Volume 6
The wind and rain in Yanshan Mountain turned gray, and an army of one hundred thousand soldiers marched out of Taihang Mountain.
The tiger and the dragon are stronger than before, and the world has changed dramatically.
It is better to use the remaining courage to pursue the enemy rather than seek fame by imitating the tyrant.
If the sky had feelings, it would also grow old; the right path in the world is full of vicissitudes.
Chapter 1 Statement
The chestnut horse is newly equipped with a white jade saddle, and the moonlight is cold after the battle on the battlefield.
The sound of iron drums on the city wall is still resounding, and the blood on the golden sword in the box has not yet dried.
On the last day of the ninth year of Jianyan, Emperor Zhao and Yue Fei broke into the city on the same day, and Taiyuan Prefecture and Daming Prefecture fell together.
Among them, let’s not talk about what happened outside Daming Prefecture for now, but just talk about the situation inside and outside Taiyuan City. The main force of the Song Army was actually caught in a certain chaos. However, given the exaggerated enemy-to-us situation in Taiyuan, as long as the Jin Army in the city could be wiped out, the chaos would only last for one night.
Moreover, the most common way to express this chaos is that the excited Song army is unwilling to leave the city and return to the camp, and instead searches for the Jin army everywhere.
In one afternoon, three Meng'an and dozens of Mouke were captured alive or dead, tied up, or their heads were sent directly to Emperor Zhao. It is worth mentioning that up to now, no Jurchen Meng'an was willing to surrender, so beheadings continued in front of the lobby of the Taiyuan Inner City Government Office where Emperor Zhao was temporarily stationed.
"So that the emperor knows that this person is Wanyan Zhehe."
Just when the officials, officers, and "people who were there for consultation" were feeling bored, Wang De , led a man into the hall. Upon hearing Wang De's words, the crowd in the government office was naturally excited, and even Zhao Jiu was greatly encouraged.
There was no way, as he was the Jin Dynasty's Taiyuan commander, and the second Jin Dynasty commander to be captured alive after Han Chang.
You have to know that the military systems of the Song Army and the Jin Army are different. When the Jin Dynasty was prosperous, a Wanhu could lead the march, so that the marching Wanhu at that time could be directly compared to the Dutong in the Song Army's imperial camp, and Meng'an was almost equivalent to the commander-in-chief. Later, the situation was slightly balanced, and the system of the Marching Division was widely used. The Jin Army also had a permanent Dutong who led tens of thousands of troops. Naturally, it was a Dutong against a Dutong, but even so, it cannot be said that the Wanhu was reduced to the level of a commander-in-chief.
What's more, he is a well-known person who has been famous in both countries since the Jingkang Incident ten years ago. Later, he followed Wanyan Loushi to sweep Guanxi many times and participated in the Battle of Yaoshan, so that he was included in the list of war criminals?
No wonder Wang De came to report his achievements in person.
Without further ado, back to the present, Zhao Jiu nodded to Wang De, then looked at the bound Jin general, but hesitated for a moment.
But soon, as everyone held their breath, the Song official spoke seriously to the people in the hall: "In other words... I'm going to tell you the truth. According to the manifesto and the list of war criminals I issued before, there is no need to persuade you to surrender. But you are the first Jurchen Wanhu I have captured alive, and you are from the Wanyan clan. So if you are willing to surrender, I can make an exception and pardon your death penalty... Are you willing to surrender?"
Zhe He, who was tied up tightly, had been staring at Zhao Guanjia, who was sitting in the position where Ba Lisu used to be, since he entered the room. Upon hearing this, he looked at the other person deeply, as if he wanted to remember the other person's appearance, and then slowly shook his head and responded calmly:
"The foreign generals didn't die. At first, they were simply discouraged because the city was breached too quickly. When they were surrounded, they just wanted to take a closer look at the emperor's appearance... Now that they have seen him, they have no regrets in death."
Many of the civil servants who followed later, especially a few younger people from the southeast who were there for consultation, sighed when they heard what was said, as if they had come across some big news. They wanted to see how Emperor Zhao would answer so that they could write it down in their own "Mission Records" when they returned.
However, Emperor Zhao only nodded after hearing this, and then waved his blackened hand in front of the audience without changing his expression, and said concisely:
"Behead him!"
The civil servants around were immediately discouraged, and the squad leaders, who had carried out this order countless times throughout the afternoon, swarmed forward, dragged the man out, pinned him on the ground in front of the hall, chopped him off with a knife, and presented his head in a moment. Emperor Zhao just waved his hand again, obviously not caring.
But with the back and forth, the bloodstains on the ground became more obvious, and many people who arrived late knew where the bloodstains came from.
"Add one sentence to the dispatch from Tokyo." Emperor Zhao thought for a moment, then turned to his ministers. "Tell them to change the statement again... The first person in the Meng'an and Wanhu ranks of the Jin Kingdom to surrender will be pardoned from death."
The close ministers understood and hurried away.
Zhao Jiu also looked at Wang De and finally smiled: "Lord Wang, today's good fortune is coming. Do you have anything to say? Or should we keep it for now and wait for the total after the war?"
"Officials!"
Wang De immediately knelt down in the hall, extremely eager. "Measuring merits is naturally a matter after the war. This is the official rule. I dare not say too much at this time, but I really have a small matter... Please pardon my second son Wang Shun and don't ask for official salary. As long as he can continue to serve the army as a regular soldier, I will be grateful... Let him take care of his merits and future."
Zhao Jiu immediately laughed again: "I have forgotten what Wang Shun did wrong, but no matter what, if you can pardon the Jin people, can't you pardon him? Give him a title and let him still serve you."
Wang De felt relieved for a moment. He thanked the emperor in a hurry and bowed to all the civil and military officials in the hall. Then he simply stood in the hall and no longer paid attention to the affairs outside.
As soon as the matter was settled, before anyone could congratulate Emperor Zhao on capturing and killing Zhe He, another officer came hurriedly to ask for instructions. But for some reason, when this person arrived in the hall and saw the people everywhere, he became timid again and hesitated in front of the door.
Seeing this, Zhao Jiu pursed his lips slightly. Ren Baozhong, who was already impatient, immediately stepped forward with his knife and talked with the man outside the door.
After a while, Ren Baozhong returned and said straightforwardly: "Reporting to the emperor, we have captured another one. I don't know what to do with him."
"Who is it this time?" Zhao Jiu didn't care. "They were all killed. Meng'an and Mouke killed dozens. If there is anyone, just report it directly..."
"They are the family members of the Jin Kingdom's Taiyuan Military Command..." Ren Baozhong bowed his head. "We just found them in the warehouse in the northwest corner of the inner city."
"The women in Balisu's family?" Zhao Jiu suddenly realized.
"Not only Balisu's family, but also Zhehe's own family, as well as the families of some other Meng'an and Mouke who were directly under Taiyuan, and the families of local officials. All of them were previously settled by Zhehe in Balisu's mansion in the inner city. As soon as the war broke out, they fled to the warehouse under the leadership of Balisu's concubine Dashi and put up a desperate resistance."
"Da family?" Zhao Jiu seemed to be thinking about something.
"The Bohai Da clan." I don't know if it's an illusion, but after the battle today, Ren Baozhong's behavior has become more cautious. "The Da clan is a noble clan of Bohai. Bohai's status in the Jin Kingdom is second only to the Jurchens. Many high-ranking officials in the Jin Kingdom are married to the Bohai Da clan and Gao clan. For example, the current ruling crown prince Wanyan Wuben has a concubine named Da. His oldest surviving son, the second son Wanyan Liang, is from the Da clan."
Zhao Jiu became more and more aware, and then asked: "Then what? Are you asking me how to deal with it?"
"Yes." Ren Baozhong was still respectful and careful. "Those Jin women and boys are very bad... I dare not bring them to the emperor, please let the emperor make the decision directly."
"They are quite bad." Zhao Jiu thought for a moment and gave an answer that he had been preparing for a long time. "Then keep an eye on them first. When there are enough of them, send them to Lanzhou and hand them over to the Western Liao officials. Tell them that these people are the descendants of the Liao Kingdom... and ask them to exchange them for war horses, Persian and Hezhong specialties."
As soon as these words were spoken, the hall suddenly became quiet, but unexpectedly, there was no voice of persuasion or opposition.
As for Ren Baozhong, although he was well-informed, he was also stunned at this moment, but after being stunned for a while, he had nothing to say... Aren't the Bohai people and the Jurchens the ancient tribes of the Liao Kingdom? Yelu Dashi came over and could not deny this.
However, the man still spoke: "There is one more thing."
"Tell me."
"The commander who captured the female family members said that apart from the old foreign women and young men who behaved somewhat like rogues, there were also some people who took the initiative to plead for release. One of them claimed to be Li Shishi from Tokyo..." Ren Baozhong continued to report seriously.
The hall was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Even Wang Yan and Wang De just pricked up their ears and lowered their heads, not to mention Wu Jie and others who were looking up at the roof.
However, Emperor Zhao smiled without any pause and said, "This is strange... Liu Ziyu's younger brother Liu Zihui once told people that he had seen Li Shishi in Jiangxi... How come this Li Shishi has come to Hedong again?"
Ren Baozhong didn't know how to respond for a moment.
Zhao Jiu, on the other hand, obviously didn't care. Instead, he sneered: "Forget it. Whether it's true or not, it's nothing more than survival... And even if she's not Li Shishi, she's also a Han woman who was robbed during the Jingkang period. According to the military rules, such people can be directly dismissed and resettled as long as they ask for it. So according to the established practice, give her a resettlement fee and let her return to Tokyo... As for whether she's Li Shishi or Wang Shishi, it doesn't matter. Anyway, we can't send her to Shaolin Temple, right? Wouldn't that be humiliating the Emperor Taishang Daojun?"
Ren Baozhong nodded heavily, then turned and walked away to make special arrangements.
It was just a small episode, not worth mentioning. Just like that, a few more small matters were dealt with, such as sending out the imperial guards to supervise military discipline and taking over the inspection of the warehouses and storage. By the way, one Meng'an and two Mouke were captured, but still no one was willing to surrender, so they were all killed with a knife. However, after a while, it was completely dark. It can be imagined that today's temporary incident will also come to an end, but what follows seems to be the main course.
Sure enough, after dark, Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian, and Ma Kuo who were originally scattered everywhere, came one after another, including the senior commanders of various departments, and together they gathered together. In addition, there were Wu Jie, Wang Yan, Yang Yi Zhong, Liu Yan and others who had always been by the emperor's side and had not even washed their hands, as well as Wang De who had captured someone on the way... Basically, it can be said that in the entire Taiyuan Basin, except for Li Shifu and Li Qiong who were monitoring the Jin army on the east and west sides at this time, most of the Song army's senior officials gathered together again.
This time, due to the chaos in the city, there was actually no special decree for a military meeting, but almost all senior generals with rich military experience realized that this meeting should be held.
In response to this, Emperor Zhao took advantage of the situation and directly started a military meeting.
"I only have one thing to say, that is to send an envoy to tell Hebula that if he doesn't come again, then don't come." Zhao Jiu replied simply. "The rest, Wu Jie will say it, I will be responsible for conveying the order."
There was a slight commotion in the hall where candles were already lit, but it soon died down because none of the three men with big banners, Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian and Ma Kuo, said a word. Especially Han Shizhong, the nominal Marshal of Hedong, who always puffed out his chest and held his belt with his hands, did not say a word. Although Wang Yan and Wang De had some problems in their personalities, for some reason, perhaps because the capture of the city today was too shocking, they actually held back... Since the generals were like this, it was naturally difficult for the rest of the people to say much.
"So that the emperor knows," Wu Jie stepped out of the line with his black hands folded, saluted the emperor first, then bowed to the other governors, and then turned around to continue to be respectful to Zhao Jiu. "I think that the first priority right now is not to take Jingxing, but to quickly dispatch some elite troops to the north to Yanmen Pass, unite with the main force of the imperial camp, the Yinshan Khitan-Western Mongolian coalition, and the Kublai Eastern Mongolian army that the emperor sent to notify, and try to encircle Datong... There are two reasons. First, Datong still has two Jin troops. If it can be taken in one fell swoop, it will be enough to shake the foundation of the Jin army; second, after taking Taiyuan and taking Datong, the effectiveness of Jingxing blocking Hebei and Hedong will be in name only... In comparison, taking Jingxing suddenly at this time, Yelu Ma Wu is a good fighter, it will inevitably be time-consuming and laborious, and attacking Shangdang is just a matter of course..."
Wu Jie officially took over the Hedong Front Army after dark and began the next step of coordination. In the Hexi area of ​​Daming Prefecture, the leaders of the main force of the Jin army stayed up until the third watch, finally suppressing all kinds of anxiety and holding a temporary military meeting by a big bonfire somewhere outside Ligu Town.
There was no other way. Although the chain explosions destroyed the camps of both armies, the Song army quickly realized that it was their own miracle and destroyed the enemy's city defenses, so they finally entered the city calmly in the afternoon. On the other hand, the Jin army had to gather its troops and quickly transfer several Wanhu to the north and south of the river to ensure the safety of the camp, which was already very difficult and challenging.
All I can say is that fortunately the vast majority of the middle and low-level Jin troops did not have the vision to witness the serial explosions, otherwise, even the process of gathering the troops would have been difficult.
Even this military meeting seemed somewhat awkward... because the vast majority of the people had not yet recovered from the earth-shattering destruction of the city during the day. Many people had directly lost their basic logical thinking and were clearly in a trance.
Among them were even the two highest leaders of the army, Balisu and Wuzhu.
In fact, deep down, these top Jin elites understood that they had to make a quick and decisive decision and immediately change their strategic deployment, but even though they understood it, the sense of shock of being there in person was not something that could be easily dispelled.
Several times, everyone tried to speak, but the Hedong generals such as Balisu could not help talking about Taiyuan as soon as they opened their mouths, and their speech became incoherent. Shaohe and Ali mentioned Yuancheng and Gao Jingshan as soon as they opened their mouths, and they were in grief. Even generals such as Elubu and Wanyan Bendu looked dazed and absent-minded, without the steadiness of veteran generals, nor the arrogance they had when they were fighting for power before.
"Everyone, let's do this." Wuzhu wanted to speak several times, but he didn't know where to start. Then he vaguely remembered someone, so he tried to support his body and stood up beside the campfire. "You and I all saw what happened in the daytime. You said that you knew it was gunpowder, but in fact you were still shocked, so your mind was confused and you couldn't speak properly... I will replace an aide, you all know him, the interpreter of the Western Route Army before, and later Gao Qingyi who worked with Gao Jingshan. There should be no doubt about his ability. Let him help us sort it out."
Beside the campfire, the generals including Balisu looked at each other. All of them had gloomy expressions and were helpless, so they had to nod.
About a moment later, Gao Qingyi was called over. He listened to Ali's retelling of a few words, but he didn't say a word. When everyone looked at him, they saw that except for his eyes which were red in the light of the fire, his expression was calm, but they didn't know what was going on.
Only Wushu secretly called himself confused for a moment - others didn't know, but didn't he? Gao Qingyi had received great favors from Gao Jingshan, and the latter was now most likely dead without a burial place, so how could the former be in a good condition?
When the fourth prince thought of this, he was about to wave his hand to dismiss the other party.
However, unexpectedly, at this moment, Gao Qingyi actually spoke. Although his voice was a little hoarse, it was calm and serious, which lifted everyone's spirits.
"Forgive me for being blunt." Gao Qingyi said calmly. "The matter itself is very simple. The reason why the Fourth Prince, the Marshal, and the other officers were unable to properly analyze it is not because they did not know, but because they were unwilling to say it... Please allow me to explain it briefly."
There was no noise of talking by the campfire, but the sound of the wind howling and the crackling of the campfire could be heard.
"First, the Marshal is right. If Yuancheng can be blown up like this, then Taiyuan can be blown up as well. Considering that today is the end of the year, and the Song government marched into Taiyuan so quickly before, I'm afraid there was an agreement. Taiyuan must have been blown up like this at this time... and since Taiyuan City has fallen, it is equivalent to the general's death in nine out of ten cases."
Balisu pursed his lips, seeming to want to say something but stopped himself.
"Secondly, since Taiyuan and Daming have both fallen into the hands of the Song army, let's not talk about Daming here, let's just talk about Taiyuan. Once Taiyuan is lost, the fundamental foothold of our Great Jin Kingdom in the Hedong area will also be lost. The entire Hedong area, from Datong to Shangdang, will inevitably be swept away by the main force of the Song army... Now, don't expect these two places to be defended. We need to issue a military order quickly to let the two Wanhu in Datong, the remaining troops in Taiyuan, and the few remaining troops in Shangdang evacuate as soon as possible. If it's too late, they will be blocked by the Song army and end up being annihilated in vain."
"Is there really no hope?" Balisu finally spoke, his words were difficult.
"How can we save them?" Unexpectedly, the one who responded to Balisu was Wanyan Bendu, whose face was swollen and he looked depressed. "What Gao Tongshi said is right. Not only is Taiyuan hopeless, but Longde Prefecture can only retreat. If we are a step late, the Song army will come in from both the north and the south, and we will be dead... Looking at what happened today, it is clear that the strong passes and cities are useless in front of the Song army. The several passes in Longde Prefecture can't stop the Song army at all. Taiyuan Prefecture has a few cities and soldiers left, and they are all at the mercy of others... Salihe is also waiting to die!"
The scene became quiet for a moment, but soon Wanyan Tuhesu suddenly sighed to the sky, almost like a roar.
The generals under Wuzhu knew that his family was on the west bank of the Fen River, and they probably had not yet been captured, but it seemed that they could not escape either. They were so dejected that they had nothing to say.
"The key is Datong Prefecture." After an unknown amount of time, with the help of Gao Qingyi's explanation, Wuzhu finally gritted his teeth and admitted the reality. However, from his point of view, he was obviously more concerned about other places. "The two Wanhu left behind in Datong Prefecture are the key... Gao Tongshi, are the soldiers in Taiyuan Prefecture useless?"
"Having soldiers is more dangerous." Gao Qingyi responded calmly. "Fourth Prince... Let's not talk about whether Yanmen Pass can stop the Song army. Let's just say one thing. Hebule has been wavering in the north. Now that Taiyuan has been broken, will he continue to remain neutral? If Hebule goes south, Datong will be surrounded on three sides or four directions, or even the whole place."
Wuzhu was startled and immediately turned around and called out, "Where is the Grand Master's slave?"
"I'm here." The master's slave in the darkness was startled and then came to his senses.
"Send someone quickly to pass on my golden medal, and tell Yelu Mawu to hold on to Jingxing, and then go to Datong Prefecture to find Eluguan and tell him to retreat immediately, taking as many people as he can ."
The Grand Master's slave agreed.
"I will borrow the King of Wei's gold medal." Wanyan Bendu also gritted his teeth and followed. "I will immediately send several thousand cavalrymen from my own army to Longde Prefecture with the King of Wei's gold medal to pick up the families of the generals of Longde Prefecture's marching department... If the treasury can be moved, move it, if not, burn it!"
Wuzhu nodded blankly.
"Is it true that General Gao is doomed?" A younger voice responded with difficulty at this difficult time. "Can't we go investigate a little?"
In the darkness beside the campfire, a few sporadic sneers were heard, while beside the campfire, Gao Qingyi, with a calm expression, did not move, as if he did not recognize that it was Pu Suyue's voice.
Wushu, on the other hand, sighed slightly and turned back to order: "Tai Shi Nu, send an envoy to the other side to ask Yue Fei tomorrow morning... The other side is reasonable, and if there is any whereabouts, he will definitely not cover it up... Gao Tong's matter, you continue to tell me."
After this, the campfire became quiet again. Gao Qingyi waited for a while before explaining the situation seriously: "Fourth Prince, the next step is actually a countermeasure... The countermeasure is also very simple. After today's incident, just as the Golden Knight said, the city and the pass cannot be relied upon... The only way for now is to avoid a complete collapse while the main force of the country is still there, so we can only fight in the field."
Everyone was speechless.
"And if we want to fight a battle in the field, where should we fight? If we can't rely on the city, should we give it up?" Gao Qingyi said this, feeling a little frustrated. "Zhending Prefecture has always been the place where the ruling prince inspects the military supplies of various routes, and there are countless military equipment and food warehouses. Should we just give it up? If we abandon Zhending, what about Hejian? If we abandon Hejian, won't we just abandon Yanjing? Therefore, if we want to fight a battle in the field, we can only abandon Yuancheng, take advantage of Yue Fei's lack of horses, quickly lead the main force north, set up battle array around Zhending, and try to fight a decisive battle."
Everyone was still speechless... because what the other party said was so right, so right that it was impeccable.
At the moment, they were forced to do so by the Song army.
"But it's not easy to fight in the field?" Balisu suddenly said. "With the current morale of the army, how can we fight in the field with the Song army?"
"To restore morale, there are only a few ways, such as rewarding and appeasing people, or actively looking for opportunities to win a few small victories... Including how to explain gunpowder to the soldiers and those ignorant officers who don't read the court bulletins, which is the responsibility of the King of Wei and the Marshal." Gao Qingyi responded calmly. "My duty is nothing more than to say what the generals have long known in their hearts but dare not say."
Balisu and Wuzhu looked at each other across the campfire, both speechless. Wuzhu was even prepared to muster up his courage to appease the generals.
But at this moment, a gust of cold wind blew, and there was a constant whimpering in the wind, as if someone was choking.
The wind stopped, but the sobbing continued. Wushu was stunned and realized that someone was crying. He hurried to see Balisu, but Balisu looked at Wushu and showed no intention of stopping him. Wushu was completely helpless and wanted to get up to see who it was to stop him.
However, as he kept thinking in his mind, he also gave up getting up... The reason was simple, he didn't know how to comfort the generals in Hedong who had lost their families and their homes of ten years, nor did he know how to comfort the generals in Hebei who were about to lose their homes. Even if Pu Suyue wanted to cry for Gao Jingshan, he didn't know how to comfort him.
In fact, as a gust of cold wind blew again, Wuzhu sniffed at the campfire, but found that he actually wanted to cry wildly with the sound of the wind... How could he end up in this situation for no reason?