Refuge at sea
The next day, the emperor and his ministers met in the main hall. The ministers stood on either side, while Zhao Gou sat on the dragon throne. He had lost his former spirit, his eyes bloodshot and his expression bleak. He wept bitterly before the officials, saying, "I regret not listening to Zhu Shengfei and trusting Du Chong. I treated Du Chong very well, promoting him all the way to prime minister. I have done my utmost. Why did he betray me?"
Liang Hongyu looked at Zhao Gou crying in the hall and felt that he was very pathetic. He had abandoned Zong Ze and Li Gang, the people who really wanted to help him. The people he trusted and respected were not trustworthy at all.
Liang Hongyu advised Zhao Gou, "Your Majesty, the Jin army has already attacked. Please send me to lead the troops to resist."
Han Shizhong said, "Your Majesty, I wish to follow General Liang."
Zhao Gou said, "The Jin army is now unstoppable. It is not advisable to confront them head-on. I have thought about it all night and decided to go to Mingzhou to avoid the enemy."
When Liang Hongyu heard that Zhao Gou was going to continue his escape to the south, she consoled him, saying, "Your Majesty!"
Zhao Gou waved at her and said, "I have made up my mind. My dear Liang, there is no need to say more!" How could he bear to let Liang Hongyu go alone to fight against the Jin army.
Liang Hongyu and Han Shizhong had no choice but to flee south with Zhao Gou.
A large group of people first fled to Yuezhou with Zhao Gou, but when they learned that Wanyan Zongbing had already led his troops to Jiankang Prefecture, they fled to Mingzhou with Zhao Gou.
After arriving in Mingzhou, Zhao Gou knew he could not outrun the Jin cavalry, so he called his ministers to discuss the matter. Fan Zongyin said, "Your Majesty, we can only take refuge at sea. Although the sea is dangerous with wind and waves, there is no other good solution."
When Liang Hongyu heard this, she almost dropped her jaw in shock. Wouldn't it be a laughing stock if the emperor fled to the sea? She was about to step forward to dissuade him, but Han Shizhong grabbed her and signaled her with his eyes not to act rashly, so she had to give up.
Most other officials also expressed their agreement.
Zhao Gou pondered and said, "I have made up my mind. The voyage must be carried out. Please go and arrange the ships as soon as possible."
A minister said, "But so many people want to escape to the sea, and there aren't enough ships!"
Zhao Gou had no choice but to issue an order: "Each soldier is only allowed to bring two family members with him, and the rest of the family members must stay in Mingzhou."
This move immediately caused resistance from the soldiers. Zhang Bao and more than a hundred other guards asked the ministers: "We have parents, wives and children. We don't know how to choose."
Prime Minister Lu Yihao shouted at the soldiers: "Who you want to lead and how you lead them is your business. It has nothing to do with me!"
The soldiers were furious when they heard this and started making a fuss on the spot. Some even wanted to kill Lu Yihao.
The ministers informed Zhao Gou of this matter. Zhao Gou calmly picked up the imperial pen and issued an edict to appease the soldiers who were causing trouble. At the same time, he secretly ordered Yao Duan and Xin Qizon to lead people to secretly capture and kill the ringleaders of the riot.
The next day, the rioting soldiers were still asleep when they heard a commotion outside, followed by several shrill cries. They rushed out of their rooms to find a large number of imperial guards waiting outside, armored and armed with bows and arrows, waiting to trap them. Standing among them was Zhao Gou, armored and with a stern, fierce gaze. He personally drew his bow and shot down two guards who were about to escape over the wall.
Seeing the usually gentle and polite emperor taking action personally, the guards on duty who had wanted to escape were immediately frightened and trembled, kneeling on the ground and raising their hands in surrender.
Zhao Gou's eyes were as sharp as torches, with a cold light flashing in them. With a wave of his hand, the seventeen leaders fell one after another under the swords and spears of the Imperial Guards.
Liang Hongyu was shocked when she heard this: "Can you believe this?"
Han Shizhong stood with his eyes lowered. "Of course he is trustworthy. One of my men is acquainted with a soldier in the Imperial Guard."
Liang Hongyu sighed, "If the emperor had used such courage to resist the Jin army, why would it have come to this? What are these soldiers doing wrong?"
Han Shizhong advised her, "The emperor is furious right now. You must calm down and don't make these remarks in front of him. It will upset him!"
Liang Hongyu said in a deep voice, "I know how serious this is, so I won't bother General Han with any more trouble. You should go back to the mansion first and leave me alone."
When Han Shizhong heard this, he felt that she was still angry with him, but he didn't know what to say. He just said, "Then you rest first. I'll go back home now." After that, he turned and left.
At this time, Wanyan Zongbing had crossed the Yangtze River and arrived in Lin'an Prefecture.
Zhao Gou had just gotten up when he received the news from Zhang Jun that Lin'an had fallen. Feeling the situation was critical, he decided to set sail immediately.
It was early winter, the sky gloomy, and a cold wind blew, adding to the gloomy atmosphere of the escape. The officials on board and those on shore who saw them off said goodbye, all of them in a gloomy mood, their faces pale. Those who boarded the ship worried about the strong winds and rough waves at sea, while those who stayed behind were even more afraid of the Jin army's war and disaster.
A fleet of 240 ships, carrying over 30,000 men, steamed southward. The tall ships braved the biting north wind, its whistling rustle piercing the skin. Looking around, all they saw was withered grass stretching across the banks of the Yangtze River, a desolate landscape utterly devoid of life. The vast land, stripped of life, was a scene of profound sorrow. The soldiers who had fled south with Zhao Gou were also dejected, their faces devoid of life. They knew that any resistance was futile, perhaps even fatal. The lives of those seventeen soldiers were living proof of this. Even though they were deeply dissatisfied with the escape, they could do nothing about it.
Liang Hongyu took only Qiu Feng with her, while the rest of the group traveled overland. Han Shizhong also fled southwards with his troops. His men complained about Zhao Gou's lack of resistance, and he could only appease them. He fled to Zhenjiang Prefecture, near the confluence of the Grand Canal and the Yangtze River, offering convenient waterways and a good location for an ambush. He decided to station his troops there, construct warships, train his navy, and await the arrival of the Jin army.
The ship sailed to Wenzhou in a mighty manner. Zhao Gou had originally planned to celebrate the New Year on shore, but when he heard that the Jin army had attacked Mingzhou, he was immediately frightened. He ordered the eunuchs to take several months' rations and winter clothes, and sail the ship to the sea on the first day of the first lunar month of the fourth year of Jianyan, preparing to celebrate the New Year at sea.
Upon learning that Zhao Gou had fled to the sea, Wanyan Zongbing sent people with boats to sea to capture him. Most of the Jin army did not know how to swim and did not understand naval warfare. As a result, the boats had only sailed a few steps when they encountered the large warships of Zhang Gongyu, the chief of the Song army's Privy Council, coming towards them.
Wanyan Zongbing felt something was wrong, so he shouted, "Retreat!"
After receiving the order, the Jin army hurriedly turned their ships around and prepared to retreat.
Zhang Gongyu gave the order: "Fire."
Tens of thousands of rockets were fired at the Jin army's fishing and merchant ships. The river was immediately engulfed in flames, and thick smoke billowed from the ships. Many Jin soldiers were forced to jump into the sea, but because they were unskilled, they all drowned. Those who did not jump were engulfed in flames and could only flee. The strong north wind intensified the flames, and the soldiers were instantly engulfed in flames. Their screams echoed across the sea like ghosts demanding their lives.
Zhang Gongyu then ordered the burning enemy ships to be sunk. The Song army drove their tall ships towards the enemy ships. Half of the Jin army soldiers were seasick and could not fight at all. They watched the tall ships coming towards them but had no way to deal with them. The Jin army's ships sank one by one.
Wanyan Zongbing, who witnessed all this, was still in shock. He quickly ordered the ships to turn around and lead the escape. Only thirty-one ships were left out of the fifty. They fled to a sea area and happened to encounter a storm. The fleet struggled in the waves and countless ships were overturned by the waves. When the storm stopped and the weather cleared, only three ships were left.
After reaching the shore, Wanyan Zongbing, unwilling to give up, said to the others, "Crossing the Yangtze River is extremely difficult. It would be better for us to stay in Lin'an and Mingzhou to weather the scorching summer heat, build warships, practice water warfare, and fight again in the autumn."
Everyone objected, saying, "If we continue to wait out the hot summer heat, the horses will probably die or be injured from acclimatization. How will we be able to fight in the autumn?"
Wanyan Zongbing said angrily: "Let me go to the sea and try it myself tomorrow." Everyone was stunned and dared not to advise him anymore.
The weather was clear the next day. Wanyan Zongbing led his troops on board the large ship that had escaped danger the day before, and captured Han people to serve as sailors, and set sail from the mouth of the Dajiang River into the sea.
Not long after the ship sailed, Wanyan Zongbing became seasick and vomited continuously. The guards hurriedly helped him into the cabin to lie down. Unexpectedly, the weather on the sea suddenly changed, with howling winds and huge waves. The three ships were tossed in the turbulent waves. A few consecutive huge waves overturned one of the only three remaining ships. Wanyan Zongbing had to return to the shore and never dared to go to sea again.
After this ordeal, he realized that it would be difficult to catch Zhao Gou who was drifting on the sea, so he had to give up.
As the Jin army advanced southward, capturing more and more cities, their forces became increasingly dispersed, and they encountered increasingly fierce resistance from the Song army and civilians. While the Jin army's advantages could be fully utilized in the plains, they were completely constrained in the water towns south of the Yangtze River. Further southeast, they were faced with mountainous terrain, making them even more vulnerable.
Wanyan Zongbing decided to withdraw his troops. After returning to Lin'an, he allowed his men to loot the city and then set it on fire, which was the richest and most prosperous city at that time. The once prosperous city of Lin'an was thus engulfed in flames.
After completing the task of "searching the mountains and seas", in February of the fourth year of Jianyan, Wanyan Zongbing returned north with countless gold, silver and treasures. Because the things he looted were too many to travel by land, he transported the looted things to the north along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.
From New Year's Eve to New Year's Day, the south wind became stronger and stronger, and Zhao Gou's entire fleet was forced to drop anchor.
About 30,000 people were trapped in the raging waves. Everyone was afraid of being eaten by fish and kept praying to the gods of heaven and earth for a safe Spring Festival.
The imperial ship had two decks: the upper deck served as a sleeping chamber, and the lower as a side hall. The fifteen eunuchs, ninety-nine palace maids, twenty soldiers, and some sailors who accompanied them primarily lived in the cabins. Zhao Gou, however, placed Liang Hongyu and Qiu Feng on the upper deck.
Zhao Gou only brought one general, Liang Hongyu, with him. He felt that no matter where he went, as long as Liang Hongyu was by his side, his complicated mood would become calm.
It was not until New Year's Eve that the south wind turned into a north wind, and the imperial ship was able to sail south. There were nearly 30,000 people on board, and the fleet consumed a lot of food and supplies.
On the second day of the first lunar month, the fleet's supplies were running low, so Zhao Gou had to order the fleet to temporarily anchor at an unnamed port on the coast of Taizhou. However, the two villages near the port could provide almost no other supplies except well water.
Despite this, 30,000 men, women, young and old of all social status were overjoyed because they had temporarily escaped the danger of the whale waves and were able to go ashore to enjoy the beautiful natural scenery of the seaside. The secluded port suddenly became bustling and lively.
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