Xue Ji, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Hu Ju, the Minister of the Ministry of War, Yue Ke, the Minister of the Ministry of Husbandry, Zhongcheng Wei Jing, the Yushitai Yushi, and others were all present here.
Everyone tasted "Beauty Tears" leisurely, and everyone gradually accepted the name. As expected, this thing tastes even better after it has been chilled.
"Everyone, today the 'Yue Family Army' will launch a battle to destroy the gold. Judging from the current situation, there is not much suspense in this battle to destroy the gold."
"After the fall of Dajin, I will rest for half a year. I want to go to Bianliang City to see it in person——"
What Zhao Kuo, an official, drank was sour plum soup. This was also a kind of tea invented by Guo Mo at that time, and it was actually deeply loved by Zhao Kuo.
"Guan Jia, do you want to move the capital to Bianliang?"
Hu Ju, the Minister of the Ministry of War, who was sitting aside, slowly put down the wine glass in his hand. He was old and could not drink "hero's drunk", but he also had a soft spot for the "beauty's tears" in the cup.
"Move the capital? No. The prince's ambition is to unify the whole world. Now that Dali no longer exists, the Kingdom of Jin will soon be included in the territory of the Song Dynasty, followed by Xixia, the entire Youyun Sixteen States, and perhaps parts of the Western Regions or beyond the Great Wall
.”
"The prince will not place the capital in Bianliang. I heard that he wants to make the capital Zhongdu. However, this cannot be achieved in a year or two."
"What I mean is that it's time for my official family to be passed on to the prince——"
Zhao Kuo took another sip of sour plum soup, a hint of sweetness came to his heart, and he seemed to feel relieved when he said these words.
"Guan Jia, you...how could you have such an idea?"
In the Funing Hall, although there were many people who could be considered Guo Mo, most of them were old ministers who had followed the official Zhao Kuo for many years.
"Guan family, I believe His Highness the Crown Prince will not care about this with you."
Xue Ji, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who was sitting with his head bowed, seemed to understand what Zhao Kuo meant and said calmly.
"Haha, the one who knows me is Xue Qing. I have been sitting in this position. When Xiaoqi was the king of Yan, he captured Dali, and when he was the prince, he wanted to destroy Dajin."
"This is clearly the style of a founding king. Looking at the entire Song Dynasty, he should also be the leader of the revival of the Song Dynasty. It is a pity that these achievements will be recorded on the head of Zhao Kuo by historians."
"Haha, with such an honor, I can even go to Mount Tai to be enshrined in Zen. I still know how many pounds I have. If I really continue to pretend to take the credit of Xiaoqi, I will be uneasy above history."
Zhao Kuo's sincere words could naturally be understood by the elite in Funing Hall, but no one would agree with him.
"Guan Jia, I can deeply appreciate your love and care for His Highness the Crown Prince. However, do you think His Highness the Crown Prince will like to stay in the palace?"
Everyone also knew that they could not dissuade the officials, so Xue Ji asked from another aspect.
"Xue Qing, I have thought about this before, but fortunately I am not in a hurry. This year I have recovered the territory of the Kingdom of Jin, and next spring I will lead my ministers to go north to worship our ancestors."
"I will announce this matter at the appropriate time. Even if at that time, Xiao Qi still wants to live happily in the world for a few years, that's okay."
"My body is still strong now. It seems that there will be no big problem if I can hold on for ten or eight years. I can also handle government affairs for Xiao Qi in the name of 'the Supreme Emperor'."
"Xiao Qi's eldest son Guo Yi is also six years old this year. I will support him for a few years. If Xiao Qi still doesn't want to be honest, the worst he can do is let his son supervise the country."
Well, it seems that this old man has been thinking about this matter for more than a day or two. He has even prepared all the backup plans. He would rather retreat to the position of Supreme Emperor than put the historical achievements on his son.
"Yue Qing, this time the 'Yue Family Army' is the main force to destroy the gold. Xiao Qi intends that after this battle, your boy will be given a marquis. You haven't made a marquis yet, so you won't be resentful towards your son, right?
Ha ha--"
Zhao Kuo obviously didn't want to dwell on the issue just now, so he changed the subject and instead made a joke about Yue Ke, the Minister of Revenue.
Yue Ke is the youngest among the six ministers, and naturally has the lowest title.
Looking at the entire Song Dynasty, in the past few years, only the three powerful armies under Guo Mo's control had just been awarded the title of marquis. And if Yue Ao had contributed to the destruction of the country, it would be reasonable to reward him with a marquis.
"Haha, look at what you said, official, no matter how unbearable I am, I won't be jealous of my own boy, right? At most, I am in charge of the household department and just withhold his salary on time every month."
There was another burst of laughter in Funing Palace.
"Hu Qing, Xiao Qi wrote to say that all the armies under his command have made arrangements for us to organize more than 10,000 troops to set up defenses along the Huaihe River to prevent any fish that slip through the net from escaping to the south of the Yangtze River."
"Let your Ministry of War take the lead in this matter and make arrangements as soon as possible. Don't delay the matter. The prince means that if we have enough troops, we can take down Caizhou and Yingzhou."
Hearing what the official said, the eyes of Hu Ju, the Minister of War, lit up. This was a credit given to him, and he was allowed to participate in the battle to destroy the gold.
Everyone in the Funing Palace is full of human beings, and it is impossible to tell that His Highness the Crown Prince is "giving up merit".
The previous battles in Hebei, Xixia or Dali were too long, so I won’t talk about them.
This war to destroy the Jin Dynasty originally bordered the Song Dynasty and was not too far from Lin'an. The Song people had complicated feelings towards the Jin Dynasty. Guo Mo would naturally let the elders in the court have a share.
Soup opportunity.
"I understand. I will mobilize troops and generals now. However, almost all the elites of the Song Dynasty are under the command of the prince. I am afraid that the troops I can mobilize are only enough to capture Yingzhou."
To reciprocate the favor, both Caizhou and Yingzhou had almost no defensive strength. At any rate, there were tens of thousands of forbidden troops in Lin'an, all of whom had been trained by the "Dunwu Army".
However, Hu Ju knew how to use his discretion. This was the credit given to him by the "Yue Jiajun", so how could he accept it all with peace of mind?
...
"Your Highness, it seems that the Jin people have really retreated to Bianliang City."
Fifty thousand "Yue Jiajun" marched in the direction of Bianliang in a mighty manner. Except for encountering 3,000 defenders at the border, almost no trace of the Jin army could be seen along the way.
"This Cui Li is a bit interesting. He actually took the opportunity to attack the east gate of Bianliang City last night? Judging from the fact that the Jin army in the city did not try their best to recapture the east gate, they did not realize that Cui Li was connected with us."
In Guo Mo's hand was the latest battle report sent by the scouts.
Cui Lijun cleverly took the east gate of Bianliang City and did not continue to fight inward. Instead, he relied on the east gate to defend.
Half of the two thousand troops stationed at the east gate escaped. Unfortunately, Wanyan Baisha and other generals became Cui Li's prisoners.
"Hey, you, isn't this General Wanyan Baisa? I heard that the general is now worth a hundred catties of grain. Cui's brothers happened to be hungry, so we had to give in to General Wanyan."
Wanyan Baisa and others were suppressed, and whether they needed food or not, Cui Li could use him as a shield if there was an emergency.
"Heizi, do you think we should send someone to contact the Crown Prince of Song Dynasty now?"
Heizi's outstanding performance one after another attracted Cui Li's attention. Whatever decision he made now, he had to ask this honest southerner.
"General, in my opinion, we have to wait. Unless it is a critical moment, otherwise we will be in trouble if we take the initiative to contact the Song Dynasty."
"Send out scouts, wait for the soldiers and horses of the Song Dynasty to arrive, and lead them directly to the east gate. This is called the dedication of the city. If we send someone to contact them now, it will inevitably mean 'asking for help'."
What Heizi said was exactly what Cui Li was thinking. It was because of his hesitation that he asked Heizi for his opinion.
"Okay, I'll take the gamble, but I still send people to spread the news in Bianliang City, saying that the Song Dynasty will attack Bianliang City tomorrow, so as to relieve our pressure."
This Cui Li was really not given for free. A mere rumor made tens of thousands of Jin soldiers throw themselves at the enemy. They were afraid that before they could capture Cui Li, the army of the Song Dynasty would really arrive.
Therefore, a strange balance was formed between Jin Jun and Cui Lijun, and no one wanted to break it.
At Shenshi, the 5,000 leading troops of the "Yue Family Army" rushed outside Bianliang City and set aside a certain amount of warning troops. Others began to set up camp five miles away from Bianliang City.
Arriving two days in advance still surprised the defenders at the west gate of Bianliang City.
The chief general of Ximen was none other than General Wanyan Shilu. Although this man also had the surname Wanyan, he was not related to the Emperor Wanyan Shouxu of the Jin Kingdom. Instead, he was given the surname Wanyan from his ancestors.
He is originally Han Chinese by blood, and his appearance and knowledge are completely Han Chinese style. He is also a rare person with both civil and military skills.
The west gate guarded by Wanyan Shilu and ten thousand gold soldiers was also recognized by everyone as the city gate that the Song army was most likely to attack.
Therefore, the equipment to defend the city had been prepared long ago, and a barbican was even secretly built. The residents near the west gate had already evacuated, and their original houses were demolished and used as defense materials.
"Don't panic, everyone. This is just the vanguard of the Song Army. They should not attack the city tonight. We should all recharge our batteries. Finally, check the arrangements everywhere to make sure there are no mistakes -"
Wanyan Shilu remained calm and inspected the city wall in person before getting off the city wall and riding to the palace to report.
In Longde Palace, Emperor Wanyan Shouxu of the Jin Kingdom was talking with two old ministers. One was Wanyan Saibu, envoy of the Privy Council of the Jin Kingdom. The old man had not slept a wink for almost two days and one night.
The other one turned out to be Anshi, an old minister who had been bedridden for many days. He was a civil servant after all, and his body was far inferior to that of Wanyan Sai. While talking to Wanyan Shouxu, he kept coughing.
The sound of a high and low cough made Wanyan Shouxu feel very uncomfortable.
"Teacher, why don't you go back home and rest? I feel uncomfortable if you hold on like this."
Wanyan Shouxu's eyes were red, partly because he was moved, but most importantly, the emperor was also drunk last night.
There were more than 20 jars of "Hero Drunk" stored in the palace. Wanyan Shouxu felt that he must drink up all the wine. He did not want to leave it to the Song army.
"Haha, Your Majesty, usually I know that Your Majesty doesn't want to see old people like us, but now that the army is approaching, I want to come to the palace to accompany Your Majesty, ahem -"
There was another violent cough, even with a harsh whistling sound.
"Your Majesty, please give me some of your treasured 'Hero's Drunk'. I haven't slept for a long time. A bowl of 'Hero's Drunk' will be a good way to strengthen my courage."
Wanyan Saibu, who had always followed the rules, actually made such a request to Emperor Jin.
"Haha, San Bo is so excited, but your body and bones are very important, so we can only try it briefly. After the Song army is defeated, I will accompany you to get drunk."
Wanyan Shouxu hurriedly ordered the imperial dining room to prepare a banquet. At this time, Wanyan Shilu walked in from outside.
"General Wanyan is here, come on, take a seat together -"
In front of important ministers, Wanyan Shouxu, the emperor, was quite competent and never acted like an emperor, let alone in this critical moment.
"Your Majesty, the leading troops of the Song Dynasty have arrived outside the west gate and are setting up camp. It seems that they will not attack tonight."
Wanyan Shilu also sat down casually, and gently patted Shi Anshi on the back.
For the old man Shi Anshi, Wanyan Shilu, who has studied Confucian culture since he was a child, has always respected him. In this regard, he is much better than Wanyan Baisa who was captured alive by Cui Li.
"General Wanyan, you must not be careless when facing the Song Army. Although the current 'Yue Family Army' may be worse than the Yue Pengju Army back then, we can't produce the 'Iron Float Map'."
Privy Councilor Wanyan Sai reminded him.
"Thanks for the advice, Commander. I understand that the west gate guarded by my general is as solid as gold. If the Song army wants to enter the city, they must step on the corpse of the general -"
"Hey, I'm thinking that in the past few years since I came to the throne, I haven't been able to do any favors to the people of the Jin Kingdom. Instead, I have repeatedly lost the territory left by my ancestors."
"Now that we are trapped in Bianliang, will the last thirty thousand warriors of the Jin Kingdom be destroyed in my hands?"
Wanyan Shouxu was not in a good mood. He drank two big mouthfuls of "Hero Drunk" and choked and coughed.
"Your Majesty, please don't be so pessimistic. Even if our 30,000 golden warriors die, it will not make the Song army feel better. Please take care of yourself. I will go to the city to garrison..."
Wanyan Shilu stood up, clasped his fists at Wanyan Shouxu and others one by one, and then retreated.
Sure enough, the "Yue Family Army" did not attack the city overnight, but settled into the camp step by step, without even saying hello to Bianliang City.
Cui Li's messenger took advantage of the darkness and entered the camp of the "Yue Family Army".
Guo Mo did not show his own banner, but hid in Yue Ao's army. It seemed that he did not want people to know his existence so early.
"Yue Dutong, this is a personal letter from my General Cui——"
The messenger handed over a letter in a polite manner. Lawrence Lu, who was standing in front of the handsome man, took it and handed it to Guo Mo.
Guo Mo was sitting behind the commander, but no one introduced his identity to the messenger. The messenger mistakenly thought that the person sitting in the middle must be Yue Ao, the commander-in-chief of the "Yue Family Army".
"I will not write a reply. I will go back and tell you General Cui to guard the east gate. He will be needed if necessary."
"I will report the merits of General Cui to His Highness the Crown Prince truthfully. As for the handling of this water village, I will send someone to take over it tomorrow."
It turned out that Cui Li's letter implicitly proposed that the "Yue Family Army" should enter the city from the east gate, but Guo Mo had a different idea.
This time the "Yue Family Army" was well prepared. Whether it was siege equipment or horse fighting, they were no worse than the Jin Army. They had been training for so long and had not really experienced the baptism of a war.
If you enter the city through the east gate, Cui Li will have to take the victory over the city, but the subsequent street fighting will also be a headache.
As a result, the power of the military formations trained by the "Yue Family Army" was greatly reduced, and the opponent's more than 30,000 sergeants were also waiting for work.
There was nothing to say all night, and it was dawn the next day.
After a hearty meal, Yue Ao beat the drum and gathered the generals. Guo Mo was also dressed in armor, but he sat aside, leaving the center position to Yue Ao, the commander of the "Yue Family Army".
"The generals are ordered to capture Bianliang City today. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is here to supervise the battle in person. I don't want to see anyone who hesitates before the battle."
"I have always felt that attacking the Kingdom of Jin is something that does not require mobilization for every man of the Song Dynasty. I will not say much and will only say one thing - you must be worthy of the three gilded characters of 'Yue Family Army'!"
"
The siege battle began, and more than a hundred trebuchets were pushed to the front of the 50,000 "Yue Family Army".
These trebuchets, which were jointly modified by Guo Mo and Feng Mofeng, were lighter and more accurate than those in the hands of the Mongols, and could throw stones up to two hundred paces away.
More than a hundred of them were neatly arranged in three rows, completely covering the west gate of Bianliang City.
"Trebuchet, second row, prepare, first row, release -"
Forty or fifty trebuchets "fired" at the same time, and it was like a hailstorm fell on the top of Bianliang City, but the hailstones were a bit too big.
The artillery stones used by the "Yue Jiajun" were all polished by special personnel and were approximately spherical in shape, about the size of later basketballs.
If a cannon stone hits a person directly, his bones and tendons will definitely be broken, and he will be dead.
Even if it hits the city wall, it will still cause some damage to the city wall, not to mention the defensive equipment placed on the city wall.
Some of the boiling soup even knocked over the large pot, and the surrounding Jin army was scalded.
Some cannon stones that happened to roll down the racetrack could injure the Jin troops along the way.
"Quick, hide, each find a place to hide -"
Who has ever seen such a posture among the city guards commanding the city?
He hurriedly hid in a blind corner of a virgin wall while shouting loudly.
There are 10,000 troops stationed at the west gate. Today the Song army is going to attack the city. Early in the morning, 2,000 troops are on the city wall, 1,000 troops are on the city wall, and there are 500 troops on each side of the horse racing track to facilitate reinforcements at any time.
"Third row, prepare, second row, put -"
So cruel, the "Yue Jiajun" actually applied the "three-stage shooting" method to the trebuchet, which almost gave the Jin army on the west city wall no chance to breathe.
After three rows of trebuchets fired five rounds each, the Bianliang city wall was already in a mess. Especially among the thousand soldiers who were originally guarding the city wall, not even half of them could escape safely.
"General Wanyan, how can we fight this...this battle?"
The deputy general found Wanyan Shilu in a hidden place, but Wanyan Shilu was also helpless.
I only heard that the four powerful troops under the command of the Crown Prince of the Song Dynasty were unparalleled in field battles, but I didn't expect that the siege weapons were so shocking. Could it be that all the preparations I had made were in vain?
"Hurry up to the city. The Song army's trebuchets have stopped and they will attack the city soon——"
Wanyan Shilu had no choice but to recruit another thousand sword and shield soldiers and send them to the city wall.
However, when nearly 2,000 gold troops were assembled on the west city wall again, the 50,000 "Yue Family Army" did not move forward, but heard the sound of trumpets again.
"Second row, prepare, first row, put -"
It turns out that the "Yue Family Army" had made calculations beforehand. Looking at the width of the Bianliang city wall, they could roughly calculate how many defenders there would be on it.
If the trebuchet fires too little, it will not help; if it fires too much, it will obviously be a waste of "cannon stones".
Therefore, it is set to five rounds at a time, and a certain amount of time will be left after the five rounds, so that the Jin Kingdom defenders on the city wall can replenish some.
"Ah, here you go again? Hurry and escape——"
This is the newly replaced city guard captain. The city guard captain just now was unfortunately hit by a cannon stone. Although he was not dead yet, he was almost dead.
"General Wanyan, this...hey——"
Witnessing the tragedy of flying rocks hitting people again, the deputy general was speechless.
"After the trebuchets stop, only two hundred people will be left on the city to monitor them. If the Song army still uses trebuchets, ignore them. If a large number of Song troops attack the city, let the brothers board the city to defend it."
Wanyan Shilu changed his defensive strategy in an instant, otherwise it would not be possible to continue like this.
Before even touching the opponent's hair, one's own people lost a small amount of two thousand?
How many people are there in total at the West City Gate? If this continues, the entire army will be wiped out within a few rounds.
"Captain Lieutenant, it seems that there are fewer Jin troops on the city. Do they dare not come up when they are under the city?"
The sergeant in charge of the trebuchet took a look at the tower. These people were on the same level as the archers, and their eyes were very good.
"Huh, you want to hide? There's no door -"
"All the trebuchets have moved forward a hundred steps. Aren't they hiding under the city? Let's smash them under the city."
With an order, five sergeants were in charge of a trebuchet, and they could slowly move forward by pushing the base of the trebuchet.
At the same time, two hundred giant shield bearers appeared on the left and right wings, each holding a giant shield, to prevent the archers on the city top from sniping the trebuchet sergeants.
"Yue Ao, you have made great progress in the past few years. Do you know how to protect the lives of your brothers?"
Guo Mo watched the operations in front of the formation from behind and couldn't help but praise Yue Ao a few words.
"Hehe, look at what Your Highness said, if you can use these sharp weapons to kill enemies, who would be stupid enough to let your brothers risk their lives? However, these are not my ideas, they are all Lao Qin's ideas."
It turned out to be Qin Ju's intention, which is no wonder. Before participating in the "Martial Arts Examination", Qin Ju had already been a captain stationed at the border for several years.
"There are three rows, each of them will send twenty rounds to Bianliang City, especially where the horse racing track extends, and hit them hard-"
Twenty rounds and two to three thousand cannon stones will take some time to finish.
The 50,000 "Yue family troops" under the city were waiting in full formation. They looked at the spectacular scene in front of them coldly, but they were very excited in their hearts.
On the city wall, there were no longer any shouts from the defenders, only the sound of roaring cannons and stones in the air, or the screams of the sergeants who were hit.
"Ladder preparation——"
Before the trebuchets were finished, Yue Ao had already issued the order to attack the city.
There are fifty ladders more than two feet long, and behind each one are two hundred people, holding a shield in one hand and a sword in the other.
Because the trebuchets hit the city from the front, of course they would occasionally hit the city wall, but at this time, they could no longer care about these details.
Yue Ao wanted to order his sword and shield soldiers to board the city before the trebuchets stopped attacking.
A dozen people carried ladders and moved quickly towards the city wall.
The west city gate, like the east city gate, is only over two feet high. It is much faster to go up to the city with a ladder than with a rope. Fifty Song soldiers appeared as soon as they appeared.
Unfortunately, at this time, the Jin soldiers on the city had already gone to find places to hide. They did not expect that while the trebuchets were still in operation, Song soldiers would board the city.
Fifty, one hundred, one hundred and fifty, two hundred...
The "Yue Jiajun" who climbed onto the city wall also lowered their waists and quickly extended to both sides to make room for more comrades to come up.
After twenty rounds of trebuchets were finished, while the west gate of Bianliang City was still filled with dust, more than a thousand "Yue Jiajun" were already mounted on the city wall.
Due to Yue Ao's temperament, he originally wanted to take the lead, but unfortunately Guo Mo stayed here, so he had no choice but to command from behind.
But, what’s so good about commanding this?
Nowadays, many of the battles fought by Guo Mo's army have been repeatedly deduced on the sand table in advance, and several possible variables have been prepared.
Yue Ao couldn't go, so Qin Ju followed the second thousand-man team up.
"Quickly, send another two hundred people to the city -"
Learning from the previous lesson, Wanyan Shilu sent another two hundred people this time, and no longer dared to send one or two thousand people forward to die.
Even so, the twenty rounds of artillery and stone just now caused more than a thousand casualties to the Jin army in the city.
There was no way, they were originally going to defend at the west gate, so they couldn't drag everyone into the city. No matter how hard they hid, they didn't dare to get too far away.
After fighting for so many years, Wanyan Shilu had never been so depressed.
There were at least 3,000 casualties, right?
The problem is, no one can tell how many more rounds of this attack the other side will have. Many crenellations on the west city wall have been smashed. They doubt whether the wall can withstand the constant attacks of cannon stones?
"ah--"
The two hundred people sent out by Wanyan Shilu were massacred by the "Yue Family Army" as soon as they climbed onto the city wall.
"Quick, go and tell the general, the Song army has already boarded the city -"
Unfortunately, it was too late to call the police now. More than two thousand "Yue family troops" had already gathered on the city wall, and Qin Ju was among them.
"Brothers, go down the city on the left and right horse roads. Go to the left to open the city gate and welcome His Royal Highness into the city. Follow me on the right -"
Qin Ju shouted loudly and took the lead to kill down the horse racing track on the south side, followed closely by two hundred personal guards.
"General Wanyan, something bad has happened. The Song Army... The Song Army has already boarded the city and is heading towards the city -"
After all, there was still a fish that slipped through the net and ran to Wanyan Shilu regardless of his life.
"What? Okay, what a cunning Song Army! Warriors of the Kingdom of Jin, since the enemy has come in, let them taste the power of the scimitars in our hands, follow me -"
Although Wanyan Shilu was a semi-Confucian general, he was still able to mount a horse and kill people.
He mounted his war horse, held a big iron gun, and ran towards the horse racing track on the south side...