On the sixth day, the Jin army built a floating bridge. The emperor ordered Wang De and others to resist them, and he led all the officials to Bagong Mountain to watch the battle. The military had already decided, but seeing the Jin army's great momentum, the people discussed it in front of the emperor. Some said to order the front army to defend along the coast, and some asked the emperor to beat the drum to cheer. The emperor was stunned at first, but then he became furious, pointed his spear and said: If I sit here and do nothing, this will be the second chance to win. First, it can boost the morale of the three armies, and it can also imprison Zhao Kuo! The ministers left in silence.
From dawn to noon, the battle continued. Zhang Yongzhen and others fought to the death (see the story of the famous generals of the Restoration). When Shizhong's troops arrived, they were defeated. Zhang Yongzhen was seriously injured and could not speak. Seeing the emperor calling for his hometown three times, he died. The emperor was heartbroken and the three armies wept. At that time, Liu Hongdao and others arrived, and the emperor immediately ordered them to lead the Jiangnan West Road to defend the king. The emperor's left and right were puzzled. The emperor said: The only difficulty in the history is death. The two saints were hunted in the north, and now they are lucky to be in the south. Although Hongdao and others were defeated many times, they fought again and again. How can they be blamed for seeking perfection? Only Li Ruoshui and Zhang Shuye were loyal and did not care about their lives in the past, and now Zhang Yongzhen is righteous and does not avoid death. Yi An Jushi said, "You should be a hero when you live, and you should be a ghost hero when you die. I still miss Xiang Yu, who refused to cross the Yangtze River." This satirizes you and me. Are you not ashamed? I hope to encourage you all! When the Jin people crossed at night, Shizhong secretly ordered a false camp to respond, and defeated them and defeated the three fierce men.
On the seventh day, Ma Shen of Hubei came to see the emperor. He heard about the ambush and impeached Shizhong for being a military man who planned military strategies without consulting the two governments, which was against the system. Zhang Jun and Lin Jingmo argued that the key to resisting the Jin was to know military affairs, and they defended Shizhong. The argument was deadlocked, and the emperor laughed and said, "Good!" The country has long heard of factional arguments, and today we see the dispute between gentlemen again.
In February, Yang Weizhong, Yue Fei, Fu Xuan, Zhang Rong and others recovered Jizhou and killed Sai Li, a member of the Jin royal family. The emperor discussed their merits and gave many generous rewards, but the first merit was not decided. Everyone despised Rong for being a bandit, but Jingmo said: Weizhong made plans, Fei Xuan dared to fight, but if it were not for Zhang Rong's advice and ambush, how could there be such a victory? Therefore, Rong should be the first meritorious. The emperor accepted his words and promoted Rong to pacify Yunzhou. He praised him and said: Liangshan heroes, obeying the will of heaven and serving the country. He also hand-copied the "Hero Song" and gave it to him.
After the recovery of Jeju, the emperor and his people thought that the Jin army would retreat. Shizhong and Zhang Jun thought that Wushu's route was not cut off and there might be a battle. The emperor agreed. Zhongcheng Zhang Jun said: Wushu may be noble, but his deputy is not a man who can achieve success alone. The next day, he retreated. Hu Yin and Lin Jingmo impeached Shizhong and Jun for being jealous of the great victory of Jeju. The emperor was worried and couldn't sleep, so he said to Yi Zhong: I have rarely been in battle, but how can I trap a great general based on my guess? So he took Jun, Yin and Jingmo to see Shizhong at night, shook his hand and said: Be brave and dispel everyone's doubts. Shizhong said: Since I am brave, why should I care about honor and disgrace? He stood up straight and made a speech without changing his face. Jun, Yin, Jingmo and others were all convinced. Shizhong estimated that the Jin army would attack Gwangju and was afraid of failure, so he hesitated to speak. The emperor understood his intention and said: If you want to save Gwangju, you need to surround Wei to save Zhao. Tomorrow, cover the Huai River and secretly cross the river to send brave soldiers. I will send Cai Guanqing and others to defeat the bandits. The next day, he went to battle and issued a clear order to the three armies: "There are experts in tactics, and we will not obey the king's orders. In this battle, Han Liangchen will be in front of the battle array, and Zhang Boying will be behind the battle array. Those who disobey will be executed." When the battle started, Jun led the troops to file out in a clear order; Shizhong's troops broke the golden fence with one drum.
At noon, Shizhong wanted to disrupt the Jin army formation, so he asked for help from the rear three times. Jun hesitated about the safety of the emperor, so the emperor held his hand and encouraged him, saying: Today's victory or defeat depends on you, so let go and do it. Jun replied generously: As long as I am here, this place is as stable as Mount Tai. The emperor assigned the two divisions of Yang Yizhong and Liu Bao to Shizhong. The emperor was afraid that the generals would be helpless because the soldiers were few and the situation was urgent, so he ordered his subordinates to say: The military situation is urgent and the military orders are like mountains. If any officials on the city wall discuss military secrets, even the Chief Censor and the Yutang Scholar will not be pardoned. Jun and Yuan were ordered to defend the city and not to ask for help again. Yang Yizhong led the squad to arrive first, and Shizhong said: The enemy abandoned the camp and did not defend it, so they must be prepared. I will lure them. You can watch the formation. When the enemy comes out, raise the blue flag, when they leave the camp, raise the yellow flag, and when they reach the embankment, raise the red flag. Yizhong agreed, and Shizhong led his troops to ambush them at Beiwei, while Liu Bao led his troops to pretend to retreat.
The Jin army indeed moved, and Wang Sheng fled north. Wushu's deputy general Puluhun then sent out all his cavalry. When they reached the dike, three people in Yizhong raised their flags as promised. Jie Yuan led his troops to defeat them, and Shizhong took advantage of the chaos to break out and stabbed Puluhun off his horse in the midst of thousands of troops. He led his troops to attack the camp again, with thunderous cheers and unstoppable momentum. Wushu was defeated and fled, and was injured in the buttocks in the chaos, barely escaping. Shi Wenbin died in the chaos. The emperor was on the top of the city, looking at the great victory from afar, threw his crown on the seat, and shouted "Long live victory". The emperor made an agreement with the troops the next morning: wait until the Jin camp is broken, and then drink with you. That night, he personally drank with more than a hundred soldiers who were the first to enter the battle until dawn, and there were three people who were not beheaded, and they felt ashamed. He also built a tomb for loyal martyrs on Bagong Mountain to commemorate the loyal souls of Zhang Yongzhen and others, and people were eager to fight.
The emperor thought that the western army was still strong and Nanyang was in the center of the country, so he left Li Gang to support the empress dowager and the heir to guard Yangzhou, and appointed Han Shizhong as the governor of Huaixi and guard the imperial court. He appointed Prince Xin as the deputy commander of the army and appointed Ma Kuo as the governor of the northern route to lead the Hebei righteous army. Zhang Suo set up two routes in Jingdong, and Zhang Jun was in charge of Huaidong.
On February 25, the emperor was stationed at Nanfeikou. Some soldiers and civilians presented oranges to the emperor, who gave them all to the emperor. Suddenly, he was moved, so he twisted a candle residue into an orange to make a lantern, and released it into the Huai River, saying: "My tiny light is for the souls of the heroes." The emperor and his people followed suit, and the Huai River was full of light, just like the heyday of Bianjing. Many people were moved to tears.
In March, he stayed in Ruyang, sent envoys to pacify the counties, and ordered Lin Yutang to take back Wuguan. Suddenly, he heard that Yin Shu could arrive, Wuguan had been lost, and the Liao surrendered general Yelu Mawu led his army to attack. Yin Shu succeeded, captured Emperor Tianzuo, King Xi, and broke through Taiyuan. At that time, the emperor was playing chess with Liu Ziyu, and everyone in the hall was shocked, but the emperor sat still. He scolded: "The strong city can be relied on, and the strong army is outside. I am not a barbarian king. You should not learn from the ministers of Jingkang to interfere in military affairs. What is there to be afraid of?" Then peace came.
Cui Chong, Yan Xiaozhong and others led troops to defend the king in Xiping, but the emperor was still hesitant. The emperor's subordinates wanted to blame him, but the emperor said, "The country is in chaos, how can we blame the righteous men?" He then drove his carriage into the camp, and he defeated five horses and returned. Yin Shu was afraid to retreat, and Nanyang was pacified. Regardless of other matters, he first ordered the court officials to discuss five matters: Tuduan, Fan Qiong, Sun Mo, Guanxi, and Junhuan. Each of them was dealt with, and the people's hearts were slightly relieved. Fan Qiong was defended by the four walls of Bianjing. During the Jingkang period, he forced the king to surrender the city, and then he fled to Xiangyang and established his own regime. The emperor's subordinates were worried about it. The emperor said, "There are dry bones in the tomb."
On April 18, the army of Xiangyang was in chaos. Qiong was so frightened that he killed all his wife and daughters. His subordinates Han Li, Wang Jun and others were afraid and tied him up and surrendered. The emperor ordered Qiong and his wife and daughter to be buried together, and summoned all the generals to watch. He said: "In times of chaos, the punishment is severe. This is the crime that this person deserves. You should do it yourself." The military discipline was cleared up. The emperor, as the south had been pacified, cleaned up the abuses of the Jingkang period, banned empty talk and focused on practical work. All ministers were paid half their salaries, and the ministers each led their own proposals, divided the work and cooperated, managed the general plan, and within a few months, everything was in order and the country was in good order.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com