I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 157 Zhao Zicheng Single-handedly Conquers Jingdong - Part 2

Before entering the territory of Jinan Prefecture, Zhao Zicheng rested for a day in a secluded place at the junction of Yanzhou, Yunzhou and Jinan Prefecture, fully recuperating and gathering intelligence. Then, as dusk approached, he remounted his horse and set off again, feeling refreshed and ready to go.

It was also a stroke of luck for Zhao Zicheng, as the area south of Jinan Prefecture, bordering Yunzhou and Yanzhou, was right near the Taishan mountain area.

Mount Tai is vast and has a treacherous terrain. Its edges are covered with countless hills and dense vegetation, which naturally attracts many bandits.

Even during the Song Dynasty, Song soldiers had difficulty controlling these areas. When the Jin army arrived and took over hastily, it was even less likely that they would be able to search this area.

Therefore, Zhao Zicheng's entire approach to Jinan Prefecture was carried out undetected. Furthermore, his small size—with only about twenty riders—made him virtually unnoticed.

The group traveled for most of the night, and around the fourth watch of the night, they approached the city of Jinan. However, considering the possibility of a fight with the Jin soldiers in the chaos, Zhao Zicheng had his men rest for another half watch before setting off again to make a final push, covering the last ten or so miles.

Finally, around midnight, Zhao Zicheng arrived outside Jinan with twenty riders. He then sent someone to shout at the city walls, attempting to persuade the Song garrison to surrender.

Zhao Zicheng could have arrived before dawn, but he deliberately chose not to. He knew very well that he wasn't there to launch a surprise attack by force, but to break through the city through prestige. Arriving too early, when it was too dark, might be militarily advantageous, but politically extremely disadvantageous.

The defending officers couldn't see his face or recognize him as Zhao Zicheng, so how could they persuade him to surrender?

"Listen up, soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty on the city wall! I am Zhao Zicheng, the Prince of Xiu! Four years ago, I led you to quell the bandit Song Jiang and maintain peace in this region. I know that you were coerced by the treacherous Liu Yu, which is why you were trapped in the bandit's lair."

Now that I have personally arrived, I assure you that the court will distinguish right from wrong, punish only the ringleaders, and spare the accomplices. Open the city gates now and abandon the darkness for the light! If you do not believe me, I have my elder brother's imperial edict here; you may hang it on the city wall for a closer look!

Because it was already daylight, Zhao Zicheng was spotted by the guards as he approached the city wall of Jinan. Before the guards could confirm his identity, Liu Yu's confidant rushed to report to Liu Yu.

So when Zhao Zicheng finished speaking and repeatedly tried to persuade them to surrender, and the people on the city walls began to waver, Liu Yu, the self-proclaimed military commissioner of Jingdong Road, and Wanyan Gulan, the ninth prince of the Jin Dynasty, rode swiftly and arrived at the south gate of Jinan City one after the other.

Upon hearing that Zhao Zicheng had suddenly appeared and attempted to persuade him to surrender, Liu Yu was both surprised and frightened. He was clearly incredulous and unable to react, yet he was also afraid of Zhao Zicheng's audacity.

To be honest, Liu Yu should thank Zhao Zicheng for his astonishing actions, which were so surprising that even the guards patrolling the city walls at night couldn't believe it. So, no one opened the gate until Liu Yu arrived.

Otherwise, if the city guards had been a quarter or two earlier in the morning and were certain that the person below was the beloved Prince Xiu, the city gates might have already been opened, and Liu Yu wouldn't have been able to arrive at the scene in time.

Liu Yu looked around in a cold sweat. He had some past grievances with Zhao Zicheng. When he was the Inspector of Liangzhe Road, he had discovered Zhao Zicheng's greedy crimes of privately dividing Fang La's spoils of war. He had met Zhao Zicheng several times.

Later, when he served as an official in Jinan Prefecture and Qingzhou, he was responsible for supervising Zhao Zicheng's recapture of these territories and secretly monitoring Zhao Zicheng for any unusual movements. Therefore, he was very familiar with Zhao Zicheng's appearance and had seen him many times.

Liu Yu squinted and looked at it repeatedly for a while, and finally confirmed that the man in red armor outside the city was most likely Prince Xiu, Zhao Zicheng.

"I heard that this man was once an envoy to the Jin camp. After negotiations with the Jin broke down, he killed the Jin army's commander-in-chief, Wanyan Zongwang, and then fought his way out of the encirclement. The killing intent emanating from him is indeed extraordinary. This aura could only come from someone who has emerged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood..."

Liu Yu was somewhat frightened by what he saw. Even though they were separated by the city wall and two hundred paces, he was already afraid.

Liu Yu shouted in a trembling, hoarse voice, "Don't let morale waver! Don't believe the rumors! That guy down there isn't Zhao Zicheng at all! That foolish Song emperor sent a swindler to cheat you!"

While shouting, he managed to calm people down a bit. Then, fearing that Zhao Zicheng's continued standing there would eventually shake more people and lower morale, Liu Yu gritted his teeth and made his confidants shout and curse together:
"Listen up, you scoundrel! You say you're Zhao Zicheng? Do you dare come forward and let the brothers see for themselves?"

Liu Yu also had many confidants; at least the yamen runners and personal attendants of Jinan Prefecture listened to him. So, he quickly gathered dozens of people and shouted together, and the sound carried far.

Upon seeing this, the soldiers guarding the city walls quieted down again, and a considerable number of them began to doubt whether the people below the city were real.

To everyone's surprise, Zhao Zicheng also stepped forward proudly, spurred his horse forward, and walked towards the foot of the city wall.

Yue Fei exclaimed in alarm, "Your Highness! A son of a noble family should not sit under a dangerous roof; beware of the crossbows on the city wall!"

Zhao Zicheng waved his hand and said in a low voice, "Don't worry, the ballista is not so easy to move. Guan Sheng's men will definitely be able to control it. As for the other ordinary crossbows, they can't hurt me."

Yue Fei was still worried, so he finally took a large shield and rode forward with Dugu Jian. In the end, only the three of them reached within a hundred paces of the city. Dugu Jian did not take a shield, but his seven-foot broadsword was enough to provide a considerable amount of cover, making it easy for him to deflect arrows.

"Liu Yu, you treacherous dog! You disloyal, unfilial, and unjust bastard, do you even recognize me now? Soldiers on the city wall, do you even recognize me now? I once led you all to quell the rebellion, are you going to shoot arrows at me now?!"

Zhao Zicheng shouted with great vigor, his momentum reminiscent of Napoleon facing the Fifth Infantry Regiment sent by Louis XVIII to intercept him.

The Song soldiers on the city wall were originally on high alert with arrows drawn, but when they saw Zhao Zicheng's generosity and fearlessness, they were all intimidated. The key point was that most of the officers knew that he was indeed Zhao Zicheng and had already seen through him, so they all put down their crossbows.

Liu Yu, realizing the situation was dire, felt his blood rush to his head and his scalp tingle. He immediately turned to Guan Sheng beside him and asked, "General Guan! What should we do now? You and I were both the first to conspire to surrender to the Jin. If Zhao Zicheng comes, he will definitely not spare us! We must think of a way! Quickly, have your men fire their arrows!"

Guan Sheng was still playing along, immediately promising to make arrangements, but in reality, he had already moved all the ballistae to the west wall. There were no ballistae at all in the south gate tower. Liu Yu wanted him to fire arrows immediately, but there were no powerful crossbows available, so he could only use ordinary crossbows.

While Liu Yu was filled with fear, the Jin Dynasty supervisory team, who had also arrived at the south city wall, took the lead in making their move.

As mentioned earlier, the Jin state assigned two Xi tribe warriors and two thousand men under Wanyan Gulan to be responsible for the occupied areas of the three prefectures of Jingdong Road. In fact, the Jin army, which was the largest number of soldiers from the surrounding prefectures, had been gathered in Jinan City, consisting of five Mouke and five hundred Xi tribe soldiers.

The Jin people were hoping that these 500 Xi soldiers would directly control Liu Yu, making him obediently become a traitor and not have any wicked thoughts.

Seeing Zhao Zicheng's arrogance, Wanyan Hulan immediately took out his three-stone carved bow and shot at Zhao Zicheng. Then, the Jin soldiers around him also took out their horse bows and fired arrows.

Dugu Jian and Yue Fei stepped forward to help parry, and Zhao Zicheng also drew his sword to block a few attacks. Especially when he realized that the opponent was using a mounted bow, he was no longer afraid. His feathered armor was completely immune to arrows; only a powerful crossbow could penetrate it.

After deftly deflecting several arrows, Zhao Zicheng stepped back slightly, still calmly addressing Liu Yu:

"Liu Yu, you treacherous dog! I am blessed by Heaven! The people are on my side! Do you think you can stop me by shooting arrows in the dark? Fine, since you insist on resisting, I will give you a chance. You think you have the hearts of the army? Then dare to shout right now: Who dares to kill me? If you shout it, and there is indeed no one who opposes you, I will leave immediately and will no longer try to persuade you to surrender!"

Liu Yu found it all absurd.

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms of this era was obviously not as comprehensive as it was in the later Yuan Dynasty. The story of Wei Yan shouting that he would be beheaded by his own people if anyone dared to kill him had not yet been made up, so Liu Yu naturally would not have thought of it that way.

Seeing Zhao Zicheng's overwhelming appeal and ability to sway people, Liu Yu dared not delay any longer and wanted to act swiftly and decisively. He reasoned that even if Zhao Zicheng broke his promise after the call, it would at least damage Zhao Zicheng's credibility and reputation; in any case, he was guaranteed to profit.

Liu Yu didn't think much of it and immediately shouted at the top of his lungs, "Zhao Zicheng is a dog! Don't try to sow discord! I, Liu Yu, am now the Military Commissioner of Jingdong Road appointed by the Great Jin Kingdom. Who dares to kill me! Who..."

"I dare to kill you!"

As soon as Liu Yu finished speaking, a cold light flashed behind him, accompanied by a cold wind.

Guan Sheng, who had been keeping his eyes narrowed and looking indifferent, suddenly opened his eyes wide with rage and swung his Green Dragon Crescent Blade at the back of Liu Yu's head.

With a clean, crisp sound, the Green Dragon Crescent Blade struck Liu Yu squarely on the back of the neck, seemingly without encountering any resistance. Then, a head flew into the air, followed by three intermittent spurts of blood that splashed five feet away.

Clearly, the last three intermittent gushing of blood, judging by the rhythm, should have coincided with the three words "Dare to kill me" that Liu Yu didn't finish shouting the second time. Every time he was supposed to shout a word, his carotid artery would reflexively spurt intermittently.

It is likely that the instructions "buffered" in the nerves and muscles of the throat below the vocal cords before his brain left his body were still being executed as planned.

"Liu Yu, that traitorous dog, has betrayed his country and surrendered to the enemy! I have executed him! Soldiers, follow me and follow Prince Xiu! Open the city gates!" Guan Sheng grabbed Liu Yu's severed head by the braid and waved it in the air to display it. With his other hand, he raised his blood-soaked Green Dragon Crescent Blade high and shouted loudly.

Guan Sheng was originally the military commander of Jinan Prefecture, so it was only natural that his roar would be met with a hundred responses. Although the Song army reacted a little slowly, several hundred men still followed Guan Sheng immediately. Wanyan Gulan, standing nearby, was greatly alarmed and quickly ordered his men to send a signal to gather all five hundred Xi soldiers at the south gate to fight the rebellious Song soldiers to the death.

Although Wanyan Gulan had arrived earlier, he did not know that things would become this serious. Five hundred Xi soldiers had to be deployed to other gates, and troops had to be sent to control the prefectural government office. At most, only two hundred men could reach the south gate.

The Song army suddenly turned against them and immediately engaged in battle with Wanyan Gulan.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Zicheng didn't wait for the Song army to break down the gate. He reached out his hand, and Yue Fei immediately handed him a coil of hemp rope with a grappling hook at the end, clearly something that had been prepared beforehand.

Zhao Zicheng spurred his horse straight to the city walls, personally threw out a grappling hook with great force, which caught on the crenellations wrapped around the top of the city wall. He pulled hard, using both his hands and feet to climb up the wall, and finally swung the rope with a mighty swing, landing on the city wall like a giant eagle.

There were many Song soldiers around him, so no one stopped him. After Zhao Zicheng steadied himself, he drew his sword and shouted, "Soldiers, follow me to kill the Jin dogs!"

As Zhao Zicheng shouted his orders, Yue Fei and Dugu Jian also climbed onto the city wall one after another. The morale of the Song soldiers soared, and they followed Zhao Zicheng in the attack.

Meanwhile, after discovering the Song people's rebellion, Wanyan Gulan had already gathered his two hundred-man squads of Xi soldiers and desperately charged towards the direction Zhao Zicheng was trying to climb the city wall, trying to block Zhao Zicheng from entering.

Unfortunately, the Song army also displayed astonishing morale and will, fighting to the death against the Xi soldiers of the Jin Kingdom.

In the midst of the charge, Wanyan Hulan ran into Guan Sheng, who was also personally leading the charge.

Enraged by Guan Sheng's betrayal, Wanyan Hulan's eyes turned bloodshot. He brandished a heavy spiked club and engaged Guan Sheng in a bloody battle with his Green Dragon Crescent Blade.

"You faithless Song pig! You should feel honored to die at the hands of the Ninth Prince of my Great Jin Kingdom!" Wanyan Gulan cursed angrily as he swung his sword wildly.

He thought the Han people were weak and wouldn't dare to fight him head-on, but Guan Sheng was undeterred and swung his Green Dragon Crescent Blade to meet him head-on.

With a loud "clang!", the heavy spiked club was actually shaken by the Azure Dragon Blade and cracked. Wanyan Gulan felt his arms were severely numb and sore, and his tiger's mouth was cracked. He felt dizzy.

With just one move, Wanyan Gulan was overwhelmed by the preemptive strike. He could only rely on instinct to desperately defend himself, still completely dazed.

After only five or six rounds of fighting, Wanyan Gulan could no longer hold out. Guan Sheng seized an opening and beheaded him with a single stroke.

Another severed head, gushing blood from its neck, flew into the air and landed more than ten feet away.

"Wanyan Gulan has been killed! Those who surrender will not be killed!" Guan Sheng roared, his hands still moving, continuing to bravely wield the Green Dragon Blade, killing more than a dozen Jin soldiers, finally causing the Jin people to collapse in shock.

Even so, very few Jurchens surrendered; at most, they lost their organization and fled for their lives, attempting to break out of the encirclement.

Perhaps the Jurchen and Xi soldiers of this era still generally held the distinction between the Hu and Han peoples, knowing that the Han people would not treat them well.

Guan Sheng, Zhao Zicheng, and Yue Fei joined forces and, after much effort, managed to wipe out the two hundred Xi soldiers in the southern part of Jinan. They then proceeded to sweep through the other three gates.

When the Xi soldiers of the other three gates heard about the defeat in the south of the city, especially the death of the Ninth Prince, they were greatly shocked. Instead of fighting to the death, some chose to escape by lowering themselves down the city walls. However, almost no one surrendered; the proportion of those who fled for their lives increased slightly.

In the end, Guan Sheng and Zhao Zicheng, along with Yue Fei's army, joined forces to cut off the heads of more than 300 Xi soldiers of the Jin Kingdom, and finally recaptured Jinan City.

"Brother Guan! Well done! Although you were patient and feigned compliance with Liu Yu for a time, you ultimately lured the enemy deep into your territory and achieved this great feat! I will certainly report this to the Emperor and reward you handsomely!"

After the battle, Zhao Zicheng, covered in blood, laughed heartily with Guan Sheng and Yue Fei, drinking heartily. They had several jars of fine wine brought out, and each of them drank directly from the jars.

"I never imagined that after three or four years, I would be fighting alongside Your Highness again! This is the greatest fortune of my life!" Guan Sheng was also very excited, and coupled with the fact that he had just been drinking heavily, his face was even redder.

"I dare not hope for a promotion or reward for my merits. After all, I was ordered to feign surrender, but outsiders do not know that I was just pretending to surrender. If I am promoted too high, it will have a bad influence and may encourage other soldiers to take advantage of the situation."

Guan Sheng was still considering whether the reward would have a negative impact on military discipline, making future generations more likely to choose to surrender when faced with danger.

Zhao Zicheng, however, confidently declared, "What's there to worry about! You were ordered to feign surrender, and I can vouch for that! I'll be your witness!"

Besides, you've underestimated the military merits this time. Even if it was just a lucky break, it's the head of the Ninth Prince of the Jin Kingdom!
Since the start of the war, besides myself killing Wanyan Zongwang, I also died long after being seriously wounded. What other generals of my Great Song Dynasty have killed Jin princes?

Guan Sheng was flattered and couldn't help but feel proud, but he didn't dare to show off. He just excitedly stroked his beard repeatedly.

Even Yue Fei, who was standing to the side, envied him: "Brother Guan, I have risked my life more times than you have with the Jurchens. Although I have killed two Meng'an and several Mouke, I have not been able to capture a prince. You are really lucky! You just happened to get the head of the commander of a Jurchen detachment!"

After exchanging compliments for a while, Zhao Zicheng finally got down to business: "Now that Jinan has been taken back, we can't delay in the other places. We should send out proclamations as soon as possible to get the other counties to turn back."

I will personally make another trip to Linzi, the capital of Qingzhou. As for the other counties, I entrust them to you in delivering the proclamations. The loss of Yunzhou was not part of my plan, and it will not be easy to take it back in the short term. It would be quite good if we could completely take back Jinan and Qingzhou.

Furthermore, we must be wary of a counterattack or retaliation from the Jurchens. Some small county towns are poorly defended and are unlikely to be captured; we can only gather them and concentrate them in the prefectural city. As for the landless poor, we must find a way to relocate a group of them, perhaps to Goryeo (Korea) to cultivate wasteland.

To stop the Jin army in Shandong, the key lies in relying on the strategic passes of Mount Tai and Mount Meng. Jinan Prefecture and Qingzhou are located on the Hebei Plain, which is flat and indefensible, and those small county towns certainly cannot be held for long.

We cannot be concerned with the temporary gains or losses of a single city or place. If we save our people but lose the land, we can save both; if we save the land but lose our people, we can lose both. Go quickly.”

Guan Sheng and Yue Fei immediately and readily accepted the order: "Your subordinates obey!"

Two or three days later, Zhao Zicheng personally led a raid on Linzi in Qingzhou. Qin Ming and Huang Xin, who had previously made a secret agreement with him, indeed betrayed him ahead of time and engaged in a bloody battle with the Jurchens there.

When Zhao Zicheng arrived, there was no need to persuade him to surrender. Instead, he directly sent a small cavalry reinforcement team into the city to help Qin Ming.

After several such incidents, apart from the Jin troops stationed at a few key ferry crossings on the Yellow River and Ji River outside the city who quickly withdrew when the situation turned against them, most of the Jin troops who had been lured by Liu Yu and stationed in the city were surrounded and wiped out by the Song people.

Of the two thousand Xi soldiers left behind by Wanyan Gulan, Zhao Zicheng killed about 1,200 to 1,300, with only about 800 escaping and retreating. Jinan and Qingzhou were temporarily restored.

However, in Yunzhou, which Zhao Zicheng could not control, the situation was deteriorating further, and Yanzhou, whose prefectural capital had not yet been captured by the Jin, was also beginning to teeter on the brink of collapse. The territory of Jingdong East Road east of Mount Tai had already been cut off by the Jin. The direct communication route between Zhao Zicheng and his elder brother Zhao Huan had also been officially severed by the Jin army.

Zhao Zicheng had just arrived and was not yet firmly established, nor did he have enough troops. To consolidate his territory, he had to rely on the terrain and the strategic importance of the Taishan Mountains. He could not directly confront the Jin people on the vast plains west of Taishan.

Thus, the Song army found itself in a predicament where it could not support both ends, just like a snake in Changshan, which was cut in half by the Jin people in the Yunzhou and Yanzhou areas.

The Jin army soon received the devastating news of Wanyan Gulan's death. The Jin army's high command was furious, but in the end, they knew to prioritize and did not rush to seek revenge on Zhao Zicheng.

The Jin army commander-in-chief, Wanyan Zonghan, was very insightful: "It seems that Zhao Zicheng has great prestige in the eastern part of Jingdong, and he has already deployed defenses based on Mount Tai. It is not easy to determine the outcome of a direct battle with him, but it will only delay important matters."

The best course of action now is for our Great Jin to focus on the big picture and let go of the small ones. We should adopt a defensive posture on the Jingdong Road, immediately consolidate all our forces, and launch a fierce attack on the Song people's capital and strategic stronghold to the west! I have heard that during the Warring States period, the capital of the Wei state in the Central Plains was Daliang, which is today's Bianjing. Sun Bin of the Qi state advised Tian Ji to besiege Wei to rescue Zhao, and that was the place they besieged.

Now let's launch a siege of Wei to relieve Qi, luring Zhao Zicheng here with a fierce attack on Bianjing, and annihilating him halfway to rescue the emperor!

"Your Majesty is wise! Your strategy is flawless! We will obey your orders and we will surely destroy the Song!" All the Jin generals praised Wanyan Zonghan's shrewdness and firmly supported this decision.

(End of this chapter)