On January 20 of the first year of Jianwen, Song Zhong led a large army from Beiping Mansion to Kaipingwei, accompanied by Tana and Zhang Shixing. The 15,000 palace guards who were transferred away were all dissatisfied and complained, their families were all around Beiping Mansion, but now they want to abandon their wives and children and go to Kaiping Garrison, thousands of miles away, and they don't know what year and month they can return, who has no complaints in their hearts?

Since the Yuan Dynasty Dingding Central Plains, Beiping Mansion (i.e., Yuan Dadu) to Kaipingwei (i.e., Yuan Shangdu) has four roads, one is the post road, the second is the east road, the third is the west road, and the east road is divided into two, one through the Heigu Road to the north, one through the Gubei mouth out of the plug, can reach Kaiping.

The emperor of the Yuan Dynasty visited the capital every year, and returned to the east and west, that is, when the weather warmed up in February and March every year, he set off from Dadu, took the Heigu Road in the east, and finally arrived at Shangdu. Around September, when the weather turns cooler, we start from Shangdu and return to Dadu via the West Elder (meaning Mongolian for west) Road. Longgang is evergreen, comes to Beijing in May every year, does not come to the summer, first cold and south. By touring the capital, it was actually a way for Emperor Yuan to maintain the nomadic life of his ancestors.

These two roads are royal roads, commonly known as "chariot roads", which are naturally straight and wide, suitable for the movement of large armies. But a little far away, are thousands of miles above, fortunately the scenery along the way is beautiful, the post station palace, the supply is complete, Emperor Yuan all the way to the mountains and rivers, but also happy.

The middle road is the post road of Wangyun Road, take the straight road, the two places are only 800 miles apart, and the official document can reach it in one day. However, the road is narrow, which is not conducive to the passage of large armies.

Song Zhong led the army out of Jiande Gate of Beiping Prefecture, along the northwest, because Tana rode the elephant chariot can not gallop, the army marched slowly, only arrived in Changping Prefecture at dusk, and met the ten thousand Mongolian households under the king of Zhongning.

Tana is really discerning, Batu and Arutai divided these 10,000 households into thousands, hundreds, and ten households according to the old system of the Mongol army, and selected their leaders respectively and led them. Although most of them are women and children, old and weak, they also advance and retreat in moderation, like arms and fingers. Tana praised the two. Everyone rested in Changping Prefecture for one night.

The next day, the brigade came to Yanqingwei, commanded Yu Zhen to lead his subordinates to welcome, Song Zhong led the crowd into the village to inspect it, and saw that the guards everywhere were strictly organized, the offensive and defensive equipment was complete, everything was in order, and he was a little relieved, and said to Yu Zhen: "This is the first important place to go in Beiping Mansion, you must be cautious, and you must not slack off." ”

Although Yu Zhen nodded yes, he said a little disapprovingly: "Since the battle of Yuerhai, after our army won a complete victory, King Yan has repeatedly gone out of the fortress and won countless victories. Moreover, there are Kaiping and Daning guards outside the fortress, which go deep into the enemy's territory, and although it is dangerous, it has been placed in a useless place. ”

Song Zhong glared at him and said, "What if chaos grows from within?" ”

Yu Zhen looked at him suspiciously: "Chaos is born from within? Yanqingwei is surrounded by mountains, Tuntian is not easy, the supply is dependent on Beiping Mansion, if Beiping Mansion is in turmoil, the grain road is cut off, Yanqingwei is self-defeating. ”

Song Zhong said angrily: "Then you should store more food on weekdays and be prepared." ”

Yu Zhen didn't know why, and responded with a face full of grievances: "Obey." ”

This patrol is obviously to prepare for the side, but in fact it is to deal with King Yan, so there are some things that Song Zhong can't say to his subordinates. But the original intention of Kaipingwei and Yanqingwei was not to guard against internal enemies, in case something happened in Beiping, Kaipingwei was thousands of miles away, and the whip was out of reach. And Yanqing Wei is lonely, lacking food and clothing, both of which are not to be trusted, which is really worrying.

As soon as he thought that it was very easy for the court to talk about cutting the feudal domain, Song Zhong couldn't help but sigh secretly, and today he really understood what it means to talk on paper, and he began to worry about his fate.

After Song Zhong and others had lunch in Yanqingwei, they led the army into the ditch of Juyongguan, only to see the mountains on both sides of the mountains and mountains, the majestic and strange, the stream on one side of the mountain road murmuring, in the early spring, the mountain flowers are splendid, the birds are singing, the scenery is beautiful.

After walking for more than 30 miles, in the evening, a large group of people came to the city of Juyongguan. This city was built by Xu Da, the general of Hongwu in the early years, the city wall reaches the Cuiping ridge in the east, reaches the top of the Golden Cabinet Mountain in the west, and is four miles in circumference. Although the city is small, the north and south Guanyue City, the enemy building is lined up, the government office, the temple, the school and other facilities in the city are also readily available, it can really be said that a husband is a pass, ten thousand people do not open, known as the world's Xiongguan, the key to the west of Beijing.

Song Zhong ascended the Nanguan urn city, overlooking Beiping, the afterglow of the sunset smeared his whole body with a layer of golden light, which was both solemn and sad, he saw that there was no one around, and said to Zhang Shixing who followed him: "I don't know if I can pass this pass again in this life?" ”

Zhang Shixing was a little surprised, and asked: "The governor was ordered to patrol the border, and it was only a matter of three or five months, why did you say this?" ”

Song Zhong smiled bitterly: "I hope that King Yan can keep to himself, and I hope that the court will no longer be forced to work hard, otherwise you and I will die without a place to be buried." ”

Zhang Shixing said confidently: "I don't think it's here yet. The governor has transferred the three guards of King Yan, and there are less than a thousand guards around him, so there is no need to worry about what he can do. ”

Song Zhong muttered to himself: "Mo Chaiyan, Mo Chaiyan, Chasing Swallow and Flying High, Flying High." ”

Zhang Shixing didn't know what he meant, and asked, "Dudu, are you chanting poetry?" ”

Song Zhong turned his head to Zhang Shixing and said, "Don't you know, since we arrived in Beiping Mansion, there has been such a nursery rhyme in the city. ”

Zhang Shixing suddenly realized at this time, and said: "I have also heard of the humble position, does King Yan really have the heart of disobedience?" ”

Song Zhong said: "King Yan is certainly worried, but I am more worried about the talents in the court. When there is no continuation, it will be disturbed. If the imperial court really wants to cut the vassal of King Yan, when it is taken down in one fell swoop, it cannot be as indecisive as it is now, procrastinate for time, and make people at a loss. ”

Zhang Shixing said: "After all, King Yan has made great contributions to the country, and there is no conclusive evidence, so the emperor is not easy to do." ”

Song Zhong sighed: "This is the difference between the first emperor and the present emperor. Lan Yu, Fu Youde, and Feng Sheng are not great contributors to the country, and they will kill if they say they will kill them, without dragging their feet. As a king, how can a huge country be controlled without some decisive decisions? ”

Zhang Shixing comforted: "It is our blessing to govern the country with benevolence and virtue today. ”

Song Zhong looked at the sky that was getting darker and said, "I hope God will open his eyes." ”

That night, the brigade rested in Juyong Guancheng. Early the next morning, everyone set off, passed by Jinyun Mountain, came to the mouth of Heigu, the terrain gradually rose, began to enter Yanshan, the mountain road twisted and turned, circling back and forth, commonly known as eighteen plates, on both sides of the dense forest deep valley, uninhabited. The mountain road will be at the end, the two mountains are towering, the sandwich is like a cave door, after this, it is a horse flat river, the desert is boundless, the ground is white sand, there is no horse foot, the strong wind is like a knife, the weather is steep and cold.

Tana's old and weak women and children could not stand the alternation of hot and cold when they arrived, and many of them became ill and could not travel more than ten miles a day. Fortunately, Song Zhong did not go to the march to fight, and did not urge, because of their itinerary, they stopped and stopped along the way, stayed overnight in Xiaoxing, walked for more than a month, and finally came to Kaipingwei, the ancient city of Yuanshang.

The Jinlianchuan grassland, where the capital of the Yuan Dynasty is located, is rich in water and grass, and it has been a nomadic land for many ethnic groups such as the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Khitan, Jurchen, and Mongolia since ancient times. On the occasion of the Song and Jin dynasties, Jin Shizong finished Yan Yong touring here, saw the yellow flowers everywhere, the scenery was pleasant, so he named this place "Golden Lotus River", and then built Jingming Palace here, as a summer palace.

In the 11th year of Chunyou of the Southern Song Dynasty (1251 AD), after Meng Ke Khan ascended the throne, Kublai Khan was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the military affairs of the Han Dynasty in Monan. So Kublai Khan moved his Golden Horde from the Mongol imperial capital and Linnan to the Golden Lotus River in order to control the Central Plains nearby.

In the spring of the fourth year of Baoyou in the Southern Song Dynasty (1256 AD), Kublai Khan ordered the monk Zicong (i.e., Liu Bingzhong) to build a new city east of Huanzhou and north of Luanshui (now Lightning River) as a feudal residence. In the first year of Kaiqing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1259 AD), the new city was completed, the city was backed by Longgang, adjacent to the Luanhe River in the south, surrounded by an endless prairie, the momentum was magnificent, so Kublai Khan named it "Kaiping" city, as a feudal residence, and took the meaning of opening the peace of all ages.

In the same year, Meng Ke Khan died in the battle under the Diaoyu City in Sichuan during the Song Dynasty, and the throne of the Mongol Empire was vacant. Kublai Khan, who was fighting with the Song army on the front line of Jingxiang, hurriedly led his army back when he heard the news, established himself as the emperor, and started a battle with Ali Buge to seize the throne in Kaiping.

Kublai Khan took Kaiping as the center, mobilized all the resources under his jurisdiction, relied on the abundant manpower and material resources of the Han land, lasted four years, and finally defeated Ali Buge and became the Great Khan of Mongolia.

In the fourth year of Zhongtong (1263 AD), Kublai Khan promoted Kaiping Mansion to the upper capital to replace the original imperial capital and Lin. In the thirteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1276), the Southern Song Dynasty perished, and most of the capital was completed in the same year, Kublai Khan unified the world, and then took Shangdu as the summer capital, and returned from spring to autumn, forming a pattern of two capital systems. During the reign of the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty in Shangdu, all the government departments went with him in order to deal with political affairs. In addition to hunting and having fun here and dealing with court affairs, Emperor Yuan also met with Mongolian princes and nobles and held a ceremony to worship the heavens. Therefore, the Han family palace and the Mongolian felt tent in the capital coexist, and they are not contradictory, and they contrast with each other.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Red Turban Army started, and the rebels from all over the country rose up one after another, and the Yuan army was tired of coping with it for a while. In the twelfth lunar month of the eighteenth year of Emperor Yuan Shun (1358 AD), the Red Turban Army parted ways for the Northern Expedition. Since then, the status of Yuan Shangdu has plummeted.

In the first month of the first year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1368 AD), Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor in Nanjing, established the Ming Dynasty, and sent Xu Da to lead the army to the north, and in July of the same year, Emperor Yuan Shun fled from Dadu to Shangdu. The following year, the Ming Dynasty generals Chang Yuchun and Xu Da led the middle route army to conquer the Yuan Shangdu. At this point, the Yuan Empire began a nomadic life of chasing water and grass, known as the Northern Yuan Dynasty in history.

In the twenty-ninth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1396 AD), Zhu Yuanzhang officially set up the command of Kaipingwei in the capital of Yuan, as the flank guarantee of Daningwei, the land of Ning King Zhu Quan, and then vigorously operated, strengthened the garrison, and repaired the city wall, and Daningwei was called a strong town outside the Saiwai.