Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the most important towns in the Northeast have been Guangning, Liaoyang, Xianping, and Huining. These are the four areas with denser populations and more developed economies, plus at most Fuzhou and Gaizhou, which have recently been transferred to Ding Haijun.
Ten days after the Mongol general Zhebie sent troops, half of the important towns in the northeast had been lost. Xianping Prefecture was also in danger and was about to fall into the control of the Mongolian army at any time.
At this time, Shangjing, Zhaozhou and other places farther north were already covered with ice and snow, and the snow was several feet deep on the plains. These two places, and even the Huli Diversion Road and Supin Road, were supposed to respond to the call of Jurchen officials. The south was turned upside down and no one could move.
He Shi Lie Huanduan and Wendi Han Qing Gou sent envoys to Fuzhou one after another to complain. Han Xuan and Li Yun did not dare to neglect, and led the envoys 800 miles across the sea to ask for help from Shandong.
"The Mongolian army went south, which was expected by all of us. However, Heshi Liehuanduan has been serving as the Northeast Xuanfu envoy for half a year, and he has at least 20,000 people in his hands. They didn't even hold back for ten days before they were forced to the city. Already?"
Guo Ning held the request for help document in his hand, feeling ridiculous and a little angry.
"The soldiers and horses of Heshi Liehuanduan had fought several battles with the Mongols that day. I thought this man was quite tough, so I gave him a chance. Previously, there were many reports from Li Yun that Heshi Liehuanduan had organized an army. Jing Wu is no slouch. What's going on? To say that he collapsed at the first touch is to praise him. With so many cities under his rule, none of them can withstand a day? "
He threw the request for help document to the ground, strode back to his seat, and was silent.
Ding Haijun now controls as many as seventeen military prefectures. Fuzhou and Gaizhou are separated by the sea. The land is not vast and the people are sparse. According to common sense, it does not seem to be a core interest.
But in fact, the significance of Fuzhou and Gaizhou to Dinghai navy far exceeds the land and people themselves.
The governance of the northeastern hinterland by the Great Jin Kingdom began with Emperor Xizong and was completed by King Hailing. Generally speaking, by promoting the system of prefectures and counties, focusing on selecting officials for hereditary succession, taking exams to promote governance, and supervising to clean up officials, that is, forcibly grafting the Han system to promote economic development and prosperity.
But this development relied almost entirely on the Jin court's emphasis on the Northeast. Once the court no longer pays attention to it, all governance and construction will quickly collapse.
For example, King Hailing himself was an emperor who was keen on promoting Sinicization in the northeastern hinterland, but his eyes were always on the world. In order to completely overwhelm the conservative power of the Jurchen aristocracy, he did not hesitate to destroy the Huining Mansion in Shangjing, forcing a large number of Jurchens to leave their hometown and go south.
As a result, the peak of governance in the northeastern hinterland also became the beginning of decline.
Since the Ming Dynasty, the Great Jin Kingdom has begun to weaken, and the northeastern hinterland has long returned to the state where various tribes invaded each other before the rise of the Jurchens, but there is little awareness among the people of the Great Jin Kingdom.
Even many Jurchens are clearly descendants of the forty-seven founding tribes of the People's Republic of China, but in terms of customs and psychological identity, they are becoming more and more similar to the native Huli Gai people or wild Jurchen tribes in the northeastern interior. On the contrary, they are different from those who moved to the interior. The Jurchens were increasingly isolated. On that day, Heshi Liehuan sent troops every three days to suppress the local tribes, and he was very busy. This is the reason.
Under such a situation, Guo Ning, as an outsider, lured with a relatively good living standard, but maintained good relations with many tribes. In the past six months, there were four to five thousand Huli Gai Jurchens, Huangtou The Jurchens or Khitans went south one after another and defected to Ding Haijun, becoming an important source of troops.
In order to maintain their territory in the Northeast, Heshi Liehuanduan and others continued to increase their trade with Dinghai Navy, which brought huge profits to Dinghai Navy.
Don't mention anything else, just weapons.
According to the information Mu Huali found out, Ding Haijun could use three standard straight swords in exchange for a good horse from the Northeast. But in fact, Shandong relied on the foundation of mining and metallurgy during the Song and Jin dynasties, treated craftsmen favorably, and encouraged large-scale production. The cost of their knives has long been reduced to the usual high, and the price of horses was resold to maritime merchants in the Southern Dynasties. , it fluctuates between eighty and one hundred strings.
This can no longer be described as huge profits, but outright robbery. It's just that after the robbery, they were given some iron weapons as psychological comfort.
Taking into account that the wealthier Beijing was taken over by Louis, the demand for salt and cloth in the northeastern hinterland also depended on Shandong's supply. The output and demand of this area have become an indispensable financial source for Shandong, just like the Zhongdu Daxing Prefecture, and the economic pillar for Dingjun's military expansion and war preparations.
In this case, how should we respond to the request for help from Hampyeongfu Road?
"Gaizhou and Fuzhou are guarded by General Manager Han, and his subordinates are all elites. Even if they are defeated in the field, relying on the city to defend it layer by layer, even if it is not good, they can still rely on the Shandong Navy to occupy the front line of Hesihan Pass. Question Yes, He Shi Liehuanduan, Wen Dihan Qing Gou and others are, after all, just our allies, not subordinates. They really cannot hold on, and even if they find that there is no response to our calls for help, I'm afraid, they will also Be shaken to the point of alienation."
Xu Jin didn't say anything else after that, but everyone understood the meaning. If Heshi Liehuanduan really has no hope in Guo Ning, it is not impossible for him to surrender to Mongolia.
Liang Xunyi coughed twice when he saw the silence in the hall.
"Envoy, He Shi Liehuanduan cannot be entirely blamed for this matter."
He is now in charge of the Experience Department under the Xuanfu Department in Shandong, and can be regarded as Guo Ning's main staff. He has been an official in the Northeast for many years. He was once an important civil servant under Pu Xianwannu and was especially familiar with the situation around Xianping Road. Guo Ning respected him very much and asked quickly: "Mr. Jingfu, what do you say?"
Liang Xunyi stood in front of a map on the wall and pointed: "The document says that Tongchang was lost on November 3rd, Yizhou was lost on November 4th, and Guangning Mansion was lost on October 6th. Envoy, although these three places are all important towns in the Liao region, in the past few years, the three cities have changed hands continuously in the hands of multiple forces and have been completely abandoned. I remember..."
He twirled his beard: "In the third year of Da'an, Brother Yeluliu raised troops, and the three cities changed hands for the first time. In the spring of the first year of Zhining, Marshal Wanyan Chengyu sent troops to attack, and the three cities changed hands for the second time. Marshal Chengyu failed, and Yelu changed hands for the second time. Brother Liu established himself as the king of Liao and established his capital in Guangning. This was the third time that hands changed. After that, Brother Yeluliu was defeated by the envoys, and his territory fell into the hands of General Heshi Liehuanduan. These cities were originally Just because of the scale of the Liao Dynasty, in just two years, there were four battles and four changes of hands. The city walls have been demolished, how can it be used as a basis to resist powerful enemies?"
Guo Ning nodded slightly.
"In addition... the Mongolian army is indeed confident of conquering the city. Na Zhebie is the leading general under Genghis Khan. Perhaps he used these cities in Liaodong to practice his tactics during this trip. It is unknown."
Yi La Chucai picked up the letter asking for help: "They chose to go south in winter, giving up the possibility of eating in the wheat fields. The important reason is that they are confident that they can quickly seize the city and seize the military supplies stored in the city. . This confidence may be due to those siege equipment, or it may be that the Mongols are becoming more and more experienced in arranging foreign threats to join the army."
"In that case..." Guo Ning also stood up and looked at the map: "Since the Mongols have moved, we have to move. Do we have to send an army to rescue Xianping Mansion?"
