Approaching Pingxia City, they first threw out the hay and imagined: no matter how deep and wide the trench dug by the Song army was, what would be the situation of throwing more than 100,000 bundles of hay down? At least one of the ditches in one lot was filled in instantly...

No matter how heroic the Song army was, the proportion of the number of people was there, even if the 80,000 troops assembled by Zhang Qi were placed on the front line, it was not enough to see, and the other side used more than 100,000 for the first charge. It didn't take long for the first line of defense of the Song army to be broken through, and the whole army was pressed to the city gate...

When the crisis comes, if you hide in the city, the fiasco of Yongle City will be repeated: the Tangut people stationed troops outside the city with absolute strength, and the Song army has only one way to die! Considering that Zhang Qi had already gathered the Northwest Roads Coalition Army to fight before, it was impossible to quickly organize a second wave of rescue teams, and no matter how you look at it, it is impossible to avoid the recurrence of the Yongle City tragedy...

At the critical moment, a legend appeared, and there were two legendary surnames in the Western Army of the Great Song Dynasty in the past century: one surname and the other surname Yao. Yao Jiajun finally emerged in the Battle of Pingxia City! Yao Xiong, the second generation of Yao Jiajun and the son of Yao Ji!

Yao Xiong is very famous in the Xihe Army, but unfortunately he has been fighting abroad with the Xihe Army for many years, and his local achievements are very few, so that no one knows him. It doesn't matter, wolves eat meat for thousands of miles, ruthless people get blood everywhere, and the more critical they are, the more they can create legends!

More than 100,000 Xixia people rushed up, and Yao Xiong counterattacked with 7,000 Yao's army! When he appeared, groups of Tangut people had rushed to the city wall, and were demolishing the city with shovels, and the situation could not be worse, seeing that the city wall was about to collapse, and the whole line collapsed... Yao Xiong didn't care about the city wall, he rushed to the trench, where the original area that was filled with hay was a gap in the Tangut people's continuous increase in troops, and he wanted to block it and cut off the Tangut people's reinforcements!

It doesn't get any more critical and dangerous than this! Yao Xiong fell into the whirlpool of the Tanguts, with only 7,000 men, and could be swallowed up by the enemy army rushing in at any time. What's more, the Tanguts who were besieging the city could turn around and counterattack at any time. No one can understand why he chose this? This is obviously a death sentence, it will be over in a blink of an eye, and it is worthless at all!

But it was in such a desperate situation of defeat that the Yao family army established an immortal legendary status!

A mere 7,000 people not only blocked the advancing Western Xia reinforcements, but also cut off the siege troops behind them, so that they could not look at each other from end to end, and could see each other, but they could not converge together... The rest of the Song army woke up from a dream and quickly joined the battle. Poor Tangut people, this artificially dug trench has become a nightmare for them, an insurmountable moat, making them more and more desperate. As time passed, both sides reached their limits, and the results came out, the Xixia wolf outside the ditch retreated, and the people inside the ditch were forced to surrender, and the number of surrenderers was... 30,000!

7,000 to 30,000! Yao Xiong became famous in a fight. Since then, he has established the prestige of his legendary warrior!

After this defeat, the Tanguts were somewhat beaten stupid. I've failed, but I've never failed like this! Before the Li Yuanhao period and the Song Shenzong period, the Song army and brave generals emerged one after another. But they are all willing to die in a desperate situation, and I have never seen Yao Xiong force the enemy into a desperate situation like this! It doesn't make sense...

On May 4, Wen Yanbo, a veteran of the Four Dynasties, died at the age of 92.

After the defeat of Pingxia City. The depressed Tangut people remembered their old superiors - the Great Liao Kingdom!

On June 19, she cried to her superiors as a poor and helpless widow: as the traditional best boss in East Asia. Now that the Song Dynasty is so violent and arrogant, murderous and occupied, do you have to come forward? Soon, the Great Liao State sent an official letter of state to the Song Dynasty, the words were very arrogant, full of superiority: My dear grandson, Emperor of the Song Dynasty (Liao Daozong and Song Yingzong are brothers, Song Zhezong is a grandson according to generation): Hello. Western Xia is a sovereign country, and I have twice married a princess of Liao, and I am a relative and subordinate. Recently, it has written a lot of reports, complaining to me that your Song Dynasty sent troops for no reason, robbed land, killed people, and ruined contracts, which is really regrettable. Now I ask you to withdraw your troops, return the land you have usurped, and destroy your private castles... I hope you can all say yes. If you don't obey, be careful that I do something else...

This national letter, Song Zhezong saw it, Zhang Dian saw it, according to tradition, no matter what, there must be a polite and decent reply, who made the Song Dynasty a state of etiquette and clothing? But this time, the Great Liao Kingdom was completely insulted, and he wrote such a long letter that he didn't even respond to a fart! Who do you think you are? Uncle doesn't have time to pay attention to you!

"A qiē enemy is a paper tiger", the words of the great leader are reliable in any era. The Great Liao Kingdom has been neglected, but what if it is neglected? The people of the Western Xia were sad and indignant to find that the people of the Song Dynasty had really become very good, and the waste of the Yuan You period was completely gone... Even the Tanguts and Khitans are not afraid to join forces!

I'm really not afraid, and what makes the Xixia people doubly depressed is that the Khitans who should have jumped like thunder and slashed people on their horses were calmer than anyone else, and they didn't say anything after being ignored, and Song Liao was very calm... Xiao Lianghou couldn't sit still, after all, Pingxia City was on their throats, and this thorn had to be pulled out!

On August 5, Wang Shu also sent troops to recover Youzhou, one of the four states of Yinxia.

In fact, there is a reason why Zhang Dian ignored the national letter of Liao. So what he wanted to do was something more important. Devote your energy to that bigger, more systematic plan of attack! This plan originated from the petty infighting of the old party...

The old party's vast network of connections is full of criss-crossing factional networks. There were splits in the Luo, Shuo, and Shu parties before, and even among the Shuo parties, which were dominant, there were criss-crossing factional networks. Among them, there are two very important mainstreams that have been very hostile - the Wen Yanbo and Han Qi lines.

Both of them are super bosses, and they both have their own glorious deeds. It's just that Wen Yanbo seems happier, he has done less than Han Qi and gained more than Han Qi, especially the official position has been maintained for a super long time, Han Qi has been dead for a long time, and he is still active in the top officialdom. This really made the officials of Han Qi's department unhappy, so a small revenge began...

Liu Zhi, the leader of the Shuo Party, is from Han Qi's lineage, and he led the entire Shuo Party to embarrass Wen Yanbo during his reign. After Wen Yanbo retired, he made persistent efforts to suppress Wen Yanbo's son Wen Jifu. Brother Hefu served as a guard captain and Guanglu Shaoqing in the capital before his father's death, and he mixed well, but his father had just retired and was immediately transferred to other places. In the constant worry of every day, he remembered a good friend and turned his depression into a letter. Sent it out...

The friend's name is torture... As a long-lasting fuse that straddles the old and new parties, fearing that the world will not be chaotic, how can he let go of such a good opportunity? After many years, he still kept the original letter. It reads: Dear Brother Xing, my dad is dying. I've been thinking about it for a long time, but I'm not sure about going to Beijing to be an official, and I don't know when I will have to meet you. Now in the court, the establishment faction is jealous and jealous, and there are many henchmen, plus the two "Fan Kun" and "Sima Zhao", their hearts are known to everyone. It will be unfavorable to the emperor, which is really worrying...

This letter focuses on the words "Fan Kun" and "Sima Zhao"...

Fan Kun, Fan refers to the "Fan Hou" in the past dynasties, another name for the Captain of the Horse. At the time of Wen Jifu's letter, the Fan Marquis of the Song Dynasty was Han Jiayan, the son of Han Qi. Kun means "elder brother". "Fan Kun" specifically refers to Han Jiayan's elder brother, Han Zhongyan, who was a member of the Privy Council at the time.

"Sima Zhao" is talking about Lu Dafang, the prime minister of the Yuanyou period, who has been the prime minister for too long, and the outside world says that he has monopolized power.

Linked to each other, there's a terrible thing lurking in this letter. Wen Jifu testified: Lu Dafang is the leader, and Han Qi's officials Liu Zhi, Han Zhongyan and others are minions. They have the heart of Sima Zhao... That is, it will be unfavorable to Song Zhezong!

This letter became the cornerstone of Zhangdun's overall plan, and with it, all the leaders of the old party could be charged with murdering the monarch and rebellion, and justifiably destroying their families and clans. Just do it! Zhang Dian quickly arrested the most critical witness, the second ancestor of the Wen family, Zuwen and Fu, into the capital!

In August, Young Master Wen finally returned to Beijing as he wished. It's just that the place to stay is no longer the grand hall of the Jade Hall and the Golden Horse, but the Tongwen Hall full of torture instruments. This place became very famous later, and because he was tried here, the whole process was called the "Prison of Tongbunkan"

Young Master Wen panicked, who would have thought that a whining letter would suddenly lead to such a big trouble. Although he, as Wen Yanbo's son, is very happy to see the people of Han Qi's family unlucky, there must be a limit to everything. Wen and Han are both veterans of the old party, and he can't become a knife in the hands of the new party, which will make him lose the foundation of his life!

But how to deal with the chapter? Not to mention Young Master Wen, how many celebrities in the old party are still floating in Jiangnan, and I don't know if they live or die. Dare not cooperate? Zhang Dun can pinch him to death at any time! After thinking about it, he decided to cooperate to a limited extent... Wen Jifu played a word game and reinterpreted the key words "Fan Kun" and "Sima Zhao" in the letter. Sima Zhao no longer refers to Lu Dafang, but Liu Zhi. Fan Kun is not Han Zhongyan, but Wang Yansuo! Powder? It's because Wang Yansuo's skin is good, and the so-called face is like powder! Elder brother? Wang Yansuo's word is like a brother word, which can be extended to Kun...

In all fairness, Young Master Wen really took great pains to explain the words beautifully. After his explanation, the two most sensitive people, former prime minister Lu Dafang and Han Zhongyan, the eldest son of Han Qi, were eliminated, and all the problems were concentrated on the Shuo party. Isn't that great? Anyway, Liu Zhi and Liang Tao are in exile now, the dead pig is not afraid of boiling water, it doesn't matter if the focus is light, it should be regarded as making some contribution to the party-state!

Zhang Dian looked at this confession, a little satisfied, and even a little dissatisfied. The striking surface has shrunk, so it's not as gorgeous as expected! However, the case can continue to be tried, and the general direction has not changed... And Lu Dafang is dead, Han Zhongyan and the New Party are very close, so let these two people go...

Song Zhezong looked at this confession and suddenly realized. He had always been puzzled by the attitude of the ministers towards him during the Yuan Yu period. He is the emperor, and sooner or later he will be in power, this is the most obvious reason, but why did Lu Dafang, Liu Zhi and others dare to ignore him? If you explain it in terms of always wanting to subvert him and murder him... They are enemies, and naturally they will not respect him!

But when it comes to evidence, no paper, the letter he wrote at the beginning, or an alternative interpretation at this time, is only a one-sided testimony, and this conviction is not convincing...

So Song Zhezong personally approached the case handler and asked: Did these ministers really rebel? Is there any evidence?

Answer: They do have plans to rebel, but they haven't come out yet... Subtle, right? It depends on how this sentence is understood. Most people would say it's a sin of desire! How can you be convicted of a sin that has not been expressed? This is an unjust case, and the old party has been wronged! But from another point of view, Liu Zhi and others' contempt for Song Zhezong can be said to be a prelude to rebellion, as for not carrying out specific actions, may I ask: You have a motive to kill, but you are only an attempted murder, can you not be sentenced?

Even if it seems far-fetched to explain, in the age of monarchy, this reason is enough! Song Zhezong ordered Liu Zhi and Liang Tao to be escorted back from the southern penal colony and put on trial in Beijing! The order did not cross the Yangtze River, but the news from the south had already reached Kaifeng City - Liang Tao on November 27 and Liu Zhi died in their respective places of exile on December 3, with a difference of only 7 days... What's going on? Song Shi put this responsibility on Zhang Dan's head again...

It's not over when you're dead! Ordered all the descendants of Liu and Liang to move across Lingnan and be strictly supervised by the local government! Wang Yansuo died early? The descendants were suspended from their official positions and moved south! Liu Anshi has a good life? Let him travel to the fullest in the South! Take his wife to the 8 worst, most terrifying, and deadliest states such as "Spring, Xun, Mei, Xin, Gao, Dou, Lei, and Hua" one by one, to see how long he can last!

After these were done, the veterans of the old party were basically dead, and the remaining shrimp soldiers and crab generals trembled and began to rejoice: Zhang Dun, you are ruthless! What if it's all cut down? Finally got through this hurdle!

However, they were wrong, this step is still just a foreshadowing of Zhangdun, and the bigger goal is still to come!

In March of the 5th year of Shaosheng (1098), Zhang Dian raised a question - during the period when the Empress Dowager Gao was sick to death and could not work, Song Zhezong was not in charge of the government, so who handled the state affairs?

It's sharp, and it gets to the point! You must know that the life of 'Female Zhong Yao Shun' is quite hard, not like Zhao Kuangyin's sudden death, but it dragged on for a long time. During this time, who is the head of state and who exercises the authority of the Son of Heaven?

Upon careful inquiry, two persons were found. One is called Chen Yan and the other is Zhang Shiliang. They are all eunuchs, and their specific duties are in the Imperial Pharmacy. The Imperial Medicine Institute is very important in the Northern Song Dynasty Imperial Palace, and the status of the errand person is very high, and its supervisor is in the palace when it is the highest, and it can lead the outside world to train the group... Team training envoy? and the degraded Su Shi is on the same level... In addition, it is responsible for the health of the emperor, as long as there is a headache and brain fever, the eunuchs of the Imperial Medicine Institute will wait 24 hours a day, which causes every supreme leader to be bedridden, and the Imperial Medicine Institute is zero distance from the leader... (To be continued......)