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In mid-August, Zhao Ji issued an edict to appoint Liu Yanqing, the governor of the Three Cities of the Procuratorate, Heyang, as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition Army, Liu Guangshi, the commander-in-chief of the Infantry Army, and He Guan, the commander-in-chief of the Infantry Army, sent 200,000 troops to recapture Yanjing.

The court decided to raise troops to fight the Northern Expedition again, which made the court explode again - some supported and some opposed, and everyone talked and talked a lot.

actually--

Since the beginning of Zhao Liangsi's plan to destroy Liao and recover Yan Yun, the debate between senior officials of the Song Dynasty on the recovery of Yan Yun has never been interrupted.

Tong Guan, Cai Jing, Wang Fu and others were supporters, Deng Xunwu, Zheng Juzhong, Li Bangyan and others were oppositions, while Zhao Ji did it completely according to his own feelings. It can be said that he thought about it one by one, which led to the fact that the Song Dynasty had been reviving the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

Cai Jing's attitude towards regaining Yan Yun suddenly changed and he became very unpositive.

Zhao Ji became firmer for various reasons.

So, Zhao Ji thought Cai Jing was old, so he changed to Wang Fu, who knew him better, to be the prime minister.

Now, the ministers have started a fierce debate on the right and wrong of sending troops north to recover Yanjing.

In order to unify thoughts and avoid disturbing the morale of the army and the people, under Wang Fu's repeated requests, Zhao Ji issued a stern edict: Those who discuss this matter will be punished without mercy!

Most of the ministers were shocked and kept silent.

However, the loose political environment of the Song Dynasty still made some bold people jump out to oppose it.

Like the Chaosan Lang Song Zhao, he gave Zhao Ji a fierce memorial to oppose the Northern Expedition.

Song Zhao said in the memorial:

"Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, the art of controlling the Rong was actually the best strategy. The Liao envoys came to give him a banquet and rewarded him, and the grace was over. Therefore, they were jealous of virtue and feared power, admired the righteousness of the wind and bowed to the vassal states, and the people of Guizhou and Li sang and sang.

After three generations, I have been impressed and sincere in my heart. Nothing is like today, which is a great event for peace and a world of peace.

The people of Wang Fu and Tong Guanli led the crazy student Li Liangsi and Dong Pang'er to provoke border affairs, causing trouble. They sent ministers to raise heavy troops and long-term troops on the frontier. The granaries and treasury were empty, and countless officials and militias died.

If money can still be regained, how can the dead be resurrected?

Wang Fu, Tong Guan deceived the king and the superiors, and harmed the people. His crimes are unforgivable. I am willing to cut off these few heads to thank the world. Not only can I comfort the people of Yan, but I can help them know your majesty and be suspicious, and keep the alliance well. It can also punish other treacherous ministers and thieves who are proactive in border affairs.

Li Liangsi and Dong Pang'er were both traitors in the Northern Court, and they were resentful and hopeful, so they joined the border ministers and wrote false words, hoping to fake the Chinese power to restore personal grudges. In fact, the traitors of the two dynasties, how could they be loyal and righteous?

Now the Jurchens are brave and good at fighting, sweeping across the northern country, while Cai is still a thief, seizing the entire Yundi territory and defeating the Liao and Jin countries. If they are adjacent to them, what kind of skills will they use to defend them?

To destroy a weak country and become a neighbor with two strong people is probably not a blessing for China, but only for the Jurchens, and Cai remains the benefit.

I have also heard that the alliance between the two countries will bring disaster to the nine tribes. Your Majesty is filial to the world, and will he forget to be the spirit of the saint in heaven?

Your Majesty defeated the world with kindness, and did he tolerate the people of Hebei in the midst of a disaster and make his liver and brains trampled on the ground?"

After reading Song Zhao's memorial, Zhao Ji was so angry that he slapped the table: "Song Zhao, a crazy man, actually said something rude. I just issued an order and could not argue. He dared to go against the wind. He was so bold!"

Wang Fu was even more hated at Song Zhao, and he suggested to Zhao Ji: "Behead Song Zhao, kill one to warn a hundred, kill a chicken to show the monkey, see who dares to be so arrogant and disrespectful!"

Zhao Ji was angry, but his mind was still calm. He said, "It's better not to kill him. A scholar would be useless to kill him. He would remove him from the list and let the local officials strictly control him."

Soon, Song Zhao was dismissed from public office and escorted to Haizhou.

It should be said that Zhao Ji appointed 55-year-old Liu Yanqing as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition Army.

First, Liu Yanqing is about the same age, not as old as Zhong Shidao, nor as young as Cai Shen.

Second, Liu Yanqing was born into a family of generals and had many years of practical experience. He fought against Tubo and Xixia several times in the northwest. Due to his military achievements, he was promoted to the position of General Manager of the Fuyan Road and Deputy Commander of the Ma Army.

Third, Liu Yanqing had a very successful cooperation with Tong Guan, that is, the battle of Fang La, which was the commander-in-chief led by Liu Yanqing.

but--

This is just Zhao Ji's unilateral idea.

In fact, Liu Yanqing was very complicated about being appointed as the commander of the capital this time.

On the one hand, Liu Yanqing felt that this was an opportunity - if he could win by raising troops north this time, his prestige in the army would surpass that of Zhong Shidao. On the premise that Cai still rebelled against the Song Dynasty, he would become the number one general of the Song Dynasty.

On the other hand, Liu Yanqing felt that this was a test. As a general who had been on the battlefield for a long time, he knew that the advantage of the Liao army lies in the cavalry. The Song army did not have powerful cavalry, and it would be difficult to win by relying solely on the flesh and blood of infantry to fight against the golden swords and iron horses. He felt that dealing with the Liao army was not as simple as dealing with the Fang Layi army. Therefore, he warned himself that this time he sent troops north, he must be careful and careful, especially after he saw the troops that Zhao Ji had matched him.

Some people may be wondering what kind of troops Zhao Ji equipped Liu Yanqing with, which made Liu Yanqing so worried?

turn out to be--

Zhao Ji felt that the troops heading north were not strong enough, so he asked Gao Qiu to withdraw 50,000 troops from the Central Imperial Army to Liu Yanqing.

But there are no people and horses in the imperial guards who can fight. In fact, there are only Jinwu Army. Except for Jinwu Army, the rest of the people and horses who can fight were almost all crippled in the Battle of Fang La.

Gao Qiu had no choice but to shirk the responsibility of the matter to his deputy, Liang Fangping, deputy commander of the Palace Front Office.

After Liang Fangping received this hot potato, he passed it directly to He Guan.

He Guan spent a lot of effort to screen out 20,000 soldiers who could barely fight from the imperial guards, and temporarily recruited 20,000 new soldiers among the vagrants (rogues) in the capital.

Later, I don’t know who mentioned that the Yanei Army had followed Cai to fight in the south and north and made countless contributions, and could serve as the mainstay of the northward journey this time.

Therefore, Zhao Ji appointed Liang Bingcong as the commander-in-chief, led the Yanei army as the main force, and went north to win glory for the country.

Liu Yanqing really couldn't imagine how such an army fought?

In fact, none of this army had thought about war. They went there just to make a strong reputation for the Song Dynasty and make some military achievements so that they could make a good job in the future. The Western Army and other troops would go to war.

Zhao Ji didn't know what the army he matched to Liu Yanqing was like. Zhao Ji only knew that he matched Liu Yanqing with another army of 50,000.

In addition, Zhao Ji waved his hand and transferred all the Hebei troops to the north. After roughly accounting, he assigned Liu Yanqing a total of 200,000 troops.

In addition, there are tens of thousands of troops on the border, as well as the rural brave troops of Zhao Xu (Dong Panger), Zhang Guanyu and other rebels.

This time, the Song army had a total of 400,000 and 500,000 people, claiming to be one million to the outside world.

From the number of troops whom Liu Yanqing matched Liu Yanqing, it is not difficult to see that Zhao Ji had great hope for Liu Yanqing, and it is not difficult to see that Zhao Ji was determined to win Yanjing.

Before leaving the war, Zhao Ji met Liu Yanqing in Yanfu Palace.

Zhao Ji said: "When Fang La was pacified, Liu Qing made great contributions as the commander-in-chief. This Northern Expedition regained Yanjing, I have carefully considered it and decided to appoint Liu Qing as the commander-in-chief again. I hope Liu Qing will continue to work hard and make new contributions."

Zhao Ji gave Liu Yanqing a flag, a golden spear, an imperial robe, and a colorful belt.

At the same time, Zhao Ji also gave Liu Yanqing the "Seven Treasures".

These "seven treasures" are: gold, silver, glass (gem), pear (crystal), tridacna (sea shell), beads (coral beads) and amber.

Liu Yanqing knelt down and thanked him for his gratitude, saying excitedly: "I bathe in the emperor's grace, and remember His Majesty's teachings sincerely. I will go through fire and water, crush you to pieces, and scatter your blood, and swear to put the banner of the Song Dynasty on the top of Yanjing City!"

If Zhao Ji did not want to start a war with the Liao Kingdom when he first sent troops in April this year, and he hoped to win without a fight, then the idea of ​​sending troops to Zhao Ji this time was very different from last time - Zhao Ji hoped that the army would take real action this time and use real weapons to recover Yanjing.

Therefore, Zhao Ji did not interfere with the guiding ideology of the operation and the specific military deployment - he hoped that Tong Guan and Liu Yanqing could act accordingly and complete the strategic concept of regaining Yanjing, which they had planned for many years in the Song Dynasty.

...

At the end of July, after more than fifty days of attack, Yue Fei finally attacked Rucheng.

After the city was broken, Yue Fei sent someone to count it, and there were less than 10,000 young, young, women and children left in the Ru City, and all the rest died in battle.

Moreover, the moment before the city was broken, Wu Yong burned all the small amount of food and grass left in the Ru City, and led the remaining people to fight with the Jinwu army until only a few hundred left. It was not until Wu Yong died in battle that they completely gave up resistance.

Coincidentally, the situation in Han Shizhong was even worse. They fought until early August before they captured Guicheng.

After the city was broken, Han Shizhong sent someone to count it. There were only more than 6,000 people left in the huge nursery city, and almost all of these people were old, young, women and children, and most of the adult men had died in battle.

In addition, Han Shizhong also found out that Ma Renwang was shot to death by a swarm of rockets from the Jinwu Army more than ten days ago. After that, a Han civil servant named "Zhao Zhong" in Guicheng led the people in the city to resist to the death - before the city was broken, Zhao Zhong killed all his family and then committed suicide.

Cai still thought that Ru and Gui were their own food on the plate, and the meat on their mouths could be eaten at any time if they wanted to eat it.

Unexpectedly, Ru and Guizhou actually hit Cai Jian in the face like this, which made Cai Jian finally know how terrible the dying counterattack of a former great empire was.

Li Shi, who had recently joined Cai Shen, said to his side privately: "The two dynasties have been peaceful for a long time. The white-haired old man has never seen the two countries use swords and guns. Now he suddenly started fighting. It is really worrying. You southerners always say that the Yan people think of the Han Dynasty. In fact, it has been nearly two hundred years since the Yan land was ceased to the Khitan. How can the people in Yan land and the Khitan emperor not have the feelings of the king, minister, father and son?"

This sentence soon reached Cai Jian's ears.

Before, Cai still didn't care about this, thinking that it was just a person's words.

It was not until these two battles were over that Cai still realized that what Li Shi said was true.

This also made Cai still decide to temporarily suspend the attack on Yanjing by force, let the Yanjing issue ferment for a period of time, so that Yanjing would complete the final desperate counterattack, and then send troops to recover Yanjing...

...
Chapter completed!