Xianxia version of Water Margin

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Seeing that the Yuan army was hesitant to go south to attack the Song Dynasty, the opinions of the military war faction represented by Zhong Shidao obviously prevailed in the Zhao Song court and received strong support from Zhao Huan.

At the strategic meeting in early March, the date for the Zhao Song Dynasty to send troops north to deter the Yuan Empire and make the Yuan Empire return Shandong, Hebei, and Hedong to the Zhao Song Dynasty was initially determined, and corresponding military deployments were made.

However, the peace faction represented by Li Bangyan was full of doubts about the initiative to provoke. They believed that sending troops to threaten the Yuan Empire was an adventurous act. Once it failed, all the previous peace talks would be wasted, and the Zhao Song Dynasty would also face the danger of being destroyed.

In other words, there was a serious disagreement between the generals and ministers on the major policies of the country.

This should have been the top secret of the Zhao Song court.

However, what is puzzling is that the matter quickly spread inside and outside the court, and people from all walks of life, including ordinary people, all talked about it, talked about it, expressed their own opinions, and argued endlessly.

Even in the restaurant, people often quarreled over whether to fight or make peace.

Sun Xin and Gu Dasao, who had become the owners of the leading restaurant in the capital, sent the news back to the Yuan Empire early...

In fact, Zhao Huan knew very well why there were serious differences in policy between the generals and ministers. It can even be said that this was caused by Zhao Huan.

In the past, due to insufficient military strength, Zhao Huan and his ministers thought that the Yuan army was about to go south to attack the Song Dynasty. In order to avoid the fall of the Zhao Song Dynasty and the subversion of the country and society of the Zhao Song Dynasty, Zhao Huan adopted the suggestions of Li Bangyan and others, was keen on peace talks, and was even willing to cede land, pay compensation and marry the emperor's princess in order to seek peace.

Now, the Zhao Song Dynasty has more than 200,000 soldiers coming to support the emperor. Looking down from Bianliang City, there is a huge black mass, endless, and many soldiers are still on the way. The key is that the Zhao Song Dynasty has more than 300,000 Song troops stationed on the south bank of the Yellow River. It can be said that from the number of troops alone, the Song army that can only be used to fight the Yuan Empire is no less than the Yuan army.

In particular, the famous general of the Western Army, Zhong Shidao, and many Song generals who are good at fighting have all come to Zhao Huan.

With so many soldiers and generals, Zhao Huan feels that his back can finally be hardened, and he no longer has to kneel.

Therefore, Zhao Huan is now keen to show off his troops to the Yuan Empire, and even to go to war with the Yuan Empire. He hopes that the Zhao Song Dynasty under his leadership can show its tough side to the world through military means, and even prove to the world that he is stronger than his father Zhao Ji.

Zhao Huan quickly changed from seeking peace blindly, even seeking peace by any means, to showing his toughness to the Yuan Empire. Although the speed of his change was a bit fast, it did not violate human nature, reason and basic logic.

It's just that Zhao Huan is now eager to win, and he seems to be a little impatient to show the military power of the Zhao Song Dynasty and that he is an emperor who dares to fight and fight.

Within one day, Zhao Huan actually sent eunuchs to urge Zhong Shidao five times to let Zhong Shidao consider whether he could send troops as soon as possible.

But Zhong Shidao was very calm and steady, and he would never send troops rashly. He insisted on waiting for Yao Gu, Zhong Shizhong and others to lead more Western troops to arrive before leading the army north. He did not agree to lead the army north in advance, so as not to anger the Yuan Empire. After the two sides immediately went to war, the Song army could not defend against the attack of the Yuan army.

In fact, Zhong Shidao knew very well how powerful the Yuan army was, and he did not really want to go to war with the Yuan army, at least he did not want to take the initiative to attack the Yuan army.

What Zong Shidao really wanted was to wait until the Song army was ready, find an opportunity to attack the Yuan army, show the military power of the Zhao Song Dynasty to the Yuan Empire, and then fight with defense, or more precisely, use the Yellow River as a defense line, fight a defensive war with the Yuan army, and prove to the Yuan Empire that the Zhao Song Dynasty was not a soft persimmon.

Only in this way, the Yuan Empire would not dare to attack the Song Dynasty in the south, and the Zhao Song Dynasty could temporarily stabilize its northern defense line.

In other words, Zong Shidao was not in favor of war, but wanted to force peace by war and completely solve the problem in the north first.

If Zong Shidao's strategic concept could be achieved, the Zhao Song Dynasty could transfer some more troops to the south to wipe out Fang La's Yongle Dynasty, or even wipe out the prefectures and counties of the Yuan Empire in the south, and then wipe out Wang Qing, and then turn back to concentrate the military, economic, and political forces of the Zhao Song Dynasty, and even ally with the Jin and Xia Kingdoms to jointly send troops to wipe out the Yuan Empire.

In other words, Zong Shidao wanted to play a big chess game to completely save the Zhao Song Dynasty.

Zong Shidao also told Zhao Huan his ideas in detail.

But Zhao Huan was only in his twenties after all, and was far from being as calm and composed as Zong Shidao.

Ever since he heard Zong Shidao's strategic conception, Zhao Huan's blood suddenly burned.

It can also be said that Zhao Huan had been the crown prince for twelve years, and he had been suppressed for too long. When he first ascended the throne, he faced the high pressure of the Yuan army's southward attack on Song, as well as the confusion of suddenly taking power. Now Zhao Huan finally got the opportunity to "raise his head and feel proud". Zhao Huan could no longer suppress his excited heart and trembling hands, and wanted to show some color to Jiang Hongfei, who bullied their Zhao Song Dynasty, robbed their Zhao Song Dynasty's territory, took away his four sisters, forced his father to abdicate, and made their father and son lose face.

The key point is that Zhao Huan can't wait to prove to the world that he is stronger than his father Zhao Ji, stronger than all the emperors of the Zhao Song Dynasty, and even stronger than any emperor in history. The subjects of the Zhao Song Dynasty forced his father to abdicate to him. Yes, he is the savior of the Zhao Song Dynasty. As long as he takes action, he can defeat the previously unrivaled Jiang Hongfei and take back all the territory lost by his father.

Zhao Huan even fantasized that as long as Zong Shidao led the elite troops of the Song Dynasty to the north, he could defeat the Yuan army, sweep across the Yuan Empire, and fight all the way to the capital of the Yuan Empire, Yuan Dadu, and capture Jiang Hongfei and cut him into pieces. He would recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun that the emperors of the Zhao Song Dynasty had failed to recover. Seeing this, Fang La and Wang Qing would obediently submit to the Zhao Song Dynasty ruled by him and return all the territories they had robbed from the Zhao Song Dynasty. Next, he would destroy Xixia, the Jin Kingdom, Goryeo, and Tubo, recover the grasslands and the thirty-six kingdoms in the Western Regions, and go on an expedition to Central Asia, so that the Zhao Song Dynasty would surpass the Han and Tang Dynasties and become the most powerful dynasty in history.

Thinking of this, Zhao Huan was so excited that he couldn't sleep and couldn't suppress his great dream.

But Zong Shidao was always tepid and couldn't understand Zhao Huan's ambitions at all.

Zong Shidao's performance disappointed Zhao Huan.

Zhao Huan then placed his hopes on the young general Yao Pingzhong.

Yao Pingzhong was brave and good at fighting. In the battle with the Western Xia at Zangdi River in the fifth year of Zhenghe, he killed many Xia people and became famous in one battle. He was only 18 years old that year.

Tong Guan once summoned Yao Pingzhong. During the conversation, he found that Yao Pingzhong was very arrogant and even did not take Tong Guan seriously. Tong Guan was very unhappy, so he had been deliberately suppressing Yao Pingzhong.

However, all the heroes in Guanzhong admired Yao Pingzhong and called him "Little Taiwei".

Not long ago, when Fang La was in rebellion, Tong Guan was ordered to lead troops to quell the rebellion.

Although Tong Guan hated Yao Pingzhong, he was convinced of Yao Pingzhong's bravery and still transferred him to accompany him.

In this battle, Yao Pingzhong's merits were the best in the whole army.

After Tong Guan recovered Hangzhou, he rewarded the generals heavily.

Before the award, Yao Pingzhong said to Tong Guan: "Pingzhong does not want to be rewarded, but would like to see the emperor."

Seeing that Yao Pingzhong was determined to get in touch with Emperor Zhao Ji through the stove and kang, Tong Guan could not let Yao Pingzhong stand out.

Therefore, Tong Guan suppressed Yao Pingzhong even more, and later simply transferred Yao Pingzhong back to the northwest.

If it was an ordinary general, he might never have a chance to rise again after being suppressed by Tong Guan.

But Yao Pingzhong was different.

Although Yao Pingzhong was an orphan since childhood, he was lucky enough to be adopted by Yao Gu.

Yao Gu was the second son of the famous general Yao Si and the younger brother of the famous general Yao Xiong. Yao Gu was also a famous general in the Western Army, and his reputation and status were not inferior to Zong Shidao.

Let's put it this way, the Yao family and the Zong family both have a deep connection in the Western Army. They are both famous generals, and both are famous families in Shaanxi. They have a profound influence in the Western Army.

Now, Yao Gu is also leading the main force of the Xihe Army to advance to Tokyo, rushing to rescue the king.

Yao Pingzhong led the vanguard of the Xihe Army.

The Zong and Yao families have always been, and the disciples of the two families are competitive and unwilling to give in.

But Yao Pingzhong found that Zhong Shidao was now highly valued by Zhao Huan. He was afraid that before Yao Gu arrived in Tokyo Bianliang City, Zhong Shidao would take the limelight. By then, there might be no place for their Yao family, which would lead to their Yao family being suppressed by Zhong family.

Coincidentally, Zhao Huan was not satisfied with Zhong Shidao's hesitation, timidity and procrastination. He also found that Yao Pingzhong was very brave and had great prestige in the Song army. The key was that Yao Pingzhong was a young general and should be able to understand his ambitions.

So Zhao Huan summoned Yao Pingzhong to the Funing Palace to play a game.

This was the dream that Yao Pingzhong had pursued for many years.

Moreover, Yao Pingzhong also wanted to take this opportunity to defeat Zhong Shidao once and win back a game for their Yao family.

So, when Zhao Huan asked Yao Pingzhong for advice, Yao Pingzhong said to Zhao Huan: "The soldiers all want to fight quickly, but now they are delaying the battle, which is bound to make people complain."

This is exactly what Zhao Huan wanted to hear, and he immediately complained to Yao Pingzhong: "But Xuanfu doesn't agree to start the war immediately, alas!"

When Yao Pingzhong saw Zhao Huan's attitude, he immediately said: "I am willing to lead the troops to the north to cross the Yellow River to surprise attack the Yuan army and capture several commanders and generals of the Yuan Dynasty alive to boost the morale of our Song Dynasty!"

Zhao Huan was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately promised Yao Pingzhong: "If you succeed, you will be rewarded heavily."

As for when to go to the camp to win, Zhao Huan also asked the sorcerer Chu Tianjue to calculate.

Chu Tianjue calculated that the day of victory would be Dingyou in February, that is, the first day of February.

Yao Pingzhong decided that on the first night of February, he would lead his troops to secretly cross the Yellow River and attack the Yuan army camp.

General Yang Kesheng, who was carrying out the plan of robbing the camp with Yao Pingzhong, reported to Zhao Huan: "This trip is dangerous, and I am afraid that I will lose the trust of the prime minister in the peace talks. I want to write a report and hide it in my arms, saying that I will not wait for the imperial edict to attack the bandits."

Yang Kesheng was preparing that if the robbing of the camp failed, he would take the responsibility of provoking the war on behalf of the Zhao Song court.

Yang Kesheng's words moved Zhao Huan greatly and gave Zhao Huan a reassurance.

Zhao Huan naively thought that even if the robbing of the camp failed, he could push it away completely and send someone to tell Jiang Hongfei that this was all Yang Kesheng's personal behavior and had nothing to do with him and the Zhao Song Dynasty. Yang Kesheng was just a temporary worker of the Zhao Song Dynasty.

Fearing that Zong Shidao would stop this, Zhao Huan and Yao Pingzhong kept it a secret from Zong Shidao and even sent Zong Shidao to inspect the army to defend the king.

But Zhao Huan and Yao Pingzhong wanted to keep a low profile, but they failed to do so.

Soon after the plan to cross the Yellow River and attack the Yuan army's camp was decided, Yao Pingzhong ordered three large flags to be erected next to Kaibao Temple, all of which were inscribed with the words "Reporting victory in front of the emperor".

Moreover, the officials set up the imperial tent on Fengqiu Gate, ready to wait for Yao Pingzhong to return triumphantly and Zhao Huan's carriage to receive the captives.

Even after Yao Pingzhong led the camp-robbery troops out of the city, all the people in Dongjing Bianliang City blocked the city gates and roads, waiting for Yao Pingzhong to send back the victory report.

In other words, all the relevant parties in the Zhao Song court had prepared to celebrate the victory in advance, and the momentum was so great that every household in the capital knew about it.

In this case, whether Zong Shidao knew or not, Jiang Hongfei didn't know, anyway, he and the Yuan Empire knew everything clearly.

Actually——

The commanders of the Yuan army on the front line in Hebei, including Liu Huiniang, Xu Guanzhong, Madam Jia, Wu Yong, Wen Huanzhang, etc., have always been very alert, always on guard against the sudden attack of the Song army across the Yellow River.

Moreover, the three intelligence agencies of the Yuan Empire have all found out that the Song army will secretly cross the Yellow River to rob the camp.

Therefore, the Yuan army spread a big net, waiting for the Song army to fall into the trap.

In the late night of February 1st, there was no moonlight, and the night was dark. Yao Pingzhong and Yang Kesheng and others set out quietly with 7,000 cavalrymen according to the predetermined plan, crossed the Yellow River from the south bank of the Yellow River in a shallow place, and went to attack the Yuan army camp in Ji County.

Yao Pingzhong ordered Wang Tong to be the commander of the vanguard army, and Wang Tong led 500 death warriors to the Yuan army camp.

However, Wang Tong robbed two camps in a row and found nothing. When he arrived at the third camp, the Iron Buddha Left Army, the Horse Tenth Army, and 3,000 infantry soldiers were waiting in full battle array.

Wang Tong and the death squad were immediately surrounded by the Yuan army.

Instantly, arrows rained down like a torrential rain!

Then, five thousand armored cavalrymen crushed them.

Finally, the cavalry chased and killed them.

After all this, although the Song army fought desperately to wait for reinforcements.

However, this was completely meaningless.

Let alone, before the reinforcements of the Song army arrived, Wang Tong and the five hundred death squads of the Zhao Song Dynasty were wiped out or surrendered.

Just say, do you think that the rear army led by Yao Pingzhong didn't deal with their Yuan army?

It was the Iron Buddha Right Army, the Shengjie Army, and the Infantry Army led by Wu Song who greeted Yao Pingzhong and his men...

In short.

The Yuan army defeated the Song army with a deliberate plan. In the end, only three hundred cavalrymen fled back to the south bank of the Yellow River relying on their quick reaction and good horses. The rest of the Song army was completely destroyed, and even Yao Pingzhong and Yang Kesheng, who led the troops, were captured.

That night, Wu Yong personally interrogated Yao Pingzhong and Yang Kesheng.

Wu Yong said: "The two countries have made peace, why do you come to rob the camp again?"

Yang Kesheng replied: "Kesheng came to the capital with the troops to defend the king. The three armies wanted to fight, so Kesheng led them here, which was not the intention of the court."

Yang Kesheng also took the initiative to say that he had a report in his arms to prove what he said.

Yang Kesheng was the brother of Shaanxi's brave general Yang Keshi, who was loyal and brave and ready to die.

Wu Yong knew at a glance that Yang Kesheng was a tough guy and he would definitely not get anything out of him.

Wu Yong looked at Yao Pingzhong, who seemed to be ready to die but didn't say a word, and raised his mouth, and then asked someone to take Yang Kesheng away.

When Yang Kesheng was taken away, Wu Yong personally untied Yao Pingzhong and said, "General, you are wrong. The Zhao Song Dynasty is already on the verge of destruction, while our Great Yuan Dynasty is rising. The general sacrificed his life for the Zhao Song Dynasty to attack our Great Yuan army camp. How unwise." Yao Pingzhong pretended to be heroic and said, "Kill me if you want to kill me, shave me if you want to shave me, don't talk about surrendering to me. My Yao family has been blessed by the emperor for generations. How can I betray my country and break my promise?" Wu Yong said, "General, you are too kind. I just feel sorry for your heroism and want to tell you a few truths." Explain to Yao Pingzhong After being tied up, Wu Yong looked at Yao Pingzhong and said "confidentially": "General, you must know General Han Shizhong, General Wu Jie, General Wu Lin, General Wang Yan, General Li Yanxian and other generals who came from Zhao Song? Now they are all highly valued in my Yuan Dynasty, each of them is a frontier commander, sitting in one place. Wu heard that there are generals among them. If the general had come to my Yuan Dynasty earlier, even if he had not become one of the three officials, he would have become one of the three orphans..."

When Wu Yong said this, Yao Pingzhong, who thought he was not appreciated for his talent, felt sour in his heart!

Just as Wu Yong said, Han Shizhong, Wu Jie, Wu Lin, Wang Yan, Li Yanxian and others were all powerless and low-level officers in the Western Army, and they were not even worthy of carrying shoes for Yao Pingzhong. When they saw Yao Pingzhong, they had to be respectful and polite, not to mention bowing and scraping, and called him "Little Taiwei".

But now, Han Shizhong and others are all famous generals, and have been granted the title of Jieyue, while Yao Pingzhong has not even been promoted to the position of General, let alone the honor of being granted the title of Jieyue, which reflects the emperor's high trust and authorization in generals.

In this way, Yao Pingzhong can't help but think: "If I had surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty earlier..."

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