Across the Water Margin: Officials of Ximen

Page 529

Chapter 8 Death of the Old Man

After Ximen Qing and others entered the Xingzhong Mansion, the prefect Xiao Yi served as the host and hosted a banquet for Ximen Qing, Wu Xie, Gao Qingyi, Zhao Liangsi, Ma Kuo and others.

During the dinner, after Wanyan's mother and Ximen Qing shared some gossip about the joint capture of Linhuang Mansion in Shangjing, they specially told Ximen Qing to be more careful on the road ahead.

From Wanyan's mother-in-law, Ximenqing heard an astonishingly sad news that Wanyan Yinshuke's brother Wanyan Maji died in battle in Gaozhou, Zhongjing Road not long ago.

After the two brothers Wanyan Yinshuke and Wanyan Balisu followed Wanyan Zonghan to the west, Wanyan Maji stationed troops in Gaozhou, Zhongjing Road, and assisted Wanyan Hunju, who was the commander of Xiliu Road, to guard Zhongjing Road.

After the rebellion of the Khitan and Xi people in the Zhongjing Road, Wanyan Maji sent troops to Mengba Bojin to defeat the rebel enemy soldiers, and then marched south to Enzhou, defeating 5 rebels.

Wanyan Maji won many battles and defeated the rebel army north of Dading Mansion in Zhongjing many times.However, half a month ago, when Wanyan Maji was fighting in Gaozhou, he was accidentally attacked by rebels, shot in the eye with an arrow by an ambush soldier, and died.

Wanyan Yinshu, who likes to kill people after drinking, and the three brothers are fierce generals in the army that Emperor Wanyan Aguda likes. The death of Wanyan Maji makes Wanyan Aguda heartbroken.

Emperor Wanyan Aguda blamed Wanyan Maji's death on Xi's six-route military commander Wanyan Hunchu's ineffectiveness in appeasing Guannei Xiren, which caused Xiren to rebel repeatedly.

In order to quell the rebellion of Xi people in Zhongjing Road, Emperor Wanyan Aguda appointed Wanyan Chang to replace Wanyan Hunchu as the commander of Xiliu Road, and let him lead the troops from the Dacaoluo camp in Xijing Road to Dading Mansion in Zhongjing.

Now that Ximen Qing and his party are heading west to Dading Mansion, they may see Wan Yanchang who is in charge of Dading Mansion.

Ximen Qing wept and sighed after listening to Yan Yanmu's narration.

When I first met Wanyan Maji in Ningjiang Prefecture, he was such an interesting and honest person!

Because he was afraid that he would kill people indiscriminately after drinking, he and Yinshu locked themselves up with iron chains before drinking, which also opened Ximen Qing's horizons.

When Ximen Qing first arrived in the Kingdom of Jin, he had been friends with the three Wanyan Yinshuke brothers. Unexpectedly, after hearing the sad news, Wanyan Maji had returned in a horse leather shroud.

Ximenqing sighed endlessly, and while having wine with Wanyan's mother, he recalled the past with Wanyan Maji.

Now that the Song and Jin countries have formed an alliance to attack the Liao Dynasty, Zhao Liangsi and Ma Kuo also expressed their condolences and regrets on behalf of the Song court when they heard that the general of the allied army died in battle.

The reception banquet in Xingzhong Mansion ended in a sad and solemn mood.

Because the envoys were eager to see the emperor Wanyan Aguda, Ximen Qing and others did not stay in Xingzhong Mansion for long.After resting in the city for a day, Ximen Qing and others bid farewell to Wanyan Jiamu and others the next day, and continued on their way to the west.

The effect of Wanyan Jiamu's quelling the rebellion was remarkable. Ximenqing and his party rushed from Xingzhong Mansion to Dading Mansion, and they didn't see any rebels along the way.

When he came to Dading Mansion, Ximen Qing failed to meet his old friend Wan Yanchang.

After Wanyanchang replaced Wanyan Hunju as the commander of the Xiliu Road Army, he immediately led his troops to Gaozhou to suppress the rebellion. He wanted to avenge Wanyan Maji, and he also wanted to kill chickens and monkeys, and use the annihilation of the Gaozhou rebel army to establish his prestige.

Seeing that Wanyan Chang led the army to go out, Ximenqing and others inquired about the location of Emperor Wanyan Aguda's camp, and immediately left Dading Mansion without stopping, and rushed to Fengsheng Prefecture on Xijing Road.

It turned out that the Emperor Wanyan Aguda of the Kingdom of Jin led his troops from Shangjing Road to Xijun Road and went straight to Baishuiluo at the junction of Fengsheng Prefecture and Fengzhou. He rested in Baishuiluo for a period of time.

After learning about the chaos between the Daoxi people of Zhongjing and the Khitan people, Wanyan Aguda wanted to personally lead tens of thousands of horses to conquer the rebel army in Zhongjing, but on the way, he received information that Yelu Yanxi, Emperor Tianzuo of Liao Kingdom, had led troops out of Jiashan , is counterattacking the states of Xijing Road.

Wanyan Aguda immediately sent Wanyan Chang to Zhongjing Road to suppress the rebellion, and led the army to find the main force of the Liao army for a decisive battle.

The Jin and Liao armies soon encountered outside the city of Dezhou in the northwest of Datong Prefecture in Xijing.

After a battle between the two armies, the Liao army was defeated again.The Jin army captured Xiao Gui, the son-in-law of Tianzuo Emperor Yelu Yanxi, a general of the Liao army, but Tianzuo Emperor Yelu Yanxi disappeared.

It turned out that Emperor Tianzuo Yelu Yanxi saw that the situation was not right, so he took only a few close entourages and fled to Xixia Kingdom to ask for help.

Although Tianzuo Emperor Yelu Yanxi was stupid and innocent, he was still better than Song Huizong, the faint emperor of Song Dynasty, that is, he liked hunting and had excellent riding skills.

Tianzuo Emperor Yelu Yanxi was defeated repeatedly, but he was able to escape with superb riding skills every time. He deserved to be the emperor with long legs.

Moreover, because Tianzuo Emperor Yelu Yanxi liked to play around in the bowl all his life, although the country was not well governed, he had a similar taste with the leaders of various nomadic tribes in the Northwest, and forged a deep friendship.

Therefore, although Emperor Tianzuo Yelu Yanxi was defeated by the Jin army every time, the tribes continued to provide him with troops, allowing him to organize the army to launch counterattacks against the Jin army again and again.

In Xijing Road, Tian Zuo Emperor Yelu Yanxi's miraculous mobilization ability made him unexpectedly a difficult opponent for the Jin Army.

At the request of Tianzuo Emperor Yelu Yanxi, the Xixia Kingdom sent troops to rescue, but was defeated by the Jin army, causing countless casualties.

The Jin army first defeated the Liao army, and then defeated the Xia army. The momentum in Xijing Road was so great that no one could stop it.

Because it was the autumn harvest season in August, the emperor Wanyan Aguda led the army to station in the east of Fengsheng Prefecture in order to raise food and grass for the Jin army, and ordered Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Loushi to lead the troops to rest in the south of Yingzhou.

Yingzhou, the Dao of Xijing, borders the Song State. The Jin army's move seems to be to prevent the Song army from going north to attack the city and plunder the land to take advantage of it.

Of course, Wanyan Aguda had another layer of concerns.

There are rumors that Tianzuo Emperor Yelu Yanxi is not only colluding with the Xixia Kingdom, but also secretly contacting the Song Dynasty in the south.

Once there is no way out on Xijing Road, Emperor Tianzuo Yelu Yanxi may choose to vote for Song Dynasty.

Tianzuo Emperor Yelu Yanxi's vote to the Song Dynasty would cause many people in the Liao Kingdom to follow him to the Song Dynasty, which would be very bad for the subsequent border division between the Jin and Song Dynasties and the rule of the homeland of the Liao Kingdom.

Therefore, Wanyan Aguda, the emperor of the Jin Kingdom, put his most trusted handsome talent, Wanyan Zonghan, in Yingzhou, and asked him to be in charge of negotiating with Song Guohe East Road, cutting off the connection between Song Guo and Tianzuo Emperor Yelu Yanxi.

After inquiring about the location of the emperor's camp at the Dading Mansion in Zhongjing, Ximenqing, Zhao Liangsi, and Ma Kuo rushed to the east of Fengsheng Prefecture together with Wuxie and Gao Qingyi, envoys from the Kingdom of Jin, to meet the emperor Wanyan Aguda.

Wanyan Aguda did not receive the Song envoy, but summoned Ximen Qing alone.

As soon as he saw Ximen Qing, Wanyan Aguda took Ximen Qing's hand, looked Ximen Qing up and down carefully, and said with old tears: "My son-in-law, you must take care of your bones! My daughter Wanyan Wulu You can’t lose your virtuous son-in-law!”

Ximen Qing was shocked, and hurriedly asked his father-in-law Wanyan Aguda why he said this.

Wanyan Aguda told Ximen Qing with a face of pain that his other good son-in-law, Wanyan Zongxiong, a genius with both civil and military skills, passed away due to illness a few days ago.

Chapter 8 Renamed Master Song Huizong

"Brother Zongxiong passed away due to illness? He, what illness did he suffer from?" Ximen Qing asked in shock.

Although Ximen Qing knew about the important events among the Song, Jin, and Liao kingdoms, he did not study this period of history before traveling. Obviously, it was impossible to remember the life and death of every royal family and noble of the Jin Kingdom.

For example, Wanyan Maji, Ximenqing didn't know beforehand that he would be killed by an arrow during the Gaozhou quelling chaos, otherwise Ximenqing would have intervened early in the morning and might have saved his life.

Wanyan Zongxiong was the first nobleman of the clan of the Kingdom of Jin to be friendly with Ximen Qing, and he was of great help to Ximen Qing in the Kingdom of Jin.

Ximenqing had long regarded him as one of the possible political allies within the Kingdom of Jin. Who would have thought that he would die young!

Wanyan Zongxiong was a genius whose grandfather placed high hopes on him!It was not two years since he married Wanyan Aguda's daughter, how come such a lively Jurchen man suddenly fell ill and died of a sudden illness?

Ximen Qing inquired deeply about Yan Zongxiong's affairs, and Wanyan Aguda told him in tears.

After Wanyan Aguda led the troops from Shangjing Road to Fengsheng Prefecture on Xijing Road, Wanyan Zongxiong led the troops to greet Wanyan Aguda Yu Yuanyangluo.

Later, Wanyan Zongxiong accompanied Wanyan Aguda westward to Baishuiluo, and followed him to defeat the army of Emperor Tianzuo of Liao Kingdom.

Afterwards, Wanyan Zongxiong drove east to Guihua Prefecture.

In Guihua Prefecture, Wanyan Zongxiong suddenly fell ill without warning.