At the end of April, Wang Xiao arrived outside Kaifeng City.
At this time, Zongze stayed behind for Tokyo and led his army to guard Kaifeng. A few days ago, I also talked with people about Kaifeng Mansion at this time, and everyone praised Zongze. According to legend, at this time, Kaifeng City was peaceful both inside and outside, with millions of troops guarding the city, and the Jin people also had to avoid their front. Wang Xiaolie had fought in the war himself and knew that these words were not true. Shipping on the Bianhe River has been cut off for several months. Can we really afford to support millions of soldiers?
Zongze is naturally great, and his glory is not only in this era, but also shines through the ages. But no matter how great Zongze is, he can't change the helplessness of reality. Kaifeng City was already in ruins after being captured by the Jin Army. How could it be restored in a year or two? The Bianhe River, the lifeline of Kaifeng, has been in disrepair and its transportation capacity has been greatly reduced, and it has even stopped flowing for several months. Kaifeng at this time was very bitter. The army is suffering, and the people of Kaifeng are suffering even more.
One mile away from Xinzheng Gate, the roadside was crowded with people. There is an incense table in front, and there are people holding wine there to stop the king's horse from hunting at night.
Wang Xiaoxian dismounted, picked up the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp. Looking at the people on the roadside, they are excited from the bottom of their hearts. After many days, there was finally a clear victory, and a city was truly defended.
The people's life was hard, but it was still much better than when the Jin army attacked. It is better to be a peace dog than a chaotic person. This sentence can only be truly understood after experiencing the pain of displacement and seeing the roads full of dead bones. On the hundreds of miles journey from Gong County to Kaifeng Mansion, Wang Xiaolie saw many corpses lying on the roadside and saw many uninhabited villages, and he knew it clearly.
The people are lovely, and they respect from the bottom of their hearts the generals who truly defended their country and won the war.
As we arrived outside the city gate, we saw umbrellas gathering in front of us. There were civil and military officials and ceremonial guards waiting there early. This was the first time Wang Xiaolie had seen such a scene, and he couldn't help but pause.
As soon as Wang Xiaoxiao stopped, Shao Ling, Xie Linong, Cao Zhiyan, Yu Huan and others around him also stopped, and it was a bit chaotic for a while.
This is Zongze coming out of the city. When we arrived at Bajiao Town, someone from the city came to inform us. But Wang Xiaolie didn't know what he should do, and there was no one to teach him. When we arrived outside the city gate, we hesitated for a moment.
Seeing that the team was in chaos, Wang Xiaolie hurriedly adjusted his posture, dismounted and led his horse forward. When the others saw it, they also dismounted.
An old man with white beard and white hair under the umbrella saw Wang Xiaolie coming and walked forward quickly.
At this time, Wang Xiaolie, who was in official uniform, could still distinguish the colors and knew that it was Zongze who was coming. He hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "The king of Ruzhou is here to pay homage to the left guard! The left guard goes out to greet you, I am so ashamed of myself!"
Zongze took Wang Xiaolie's hand and said with a smile: "You are the hero who won the battle, how could you not come out to welcome him? In the past few months, the Jin army's fierce flames spread all over the river, and the west of Beijing was restless. It all depends on your loyalty You are brave enough to stop the Jin people from Gong County and return with a great victory. A young hero like you should be welcomed out by an old man and let the heroes of the world know about you. As long as you can defeat the Jin people, you will be a hero of the country!"
Wang Xiaolie did not dare. But Zongze held his hand tightly, preventing him from bowing down.
Zongze is more than seventy years old, and his beard and hair are all white. I haven't been in good health lately, and my face looks a little gloomy. But the conversation and laughter made people feel very comfortable. Moreover, the official uniforms are neat and dignified.
In Wang Xiaolie's eyes, this was the first time he saw officials dressed neatly at this time, just like in movies and TV shows in his previous life, looking like gods. It all seemed like a dream, somewhat unreal.
After the salute, Zongze said: "There are many troops stationed in the city. You are new here and are not familiar with everyone, so the troops and horses are stationed at the Tielin camp in the southwest corner. There are no troops stationed there anymore, and there are few households around. Let the soldiers go first. Rest there, and we will send you wine and meat to the left-behind residence later. You and a few generals will follow me back to the left-behind residence. I have prepared wine and meat there to welcome you."
Wang Xiaolie hurriedly thanked him. He ordered Yang Shen and Wang Zhong to take their troops and horses to Tielin Camp first. There is a ready-made camp there, and you only need to tidy it up before you can set up camp. Wang Xiao hunted five to six hundred people, and the camp was large enough to be stationed there.
At this time, Wang Xiaolie was certain that Kaifeng Mansion definitely did not have a million-strong army. What is the size of a million people? There are more troops than the original garrison in Kaifeng, so how can there be empty camps? Come to think of it, Zongze only has at most 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers capable of fighting.
When he arrived at Liushou Mansion, Zongze ordered people to take gold and silver as Wang Xiaolie's reward for the battle. He also used the blank official notice in his hand to confer the title of Xiu Wulang on Wang Xiaolie, and the post of commander in chief. The other generals asked Wang Xiaolie to go back and write an official document to reward him based on his merits.
Wang Xiaolie accepted the official complaint, and for a moment he didn't know whether he should be happy or unhappy. This was a time of war, and these official positions were not worth much. If you perform meritorious service in the future and continue to serve in the Song Dynasty court, an official report will naturally be useful. Continue to make meritorious service and continue to be promoted until the end. This is what Yue Fei and others did, and they have been able to achieve the rank of Taiwei. If you were not in the Song Dynasty court, these officials would naturally not be available.
At this time, there were probably dozens of people like Wang Xiaolie in Kaifeng City. From the memory of his previous life, Wang Xiaolie really didn't have a good impression of the Song Dynasty court at that time. Accepting the official complaint from the Song Dynasty does not seem to be something to be happy about.
So busy. Zongze ordered people to serve wine and celebrated Wang Xiao's victory in the left-behind mansion.
Wang Xiaolie looked at the people accompanying him and found that he only recognized Han Shizhong, and Ding Jin, who had already returned, was not among them. I don't know any of the other generals. I don’t know what their identities are.
Zongze guarded Bianjing alone. Apart from him, there are no other important officials here. Most of the people who stayed in the mansion to celebrate the victory were military generals, with only a few civilian officials.
After three rounds of drinking. Zongze said to Wang Xiaolie: "I saw you leading the rebel army to serve the king many years ago. He was really a very special person. Unfortunately, he lost his life in a war. He was a minister in the same palace as me, and he resigned because of Ding You. Return to your hometown. When the Jin army entered the invaders, they took the order to gather the rebel army to serve the king. His loyalty is commendable."
"Alas -" At this point, Zongze sighed. I think it's because I feel sad when I think about myself.
From last winter until this summer, the Jin Army continued to attack. Although there was no Jin army attacking Kaifeng Mansion, there were still many wars in Huazhou and Zhengzhou on the outskirts. The battle in Zhengzhou was unfavorable, and Huazhou was repeated several times, which made Zongze exhausted. In the past two months, I feel that my body is not as good as before. This time Wang Xiaohunting won a great victory, Zongze thought about it, and wrote to the court again to persuade Zhao Gou to return to the capital. Just looking at the current situation in the court, Zhao Gou is afraid of resigning again.
What else could it be? When the emperor returned to Beijing, the army and the people united as one and fought to the death with the Jin army. Restoring the old land and rebuilding his homeland is Zongze's only wish now. But Zhao Gou just didn't return to Beijing, so what's the use of thinking so hard?
After chatting for a while, Zongze said to Wang Xiaolie: "Now in April, the Jin army is returning north. They were born in a bitter cold land and cannot tolerate the heat. They will return north as soon as summer comes. In May and June, the weather will When it is hot, you should reorganize your troops and horses, cross the Yellow River north, and take back the land between the two rivers. You will train your troops and horses diligently these days, and you will make great achievements when the time comes. This is the time to employ people, and the time for a good man to make contributions should not be wasted. "
Wang Xiaolie bowed his hands and said yes. But he knew in his heart that Zongze's wish would be difficult to realize. There are only tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in the capital. After crossing the river and reaching the Hebei plain, how can we resist the Jin army from coming again? If domestic affairs are not sorted out, how can we have the strength to restore Heshuo? However, although Zongze had a high reputation, he only stayed in Tokyo and could not talk about the affairs of the court.
At this time, Li Gang had given up, and Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan were busy. Together with Zhao Gou, the two of them only wanted to make peace with the Jin army. How could they think of a decisive battle with the Jin army? No one supported Zongze’s idea.
After drinking for a while, Zongze started talking more. He said to Wang Xiaoxing: "In May and June, Kaifeng Prefecture troops and horses went on the Northern Expedition. Wang Yan and other troops crossed the Yellow River from Huazhou and took Huai, Wei, Jun, and Xianzhou prefectures. Wumashan Ma Kuo and others left Daming Prefecture, Attack Mingzhou, Qingyuan, and Zhending Prefecture. The remaining armies of Kaifeng Prefecture will advance separately to capture all the land in Hebei. Are there any generals you are familiar with in Kaifeng City? We can march together then."
Wang Xiaolie thought for a moment and said: "Go back and stay behind." Apart from Ding Jin who returned from the previous defeat, the only generals whose names I heard about in Kaifeng were Wang Yan, Yue Fei and Han Shizhong. I don’t know——”
