External alchemy and internal alchemy are Taoist terms. External alchemy is a tangible pill made in an alchemy furnace that can be taken; internal alchemy is a way of practicing with techniques such as finger breathing and qi training, such as the nose locking technique learned by Chen Tuan. It is difficult to discuss the effects, but they are all things that exist in real Taoism, not fantasy.
Hundreds of thousands of people had gathered outside Shouzhou City of Southern Tang. Emperor Chai Rong, who was originally in Chenzhou, also left his seriously ill empress and rushed here.
Shouzhou is located on the south bank of the middle reaches of the Huai River, near Shou County in northern Anhui Province today. Several rivers flowing from north to south in the Central Plains vertically flow into the Huai River, forming a waterway network; Chinese cities are mostly built at the confluence of rivers to control both land and water routes, and Shouzhou is no exception. Shouzhou City is where the Xifei River and the Huai River meet.
The main force of the Great Zhou Dynasty marched southward along the Cai River from Kaifeng, Henan, and then along the Xifei River to directly approach the Huai River basin of the Southern Tang Kingdom. The two places are 800 miles apart. Emperor Chai Rong also deployed military governors from various places to send troops, and military pressure was also exerted on the upper reaches of the Huai River; the Jingnan Kingdom clamored to send troops, but no movement was seen for the time being.
The vanguard of the Zhou army attacked Shouzhou for more than a month but failed to break through. At this time, the soldiers and civilians from Song, Hao, Chen, Ying, Xu, Su, Xu, Cai and other states mobilized by Chai Rong also crossed the Huai River one after another from the pontoon bridge. Together with the local troops from various towns, they began to besiege Shouzhou from all sides, and hundreds of thousands of people launched a non-stop attack day and night.
Chai Rong put his hand on the hilt of his sword, frowned as he looked at the city that was surrounded by enemies. He was very unhappy.
Since launching the war against Southern Tang, Zhou's army has won great victories in Shouzhou City and Zhengyang Field Battle to the west of Shouzhou. After many battles, they beheaded 10,000 or 20,000 Southern Tang soldiers. But these are not what Chai Rong wants. What Chai Rong wants is the entire Jianghuai Plain.
In the early days, the strategy decided by the emperor and the Privy Council was very simple and direct: break through the middle of the Huaihe River basin, capture Shouzhou as a foothold, and at the same time eliminate the threat of the army's attack route; then use Shouzhou as the source of the war, break through Qingliu Pass on the southeast defense line, and capture Chuzhou (now Chu County, Anhui Province), the eastern capital of today's Yangzhou.
The central route broke through, splitting the Jianghuai Plain in two, occupying the important town of Jiangdufu, the eastern capital of Southern Tang, and approaching the Yangtze River. In this way, the northern bank of the Yangtze River in Southern Tang could not take care of each other, and without a center, it became a mess. At this time, cleaning up the Jianghuai mess was like an autumn wind sweeping away leaves.
But the problem is that they have been fighting for almost two months, and they have not even taken Shouzhou, the original strategic goal. Chai Rong is now doubting the feasibility of this war. It is useless to surround the city if they cannot capture it. The Southern Tang Kingdom is rich and has no shortage of food or money. A military stronghold like Shouzhou has enough food stored in it to last for at least a few years. Will the Zhou army surround it for several years and wait for the people inside to starve to death
In the distance, a huge catapult made a rattling sound, and the sound of the huge force made people's muscles tense. Then there was a whistling sound, and the thick pole turned in the air, and the sound of wood rubbing against each other made people's teeth ache. With a bang, the wood hit the frame and stopped, and a large stone flew out.
Looking far away, more stones flew towards the walls of Shouzhou City, mixed with incendiary bombs that emitted long black smoke. Stones hit the walls and flew, and burning fireballs hit the top of the city and cracked it, with flames splashing everywhere. There were also crossbows as thick as beams flying in the air, dotted with arrows of all sizes, and the air was filled with smoke. Shouzhou City looked like a pile of grain storage, the sky was full of locusts, and below was thick smoke. People were like ants, and they could be burned to ashes and eaten to only skeletons at any time. Amid the huge crash, the city seemed to be about to collapse at any time, but it had not collapsed for more than a month.
There was a layer of black oil floating in the moat, as if the water had been replaced with black, and it was flammable in the water. The floating bridge that Zhou’s army had placed on the moat was also burned, with a fierce fire and billowing smoke.
According to Southern Tang captives, this black oil was called fierce fire oil, which was dug from the ground. The Southern Tang ruler also sent people to transport this fierce fire oil from the sea to the Khitan to support the Khitan's plan to attack from the north and the south.
Countless civilians rushed towards the moat with shields and sandbags on their backs amidst the rain of arrows, throwing sand into it. Several broken rams were being dragged back by people. Before they could get close, they were smashed by crossbows as thick as tree trunks in the distance. A towering cloud chariot was parked motionless by the moat, with fire spreading on it, as if a house had been burned down to a frame after a fire.
There were people carrying corpses everywhere, people were shouting and groaning in pain, and the world was like hell.
There seemed to be a hint of depression on Chai Rong's face. He believed that the attack on Shouzhou was not going well, and the main responsibility should be that Prime Minister Li Gu missed the opportunity to fight, which gave the Southern Tang army time to prepare. Otherwise, why was the city defense so airtight, and everything was used
At this time, Li Gu and others knew that the emperor had arrived outside Shouzhou City, and finally rushed over with a group of military generals.
The group of people bowed and shouted: "May your majesty live forever."
Chai Rong was angry and did not even ask them to stand up, leaving them to kneel and talk.
Li Gu bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I first advanced by land and water, built a floating bridge from Zhengyang to cross the Huai River, and encountered thousands of Southern Tang troops under Shouzhou City, and then I used the vanguard Shi Yanchao to break the formation, quickly defeated the Tang army, and killed 3,000 people. Soon after the siege, I heard that the Southern Tang army rushed to help and approached Zhengyang. Our vanguard floating bridge is in Zhengyang, and the military food and reinforcements all depend on this place. If we lose it, the consequences will be disastrous.
The Tang army reinforcements were very numerous, and they reported that the army stretched for thirty miles. I thought that my retreat would be cut off in Shouzhou, and I would be attacked from both sides by the Tang army. I had no place to stand, so I had to return to Zhengyang immediately to meet the Tang army reinforcements.
Chai Rong said coldly: All the elite soldiers of the Imperial Guard are in your hands. How can my Great Zhou Iron Cavalry have an opponent in battle
Everyone was in awe and bowed hastily. They felt that the emperor was very domineering standing with his sword in his hand. He said that there was no rival in the world. What else could they say
Chai Rong added: "I urgently ordered the imperial guard Sima Bu Du's commander Li Chongjin to lead his troops to attack the reinforcements in Zhengyang. What happened was that the Tang army was powerless to resist and their bodies were spread over an area of dozens of miles. You should not have withdrawn from Shouzhou."
Li Gu dared not to argue any more, and kowtowed, saying:
Chai Rong closed his eyes slightly, thinking of the past when Li Gu served at the Battle of Gaoping and the Battle of Jinyang, and worked hard in coordinating the transportation of troops and grain and preparing military equipment. It is said that Li Gu only ate one meal a day and slept for two hours at that time. He lost 20 pounds when he returned to Tokyo. Li Gu was also quite principled. He was captured by the Khitan in his early years and tortured six times, but he did not yield. He also made great achievements in military service and the control of the Yellow River.
Prime Minister Li, you are now transferred to judge the affairs of Shouzhou Prefecture. First, go and appease the people of Shouzhou and let them return to their respective lands to work. Our Great Zhou army will not plunder or kill indiscriminately. Chai Rong said.
Li Gu hurriedly said: "I thank the emperor for his grace."
Chai Rong added: Send someone to convey the imperial edict, and let Li Chongjin, the commander of the imperial guard Sima Bu, serve as the recruiting envoy of the Huainan camp and command all the troops on the front line.
The emperor ordered Han Lingkun to lead his troops to move the pontoon bridge to Xiacai Town and deploy defense.
When Chai Rong saw the big black man Zhao Kuangyin also kneeling in front of him, he said: The Southern Tang army still has a lot of troops on the Huai River. I heard that they have a heavy garrison in Tushan. Zhao Kuangyin, you lead the Iron Cavalry Army and a small group of troops to destroy this enemy force that threatens my flank.
Zhao Kuangyin said in a loud voice:
Chai Rong was behind the battle formation, and he made some deployments very neatly. His actions were in line with his usual style of managing the army and government, always able to grasp the key points concisely, and with a few simple and rough moves, everything was clearly connected.
Tushan is located in the lower reaches of the Huaihe River in Shouzhou. In its northeast, the Southern Tang navy can defend the lower reaches from here and control the river to threaten the middle and upper reaches of the Huaihe River. Zhao Kuangyin did not disappoint Chai Rong. In three days, the 10,000 Tang troops in Tushan were swept away by the cavalry. Zhao Kuangyin first lured the enemy to surrender and lured the Tang army to Wokou, not far from Tushan, and then attacked from both sides to decide the outcome. The battle of Wokou was fought cleanly and beautifully.
Chai Rong was overjoyed, thinking that Zhao Kuangyin was capable of the important task and he relied on him greatly.
At this time, a eunuch suddenly came from Huaiyang County, Henan Province, more than 300 miles southeast of Kaifeng City, the capital of Tokyo, and hurried to the frontline. When Chai Rong saw that it was Cao Tai, he knew that this eunuch from the Ministry of Internal Affairs was often around the queen, and he immediately guessed that it was about the queen.
As expected, Cao Tai fell to his knees and burst into tears as soon as he entered the tent. Seeing this, Chai Rong had an idea: the queen had passed away. In his mind, the queen's death was a matter of time, and he was mentally prepared to see her coughing up blood. Moreover, the famous doctor in Tokyo had already concluded that she could not be saved, and she was getting weaker and weaker, waiting for her last breath.
Cao Tai cried and said: The Queen wants to see the Emperor for the last time.
After hearing this, Chai Rong knew that she was not dead yet. He pondered for a moment and felt that the deployment in Huainan would not be changed for the time being. He also thought that the queen was a person that the late emperor valued very much. The late emperor specially arranged someone to be by his side to stabilize his throne when he was dying. They had a good relationship at ordinary times. Now that he was about to leave, it was time to see her again.
He then said: I will set out for Chenzhou immediately, you go back and make preparations first. After I meet the queen, I will send someone to send her back to the Tokyo Palace.
Cao Tai hurriedly said: I beg you to help me. The Queen is only breathing her last breath and I’m afraid she can’t stand the hardship of the journey.
Chai Rong said angrily: "Use a sedan chair to carry her, find someone to carry her steadily. Are you going to let the queen die outside? You slaves, you need me to teach you this little thing, what use is there for you?"
Yes, yes. I obey your order. Cao Tai kowtowed hurriedly.
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