The rebellion of the Meihua Guards was quickly put out. The killing of Yan Xin only triggered the fire in the county. The confiscation of the property looted by the soldiers was the root cause. They tried to loot Lin'an again, but this time they were monitored by Yang Yizhong's army. Ten thousand
As soon as the soldiers rushed to the barracks, they were ambushed by 10,000 soldiers with strong bows and crossbows, and more than 2,000 of them were killed. The Plum Blossom Guard soldiers collapsed and fled in panic, but Yang Yizhong, who had received the Queen Mother's secret order, ordered them all to be killed.
Empress Dowager Wei wanted to win over the hearts and minds of all the officials, so attacking the Plum Blossom Guard was the best choice. It would definitely be welcomed by all the officials, so the Empress Dowager Wei issued an order to kill her and use the blood of the Plum Blossom Guard to sacrifice the throne.
The remaining Plum Blossom Guard soldiers were brutally massacred by the Guards soldiers. They cried and begged for mercy in vain. They were killed so hard that their heads were rolling, their flesh and blood were flying everywhere, and the blood stained the West Lake. In the end, only a few hundred people escaped, and the remaining more than 9,000 people were killed.
Everyone was beheaded.
After annihilating the Plum Blossom Guards, Empress Dowager Wei denounced the three major crimes of the Plum Blossom Guards and ordered the complete elimination of the Plum Blossom Guards. The bad tempers of the officials in the government and the public were relieved, and the government was reopened. Empress Dowager Wei listened to the politics behind the curtain as the Empress Dowager, and issued an edict to mourn the emperor.
.
Chen Qing led hundreds of large ships and 100,000 troops to sail eastward along the Yangtze River. After receiving the news of the emperor's death, he ordered three armies to march to the south of the Yangtze River.
Yang Zaixing, the commander of the Shangrao Army, led an army of 100,000 across the Yangtze River from Hezhou, Zhenzhou and Yangzhou on the north bank of the Yangtze River. Gao Ding led an army of 80,000 from Shangrao County and marched to Quzhou. Liu Qiong and Tang Qian also led 100,000 troops.
The army marched north from Fujian Road and divided into two groups to march towards Wenzhou and Chuzhou.
The Western Army was unstoppable and did not invade any territory it passed. It was warmly welcomed by the local people. The deputy general of the Song Army who stayed in Zhenjiang Prefecture was Wang Gui, the commander of the capital.
He paced back and forth in the camp, unable to make up his mind. He had only one choice, either surrender or lead his army to retreat. It was impossible to fight. The 40,000-strong Western Army was crossing the river in Jiangning and was heading towards Zhenjiang Prefecture.
There are still 30,000 Western troops on the river who are beginning to land on the river. I only have 10,000 troops, and when I send them up, I can only hit them with eggs.
Wang Gui was originally very loyal to the emperor Zhao Gou, but Empress Dowager Wei did not like him and blocked his appointment several times. In the end, he was only appointed as Jiangyin Military Envoy, and was completely marginalized. This time, if Han Shizhong had not led the army to Qin Wang
, it was never his turn to sit in Zhenjiang Mansion.
At this time, his staff Chang Lin from Jiangyin advised: "Now that the emperor has passed away and the queen mother is in power, I think she must support the young emperor to ascend the throne. If she takes control of the government, the first thing she will do is take control of the military. People she trusts will be promoted
Once in power, the people she hates will surely be deposed and seize power. The general can ask himself, which category does he belong to?"
Queen Mother Wei sneered and said: "It seems that Zhang Xiangguo really wants to see Chen Qing and rekindle old friendship. I'm afraid this is Zhang Xiangguo's only way out."
The Western Army moved south, east, and north like a broken bamboo. Seven days later, 280,000 Western Army occupied Chongde County in the south of Jiaxing Prefecture, Deqing County and Wukang County in the south of Huzhou, and Tonglu County in the east of Yanzhou.
In Xiaoshan County, the northernmost part of Shaoxing Prefecture, there are 30,000 navy troops and 300 warships blocking Qiantang Bay.
Queen Mother Wei sighed and asked Xu Xiantu: "Xu Aiqing, the official family valued you the most when they were alive. What do you think?"
"Zhang Xiangguo is so lukewarm and careless, Ai Jia also gives you a suggestion, take the initiative to give way to talents!"
More importantly, they abolished all Song Dynasty taxes wherever they went, issued the King Yong's decree, exempting both urban and rural areas from tax for five years, lowered the price of grain, salt and cloth, and opened a Changping store, which was warmly supported by the people. Along the way, the people
They ate pots of wine to welcome the arrival of the Western Army.
In fact, all officials are human beings, and they all know that the Song Dynasty is over. As long as they are not aliens and do not harm their own interests, it is normal to change dynasties. When the Song Dynasty replaced the Later Zhou Dynasty, not a single Later Zhou official committed suicide.
Wang Gui sighed and said: "I must belong to the latter. When I reported on my duties in Lin'an, I ignored her attempts to win over her and was jealous of her. In the past, I had the trust of the officials. I could still serve as the envoy of Jiangyin and command an army of ten thousand. Now the officials
If she dies, the Queen Mother will definitely kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, and I guess I am that chicken."
At this time, Zhu Shengfei also said: "Queen Mother, you can really try negotiating. At least you can get a feel for the other party's bottom line, and it will also buy us time to prepare for war!"
The court was in chaos, and one urgent message after another made the officials tremble with fear. Empress Dowager Wei, who had just taken over the power of the government, was even more restless and restless day and night. She continued to meet with the prime minister and ministers to discuss countermeasures.
"Weichen has no such intention!"
Qin Hui comforted Queen Mother Wei and said: "To Queen Mother, we are not at the end of our rope yet. We still have capital. The Song army currently has 70,000 people and 3,000 guards. The population of Lin'an Prefecture is still over one million.
What's more important is that we still have a lot of accumulated wealth. There are millions of dan in grain, more than 30 million gu in the left and right treasury, and there are also a lot of soldiers and armor in the treasury. We can increase the number of troops and quickly reach 200,000 troops.
Army."
Wang Gui immediately ordered not to resist the Western Army crossing the river, and the entire army changed flags and surrendered to the Western Army.
Speaking of this, Queen Mother Wei glanced at Zhang Jun and asked coldly: "Zhang Xiangguo, you are very silent today!"
For so many years, Zhang Jun has been Empress Dowager Wei's enemy. Now that Empress Dowager Wei has come to power, she has become more and more intolerable to Zhang Jun. If the Western Army had not invaded the border, Zhang Jun would have been the first person Empress Dowager Wei deposed.
Zhu Shengfei was still good at talking and regarded negotiation as a strategy. Queen Mother Wei nodded, "Let's talk about it first! Ask them why they can't wait until the bones of the officials are cold. What do they want to do?"
Zhang Jun sighed in his heart, bowed and said: "Wei Chen is ill and unable to perform the duties of the court. I want to rest at home and recuperate. I beg the Queen Mother to grant my permission!"
"Then why is the general still hesitating? If you surrender to the Western Army, you still have at least 10,000 troops. No matter what happens, you can still control it. The general has done his best to the emperor, and now it is time to consider his own future and destiny."
Wang Gui let out a long sigh, "You are right, I have indeed done my best to the Song Dynasty. It's not that I don't want to be loyal, but the Song Dynasty will no longer tolerate me!"
At the same time, Liu Qi's deputy general Qi Qing, who was staying in Quzhou, also led an army of 10,000 to surrender to Gaoding's army. The Western Army slowed down slightly and began to advance toward Lin'an in tandem. Five days later, Yang Zaixing's army of 100,000 entered
In Jiaxing Prefecture, Gaoding's 80,000 troops entered Yanzhou, and Liu Qiong and Tang Qian's 100,000 troops entered Shaoxing Prefecture. They fought steadily, worked step by step, and never took advantage of success.
At the same time, he was also tolerant of the government, and all officials continued to serve, except that the prefect of the state was changed to the governor, the county magistrate was changed to the county magistrate, and the general magistrate was changed to the chief historian.
Empress Dowager Wei couldn't bear Zhang Jun and finally issued an order to expel him.
Xu Xiantu pondered for a while and said: "The Western Army is currently standing still, as if it is waiting for something. I guess I am waiting for King Yong to arrive. Qin Xiangguo also has some sense. After all, we still have some capital. Wei Chen suggested using this capital to negotiate with the Western Army.
Reach a solution acceptable to both parties."
"Does Xiangguo Xu mean to ask the Ai family to surrender?" Queen Mother Wei was really dissatisfied.
Xu Xiantu shook his head, "Negotiation is not surrender. Opening the city gate and raising a white flag is called surrender. Negotiation is a civil war, a way to safeguard one's own interests. That's why it is said in the art of war that the first step is to attack with troops, then to attack with friends, and then to attack.
Attack, go down and attack the city."
"The only way out!"
In other words, the Western Army did not enter Lin'an Prefecture, or in other words, the imperial court only had Lin'an Prefecture left.
Zhang Jun said calmly: "Wei Chen supports Xianggong Xu's opinion. Negotiation is our only way out. Wei Chen advises the Queen Mother not to recruit more troops, which will cause panic among the people and lead to a mass exodus."
"Accurate!"
"Thank you, Queen Mother!"
Zhang Jun resigned and left, and Empress Dowager Wei immediately issued an order to remove Zhang Jun from participating in political affairs, appoint him as Shangshu Youcheng, appoint him as a farewell driver in Xuanzhou, and allow him to recuperate at home.
At this time, King Yong's special envoy Lu Gang entered Lin'an City again.