All Heavens and Worlds Modified History System

Chapter 240 Tong Guan Robs Jiangnan

Hangzhou City, Shenggong Palace.

After paying a heavy price, the Song Dynasty generals finally conquered the city of Hangzhou and gathered here to hold a military meeting.

Recapturing the important city of Hangzhou should have been a great achievement, and everyone should have been excited and delighted.

However, all the generals gathered here at this time had gloomy faces as if they had lost their parents, and the atmosphere in the hall was extremely depressing.

"Everyone."

The person sitting at the top was Tong Guan, the envoy of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Huaihe.

The commander with a dignified face stroked his steel-like beard and asked, "Tell me, what should we do?"

Everyone in the hall remained silent. After a long while, Tan Zhen, the governor of Liangzhe Road who was also a eunuch, frowned slightly and asked, "Has this been confirmed?"

"It's natural."

Tong Guan immediately responded, "I have sent more than ten people to gather information, and Tokyo City has indeed fallen into the hands of thieves."

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall suddenly became noisy.

Many people found it unbelievable. "Tokyo City has hundreds of thousands of imperial guards. How could it fall into the hands of thieves? Even hundreds of thousands of pigs could crush the thieves to death."

There are more than hundreds of thousands of people, there are millions of people inside and outside the city.

But among these millions of people, how many are willing to sacrifice their lives for the officials and the court that are exploiting them to death?
Being able to not follow the enemy is already giving enough face to the government and the court.

"Don't talk about such useless things!"

Tong Guan, who had been leading troops for many years, glared with dignity and said, "How Tokyo City was lost has nothing to do with us, and there is no need to think about it. What we need to think about now is what we should do."

Indeed, the loss of Tokyo City had a profound impact on the army that was suppressing the rebellion.

The first is that the righteousness is gone, and the second, and more important, is that the logistical supply is cut off.

"General." Commanding officer Wang Bing immediately saluted and said, "What else can we say? Of course, we should immediately return to Tokyo to defend the king!"

Wang Bing, a man who historically defended the city of Taiyuan during the Jingkang period, fought to the end until his entire army was annihilated. He also refused to surrender and chose to die in battle for his country. He was considered a rare loyal military official in the Song Dynasty.

When this was said, many people nodded in approval, saying that this was indeed the right choice.

The infighting and fighting within the Song Dynasty army was no less intense than the factional struggles among civil officials.

Seeing that Wang Bing was becoming prominent, some people who were dissatisfied with him came forward to suppress him.

Liu Zhen, who was also the commander, immediately said, "Of course we have to go to the king to help him, but we are now trapped in the land of Fang La's rioters. Should we defend Hangzhou? Who will defend it? If we go back to help the king, who will pay for the journey? Where will the food and wages come from?"

Hangzhou City is an important city in the southeast. Now that it has been recovered, it must be defended.

The problem is that Fang La's bandits looked around and realized that if they stayed here to defend Hangzhou City, they would be isolated.

If the army returns to defend the king successfully, it will take at least half a year for the army to come back. Given the emperor's temper, he may even leave the army behind to guard the city of Bianliang, so there will be no guarantee of punctuality.

If the campaign to defend the king fails, then there is nothing more to say.

Faced with the Fang La bandits attacking from all sides, who has the confidence to hold on?
That's not the most important thing.

The most important thing is that the army needs money for the journey back to defend the king, as well as food and wages along the way.

The Song army was plagued by embezzlement and occupation, and ordinary soldiers had difficulty in getting enough food and clothing.

If one wants them to fight hard, a large sum of money must be paid before they go out to fight. Otherwise, the soldiers will make a fuss and it will be difficult for them to leave the camp.

This amount of wealth should be at least half a year's salary. It should be real salary, not the salary that has been deducted at various levels.

The army that came to the southeast has more than 100,000 soldiers. Who can afford half a year's salary for so many people?
Even if they can afford it, who is willing to pay out of pocket, and who dares to pay out of pocket?

It is obvious that before Tong Guan convened the military meeting, he had already made up his mind, "We must serve the king, and Hangzhou City cannot be lost. Commander Wang, your troops will stay in Hangzhou City."

Wang Bing's face immediately darkened.

He was not from the Western Army, but from the authentic Bianliang City Imperial Guards.

There is no doubt that in this army led by the Western Army, it is natural for him to be tasked with the difficult task of defending Hangzhou.

The military is a violent group with a strong sense of cohesion and exclusivity.

All the generals looked as if it was a matter of course, and this matter would definitely fall on the shoulders of the Bianliang Imperial Guards.

"Hmm?" Seeing Wang Bing didn't say anything, Tong Guan's face immediately darkened. "This is a military order!"

Wang Bing had no choice but to bow and accept the order.

There is a strict hierarchy in the army. If you dare to disobey the orders issued by your superiors, you will really have your head chopped off.

Even if you have extensive connections and can get the emperor to help you, the most he can do is avenge you afterwards. Once your head is cut off, it won't grow back.

After arranging the defense of the city, Tong Guan began to talk about the expenses of the expedition. "Hangzhou is rich. We will recapture Hangzhou and save the people from danger. The local people will serve the army and can be used as the expenses of the expedition."

To put it bluntly, it means directly robbing the local people's property and using it as travel expenses.

All the generals nodded, expressing their absolute support for the general's proposal.

These generals all have a fortune, but they will never pay out of their own pockets to reward the soldiers. On the one hand, they are unwilling to spend their own money for the court, and on the other hand, what is the purpose of paying out of your own pockets to buy the hearts of the soldiers?

The literati of the Song Dynasty will not care whether you are doing this for the king's benefit or not. As long as you dare to do such things, you will be beheaded.

The literati's defense against military men had reached an extremely terrifying level.

Tan Zhen frowned and said, "General, Hangzhou has been plundered by bandits, and I'm afraid the people don't have much money left."

This was not because he sympathized with the people, but simply because he knew that the people in Hangzhou City could not be squeezed out of much money, and there was no way it would be enough to be used as travel expenses.

"The common people don't have it, but the gentry and the rich should have it."

Tong Guan stroked his beard and squinted his eyes, looking at Wang Bing and said, "This matter should be handled by Wang Tongzhi."

Wang Bing was furious. This was a trap for me.

Compared to the impoverished common people, the gentry and wealthy families are definitely rich.

Even if they were looted by Fang La, they must have some hidden treasures.

With the wealth of Hangzhou City, it would be barely enough to raise enough money for the expedition. If that was still not enough, we could just plunder a few more cities in various parts of Jiangnan.

However, the gentry and wealthy families all have backgrounds, and offending them is not a good thing. When the censor impeaches you and the bigwigs add fuel to the fire, you will be immediately charged with a serious crime.

"Why panic?"

Tong Guan knew Wang Bin's concerns, and said with a slight smile, "Everyone in the court is now in the hands of the thieves. After the king's support is successful, I don't know how many people will be able to survive."

Officials who had been involved in banditry usually either resigned on their own or were demoted to distant places.

If the Song Dynasty had not favored scholars and officials and had not had the implicit rule of "no punishment for scholars and officials", many people would have been executed.

Since the powerful people in the court are destined to be in trouble, there is no need to worry too much about taking action against the local gentry and wealthy families.

After figuring all this out, Wang Bing had to respond with a gloomy face.

"General."

Just as the expedition funds were being settled, someone raised a new question: "The army only has a few days' worth of food and fodder left. How can we fight without enough food and fodder?"

An important means for the Song Dynasty's turbans to control military personnel was to take control of the army's logistics.

Of course, there is another important reason for controlling logistics, which is to make it easier for scholars and officials to embezzle.

Normally, Tong Guan's army had enough food and fodder to last for about a month.

But since Chen Ran had captured the city of Bianliang, it was naturally impossible for him to continue arranging for the delivery of food and fodder to Tong Guan's army. By the time Tong Guan learned the news, there was very little food and fodder left in the army.

As we all know, if the army had no food, even if Zhuge Liang came, there would be nothing he could do and he could only run away.

"This is easy." Tong Guan looked at Wang Bin again.

Wang Bing understood what he meant immediately and glared at him.

Don't go too far. Do you really think that I, the imperial guards of Bianliang, are easy to bully? Do you think I should take all the blame? You're dreaming!

Tong Guan also knew that he couldn't do things to the extreme, so he coughed, looked away and looked at the commander Yang Keshi.

"Your troops will collect food locally."

The so-called local grain collection, to put it bluntly, means to rob food, rob the people's food.

Yang Keshi was from the Western Army, so he had no psychological resistance to robbing the people in Jiangnan of their food. However, he also had a question: "Captain, it's the spring ploughing season now, where can we get so much food when there's a shortage of food?"

To supply food and fodder to an army of more than 100,000 is an astronomical figure.

"If there is not enough food, then rob the farmers." Tong Guan had no expression on his face, but his words were chilling. "If the common people don't have any, then rob the gentry and landlords."

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar in the hall.

There is a folk saying that goes, "You would rather starve your parents to death than eat the crops you grow." This shows the importance of growing crops, which is the foundation for the coming year.

If you steal someone's grain, that means you're going to starve their entire family to death. How can I not fight you to the death?
"Everyone!"

Tong Guan interrupted the noise with a loud shout, "What time is it now? Our Song Dynasty is in danger! Bianliang City has fallen, and the emperor and the ministers are not sure whether they will live or die. In such a critical moment, who cares where the food comes from? All the people of the Song Dynasty should offer it voluntarily! Those who are unwilling to do so are all traitors and bandits!"

"You are a damn eunuch, so of course you have to find a way to save the emperor. Without the emperor, you are nothing! But we are the ones who are left with a bad name, bah!"

No matter how unhappy they were, the generals of the Western Army knew that this was the way it had to be done.

Otherwise, there would be no way they could travel all the way back to their hometown in Guanzhong!
In just a few days, the city of Hangzhou, as well as the nearby prefectures and counties, all became a living hell.

Whether it was the common people who had no place to stand, or the gentry and wealthy businessmen who had connections everywhere, everyone was the same in front of the soldiers.

Tong Guan's large-scale looting not only obtained a large amount of food and fodder, but also brought extremely serious consequences.

That is, the entire Jiangnan region is united, and no matter their status, gender, age or status, they all fight to the death with the government troops!

The losses caused to the government troops by the common people were even greater than those caused by Fang La's troops before.

Faced with the turbulent situation, Tong Guan and others did not dare to stay any longer. They left Wang Bing's troops to guard Hangzhou City and experience the difficult days. Their own troops, mainly the Western Army, fled madly to Huaixi.

(End of this chapter)