Jiangning.
Several dynasties held meetings in Beijing, a famous capital in history, a beautiful land in the south of the Yangtze River, and the imperial state of Jinling.
Since the Six Dynasties, from Jinling to Jiankang and then to Jiangning, this majestic city beside the Yangtze River has not only been the most majestic city in the south of the Yangtze River, it even once became the largest city in the world.
From the time when King Wei of Chu built the city of Jinling in Stone City, to when Sun Quan built the capital, to when Yiguan crossed to the south, the golden powder of the Six Dynasties gathered together the rise and fall of ancient times, and said that the world was prosperous and prosperous.
Even in today's Song Dynasty, Tokyo is huge, and it is undoubtedly the first in the world in terms of population and scale. However, Jiangning is only inferior to Tokyo, and the neighboring cities cannot compare.
Zhao Tong was sitting on the boat on the Qinhuai River at the moment. There was an exquisite sandalwood table in front of him, with a pot of wine and several colored cakes on it. He was drinking wine slowly, eating snacks slowly, and carefully Enjoy the clear water tune sung by the kaiko in front of you.
Yesterday, he inspected a circle of Jiangning city defense. Even behind the moat, two more trenches were dug. Various kinds of horses, deer antlers, thorns, and thorns were placed almost all over the city. Even wooden gates and iron gates were added at the water gate.
As for the top of the city, in addition to the ordinary rolling logs and stones, green oil and lime, there is no shortage of heavy weapons.
A city like Jiangning has accumulated countless defensive weapons from ancient times to the present. Even Zhao Tao couldn't help being shocked when he inspected it. It is estimated that except for Kaifeng Mansion in Tokyo, no other city has such a large number of defensive weapons.
Moreover, there are some things that are not owned by this dynasty at all, and I don’t know which dynasty they are from, and I can’t even name them.
After Zhao Tong was shocked, he was silent. Many of the things Jiang Ning had prepared were never used, because as the capital of many dynasties in ancient times, many times when enemy troops arrived here, they declared that the rivers and mountains were broken and the building would be destroyed. Tilted.
Many DPRK countries surrendered directly, and all their preparations were useless.
In addition to these defense weapons, there are also many various heavy crossbows and heavy artillery in this dynasty.
On each of the thirteen gates of the four cities, bed crossbows and large hand crossbows were prepared, as well as heavy artillery.
This cannon is not an artillery piece. The earliest artillery in history only appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty and was widely used in the Ming Dynasty.
The current cannon is a special trebuchet. It uses extremely sophisticated machine-expanding levers to hit stones very far. It is even more powerful when you are at a high place.
The population of Jiangning City is second only to Tokyo, and there is absolutely no shortage of defense forces. As the largest city in the south of the Yangtze River and the center of military and political affairs, Jiangning City has countless supplies of food and grass, and there is absolutely no shortage of water resources.
Jiangning was a former royal city. Like Tokyo, it was divided into inner and outer cities. Now that it was fully prepared, Zhao Tong definitely did not believe that this kind of city would be breached in a short time.
In fact, the same goes for Tokyo. It is extremely difficult to break through from the outside. Not to mention this kind of royal capital, even some important fortresses, as long as they are commanded properly, it is basically impossible to break through the city in such a short time.
When the Jin soldiers went south in later generations, Wang Xun stayed in Taiyuan for more than 250 days. If the city had not been short of food, he could have continued to defend it.
It can be seen that if this kind of city is easily broken, there will be internal problems, or it will disintegrate from the inside first, otherwise it will be easily lost.
only……
Zhao Tong drank a glass of wine and listened to Kabuki Qingshui's song and thought to himself, Fang La was very happy to kill outside. He had no choice but to save countless gold and silver. He was sitting in this prosperous place in Jiangning, but he could only look at it and sigh. If It always feels a little inappropriate not to cooperate with Fang La in killing.
But Jiang Ning is calm, how to kill him?
Jiangning and Hangzhou were both places where Jiangnan nobles gathered. If Fang La killed Hangzhou, he would kill Jiangning no matter what.
At that time, many people from Hangzhou came to Jiangning. Nowadays, Jiangning's wealthy families gather together. If they really kill, it will be much more enjoyable than in Hangzhou.
However, there is really no excuse to kill at the moment. The ordinary excuse of the court is not enough, and neither can he. He can only kill by taking advantage of the chaos and chaos. However, Fang La, the Holy Duke, actually went to attack Suzhou instead of Jiangning, which really made him feel unhappy. untie.
Zhao Tong sighed and drank another glass of wine.
He handed over the entire city defense matter to Wang Zhen, and he asked Wang Zhen for the position of commander of the Xuanfu Division of Lianghuai and Huaihe Rivers, which was nominally on the same level as Liu Yanqing, commander of the Western Army.
Among the few people he brought, if anyone could be said to be the most loyal to the imperial court, it would undoubtedly be Wang Zhen.
According to the normal development trajectory, not long after the conquest of Fang La, Tong Guan led the tired division of the Western Army to the north to cooperate with the Jurchens in attacking Liao. Wang Zhen followed him on the expedition, and then hundreds of thousands of troops were defeated at Baigou.
Then in the seventh year of Xuanhe, the Jurchens attacked the Song Dynasty. Tong Guan abandoned Taiyuan and returned to the capital. He left Wang Zhen as the deputy general manager of the army and horses, and commanded the soldiers of the Xuanfu Division to guard Taiyuan. In September of the first year of Jingkang, he guarded Taiyuan for more than 250 days. , the army and the people ran out of food, and the city fell. Wang Zhenyu led his exhausted soldiers to fight in the streets. After being shot dozens of times, he threw himself into the river and died.
This is definitely the first-class loyal minister of the Song Dynasty, and a model for the military generals of the Song Dynasty to flaunt history. The so-called four generals of the ZTE and the seven kings of the Southern Song Dynasty, regardless of their merits and demerits, just talk about the loyalty to the family and the country, except for a few. Apart from these, the rest may not be as good as Wang Zhen.
Zhao Tan was relieved to leave the city defense matters to Wang Zhen, but unfortunately Wang Zhen was loyal to the court, not to the King of Qin.
The remaining Yao Pingzhong and Lu Junyi were naturally loyal to him. Yao Pingzhong boarded the pirate ship and was completely bound. They were both prosperous and devastated. Lu Junyi did not say that he was the real senior brother.
As for Zhe Kecun, it's hard to tell. Although he was a genius in military affairs, he died early after all. Later, when Zhe Keqiu was threatened by Jin Bing's family members to surrender, he had already passed away.
Zhao Tong unknowingly drank the entire bottle of wine, looked at the singer in front of him, and said calmly: "Singing Qin Huai!"
Yao Pingzhong, who was standing aside, suddenly grinned and said to himself, "Prince, is it not appropriate to sing this at this moment?"
The singers in front were also shocked. It was okay to sing this song in peacetime. Now that Jiangnan is in chaos, how can they sing this song?
But no one dared to object, and no one dared to persuade. The singers sang Du Mu's "Po Qinhuai" with pale faces:
Smoke cage, cold water, moon cage, sand,
Stay in Qinhuai at night near a restaurant.
A merchant girl doesn’t know the hatred of losing her country;
Across the river, the flowers in the backyard are still singing.
After hearing this, Zhao Tong sneered, ordered the boat to dock, then stood up and went ashore with his hands behind his hands.
Just a few hours later, everything that King Qin did on the boat, including all the expressions and movements during it, were written on paper and placed on the desks of the heads of the major clans in Jiangning at this moment...
As the night gradually fell, Zhao Tong wrote a memorial to Emperor Daojun in the Xuanfu Department. His memorial could go directly to the Guards and Military Department, and could be delivered directly to the palace without going through Zhongshu's door.
The booklet naturally exaggerated the chaos in the south of the Yangtze River, with corpses scattered all over the fields, people dying of hunger, mourning thousands of miles away, rivers of blood, and bones exposed in the wild. In short, it was written as tragic and frightening as possible.
The more serious the better!
It is to scare Emperor Daojun to make him restless and restless, making it difficult to sleep at night.
He knew that Tong Guan and Zhao Kai would also write like this, and it might even be scarier than what he wrote. No matter how different they were at odds, they would definitely have a tacit understanding when it came to scaring the emperor.
You should hide it when something goes wrong for the first time, be bold about it when it comes, and say it's hard when things get normal.
Officials have been doing this since ancient times, but they just kept it from the person on the chair. Maybe some shrewd people knew in their hearts that the ministers were lying to him and scaring him, but this was a conspiracy. As long as he won in the end, the person on the chair could not do anything.
At the end of his writing, he turned around and said that King Yun led his troops to Hongzhou, Jiangxi. The entire East Jiangnan Road was empty for the rebels. There was no one guarding the other side of the Yangtze River. Once the rebels occupied the south bank of the Yangtze River, they might even attack. After crossing the Yangtze River, the military front will be directed towards the capital, and the consequences will be disastrous.
Therefore, in an urgent matter, he obeyed his authority, led his troops to cross south, and stationed himself in Jiangning, vowing to block the rebel army south of the Yangtze River and not to cross the river even half a step.
After finishing writing, Zhao Yu dried the ink and smiled. Zhao Kai would definitely impeach him for running to Jiangning to control military affairs. He would explain a little bit that this was for the sake of the Song Dynasty and the court, otherwise you, King Yun, would not defend it. Jiangdong, if Fang La attacks the Yangtze River and then goes to Gyeonggi, your King Yun's sin will be great.
Just after he put down his pen, Zhang Xian suddenly came to report that someone was calling the door outside Jiangning City.
At this time, Jiangning's city gate had just been closed, and Zhang Xian had been under Wang Zhen's staff and lived directly at the top of the city. However, if Zhang Xian came to ask, he must be an unusual person in the city.
"Your Majesty, it's Du Bo who is here and is at the gate of the city!" Zhang Xian said.
Zhao Tuo was overjoyed when he heard this. After sneaking into Wang Qing's army that day, he made friends with Du Fu. Later, Zongze planned to capture Du Fu alive. After pacifying Wang Qing, he wanted to recruit him on the spot, but Du Fu was too shy to surrender directly. Tao let Du Bo go.
Before this expedition, he thought that his men really lacked generals, so he sent a letter to Du Bo, including Wu Song from Shandong, asking the two to come and help.
Because Wu Song has been taking care of Wu Da, Wu Da was secretly injured by Ximen Qing's kick. He was afraid that he would never get well in his life and would not be able to work. He needed someone to take care of him, so he didn't come under his command.
After hearing Zhang Xian's report, Zhao Tong ordered Du Bo to be released into the city and brought to the department.
Du Bo was highly skilled in martial arts, especially in horse fighting. He could be said to be on par with Lu Junyi. Although Fang La had many masters under his command, no one could surpass Lu Junyi and Du Bo in horse fighting.
When commanding troops to fight, horse warfare is far more important than infantry warfare. A master of horse warfare is a flag on the battlefield. Charge into battle and fight in front of the army, which can be regarded as a symbol of the battle between the two armies. The strong ones can boost morale and guide the war. Towards victory.
Although it is known that Wang Laofu and Chen Houtong from Fang La are masters, even if they are masters, they can defeat Du Fu in single combat, but when they enter the battle formation and fight immediately, their effect may not be stronger than that of Du Fu and Lu Junyi. , maybe even worse than the two of them.
This is the difference between personal force and the general situation on the battlefield.
After a long while, Zhang Xian ushered Du Bu over. Zhao Tu came to greet him before he entered, took Du Bu's hand and said, "Long Jian really wants to harm me. Don't leave this time. Even if you want to I will definitely not allow you to leave."
Du Bu was ugly and fierce, but very thin-skinned. When he saw how courteous and virtuous the corporal Zhao was, his face turned red and he fell to the ground with a plop: "Du Bu thanks the prince for his kindness and his kindness to live. I wish he could I repay you with all my heart."
Zhao Tong pulled him up and asked Zhang Xian to move the chair. They sat down and chatted for a while, then asked someone to prepare a banquet and drank until the moon was above the willow branches.
Another day later, Wu Song also came, and Zhao Yu once again served wine to welcome the wind. Unlike Du Bu, Wu Song and Du Bu had no previous conflicts. From the time they went to Tokyo to compete, Zhao Yu always showed favors step by step, especially at Wuhan University. It can be said that Zhao Tong saved Wu Da's life. Although Wu Song still can't figure out how Zhao Tong knew that the medicine could not be drunk, it did not stop him from dying.
Zhao Tong held Wu Song's hand, looked at his resolute and courageous face, shook his head and said: "Erlang, after defeating the bandits this time, please take Brother Nai to Tokyo. It is better to be with me than to have no one to support and care for you in Shandong."
Wu Song bowed his head and said, "I will obey the prince's orders."
Zhao Tong helped him up: "That's very good, very good!"
In the blink of an eye, two days later, Zhao Tong suddenly received urgent military information from Xuanzhou in the south, and his expression changed drastically when he saw it.
The battle report clearly stated that Fang La's bandits were discovered to be gathering in Shezhou, with the intention of heading towards Xuanzhou.
Originally, Xuanzhou thought it was the bandits stationed in Shezhou who were planning to harass them, but later they discovered that something was wrong. They were actually an unknown number of soldiers, probably tens of thousands, so they hurriedly sent a message to Jiangning.
Zhao Tong's face changed as he took the battle report. Fang La's main force was locked in a stalemate with Tong Guan in Suzhou. It was absolutely impossible for him to just run over, even if the route was wrong.
There are at most a few thousand bandit soldiers stationed in Shezhou. The battle report states that there may be tens of thousands, so it cannot be the original bandit army in Shezhou. But other than these, where else can they come from?
Zhao Tong thought in his mind, could it be that Fang Qifu who went south was returning? But he didn't go back to Suzhou to support Fang La, so why did he come here... Could it be that he wanted to attack Jiangning and seize the natural danger of the Yangtze River?
Zhao Tong took a deep breath, but this was very possible. Judging from the battle report, except for Fang Qifu's army on the south route, it was impossible for anyone else to have so many soldiers and horses. And behind Xuanzhou was Jiangning. Fang Qifu went straight to Xuanzhou with the purpose of It goes without saying that they just want to attack Jiangning!
Zhao Tong narrowed his eyes slightly when he thought of this, and felt a little excited in his heart. Come on, I am not afraid that you will come, but I am afraid that you will not come!
No matter how many troops Fang Qifu had, it would be impossible to capture Jiangning, not to mention that many of the rebels were civilians and did not have much fighting power.
But he can use this to do a big thing, a big thing!
After sitting on the chair and pondering for a long time, Zhao Tong called Yao Pingzhong, then asked Yao Pingzhong to close the door, and asked lightly: "Yao Qi Shi, you can read the scriptures recently, can you pay homage to Mingzun?"
Yao Pingzhong was stunned when he heard this, and thought to himself, Prince, are you kidding me? Now they are leading troops to attack the Mingjiao in the Central Plains. Why should they read the scriptures and worship the Mingzun? Even if they want to worship, there must be a statue of the Mingzun in Jiangning City.
He shook his head and said: "Subordinate... no."
Zhao Tong frowned and said: "This is not good. As the flag bearer of the Holy Religion, how can you not read the scriptures and worship the Mingzun? You are not pious!"
"Ah?!" Yao Pingzhong thought to himself, how pious is this? He is slapping his hands on one side and praying on the other. No one would believe him even if he said it was pious. Even if Ming Zun knew about it, he wouldn't believe it.
Zhao Tong said: "Is it because there is no holy statue of Ming Zun around? This is easy to handle. You have also seen the appearance of the holy statue in Luzhou. The worst thing is that there is another one in Luliu Village. Although it does not look like it, it is also common for you. Take a photo of it. Isn’t it difficult to make a few?”
Yao Pingzhong scratched his head, what do you mean by doing a few things... Your Majesty, this is not ungrateful, it is disrespectful. He said hurriedly: "It's not difficult, it's not difficult."
Zhao Tong nodded: "How many of the followers did you take with you when you came out of Tokyo this time?"
Yao Pingzhong said: "Except for leaving a few people to guard Zhuangzi, we have brought almost everyone we can. There are about seven or eight hundred people in the army now."
Zhao Tong thought for a while, and found that seven or eight hundred people were enough. Originally, there were thousands of believers in Tokyo, but the rest were from the Dianqian Division and could not be brought to his own army.
He said: "Yao Qi Shi, this king has a big thing to do with you!"
Yao Pingzhong asked in confusion: "What did the prince give you?"
Zhao Tong smiled slightly: "When the statue of Mingzun is ready, you..."
After a moment, Yao Pingzhong stared with big eyes, his face was pale, and his lips were trembling. Even though he was so bold, he almost sat down on the ground at this moment.
"Do you remember Yao Qi?" Zhao Tong asked with narrowed eyes.
"Remember, remember." Yao Pingzhong nodded like a chicken eating rice, can he not remember it? This is a big event that is going to break the heavens. This is going to shock the world!
"If you remember, go out and prepare!" Zhao Tong nodded: "Don't let any news leak, and don't think about riding a mule in the middle of the night."
Yao Pingzhong thought with a slumped face, why do you always think of him running away? Although he raised a young green mule in his hometown in Guanzhong, he did not bring it to the capital. Besides, where did the prince know that he raised a mule?
"Save it for me, subordinate!" He broke out in a cold sweat at this moment. What Zhao Tong said was really shocking.
Zhao Tong waved his hand and looked at Yao Pingzhong walking out of the door, thinking for a while again.
The next day, another military report came from Xuanzhou. This time it was confirmed that the incoming army was Fang Qifu's team. As for the number of people, it was about hundreds of thousands. The governor of Xuanzhou said that it would be difficult to resist and asked Jiangning for support.
Zhao Tong replied to him and ordered him to evacuate all the troops in Xuanzhou City and abandon the city. However, he was not allowed to travel to Jiangning. Instead, he was ordered to lead troops to Taiping Prefecture and join forces with Taiping Prefecture to defend.
As for Jiangning, when receiving the military report from Xuanzhou, Zhao Tong issued a death order to close the thirteen gates in the four cities of Jiangning, including the water gates.
No one is allowed to enter, and no one is allowed to leave the city!
Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed without mercy!
(End of chapter)
