Across the Water Margin: Officials of Ximen

Ximen Qing needs to sort out all kinds of information and formulate the next action plan.

When the wind and the clouds meet, it is also an opportunity to fish in troubled waters!It is already early summer and April, Taiwei Tongguan should have arrived in Hebei Road, right?

……

When Ximen Qing returned to Yanggu County and set his sights on the Song and Liao wars, a fierce war broke out in the distant Xijing Datong Mansion.

Before the Jin army attacked Xijing, Emperor Tianzuo fled from Baishuiluo to Jiashan in the northwest of Fengzhou for refuge.Wanyan Zonghan took the opportunity to dispatch Wanyan Loushi's army to take advantage of the victory and march westward into the Southwest Road of Xijing Road in Liao Kingdom to recruit Fengzhou, the administrative office of the Sizhi.

In April, Yelu Foding, the envoy of Southwest Recruitment, was forced by Wanyan Loushi's army and surrendered to the Jin army.To the north of the Great Wall, Yunnei Prefecture, Ningbian Prefecture, Dongsheng Prefecture and Tiande Army on the border with Song and Xia also surrendered to the Jin Army one after another.

At this time, only Shuozhou, Yingzhou and Weizhou on the border with the Song Dynasty remained in the entire Xijing Road of the Liao Kingdom, which had not yet fallen into the hands of the Jin army.

The reason why the Jin army did not attack the three states south of the Great Wall was also because of relevant agreements in the covenant with the Song Dynasty. Therefore, the Jin army used its main force to the north of the Great Wall and did not enter Shuozhou, Yingzhou, and Weizhou.

However, the Datong Mansion in Xijing, which is adjacent to Shuozhou, Yingzhou and Weizhou, rebelled against the Jin army again under the appeasement of the newly enthroned emperor Yeluchun, and returned to the embrace of the Liao Kingdom.

Wanyan Zonghan was chasing Tianzuo Emperor Yelu Yanxi. When he learned that Xijing Datong Mansion had rebelled, he immediately sent his army south to attack Xijing Datong Mansion.After receiving the news, Wanyan Zongxiong, Wanyan Zongqian and Wanyan Zongjun also led the army and started a fierce battle with the Liao army in Datong Mansion in Xijing.

Geng Shouzhong, the Weizhou defender of the Liao army, led [-] elite soldiers to rescue Datong Mansion in Xijing, and met and fought with the Jin army [-] miles east of the city.

In order to defeat Geng Shouzhong's army, Wanyan Zonghan personally led an army to attack the middle army of Geng Shouzhong's army, and asked other troops to shoot arrows to cover them.

After a bloody battle, Liao general Geng Shouzhong was defeated, and his army was wiped out by the Jin army.Datong Mansion in Xijing lost foreign aid and was captured by the Jin army again.

However, the Golden Army also paid a heavy price in this battle.Wanyan Zonghan's younger brother Wanyan Zhabaodi was killed in the battle with Geng Shouzhong's army, and Wanyan Zongxiong, a genius of both civil and military clan, was also hit by a cannon stone in the siege battle and was seriously injured.

Because the Liao people in Xijing Road did not sincerely surrender, the Jin army gradually fell into a tug of war with the Liao army in Xijing Road of Liao.

Chapter 782 Taiwei Tong's troubles

After the Jin army captured Datong Mansion in Xijing for the second time, Yeluchun of Xijin Mansion in Nanjing repeatedly sent envoys to seek peace from the State of Jin, but they did not get the consent of the State of Jin.

At this time, the Liao Kingdom received information that the Song army in the south was moving to Hebei, and there was a risk of invading the Liao Kingdom.

Yeluchun's little court suddenly became worse.

Yeluchun immediately sent envoys to the Song State to reaffirm the old friendship, hoping that the Song court would not tear up the "Chanyuan Alliance" and ruin the friendship between the two countries for more than 100 years.

In order to show sincerity, the Liao Kingdom also expressed its willingness to revise and cancel the old coin clause in the "Chanyuan Alliance".From now on, the Liao State no longer requires the Song Dynasty to deliver the old coins every year.

However, at this time, Song Huizong's monarchs and ministers were focusing on the land in the Yanyun area of ​​​​the Liao Kingdom, and they didn't recognize the "Chanyuan Alliance" signed by the Song and Liao countries.

If we don't take advantage of the weakness of the Liao Kingdom to come down and take back the land of Yanyun, when will we wait?

Under the urging of Emperor Daojun, Taiwei Tongguan quickly rushed to Gaoyang Pass on the front line of Hebei.

Going north from Bianliang City in Tokyo, Tong Taiwei, who has been in command of the Northwest for a long time, came to Hebei for the first time.The combat readiness of the east and west roads in Hebei can be regarded as an eye-opener for him.

At the beginning of the founding of the Song Dynasty, in order to prevent the cavalry of the Liao army from driving straight along the Hebei plain, they used the specialties of the farming nation to artificially change the topography of the border area with the Liao state.

The State of Song built many lakes and ponds on the Hebei Plain, which together with the original rivers constituted a water network defense system.At the same time, many forests were planted to limit the advantages of the Liao cavalry in conjunction with the water network terrain.

However, there has been no war for more than 100 years. The old lakes, ponds, and ditches have been in disrepair for a long time, and the forests have been cut down by the local people. The Hebei Plain has become a smooth road that can accommodate cavalry.

The abandonment of the defense system is only one aspect. What is more critical is that the Hebei Forbidden Army has not encountered a war for more than 100 years. It has long been disarmed and embarrassing.

Not to mention that the magistrates of all prefectures in Hebei are hiding and do not want the imperial court to transfer their own troops, even the Hebei Imperial Army is willing to fight, and Taiwei Tong Guan, who has been in command of the Western Army for a long time, does not look down on these veteran soldiers who eat free food.

It is no wonder that when the imperial court discussed the strategy of uniting the Jin Dynasty and defeating the Liao Dynasty, most of the officials in the Hebei provinces opposed it.It turns out that they know themselves through bitterness and happiness, and understand that the forbidden army in their hands is not capable of fighting!

Thinking that the Taoist emperor and ministers above the temple did not know the real situation of Hebei's frontier defense, Taiwei Tong Guan hurriedly wrote a memorial to Huizong.

In the memorial, Tong Guan asked the court to describe the military situation of Hebei's frontier defense. The general idea is:

First of all, the Song Army lost the best time to send troops.

During the first lunar month, when the Jin army attacked the Dading Mansion in Zhongjing, Liao Kingdom, and when the Liao army went north to fight with the Jin army, Xijin Mansion in Nanjing was empty, and it was the best time to send troops to recover it.

At this time, the battle of Dadingfu in Zhongjing was over, and the Liao army shrank back to Xijinfu in Nanjing, strengthening the defense of Yanyun area.The best time to send troops has been missed.

Secondly, the generals of Heshuo are arrogant and lazy, the generals do not know how to fight, and the soldiers of the imperial army are also useless because of the long-term peace and lack of training.

Thirdly, the military supplies for the Northern Expedition of the large army are nothing, and it is difficult to meet the needs of the war.

Among them, the military rations are only half of the book at best, and these food reserves are far away from the border, and the transportation on the way is time-consuming and laborious, which consumes a lot for nothing.

As for the shortage of armaments, the lack of tools for building the city, and the things to defend the city, there are so many difficulties that it is difficult to describe them all.

All in all, what Taiwei Tongguan meant in the memorial was that Heshuo had not fought a war for more than 100 years, and relying on such an army to fight against the powerful Khitan might be a mistake for the court.

What Taiwei Tong meant was that the army in Hebei was so bad that they lost the battle, so I can't take the blame for it.

Therefore, according to Taiwei Tongguan's intention, the imperial court abandoned the Hebei Forbidden Army and mobilized [-] Western troops to Hebei, all under the control of Taiwei Tongguan.

Just when Taiwei Tongguan arrived in Xiongzhou and was waiting for the Western Army to gather, Ximen Qing also rushed to Xiongzhou with Jiao Ting, Brother Qiao Yun, Yue Fei and others.

At this time, Ximen Qing came to this place of occasional meeting, to secretly meet with Brother Ma Kuo, who was working in the Yamen of the Xuanfu Department of Taiwei Tongguan.

On the first day of entering Xiongzhou, after Ximen Qing and his party found a foot shop to settle down, they sent Brother Qiao Yun to Xuanfu Si Yamen, invited Ma Kuo out, and met in a restaurant in the city.

"Brother Ximen, why did you come to Xiongzhou? Do you want to go out to help the Taiwei during the Northern Expedition?"

Ma Kuo's father, Ma Zheng, participated in the battle to encircle and suppress Liangshanbo. Of course, Ma Kuo also knew about Ximen Qing helping Cheng Wanli, the magistrate of Dongping Prefecture.

Cheng Wanli, the magistrate of Dongping Prefecture, is a member of Taiwei Tongguan's lineage, and this is a well-known secret in the official circles of the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, it is not surprising to say that Ximenqing is related to Taiwei Tongguan and came to serve Tongguan, so Ma Kuo asked this question.

"It's a long story. Brother Zichong sit down and have a drink first. You and I have a good talk."

Of course Ximen Qing didn't come to help Taiwei Tongguan.

After Ximen Qing crossed over, he had no plan to protect Song.Therefore, he did not want to change the history of the Song and Liao battles.

Only Ma Kuo and Lu Zhishen had friendship with Ximen Qing, and Ximen Qing didn't want them to suffer a big loss, so he came to tell them not to be stupid and die at critical moments.

These two people are still useful, and maybe they can be used by Ximen Qing in the future.

As for Zhao Liangsi and Yang Zhi who were also in the Taiwei Tong Guanjun, their friendship with Ximen Qing was not that deep, and Ximen Qing would not specifically point them out.

If there is a destiny in the future, just give them a hand.

The "green-faced beast" Yang Zhi is an unlucky guy who can't do anything. I hope that this time he will not be so unlucky!

Ximen Qing also wanted to secretly observe whether Yang Zhi could use it with confidence.

While drinking, Ximen Qing and Ma Kuo asked him what he was busy with in Taiwei Tongguan's Xuanfu Department recently.