Chapter 51 Zhong Xiang and Yang Mo

It is said that the external aggression in the Southern Song Dynasty was not over, and the internal disturbance recurred! In the south of the Yangtze River, the ordinary people who have been harassed by the war are worried all day long, always afraid that the devil-like golden soldiers will suddenly appear at their door, praying to gods and worshiping Buddha all day long.And some so-called masters also came into being, Zhong Xiang is one of them. Zhong Xiang, a native of Wuling County, Dingzhou (now Changde City, Hunan Province), was born in a magic stick. History says that he "has no other skills, but is good at giving birth." , boasting that he has great supernatural powers, that the law is in harmony with the sky, that he can save people from illnesses, cure all diseases, and bring the dead back to life.

He fooled his believers and fans and said: "The 'laws' that distinguish between high and low, and rich and poor are not the best good 'laws'. The great 'laws' I practice can be equal to high and low, and equal to rich and poor." Blame everything in the world Laws are not "good laws", saying that the political laws of the Southern Song Dynasty are "evil laws", and that he created a "big law" himself. As long as he "practices the law", he can "equal the high and the low, and equal the rich and the poor." Attracted countless faithful men and women, scrambling to pursue him, they all voted under his sect and "worshiped the Lord" devoutly.

As a result, Zhong Xiang collected "a huge family fortune", and he demanded that "the sick are not allowed to take medicine, and the dead are not allowed to go to funerals, but worshiping the Lord is the only thing to do."And taking advantage of the invasion of the Jin people, he took the opportunity to call the king of Chu, changed the Yuan to "Tianzai", and encouraged believers to rebel, calling murder as "practice" and robbing wealth as "equal", and the soldiers and believers under him without exception were called "Tianzai". Fathers and sons", committed murders and robbed everywhere, "burned government offices, cities, temples, temples, and houses of nobles, and killed officials, Confucian scholars, monks, witch doctors, fortune-tellers, and people who had feuds." , Jingnan area is rampant abnormal.

It is not difficult to see that Zhong Xiang is not the lower-class working people who were forced to rise up because of desperation as people imagined, nor is it the hero of the people's uprising that is divided by the "class theory" in textbooks, but a "equal" cloak. A careerist who pursues his own personal goals. In the fourth year of Jianyan (1130), Zhong Xiang was defeated by Kong Yanzhou, another bandit army. Yang Mo took over his team and "led the rest of the people to live in Huxiang", gathering tens of thousands of troops, and together with his son Zhong Ziyi " They all called themselves kings", Yang Mo called them "Great Sage and Heavenly King", and Zhong Ziyi was called "Prince Zhong". "Occupy the people's fields", the fish and meat common people lived the life of a fairy emperor.

Cheng Changyu, the governor of West Jinghu Road and the magistrate of Dingzhou, ordered people to build a large number of "cars and boats" with wings and wheels to deal with Yang Mo.This kind of warship, people step on the pedals on it, and the wheels can drive the wings to turn, and the ship walks like flying on the water. The vehicles and boats were built and launched a large-scale attack on Huxiang. However, Yang Mo's troops were fierce and brave. They not only beat Cheng Changyu to pieces, but also captured all the vehicles and boats they built, thus greatly increasing their strength, and then entered Longyang and Wuling. The counties of Yuanjiang, Yuanjiang, Xiangyin, Anxiang, and Huarong have thousands of miles of water and land, and boats come and go.For this reason, the imperial court ordered Wang Xie, the envoy of Jingnanfu, Tan, Ding, Feng, Yue, E and other prefectures, to lead an army of 50,000 to encircle and suppress.

This Wang Xie was the sinner who fled at Majiadu back then, causing the various armies of the Left Behind Division in Tokyo to be dispersed.This dear friend is not good at fighting, but he is good at raising money. He usually works hard for soldiers and civilians, deducts military pay, and steals money from robbery, which "can be rich for generations." Yang Mo's method of dealing with him is very simple: the officers and soldiers attack the lake by land, and the troops attack by water land on the shore. As a result, Wang Xie worked so hard for two years, not only in vain, but also lost his troops, and even his most trusted commanders, Cui Zeng and Wu Quan, rebelled and defected to the enemy.

Long before the recovery of Xiangyang, Yang Mo of Taihu Lake had secretly communicated with the puppet Qi, planning to collude together to cross the Jianghuai River and carve up Jiangnan. Yue Fei said to Zhao Gou at that time: "Although Yang Mo is our confidant's serious trouble, in fact, he just borrowed Li Cheng's influence from outside, thinking that he is helping him with lips and teeth." Li Cheng thought it was the help of lips and teeth.") Pointing out that as long as Xianghan is recovered and the puppet Qi flees away, Yang Mo will lose his support, and it is not difficult to get rid of him.

Now, the Song army has continuously destroyed the cooperation between the Jin and puppet Qi coalition forces in Sichuan, Shanxi, Xianghan, and Lianghuai. The time has come to "add troops to Huxiang to kill the bandits." Zhang Jun, the right minister and an acquaintance with the Privy Council, proposed to Zhao Gou at the court meeting that Jiankang is a city in the southeast, located in the lower reaches of Dongting. Today, bandits and bandits are rampant and water transportation is impassable. In the long run, it will be impossible to establish a country. Therefore, it is imperative to crusade against Yang Mo. Row.

In February of the fifth year of Shaoxing (1135), Zhao Gou ordered Zhang Jun to visit Huxiang in person in accordance with the practice of civil servants and military governors.Take Yue Fei as the envoy of Jingnan, North, and Xiangyang Prefectures to control the military capital of the Empress Shenwu. He arranged for Liu Yannian, a transit judge in Hubei, to accompany the army for transit, and ordered Hunan and Jiangxi Caochen Xue Bi and Fan Zhenying's deputy to accompany the army with money and food, and Hunan commanders Ren Shi'an, Wang Jun, Hao Hao, etc. to come to Yue Fei's tent to listen.

When Yue Fei's army set off, it was the day when "thief became more arrogant".Many people worried that the Northwest soldiers under Yue Fei's command were not familiar with water warfare, and believed that the war against Yang Mo would be delayed indefinitely. Yue Fei said with emotion: "Soldiers are impermanent, follow the trend, as long as they are used properly, there is no difference between water warfare and land warfare, and now the country's affairs are difficult, and the confidant is in trouble. A minister should share the country's worries. As for life and death, it can be ignored. !" ("Soldiers are so constant, but how to use them. The current state of the country is like this, and the worries of the heart and belly have not been eliminated. How can I say goodbye to my ministers!")

In fact, Yue Fei also knows that the mess in Huxiang is not easy to clean up. Wang Xie and others have failed in the encirclement and suppression year after year. Totally out of control.But no matter how complicated the situation is, Yue Fei always believes that the key to solving the problem must lie in this chaos, and after a long time of thinking, he has found it. That day, Xue Bi, a staff member, came back from a walk outside and said to Yue Fei: "I just saw a group of little kids fishing by the stream, and I realized something." "Oh?" Yue Fei looked at him with interest. "The water in the stream is full, and the fish swim freely with their fins. It is difficult to catch. If the stream mouths on both sides are blocked and the water is scooped up, the fish will not be able to move." After Xue Bi finished speaking, he blinked playfully and looked at Yue Fei.Heroes see the same thing!Yue Fei smiled knowingly. At this point, Yue Fei finally determined his strategy. In March, the army marched mightily from Chizhou to Tanzhou. It was the rainy season, it rained continuously for days, and the mud was difficult to ford. Yue Fei jumped off his horse, led the reins and marched on the muddy road with the soldiers. Along the road, "there was no harassment at all, and the villagers privately left food and drinks to the soldiers, and they bargained immediately." When Zhao Gou learned about it, he praised and said: "Aiqing led a mighty army to expedition to Tan and Hunan. Although there are thousands of troops and horses, they traveled long distances but did not commit any crimes. Use the coins rewarded by the court to reward the people who welcome the army. Wherever they go I am very comforted to have won the hearts of the people. I am very glad that you are able to manage the army well, even compared with the good generals of ancient times. I will not say much about praise, and I think you understand what I mean." ("Qing Yuan mentioned Pihu, to garrison Tanxiang. Even the weight of ten thousand riders, but the drums are not startled; the journey of thousands of miles, but the woodcutters and Su are not guilty. Until the spring goods for rewards are issued, and the pots of milk for the road are rewarded. If you are happy, I will be lenient and worry about you. Jia Zhijun has the law, although he has no shame in looking at the past. He is loyal and sincere, and he is more and more admirable. Therefore, I am rewarding you, and I think you should know.") Although this is said, there are many Like people, Zhao Gou was full of worries about Yue Fei's military action. After all, this was Yue Fei's first water battle, so what are his chances of winning? Military aircraft, unpredictable military aircraft! When Yue Fei arrived in Tanzhou, the first thing he did was to order people to call in the Hunan commanders Ren Shi'an, Wang Jun, and Hao Ting, and severely punished them to rectify military discipline. These three men were originally Wang Xie's subordinates, and they inherited Wang Xie's fighting style in the battle. Xie's pigeon retreated and almost wiped out Wang Xie's entire army. Yue Fei is "serious, and his words are not light, and he can see the essence of his words in his subordinates, but those who hear it are terrified." When the bad man saw Yue Fei, he didn't even dare to lift his head, and trembled all over. Yue Fei reprimanded the three of them, and then continued to speak the truth, making the three feel ashamed and nodding frequently.The three of them thought that the matter was over, but unexpectedly, Yue Fei ordered the three of them to be dragged down, each with a hundred lashes.After beating the whip, he dragged it up again and asked, "Will you accept the three hundred lashes?" The three responded hurriedly: "I have taken it, I have taken it." Yue Fei smiled coldly, and said: "Now I give you two thousand soldiers to go and invite the bandits to fight. If you can't put down the bandits in three days, come and see them!" Due to the lack of military discipline, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and take orders. Wang Jun, originally a rascal in Cangzhou, known as "Diao'er", was treacherous by nature, and played an extremely shameful role in the later Yue Fei's injustice case.At this moment, he was gnashing his teeth at Yue Fei, and tried his best to encourage Ren and Hao to passively sabotage their work and perfunctory the military orders. When the three of them saw the shadow of the bandit village, they yelled and shouted, claiming that Yue Taiwei led 200,000 soldiers to fight against the bandits, and the wise ones should surrender as soon as possible!They tried to intimidate the bandits a few times loudly, but it ended there. Unexpectedly, when the thieves came out of the gate of the village, they found that there were only two thousand poor people who came to smash the scene. They couldn't help laughing, and they all picked up their knives and killed them like a swarm. When the three of them saw something bad, they turned around and slipped away. Where are the thieves willing to let go?One by one wielding their swords and chasing after them. When they arrived at a place called Goupi Mountain, suddenly there was loud cannon fire and ambushes everywhere. It turned out that Yue Fei deliberately forced the three of them to fight in order to set up a sweet bait for the bandit soldiers. As soon as they left, he personally led the whole army to set up an ambush. Take advantage of your own cavalry shock. In this battle, the thieves were exhausted, countless horses and armor were captured, and hundreds of thieves were captured. Yue Fei was going to release all these prisoners of war. Yue Fei's actions caused dissatisfaction among many subordinates. They said: "Which of these thieves does not have blood on their hands? Even if they are all killed, it is not enough to relieve their hatred. How can they just let go?" Even without saying a word. Yue Fei glanced at him, and Huang Zong said slowly: "To capture by deceit, without resorting to violence, is the key to a military strategy." Yue Fei gathered all the prisoners together and said: "You fell into robbery and harmed one side. Even if you are sentenced to death now, it is not enough to pay for your crime. What do you think should be done?" Yue Fei changed his tone and said: "My lord, Shengming, I know that you are all good citizens. Unfortunately, you were caught in chaos and were threatened by others as robbers. Now I am ordered to bring troops here, just to save you and others." All the prisoners look at me and I look at you, I don't know what Yue Fei means.Yue Fei then asked again: "What are you hanging out in the bandit village for?" One sentence touched the minds of all the prisoners, and these people told each other about the "desperation and sorrow" in the bandit village. As a result, the interrogation meeting turned into an accusation meeting against Zhong Xiang and Yang Mo amidst the complaints. Yue Fei smiled with satisfaction, not only released all these prisoners of war, but also distributed a lot of rewards to them. These people have been trapped in the water village by the officers and soldiers for many years, and their daily necessities are scarce. Now that they are free and have money, they flock to the free market to buy what they need, and bring them back to the camp to honor the elders at home. Small. When they arrived at the free market, they were surprised and delighted after a deal of business—the prices of all kinds of goods were ridiculously low! How did they know that this was another subplan implemented by Yue Fei: Yue Fei stipulated in advance that the price must be lowered in the market, and the army was responsible for compensation for the loss. As usual, Yue Fei's actions aroused doubts in the army. A politician surnamed Xi in the Marshal's Mansion made a small report to Zhang Jun, saying that Yue Fei was "playing a bandit", and urged Zhang Jun to report to the court as soon as possible.Although Zhang Jun didn't know which song Yue Fei was singing, he still stopped him and said, "Haven't you heard of it? Marquis Yue is famous for his loyalty and filial piety, and he will never delay the important affairs of the court. Its use of troops is well known, so don't make wild guesses!" At the end of May, the imperial court was worried that the Jin people and the puppet Qi would commit another crime in the south, and issued an edict to ask Zhang Jun to return to Lin'an to take charge of defense affairs. Zhang Jun called Yue Fei to Changsha and asked, "I'm going back to Lin'an. After planning for this period of time, have you worked out a plan to calm Huxiang?" With his heart in his chest, Yue Fei took out a small picture from his sleeve, unfolded it in front of Zhang Jun, and said, "There is already a mature plan, please take a look at the picture of Yangmo Water Village I drew first." Zhang Jun looked at the picture for a long time, and said to Yue Fei: "I have observed the bandits' water village, and there is no good way to attack if the layout is well-planned. Now the imperial court has called me back to prepare for the autumn and winter offensives of the Jin people. I think it is better to postpone the matter of conquering Yang Mo." Push it away, let’s talk about it in the coming year.” Yue Fei said: "How can there be any need to wait for the next year?! Governor, don't rush to leave, give me eight days, and I will definitely send Yang Mo's head to you." Zhang Jun was shocked and said: "Look at what you said, it's not easy! Wang Xie fought against Huxiang for two full years without success! Who would believe you when you say that you can break the thief in eight days!" Yue Fei laughed and said: "Wang Xie's attacking the water bandits with the king's teacher is naturally difficult to succeed; Yue Fei's attacking the water bandits with the water bandits is very easy." Zhang Jun was surprised again, and asked, "Water bandits attack water bandits, what do you say?" Yue Fei said: "The lair of the lake bandits is indeed unpredictable, and the water battle of the boat division belongs to its own strengths and my own weaknesses. Using the king's division to attack the water bandits is to attack the water bandits with strengths, so it is difficult to succeed. If I use the enemy's generals ,Using the enemy's soldiers is equivalent to depriving his brothers and sisters of his help, and stripping his heart and mind of his trust. When he is lonely, my king's teacher will naturally come to capture him. Yue Fei promises to capture the chieftains in the court of the governor within eight days. Go forward." ("The lake bandit's nest is unpredictable, and the boats are fighting in the water. I am short and the other is strong. I enter the nest without a village guide. I use my weaknesses to violate my strengths. This success is difficult. If it is due to the enemy's General, use the enemy's soldiers to take away the help of his siblings, leave the support of his heart, isolate the cunning, and then use the king's teacher to take advantage of him, and he will be defeated. Fei please eliminate the journey, and within eight days, capture all Imprisoned in the court of the governor.") Zhang Jun was skeptical and postponed the date of returning to Lin'an. To know how Yue Fei put down the thief within eight days, let's read the next chapter.