Chapter 22 202 Two Emperors as Prisoners

Due to the resolute resistance of the soldiers and civilians in Tokyo, Jin Jiang Zongwang was forced to retreat.Zhong Shidao suggested to Song Qinzong that when the Jin soldiers crossed the Yellow River and retreated, launch an attack to wipe out the Jin soldiers.It would have been a good idea.But Song Qinzong not only disagreed, but dismissed Zhong Shidao from his post. After the Jin soldiers retreated, Song Qinzong and a group of ministers thought that they could live in peace from now on.They took Song Huizong back to Tokyo.Li Gang repeatedly reminded Song Qinzong to strengthen his armaments to prevent the Jin army from attacking again, but every time he raised it, he was always obstructed by some surrendering ministers.Song Qinzong also thought Li Gang was trivial.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Zong Wang on the East Road retreated, the Jin soldiers led by Zong Han on the West Road refused to give up and stepped up their attack on Taiyuan.Song Qinzong sent general Zhongshizhong to lead troops to rescue, but was surrounded by Jin soldiers on the way, and Zhongshizhong was defeated and sacrificed.The ministers of the capitulation faction suspected that Li Gang's staying in the capital would be an obstacle, so they urged Song Qinzong to send Li Gang to Hebei to command the war. Some upright ministers believed that the court should not let Li Gang leave the capital at this time, but Song Qinzong insisted on transferring Li Gang away.

Li Gangming knew that he was excluded, but he was unwilling to refuse to go to the front to fight against gold.Qinzong allocated 12,000 people to him, and he asked the court for military pay, silk, and money each one million yuan, but the court only gave him 200,000.Li Gang wanted to make preparations before leaving, but Song Qinzong thought he was procrastinating and urged him repeatedly, so Li Gang had no choice but to send troops in a hurry. When Li Gang arrived in Heyang, he recruited troops and repaired his weapons.But the imperial court ordered him to dismiss the recruits he had recruited and go to Taiyuan immediately.Li Gang dispatched troops and generals to advance in three routes, but the generals there were directly under the command of the court and did not listen to Li Gang's dispatch at all.The three groups of people did not have a unified command, and the result was a big defeat.

Li Gang was the commander-in-chief in name, but actually had no command power, so he had to submit his resignation to the court.The capitulators also attacked him for specifically advocating resistance to gold, but lost troops and generals when they fought.Song Qinzong dismissed Li Gang and relegated him to the south. The monarchs and ministers of the Jin Dynasty were most afraid of Li Gang. Now that Li Gang is no longer an official, they have no scruples.Jin Taizong ordered Zonghan and Zongwang to attack Tokyo. At this time, Taiyuan City had been besieged by Zong Han's West Route Army for eight months.Taiyuan defender Wang Zhi led the army and the people to resist resolutely.

The Jin soldiers tried their best to attack the city, but they were all repelled by Wang Zhi.After a long time, the city ran out of food, and the soldiers killed the cows, horses, and mules to satisfy their hunger;The common people ate weeds and chaff every day, and no one surrendered. Finally, Taiyuan City was finally broken by Jin Bing.After Wang Ting led the hungry soldiers to fight the Jin soldiers alleyway, he jumped into Fenshui to sacrifice himself. After Taiyuan fell, the two Jin soldiers continued to go south.The generals of the Song Army from all walks of life heard that Tokyo was in a tight situation, and took the initiative to lead troops to rescue.

Song Qinzong and some ministers of the capitulation faction were busy preparing to cede territory for peace, and ordered all reinforcements to return to their original places. At this time, the Song army defending on the south bank of the Yellow River still had 120,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry.Zong Han's West Route Army reached the north bank of the Yellow River and did not dare to cross by force.At night, they bluffed and sent soldiers to beat drums all night.The Song army on the south bank heard the sound of drums on the other side, thinking that the Jin soldiers were going to cross the river to attack, and they fled for their lives. The 130,000 Song army fled all at once.Zong Han crossed the Yellow River smoothly without firing a knife or a gun.The East Road led by Zongwang also captured Daming (now Daming, Hebei) and crossed the south of the river.The two groups of Jin soldiers kept approaching Tokyo, scaring Song Qinzong into a faint.Some ministers of the capitulation faction whispered to Song Qinzong all day long, saying that there was no other way out except to seek peace.Song Qinzong had no choice but to send his younger brother Kang Wang Zhaogou to Zongwang to seek peace.

Zhao Gou passed through Cizhou (now Cixian County, Hebei), and the state official Zongze said to Zhao Gou: "The Jin Dynasty wants your highness to negotiate a peace. This is a trick. They have already approached the city. What's the use of asking for peace?" The people of Cizhou also stopped Zhao Gou's horse and prevented him from going to Jinying to ask for peace.Zhao Gou was afraid of being detained by the Jin Dynasty, so he stayed in Xiangzhou (now Anyang, Henan). Not long after, the two golden armies had rushed to the city of Tokyo and attacked the city violently.There are only 30,000 imperial guards left in the city, and they are also scattered, and almost half of them have fled.The generals from all walks of life did not come to rescue Tokyo because of the order from the imperial court.At this time, it was too late for Song Qinzong to recall Li Gang.

Song Qinzong was so anxious that he was helpless.There is a big liar in the capital, named Guo Jing, who boasts that he can use "spells" and that as long as he recruits 7,779 "magic soldiers", he can capture the golden general alive and defeat the golden soldier.Some court ministers actually took Guo Jing as a life-saving straw and asked him to find some local ruffians to act as "magic soldiers".When the golden soldiers attacked the city, Guo Jing and his "magic soldiers" As soon as they went up to confront each other, they all fell down.The city of Tokyo was broken by Jin Bing.

Seeing the doomsday approaching, Song Qinzong wept bitterly, so he had to personally take a few ministers holding a letter of surrender to Jinying to ask for peace.Zonghan ordered Qinzong to cede all the land in Hedong and Hebei to the Jin Dynasty, and donated 10 million ingots of gold, 20 million ingots of silver, and 10 million bolts of silk to the Jin Dynasty.Song Qinzong agreed one by one, and Jin Jiang released him back to the city. Qinzong returned to the city, scraped gold and silver from the people, and sent them to the gold camp.General Jin thought he was too slow, and soon called Song Qinzong to Jinying and detained him, saying that he would not release him until he had paid all the gold and silver.Song Qinzong sent twenty-four officials to help Jin Bing thoroughly search the homes of the emperor's relatives, officials, monks and priests. They searched for more than 20 days. National state capital map archives were also sold out.

In April 1127, Zong Han, Zong Wang and the Jin army led by them captured the two emperors Huizong and Qinzong of Song Dynasty, as well as two to three thousand people from the royal family and officials, and returned to the north with a full load of looted property.The Northern Song Dynasty ruled for 167 years since Zhao Kuangyin proclaimed himself emperor, and declared its demise.