Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Offering flowers and stones also competes with each other.

Zhu Meng is just the most famous one. Shengzhang also contributed after he went on his own, as did Wang Yongcong, Yu Xian, Lu Jian, Ying Andao and so on.

Song Huizong felt it was too confusing, so he selected six people to be responsible for different processes. For example, Zhu Meng was responsible for searching for rare objects, and Wang Yongcong, Yu Xian and others were all under Zhu Meng's management. Another example is Sun Mo, the transport magistrate of Huainan, who is responsible for transporting Hua Shi Gang.

In the fierce competition, Hua Shi Gang's content is innovative.

It doesn’t have to be expensive, the core idea is to be novel!

For example, olives, this thing has never been seen by the emperor. After a small olive seedling arrived in Tokyo, Song Huizong beamed with joy.

Song Huizong also understood that Huashi Gang was disturbing the people, so he put Cai Jing in charge of its management and strictly prohibited digging graves, demolishing houses, and plundering private property. But Cai Jing couldn't control him at all, because Zhu Meng had already surrendered to Tong Guan and acted without any scruples.

Qingxi County, Bangyuan Cave.

Bamboo and wood lacquers are abundant here, and there are many kinds of wood in the mountains. It is a place that should be focused on by the Feng Bureau.

Zhu Meng did not send people to the countryside himself, but asked the Qingxi County magistrate to pay tribute. The county magistrate dispatched officials from the government office to assign tasks to Li Zheng and Baojia Chief, and took the opportunity to extort excessive collections.

"You've done a lot of evil, what else can you say?" Fang La grabbed Li Zhengfang Youchang's collar.

Fang Youchang's hair was disheveled, his nose and face were bruised and swollen after being beaten, and he just kept begging for mercy.

"He's also a coward!" Fang La chopped him off with a knife.

Then the Fang family's belongings were moved away and the house was burned down.

Instead of attacking the county town, he went home to gather believers and contact other believers in the county.

Within ten days, tens of thousands of people participated, plundering wealthy households and killing those in charge of collecting Huashi Gang.

Fang La called himself "Shenggong" and Jianyuan was "Yongle". He appointed officials and generals, and they were divided into six grades with their heads wrapped in red scarves.

Zhang Huiyan, the magistrate of Muzhou, sent Cai Zun, the military commander of the two Zhejiang provinces, to lead five thousand soldiers and horses to suppress it.

Cai Zun was defeated and died, and many soldiers went to Fang La.

That month, Fang La took advantage of the situation and captured Qingxi County. The next month, Fangla captured Muzhou City, and then divided his forces to capture Shouchang, Fenshui, Tonglu, Sui'an and other counties.

After Cai Zun buried five thousand soldiers and horses, the prefectures, counties and cities were as if they were made of paper.

After occupying the entire Muzhou, Fang La personally led his troops into Shezhou and bypassed the state city to attack Xiuning County.

After a hard fight, Fang La captured Xiuning County.

He heard that the county magistrate Ju Sifu was a good official, so he decided to take him for his own use. First they captured the chief registrar and the custodian, and killed them in front of Ju Sifu. Then he threatened, "If you don't surrender, this is what will happen to you!"

Ju Sifu's face did not change: "Since ancient times, no one can be a thief for a long time. Now it's not that I surrender to you, but it's time for you to let me go. When I report to the court, maybe you can spare your life. I will not be a thief." Yeah, either let me go or kill me!"

Since threats were ineffective, Fang La tried to persuade him, but Ju Sifu refused.

Fang La could only say: "You are a good official. I heard that none of the previous Xiuning county magistrates were as good as you. I couldn't bear the coercion of corrupt officials so I rebelled. Since you are not a corrupt official, how can I bear to kill you? Go ahead."

Ju Sifu fled Jiangnan and was quickly promoted to the magistrate of Muzhou. The court asked him to quickly lead troops to fight back.

However, Ju Sifu was injured when he was defending the city. His injuries worsened as he traveled all the way, and he died before he could get the troops.

Fang La then led his army to surround Shezhou City. The guard Guo Shizhong was known as the "Famous General in the Southeast" and also had the nickname "Bingguansuo". Guo Shizhong died in a fierce battle, and Shezhou was defeated.

Then, the rebel army divided into three groups.

Going all the way north to attack Ningguo, all the way south to attack Quzhou, Fang La personally led the main force to march eastward to Hangzhou.

Fuyang and Yuhang counties were defeated one after another, and Fang La's army quickly surrounded Hangzhou City.

Wang Fu, the transshipment envoy on the two Zhejiang roads, Qian Deyu, the deputy transshipment envoy, Zhang Yuan, the punishment envoy, Zhao Ting, the prefect, and Li Daochong, the general judge...all the officials fled first in fear of fighting.

Zhu Meng naturally ran faster!

At the beginning of Fangla's uprising, Zhang Yuan reported it to the court and asked for the deployment of troops to suppress it. Moreover, the document was sent as an urgent document and was quickly delivered to Tokyo. However, what he received was reprimanded by the court. Wang Fu accused him of "causing trouble".

Well, the traitorous party is still covering up the civil unrest and doesn't want the emperor to know about it.

It was not until the fall of Muzhou that the news was finally suppressed, and soldiers and horses in and around Gyeonggi were currently being mobilized.

Li Daochong first fled to Chongde and then to Xiuzhou (Jiaxing). He wanted to cry but had no tears. He had made a lot of money in Hangzhou, but now he had thrown it all to the rebels. He might as well stay in Jinzhou and work with Ju Ming.

Chen Jian, the Zhizhi envoy, and Zhao Yue, the Lian visit envoy, did not escape and stayed in Hangzhou to organize soldiers and civilians to defend the city.

On the day Fang La's army besieged the city, there was a rebellion in Hangzhou. After the internal and external cooperation, both Chen Jian and Zhao Yue died in the rebellion.

Fang La entered the city and issued his first order: "dig up the ancestral grave of the old thief Cai Jing!"

From the fall of Shezhou to the fall of Hangzhou, it took less than ten days, and several county towns were destroyed along the way. There was almost no fighting. The rebels were on the road the whole time, just taking over the city.

At the same time, various rebel armies raised troops to respond.

For example, Suzhou Shisheng, Gui'an Lu Xing'er, Lanxi Zhu Yan and Wu Bang, Xianju Lu Shinang, Shanxian Qiudaoren, Fang Yanshan Chen Shisi, etc. all committed suicide and fell into the city to seek refuge with Fang La.

Historically, when the Fangla Uprising was at its peak, it only reached Guangde and Jiaxing as far north as possible.

In this time and space, the entire territory of Guangde Army, Huzhou and Xiuzhou was captured. They also occupied Suzhou and Kunshan, and when they marched toward Wuxi and Changshu, Tong Guan finally led his officers and soldiers to conquer.

As for the southern army, they have already reached outside Wenzhou City.

Fangla now occupies 63 counties in Kyushu.

However, the rebel army had a fatal flaw: it developed too fast, had not fought many hard battles, its combat effectiveness had not improved much, and it was seriously lacking in armor and equipment.

They didn't have a clear strategic plan. They didn't care where they attacked. Anyway, there were cities everywhere waiting for them to occupy.

Local troops from the imperial court, as well as a large number of officials and refugees, fled to Wuxi and Changshu, where they were hard to attack. Fang La actually stopped fighting. Instead of going all the way to the Yangtze River, he personally led the main force to expand southward.

Brother, you are rebelling. How can you avoid difficulties when you encounter them?

Tong Guan led his troops southward and found that the natural dangers of the Yangtze River were still there. He breathed a sigh of relief and divided his troops into two groups to attack the rebels.

When leaving Beijing, Song Huizong gave Tong Guan many blank imperial edicts, all stamped with the emperor's seal, and he could fill them in as he pleased.

Tong Guan first called for peace, hoping that Fang La would surrender.

After the recruitment failed, Tong Guan helped Song Huizong issue the "Edict of Sin", seriously reviewed the emperor's mistakes, and announced the abolition of the Yingfeng Bureau and the suspension of the Huashi Gang.

People's hearts were at peace, and the people were waiting to destroy Fang La and then live peacefully.

The official troops on the west route, Liu Zhen and Yang Keshi, besieged Jianping (Langxi) and recovered it in five days. Thirty thousand rebels marched north from Guangde to rescue, and fought with the government troops on the way.

The rebels, who lacked armor, lacked training, and had inconsistent orders, almost collapsed when they encountered the well-armed and well-organized government troops.

The Guangde army quickly recovered the entire territory. Liu Zhen led his army to attack Changxing, and Yang Keshi led his army through Meixi Town. The two planned to attack Huzhou City in two directions.

In just half a month, the entire territory of Huzhou was recovered.

The official army on the East Road, led by Tong Guan personally, took back Suzhou in ten days, and the Kunshan uprising army surrendered directly. Then they recovered Wujiang and took Xiuzhou along the canal. Jiaxing and Huating were also recovered by the army.

When Fang La got the news and led the main rescue force, the army had already recaptured Chongde, and the next target was Hangzhou.

At this level of fighting, the elite Western Army had not yet arrived on the battlefield, and had not even crossed the Yangtze River after arriving from Shaanxi.

The only good thing is that Fang La in this time and space rushed back to Hangzhou with his army in time. They built fortifications and prepared enough supplies to defend the city and fight a war of attrition with Tong Guan.

Tong Guan continued to attack the city for more than ten days, but he was helpless against the city of Hangzhou.

A general suggested: "Mr. Minister, Ju Ming of Lizhou presented a flat cannon, which can throw more than a hundred kilograms of boulders. Your Majesty ordered the craftsmen to build it. It is indeed amazingly powerful. Among the craftsmen accompanying the army this time, there are people who know how to make flat cannons." "

Tong Guan said quickly: "Let the servants cut down the trees and build more cannons!"

Nowadays, the imperial court has three prime ministers: Cai Jing, the "gong prime minister", Tong Guan, the "lady prime minister", and Liang Shicheng, the "hidden prime minister".

The concubine is the mother, and Tong Guan is mocked as an eggless eunuch, but no one dares to call her that to her face.

Tong Guan was wasting his time with Fang La in Hangzhou, but the West Route Army was winning consecutive battles.

Liu Zhen and Yang Keshi quickly regained the entire territory of Huzhou. He also defeated Yuhang and marched from the west, heading to Hangzhou to join forces with Tong Guan.

The Shaanxi frontier army finally arrived.

They first went to Jiangnan Road to suppress bandits. Han Shizhong followed Liu Yanqing and was responsible for attacking Jiangnan East Road, which was the area in southern Anhui.

Han Shizhong partnered with pioneer Wang Yuan. The two fell in love and became brothers.

Both brothers were fierce generals and quickly recaptured Shezhou and approached Qingxi County, the site of Fangla's uprising.

Hangzhou was attacked by officers and soldiers for many days, and was attacked by flat artillery. When he heard that Qingxi County was in danger, Fang La had no choice but to lead his troops to break out.

Tong Guan regained Hangzhou.

Fang La did not flee south, but ran back to his hometown Qingxi County and confronted Wang Yuan and Han Shizhong.

So far, the southern rebels have not come to the rescue, but have captured the entire territory of Taizhou. The rebel army in the east continued to attack Mingzhou (Ningbo).

They nominally follow Fang La as their master, but in fact they are not very obedient and only want to expand their own territory.

The rebel army seems to be powerful, but it is actually a mess.

Their only effect was to make the Song Dynasty's finances worse, and the land of wealth in the southeast was riddled with holes.

Fang La's defeat is only a matter of time.

Elite border troops have come from Jiangxi and cut off Fangla's territory. Qingxi County will soon become an isolated city.

Of course, it is estimated that it will take half a year to completely wipe out the rebels.

Ju Ming is always paying attention to the situation in the southeast. Unfortunately, Lizhou is too remote and the news lags behind for several months.

Yu Wenchang had already gone to Chengdu to take office, but the new magistrate of Lizhou had not yet arrived, and Tongpan did not dare to steal the limelight from Ju Ming. The entire Lizhou was actually tightly controlled by the magistrate.

Song Huizong asked Ju Ming to write a letter of repentance, but Ju Ming sent a letter of remonstrance.

He elaborated on the ills of the world, detailed the gains and losses of governance, and said that if one Fang La was wiped out, a second Fang La would rise again. He asked the emperor to remove traitorous parties, rectify the administration of officials, cease troops and cease wars, and treat the people well.

And they called them by name one by one and directly said who was the traitor!