One Piece of Song Dynasty

Immediately after Li Xin came to court, he received a memorial from Li Heng, the governor of Xiangyang, who wanted to go north to Luoyang, the capital of Xijing. At the same time as Li Heng's memorial arrived, there were memorials from Chen Gui, the governor of De'an Prefecture, Fuzhou, and Hanyang military towns, demanding Li Heng's dismissal. . Who are Li Heng and Chen Gui?

Li Heng was a fierce general under the army thief Sang Zhong, and was the vanguard in the attack on Fangzhou and Jinzhou the year before last. After being killed by the Zijun Wang Yan and retreating, Li Heng suggested that Sang Zhong go to rebel in Western Shu again. Another deputy general under Sang Zhong, Huo Ming, was recruited by Chen Gui and took the opportunity to kill the general Sang Zhong. Li Heng succeeded Li Heng and attacked Huo Ming under the pretext of avenging Sang Zhong. Huo Ming had no choice but to surrender to the puppet Qi. In turn, he sent an envoy to recruit Chen Gui. The envoy was killed by Chen Gui. Li Heng then attacked Chen Gui's De'an Mansion. , which is today’s Anlu, Hubei. Li Heng built an overpass outside the city, filled in trenches, rang gold and drums, and attacked the city frantically. He continued to attack the city for more than days, so he asked the city to surrender beautiful women before he could retreat. Chen Gui resolutely refused, and personally led his soldiers armed with muskets, supplemented by a fire-ox formation to kill Li Heng, and the siege of De'an was resolved.

Although Chen Gui was a civilian official, he was firm-willed in commanding the defensive battle and was both civil and military. In particular, he used the musket that appeared for the first time in the history of Sino-foreign wars. The so-called burst gun is a gunpowder gun that opens a bamboo tube, fills it with gunpowder, and burns the core. The army and thieves besieged De'an Mansion for more than seventy days, but the court was unable to control it, which shows how chaotic the situation was in the early Southern Song Dynasty.

Li Heng had neither food nor fodder, and was worried about what the imperial court would do to him, so he counterattacked to defend, and took the initiative to write a request for the Northern Expedition, on the condition that the imperial court would provide food and wages. Li Xin was hesitating and saw Zhang Jun's memorial again. Zhang Jun said that Li Heng was a rabble, relying solely on bravery and ruthlessness, and the army was completely undisciplined. He saw that Xiangyang and Yingzhou were in dilapidated condition and the army relied on people for food, so he asked the court to provide food to support his Northern Expedition. Zhang Jun also asserted that Li Heng's northern expedition would be defeated and asked the court not to allow him to go north.

However, Li Xin thought for a while and agreed. Li Xin's main thought was that warlords like Li Heng were not within the control of the imperial court. Even if they were defeated, it would not be the imperial court's power that would be lost. Perhaps they could send Yue Fei to take advantage of the situation. Li Heng was defeated and recovered Xiangyang and other places, but the court paid only a little money and food.

In addition to Li Heng, Li Xin also became interested in Chen Gui, mainly because Li Xin saw the sudden musket and remembered that his own musket had not yet been developed. So after making up his mind, Li Xin issued three decrees. One was to Li Heng to agree to his Northern Expedition and provide him with money and food; the other was to Yue Fei to inform him that soldiers would soon set off from Lin'an to strengthen his army and asked him to pay attention to Li Heng at all times. In the case of the Hengbei Expedition, if Li Heng is defeated, he will lead his army to take over Xiangyang and other places, and the puppet Qi must not be allowed to get Xiangyang; the third route is for Chen Gui, who will be transferred back to the Ordnance Department of the Ministry of Industry in Lin'an.

On this day, Zhao Liangsi came to the government office and reported to Li Xin: "Your Majesty, the Korean envoy is here, offering a hundred taels of gold, a thousand taels of silver, five hundred catties of ginseng, two hundred pieces of silk, and two hundred pieces of Korean paper."

Li Xin nodded and said: "Well, your Ministry of Foreign Affairs will handle it. Anyway, I don't see the Goryeo envoy now."

Li Xin knew very well what the Goryeo people were planning. He just heard that the regent in charge of the Song Dynasty was called Li Xin, so he sent someone to see if this Li Xin was Li Xin who had occupied Jeju by force. He had not yet met the Goryeo envoy. At that time, Li Xin planned to see them again after the Northern Expedition was successful.

Zhao Liangsi bowed and said, "I obey your order."

After the meeting, Qin Hui felt a little frustrated, especially when he saw that Li Xin had approved Li Heng's Northern Expedition and ordered the imperial court to fully support the cooperating Yu Zha. He felt even more uneasy. That night, Qin Hui, as a colleague, made an explanation to Wang Lun, asking Wang Lun to bring more fragrant medicine, fruit tea, silk, gold and silver to Wan Yanchang and other Jin army commanders.

Lin'an had previously recruited new soldiers, of which were given to Yang Yizhong, to Yue Fei, and the last were left. Li Xin planned to give them to Wang De, so Li Xin called Wang De: "Wang De, I will hand over the last new soldiers left in Lin'an to you. From today on, your troops will be organized as the guards before the camp, and you will be the commander of the capital and stationed in Pingjiang Mansion."

Wang De cupped his fists and said, "I obey your order."

Recently, Wan Yanchang sent another message urging Qin Hui to quickly find out Li Xin's attitude towards the peace talks, which made Qin Hui very worried.

Wang complained: "It's true that this prince's attitude is always vague."

"The final fight will be made tomorrow morning. Success or failure will depend on this move." Qin Hui made an anxious decision. Wang reminded him: "Although the prince is young, the city is very deep. My husband must not make the prince angry."

Qin Hui looked at her in horror and didn't sleep well all night. In the morning of the next day, Qin Hui gritted his teeth and came out to play: "Your Majesty, I have another strategy to offer today. People from the south should return to the south, and people from the north should return to the north. If we negotiate with the Jin people based on this, we will definitely succeed."

"People from the south return to the south, and people from the north return to the north, what's the explanation?" Zhao Ding asked. Qin Hui explained: "To be specific, it means returning the people north of the Yellow River such as Hedong, Hebei, Shandong, and Shaanxi to the Kingdom of Jin, the Central Plains people to Liu Yu, and the people living in the north in the south of the Yangtze River to return to the south of the Yangtze River. In this way, the north and the south will no longer have to fight, and the world will be peaceful. Can be determined."

"The north and the south are divided and do not interfere with each other. If you say this, we in the Song Dynasty will no longer need to make northern expeditions to the Central Plains," Lu Yihao thought. Qin Hui stood up like a gambler and said: "Your Majesty, divide the north and the south. I regard this as the most satisfying thing in my life."

"It sounds reasonable. Southerners should return to the south, and northerners should return to the north. Since both Xianggong Zhao and Shangshu Lu are from the north, I, the king, will return these treacherous ministers to the Jin people." Before Qin Hui could get all wet Goosebumps arose, and Li Xin changed the topic sharply, "The southerners should return to the south, and the northerners should return to the north. It seems fair, but in fact it is extremely detrimental to our Song Dynasty. First, it means that our Song Dynasty has recognized the legitimacy of the pseudo-Qi Dynasty. , how can we talk about recovering the lost territory and recovering the Central Plains? This king will never agree to this. Secondly, most of the officials and soldiers in our Great Song Dynasty are from the north. If the southerners return to the south and the northerners return to the north, wouldn't it be true? I want this king to disarm on the spot.”

Lu Yihao nodded in agreement: "Since ancient times, Yan and Zhao have many strong men. The northerners are brave and good at martial arts, and the people from Jiangnan are weak and good at writing. How can the new army composed entirely of people from Jiangnan defeat the Jin Army? If the Jin Army marches south, then won't our Song Dynasty be unbearable?" one strike"

Li Xin said solemnly: "The southerners returned to the south, and the northerners returned to the north. Public opinion also stabilized the social order of the Qi and Jin Dynasties. Qin Hui, I want to ask you, are you from the Song Dynasty or the Jin Dynasty? Do you want to negotiate for peace?" , but the peace that this king wants is not such a humiliating peace."

Qin Hui panicked: "Your Majesty, every time I see your Majesty surrendering to your advice, all the scholars and people at home and abroad are delighted, so I dare to tell you everything."

Lu Yihao smiled and said: "Based on the words southerners return to the south and northerners return to the north, Qin Shilang, what will happen if you don't resign?"