Chapter 66 three

In the summer of the twelfth year of Zhiyuan (1275), A Shu, Dong Wenbing, and Boyan besieged Changzhou City in three ways. In view of the fact that Changzhou could not be attacked for a long time, Boyan moved the headquarters from Zhenjiang to the front line of Changzhou.At noon on November 16th, Boyan ordered people to shoot Shucheng to surrender, but Liu Shiyong still ignored him. Boyan was furious, and the main force under the tent of the pro-supervisor forcibly attacked the city day and night.At dawn on the 18th, the Chinese army took the lead in ascending the city, and erected Boyan's red flag on the top of the city.

Song general Liu Shiyong retreated into the city to fight in the streets, but was defeated. Liu Shiyong rode out of the city gate alone and rushed to Pingjiang (Suzhou).The rest of the Song army fought desperately, and the six soldiers supported each other back to back, killing and injuring nearly a hundred Yuan soldiers before dying exhausted in battle. The city was blazing with flames and filled with gunpowder smoke.Faced with this isolated city that the Yuan army bought at the cost of nearly 20,000 casualties, Boyan was furious. Putting the earnest warning of "Ding Jiangnan" to the back of his mind, he ordered the massacre of the city.

The generals asked to chase and kill Liu Shiyong, but Boyan calmed down and persuaded him: "During the Western Expedition, Genghis Khan sent Zalandin, the heir to the throne of Khwarazmo, to cross the Indus River in order to show his majesty and subdue the courage of the people. Now, Liu Shiyong is alone Fleeing on horseback can just use Liu Shiyong's mouth to frighten the Song city defenders who are stubbornly resisting." A few days later, Boyan sent his army to Pingjiang.The guard of Pingjiang abandoned the city and left, and Wang Bangjie offered the city to beg for surrender.Soon, the battle report came, and A Shu and Dong Wenbing attacked Dusong Pass in one fell swoop.

Dusongguan is as green as embroidered, Ashu and Lu Wenhuan believed in the reins, talking while walking. "It seems that before entering Lin'an, it is unlikely that there will be another tough battle." A Shu looked back at the Chengguan and said thoughtfully. "Not bad." Lu Wenhuan agreed. Lin Tao roared angrily, and their conversation was intermittent. "The remaining question is how to recruit Song Ting." "It is reported that Prime Minister Boyan has sent someone to send a copy of the imperial edict to Lin'an, urging the emperor and ministers of Song Dynasty to surrender quickly."

"The overall situation in the south has been decided. What I'm worried about now is the northeast border." Ashu took a deep breath, and the air still seemed to be filled with gunpowder smoke. Lu Wenhuan seemed a little puzzled, and Ah Shu patiently explained: "Nowadays, the world is returning home, but this Naiyan always has to find some tricks! Fight, he doesn't seriously fight with you, you relax a little, and he makes a comeback ——It’s the same as Haidu, the queen king of the Chagatai Khanate. It’s really a headache. The prime minister’s intention is to use strong military pressure to surrender the Song court as soon as possible, and then free up his hands to completely put down the Naiyan rebellion and never end it. trouble on the frontier."

At the same time, that is, on December 27, the twelfth year of the Yuan Dynasty (January 14, 1276), Boyan ordered Chongfu Secretary Aixue and Song Zongzheng Shaoqing Lu Xiufu to go to Lin'an to negotiate with the Song Dynasty. The surrender of the court. On New Year's Eve, Boyan set off from Pingjiang and continued southward.He will join the left and right army according to the predetermined battle plan. On the second day of the first lunar month, negotiator Aixue and his party arrived in Lin'an. Lu Xiufu arranged for Ai Xue and his entourage, hurried to the Ciyuan Hall, and reported the results of the negotiations with Boyan to the Empress Dowager Xie Daoqing.Xie Daoqing had no choice but to surrender.

"Forget it, the Ai family can make another concession and become a minister to Yuan Emperor Kublai Khan." Xie Daoqing had only one thought at this time, as long as the Yuan army was willing to retreat, the lineage of the Song clan would continue, and she didn't care whether she was a minister or not. Chen Yi took a deep breath, and slammed the teacup on the table. "Bo Yan is too aggressive. I remember that in the eighth year of Shaoxing (1138) and the eleventh year of Shaoxing, Emperor Gaozong sent his prime minister Qin Hui to the north to negotiate with the Jin people twice, and signed the "Shaoxing Peace Agreement", agreeing to be a minister to Jin. He received 250,000 taels of silver and 250,000 bolts of silk. As a result, he was criticized by the government and the public, and Qin Hui was ruined after his death. He was notorious for the ages. Although the minister Chen Yizhong was not talented, he did not want to repeat Qin Hui's mistakes. This matter of surrender , I don’t want to do it, and I can’t do it.”

"Chen Aiqing, the Ai family understands your feelings. However, as long as you can maintain the continuation of the Zhao clan, you don't have to worry about becoming a minister." Chen Yizhong stared at the haggard face of the Empress Dowager, and refused without compromise: "Although the Empress Dowager has repeatedly stated that if she can save the Song Dynasty from subjugation, she can not care about her status, but as the prime minister of a country, I have to ignore it." Solemnly declare that even if the head is beheaded, the minister does not agree with the Empress Dowager calling the Emperor Yuan a minister." Chen Yizhong almost burst into tears, "We give in again and again, from increasing the old coin to calling nephew and grandnephew, Yuan Ting still refuses to agree, then We had no choice but to mobilize more than 200,000 loyal and 50,000 imperial soldiers from the capital on the front line of Beijing and Lake to fight to the death."

"You're crazy! Aren't you hitting a stone with a pebble and trying to lose our last bit of wealth? Have you forgotten the lesson of the Changzhou massacre? Go down and calm down. Aijia doesn't want to talk to an irrational person !" Chen Yizhong didn't dare to argue any more, and returned to the Prime Minister's mansion disgruntled. Pavilions, terraces and pavilions, small bridges and flowing water, the garden of the Chen Mansion is as beautiful as before, but Chen Yizhong can't find his old mood no matter what.The guards of the Prime Minister's Mansion followed him from a distance, protecting the current prime minister who was in a state of power but was in constant panic.

Chen Yizhong thought to himself: Now that soldiers are approaching the city, they can't fight, and they can't make peace, so it's better to follow the thirty-six plan.At the beginning, Gaozong escaped from Zhenjiang to Dinghai in order to avoid the pursuit of Jin soldiers, and then went boating on the sea.A few months later, the Jin soldiers retreated, and Gaozong returned to the court, so he was still the emperor! Since there are precedents, why not borrow them? Having made up his mind, Chen Yizhong immediately summoned the few remaining "civil and military officials" into the palace and asked the empress dowager to move the capital.

"Move the capital? Where to move it! You clearly want the Ai family to run away, disregarding the 300-year-old foundation of the ancestors! In the future, what will the Ai family look like when they see the ancestors of the Great Song Dynasty?" Chen Yizhong wept bitterly, and made an impassioned statement: "At present, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, and Sichuan and Sichuan are still in our hands. As long as we don't raise and lower the flag, we will establish a companion capital in Fuzhou and start a protracted war with the Yuan army, just like Gaozong did in the past. In that case, the Yuan army is bound to retreat." "I implore the empress dowager to move the capital to take refuge!" All the officials echoed, kneeling in unison under the cold Danchi outside the palace. Xie Daoqing thought over and over again, but had no choice but to agree: "Okay, I will follow the instructions of all the lovers. Pass the decree, open the treasury to distribute silver taels for all officials, and have the right to use it as travel expenses for moving the capital." "Follow the order!" Chen Yizhong wiped the sweat from his brow, but in a hurry, he forgot to set a specific time for moving the capital with the Empress Dowager. As the heroine, Xie Daoqing, despite being indecisive at ordinary times, once made up his mind, he was very straightforward, and immediately went back to the palace to pack his bags and prepare to leave.Unexpectedly, when it was dark, Chen Yizhong still hadn't arrived at the palace. Xie Daoqing was furious: "The Ai family didn't want to move the capital, because the ministers begged for it. The Ai family made preparations, but you didn't set off. You clearly teased Ai. Home." After finishing speaking, he took off the jewelry and threw it on the ground, returned to the palace angrily, and closed the door, the ministers came to see him, and refused all of them. In fact, Chen Yizhong originally planned to leave at dawn the next day, but because he forgot to explain the time, Xie Daoqing became angry with him, and refused to meet him no matter what, but Chen Yizhong returned to the prime minister's mansion and prepared to escape. It's the Spring Festival, and Chen Yizhong's mansion is full of lights, singing and dancing.More than 500 people in the Prime Minister's Mansion sat in a semicircle, enjoying the program with great concern. "Prime Minister, Jiaxing is here to report. Jiaxing defender Liu Hanjie surrendered, and Boyan's army has marched into Jiaxing." The head of the prime minister hurried to the back garden and whispered to Chen Yizhong. "In addition, the old slave also heard that yesterday afternoon, he fled the capital together with signing the Privy Council Affairs and Counseling Political Affairs." "Really?" Chen Yizhong gasped, his facial muscles twitched, and a thin layer of cold sweat broke out on his red nose. "It's absolutely true, the old slave has just confirmed it." "Director Guo," Chen Yizhong asked in a low voice, "Are the Empress Dowager and the Emperor still in Lin'an City?" "exist." "It's good to be here. Otherwise, wouldn't we..." He swallowed back the following words. "Prime Minister, after the news of moving the capital spread throughout the capital, people were panicked. Recently, officials of all sizes have been fleeing the capital without knowing where they ended up." "This was expected. But the Empress Dowager was uncharacteristically, going to the court twice a day. In the early court, Xie Tang was appointed as the ambassador of Liangzhe Zhenfu. Not long after she retired from the court, she issued a decree to set up the court. Rank, Quan Yongjian is the envoy of East Zhejiang." "Prime Minister, this old slave has been thinking about something for a long time, and I don't know if I should say it or not?" "You have followed me for many years, but it doesn't matter if you have something to say." "The old slave thought that if he couldn't get away, he hoped that the prime minister would change his original intention and agree to surrender to Emperor Dayuan." "what--" Chen Yizhong's sweat flowed even more, and his already red nose also turned purple due to nervousness. "Prime Minister..." "What you said makes sense, but... what I mean is still: don't stay in a place of right and wrong for long." "Since that's the case, the old slave will arrange immediately. If the wind is wrong, we will leave without saying goodbye." "Where do you think is more appropriate?" "Let's go to Wenzhou. Settle down, even if you are a rich and idle person." "As you say."