Behind this "Red Heart Liu Yan" recognition flag is an old general in his sixties surrounded by dozens of older cavalrymen with weathered faces. The veteran's head and beard were all gray, and his dark old face was covered with wrinkles. He was wearing a green robe that had been washed white and full of stains, and he had no armor.
This man was Liu Yan, the commander of Yanzhou Battalion, one of the eight battalions of the resentful army of the Liao Kingdom in the past. Like Guo Yaoshi, Ma Zhi (Zhao Liangsi), and Liu Yanzong, he was a Han from the Liao Kingdom. Moreover, he was from a wealthy family, and he was somewhat related to Liu Yanzong, who now joined the Jin Kingdom and was granted the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Han Army on Nanjing Road. His ancestors were both Liu Bang, the Lulong Jiedushi of the Tang Dynasty - Han Chinese society under the rule of the Liao Kingdom seemed It stayed in the stage of aristocratic society. Although there were imperial examinations, the imperial examinations in the Liao Dynasty were different from those in the Song Dynasty. They were completely monopolized by aristocratic families.
And in a society ruled by aristocratic families, of course, it is necessary to strictly distinguish between legitimate concubines and concubines. Liu Yan's ancestors were commoners, so they did not stay in Yanjing to develop. Instead, they moved to Yanzhou on Zhongjing Road in the Liao Kingdom (in the Western Liaoning Corridor) and became a local wealthy family. When Liu Yan was young, he relied on his background and talents to become a Jinshi in the Liao Kingdom's Zhongjing Road and entered the southern official system of the Liao Kingdom.
However, his official career was not too smooth. He had been serving as an official in Zhongjing Road and Nanjing Road, sometimes as a civilian official, sometimes as a military attaché, and his official luck was always poor. When he reached middle age, he encountered the great era of the rise of the Jurchens and the collapse of the Liao Kingdom. Liu Yan, who did not want to see his hometown being ravaged by the Jurchens and wanted to seize some opportunities in this troubled world, took advantage of the situation and seized the opportunity of the Liao Kingdom to organize a resentful army. He led a group of clan members, dispersed their wealth, and recruited The strong man raised a Yanzhou battalion and joined the Resentful Army, becoming one of the eight battalions of the Resentful Army.
However, this resentful army, which the rulers of the Liao Kingdom had high hopes for, not only failed to fight after its establishment, but also had successive rebellions, and Liu Yan was also involved. After several incidents, Liu Yan and the more than 800 cavalrymen of the Yanzhou Battalion led by him finally followed Guo Yaoshi and defected to the Song Dynasty from the Liao Dynasty.
And this betrayal became the last betrayal in Liu Yan's life. When the Jin soldiers marched south and Guo Yaoshi once again turned his back on the Song Dynasty and surrendered to the Jin Dynasty, Liu Yan, who was stationed at Yanshan Prefecture, did not follow him. Instead, he led more than 800 cavalrymen under his command and all his family members and retreated south to Zhending Prefecture.
Song Huizong was greatly surprised when he learned that there were still hundreds of people in the Ever-Victorious Army who had not surrendered to the Jin Kingdom, so he personally wrote the word "True Heart" to Liu Yan. Liu Yan's recognition flag became "Liu Yan with a sincere heart".
But this "loyal Liu Yan" who wholeheartedly followed the Song Dynasty recently encountered something that troubled him - I don't know what Cai Mao, the Hebei Road transfer envoy of the Song Dynasty, thought. He actually thought that Liu Yan was also resentful. He was born in the military and had been attached to Pharmacist Guo, so he believed that Liu and Guo had a personal relationship, so he wanted to use this friendship to open up a "road to begging for mercy." Moreover, Liu Yan was not allowed to argue, so he and Ma Kuo, another "diplomatic talent" who was also in Zhending, were transferred to Daming Mansion with a piece of paper.
This left Liu Yan a bit at a loss... His relationship with Yaoshi Guo was not very good. Although they were both from the Resentment Army, their relationship was not close. Liu Yan's Yanzhou camp has always been of its own, while Guo Yaoshi has always wanted to annex Liu Yan's army. The two sides have been fighting openly and secretly for several years.
The reason why Liu Yan was unwilling to invest money with Yaoshi Guo was because he had too much conflict with Yaoshi Guo in addition to the fact that the Song Dynasty paid well and was relatively lenient.
Now if he is asked to find a matchmaker with Yaoshi Guo, wouldn't that push him into a pit of fire? Yaoshi Guo is so cruel, he might have chopped himself into pieces at a Hongmen banquet or something...
Thinking of this, Liu Yan let out a long sigh!
"Liu Zuowu, don't worry too much. When we get to the daimyo, the lower official will explain to Xianggong Cai... The trip to Jinying can be handled by the lower official. Zuowu doesn't need to go there in person."
The person who opened his mouth to comfort Liu Yan was a middle-aged man in his forties. This man was burly, with a dark face and a weathered look on his face.
This person was another "special envoy to beg for mercy" sent by Cai Mao from Zhending Mansion, named Ma Kuo. Ma Kuo was also from the Western Army. He was from Xihe Road and was a loyal martyr. One of his uncles, two uncles, and two brothers died in the continuous wars against Xixia and Qingtang and Xifan tribes. He originally served in the Xihe Army with his father Ma Zheng, but during the maritime alliance between the Song Dynasty and the Jurchens, his father Ma Zheng happened to be in charge of the military affairs of Dengzhou. So the father and son changed careers and became diplomats. As a result, Ma Kuo had many contacts with the top brass of the Kingdom of Jin, and they had some friendship with each other.
When the war between the Song and Jin Dynasties began, Ma Kuo happened to be an official in Zhending Mansion, but he was not reused. Instead, he was sitting on the bench - he had a bad relationship with Liu Kai, the Zhending Mansion, so he was cast aside. After Liu Kai obtained Cai Mao's documents, he had no intention of leaving Ma Kuo to fight against the Jin in Zhending Mansion, so he sent him and Liu Yan on the road to Daming Mansion.
Liu Yan could only sigh after hearing Ma Kuo's words. He had been dealing with gold thieves for a long time, and of course he knew how difficult it was to beg for mercy from these bandits. Robbers are all greedy, and their appetites will grow bigger and bigger...
While the two were speechless, someone from the left and right suddenly shouted: "The enemy is attacking, there are cavalry ahead!"
Liu Yan and Ma Kuo were both excited. They quickly tightened their reins and stopped their horses. Then they stood up on the stirrups, resting their palms on their eyebrows and looking forward.
The place where they are is not far from Damingfu City, and they can see the majestic and magnificent city outline of Damingfu from a distance. Five or six miles ahead of them was a large forest, and the official road leading to Damingfu City happened to pass through the woods. You can vaguely see a large group of cavalry coming from the other side of the woods along the official road from south to north.
The formation of this cavalry team is strict, and everyone is wearing armor and embroidered clothes (the short coat worn outside the armor cannot cover the entire armor), with a long gun on their shoulders, and a red hat on their head. Tasseled helmet. Looking from a distance, I saw a field of jumping red tassels and flashing cold light, rushing towards me!
In front of this group of cavalry, someone was also holding a red recognition flag, but because the distance was too far, it was difficult to see what words were tattooed on it.
"Line up and put on armor!"
Although it is close to Damingfu City, the Jin army is moving south along the west bank of the Yellow River (at this time the Yellow River flows into the sea from the north), and it should not be too far from Damingfu City now. Therefore, the cashier's cavalry outside Damingfu City was no exception. Liu Yan did not dare to neglect, and quickly ordered his more than 800 cavalry to form a formation and put on the armor they carried with them.
Liu Yan's 800 cavalrymen were all Yanzhou veterans who had followed him for many years. They had rich combat experience and had already developed their psychological quality. Therefore, they quickly followed Liu Yan's instructions and put on cavalry armor with only the front and rear coverings. A group of fifty cavalrymen also formed a formation and were ready.
Not long after, the cavalry coming from the south of the woods in front began to form with their backs to the woods. Their number is nearly double that of Liu Yan's troops, and they are still one person and two horses!
At this time, Liu Yan and Ma Kuo finally saw clearly the words on the red recognition flag, which should be "Yun Wang Zhao".
They also saw a burly general with a silver helmet under the flag, standing on horseback with a murderous intent.
Both of them looked a little dazed, and both thought of the same question: Who is this person named Yun?
