Chapter 40: Decadence

Since the Song dynasty moved south, Wang Song erected an uprising banner to resist Jin, and it has been more than four years now. Compared with the partial corner of the Song Dynasty and the precarious day, the Lianghe and Shaanxi Xuanfu Divisions, which were the only seedlings of the anti-Jin Dynasty, became the natural rivals of the Song Dynasty.

However, the Song family could not condemn Wang Song from the general righteousness, because he had a big loss. If he hadn't abandoned Lianghe first, and then abandoned Huaibei, why would he have fallen into the embarrassing realm of being dumb and eating Coptis chinensis and having unspeakable suffering.

After moving south to Lin'anfu, the life of the Song court was not much better. During the Jianyan period, the Jurchen Wanyan Zongbi captured Lin'an Mansion, set fire to it, and the city of Hangzhou was almost in ruins.

Coupled with the "Miao Liu Mutiny", the vitality of Hangzhou City has not recovered.

There was a great drought in the south of the Yangtze River, thieves were rising, the Jin people were plundered, and the people's livelihood withered, and the Song soldiers could only get a bucket of glutinous rice in five days, not to mention the Yang Yi Righteous Army, who did not pay taxes and occupied the land of the projectile.

The Song army blocked the exits of various fortresses, cut off the main routes for the righteous army to transport grain and grass, and forbade the people to trade with the righteous army. The area around Dongting Lake is extremely dilapidated, full of thorns, and a ruin.

Although the Song army was in a mess in foreign wars, it was brave and ruthless in exterminating the bandits and rebels in the Great Song Dynasty. Moreover, the current rebel army is no longer the rebel army at the time of the uprising.

"Both rich and poor, equal to the noble and low", the simple desire at the time of the uprising, eventually fell into the struggle for power and profit, plundered wealth, and even changed the dynasty and established a new dynasty.

Proud, arrogant and lascivious, addicted to wine and beauty, steel and iron bones are integrated into the wine. At the same time, the rebels also vented their dissatisfaction and resentment against the Song Dynasty by killing people and slaughtering cities.

The strength of the Dongting Lake Rebels swelled rapidly, giving Song Ting a headache. The rebels occupied Dongting Lake, blocking the Yangtze River waterway and interrupting the connection between Jiangnan and Bashu. The local factions of Bashu have broken away from the inherent allegiance system of the Great Song Dynasty.

Such an ending is absolutely intolerable to the Southern Court of the Jiangnan, which is in a corner of the Yangtze River.

There is a loyal army in the north, and there is a Yang Yi army in the west, but fortunately, Wang Song did not send someone to Dongting Lake to recruit Yang, otherwise, Song Ting is afraid that it will really be over.

The Song Dynasty wanted to open up contact with Sichuan, while Yang Qi's troops insisted on Dongting Lake and both sides of the Yangtze River. The two sides went back and forth, sacrificing their lives to fight, and each suffered countless casualties, forming a confrontation situation.

Unlike in history, due to the great reduction of the strength of the Song Dynasty, and the suppression of firearms by the rebel army, the rebel army also walked out of the water surface of Dongting Lake and began to occupy cities in the states and counties on the ground.

The rebels not only occupied Jinghu South Road and Jinghu North Road, but even Huainan West Road and Jiangnan West Road were all under their banner, and the spearhead was directly aimed at Huainan East Road and Jiangnan East Road.

Since the repeated setbacks of the sailors of the Great Song Dynasty, no one on the entire Yangtze River has been the opponent of the sailors of Yang's army.

What's more, there are sharp firearms.

Yang Qiyi's army was in full swing, marching all the way east, and Yangzhou and Jiangning Mansion, the important towns garrisoned by the Song army, bore the brunt.

In the palace of the imperial city of Lin'an Mansion, the crown prince Zhao Gou. His face was pale, and although he was in a high position, the whole person seemed listless and lacking in spirit.

Once ambitious, he wanted to work hard to recreate the former glory of the Great Song Dynasty, and finally experienced the pain of wanting to cry without tears, having the intention to kill thieves, and being unable to return to heaven.

Emperor Zhao Ji didn't look like it

Asking about political affairs, in addition to writing poems and practicing calligraphy and painting all day long, he is clear about the size and size of what happens in the court, which also makes Zhao Gou more cautious.

The situation is unsatisfactory, there are local appeasements everywhere, the imperial court is embarrassed, and the officials and troops are corrupt, so what can be relied on to pacify Jiangnan?

On the other hand, the loyal and righteous army north of the Huai River not only drove the Jurchens out of the two rivers, but also destroyed the Western Xia and the puppet Qi.

With the continuous strengthening of the military strength of the loyal army, the continuous reconquest of lost territory, and the continuous military victories have also made its position in the hearts of the people more stable. As one batch after another of the cadets graduated from the lecture hall and the administrative academy and went to important positions in the army, as time went on, Wang Song's position in the military and the civilian population became more and more solid.

Now it seems that even if Wang Song wants to reign over the world, it is not impossible to rely on the military might of the loyal army.

"In the 170 years since the founding of this dynasty, it has been peaceful for a long time, with deep shortcomings, heavy literature and light military force, constant party strife, no good ministers to govern the country, lack of good generals in the country, and the forbidden army is useless, and it is not yet stable. Could it be that this Great Song Dynasty court is really hopeless? ”

Zhao Gou's self-talk made the civil servants and generals below all tremble, or their ears were red and red-faced.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said such depressing words, isn't this insulting to all the ministers?

Those militant ministers who had wanted to confront the Loyal Army head-on before were now hanging their heads.

Not to mention the confrontation with the loyal army, even if it is Yang Qi's righteous army, the Great Song Dynasty court has no certainty of victory. The comparison of the strength of the two sides is really clear at a glance.

"Ministers, the imperial court has reached such a situation, do you still want to cherish yourself with a broom and sit back and watch my Great Song Dynasty court never recover?"

Zhao Gou's face was ugly, and the ministers below looked at each other, and everyone hung their heads and said nothing.

Han Shizhong stood up and bowed:

"Your Highness, Yang Mi's rebels are numerous, and their firearms are sharp, cutting off the top and bottom of the river. The imperial court has fought with it many times, and it is evenly matched, and it is only advisable to recruit peace, not to take it by force. I hope that His Highness will think twice. ”

Zhao Gou nodded slightly.

First Li Gang, then Han Shizhong, the imperial army repeatedly conquered, but they all returned in vain, and the soldiers were defeated. If this continues, it is really unbearable for the imperial court, which is not rich in military strength.

The Wu brothers in Sichuan are not like this, although the two were ordered to lead their troops south, they watched from the wall in Yuzhou, obviously hesitating and waiting, waiting for an opportunity to choose.

Since Shaanxi and the Jin people had a big war, the Western army was defeated, and Sichuan became a country within a country, and it was not impossible for the warlords to divide their territories.

"Your Royal Highness, the rebels of Yang Qi hate my Great Song Dynasty officials to the core, they think that killing people is "practicing the law", robbing wealth is "equalizing", and everything is taken for granted. His Royal Highness sent someone to recruit An, fearing that it would be useless, and he had to think of another way. ”

Li Gang stood up, worried.

Because the rebels were full of hatred for the court officials, they burned the official mansions, towns, temples, temples and Haoyou's houses, and killed officials, Confucian scholars, monks, witch doctors, diviners and people with enmity. Du Fang, the imperial prince who lived in Dingzhou, Huang Qiong, the governor of Lizhou, Ye She, the commander of Liyang County, Qian Jing of Taoyuan County, Wu Rifang, the military commander of Jingmen, the famous monk Wuling Wenjushri in the south of the Yangtze River, Yuan Xian, who rebelled against the uprising, and Chao Yu, who acted as a lobbyist for the imperial court, all died at the hands of the rebels.

This naturally also provoked the brutal suppression of the Song court. Soon after Zhong Xiang's uprising, the Song court appointed Kong Yanzhou, a "wandering kou", as the Hubei Road arrest envoy to suppress it. Kong Yanzhou cut off his fingers, or cut off his ears and nose to the rebel soldiers he caught, and also inserted a bamboo stick in each person's hair, which read, "If you are on leave, I will also take a break", Ye refers to the rebel army, that is, he will withdraw the army only when the rebel army surrenders.

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After years of fighting, tens of thousands of dead and wounded on both sides were carried out, and the corpses were like mountains. This is also the reason why Li Gang did not recommend that the imperial court recruit peace.

Yang Mi's rebels were much stronger than those in Jiangnan and Liangshan and Songjiang.

"What Li Xianggong said is not right. At this time and at that time, the times have changed, and the Yang Qi rebels have long been no longer the same. ”

Wang Boyan walked out, shook his head and said:

"Your Highness, although the rebels are a temporary fluke, they are also fluctuating in their hearts and have different thoughts. Yang Mo, the leader of the rebels, proclaimed himself the Great Sage Heavenly King, and had his own walled city. The other strongholds and sailors also formed their own factions with local forces, and they went their own way. The rebels are now capturing larger and larger areas, and they are also facing disintegration. Plus among the rebels, most of them just want to be safe. These can be put to good use. ”

Among the rebels, Yang Mo proclaimed himself the Great Sage Heavenly King, and wrote the four characters on the banner to show his identity. Zhong Xiang's youngest son, Zhong Yi, was made the crown prince, and everyone from Yang Mo down to him had to bow down to him. The Yi Junzheng also set up officials, whose names, clothing, and honor guard specifications were the same as those of the Great Song Dynasty.

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The residences of Yang Mo and Zhong Yi are also called "inside" like the imperial palace of the Song Dynasty, with three yajun armies. In order to show his nobility, Prince Zhong set up dragon beds, dragon chairs and golden chairs on the dragon boat, which was arrogant and lascivious, and he was no longer the simple and unpretentious rebel army of the year.

Zhao Gou nodded appreciatively and said softly:

"What Wang Qing's family said is very true, in your opinion, who will be sent to recruit An?"

Zhao Gou's gaze swept over the ministers of the court, and all of them were dumb again.

It's no wonder that everyone is at risk. went to appease Yang Qi's rebels, and eight or nine out of ten heads fell to the ground, and the fool would go to die.

Thousands of miles of officials, just for money, if the head falls, then the fertile land, the house full of money, the flower-like wives and concubines and confidants, who will be left?

Zhao Gou's gaze swept to Geng Nanzhong and Tang Ke, who were in the presence of the old gods, and finally stopped.

Geng Nanzhong and Tang Ke were both shocked. When the two arrived in Jiangnan, they had already been idle, nothing to do, the sea was up and down, and they were already disheartened, and when they saw Zhao Gou's gaze, the two of them panicked all of a sudden.

"Your Highness, the old minister is old and has difficulty moving, so it's better to find another talent for this errand of Zhao'an."

Before Zhao Gou could speak, Geng Nanzhong had already stood up and spoke first, blocking Zhao Gou's desire to speak and stopping.

"Your Highness, the ministers are sparse and shallow, such a military matter, the incompetent are not enough to entrust it, Your Highness should find someone else."

Zhao Gou smiled slightly. Geng Nanzhong and Tang Ke went one after the other, and all the words he wanted to say were blocked in their stomachs.

However, he didn't count on the two either. These people, it's okay to play tricks and make bad intentions in the court, let them go to Zhao'an, who knows if they will run away halfway.

Seeing Zhao Gou's gaze move to himself, Li Gang couldn't help but panic. He fought many battles with Yang Mi and others, and thousands of rebels were killed. If he goes to Zhao'an, he will not be cut by a thousand knives and his bones will be scattered.

"Your Highness, it's not that Weichen doesn't want to go, but there are really other hardships, and Your Highness is considerate."

Li Gang stiffened his head and stepped forward to bow down.

"I heard that under Wang Song's account, there are hundreds of good ministers and thousands of fierce generals. Look at my ministers of the Great Song Dynasty, when the matter comes, there is no one to entrust. I'm really ashamed of my ancestors!"

Zhao Gou shook his head and sighed, the ministers were silent, and the atmosphere in the hall was extremely embarrassing.

In the 170 years of the Great Song Dynasty, scholars and kings ruled the world together, and the status of "scholars" can be described as high. It's just that now when the court is employing people, except for a few people, above the main hall, the whole dynasty is full of vermilion, and all of them are silent.

It is difficult to find a trace of these bureaucrats who died in righteousness and served the country and the people.