Chapter 35 215 Wen Tianxiang rises up

Yuan soldiers took advantage of the victory and went south to press Lin'an.The four-year-old Emperor Zhao Xian was just a name.His grandmother, the Empress Dowager Xie, discussed with the ministers and quickly issued an edict asking generals from all over the country to lead troops to rescue the court.The imperial edict was sent to various places, but few people responded.Only Wen Tianxiang, the state official of Ganzhou, and Zhang Shijie, the guard general of Yingzhou (now Zhongxiang, Hubei), raised their troops immediately. Wen Tianxiang is a famous national hero in the history of our country. He was born in Luling, Jizhou (now Ji'an, Jiangxi).He loved reading biographies of loyal ministers and martyrs in history since he was a child, and determined to learn from them.At the age of 20, he went to Lin'an to take the Jinshi Examination, and wrote his idea of ​​saving the country in the examination paper, which was appreciated by the chief examiner and won the first prize.

After Wen Tianxiang became an official in the imperial court, he immediately discovered that Jia Sidao and a group of eunuchs were treacherous officials who harmed the country and the people.Once, when the Mongolian army attacked the Southern Song Dynasty, the eunuch Dong Songchen persuaded Song Lizong to give up Lin'an and escape. Wen Tianxiang immediately issued a memorial requesting that Dong Songchen be killed so as not to shake the hearts of the people.For this matter, he was dismissed.Later, he returned to Lin'an to take charge of drafting the edict, and because he offended Jia Sidao, he was forced to retire when he was thirty-seven years old.It was not until the critical moment when the Southern Song Dynasty was about to perish that he was sent to Jiangxi to serve as the governor of Ganzhou.

After receiving the imperial edict, Wen Tianxiang immediately recruited 30,000 horses and prepared to rush to Lin'an.Someone persuaded him: "Now Yuan soldiers are marching straight in. You brought these temporary recruits to resist. It's like driving a flock of sheep to fight a tiger. It is obvious that you will fail. Why bother?" Wen Tianxiang replied calmly: "I don't know this truth. But the country has raised soldiers for many years, and now it is in critical condition, but there is not a single soldier to contribute to the national disaster. Isn't it heartbreaking! I know that my strength is limited, and I would rather die and die for the country. I hope that the loyal and righteous people in the world will rise up when they hear the wind, and if there are many people and power, there is hope for the country to be preserved."

Wen Tianxiang overcame all obstacles and led his troops to Lin'an.Chen Yizhong, the prime minister of the right, sent him to defend Pingjiang (now Suzhou, Jiangsu). At this time, Boyan, the commander-in-chief of the Yuan Dynasty, had already crossed the Yangtze River and divided his troops into three groups to attack Lin'an.One of the roads started from Jiankang, crossed Pingjiang, and went straight to Dusongguan (now Yuhang, Zhejiang).Chen Yizhong ordered Wen Tianxiang to retreat to Dusong Pass.Just as Wen Tianxiang left Pingjiang, Dusongguan had already been breached by the Yuan army. He wanted to return to Pingjiang, but Pingjiang also fell.

Wen Tianxiang returned to Lin'an, discussed with Zhang Shijie, the general from Yingzhou, and suggested to the court to concentrate his forces and fight to the death with the Yuan army.But the timid Chen Yizhong didn't agree with anything. Boyan led his troops to Gaoting Mountain (in the northeast of Hangzhou today) only 30 miles away from Lin'an.Some spineless ministers in the court, including Prime Minister Zuo Mengyan, slipped away.Empress Dowager Xie and Chen Yizhong panicked, and hurriedly sent an official to Boyan Camp with the Imperial Seal and the Surrender Form to seek peace.

Boyan appointed the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty to negotiate in person. Chen Yizhong was afraid of being detained, so he did not dare to go to Yuanying, and fled to the south; Zhang Shijie was unwilling to surrender, and was so angry that he led his troops out to sea on a Shanghai ship. Empress Dowager Xie had no choice but to announce that Wen Tianxiang would succeed Chen Yizhong as Prime Minister You, and asked him to go to Boyan Camp to negotiate and surrender. Wen Tianxiang agreed to go to Yuanying, but he had other plans in mind.He took his ministers Wu Jian and Jia Yuqing to Yuanying, met Boyan, and did not mention the matter of peace at all. Instead, he sternly asked Boyan and said: "Do you want to be friendly with me, or do you want to destroy the court?" Me towards?"

Boyan said: "The meaning of our emperor (referring to Yuan Shizu) is very clear. It is not to destroy the Song Dynasty." Wen Tianxiang said: "Since this is the case, please withdraw your troops to Pingjiang or Jiaxing immediately. If you insist on destroying our dynasty, the soldiers and civilians in the south will definitely fight with you to the end. It may not be good for you." Boyan lowered his face and said in a threatening tone: "If you don't surrender honestly, I'm afraid you won't be spared." Wen Tianxiang also said angrily: "I am the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty. Now the country is in crisis, and I am ready to die to repay the country. Even if there are mountains of swords and seas of fire, I will not be afraid."

Wen Tianxiang's sonorous voice and solemn words pushed back Boyan's threats.Yuan Jiang around all turned pale with fright. After the meeting between the two parties, Boyan sent a message to ask other envoys to go back to Lin'an to discuss with Queen Mother Xie, but left Wen Tianxiang behind.Knowing that Boyan had bad intentions, Wen Tianxiang protested to Boyan.Boyan pretended to be nonchalant and said, "Don't get angry. The peace talks between the two countries require you to stay and discuss. " Wu Jian and Jia Yuqing, who accompanied Wen Tianxiang to Yuanying, returned to Lin'an and reported Wen Tianxiang's refusal to surrender to the Empress Dowager Xie.Empress Dowager Xie surrendered wholeheartedly, and appointed Jia Yuqing as Prime Minister of the Right, and went to Yuanying to beg for surrender.After Boyan accepted the surrender form, he invited Wen Tianxiang into the camp and told him that the court had sent another person to surrender.Wen Tianxiang was so angry that he scolded Jia Yuqing severely, but the matter of surrender was irreversible.

In 1276 AD, Boyan led troops to occupy Lin'an.Empress Dowager Xie and Zhao Xian went out of the palace to surrender, and the Yuan army took Zhao Xian as a prisoner and escorted him to Dadu (now Beijing), and Wen Tianxiang was also taken to Dadu.Along the way, he has been thinking about how to escape from the enemy.When passing through Zhenjiang, he discussed with some of his entourage that Gu Yuanjun was unprepared, escaped from Yuanying, and arrived in Zhenzhou by boat. Miao Zaicheng, the defender of Zhenzhou, was very happy to hear that Prime Minister Wen was coming, and opened the city gate to welcome him.Miao Zaicheng knew from Wen Tianxiang that Lin'an had fallen, and expressed his willingness to join Wen Tianxiang in gathering troops from the east and west of the Huaihe River to repel the Yuan soldiers.

Wen Tianxiang was happy, but Li Tingzhi, the commander of the Song army guarding Yangzhou, believed the rumors that Wen Tianxiang had already surrendered, and that the traitor sent by the Yuan army to Zhenzhou ordered Miao Zaicheng to kill him.Miao Zaicheng didn't believe that Wen Tianxiang was such a person, but he didn't dare to disobey Li Tingzhi's order, so he had to trick Wen Tianxiang out of Zhenzhou city, showed him the letter from Yangzhou, and told Wen Tianxiang to leave as soon as possible. Wen Tianxiang had no choice but to rush to Yangzhou overnight with his entourage.It was not dawn the next day, and I arrived at the city of Yangzhou, waiting for the gate to be opened to enter the city.Some people waiting to enter the city by the city gate were sitting and chatting about nothing.When Wen Tianxiang heard this, he knew that Yangzhou was offering a reward for his arrest, so he could not enter the city.

In order to avoid being arrested, Wen Tianxiang and other twelve people changed their names, changed their surnames, put on disguises, and walked along secluded paths, intending to go east to the sea and find a boat to transfer south. A dozen or so people walked for a while, when they encountered a group of cavalry from the Yuan Dynasty catching up.They hid in an earth enclosure, fortunately they were not discovered by Yuan soldiers. Wen Tianxiang and others traveled day and night, went through all kinds of difficulties and dangers, and finally, with the help of farmers, took a boat from Haikou to Wenzhou.There, he got the news that Zhang Shijie and Chen Yizhong had established a new emperor in Fuzhou, so he decided to go to Fuzhou.