In the second year of Jianyan, when Emperor Gaozong moved to Lin'an, he issued an edict to the world: "Those who can resist the Jin soldiers and protect the tomb (now Song Tomb in Gongxian County) will be given an official position."

At that time, there were many people in Henan who stood up in response to Gaozong's call, gathered people to revolt, and stood up to resist the Jin soldiers, among which the two brothers Zhai Xing and Zhai Jin were the most powerful.

Zhai Xing and Zhai Jin first set up a village in Fengniu Mountain to fight against the Jin soldiers; then killed Yang Jin, a hornless cow that had already lowered his gold, and recovered Luoyang; Then defeated the Song general Wang Jun, recovered Ruzhou, and was very popular, and was named the Henan town envoy by the small court of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Zhai Xing was bold, not only did he manage his own territory impermeable and did not let the Jin soldiers come in, but also contributed money and grain to fund the anti-Jin rebels in Henan and Hebei, the famous ones are Xiang Mi, Wang Jian, Wang Ying, etc.

Later, the Southern Song Dynasty court awarded Zhai Xing as the soldier and horse envoy of the Northeast Road of Hedong, and he was all over the cottages. As a result, the prefectures and counties of Fen, Ze, Lu, Huai, Wei, and Kai all accepted Zhai Xing's command.

Zhai Xing's existence seriously threatens the pseudo-gas regime that the Jin State has just propped up.

Liu Yu sent a general to Yiyang with a letter to persuade Zhai Xing to surrender, and promised him the position of a prince and a generous promise of gold and silver, but Zhai Xing was unmoved, beheaded and destroyed the book, and refused to surrender.

After many failed attempts to send troops to attack, Liu Yu secretly bought Tongxing's subordinate Yang Wei with a lot of money and assassinated Zhai Xing.

It's a pity that Zhai Xing's generation of heroes died in the hands of the young people!

As soon as Zhai Xing died, his son Zhai Cong swore revenge.

Zhai Cong united with the Song Dynasty's Shenwu Left Deputy Army Commander, Xiangyang Mansion, Deng, Sui, Yingzhou Zhenfu Envoy, Xiangyang Prefect Li Heng and Suizhou Governor Li Dao, and launched an attack on the puppet Qi.

This was the first Northern Expedition of the Southern Song Dynasty in history, although it was not approved by the Southern Song Dynasty and was not supported financially and militarily.

Shaoxing at the beginning of the third year. Li Heng and Li Daoke recovered Ruzhou, Yingchangfu, Xinyang Army and other places. Juanzhong, the governor of Tang Prefecture of the puppet Qi, surrendered; Zhai Cong's troops invaded Xijing Henan Province. Defeated and executed the puppet Qi Henan Yin Meng Bangxiong, who excavated the imperial tombs of the Song Dynasty.

The Northern Expeditionary Army was victorious militarily, and soon controlled a vast area from Zhengzhou in the east to Jingzhaofu in the west, posing a great threat to the puppet Qi regime.

Liu Yu's situation was precarious, and he hurriedly asked the Jin Dynasty for help.

In March of the third year of Shaoxing, Wanyan Wushu took his descendants to go out on the expedition, and formed a powerful coalition army of nearly 100,000 people with Li Cheng, the general of the puppet Qi. Decisive battle with the Northern Expeditionary Army at Yangchigang on the outskirts of Kaifeng.

The long battle line, insufficient supplies, and long-term battles all made the strength of the Northern Expeditionary Army continue to decline, coupled with the addition of Wanyan Wushu and the ironclad cavalry under his command, the Northern Expeditionary Army was defeated and collapsed.

It turned out that the Northern Expeditionary Army really did its best, because they could no longer support it after that.

By October, not only had Fengniu Cottage, Dengzhou, Suizhou, Tangzhou, and Xiangyang Mansions in Yiyang County fallen one after another, but even Yingzhou, which was relatively close to the rear, had been captured by the Jinqi coalition forces.

In other words, the Northern Expeditionary Army was defeated all the way. Even his base has been lost.

Li Heng, Zhai Cong, Li Dao, Zhang Xi and other Northern Expeditionary Army retreated to Jiangnan West Road in the lead, and Peng Xi died in battle

The loss of Xiangyang Mansion, Yingzhou and other places. As a result, there was a huge gap in the defense line of the Yangtze River in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Xiangyang has been an important town in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River since ancient times, and is the first city in Jianghan. Cao Cao during the Three Kingdoms period once famously said: "If you don't break Xiangyang first, you can't threaten Jiangdong!" ”

Judging from the map, the situation in the Southern Song Dynasty court has indeed reached a very dangerous level.

The Jin-Qi coalition not only opened a gap in the Yangtze River defense line, exposing large swaths of the hinterland south of the Yangtze River to threaten, but also cut off the passage between the Song court and Sichuan and Shaanxi.

In this way, the Jin-Qi coalition army can not only attack Shuchuan up the river, but also go straight down the Yangtze River to capture the land south of the Wuyue River, and even unite with the Yang Mo rebels who were seized in Dongting Lake to carry out a north-south attack on the Song court.

In a word, the Jinqi coalition army can fight as much as it wants, and fight as much as it wants.

The puppet Qi emperor Liu Yu implemented the latter two plans, because he had asked Li Cheng to send 30,000 troops across the river to assist Yang Qi in capturing Yuezhou, Ezhou, Hanyang Army, Qizhou, and Huangzhou, so as to contain the Southern Song army.

Then, just when Liu Yu was full of ambition, Wanyan Wushu suddenly led his ironclad cavalry to withdraw from the Jinqi coalition army and hurried to the northwest battlefield, leaving only a small part of the Jin soldiers to make a show.

Jin Bing's retreat made Liu Yu feel like someone had poured cold water on his head.

In desperation, Liu Yu had no choice but to ask Li Cheng at the front to suspend the collection of troops, and prepare to go south in the next year, that is, in the fourth year of Shaoxing, after the wheat is ripe.

Yang Mo and Huang Cheng also promised Liu Yu that the Dongting Lake naval army would first attack Yuezhou in July next year after "harvesting early rice", and then go down the river to occupy Ezhou, Hanyang Army, Qizhou, Huangzhou and other places, and go to meet Li Cheng's army to cross the river.

After that, the puppet Qi army and Yang Mo's army advanced by land and water, went east along the river, "went to Zhejiang to meet", eliminated the Southern Song Dynasty regime, and the two sides "established the country and made peace"

The situation took a turn for the worse, and the battle report came to Lin'an like snowflakes.

Gaozong's small court was a little panicked, and issued several orders to Yue Fei in succession, asking Yue Fei to "set up embankments and prepare for more frequent visits, and hear about the affairs of the Japanese utensils" on the north and south banks of the river, and also sent envoys to ask Yue Fei about his plans.

Yue Fei's answer was very simple: "Take Xianghan first, Xianghan is recovered, Li Cheng lost his teacher and fled, and Yang Mo lost his help." The first Shen Yan indecent soldiers prepared for it, and then drummed it. ”

For this reason, Yue Fei also sent an official letter to the imperial court.

Jin Tuo Zhi (Jin Tuo Zhi Ed.), vol. 10. Begging for Xiangyang Zazi: "Those who steal and observe the enemy should know where it began; Those who are good at controlling the enemy should first go to what they are afraid of. Today, there are the Kou of the Northern Captives outside, and the stealing of Yang Mo inside, all of which are in great trouble, and they are all in trouble. However, from the perspective of the ministers, although Yang Mo is close to the worries of the heart, in fact, he is fake Li Cheng, thinking that he is the help of his lips and teeth. Today's plan, just to march into Xiangyang and take the six counties first, Li Cheng will not be bound, and he will also lose his division and flee. So he added troops to Huxiang to kill the group of thieves, or he was embarrassed. And the situation of the six counties of Xiangyang. The land is at stake. Restoration of the Central Plains. This is basic. The minister has now been a strong soldier, but he can report it and point to the north. Fu Qirui decided, quickly gave the implementation, and the upper class saw the peace early, and the merits of Zhongxing were one after another, which was not the luck of the world. ”

Regarding Yue Fei's opinion, Emperor Gaozong and his ministers had a detailed discussion.

The opinion of the privy envoy Zhu Shengfei was: "Xiangyang is upper. Strap Wu, Shu. If I get it, then I can be a thief when I enter, and I can protect the territory when I retreat. Now that you are trapped in Kou, you should take it first. ”

Emperor Gaozong also understood that the gains and losses of Xianghan were related to the safety and survival of his small court, so he proposed: "It can be discussed today, how about entrusting Yue Fei?"

Regarding the emperor's opinion, Zhao Ding, who had just been transferred from Jiangnan West Road to the government to participate in political affairs, echoed: "Knowing the interests of the upper class is not as good as a flyer." ”

That's it, after some discussion. Gaozong's ministers decided that Yue Fei would send troops to Xianghan, and Liu Guangshi would send troops to reinforce him. Wang Xie was in charge of suppressing Yang Mo's water army in Dongting Lake

This arrangement of the imperial court basically accepted Yue Fei's overall plan, and completely handed over the task of recovering the counties of Xiang and Dengzhou to Yue Fei.

This situation made Yue Fei feel sincerely happy.

Since Yue Fei joined the army, defeating the Jin soldiers to regain the lost territory and welcome back the second emperor is his ultimate ideal; He had stated this ideal to the little emperor countless times in the form of official documents, and now it seems that the imperial court has finally taken it seriously, and has begun to act, and he will be the vanguard.

A large number of ordnance, materials, and food gradually gathered at Yue Fei's station.

For the smooth transportation and fundraising, the Song court sent a special person to take care of all this; Before sending troops, even considering the familiarity with the geographical environment, he also sent a few more generals to Yue Fei - Dong Xian, Li Dao, and so on. They were Li Heng's subordinates before, and they had fought many battles with the puppet Qi in Jiangbei.

Such a special arrangement, this kind of over-standard treatment is unprecedented, which is enough to prove the importance that the small court of the Southern Song Dynasty attached to this expedition.

In the barracks of the Yue family's army, the voices of the people were full of enthusiasm and enthusiasm.

After years of waiting, Yue Fei was finally able to take charge of himself and kill the enemy for the country

Just when Yue Fei was grinding his fists and his blood was boiling, the imperial court sent a secret letter, which was not an ordinary official letter from Shangshu Province, but a secret edict from Emperor Gaozong.

In this secret edict, Emperor Gaozong explained in detail the reasons and goals of the Northern Expedition.

Emperor Gaozong first told Yue Fei why he chose to go on the expedition in April and May: it was because in the autumn, after the wheat harvest, the army was sufficient, and the puppet Qi would attack in a big way, when Xiangyang and other six counties were under the control of the enemy, and the Southern Song Dynasty was very passive. Rather than being embarrassed at that time, it is better to strike first at this time.

As for the goal of the Northern Expedition, the little emperor explained that this time he must recapture the land of the six counties of Xiangyang Prefecture, Tangzhou, Dengzhou, Suizhou, Yingzhou, and Xinyangjun. In battle, if the Pseudo-Qi army resists, then Yue Fei can attack at will. However, once the enemy escaped from the area of the six counties, Yue Fei could not chase after him.

The little emperor also emphasized that in the process before and after the Northern Expedition, it was strictly forbidden to preach and spread sensitive words such as recovering Kaifeng and entering Youyan, so as not to make the Jin State misunderstand and be suspicious.

In order to prevent Yue Fei from not understanding his meaning, Emperor Gaozong sent another secret edict, repeatedly emphasizing to Yue Fei that only the six counties of Xiangyang were allowed to be subdued, and it was not allowed to cross the border to kill the enemy.

"Jin Tuozhi Ed.", Volume 1. Gaozong's edict: At the request of the Qing Dynasty, the Imperial Court has lowered the painting to order the Qing to recover several counties in Xiangyang. However, those who serve are abandoned, those who refuse are cut down, and when they are chasing, they are cautious not to leave the old realm guarded by Li Heng, but they will be provoked and have a wrong plan. Although he has performed miraculous deeds, he must be punished, and he must obey the order.

A good sentence "Although you have done miraculous deeds, you must be punished".

These eight words are so depressing for soldiers. It is really unreasonable to tie your hands and feet before you fight!

From the analysis of these two secret decrees, the subtext is very clear: Emperor Gaozong only wants to recover Xiangyang and other six counties and keep the south of the Yangtze River safe, but he doesn't want to fight to the death with Liu Yu and even Jin Guo.

In other words, Emperor Gaozong wanted to keep the room for peace talks

In April of the fourth year of Shaoxing, Yue's army crossed the river one after another from Ezhou, and the banner pointed directly at Yingzhou.

Yue Fei generously swore to his staff in the heart of the river: "If you don't capture the thief, you will return to the old realm, and you will not wade into this river!" (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you zhuxyhh01 greatly, Da Hanjian greatly, and the beloved Xiao Xu for your big reward and support.