One Piece of Song Dynasty

Wanyanchang was depressed and sent someone to invite Qin Hui to the Chinese army camp in the evening to talk. Qin Hui came from outside the tent. When Wan Yanchang saw Qin Hui outside, he hurriedly signaled for Qin Hui to come in. Qin Hui entered the tent and Wan Yanchang said, "I have nothing to do tonight. Please discuss the differences between the north and the south."

"The differences between the north and the south have existed since ancient times, and Qin Hui believes that today the south of the Yangtze River is generally better than the north. Taking the economy as an example, since the two Jin Dynasties, the south of the Yangtze River has focused on commerce, while the north has focused on agriculture. The annual income of the Song Dynasty is much more than a hundred times that of the Jin Kingdom." Qin Hui got straight to the point and spoke eloquently. talk.

Wan Yanchang had known that the average annual income of the Song Dynasty was million yuan, while that of the Jin Dynasty was only more than million yuan. They were not the same. He couldn't help but nodded and said: "It is a public opinion that the economy of the south of the Yangtze River is better than that of the north."

Just as the two were about to start arguing, a scout from the Jin Army hurried in and handed an urgent letter to Wu Shu, who was isolated south of the Yangtze River by Han Shizhong, requesting immediate reinforcements. Wan Yanchang was shocked and immediately ordered a death squad to conquer Chuzhou day and night, and then marched towards the Yangtze River.

The next day, the Jin army attacked Chuzhou again. The death squads first hit the city tower with a goose cart. The tower collapsed suddenly and smoke filled the air. The Jin army then scaled the city wall like a tide. Wan Yanchang and Qin Huili watched the battle under their banners, and saw the city guard Zhao Li, who was only forty years old and looked like a god. He was commanding soldiers to push huge furnaces and pour red molten iron down the city. Hundreds of Jin troops finally broke into the Moon City and were climbing onto the city on firewood. Suddenly, hot molten iron fell from the sky. Amid wailing sounds, they were immediately burned to death. Wan Yanchang lamented: "The dead are like hemp, which is heartbreaking. Attacking by force is not the answer. My husband wrote a letter of surrender to the city, urging them to surrender as soon as possible to avoid the pain of swordsmanship."

"The city of Chuzhou is well-defended, and the guard Zhao Li is very strong. Although I have to serve, I am afraid that my efforts will be in vain. If the siege is not attacked, the food and fuel in the city will be exhausted, and the city will naturally be abandoned. However, if the siege lasts for a long time, the Song army will come to rescue. "Qin Hui frowned and said this, but Wan Yanchang smiled thoughtfully: "Even if Chuzhou cannot be surrounded for a long time, it is estimated that the Song army will not dare to go deep to relieve the siege alone and withdraw its troops to besiege the city."

The Jin army sounded the gong, and Wan Yanchang and Qin Hui turned their horses and returned to the camp. Wan Yanchang looked at Qin Hui who had fallen into his urn and was at his mercy. He dismounted and said, "Qin Xianggong, why don't you and I say goodbye here? Although yesterday's discussion ended before it even started, let's wait until the day when we are done. Talk about it.”

"Farewell to Qin Hui here, I don't know what the king means." Qin Hui didn't understand and hurriedly dismounted. Wan Yanchang said: "The Civil War was protracted. Although our army's vanguard was wreaking havoc in various places in the south of the Yangtze River, Chuzhou was still unable to be captured for a long time. This shows that the war will not end overnight. Instead of doing this, it is better for Xianggong to return to the Song Dynasty early and plan for peace between the two countries. ."

"Your Majesty, let me go back to Song Dynasty" Qin Hui was surprised. Wan Yanchang said: "That's right. When I return to the Song Dynasty, my husband's talent will be of great use. By then, you and I should cooperate internally and externally, so why worry about failing to negotiate a peace?"

"Qin Hui is willing to do whatever it takes to negotiate peace." Qin Hui was grateful to Wan Yanchang from the bottom of his heart and bowed deeply. Wan Yanchang said: "When your husband returns home, he will submit the peace agreement to Zhao Gou and make friends with colleagues inside and outside the court. The money and silk funds have been prepared for you. As for the specific matters, someone will contact you by then."

"Your Majesty, no matter how big or small, Qin Hui dares to disobey his orders." Qin Hui gave another salute. Wan Yanchang returned the gift: "My lord, please remember the agreement between you and me. We will meet again when the world is at peace, and we won't send you far away."

Wushu escaped from Huangtiandang, stationed in Jiankang, and then tried many times to cross to the north of the Yangtze River. However, Han Shizhong's large fleet of ships took advantage of the favorable wind, and every time they blocked the dense Jin army's small fleet with the sound of cannons and trumpets. Han Shizhong also ordered the strong men of the Song Army to hook the gold ship with an iron anchor. The gold ship was dragged down and sank when it was hooked. Most of the gold soldiers on the ship were landlubbers, and most of them died after falling into the water. Some of the gold ships that were not sunk by the hook caught fire with rockets, and retreated to the south bank in thick smoke. Wushu gritted his teeth with hatred, so he had to put up a list to recruit people who could destroy Han Shizhong's ship.

Because of his consecutive victories, Han Shizhong gradually grew proud. He held banquets on the boats every night, drank with the generals until dawn, and danced swords on the boats when he was drunk.

Han Shizhong's performance at this time reflected the quality of the Southern Song Dynasty's army at this time: he would be overjoyed every time he had a small victory and seek rewards; he would panic and run away when he encountered a defeat.

In Quanzhou, Li Xin was waiting for the training of the new army and other Xiang armies to be completed while paying attention to Huang Tiandang's battle situation. However, he had not received any good news from Han Shizhong in the past few days, but Zhao Ding received bad news: the Wanyanchang Department of the Jin Army was trying to rescue Wu Shu. , besieging Chuzhou day and night, Zhao Libing, the governor of Chuzhou, was exhausted and ran out of food. He asked the court for help many times.

Li Xin was thinking in front of the map. Chuzhou is located at the intersection of the Huaihe River and the Canal. It is the only way to go down from the south of Shandong Province. It is also a barrier between the two Huaihe Rivers and the first military center on the Huaihe River. By occupying Chuzhou, you can advance directly to the Central Plains, and retreat to protect Huainan. If Chuzhou is lost, it will not only threaten Jianghuai, but also Jiangnan. After all, if you defend the river, you must defend the Huai.

Li Xin learned from Zhao Ding that Chuzhou guard Zhao Li was a native of Zhangyi Village in Xuzhou. He was good at riding and shooting, disliked publicity and wealth, and could share joys and sorrows with the soldiers. In every battle, he took the lead and severely punished the defeated soldiers who retreated. Last year, Jin soldiers attacked Xuzhou, and Zhao Li supervised the battle. He was hit by six arrows, but he became more courageous as he fought and continued to fight in the streets after the city fell. He was knocked unconscious by the Jin soldiers and captured. When he woke up, he killed the Jin soldiers guards, sneaked into Xuzhou, found the body of the deceased Xuzhou prefect, carried it to a safe place, dug a hole and buried it with only his hands, and then contacted the militiamen of various ministries. He led his troops to regain Xuzhou in one fell swoop.

After hearing the report, Zhao Gou was greatly moved and appointed Zhao Li as Zhongyilang, acting as agent for state affairs. Later, he was promoted to Dr. Youwu and governor of Zhongzhou. Last year, the Jin army besieged Chuzhou. Zhao Li was ordered to lead troops to rush to the rescue. He fought and marched, achieving seven battles and seven victories. When he arrived in Chuzhou, Zhao Li had been hit by arrows in both cheeks and could not speak. He used gestures to command and stubbornly fought off the Jin soldiers' siege, leading only a few thousand soldiers into the city. Zhao Gou received the report and personally nominated Zhao Li as the envoy of the Lianshui Army in Sizhou and the magistrate of Chuzhou, and ordered Zhao Li to guard Chuzhou.

Zhao Li was a useful person. After thinking about it, Li Xin ordered Zhao Ding to pass the order to ask Liu Guangshi to send troops to rescue Zhao Li, and named Wang De to lead the troops to rescue Zhao Li. Li Xin was born with Liu Guangshi. I don't trust him, but I am very interested in Liu Guangshi's subordinate Wang De and Li Xin.

Wushu received help from a Fujianese named Wang in Jiankang. Wang knew that Han Shizhong's warships were refitted from sea-going ships and sank with great force, so he suggested that Wushu fill the Jin's ships with earth and lay slabs on them to prevent the light boats from sinking. During the bumps in the wind and waves, the Song Army used iron hooks to hook the ship, and placed oars on both sides of the boat to speed up the boat and facilitate maneuvering operations. Based on the characteristics of the Song Army's warships relying on sails as power, he calculated the time and suggested to Wu Shu Time to cross the river.