However, at this time, the war in the Southern Tang Dynasty suddenly took a turn for the better, that is, Zhu Quanyun finally decided to lead the army to aid Jinling under Li Yu's repeated urging.

Zhu Quanyun's army, there are as many as 100,000 people, because since the war, Zhu Quanyun has been leading the army to garrison Hukou, so the whole army was unharmed, at this time since it has been decided to return to Jingqin Wang, it is no longer scrupulous about Hukou, the whole army poured out, known as 150,000 to the outside world, on thousands of large and small warships, end to end dozens of miles, mighty along the east of the river, straight to Jinling to kill.

However, Zhu Quanyun's march was also very unsmooth, as soon as the troops were dispatched, they caught up with the dry season, the water level of the Yangtze River plummeted, and there were many huge warships in Zhu Quanyun's army, which could not advance at full speed because of the shallow water, so that the whole army moved slowly, and it was not until October 20 that it reached the mouth of Anhui (west of Chizhou, where the Anhui River enters the mouth of the Yangtze River), which provided valuable time for the Song army defending along the river.

Since the start of the war, Zhao Kuangyin has paid great attention to Zhu Quanyun's army, so when Cao Bin seized the quarry, Zhao Kuangyin immediately appointed Wang Ming, the assassin of Huangzhou, as the commander of the Chizhou to Yuezhou River Road Patrol and Battle, the purpose is to ask him to stop the Southern Tang reinforcements from the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, of course, Zhu Quanyun's army is the most important of them.

Zhu Quanyun from the day of the opening of the lake, Wang Ming got the news, and then laid down a defensive line in the area of Anhuikou, to the day Zhu Quanyun arrived, Wang Ming in order to thwart its sharpness, immediately ordered the battalion infantry to command Liu Yu to lead the army to attack.

Originally, Liu Yu's part was just the vanguard of the Song army's interception army, and it couldn't compete with Zhu Quanyun's army at all. After Zhu Quanyun was attacked by it. Nor did he panic, because he had the upper hand. He ordered his men to set fire to small boats. Liu Yu was originally few and incapacitated. It makes perfect sense to retreat from the first battle.

How do you know that you really deserve to destroy the Southern Tang Dynasty, the wind suddenly reversed, and suddenly blew back those small boats that were ignited, most of the battleships in Zhu Quanyun's army were huge, and they couldn't dodge, and they collided with those small boats that were on fire, and in the blink of an eye, the entire Tang army camp had become a sea of fire. Liu Yu was willing to let go of such an opportunity and immediately returned to the division to attack. The Tang army had no resistance in a panic, and was killed to the ground, and even the commander Zhu Quanyun threw himself into the fire and died.

The Hukou Water Division was the largest army in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and after the news came out, the entire Jinling was covered with gloom, and everyone knew that it was not far from the death of the country. At the beginning of November, Xu Xuan returned to Jinling, and was summoned into the palace by Li Yu as soon as he entered the city. Silent. On this day, what exactly they said, outsiders could not know, but they followed. Xu Xuan once again set off from Jinling and rushed to Daliang, and his intentions were self-evident. is to persuade Zhao Kuangyin to withdraw from the army, and then do the last useless move.

A few days later. Xu Xuan returned to Daliang and was summoned by Zhao Kuangyin to meet in the palace. This time. Xu Xuan came completely to beg the Northern Song Dynasty to withdraw his troops, so after seeing Zhao Kuangyin, he didn't dare to be as flamboyant as last time, but lowered his eyebrows and said to him: "Last time, Li Yu was indeed unable to return to the court because he was unwell, and he definitely did not have the intention to refuse His Majesty's call, so I implore Your Majesty to temporarily withdraw the army in order to save the lives of the people." ”

Xu Xuan's words were very earnest, and Zhao Kuangyin patiently explained to him why he sent troops and which sin Li Yu had committed.

The two of them each said their own reasoning, and neither of them was convinced, and gradually their voices became louder and louder. In the end, Xu Xuan also forgot the purpose of this trip, his voice rose in a straight line, and his words became more and more intense, Zhao Kuangyin was really too lazy to talk nonsense with him, and immediately drew his sword and said angrily a famous sentence that has been passed down to this day: "Needless to say, what is Jiangnan's crime?"

But the world is a family, on the side of the couch, how can others be allowed to snore! Xu Xuan saw Zhao Kuangyin's fierce appearance, and suddenly became frightened, and he didn't dare to argue with him anymore, so he had to retreat gloomily.

When Xu Xuan returned to Jinling again, the time was the end of November of the eighth year of Kaibao in the Northern Song Dynasty, and Jinling had been besieged for nearly a year. Fortunately, Cao Bin, the commander of the Song army, was benevolent by nature, and instead of rushing to break the city and make meritorious contributions, he repeatedly sent envoys into the city to urge Li Yu to surrender.

However, at this time, Li Yu obviously did not have the slightest intention of surrendering, the country was about to die, what was the meaning of life? Thirty-eight years ago, Li Yu and the Southern Tang Dynasty came into the world together, and now the Southern Tang Dynasty will no longer exist, so why does Li Yu have to bear the humiliation of being the king of a dead country alone? So he made up his mind to die for his country, ordered people to accumulate firewood in the palace, and set himself on fire when the city was broken.

On November 27, 975, Cao Bin ordered the Song army to launch a general attack on Jinling after repeated attempts to persuade Li Yu to surrender.

Shouts of killing came from outside the city, tearing people's hearts and lungs. In comparison, the palace of the Southern Tang Dynasty is so quiet, there is no panic, and the music in the workshop is still melodious, but it adds a bit of sadness and melancholy that makes people tremble. Li Yumu stood in the gorgeous palace, and after a while, he would be reduced to ashes with this palace, and he was buried with the temple of the Southern Tang Dynasty in the 38th year. A dynasty will come to an end, what does it mean to be in a tiger's position? What is Jinling Wangqi again? In the blink of an eye, it will be gone.

Finally about to be freed, the shouting of killing is gradually approaching, fourteen years of imperial career, the beauty of the country, the prosperity of honor and disgrace, a fire, billowing black smoke. Li Yu looked at the firewood in the palace, and he knew that this was his inescapable fate. However, at this moment, Li Yu suddenly understood a truth - it turns out that even dying requires courage.

Li Yu did not choose to die because he did not have the courage. On the day of the city's break, Li Yu led hundreds of civil and military officials to surrender and greet the Song army outside the palace gate. The first thing Li Yu saw was Pan Mei, and then he knelt down and asked to surrender, and Pan Mei also replied with courtesy. Li Yu asked to visit Cao Bin again, but Cao Bin sent someone to say to Li Yu: "I am in armor, and I dare not answer." His request was denied.

Cao Bin's move is very Confucian demeanor, and his intention is naturally to save face for Li Yu. In fact, it was definitely a wise move for Zhao Kuangyin to order Cao Bin to take command of the Southern Expedition this time, because the Southern Tang Dynasty had always been wealthy. Once the city is destroyed and the country is destroyed, the army will inevitably take the opportunity to plunder on a large scale.

Zhao Kuangyin is very clear. Among all the generals of the Song army, the only one who could control the situation after the war. It's just Cao Bin.

Because of this, before Zhao Kuangyin set out on the expedition, he specially gave Cao Bin a Shangfang sword in front of all the generals of the Southern Expedition, and authorized him to enjoy the power of "from the deputy general down, first cut and then play".

This kind of power is very large, because since ancient times, the emperor has often given great power to the lieutenant generals in order to prevent the former army commander from causing rebellion. So that he can check and balance the main generals, and rarely use it alone, so when Zhao Kuangyin said this, all the generals of the Southern Expedition from Pan Mei to Pan Mei were shocked and changed.

However, Cao Bin did not live up to Zhao Kuangyin's expectations and played a vital role in maintaining the post-war situation in the Southern Tang Dynasty. Just before the Song army launched a general attack on Jinling, Cao Bin suddenly announced that he was seriously ill and was no longer a director, he was the supreme commander of the front line, and the generals of the Song army naturally wanted to come to visit him. A large number of people gathered inside and out, wishing him to overcome the disease and regain his health as soon as possible.

But Cao Bin lay on the bed and refused to get up, and said to the generals: "My illness is a psychological illness. It's not a physical disease, so no medicine will work for me, if you want me to regain my health. I swore that I would never kill anyone after the city was broken, and I would be healed immediately.

If you refuse to swear it. Then wait for a memorial service for me! After hearing this, the generals had no choice but to burn incense and swear together, promising that they would never kill innocents indiscriminately after the city was broken. Therefore, when Jinling was breached, the people suffered almost no losses.

Cao Bin was also very preferential to Li Yu, not only did not accept his visit, but sent thousands of soldiers to guard the palace gate for him, and soon found Li Yu in person, comforted him, and said to him very humanely: "After returning to the dynasty, the money is limited, and the cost of the lord is increasing, so you should hurry up and bring more belongings with you, and once you are registered, you can no longer take anything." ”

As soon as Li Yu heard that there was still this kind of treatment, he didn't want to die even more, so he immediately returned to the palace to pack up his belongings. Cao Bin's move made his generals extremely dissatisfied, and they all told him that since he had been caught alive, how could he still be let go back to the palace? In case Li Yu commits suicide in the palace, who can take this responsibility? Cao Bin replied: "Li Yu has never been able to decide, since he has already surrendered, how can he still commit suicide?" ”

The generals were still not at ease and fiercely argued with him, but Cao Bin always smiled and said nothing, but sent a team of soldiers into the palace to help Li Yu run his belongings. Later, Li Yu really refused to die, and filled more than 100 boxes of gold, ready to take them to Daliang.

The next day, Cao Bin personally selected 500 soldiers to help Li Yu carry the gold. During this time, one soldier fell in a cage, Cao Bin killed him on the spot, and the rest of the soldiers did not dare to slack off, and loaded this batch of gold onto the ship without any damage.

Subsequently, Li Yu, the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, also led Xiao Zhou Hou and his clan relatives to board the ship, anchor and set off the boat, and crossed the river in the rain. In the middle of the line, Li Yu couldn't help but look back at Jinling, his eyes were hazy, and the mountains and rivers of the country had become a blur.

Li Yu suddenly felt that his heart was like a knife, and at this moment of emotion, he wrote a poem full of sadness: "The old hometown of Jiangnan and Jiangbei has been dreaming for thirty years." Wuyuan Palace is now cold, and the Guangling Hall has been desolate. The cloud cage is far away and sorrowful, and the rain returns to the boat with tears. There are four brothers and 300 people, and they can't sit and think about it. As soon as this poem was sung, there was already a cry in the ship.

The Southern Tang Dynasty died like this, and the entire nineteen states, three armies, one hundred and eight counties, and 650,000 households were all incorporated into the territory of the Great Song Dynasty, which seemed to be nothing to the people of the Southern Tang Dynasty, but for Li Yu, it marked that he would be reduced from a high king of a country to a prisoner who could be slaughtered, and his transformation was no less than a world of difference.

In the first month of the ninth year of Kaibao, Li Yu and his entourage arrived in Daliang, and the Great Song Dynasty held a grand ceremony for him. However, this ceremony was not to welcome Li Yu's arrival, but to celebrate the Song Dynasty's celebration of the elimination of one of the largest separatist regimes in the south.

Li Yu, as an indispensable figure in this grand ceremony, dressed in white and wearing a gauze hat, walked to Mingde Gate under the watchful eye of the public, and kowtowed to Zhao Kuangyin, the son of the Great Song Dynasty, to ask for guilt.

After repeated bows, Zhao Kuangyin opened Chrysostom, announced the pardon of Li Yu's sins, and named him Guanglu Doctor, Inspector Taifu, General of the Right Qianniu Wei, and disobeyed the order. Although this string of titles is noble, the three words "disobeying the order" are enough to explain Li Yu's true identity.

Here is a brief introduction to the whereabouts of the ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty. Jiangnan celebrity Han Xizai, died of illness in Kaibao three years, he died before the destruction of the Southern Tang Dynasty, fortunately escaped this catastrophe, and died at the age of sixty-nine, can be called longevity, after his death was also posthumously named the prime minister by Li Yu, is a very lucky person.

Xu Xuan, a famous man in Jiangnan who is as famous as Han Xizai, suffered the bad luck of destroying the country as soon as he returned to Jinling from Daliang, and was escorted back to Daliang with Li Yu. This time, he was no longer an envoy, and when Zhao Kuangyin saw that he was unceremonious, he immediately angrily reprimanded him for not encouraging Li Yu to resist stubbornly, as if he meant to blame him.

However, Xu Xuan was not afraid, but said lightly: "The minister is the minister of Jiangnan, and today the country is destroyed, and the minister should die, and it is useless to say more!" Originally, Zhao Kuangyin had a good impression of Xu Xuan, and he didn't want to really offend him, but after listening to it, he immediately changed his tone and sighed: "What a loyal minister!" In the future, I should be like the Li family. ”

So he gave Xu Xuan a seat and comforted him for a long time. Xu Xuan later had a very good career in the Song Dynasty, tired of being a regular servant of the scattered horses, and had a noble status, but unfortunately he suffered a great humiliation in his later years, and was sued by a female monk at the age of seventy-six, which made him unfortunately become the oldest ** criminal suspect in history. Seo Hyun couldn't stand such a blow and died in office soon after.

When Jinling was besieged, he repeatedly said to Li Yu: "No matter how critical the situation is, I will never lose my integrity as a courtier." ”

When Jinling was about to be breached, Chen Qiao met Li Yu and generously stated: "Since ancient times, there has been no immortal country, even if you surrender to the enemy, you can't keep the country, you can only suffer its humiliation in vain, please let me lead my troops out of the city to fight for the country." Li Yu burst into tears when he heard this, and held Chen Qiao's hand tightly, but refused to agree to his request to go out of the city and die in battle.

On the day of the destruction of Jinling City, Chen Qiao found Li Yu again and said to him: "The minister is in charge of the cardinal, but he has lost His Majesty, and he has no shame to steal his life, I hope that Your Majesty can take advantage of the arrival of the Song army to kill the minister." When China and the DPRK interrogate His Majesty in the future, they may be able to resign. ”

Li Yu burst into tears again when he heard this: "The number of qi is near, what good is it to die!" No matter what Chen Qiao asked, Li Yu always refused to blame him. Chen Qiao finally looked up to the sky and sighed: "If the minister is immortal, what face can he see!" So he walked out of the palace gate and hanged himself, and died generously.

Zhang Xun, a scholar of Qinghui Hall in the Southern Tang Dynasty, has read poetry and books since childhood, is proficient in classics, and is good at debating, and his talent is very outstanding. He was only four years older than Li Yu, and Li Yu regarded him as a friend and specially allowed him to do things in the palace. Zhang Xun has always been in charge of the same key as Chen Qiao, and he is also a fierce main battle faction, so Zhao Kuangyin hates him very much, when Zhang Xun was escorted to the capital, Zhao Kuangyin immediately asked him: "You teach Li Yu not to surrender, so that today, what should be the crime!" ”

Earlier, when Jinling was besieged, Li Yu had repeatedly sent orders outside the city to gather soldiers and horses, and these letters were all from Zhang Xun's hand, Zhao Kuangyin took out a few intercepted letters and asked him: "Are these letters from you, and what do you have to say?" (To be continued.) )