In the winter of the ninth year of Jianyan, on October 18th, Zhao Jiu, an official of the Song Dynasty, crossed the Yellow River and landed at Yuanqu, Shaanzhou.

It was an ordinary day, and the actions of the Zhao Guan family were just ordinary and in line with the trend, but it was this action that officially announced the comprehensiveness and in-depth development of the Northern Expedition in the ninth year of Jianyan.

At this point, the early raid-style battles officially ended, and the Northern Expedition entered a new stage.

That night, Zhao Jiu camped and rested in Yuanqu, which caused a tremor in the entire Hedong and Henan regions.

After all, the location of Zhao Song's official family is by no means a simple location for Shang Xia. It is also a coordinate system and a bottom line.

This is actually a very subtle psychology.

When Zhao Jiu stayed in Luoyang before, the officials and civilians in Henan would feel that they were busy on the front line, and would be afraid and resistant to moving to the front line. The soldiers on the front line also had the feeling that I am at the front line, and I am working hard for the rear.

So you can do whatever you want.

However, once Zhao Guan's family crossed the river, it was like a valve was opened. The officials in Guanxi, Henan Province immediately became much more stable and honest. Even the civilians who had been hastily recruited seemed to have improved their morale and complained less.

As for the frontline troops north of the Yellow River, they felt the pressure immediately.

Overnight, Zhao Guan's family received secret letters from almost all generals above the commander in the Hedong region. For a time, he knew many things on the front line better than a few commanders.

This inevitably further strengthened some of his thoughts... but it was still not enough for the official to make a decision.

The next day, when the sky became slightly gloomier, Zhao Guan's family set off from Yuanqu. Under the escort of as many as eight commanders and their subordinates, plus the Imperial Ban Zhi, they headed west first, passing through Sanmenxia at noon, and arriving at Pinglu territory in the evening.

Shao Yun, the general of Pinglu, came out of the city to the east to greet him. He was immediately treated to a special banquet by Zhao Guan's family and received great rewards.

This is what the title should mean... Shao Yun, as Li Yanxian's actual deputy, has been sitting in Pinglu, the only large stronghold in Hebei, while Li Yanxian was guarding Shaanzhou all year round. Li Yanxian guarded Shaanzhou for 89 years, Shao Yun

In other words, they guarded Pinglu for eight or nine years.

It can be said that this person has always been on the most dangerous frontline in the entire empire. Even before the Battle of Yaoshan, Li Yanxian never forgot to ask for the kindness of his parents and wife. That was almost the consciousness of taking the initiative to sacrifice...

...It’s just that that time, the old partners of Nian Lubu and Ali, under the command of the third prince, Nian Liduo, chose the path of Zhao Jiu’s march, bypassing Pinglu and heading south directly to raid Luoyang. The people who died also became

Got Wang Xianggong and Da Zhai.

On the contrary, it was Shao Yun who had been lucky enough to wait until the Northern Expedition and Zhao Guan's family.

This kind of character is simply a model of resistance to the Jin Dynasty, and must be commended... And during the banquet, Xianggong Lu really represented the imperial court and formally extended Shao Yun's favor and promoted Shao Yun's martial arts rank.

Later, Shao Yunfu took the initiative to express his position, hoping to personally lead the army to escort the officials' family northward.

Regarding this, Zhao Jiu hesitated again, but finally nodded in agreement.

In other words, this matter is of course fair and aboveboard, and there are more elements of decency between the monarch and his ministers, but it is not without some other explanations.

As we all know, Li Yanxian's department has always been extremely independent because the positions of its subordinates cannot be easily adjusted. This has also led to the uneven quality of its departments, and they are on top of each other... Although it is embarrassing to say it, in fact, the last time the Shaanxi-Luo Group Army received a large-scale

The integration was actually achieved by relying on the opportunity of Dazhai's death in the Luoyang direction.

After the death of Zhai Zhai Xing, Zhao Jiu authorized his son Zhai Cong to take over his father's position. However, this did not prevent Zhai Cong from being able to convince the public because his prestige was far inferior to that of his father. It was only from then on that Li Yanxian completely gained control of the group army.

In the following years, the center gradually established the Zhai family around Luoyang, relying on the huge impact of the Battle of Yaoshan and the management and restoration work of the surrounding areas of Luoyang, a typical regional powerful rebel army.

The group digested it thoroughly.

In the later period, as Niu Gao and Dong Xian completely broke away from the Zhai family and took the initiative to become directly subordinate to the central committee, the three existing commanders and commanders of the Zhai family gradually adjusted their positions. In turn, Li Yanxian and his Shaanzhou troops

It seems a bit far from the center.

But now, the country's Northern Expedition has actually captured Hezhong, Shaanzhou has lost its former strategic position, and Li Yanxian himself has just lost his army at Tieling Pass. As Li Jiedu's most trusted confidant, the left-behind general made such a statement.

Worth considering.

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The most likely possibility is that Li Yanxian secretly instructed him to do this and took the opportunity to admit his mistake and show his sincerity to Zhao Guan's family.

Zhao Jiu himself was hesitant at all because he was afraid that if he 'annexed' Shao Yun at this time, it would cause some rumors among the army.

However, he finally chose to agree, because again... How can there be an argument for the government to annex the imperial army? Some things, if done openly, will naturally be done openly, but if you consider it with caution,

On the contrary, it will make things a little strange.

In this way, Zhao Jiu didn't even appoint a general to guard Pinglu. He just asked Wang Yan to arrange a commander. The next day, he took Shao Yun's tribe as the leader and headed north from Pinglu, crossing Zhongtiao from Zhangdian Town.

mountain, and then arrived at Anyi City on August 22.

Here, the Zhao Guan family and his close ministers, including the top 100 Southeast Dukes, encountered wars related to the Northern Expedition in a real sense for the first time.

That's right, just as Hedong City, the capital of Hezhong Prefecture, has never fallen, Anyi City, located on the bank of Yanchi in Hedong, has never been captured by the Song army, which makes Li Qiong quite ashamed.

"I am incompetent!"

In the afternoon, Li Qiong bowed his head in embarrassment at the edge of the red salt lake with a patch of snow-white salt pool. "There are tens of thousands of people, but they can't conquer the city quickly and let the officials enter the city and stay there."

"It doesn't matter."

Zhao Jiu immediately comforted him and helped him up personally. "It was because of Han Liangchen's sudden victory that I decided to cross the river. Suddenly, Li Qing took over the siege in the middle and lacked all the equipment. If we forcefully attack the city and lose the lives of soldiers,

Instead, it was my fault."

In some situations, you still have to say what needs to be said.

Of course, Zhao Jiu does not care about this matter, because objective laws must be respected... This has been the case since ancient times. In large-scale field battles, confrontations often last for many days, but once the battle begins, the winner will be determined, and a city is still safe.

The position of Yi is very important. There are famous and big cities that have appeared countless times in Chinese history books. As long as the guard is willing to fight to the death, unless some special means are used, otherwise, Li Qiong will take over the city for ten days.

Regulating and destroying the city is nothing more than wishful thinking.

However, there are definitely problems, at least one - that is, except for those specific key cities that have been prepared in advance, there are still relatively few people who are determined to hold on to the end regardless of the situation.

Why should we keep it?

Why should you be loyal to the Kingdom of Jin?

"But Li Qing, I remember that both Han Liangchen (Han Shizhong) and Li Shaoyan (Li Yanxian) fought relatively efficiently, and the Jin army failed to respond in time. It stands to reason that Hedong City has Wen Dun Sizhong and the main force of the Jin army, so it is natural for them to defend it, but So what about Anyi?" On the way into the camp on horseback, Zhao Jiu withdrew his gaze from the top of the city, glanced at the conspicuous salt pond next to it again, and then finally fell on Li Qiong who was holding his horse. "What's the saying in Anyi City?"

"So that the officials know that the defense of Anyi City was all due to one person." Li Qiong, who was leading the horse, quickly turned around and explained hurriedly while backing up. "It was Shi Gao, the magistrate of the Jin Kingdom... "

"Are they Han?" Zhao Jiu frowned slightly.

"yes."

"Yanyun or Lianghe Han?" Lu Xianggong couldn't help but interjected.

"People from Dingzhou... Han people from Hebei." Li Qiong blurted out. "However, Dingzhou is close to the border and was captured by the Jurchens long before Jingkang. They were first made to do hard labor, and then they were converted into military officials because they could not read. Finally, they were captured by the Jurchens. Aguda's concubine Wanyanjai's mother took a fancy to him and became a secret servant..."

"Oh." Lu Yihao responded and glanced at Li Qiong, not knowing what he meant.

"How is this person?" Zhao Jiu also glanced at Li Qiong slightly before asking.

"Before Li Jiedu marched, this person often said that once the officials made the Northern Expedition, this part of the river would be the first to bear the brunt, so they paid attention to defense every day." Li Qiong did not notice that the officials and the husband looked at him extra, and hurriedly spoke again. " And because Anyi is located on the east side of Yanchi, facing the Zhongtiao Mountain Pass, he managed it even more carefully. That day, Li Jiedu hurriedly marched, and he was here in Anyi, so although the magistrate of Anyi immediately surrendered, he still He gathered the local soldiers, recruited the civilians, and held the city for defense. On that day, Li Jiedu tried to climb the city in one fell swoop, but after his failure, he was unable to do so. He could only leave Niu Gao Niu to control the city and besieged the city."

"I know what happened next. Han Liangchen passed by here and tried it, but it didn't work. Instead, he took Niu Gao away to lead the way, so the siege was delayed until Li Qing crossed the river to take over..."

"yes……"

"But even if this person intends to hold on, I hear you tell me that there are not many regular soldiers in the city, but mostly local people and civilians?"

"yes."

"The current situation is that the city is just suffering. After Han Liangchen's several great victories, haven't you tried to persuade him to surrender? It's hard to fake the flags and armor at the moment, right?"

"In order to let the officials know, I naturally persuaded them. King Han Jun and Manager Ma did not forget this place when they fought with the Jin Kingdom at Tieling Pass. After I took over, I also captured the Fenshui Battle and the Sacrifice. Li Bubu told him about the withdrawal of the entire army across Huishui." Li Qiong seemed bitter for a moment. "He himself and some knowledgeable people in the city should have known the general situation, but every time I sent envoys, he treated me with courtesy. Wait, and then sternly refuse..."

"How old is he?"

"Thirty-eight or nine, maybe forty."

"Why can he control the entire city?" Lu Yihao suddenly interrupted again, but his words were much colder.

"So that my husband knows that this person has always had a reputation for being honest and kind. He has been in Jiezhou for only two years and has become popular, especially here in Anyi..." Li Qiong immediately answered seriously.

"Oh?" Lu Yihao responded with a sneer on his face.

"Since I have been besieging this city, I have inquired about some things..." Li Qiong couldn't wait to explain. "This person has two very famous things. One is when he followed the army in his early years to fight against his concubine Wan Yanchai's mother in Hebei.

, Wanyan's mother planned to distribute the people of an entire state in Hebei to the army as slaves, but he came to stop it; another time was the local incident the year before last, when some heroes from Anyi revolted and prepared to respond to Li Jiedu.

It was revealed that despite the fact that the hero was executed, a book containing his place of origin and names was actually found in his home. It was said that there were nearly a thousand people in it... Wen Dunsizhong sent someone to ask for it, but he arrived in advance and burned it directly.

…”

"..."

"At that time, Wanyan's mother had already died, and he actually had no supporter." Li Qiong said with emotion. "For this matter, Wen Dun Sizhong directly tied him and his son to Hedong City and sent them to prison.

Fortunately, he had a chief clerk who had just passed the Jinshi examination. He had always admired his character and knowledge, and accepted him as a teacher. At the age of twenty, he dared to go to Taiyuan alone to find Bali Su.

, Ba Lisu transferred him to the Jin King Yinliduo who was patrolling south, and he was reinstated."

At this point, Zhao Guanjia and Long Yan had already entered the military camp and entered the camp gate. Li Qiong also took advantage of the opportunity to loosen the reins of his horse. When Zhao Jiu arrived here, he turned over and dismounted, but did not rush into the spacious room that had been prepared.

Instead, they led people directly to the rammed-earth general's platform in front of the Chinese army's tent.

The view here is wide and the surroundings are clear. Zhao Jiu said nothing and looked around. Not to mention the Hedong Salt Pond, which can almost be called a natural wonder, became more and more magnificent in the afternoon sun. Even the movement in Anyi City seemed

It's a little clearer... Although the specific figure can't be seen clearly, there is no doubt that the arrival of Long Hao and the main force of tens of thousands of imperial battalions still shakes this city that was just suffering. Facing the south and facing the center,

On the wall of the army camp, there were many figures swaying for a while.

Zhao Guanjia glanced at the city wall and stretched out his hand to indicate that Yang Yizhong was about to present a long silver tube-shaped object, but it was exactly the so-called traditional weapon for time travellers...a telescope polished with crystal.
To be continued...