Xianxia version of Water Margin

…

April 13th was Zhao Huan's birthday. Ministers from the Zhao and Song Dynasties came forward to request that the day be named Qianlong Festival.

"Qianlong" is taken from the fifth line of the Qian hexagram in the "Book of Changes": "Nine-five, the flying dragon is in the sky."

This is a sign of the emperor's reign.

Ministers of the Zhao and Song dynasties used "Qianlong" to describe Zhao Huan, hoping that he would work hard to bring order to the chaos and revive the glory of the Zhao and Song dynasties.

The birthdays of the emperors of the Zhao and Song dynasties were all festivals. Taizu of the Song Dynasty was born on February 16th, which is the Changchun Festival. Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty was born on October 7th, which is the Qianming Festival, and later changed to the Shouning Festival. Song Zhenzong was born on December 2, which is the Chengtian Festival. Song Renzong was born on April 14th, which is the Qianyuan Festival. Song Yingzong was born on the third day of the first lunar month, which is the Longevity Festival. Song Shenzong was born on April 10th, which is the Tongtian Festival. Zhezong of the Song Dynasty was born on December 7th. To avoid the anniversary of the death of his ancestor, the next day was the Longxing Festival. Song Huizong was born on October 10th, which is Tianning Festival.

Zhao Huan has always opposed extravagance and luxury and advocates simplicity and frugality.

This was also the main reason why Zhao Huan had such a good reputation before he ascended the throne, and it was also one of the reasons why Zhao Huan finally became emperor.

On this day, Zhao Huan was also very happy, and he had been tense since he came to the throne. Not only him, but all the subjects of the Zhao and Song Dynasties were tense. He felt that it was time for everyone to relax, so he made an exception and rewarded the ministers Zichen Hall held a banquet to celebrate his birthday and announced that the whole world would celebrate.

On this day, lamp sheds were set up in front of every house in the Zhao and Song dynasties, and lights were hung, shining like daylight, and there were laughter and laughter everywhere.

There is a bridge across the Yellow River in Junzhou, only three hundred miles away from Bianliang City in Tokyo.

This bridge spans Dagan, Fenghuang and Zishan and is divided into two sections: the section from Dagan to Fenghuang is called Tiancheng Bridge and belongs to Junzhou; the section from Fenghuang to Zijin is called Rongguang Bridge and later renamed Shenggong Bridge and belongs to Huazhou.

This bridge has extremely important strategic value. It can be said to be the northern gateway of Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo. Whether it can guard this bridge and the Yellow River is related to the safety of Tokyo, the capital of the Zhao and Song Dynasties.

Liang Fangping, who was responsible for the defense of the bridge, had no idea that Jiang Hongfei would attack the Zhao and Song Dynasties in April, nor did he expect that the Yuan Empire would cross the bridge without announcing it.

It can be said that Liang Fangping was unaware of the movements of the Dayuan Army and was unprepared for the Dayuan Army's surprise attack.

The key point is that yesterday was the Qianlong Festival. Zhao Huan ordered the whole world to celebrate. As usual, the troops would hold some celebrations and other activities. Liang Fangping used this as an excuse to lead his soldiers to drink and have fun all night long. Stay.

In fact, since arriving in Junzhou, Liang Fangping has continued to reward his Song Army officers and soldiers.

From a practical point of view, Liang Fangping wanted to use this to make his Song Army officers and soldiers serve him. This was also his way of winning over his Song Army officers and soldiers through school children.

Liang Fangping knew very well that even though Tong Guan had not yet taken office, he still controlled hundreds of thousands of troops in the southeast.

Tong Guan also expressed to Zhao Huan that he was willing to wipe out Fang La and the Yuan Empire's forces in the southeast for the Zhao Song Dynasty, and even wipe out Wang Qing for the Zhao Song Dynasty, and return a stable south to the Zhao Song Dynasty.

But Liang Fangping knew very well that during the reign of emperor and courtiers, Zhao Huan's people almost beat Tong Guan into one of the six thieves. How could Tong Guan really work hard for Zhao Huan?

In fact, in the Zhao and Song dynasties, there has always been a voice that "Tong Guan did not work hard to suppress thieves and was suspected of raising thieves to respect themselves."

Liang Fangping believed that Tong Guan would be captured by Zhao Huan sooner or later.

Also, through the wars in the past few years, people in the Zhao and Song Dynasties have realized that Tan Zhen is just a "Zhao Kuo" who talks on paper and has very limited abilities.

In short, Liang Fangping felt that he was the most suitable person to replace Tong Guan.

So Liang Fangping learned Tong Guan everywhere.

Tong Guan has a very forthright personality, a very generous man, able to use justice and money, and is generous with his money. Whether they are concubines in the harem, maids and eunuchs, or Taoist priests and ministers, everyone can benefit from him. He is never stingy.

At the same time, Tong Guan was attentive and insightful, and was very good at figuring out the emperor's interests and intentions. Therefore, he can always do things to the point and satisfy the Sacred Heart.

Liang Fangping imitated them all.

In addition, the reason why Tong Guan has a high prestige in the Western Army is that in addition to job factors and personality factors, there are two other important points:

First, he was willing to spend money, and the pensions he paid to the fallen soldiers were generous.

Second, he valued friendship and righteousness. He adopted the sons of fallen generals as adopted sons, provided them with food, clothing, housing, and transportation, provided them with a good education, and arranged suitable jobs.

Liang Fangping also followed these lessons correctly.

In addition, Liang Fangping also suddenly thought of Tong Guan's actions and often sought benefits for his soldiers, such as food, wine, women, money, military exploits, status...

In short, Liang Fangping has been busy winning people's hearts.

But Liang Fangping had forgotten that a commander-in-chief must not only be able to win over people's hearts, but also must be able to fight, especially in wartime.

On the morning of April 14th, it was just dawn. When two drunk soldiers of the Song Army got up to urinate, they vaguely saw what seemed to be two Yuan cavalry galloping over the bridge.

The two soldiers of the Song Army rubbed their eyes and looked again, trying to confirm whether they drank too much and was this their hallucination?

The two soldiers of the Song Army took another closer look and found that the Dayuan cavalry had arrived within a stone's throw!

One of the soldiers of the Song Army reacted and opened his mouth to shout: "The enemy..."

But before the soldier of the Song Army could shout out the word "attack" at the end, a green-faced man on the opposite side shot him in the throat with an arrow.

At this time, another pawn also reacted, turned around and ran away.

But the pawn couldn't even run out three steps before he was pierced by Yang Zhi's arrow.

Soon, Lin Chong and Yang Zhi led Ma Yijun and Ma Sijun through the Yellow River Bridge and arrived at the south bank of the Yellow River.

Lin Chong said to Yang Zhi: "You stay here to clean up the gunpowder and kerosene and guard the bridge, while I go to fight."

Yang Zhi did not waste any time, and immediately arranged for people to throw the burning objects on the Yellow River Bridge into the Yellow River. At the same time, he was tense and did not let anyone approach the Yellow River Bridge.

Lin Chong, on the other hand, led Ma Yijun to attack the Song Army camp on the edge of the Yellow River.

At the same time, Hua Rong, Shi Jin, Wu Song, Li Kui, Yan Shude and others were leading their troops to quickly pass through the Yellow River Bridge and fight towards the south bank of the Yellow River.

Hearing that the Yuan army suddenly descended from the sky, the Song army stationed at the Yellow River Bridge suddenly fell into panic, especially when they saw Lin Chong, a leopard-headed man, leading thousands of cavalry to attack them.

The Song Army's military camp was immediately overturned. A large number of Song Army soldiers were not yet dressed, and some Song Army soldiers even had military prostitutes in their arms.

After Ma Yijun broke into the Song Army's camp, they killed everyone they saw, regardless of gender, age or child, and set fire to the camp.

Not long after, a fire as big as burning the sky and boiling the sea ignited the sky that had not yet fully lit up...

There was such a big movement outside the city, it was impossible that the city didn't know about it.

Not long after, Liang Fangping, who had just fallen asleep, was woken up.

Hearing that the Yuan Army was coming, Liang Fangping immediately woke up from his drink and crawled to the ground to take a look at the city.

I saw the flag of the Yuan Army standing on the edge of the Yellow River Bridge, rustling in the morning wind, and the two battalions of men and horses he had deployed on the edge of the Yellow River Bridge were all rushing towards him, while the Yuan cavalry did not Hurry and cover up from behind.

What made Liang Fangping even more frightened was that countless soldiers of the Yuan Army were crossing the Yellow River Bridge in an orderly manner.

Liang Fangping didn't even hesitate, and fled in panic with his cronies.

Liang Fangping's Song Army officers and soldiers saw that their commander had fled, and they immediately dispersed and fled south.

He Guan's troops, who were responsible for guarding the south bank of the Yellow River, saw Liang Fangping leading the remaining troops to flee towards the capital. They also abandoned the bank and fled, looking for the wind.

This became a chain reaction.

As Liang Fangping's and He Guan's tribes fled, Zhe Yanzhi, the deputy envoy of Xuanfu stationed in Huazhou, who had replaced Zhong Shidao, and Li Hui, the river patrol envoy, and hundreds of thousands of Song troops led by their troops also fled south. go.

——Zhe Yanzhi heard that the Yuan army had crossed the Yellow River in large numbers from the Yellow River Bridge, and hurriedly led the Chinese army to retreat south. When the other armies saw that their commander had withdrawn, they all collapsed without a fight. When Li Hui heard that the Yuan army had crossed the river, he also hurriedly fled south. When he reached Xiaoyi Bridge, he left his soldiers to defend the enemy while he fled along the mountain road to Yingchang Mansion. A group of officials from Yingchang also held a banquet to cleanse Li Hui. Li Hui readily accepted. In the face of a powerful enemy, Li Hui actually had a banquet with thousands of officials in Yingchang Mansion. The officials and generals accompanying him were deeply angry and even wanted to find an opportunity to kill Li Hui.

At this time, from Heyang in the west to Damingfu in Beijing, on this hundreds of miles long Yellow River moat, there was no longer a guard in the Zhao and Song Dynasty.

The Yellow River defense line, which the Zhao and Song Dynasties had high hopes for, collapsed without attack.

Soon, Jiang Hongfei personally led the main force of the Dayuan Army to the north bank of the Yellow River.

I saw the flags of the Yuan Empire planted everywhere on both sides of the Yellow River...

…

That night, the scouts who returned from the front reported to the Zhao and Song court that the Yuan army had crossed the Yellow River and was heading towards the capital.

Jiang You, the Minister of Punishment, hurriedly led a group of attendants and asked Zhao Huan to prepare to leave the city to avoid the enemy.

Zhao Huan indeed planned to go to the Shaanxi area to recruit soldiers and horses for future plans.

The first person to suggest Zhao Huan go to Shaanxi was Cai Jing's son and Cai You's younger brother Cai Chen. He said to Zhao Huan: "The emperor does not take advantage of danger, but instead goes to attack with troops. It is not as good as the new emperor's plan or the Song Dynasty plan." Traveling to Shaanxi, summoning the ministers and ministers, marching together, taking advantage of the vigor of our army, and sending troops to recover. This is a perfect plan. If the Yuan Dynasty invades the capital, it will be a disaster for the capital, but it will only be a fire, and it will not be as harmful to the country. . The Supreme Being of Ten Thousand Chariots must not compete with the enemy generals to win or lose, and defend the isolated city in a hopeless place."

Zhao Huan agreed with this and said: "You can command Chang'an and gather the troops for me first, prepare food and fodder, and wait for my arrival."

But later, there was an internal fight between the father and son Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan. Because Cai Jing was the son of Cai Jing and the younger brother of Cai You, he was labeled as a member of Zhao Ji's party, so he was raped by Zhao Huan.

Not long ago, Wu Min and Xu Churen had a heated argument over whether they were in peace or fighting. Xu Churen threw a pen at Wu Min's face in anger, dyeing Wu Min's face and nose black. Tang Ke and Geng Nan Zhong and Nie Shan wanted to exclude the two of them and replace them, saying that they lacked the authority to govern. They were both dismissed by Zhao Huan.

Later, Tang Ke was promoted to Shaozai by Zhao Huan.

After Tang Ke became the new deputy prime minister, he also advocated that Zhao Huan move the capital to Chang'an to prepare for a long-term war of resistance.

Tang Ke meant that although Chang'an was threatened by the Yuan Empire occupying Hedong and Wang Qing occupying Huaixi, the Guanzhong region, the Loess Plateau, and the fertile fields were thousands of miles long. Guanzhong has been the land of kings and hegemons for more than 2,000 years since the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties. It is a land of four barriers, which can be used for attack or defense. "Guanzhong is blocked by mountains and rivers, with Hangu Pass in the east, Wuguan Pass in the south, Sanguan Pass in the west, and Xiaoguan Pass in the north." Moreover, the people are tough and the soldiers are sufficient. Longyou and Hexi are the production areas of war horses, which can provide high-quality cavalry. Therefore, it is easiest to win the world when the world is in turmoil.

Also advocating that Zhao Huan move the capital to Chang'an is the veteran general Zhong Shidao.

Zhong Shidao died suddenly of illness at his home in Bianliang City at the end of last month at the age of seventy-three.

During this period, Zhong Shidao was a rare, no, it should be said that he was the most sober military strategist in the Zhao Song Dynasty. He had offered good advice to Zhao Huan many times. Even until shortly before his death, he judged that the Yuan army would invade in a large scale and suggested that Zhao Huan leave Tokyo and go to Chang'an to avoid the Yuan army.

However, Zhao Huan did not adopt any of Zhong Shidao's valuable suggestions.

Zhao Huan did not understand military affairs at all, and none of the important officials around him understood military affairs.

This is also normal.

The Zhao Song Dynasty emphasized culture over military affairs. How many "soldiers" who understood military affairs could enter its power center?

And the few people who understood military affairs in Zhao Ji's reign, such as Cai Jing, Tong Guan and others, left the power center of the Zhao Song Dynasty because of Zhao Huan's suspicion.

The remaining prime ministers of the Zhao Song Dynasty were almost all literati. Whether they advocated war or peace, they did not understand military affairs at all, and did things according to their own wishful thinking.

The most abnormal and terrifying thing is that after listening to the military advice of military expert Zhong Shidao, Zhao Huan and his important officials not only laughed at Zhong Shidao, but also doubted Zhong Shidao's ideas, and even completely disbelieved in Zhong Shidao's ideas.

Zhong Shidao originally wanted to save the collapsing building and turn the tide.

But every time Zhong Shidao wanted to do something, he would be hindered by the ministers of the Zhao Song Dynasty and betrayed by Zhao Huan.

This made Zhong Shidao sick with worry and anger.

Many ambitious people heard the bad news and sighed to the sky: God's will!

Soon, the news that the Yuan army had crossed the Yellow River and was approaching the capital spread like wildfire. There was a panic in the city of Tokyo Bianliang. Many wealthy families began to arrange to leave the capital for refuge, while ordinary people were panicked, worried, and at a loss.

Zhao Huan, who had suffered a loss once, decisively ordered to close all the gates of Bianliang City. No one was allowed to leave Bianliang City without his will, including officials of the Zhao Song Dynasty and the royal family and clan of the Zhao Song Dynasty.

On the same day, the Zhao Song court organized and arranged relevant personnel to distribute small notices in the streets and alleys of Bianliang City, recruiting "brave and brave warriors" to form a vanguard death squad. People of all ethnic groups in the capital responded and actively signed up. There were also some civil servants from the occupied areas and the defeated soldiers who were homeless, so they also came to apply. Even many wealthy families also posted notices saying that they would provide their own money and rice to recruit brave warriors to help the country fight the enemy and defend the capital.

A group of people led by Prime Minister Zhang Bangchang believed that the Yuan army was coming aggressively and had a clear goal, which was to head for the capital. The Song army in the capital was not strong enough to defend the city, and it was unknown when the army to defend the king would arrive. Therefore, it was unsafe for Zhao Huan to stay in the city. They urged Zhao Huan to leave the city to avoid the battle and go to Nanjing in the south or Xijing in the west. They wanted to follow the strategy of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty to avoid disaster in Sichuan during the "Anshi Rebellion", avoid the enemy's edge, take a long-term view, and avoid staying in the capital to prevent accidents.

However, Zhao Huan himself had many concerns about whether to defend the city or leave the city, and was worried about gains and losses. He felt that if he went out of the city to Yingtian or Luoyang, there would be no reliable people to rely on, and he was afraid of changes on the way, and he would also bear the stigma of abandoning his clan and the people of the capital. If he stayed in the capital, there would be many useful ministers around him, and the imperial power could be maintained, but he was afraid that the capital would be lost and the country would be lost in his hands.

Zhao Huan was a coward and did not dare to take responsibility. He thought about it over and over again. The two contradictory ideas troubled him until late at night, and he did not make a final decision.

The next morning, Zhongshu Sheren Sun Di made a memorial, begging Zhao Huan to make a decisive decision, give up Hebei, Hedong and Shandong, and send people to seek peace with the Yuan Empire as soon as possible.

After thinking about it, Zhao Huan was unwilling to bear the historical crime of ceding land to the enemy. Therefore, he issued an edict to convene a meeting of civil and military officials to discuss whether to keep or give up Hebei, Hedong and Shandong?

Later, Zhao Huan simply asked the more than 120 officials of the Zhao Song Dynasty who came to the meeting to vote.

The counselor Fan Zongyin first clearly proposed to cede these three places to the Yuan Empire. He believed that since the court was willing to give up the land before and had reached an agreement with the Yuan Empire, how could it not give up the three places today? If the agreement was not kept, wouldn’t it just provide the Yuan Empire with a reason to send troops?

When it came to the urgent point, Fan Zongyin fell to the ground and cried bitterly.

Seventy officials expressed their support for Fan Zongyin's opinion on the spot.

Only thirty-six people, including He Li, Mei Zhili, Sun Fu, Lu Haowen, Hong Chu, Qin Hui, Chen Guocai, Yu Ruli, Song Qiyu, Cao Fu, Chen Yangting, Feng Li, and Li Ruoshui, believed that the land could not be ceded and that they had to fight to the death.

What's funny is that at this time, there are still more than a dozen people who hold ambivalent views.

At noon, a scout reported that at least 300,000 Yuan troops had crossed the Yellow River, and the front cavalry was less than fifty miles away from the city of Tokyo Bianliang, and would soon be able to reach the city.

At this time, it was impossible for the people in Tokyo Bianliang to leave Bianliang City, because if they dared to leave the city, they would become the target of the Yuan cavalry.

Seeing this, Zhao Huan finally made up his mind to do it according to the collective vote of the ministers, that is, to cede land to ease the difficulties.

Zhao Huan ordered his ninth brother, King Kang Zhao Gou and Wang Yun to go north to negotiate peace and ask Jiang Hongfei to stop advancing.

The reason why Zhao Huan sent Zhao Gou to negotiate peace was mainly because, when Zhao Ji went south last time, a large number of princes and princesses all ran away, but Zhao Gou did not run away. Not only that, Zhao Gou also expressed his willingness to help Zhao Huan defend the city, and even help Zhao Huan to negotiate peace with Jiang Hongfei.

This made Zhao Gou stand out among his brothers.

Now that the situation is so critical, Zhao Huan placed his hopes on Zhao Gou.

Due to the urgency of the situation, Zhao Huan ordered Zhao Gou and Wang Yun to leave the city and go north immediately.

Of course, Zhao Huan also knew that he had gone too far during this period, so under Wang Yun's insistence, Zhao Huan finally decided: agree to cede Hebei, Hedong and Shandong, and let Zhao Gou and Wang Yun bring the imperial crown and carriage, and prepare to honor Jiang Hongfei as the emperor's uncle, and give him the title of Great Yuan Chongtian Jixu Zhaode Dinggong Xiuren Dunxin Xiuwen Chengwu Guangsheng Emperor, so that the Great Yuan Empire and the Zhao Song Dynasty would become uncle-nephew countries...

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