HLnovel Chapter 339 Zong Ze Beats Him Up
Chapter 339 Zong Ze Beats Him Up
The weakness and incompetence of the Song court dashed the hopes of those in the Southern Song Dynasty who wished to recover lost territory.
Are they destined to never witness the Song Dynasty recover its lost territories in their lifetime?
Suddenly, their burning passion seemed to gradually weaken.
Then, Lin Ke's voice came again, gentle and calming, but the reality was so cruel.
"Time flies, and soon the Jurchens will sweep in. This time, no one knows if they will be forced to retreat sooner or later, just like last time."
“But Fenzhou is nearly 200 li away from Taiyuan. The soldiers recruited by Emperor Qinzong of Song are of poor quality. They dare not even defend Fenzhou, let alone support Taiyuan.”
"Such news arrives in Fenzhou every day, and over time, the morale of the city's residents is wavering, especially after several battles that resulted in the loss of the prefectural magistrate."
"At the critical moment, it was Zhang Kejian who calmed the people's hearts. Before reinforcements arrived, no one was willing to leave; everyone was willing to fight to the death to defend the city."
"To boost morale, he personally led his troops to meet the enemy and repeatedly repelled the Jin soldiers, but the imperial reinforcements never arrived."
Even so, Zhang Kejian and his men never considered surrendering, but what they didn't know was that the imperial reinforcements wouldn't be coming.
"After the Jurchens captured Taiyuan, they pressed their advantage, conquering several counties in succession. Soon it was Fenzhou's turn. Before that, the Jurchens had also sent a letter of surrender to Zhang Kejian."
"Then the Jurchens arrived with their troops. Zhang Kejian was unable to withstand their fierce attack and immediately sent someone to escape to the capital to report the news."
"Perhaps feeling he couldn't avoid it any longer, he even wrote a letter to his wife and children."
"The next day, he engaged in street fighting with the Jurchens, but there was no hope of rescue. He went back to find his court robes, put them on, burned incense facing south, knelt down, and ended his own life."
"After he passed away, eight members of his family followed him. The Jin generals, remembering his loyalty and bravery, collected his body and buried him in the back garden, setting up an altar and building a temple in his honor."
"After hearing his news, the Song court issued an edict posthumously granting him the title of Academician of the Yankang Hall, and also bestowed upon his family three hundred taels of silver and five hundred bolts of silk. Furthermore, the edict was posted at their door and in the alleyways."
"During the Shaoxing era, the Song court bestowed upon him the posthumous title of Zhongque."
Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty: (??-??)...
The fat Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi: Indeed loyal and brave, but the Song court was utterly cowardly and incompetent!
Li Erfeng of the Tang Dynasty: The problem is that the Song court, after repeatedly missing opportunities, still did not repent!
Emperor Zhao Zhen, the greatest benevolent ruler of all time: What a pity! Why didn't anyone send reinforcements?!
A Han Dynasty official: If only the Song Emperor could stand up straight! What kind of coward and timid person are we!
……
"After capturing Fenzhou, the Western Route Army set its sights on Huiniuling, where an army was originally stationed, led by its commander Li An, who was under the jurisdiction of Zhang Hao."
"But we also know that Zhang Hao fled before the Jurchens besieged the city, so he didn't have time to attend to the troops here."
"However, Zhang Hao had previously led a team to relieve Taiyuan, but that team suffered a major defeat, almost being wiped out, so the army returning to Niuling was cut off from supplies."
"How can someone who only eats beans every day be full? Without enough to eat, they have no strength to fight. So when the Jurchens arrived with overwhelming force, they easily took to the battlefield again, and in the end, this army retreated back to Pingyang."
"As for Pingyang, the Jurchens easily entered the fray again. The main reason for this was that the Pingyang garrison commander fled with the people who had returned to Niuling."
"After the Jin army's successive victories, other places such as Longde and Zezhou, fearing the Jin's offensive, surrendered with almost no resistance, and officials fled at the first sign of trouble."
"Soon after, the Western Route Army advanced smoothly, successively capturing Huaizhou and Linhe on the north bank of the Yellow River. Let's look at this account from another perspective."
"The Song court's situation was incredibly unlucky, and so absurd that even later generations find it strange how they could have lost so badly! On the contrary, the Jin people had an unstoppable run of success, as if they had a cheat code!"
People in Wanchaozhong: The Jurchens must have been taking so many cities they were practically rolling on their hands! That's hilarious!
Lin Ke's words echoed in everyone's ears. Upon careful consideration, Emperors Huizong and Qinzong, as well as the group of civil officials of the Song Dynasty, were practically comparable to the great contributors to the Jin Dynasty.
To put it bluntly, the Jurchens should actually be credited with contributing to the Jurchen conquest of the Song Dynasty! Typical Song Dynasty coward!
……
"We are now looking at another route of the Jurchens—the Eastern Route Army. Wanyan Zongwang marched south from Zhengding and initially made good progress, successively capturing places such as Linhe County and Daming County."
"His luck was indeed better than the other group; he barely fought any battles before he was about to cross the Yellow River."
"However, he left some military forces near Daming Prefecture. Let me emphasize this point: there's a place called Cizhou near Daming Prefecture."
"As was customary, the Jin army didn't take these Song Dynasty territories seriously, so they went to Cizhou to intimidate and intimidate, assuming that the defending soldiers would surrender without a fight or flee at the first sign of trouble, just like in other prefectures."
"But everything turned out differently than they expected, and all of this has to do with Zong Ze, the prefect of Cizhou."
"Zong Ze, as mentioned earlier, was transferred away from the capital to support Taiyuan. Zong Ze originally intended to provide support, but the Song army suffered too swift defeats and he could only retreat to Cizhou."
"He was not only disappointed with these people in the Song court, but also furious at the actions of the Jurchens! Especially his own homeland, which had been turned into a state of chaos by the Jurchens, with people displaced and homeless!!!"
"So, when Zong Ze arrived at this place, he immediately began training troops and repairing the city's defenses and armor, ready to fight the Jurchens at any moment!"
Zong Ze: (｀へ′) I'm ready!
"Therefore, after the Jin army besieged the city, Zong Ze personally climbed the city wall to direct the battle, and the Song army, armed with crossbows, fired cannons at the Jin soldiers below the city wall!"
"In an instant, the Jin soldiers were routed and fled in disarray, but Zong Ze did not stop there."
"Taking advantage of his weakness to kill him, Zong Ze immediately opened the city gates and commanded his cavalry to pursue and kill them. The Jin soldiers were caught off guard and were immediately overwhelmed."
"Finally, the Jin soldiers abandoned their corpses and left behind a considerable amount of looted supplies before fleeing. This was a rare victory in the history of the Song-Jin wars at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty."
Jin soldier (on the run): Damn it, how are these Song people so strong?! This doesn't make sense!
Song Army: '?' 'After so many battles, we've finally won once!!'
"This incident also demonstrates that blindly fearing the Jurchens is not a sustainable solution."
"If the Song army hadn't been without advantages in those battles, and if inexperienced people hadn't interfered so recklessly, perhaps things wouldn't have turned out so badly!"
"Moreover, if other emperors were like Emperors Huizong and Qinzong, fearing this or that external threat, there would be no emperors like Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han who expanded the territory!"
Liu Zhuzhu of the Han Dynasty (hands on hips): ????...As expected of me.jpg! If I were afraid, I wouldn't have mobilized the entire nation to attack the Xiongnu!
First Emperor: What's there to fear? I will use the Qin cavalry to conquer vast territories!
Li Erfeng of the Tang Dynasty: The biggest problem lies with Emperors Huizong and Qinzong; they lacked the necessary courage! Were they truly inferior to the lineage of Zhao Kuangyin?
A certain romantic scholar from the Tang Dynasty: It makes no sense that an eight-year-old child would be willing to die for his country, while these two, who are so much older than him, are unwilling!?
An official from the Sui Dynasty: Could it really be because we don't share the same ancestor?
Zhu Baba of the Ming Dynasty: I just think that no one in the Song Dynasty should lack such courage! The generals and common people below were all better than these guys!
A bystander from the Ming Dynasty commented: "This battle was really exhilarating! I don't think the Song and Jin dynasties ever fought like this before. No wonder it was Emperor Zong Ze!"
Judy, the Great General Who Conquers the North: Actually, we did expand our territory, but we were fighting the Tartars!
Cheng Yaojin of the Tang Dynasty: Our Emperor is one too! But throughout history, a father and son like Emperor Huizong and Emperor Qinzong are extremely rare!
……