In the winter of the first year of Jianyan, with the Yellow River as the dividing line, people were everywhere on both sides of the river heading south, as if they were trying to follow the footsteps of migratory birds.
It’s just that some of them are active, some are passive, some are initiators, some are followers, and some are expelled. Then some are high-spirited, some are embarrassed, some are sad, and some are numb.
On this day in mid-October, just as Zhang Xian, who was crying like a raging dog, was tied to a horse by Tang Huai and then personally pushed onto the ferry, almost on the same day, hundreds of miles away, our Emperor Zhao also began his numb migration like a thinking Psyduck.
Zhao Jiu and the entire Song Dynasty were not scared away by the Jin army.
In fact, at this time, at least the Eastern Route Army of Jin Wushu and Wanyan Talan was still in Hebei. Their first phase of attack targets were also the two routes in the east of the Song Dynasty (Shandong area) and the isolated city of Damingfu in Hebei that had not yet fallen. Correspondingly, Emperor Zhao and his men had not really seen any trace of the Eastern Route Army of the Jin Army.
The only sign was that the Tokyo garrison, where the Prime Minister Zong Ze sent a letter, said that the situation in Tokyo was serious, especially the increasing number of Jin troops on the western flank of Tokyo, and that the Jin army's western route army was about to launch a new offensive. But at this time, except for Zhao Jiu, even Li Gang did not believe him.
That’s right, Li Gang is finally back.
This leading figure of the pro-war faction experienced three ups and downs within a year and a half starting from the first year of the Jing Kang period. He was demoted and summoned to be prime minister for nearly half of the time. He was a weather vane for the court's pro-war or pro-peace stance.
Once such a person arrived, there would be one less person, Emperor Zhao, who was intent on competing with him for power. With his prestige and ability, as well as his stubborn character that had even caused Emperor Zhao to have calluses on his ears, or his "appearance that would shock the ruler", he naturally took the initiative in major policies as soon as he arrived at the imperial court.
He was the one who presided over this migration - don't say anything, since you want to use me, I have to go to Nanyang!
Of course there are many opponents. There are too many supporters of the Yangzhou faction here, and Yangzhou is too attractive... But the Deputy Prime Minister Lu Haowen is a good man; Wang Boyan, the co-director of the Privy Council, now wishes Li Gang couldn't see him; although the new Chief Censor hates Li Gang very much, he coincides with Li Gang on the plan of choosing a secondary capital... Because going to Nanyang is not the ultimate goal, but to observe the situation in Nanyang and see if they can contact the Western Army and eventually enter Luoyang or Chang'an.
Even Zhao Jiu knew in his heart that, rationally speaking, this plan was as feasible a transitional plan as going to Yangzhou, the only difference being that one was based on the financial resources of Jiangnan, while the other was based on the military potential of the Northwest.
Thus, the migration began immediately without any obstacles. Zhao Jiu set off with the large army without saying a word. With a complex feeling of shame, fear, confusion, curiosity and excitement, Emperor Zhao left Mingdao Palace and Bozhou for the first time.
However, the large group of troops left Bozhou and traveled only a hundred miles southwest. As soon as they entered the territory of the northwest road of Beijing, which was somewhere between Xiangcheng and Wanshou, they stopped again at the bank of Yingshui River because there were rebels blocking the way ahead.
There are rebels everywhere in the Central Plains now, so it is not surprising that such a thing happened. The rebel leader named Ding Jin, known as the Huaixi bandit, Zhao Jiu and others are also well aware of it, because he has developed almost under the noses of Emperor Zhao and Li Gang, and he just gained momentum a while ago, and was already included in the plan to be wiped out.
Only this rebel army developed rapidly. In just over a month, it controlled a large number of towns along the upper tributaries of the Huai River. At this time, it was approaching the Yingshui River, blocking the way to Nanyang, forcing the Xinghe Army to adjust the original military plan, recruit troops, and suppress them first.
In a word, the war is about to start, so the officials should take a break first!
"We must defeat Ding Jin before we can do this! You must know that this bandit not only blocked the road to Nanyang, but also blocked the passage of the troops from the states in Huainan to the imperial court. It is said that the four counties of Luzhou, Chuzhou, Wuweijun, and Hezhou heard that the imperial court was in trouble, so they worked together to collect money, food, and cloth, and sent young men to escort them. They all went to Bagong Mountain, but were stopped by this bandit!"
"These bandits have been taking advantage of the chaos for only two months. They may seem to have a large number of troops and strong morale, but in fact, the people are not loyal to them. As long as we gather our best troops and find an opportunity to defeat them, we can easily subdue them and use them as our own."
"Yes, we still have 4,000 to 5,000 elite soldiers and many veterans here, which is enough to deal with it."
"These are all based on experience. Wang Yuan, you are the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Camp. I want to ask you, who can be the general?"
"Liu Zhengyan, the deputy commander of the Right Battalion, is in the camp. Miao Fu, Yang Yizhong, and Liu Yan are all either military progeny or veterans who have fought for a long time. They can all assist us."
"But if that's the case, then wouldn't you be without soldiers?"
"That's right, a son of a rich family should not sit still. The current situation is chaotic. If all the elite troops are deployed, I'm afraid that hundreds of pirates and bandits can destroy the Song Dynasty! We must be on guard against dangers from both sides!"
"This is also an old-fashioned view, but what should we do?"
"In order to protect the two wings, the Imperial Camp Commander Liu Guangshi, the Rear Army Commander Zhang Jun, and the Left Army Commander Han Shizhong were all fighting bandits in the two routes of Jingdong. They are not far from here, and they have captured many captives and surrendered many captives. So, why not stop here and summon one or two of them to come here for protection. First, it can strengthen the Imperial Camp. Second, it can also encourage the accompanying civil and military officials by using the captives. Third, it should also give more rewards to the generals... and when their troops arrive, we can send the elite troops here to fight the bandits, which is also a way to benefit everyone."
“This is also an old-fashioned view.”
Shangshu Zuo Pushe and Menxia Shilang, or as the saying goes, Prime Minister Li Gang, was independent of the other ministers. Hearing this, he only thought for a moment and nodded heavily. "But Jingdong is an important place and must be guarded. I have urgently summoned Zhang Suo to Shandong to set up a garrison, but he was demoted to Guangnan before, and I'm afraid he is still on his way back... Yuwen scholar, you came from Qingzhou, do you know who there is who can be a general?"
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