Across the Water Margin: Officials of Ximen

Page 525

This time the Northern Expedition of the Song Army seemed to be in good shape.

Chapter 8 Eleven Yizhou Please Come Down

Taiwei Tongguan asked Zhao Liangsi to contact Liao Prime Minister Li Chuwen to do internal affairs, although the final result was that Li Chuwen was betrayed by Chao Gai, Wu Yong and others, and he was defeated and killed, which bankrupted Tong Guan's plan.

However, the Li Chuwen incident continued to ferment in the Liao Kingdom, and it still brought some unexpected surprises to the Song Dynasty.

After Li Chuwen's rebellion was suppressed, Emperor Yeluchun of Tianxi passed away, and Concubine Xiao listened to the government as empress dowager under the support of King Xiao Qian of the Fourth Army.

But whether it is the Empress Dowager Xiao, Xiao Qian, the king of the Fourth Army, or Lin Ya Yelu Dashi, their control over the Hanchen is not as good as Yelu Chun, who has been guarding the Xijin Mansion in Nanjing for a long time.

After Li Chuwen's change, Empress Dowager Xiao, Xiao Qian and other Khitan and Xi aristocrats of the Liao Kingdom lost their trust in Hanchen. I don't know which important Han officials are secretly colluding with Song Dynasty and plotting wrongdoing.

Xiao Qian, the king of the Fourth Army, arrested some ministers and medical officials of the Han people in the name of suppressing Li Chuwen's remaining party in Yanjing City, and even followed the clues to encircle Erxian Mountain in Jizhou.

Master Luo of Erxian Mountain had a close relationship with Li Chuwen's family, and most of his disciples worked for Li Chuwen.

Taoism was originally a religion believed by the Han people. At this time, Erxian Mountain was full of filth, which became a thorn in the eyes of Empress Dowager Xiao and others.

Yelu Dashi personally led the troops to surround Erxian Mountain in Jizhou, launched a surprise attack and killed Naluo Daoist and all the monks in the Taoist temple, leaving no one left.

After the incident, Yelu Dashi set fire to Erxian Mountain and burned it down.

"Ruyunlong" Gongsun Sheng also failed to escape the capture and killing of the Liao army this time. Before Chao Gai could plead with Xiao Qian, Gongsun Sheng died in the encirclement and suppression of Yelu Dashi in Erxian Mountain.

The demise of Erxian Mountain made Gao Feng, the governor of Yizhou in Liao Kingdom, and Wang Ji, the general who defended the city, panic.

Because, the person Li Chuwen sent to secretly contact the two of them was Gongsun Sheng, a Taoist from Erxian Mountain.

Gao Feng, the magistrate of Yizhou, and Wang Ji, the general who defended the city, did not know the whereabouts of Gongsun Sheng, nor did they know whether the court had found out that they had secretly colluded with Li Chuwen.

Just when the two were fidgeting, they heard another gossip that the newly established Empress Dowager Xiao of Yanjing City was discussing with the general Xiao Qian that in order to prevent the Han people in Yandi from defecting to the Song Dynasty, they planned to move the Han people far away or kill them all.

Gao Feng and Wang Ji are both Han Chinese, so naturally they don't want to sit still.

The two also heard that the second Northern Expedition of the Song Army was so powerful that people from Yan continued to join them, so they discussed secretly and decided to join the Song Dynasty.

Gao Feng said to Wang Ji: "Now our commander-in-chief Xiao Qian and Lin Ya Yelu Dashi are both in Yanjing City, this Yizhou mountain is far away from the emperor, and it is close to the border of Song State, just in time for an incident.

We can lead the Song army to the city, echo inside and outside, and kill all the Khitan people in Yizhou.

It's better to act first, and when I dedicate Yizhou to Song State, I don't have to be afraid that they will harm you and me again. "

Wang Zhen took Gao Feng's words seriously.The two discussed in the mansion and decided to betray the Liao State and switch to the Song State.

Wang Jing found a familiar Han monk named Ming Zan, told him the ins and outs, and said that if he wanted to save the Han people in the city, he had to rely on Da Song.

After hearing this, Ming Zan agreed to go to Taiwei Tongguan's Xuanfu Department to help make connections.

Mingzan hurriedly came to the territory of Song Dynasty, and met Taiwei Tongguan smoothly.

Ming Zan said to Tong Guan: "We Han people in Yandi have been waiting for Song Jun for many years, and finally we have you here.

I heard that the imperial court once issued a list of recruits with favorable conditions.

I am here on behalf of Gao Feng and Tongshou Wang, the magistrate of Yizhou.They wanted to use Yizhou Kaicheng to defect to the Song army.

If you are willing to accept the surrender, please agree on the time for the march, so that we can cooperate internally and externally, and let the Song army occupy Yizhou. "

Taiwei Tongguan was overjoyed when he heard Ming Zan's words, this time he finally had the feeling of being welcomed by the king's master when he went out to battle.

But to be on the safe side, Tai Wei Tong Guan asked Liu Yanqing to repeatedly ask Ming Zan about the situation in Liao, and finally confirmed that what Ming Zan said was true.

Tong Guandi was relieved, he asked Mingzan to return to Yizhou first, and brought a message to Gao Feng and Wang Yan, saying that the Song army would attack Yizhou on time in [-] days, and asked them to prepare and open the city gate to cooperate with the Song army .

Tong Guan also promised that once the matter is completed, he will reward the officials in Yizhou with generous rewards, and he will never treat Gao Feng, Wang Yu and others badly.

In order to cope with the uprising by Gao Feng and Wang Ji in Yizhou, Taiwei Tongguan immediately dispatched Liu Guangshi to lead his troops to Yizhou City after Mingzan left.

Liu Guangshi's army thought they had the chance to win, but when they swaggered to the vicinity of Baigou, they made a big oolong.

As soon as Liu Guangshi's forward general Ji Jing and others crossed the river, they saw more than a thousand cavalrymen of the Liao Army appearing in front of them.

Ji Jing was so careless that he thought that the Liao army was the Liao army that had come to surrender from Yizhou City, and had not made any preparations for battle.

Unexpectedly, after the Liao army discovered the Song army crossing the river, it suddenly launched an attack on the Song army recklessly, killing Ji Jing by surprise, and the forward troops were turned on their backs for a while.

It turned out that this Liao army did not come from Yizhou, but a patrol force stationed in a nearby ancient city.When they were patrolling the border, they accidentally bumped into Liu Guangshijun.

Liu Guangshi's soldiers were numerous and powerful. Although he was raided by the Liao army, he was still not defeated all at once.

However, the formation of the Song Army's front army was still smashed by the more than a thousand brave cavalry of the Liao Army, unable to move forward.

Ji Jing hurriedly organized the forward army to gather on the spot to meet the enemy. Liu Guangshi's army's central army and rear troops were also blocked on both sides of the Baigou River, failing to form a battle formation in time.

An unexpected encounter started at the border of Baigou.

After recovering from the initial chaos, Liu Guangshi's army launched a counterattack with superior forces.

The cavalry of the Liao army had rich combat experience and a strong will to fight. Although they were few in number, they did not flee, but retreated while fighting. The battlefield of the two armies gradually moved northward and moved to the west of Gufengtai.

The patrolling cavalry of the Liao army fought bravely against Liu Guangshi's army and slowed down the advance of the Song army. The original intention was to warn the defenders of Yizhou City, so that Yizhou City could strengthen its defenses to avoid surprise attacks by the Song army.

At this time, the cavalry unit of the Liao Army did not know that the Yizhou defenders behind them had betrayed the Liao Kingdom, and they were actually fighting alone.

Gufengtai was not far from Yizhou. The spies of the Yizhou garrison saw the figure of Song Jun and hurriedly reported to Zhizhou Gaofeng.

Gao Feng was overjoyed when he heard the news, thinking that the Song army had marched to meet him as agreed, and hurriedly ordered his subordinate Han Zhao Bingyuan to kill all the Khitan people in the city, especially those with the surname Yelu, in preparation for opening the city gate to welcome the Song army.

Unexpectedly, after Zhao Bingyuan massacred the Khitan people in the city, another spies came to report and told the magistrate Gao Feng that although the Song army had arrived, they were fighting with the Liao army who did not know where they came from, and did not advance to Yizhou at all.Moreover, Song Jun seems to be at a disadvantage and will be repelled at any time.

When Gao Feng, Zhao Bingyuan and others heard the news, their hands and feet became cold and their faces turned pale with fright, and they lost their minds for a while.

At this time, Ming Zan, the monk who had contacted the Song army for Gao Feng, advised him and said: "Gaozhifu, the matter has come to this point, and there is no turning back. Now that the victory or defeat of the two armies outside the city is unknown, I might as well close the city gate first. Stand firm and wait for the Song Army's aid."

Chapter 8 Twelve: Guo Yaoshi Explains Xiao Qian

Gao Feng, the magistrate of Yizhou, only woke up after hearing the monk's words of praise. He knew that there was no way out at this time, so he could only stick to Yizhou behind closed doors, waiting for the Song army to come to rescue and take over the city.

However, what Gao Feng and others did not expect was that the combat effectiveness of Liu Guangshi's Song Army was far inferior to that of the Liao Army, and they fell into a disadvantage in the confrontation with the Liao Army's cavalry.

Liu Guangshi was worried that the Liao army would come after hearing the news, so he led his troops to leave the battlefield, and the whole army retreated back to the south of Baigou.

Gao Feng, the prefect of Yizhou, waited at the top of the city for half a day with Wang Ji, Zhao Bingyuan and others, but no sign of Song Jun was seen.

At night, the Song army didn't come, but the Liao army cavalry who had fought hard with the Song army for a day and successfully repelled Liu Guangshi's troops came to the city of Yizhou.

The Liao army originally wanted to retreat to the city of Yizhou to rest and recuperate, but outside the city they encountered Khitan people who slipped through the net, and learned from them that Gao Feng, the prefect of Yizhou, and others had rebelled.