this and "cried and fell to the ground" on the spot. At one moment he scolded Liu Yanzong, at another he cursed all the officials in the city, and threatened to go on a hunger strike and would rather die than obey.

Zhang Bangchang said: "King Kang's army has the civil servant Geng Nanzhong and the military minister Liu Guangshi, and they will do their best to assist them. The Zhao family will be revived and the country will be prosperous. They will be killed in vain."

Zhang Bangchang was originally a hostage in Yanjing with King Su and Consort Cao. Last month, they were taken to Liujia Temple from Yanjing by the Jin people. During this period of time, "no one knew anything about the fact that all the officials in the capital recommended him as emperor."

Zong Han and Zong Wang saw that Zhang Bangchang did not want to be emperor. They thought about what to do and felt that they had to have all the officials in the capital sign the recommendation. So, Wu Kai and Mo Chou were sent into the city, and Wang Shiyong once again summoned all officials to sign signatures and jointly recommend Zhang Bangchang as emperor.

Wang Shiyong obeyed the order and summoned all officials to Shangshu Province to ask everyone to sign the certificate of recommendation.

Tang Ke, the envoy of Taiyi Palace in the Imperial Palace of Guanglu, signed the petition and went home. He said to his sons sadly: "I am a minister, but the country is at this stage. I can't save it, but I have a dead ear." , that is, committing suicide by drinking medicine.

Half a month ago, on February th, the ministers held a meeting in the Secretariat to discuss the matter of recommending the emperor. That day, an announcement was posted outside the gate of the Secretary's Province, saying that the Jin people had deposed the Song Emperor as a commoner, and the officials would nominate a virtuous person as the emperor. Tang Ke felt "sorrowful" while reading the announcement. At this time, a young master of the year rebuked Tang Ke: "As the prime minister, I cannot take care of the affairs of the court. As a result, all the officials in the court and the court are ruined. I usually sell my official title, and I have learned Cai Jing's illegal actions, but I still have the nerve to go to the meeting." If you have a different surname, you are actually a liability to the country, so what’s the point of crying?”