This time, the Song Dynasty court finally tasted the bitter fruit of its own cultivation.
Ever since Zhao Kuangyin launched the Chenqiao Mutiny as a military general to seize the throne that did not belong to him, the Song Dynasty court had always been strict with military generals and had little trust in them. In addition, they thought they had learned from the Tang Dynasty's fall to the vassal and separatist rule, and the five dynasties and ten years. A series of military generals in the country committed regicide. Following the lesson of defeat, they continued to suppress the generals, making each general become a precarious existence like a puppet on a string.
And in this era, because the king is fatuous and treacherous, the life of the soldiers is even more difficult, and they are even worse than ordinary people. Because the property and land of ordinary people are ultimately under their own names, even if corrupt officials and landlords want to rob them, they have to find a suitable excuse and opportunity, but the property of ordinary soldiers at the bottom is different.
In almost every state and county in the world, land under the name of the Xiang army has been annexed by local officials and gentry using extraordinary means. Moreover, at this time, the soldiers with low status could not even find a place to redress their grievances. In the end, most of them had no choice but to flee the local area and seek life elsewhere in order to survive. And this played into the hands of those corrupt officials, who were able to embezzle the food and wages of the fleeing soldiers and put them into their own pockets.
In some places, it even happened that superior officials deliberately forced the soldiers below to have their families destroyed and their families to leave their homes in order to take advantage of their empty quota and drink the blood of their soldiers. And when these corrupt officials were fed up with this, the defensive strength of the cities everywhere also dropped again and again. The so-called tens of thousands of standing troops were just numbers on the books.
In the final analysis, all this was the result of the imperial court despising military affairs and strictly preventing military generals from gaining power. It can be said that except for a few important cities where soldiers and horses are still stationed, the world of the Song Dynasty is almost an empty frame without defenses. In fact, this is the reason why tens of thousands of golden soldiers in history were able to rush into the Central Plains from the north in a few months as if they were in uninhabited territory, and finally occupied Bianliang, Tokyo with ease.
This time, although the threat from the Kingdom of Jin had been completely eliminated, Sun Tu led his army of rebels to attack cities and plunder lands from north to south like wind and clouds.
The soldiers all over the world have been suffering from the injustice of the imperial court for a long time. Now the famous General Sun comes under the banner of letting them strengthen themselves and saving them from the sea of suffering. Coupled with the banner of eliminating thieves and clearing the emperor, the defenders in the city along the way Which team will work for those corrupt officials who continue to exploit and mistreat them
What's more, even if someone really wants to defend the city, they are unable to do so. The Xiang army soldiers and horses that were supposed to be used to guard the place had long been forced to leave their homeland by those officials, and the remaining ones were ordered by the court to be transferred to the north to support the frontier army in fighting the Liao army - in other words, this force Among the rebel army, a considerable number of soldiers and horses came from these northern state capitals.
In this way, things became easier. With the help of insiders who were familiar with the local area, Sun Tu's attack on the city became even more powerful. In just one month, it had swept through the entire Hebei area, including Xiangzhou, Bozhou, Huaizhou, Puyang... countless big cities are like Daming Mansion. The moment the rebel army came to the city, the local officers and soldiers opened the city gates and directly welcomed the righteous troops into the city.
Even local defenders appeared in Xiangzhou City together with hundreds of
The surnames launched an uprising and killed dozens of officials and their families from the local magistrate before the rebel army arrived. In addition, the Han family, the largest wealthy family in the area, killed everyone in anticipation of the arrival of the army. You must know that the Xiangzhou Han family is the descendant of Han Qi, a famous minister of the Song Dynasty. They are extremely powerful in both the government and the opposition.
But it is precisely because the Han family is so powerful that they have almost monopolized all the interests of the entire Xiangzhou territory in the past few decades. As the family continues to expand, ordinary people and businesses have been forced to do nothing but sigh. to survive.
When there is no other choice, the people can only endure. But when Sun Tu held high the banner of eradicating thieves and came to kill them, he finally ignited the anger in the hearts of these oppressed people. Before the army arrived, the people in the city had already taken action and inflicted the Han family on them. The suffering on your body will be repaid tenfold.
When Sun Tu led his army into the city, he learned that more than 200 members of the Han family were killed, and the men among them were all mutilated by the mob. Buried with the entire Xiangzhou Han family were hundreds of local officials and their family members...
In this regard, Sun Tu didn't do much to pursue it. He just asked people to collect the corpses and burn them, and then found an open space outside the city and buried them hastily. In fact, even Sun Tu himself was shocked by the outcome of the riot. You must know that he had also dealt with the descendants of the Han family in Xiangzhou. It was unbelievable that the wealthy family of the Song Dynasty, which could turn right and wrong at that time, today How could he end up with such a miserable end
This may be the power of people's hearts. Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it!
With the lessons learned from the tragic disaster in Xiangzhou, the resistance of each city after that was even weaker to the extreme. Sun Tu's march southward was almost entirely spent on the road. By the end of the winter lunar month, the rebel army that had captured the entire territory of Hebei was stationed on the north bank of the Yellow River, preparing to cross the river south and enter the capital, with its troops pointed directly at Bianliang, Tokyo.
It was not until this time that the last capable army from the Song Dynasty court appeared and drove to the south bank of the Yellow River, almost confronting the rebel army across the river. This was an official army of the Song Dynasty that was urgently transferred from Gyeonggi, Huainan and other places. It was mainly composed of Xiang troops from various places, and was supplemented by the Forbidden Army. The number was 180,000. And its coach is Zhang Shuye, who had dealt with Sun Tu earlier!
Although the timely march of the 180,000-strong army to the north and the natural danger of the surging Yellow River finally temporarily blocked the march of the rebel army southward, Sun Tu's rise of troops this time still quickly shocked the entire Song Dynasty. People began to react accordingly—
On the twentieth day of the winter lunar month, just as Sun Tu was leading his army to set up camp on the north bank of the Yellow River to look for ships, Bianliang, Tokyo, already showed a rare scene of panic. On weekdays, the streets of Tokyo should have been bustling with people waving their sleeves. Today, only a few people were still walking, and other ordinary people had already hid in their homes.
It's not that the people in the capital have felt the threat from the soldiers and horses ahead, but because several government offices have issued strict curfew orders for the first time. Many people who had been outside talking about the war on the front had been arrested by the imperial spies who suddenly appeared on charges of treason. Now the prisons in Kaifeng Mansion, the Ministry of Punishment and other places are full of innocent people. Before the rebel army arrived, the city was already full of soldiers, and there was a roar of wind and cranes.
What is even more tense are the ruling officials headed by Cai Jing and other treacherous and powerful officials. You must know that their names were written in capital letters by Sun Tuzhen in the dispatch of troops. In other words, once Sun Tuzhen led his troops into Tokyo, others might have a glimmer of hope, but they would definitely die.
If it were before, Cai Jing would not have taken the storms he had experienced as an official for many years seriously, but now, as news of the city ahead being captured continued to come back, they were really frightened.
"It took less than two months to fight from Youzhou to the edge of the Yellow River. No one in the dozens of cities in Hebei could stop the rebels..." Holding the stack of battle reports in his hand, Cai Jing's veteran has already It was the constant trembling that could be seen with the naked eye, but I didn't know whether it was because of anger or panic, maybe both.
"These local officials are really just losers. How can they repay the imperial court for giving them such generous salaries? Almost no city can be defended for more than a few days." Liang Shicheng also cursed loudly: "Damn it, they all deserve to die!" It seemed that they all deserved it! I want to use such curses to make myself feel a little more at ease.
"Are everyone at the Sun family guarded?" Suddenly, Cai Jing asked with a gloomy face.
"Since the news of Sun Tu's rebellion came to the capital, I have ordered everyone to watch the entire Sun family to death. If you hadn't told me not to hurt his life, I'm afraid they would have been killed by Cun Zhe!" Liang Shicheng immediately said He said with a distorted face, and there was a little doubt in his words.
Others present were actually a little confused as to why Cai Jing didn't let them arrest and question the family members of the rebel leader Sun Tu. Facing the eyes of these people, Cai Jing gave a bitter smile: "Don't you want to kill them, I don't want to kill them? The situation really doesn't allow it. Do you know that just a few days ago, the Forbidden Army had troops heading to the Yuehou Mansion? Mobilize nearby, if you really order the killing, I'm afraid those forbidden troops will take the lead and cause chaos."
"They dare!"
"I have already found out that Sun Tu's wife is the daughter of the Di family. Do you think they dare?" Cai Jing sneered: "Now we are just surrounding his mansion. Of course, the forbidden troops will not do anything, but once If we really start arresting people, with the courage of Di Yingyang and others, as well as Sun Tu's team left in the Forbidden Army, a big disaster will inevitably happen.
"Also, this memorandum just came from the north. You all should take a look." Cai Jing said and handed a brand new memorandum to Liang Shicheng in front of him. As soon as the latter saw it, his expression changed again. As the document was passed on, everyone who was still aggressive before immediately became a gourd, and they did not dare to clamor for killing Sun Tumanmen anymore.
Because the content above is very straightforward - if anyone dares to kill the families of the soldiers and soldiers below Sun Tu, when the army arrives, all the officials of the dynasty will be killed, and no one will be spared!
If others had said this, these officials might not take it too seriously, but what Sun Tu, especially Sun Tu, who had heard about the extermination of the Han family in Xiangzhou, said that its deterrence was enough to suppress everyone. Some people even began to consider that leaving the Sun family alone might serve as a threat when the army really came to the city.
At this point, although Sun Turen is still north of the Yellow River, his threat has already invaded all the officials in Tokyo like the cold wind in winter.