Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 511: Overgrown Grass Outside Bianliang City

On the 21st day of the first lunar month, after Liang Qiu crossed the Yangtze River by ferry, he gathered with more than a hundred defeated soldiers who served as servants and guards in the north of the river, and then looked back at Jiankang City in the distance.

This trip was not easy.

Finally, he escaped alive from the southern expedition initiated by Wanyan Liang.

Thinking of this, even with Liang Qiu's self-control, he couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat and almost burst into tears on the spot.

However, he did not dare to let others see him, so he went directly along the Yangtze River to Hezhou, and then arrived at Chao County along the Yuxi East Gate.

Because Liang Qiu lied that he had received an order from the garrison in Bian Jing to come and negotiate peace, no one suspected why he took this path.

Wang Shilong, who stayed behind, had been waiting here for a long time and handed over more than 200 Jurchen captives to Liang Qiu.

These captives were carefully selected, most of them were tall and strong, with outstanding martial arts skills, but none of them were officers. They were all helpless Jurchen armored cavalry, which was just right for Liang Qiu to control.

After their weapons, armor, and horses were returned to them, these Jurchen captives were transformed into elite armored cavalrymen who had fought in many battles.

After thanking Wang Shilong, Liang Qiu led 300 armored cavalrymen to Wokou quickly. Without even seeing Wuyan Puluhun, he headed north and rushed towards Bianjing.

On February 7, after going through countless hardships and dangers, Liang Qiu finally returned to Bianliang City, the theoretical capital of the Jin Dynasty, with his delegation, which was reduced to 200 armored cavalry.

Why in theory?

Because Wanyan Liang was an extremely troublesome person, he not only troubled the people, but also the nobles.

In order to get rid of the restraining Jurchen nobles, Wanyan Liang killed and implicated many people and moved the capital to the Han area. In just over ten years, he moved the capital twice, from Liaoyang Prefecture to Yanjing, and then from Yanjing to Bianliang.

Of course, there is no need to expect the Jurchen people to have a sense of belonging to Bianliang.

The different environment in the Han area was one reason, but more importantly, at this time, Bianliang had long lost the prosperity it had during the Northern Song Dynasty's Tokyo.

Not only was Bianliang looted several times by the Jin Kingdom, but more importantly, the Yellow River had never been seriously managed since Du Chong dug up the Yellow River, causing it to take over the Huai River.

Floods of varying sizes occurred continuously, and the large amount of sand and soil brought by the Yellow River accumulated near Bianliang, forming a huge desertified saline-alkali land.

Later generations may not understand why deserts appeared in the heart of the Central Plains. In fact, since the Yellow River was disrupted by the Five Changes of Rivers in the Northern Song Dynasty, Hebei and other places have begun to become desertified.

After experiencing the benevolent policies of the Yuan Dynasty, things got out of control.

The desertification of Henan and Hebei was not reversed until the establishment of the Ming Dynasty. It took the reigns of Hongwu and Yongle emperors, who worked hard to control the situation and build water conservancy projects, and finally turned the tide.

To give another simple example, Lankao County, where Jiao Yulu later worked to control desertification, is just twenty miles east of today's Kaifeng city!

In today's environment, how can the city of Bianliang return to its prosperity as it was during the Northern Song Dynasty?
Although they had anticipated the chaotic situation, it was still a little too unbelievable that Liang Qiu and his 200 armored cavalry were robbed after setting foot on this saline-alkali land.

"I am Liang Qiu, the Minister of Revenue of the Great Jin Dynasty. Where are your heads?" As soon as Liang Qiu opened his mouth, the spring breeze wrapped in sand filled his mouth, causing him to cough violently.

Another crossbow bolt shot out from behind the withered reeds in the saline-alkali land and pierced Liang Qiu's horse. "We are the heroes of the Weiding Army, and we are here to get some food. I think you are a hero too. Leave three mules and horses for us to fill our stomachs. I will let you pass this time, okay?"

Liang Qiu looked at the nearby Bianliang City and felt somewhat helpless. He then said to the person beside him, "Du Liehu, these people are hiding their heads and showing their tails. There must not be many of them. Take a few people and pull them all out."

Du Liehu was a tall man and had been a knight in the Wuping Army. Although he was brave, he was too stupid to be an officer and could only serve as a vanguard.

After he was released by Wang Shilong, he was fooled by Liang Qiu and immediately felt grateful.

Upon hearing this, Du Liehu did not hesitate. Wearing an iron jacket and without even taking a shield, he rushed directly into the reed marsh.

"Catch him alive!" Liang Qiu shouted loudly, and then he heard screams coming from the reed marsh. After several armored cavalrymen dismounted and entered, the reed marsh shook again, and finally there was no movement.

Du Liehu slung his spear behind his back, holding a bandit in one hand, and strode out, throwing it directly in front of Liang Qiu's horse. "Master, we are just here to ask for a bite to eat. We are starving. If you have offended me, I will kowtow to you!"

The person who just shouted was a tall but skinny man. Although he had a Jurchen braid on his head, it seemed that he had not taken care of it for a long time, and a stubble of hair had grown on the top of his head.

"Give him two pancakes," Liang Qiu ordered, then asked, "Which tribe are you from?"

The tall, thin man quickly took the pancake and gave one to the man next to him. He then munched on it, nearly choking to death. He rolled his eyes for a long time before saying, "Sir, I'm from the Liaoshui Hesheli tribe."

"Then how did you get here?"

"I followed the army to the south and served as a sergeant in the Weiding Army." The tall and thin man said respectfully with a bow.

Liang Qiu asked in surprise, "Are you really from Wei Dingjun?"

The tall and thin man nodded: "Of course, not only me, but also the group of people in the reed marsh just now. Five of them are from the Weiding Army, and the other nine are from other armies. They are all..."

Liang Qiu raised his hand to stop the tall, thin man from rambling. "Stop it, didn't Wei Dingjun follow Commander Pushan to Xiangfan? Why is he here?"

The tall, thin man smiled bitterly and said, "The army has gathered in Fancheng, but we can't make it across the Han River. The Song dogs often attack from the side to cut off our food supply. Two months ago, they overturned three large grain ships, and the two armies of ten thousand households suffered from famine. We couldn't bear the hunger anymore, so we had to flee back."

It is not so easy to send a large army to war, especially when the main attack direction is transferred from Lianghuai to Jingxiang, and there are many complicated things involved.

This is why Wanyan Liang established the capital in Bianliang early on and gathered a large amount of food and supplies, otherwise the main strategic attack direction could not be changed.

But even so, there will still be problems of one kind or another.

The trouble that Pushan Zhongyi encountered was that there was an obvious problem with the speed of grain transportation, so that the subsequent troops were at risk of running out of food.

Upon hearing this, Liang Qiu narrowed his eyes.

These people are deserters, which means that the army in Xiangfan has not returned yet.

Why didn’t Pushan Zhongyi come back?

Was it because the war was so arduous that it was difficult to escape and retreat? Or perhaps negotiations with the governor in Bianliang had failed? It was also possible that he was waiting for a good price, at least to offer a good price to the new emperor.

In any case, the hundreds of thousands of troops in Pushan Zhongyi's hands are the capital for him to accomplish his goals. If this guy is more ambitious and more evil-hearted, the Jurchen royal family may have the surname Pushan in the future.

Throwing all these random thoughts out of his mind, Liang Qiu looked at the tall and thin man and asked, "Then why are you robbing people outside the city?"

The tall, thin man said with a mournful face, "Master, it's not that we don't want to find a job, but Bianliang City is in such a mess. What will happen even if we get in?"

"What's the mess?" Liang Qiu asked quickly.

"This..." The tall and thin man was obviously hesitant.

Liang Qiu immediately understood and said directly, "What's your name? You can bring your friends and work as servants by my side. I won't say you will become rich, but you will definitely not starve to death. How about it?"

The tall and thin man immediately kowtowed and said, "Master, my name is Pusan Hongshu. From now on, I will follow you and fight for my life!"

After kowtowed three times, Pushan Hongshu finally said, "Master, I don't know much, but a few days ago, when we were trying to sneak into the city, martial law was suddenly imposed, and even merchants were detained. Then I heard a lot of people shouting."

Liang Qiu quickly asked, "What are you shouting about?"

Pushan Hongshu swallowed his saliva and said, "He's shouting that the prince is dead."

(End of this chapter)