Xianxia version of Water Margin

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After Jiang Hongfei entered Bianliang City, except for the royal family and clan of the Zhao Song Dynasty, Jiang Hongfei was absolutely courteous and magnanimous to others. He never killed anyone because of his personal preferences, and he never even questioned anyone. He killed those high-ranking officials, wealthy families, and gentry families in accordance with public opinion. Even Wu Ge, Mei Zhili, Lu Haowen and a large number of people who tried to rescue Zhao Ji, Zhao Huan and the royal family and clan of the Zhao Song Dynasty, Jiang Hongfei showed them leniency.

In terms of employing people, Jiang Hongfei boldly used former Song officials and used them according to their talents.

It can be said that Jiang Hongfei really did a good enough job.

But even so, after Bianliang City was completely opened, many former Song officials such as Zhang Jun secretly left the city and then went to Zhao Gou's Grand Marshal's Mansion.

After Jiang Hongfei learned about this from Zhu Gui and Yan Qing, he told them not to bother and opened the door for those who wanted to leave.

The reason why Jiang Hongfei did this was certainly not because he respected people's different aspirations, nor was he soft-hearted, but because he wanted to take this opportunity to eliminate hidden dangers.

You know, Jiang Hongfei has done this to this extent, and these people are still loyal to the Zhao Song Dynasty, or want to bet that the Zhao Song Dynasty will win in the competition for the Central Plains. So, first of all, they really have no vision, and their abilities may be just that. The key is that if these people are forced to stay in the Yuan Empire, they may be able to do something weird.

Therefore, Jiang Hongfei might as well let these people go openly and make his team cleaner.

However, Jiang Hongfei's efforts were not in vain. In general, the former Song officials who went to Zhao Gou were only a minority after all. The vast majority of the former Song officials still chose to work for Jiang Hongfei and the Yuan Empire, including Mei Zhili, Lu Haowen and others.

Of course, this is not only because Jiang Hongfei's efforts during this period have not been in vain, but also because Jiang Hongfei's current situation is really good, with great potential for unification...

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Yao Gu died not long after returning to Shaanxi.

The tens of thousands of Song troops that Yao Gu brought back were taken over by Fan Zhixu.

At the same time, Sun Zhaoyuan, who was appointed by Zhao Huan before the fall of Bianliang City as the editor of the Secret Pavilion and the deputy general manager of the Western Road, overcame various difficulties and arrived at Jingzhao Prefecture and met Fan Zhixu.

Sun Zhaoyuan conveyed Zhao Huan's imperial edict, ordering Fan Zhixu to lead the Western Army to Beijing immediately to defend the king.

Fan Zhixu was a three-dynasty old minister of the Zhao Song Dynasty. Not long ago, he was ordered to replace Ren Liang as the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture and deal with the troops in Shaanxi.

Later, Zhao Huan appointed Fan Zhixu as the envoy of Shaanxi and the governor of the five routes in Shaanxi.

Qian Gai was also ordered to deal with the troops in Shaanxi and served as the governor of Shaanxi.

In order to resist the attack of Western Xia, the Zhao Song Dynasty set up six institutions in the northwest region similar to the military district of Jiang Hongfei's previous life - Jinglüe Anfusi.

That is: Yongxingjun Road Jinglüe Anfusi, Fuyan Road Jinglüe Anfusi, Huanqing Road Jinglüe Anfusi, Qinfeng Road Jinglüe Anfusi, Jingyuan Road Jinglüe Anfusi, Xihe Road Jinglüe Anfusi.

In the army of the Zhao Song Dynasty, the troops under the command of these six Jinglüe Anfusi were collectively referred to as the "Western Army". Compared with the "Eastern Army" deployed in Hedong and Hebei, the Western Army was much more powerful and was the absolute main force of the Zhao Song Dynasty army.

Before that, the Yuan Empire surrendered the Zhe Family Army and eliminated the Jinning Army.

After that, Wu Jie and Zhe Keqiu took advantage of the situation to drive away the Liu Family Army and seized Fuyan Road, that is, seized the Yan'an Prefecture area.

After Fan Zhixu learned about this, he sent his men to defend along the passes and recruit talents at the same time.

Fan Zhixu was a typical person who recruited talents without any restrictions. His purpose of employing people was to give them official positions and salaries regardless of their backgrounds, regardless of their expertise.

Under Fan Zhixu's relaxed employment policy, monks such as Zong Yin and Taoist Zhang Xiaoqing were all appointed as officers of the staff.

In fact, Fan Zhixu was loyal but seriously lacked ability. He was a scholar who knew nothing about military affairs and was a layman in frontier defense.

At that time, some people offered strategies to defend against the Yuan army in order to get rewards, which were like child's play.

For example, Zong Yin offered Fan Zhixu a strategy to build the Great Wall to stop the Yuan army.

Fan Zhixu acted according to the plan and asked counties and prefectures to organize civilians to build the Great Wall.

The people in counties and prefectures had lived by the Yellow River for generations. How could they not know that Fan Zhixu's strategy was useless?

They reported to higher authorities to prevent Fan Zhixu from implementing this stupid policy.

But Fan Zhixu didn't think there was any problem with this at all, and ordered it to be implemented according to the law.

Seeing this, all the prefectures and counties were lip-service and secretly disobeyed. The Great Wall they built was only as high as a person's chest, just like a child playing house. The soldiers of the Yuan army easily jumped over this so-called Great Wall.

As a result, the Zhao Song court spent a lot of money, and the military, civilians and prefectures and counties were still troubled.

On the other hand, at that time, Qiao Daoqing and others were afraid of Yao Gu who was still in Hedong, and had to defend against Wang Qing who was ready to move, and were ready to support Jiang Hongfei who was going to attack Bianliang City at any time, so they did not continue to attack Shaanxi.

Seeing this, Fan Zhixu was always optimistic about the situation of the Zhao Song Dynasty. He also wrote a poem for this:

The flags and axes came out of Western Qin, and the princes were gathered and handed over to the old ministers. The wind led the flags and banners to the Wei Palace, and the sky was clear and the tigers guarded the monsters. The power of the underworld suddenly appeared and the Hu Chu was defeated, and the Yanyun Fanglong Temple was full of gods. I have seen the flag head fall from the sky, I beg for life and happiness this spring.

It was not until Sun Zhaoyuan told Fan Zhixu about the severe situation in the capital area and the imminent danger of Bianliang City that Fan Zhixu realized the urgency of the situation.

Sun Zhaoyuan suggested that Fan Zhixu immediately form a loyal army to rescue the king.

At this time, Fan Zhixu had already gathered many troops from Yao Gu and Qian Gai, and had 100,000 troops at his disposal.

Moreover, Fan Zhixu was both the military governor of Yongxing Army and the envoy of Shaanxi, and had the right to mobilize the six armies of Shaanxi.

Sun Zhaoyuan's suggestion was very feasible.

Fan Zhixu then issued an edict to all the armies in Shaanxi, demanding that they quickly gather their troops and go to Beijing to defend the king.

However, after Fan Zhixu's edict was issued, only Wang Si, the military governor of Huanqing, and Wang Yi, the military governor of Xihe, led their troops to join the five border routes, while Xi Gong, the military governor of Jingyuan, Zhao Dian, the military governor of Qinfeng, and Zhang Shen, the military governor of Fuyan, did not come.

Sun Zhaoyuan was very angry and wrote a total of 28 letters criticizing Xi Gong, Zhao Dian, and Zhang Shen.

Zhang Shen then led his troops to join the army, and Zhao Dian also sent General Li An to lead his troops to help, while Xi Gong still did not come in the end on the grounds of defending Xixia.

Fan Zhixu finally joined the five western armies and gained more than 100,000 soldiers. In total, Fan Zhixu had 200,000 infantry and cavalry.

Soon, Fan Zhixu led these 200,000 troops to fight for the king.

On the way, Fan Zhixu's troops met a man named "Wei Zhiji".

Wei Zhiji escaped from Bianliang City when it was broken. He told Fan Zhixu that Bianliang City had been broken and the Zhao Song Dynasty had perished.

Fan Zhixu didn't believe that Bianliang City, which had a large number of soldiers and generals, sufficient weapons and food, and millions of people, was so easily broken by the Yuan army.

Under the torture of Fan Zhixu, Wei Zhiji dared not tell the truth and could only lie: "I originally sent troops to help the king, but they were defeated when they arrived at Yingchang. I heard that the defense of the capital was still the same."

Wei Zhiji's answer this time satisfied Fan Zhixu. He sent someone to pass on the order, saying that Bianliang City was still holding out for help and they must speed up the march to help the king.

Fan Zhixu also killed a group of soldiers with poor military discipline, rectified military discipline and unified thoughts.

It seems that Fan Zhixu is quite powerful and seems to be a leader.

But in fact, Fan Zhixu can't lead troops at all, and he has done many absurd things.

Fan Zhixu separated a detachment and handed it over to Zong Yin to command, and marched to Luoyang, the Western Capital, by water.

After Zong Yin received the order, he organized the monks into an army and named it "Zunsheng Team"; and organized the children (that is, the little monks who served in the temple) into an army, called "Jingsheng Team".

——Almost all the monks and pilgrims along the way were incorporated into the army by Zong Yin, and some were appointed as officials. These monks became staunch supporters of Zong Yin.

Fan Zhixu personally led the main force to march to Luoyang, the Western Capital, by land.

In fact, Tang Zhong had already given Fan Zhixu some advice, telling him not to mobilize a large army to Bianliang City, but to seize Tongguan, Bojinguan, Hanguguan and other passes, and then use these dangerous passes as barriers to keep the Yuan army out of Shaanxi, and then manage Shaanxi well, send an order to the Shu general and the Sichuan-Shaanxi Road, combine the forces of Qin and Shu, and wait for the Zhao Song royal family to retreat to the Sichuan-Shaanxi area, and then slowly plan.

Tang Zhong also said to Fan Zhixu:

"If Prime Minister Xuan takes all the Western Army to defend the king, Guanzhong will be empty and undefended, and Jiang Yan or Wang Qing will take advantage of my emptiness to attack Guanzhong."

"Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties, Guanzhong has always been a place of kings and hegemons for more than 2,000 years. It is a place with four barriers, which can be used for attack or defense. The people are strong 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."

"As long as Prime Minister Xuan defends Guanzhong and leaves a retreat for the Song Dynasty, he will be the greatest contributor to the Song Dynasty. On the contrary, if Prime Minister Xuan takes all the Western Army away and Guanzhong is lost, then Prime Minister Xuan will be one of the criminals who led to the demise of the Song Dynasty."

Fan Zhixu ignored Tang Zhong's suggestion. He sent Zong Yin to seize Tongguan, and then resolutely led the 200,000 Western Army to the east to defend the king.

In less than three days, Fan Zhixu's vanguard arrived at Sanmenjin, and then all the way to Luoyang, the Western Capital of the Song Dynasty.

Fan Zhixu's troops marched forward with great momentum, and they did not realize that this was a plan by the Yuan army to lure the enemy deep into their territory.

Only Wang De, a fierce general under Yao Gu, saw that although they encountered some scouts of the Yuan army along the way, they never encountered the main force of the Yuan army, and even did not encounter a small group of Yuan army. This was too abnormal.

Wang De felt that they might have been tricked by the Yuan army to lure the enemy.

Wang De quickly found Fan Zhixu, who asked the Song army to march out of the pass, and suggested that he march in different directions immediately.

Wang De said: "The march is fast and the army is mostly in the form of a branch army, so they will not be drowned and defeated. If they gather together and go out of Yao and Mianyang, they will all be defeated in one fell swoop."

But the conceited Fan Zhixu did not adopt the advice of Wang De, a warrior, and still led an army of 200,000 to advance eastward.

In fact, Jiang Hongfei, who pays special attention to intelligence gathering, has already sent people to find out the distribution of Zhao Song Dynasty's troops.

At the current stage:

Let alone Fan Zhixu who is leading more than 200,000 western troops to the east.

Zhao Gou's Grand Marshal's Office has about 150,000 troops.

These 150,000 troops were divided into two by Zhao Gou: Zhao Gou has about 100,000 troops, and Zong Ze has more than 50,000 troops.

The 100,000 troops under Zhao Gou are mainly composed of Huang Qianshan's troops and the five armies of the Grand Marshal's Office led by Wang Boyan.

At present, Zhao Gou has fled to Yingchang Prefecture. His goal is very clear, which is to go to Nanjing Yingtian Prefecture to wait and see. His idea is that if the situation is not good, he will immediately go to Jiangnan.

Wang Boyan and Huang Qianshan are leading 100,000 troops to escort him.

Zong Ze is waiting for an opportunity to go south to rescue the king in Kaide Prefecture.

Wang Xiang, Zhao Ye, Fan Ne and others led hundreds of thousands of troops to wait and see in Guancheng.

Weng Yanguo has been hovering in Chenzhou.

Judging from the current situation, only Fan Zhixu and Zong Ze have the intention to fight the Yuan army.

It is precisely because of the clear distribution of the Song army and the attitude of each branch of the Song army that Jiang Hongfei dared to send out various armies to attack the capital area and open up all the connections between his own territories, especially to restore the river channel with work instead of relief, so that the Yuan Empire can transport food, fodder, military supplies.

At the same time, Jiang Hongfei personally sat in Bianliang City, using political, diplomatic, and propaganda means to disintegrate the remnants of the Zhao Song Dynasty and stabilize external forces.

After more than three months of hard work, the Yuan army has completely recovered the capital area and opened up the connection with various regions of the Yuan Empire, making the capital area completely incorporated into the territory of the Yuan Empire. In addition, the hidden dangers in Bianliang City have been basically eliminated. It can be said that Jiang Hongfei has made all preparations for the war with the Song army.

However, Jiang Hongfei was not in a hurry to start the war.

The reason why Jiang Hongfei was not in a hurry to start the war was not because Jiang Hongfei did not want to defeat the Song army as soon as possible, but because Jiang Hongfei wanted to take over Shaanxi, which was definitely not easy to fight, while Shaanxi was empty, and then take over Sichuan.

There is a saying that Shu was in chaos before the world was in chaos, and Shu was not in peace before the world was pacified.

If Jiang Hongfei wants to unify the world, he must seize Shaanxi as soon as possible, and then he can seek Sichuan.

Now, Zhao Huan and his ministers made a mistake and took the main force of the Western Army out of Shaanxi. This is definitely the best opportunity for Jiang Hongfei to take over Shaanxi.

Moreover, Jiang Hongfei knew that Fan Zhixu was a scholar who did not understand military affairs, and his 200,000 troops were just a mob.

No.

At present, the Song army around the capital area, except for Zongze's army, is not to be feared, so they can be allowed to jump for a few more days.

When Fan Zhixu's army arrived in Luoyang, Jiang Hongfei sent people to deliver his imperial edict to Qiao Daoqing and others, appointing Qiao Daoqing as the envoy of Shaanxi, Zhe Keqiu as the governor of Shaanxi, Yelu Dashi as the pacification envoy of Shaanxi, Han Shizhong as the commander-in-chief of the left wing, and Wu Jie as the commander-in-chief of the right wing, waiting for an opportunity to seize Shaanxi.

After Qiao Daoqing and others received the order, they quickly led the army into Tongguan.

Then, Han Shizhong and Wu Jie divided their troops to capture Jin and Jiang states and approached Tongzhou.

All the elite soldiers defending Jingzhao Prefecture were transferred away by Fan Zhixu. Tang Zhong considered that the city was undefendable, so he wrote a letter to his father Tang Kechen: "Loyalty and filial piety cannot coexist, and I cannot live in disgrace to my father."

Tang Kechen replied: "If you can die for your country, I will die with a smile on my face."

The Yuan army then besieged the city, and there were less than a thousand soldiers in the city.

Tang Zhong led his troops to defend the city for more than ten days. Before the reinforcements arrived, the deputy envoy Fu Liang led hundreds of elite soldiers out of the city to join the Yuan army, and the city fell.

The soldiers around him asked Tang Zhong to leave, but Tang Zhong said: "It is my duty to die." He led more than a hundred soldiers and wanted to continue the bloody battle, but was captured alive by Yang Zheng.

The Yuan army officially entered Guanzhong...

After Jiang Hongfei received the news, he called Yue Fei and gave him instructions: "Fan Zhixu is just a scholar and doesn't know how to use troops. Three thousand cavalry can defeat him."

Although Jiang Hongfei felt that three thousand cavalry were enough to defeat Fan Zhixu, in order to be on the safe side and to seize Shaanxi in one fell swoop, Jiang Hongfei still asked Yue Fei to lead 30,000 cavalry (including 5,000 Iron Buddha Left Army) to fight Fan Zhixu...

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