Chapter 17 unite all forces that can be united

In other words, the Song army was losing ground on the battlefield, and if they wanted to expel the Jin soldiers, recover the lost ground, and return the capital to Tokyo, there must be a clear-headed person in charge of the overall situation.who?Whether it is soldiers, common people, or Song Gaozong, they are all looking for this person. On the day Li Gang became prime minister, he told Zhao Gou that this matter "must be done by Ze", and appointed Zongze as the governor of Kaifeng. Zongze himself also said with emotion: "Although I am blunt and cowardly, I am willing to brave the enemy's artillery, rocks, arrows and crossbows to charge at the forefront. Even if I sacrifice my life to serve the country, I am satisfied." Yashi is the leader of the generals, but it is enough to die to repay the country's favor.")

Zhao Goule was happy to be the shopkeeper, and agreed to Li Gang's application. Zongze was granted the title of Bachelor of Yankang Palace. According to records in the history of the Song Dynasty, "Princes, privy envoys, left-behind, Jiedu envoys and servants, Zhongshuling, and Tongping Zhangshi are all called envoys." They are all positions at the prime minister level, staying at the same level as them, called "envoys", and have a very high status.Compared with officials at the prime minister level, the left-behind department is more integrated with civil and military power, "starting to manage the army, and dismounting to manage the people."The four capitals where left-behind divisions were set up in the Northern Song Dynasty were Kaifeng in Tokyo, Luoyang in Xijing, Yingtian in Nanjing, and Daming in Beijing.Zong Ze was ordered in the face of danger and had a heavy responsibility.

At that time, the cavalry of the Jin people were stationed along the Yellow River. Self-danger, fear and uneasiness. Zongze had always been prestigious. When he came out of Tokyo, he first executed several thieves who had robbed their homes, and then issued an order: "For those who are thieves, the stolen goods are not serious, and follow the military law." As soon as the decree came out, "The thieves hold their breath, and the people rest in peace." . Of course, the "thieves" mentioned here refer to some ordinary desperadoes who work alone or in groups of three or four, and make a living with knives. For those more powerful thieves, that is, people often The so-called "thieves" cannot be shocked by one or two laws.

These "thieves" cannot be beaten, so what should we do?Zong Ze's solution is very simple - find them and take them for his own use. But now Hebei is in chaos, and thieves from all walks of life are swarming up, hoping to make a fortune in the troubled times. You say you want to "take them for your own use", it's not easy! But Zongze has confidence. He believes that as long as he has a sincere heart, can tell the interests of these thieves and understand the righteousness of the nation, these people will be able to fight against the invaders together with him. Many people are skeptical of Zong Ze's idea, and some even think that the old man's brain is broken.Zong Ze disregarded everyone's dissuasion, and practiced his own ideas earnestly. He said: "I made friends with them with all my heart and soul. Even grass, trees and rocks would be moved, let alone people?" Treat it with your heart, although wood and stone can move you, how about people!")

There was a giant bandit in Hedong, surnamed Wang and named Shan, who pulled up a large-scale military force in the troubled times. It was said in history that it "had 700,000 people and 10,000 chariots". Zong Ze targeted this person as the first object of persuasion. After finding out the specific location of Wang Shan's old lair, Zong Ze, dressed in green and plain robes, brought a few relatives to visit him. As soon as they met, they said straight to the point: "Now the country is in crisis, but there are only one or two heroes like you in the army, why don't the gold men not be broken? Today is a great opportunity for you to make contributions. Don't miss it. ("When the imperial court is in danger, if you are like the first or second generation of the public, how can there be enemies again. Today is the autumn of your meritorious service, so don't lose it.")

No one thought that this murderous thief would be moved all of a sudden - not only because of Zong Ze's words, but also because of Zong Ze!Seeing this white-haired old man in his seventies, who was still working hard on state affairs, Wang Shan was shaken! Zong Ze saw that Wang Shan was silent, so he struck while the iron was hot, and continued to show affection and reason to him, and persuaded him for several hours. Finally, Wang Shan stood up from the tiger-skin chair, bowed deeply to Zongze, and said, "Dare not to serve." The 700,000 people under his command rushed to Zongze's tent.

In addition, there is a hero named "Cow without Horns", named Yang Jin, who has 300,000 soldiers; Zhang Yong, Cao Cheng and others each have tens of thousands of soldiers, all of whom are running around in the west of Beijing, Huainan, Henan, and Hebei to commit crimes. Infested.Zong Ze took them under his tent one by one. For a while, people from Shaanxi and Jingdong were willing to obey Zongze's dispatch.Later, Zongze set up appeasement envoys around the capital to recruit soldiers from all directions, and secretly contacted Lianghe Shanshuizhai and Shaanxi righteous men, "asking the generals to discuss matters together in order to recover."

With the growth of the capital's military strength and the continuous improvement of all aspects of work, Zong Ze asked the emperor to return to the capital, saying: "Recently, the veteran has been feeling exhausted and exhausted, and his health is getting worse every day. It seems that he is getting old and the deadline is approaching." Yes. Birth, old age, sickness and death are the unchanging laws. There is nothing to be afraid of at first, but now I am very afraid. If I die like this, I will really owe His Majesty’s favor, and I will die with regret. I hope I can die later , and His Majesty can come earlier, in that case, the old minister can see His Majesty return to Beijing, prostrating and worshiping, even if his body fills the ditch, he will be full of joy!" Live up to His Majesty's compassion and compassion, and the ministers will not die. The envoys, officers, officers and people are expected to return to the dust of the chariot, bow down and pay homage, and then fill the ditch with their bodies. Although the day of death is like the year of life!")

After the letter was sent out, Zong Ze waited every day, looking forward to it day by day, looking forward to Zhao Gou's return to Tokyo like the stars and the moon. Just as he was looking forward to and waiting, a young general arrived unexpectedly. This person is Yue Fei. In addition, after Yue Fei left that day, Wang Yan's camp was besieged by tens of thousands of gold soldiers. Wang Yan's troops were weak, so he had to break through the encirclement in a hurry at night. The best of the Jin people went out and chased them all the way to Gongcheng (now Huixian City, Henan Province) at the southern foot of Jiushan Mountain, a branch of the Taihang Mountains.

Gongcheng was the residence of the Gonggong people in ancient times, and it was also the fiefdom of Gongbohe in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. As the base area, while calling the fugitive soldiers, they also recruited a large number of soldiers, and soon pulled up a team of more than 700 people. Under the influence of Wang Yan, these more than seven hundred people were stabbed in the face of each other, and each face was tattooed: "Serve the country with all your heart, and swear to kill the gold thieves." It caused a lot of trouble. At that time, it was said that "the hail at the head of the battle scattered a thousand crossbows, and the Han Shangfeng galloped the eight-character army".

Jin Bing once held a meeting of senior generals to discuss sending a large army to besiege Wang Yan again. Some people said in fear: "Wang Yan's camp is built as solid as iron stone, and it is not so easy to attack." ("Wang Dutong's camp is as solid as iron stone." , not easy to map.") Wang Yan's attack on the Jin soldiers became more and more powerful, so that Lianghe responded, and loyal militiamen came to attach themselves one after another. Zong Ze, who was far away in Tokyo, learned of Wang Yan's deeds, and appointed him as a martial arts doctor, Zhongzhou Defense Envoy, and established Lianghe military. At this time, Yue Fei was still fighting hard with the Jin soldiers in the Taihang Mountains.He and his team faced desperation countless times and escaped countless times. In the areas occupied by the Jin people, in the deep mountains and old forests, in the guerrilla warfare between the enemy and ourselves, the difficulties they faced were unimaginable to ordinary people.In the continuous months of fighting, some soldiers died, some soldiers were scattered, and there were even occasional deserters. Although he was close to death, Yue Fei still insisted on fighting. Taihang has unlimited hero bones, and fossils still look forward to crossing the river. At this time, news came that Zongze was recruiting loyal militiamen from Shanshui villages in Hedong and Hebei. Yue Fei, who was out of ammunition and food, made up his mind and withdrew his troops from the mountains and went south to join Zongze. Once this decision was announced, the members were very surprised and dissuaded them one after another.Because according to the military law at that time, those who go to battle without authorization and leave the army will be killed without mercy.Yue Fei was Wang Yan's lieutenant general, and without Wang Yan's consent, he went out to fight without permission and should be executed.Because of the battle, the troops were completely separated from the country's military establishment and should be cut.Zong Ze is upright by nature, and the law is like a mountain. Wouldn't it be self-defeating to vote rashly?The generals will try their best to dissuade them. Yue Fei was unmoved, and said sternly: "You are all soldiers of the country, how can you lose the opportunity to serve the country because of me? I must be responsible for the mistakes I made. No hesitation." Hearing this, all the soldiers wept. Indeed, Zongze had a strong temperament and could not tolerate sand in his eyes. It is said in history that he served as Guan Taowei in his early years, and he once "killed the deserters whenever he was captured".Lu Huiqing, the prime minister of the Shenzong Dynasty, couldn't bear to see him, and sighed when he met everyone: "Zongze has never read Buddhist books, so how do you know that life is rare, and you can kill it lightly?" Philosophy, the army is more harsh. Therefore, Yue Fei went to Zongze with a heart of mortalism, and the faces of all the soldiers were full of tragedy. At this time, it was the third time that the Jin army was going south. Zongze resisted the enemy at Sishuiguan in Mengzhou (now Mengxian County, Henan Province), thinking hard about countermeasures. The Jin people have been tackling key problems for many days. It won't be long.The sergeant came to report, and someone led a team of deserters to report, what should I do? If it was the past, Zong Ze didn't need to think about it at all, just let the soldiers pull out and kill him, but today, he suddenly became interested, so he ordered someone to bring Yue Fei to see him.Soon, Yue Fei was brought up. Zongze walked up to him, looked at him carefully, and asked: "Articles 22 and 24 of the Military Law stipulate that those who are not ordered by a general in the army, and those who issue orders or change the banner of the clan banner under the army, shall be beheaded; Those who walk in the army, beheaded. Do you know these two military laws?" Yue Fei calmly replied, "I know." Zong Ze laughed loudly: "Knowing that you are still coming, you are so courageous, come here, pull it out and kill it!" Yue Fei just remained silent. Zong Ze looked into Yue Fei's eyes, there was no panic in it, but calmness. Zong Ze suddenly felt that this person was unusual, so he seriously asked Yue Fei about his name and background. Yue Fei talked about some of his experiences since he joined the army, and Zongze remembered that this person was in charge of the vanguard when he rescued Tokyo that day. A rare "general talent", he decided to keep him alive, saying: "According to the military law, you should be punished by death. Now is the time to employ people. Let me save you from death. I hope you can make great achievements in the army." ( "You deserve to die for your crime, I don't ask if I explain it, and now you will do something for me!")