Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

He then removed his armor and began slashing and thrusting, making it look like he had just been through a fierce battle.

By this time, not only were the warhorses exhausted, but the soldiers were also half-dead from exhaustion, having not rested for more than forty hours.

The entire army lay down for a nap, and the warhorses took the opportunity to recover their strength, leaving only a few men to keep watch nearby.

As evening approached, these men remounted their horses and rode straight towards Liaoyang City.

Liaoyang is a large city. As long as it is not besieged by the enemy, the city gates will definitely not be closed during the day, and woodcutters, vegetable vendors and others will be allowed to enter the city to sell daily necessities.

Upon seeing the approaching army, the city guards quickly closed the city gates.

"Don't close the door, let us in!"

"We've lost! Our army has been defeated..."

A group of tribal soldiers shouted outside the city, causing panic among the defending soldiers.

Before long, Wanyan Zongxian, who was in charge of guarding Liaoyang, arrived.

Wanyan Zongxian followed Aguda to the battlefield, served as Wuqimai's bodyguard for a long time, and later took charge of managing the national treasury.

This person was of average military skill, but extremely capable of governing the people, and knew how to appease powerful clans.

Wanyan Zongfu specifically transferred him to guard Liaoyang to ensure that nothing went wrong.

"How did you end up here in defeat?" Wanyan Zongxian asked.

Wang Zheng rode forward and said, "The southern bandits are cunning. They landed by boat in the territory of Guangning Prefecture, and tens of thousands of cavalrymen headed straight for Chengzhou."

"Fortunately, our scouts discovered us, and we were ordered to rush to the aid of Chengzhou, but we suffered a great defeat there."

Gao Jingshan also stepped forward and said, "The Southern bandits only sent cavalry to attack Chengzhou, and did not bring siege equipment."

"They can't take it for now, but they've completely surrounded Chengzhou, trying to cut off the supply route from Liaoyang to Hesuguan!"

Wanyan Zongxian was filled with doubt and suspicion, but he was always wary of the powerful Bohai clans, so he said, "You can rest outside the city, and I will send someone to deliver food."

Gao Jingshan and Wang Zheng were at a loss. If their attempt to capture Liaoyang failed, their entire families would be doomed.

I can't think of a solution for the time being, so I can only dismount and rest for a while.

Wanyan Zongxian's next move made the two even more desperate—he actually lowered the grain and firewood in baskets instead of opening the city gates to send them out!

Gao Jingshan was furious and roared at Wanyan Zongxian, "We fought a bloody battle, and countless of our people died or were wounded. Are you treating us like thieves?"

Wang Zheng also said, "I followed Emperor Taizu in battle when I was young, and I suffered more than ten wounds all over my body."

"Now I almost died in Chengzhou, and I escaped back to Liaoyang but I can't enter the city. I even have to hang my food in baskets."

"Wouldn't such an action chill the hearts of the Jin soldiers?"

Wanyan Zongxian hesitated, when suddenly a Jurchen youth whispered a few words in his ear.

Soon, Wanyan Zongxian shouted, "Now that we have escaped back to Liaoyang, the two generals can lay down their arms. I will immediately send physicians out of the city to treat the wounded soldiers."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed.

They only tore the armor and clothes and applied a lot of horse blood, but they didn't expect that they would have to create wounds as well.

Once the armor and clothes are removed, and there are no new wounds on the body, wouldn't it expose one immediately?

Seeing them standing there motionless, Wanyan Zongxian immediately shouted sternly, "There are no enemy troops nearby, and you are all injured and exhausted. Why are you still wearing your armor?"

The young man who gave Wanyan Zongxian advice was named Heshilie Zhining.

His father, Heshilie Saba, had already been killed in battle by the Ming army.

Chapter 3422 Rebellion!

His father-in-law was Jin Wuzhu.

He also had a younger brother from a different tribe within the same clan, named Heshilie Liangbi.

At only fourteen years old, he is already working as a teacher in the capital, responsible for teaching the Jurchen script, and has two hundred students.

He was later promoted to clerk in the Ministry of Personnel at the age of seventeen, became the deputy prime minister of the Jin Dynasty at the age of forty, and became the prime minister of the Jin Dynasty before the age of fifty.

In addition, Wanyan Zongxian's birth mother also came from the Heshilie tribe.

In the early stages of his expansion, Aguda's greatest enemy was the Heshilie tribe.

Through war and marriage alliances, the Wanyan clan gradually conquered, divided, and won over the various tribes of Heshilie.

"It seems they have truly betrayed us," Wanyan Zongxian said with deep concern.

Heshilie Zhining said, "We must not go out of the city to fight."

Wanyan Zongxian said, "I know."

There were only a little over a thousand Jurchen soldiers in Liaoyang City, as well as several hundred Yellow-headed Jurchen (Yellow-headed Shiwei) slave soldiers captured from the Heilongjiang River basin.

The rest were relatively loyal Xi and Han soldiers, all young men recruited directly from the refugees, and had no connection with the tribal chiefs.

Although the total number of troops defending the city exceeded four thousand, their combat effectiveness was hard to guarantee because they had not fought many battles.

The Bohai cavalry outside the city numbered less than a thousand, but they were all seasoned veterans.

Once they leave the city to fight, the Liaoyang defenders will undoubtedly be defeated!

Moreover, they also had to divide their forces to guard the powerful clans within the city.

Wang Zheng was still shouting outside the city, pointing at Wanyan Zongxian and roaring: "When I followed your father to fight against the Liao Kingdom, you couldn't even ride a horse steadily."

"I have returned from a bloody battle today, and you dare to insult a loyal subject of the Great Jin like this..."

As he spoke, he suddenly knelt down, looked up at the sky and cried, "Your Majesty the Great Ancestor, how could the empire you built have fallen to such a state... Waaaaah!"

“Woooooooo~~~”

All the tribal soldiers knelt down and looked up at the sky, wailing loudly outside the city.

Wanyan Zongxian remained silent, contemplating whether he should slaughter all the ethnic groups within the city.

He Shilie Zhining said, "We cannot kill him for the time being."

"Most of the people in the city are from Bohai. If we massacre the Bohai nobles, it will probably cause the people to panic and rebel."

"When chaos breaks out in the city, and with the elite troops from Bohai outside, Liaoyang will fall with their combined attack from within and without."

“I am worried about Hesuguan,” Wanyan Zongxian said. “Gao Jingshan and Wang Zheng have already betrayed Jin, and the other Bohai tribes may also have ulterior motives. If we are not careful, we will suffer a great defeat at the front.”

Seeing that wailing and crying were ineffective, Gao Jingshan stopped acting, got up, climbed onto his horse, and shouted, "Blow the horn!"

"Woooooooo~~~~"

Horns blared outside the city, and nearly a thousand Bohai cavalrymen galloped around the city, attempting to send a signal to their people inside.

After blowing the horn for a while, Wang Zheng went around to the other side of the city wall and shouted to the Han and Xi soldiers guarding the city: "How have the Jurchens oppressed you?"

“You originally lived by farming in Youyan, but were forcibly relocated to Liaodong by the Jurchens.”

"We toil day and night but can't fill our stomachs; all the grain we grow is taken by the Jurchens."

"You have become refugees, and many of your fellow villagers have starved to death."

"The Jurchens recruited you as soldiers, but they're just using you like dogs!"

"The Han people of the North are also Han people, and now the Han emperor has come to kill us."

"The Jin army was utterly defeated by the Han emperor at Hesuguan. Are you going to follow the Jurchens and wait to die?"

"The Han emperor has said that as long as the Jurchens are killed and a rebellion is launched, both Han and Xi people will be entitled to land and tax exemption!"

"Support the Han Emperor, kill the Jurchens!"

"Support the Han Emperor, kill the Jurchens!"

Wang Zheng had a very loud voice. He rushed to the city and ran back and forth, dodging arrows and shouting.

The Han and Xi soldiers guarding the city gradually stopped shooting arrows.

They still thought that the main force of the Jin army had been defeated and that Hesuguan had been captured by the Han emperor.

If that's the case, why follow the Jurchens to your death?

Wanyan Zongxian rode his horse from the west city and scolded the soldiers guarding the city: "Don't listen to his nonsense. My Great Jin has 200,000 soldiers, all of whom are brave and skilled warriors."

"How could a mere Han emperor possibly defeat the mighty warriors of the Jin dynasty?"

“You were all refugees before. If it weren’t for the Jin Dynasty taking you in, you would have starved to death long ago!”

"In the past two years, the rations and pay you have received have been only slightly lower than those of the Jurchen warriors. Has the Jin Dynasty treated you unfairly?"

Due to the sharp decline in the Jurchen population, the Jin dynasty began recruiting young men and women who had lost their leaders.

The Han and Xi people, in particular, had left their homes and migrated to Liaodong, but there were no powerful leaders to protect them.

They were all people without homes or countries, and they were conscripted to train an army. Moreover, their food and pay were improved, and they were indeed more obedient than the clan soldiers of the local lords.

Under Wanyan Zongxian's reprimand, these people subconsciously drew their bows and started shooting again.

Wang Zheng was so frightened that he quickly spurred his horse to dodge, but he was still hit in the back by an arrow. Fortunately, his armor protected him and the arrow did not penetrate deeply.

Gao Jingshan sent someone to shout from another part of the city wall: "Eriduo (Wanyan Zongfu) has been defeated. Hesuguan, Tangchi and Chengzhou have all been captured by the Ming army."

"Eriduo led his remaining troops to Yongning. The Jin Dynasty is about to perish! The Jin Dynasty is about to perish!"

The morale of the soldiers defending the city was wavering.

No one knew what had happened at Hesu Pavilion; all they knew was that the two powerful generals had rebelled.

Chapter 3423 Various Ethnic Groups of Bohai

One was the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guards, and the other was the Commander of the Bohai Ten Thousand Households.

These two powerful commanders are quite influential, so the Jin troops at the front must be in serious trouble.

...

Inside the city.

The local powerful families in Liaoyang were not placed under house arrest; they were still living in their own homes, but they were not allowed to leave at will.

The families of powerful clans sent from other prefectures and counties were housed together near the government office.

Detaining hostages is not the same as guarding prisoners!

If they go too far, even if the Jin Kingdom wins this battle, it will force the powerful clans of various ethnic groups to rebel.

Several squads of Jurchen soldiers were dispatched to strengthen surveillance of the major clans.

He ordered everyone to stay at the mansion and declared martial law throughout the city, declaring anyone who dared to go out on the streets to be considered a traitor.

"Father, something's wrong!"

Zhang Ruding rushed into the inner courtyard: "There are horns outside the city. I guess some tribe has rebelled."

“Jurchen soldiers came to the house again and ordered that no one should go in or out.”

"Don't be impatient,"

Zhang Xuanzheng said.

“I have told them that they must not betray the Jin and surrender to the Ming unless it is absolutely necessary.”

"It's definitely not a rebellion by my Zhang family, otherwise the Jurchen soldiers would have rushed in and killed people long ago."

The Zhang family is not the real Zhang family, but the Liaoyang Gao family after they changed their surname—they are the heads of the three major Bohai Gao families!

Zhang Xuansu and Zhang Hao both served as high-ranking officials in the Jin Dynasty's capital, Shangjing.

Zhang Xuansu was in charge of the Jin Dynasty's Accounting Department, similar to the Jin Dynasty's Minister of Revenue.

Zhang Hao was in charge of reforming the official system and was a confidant of Wanyan Zonggan.

They were doing very well in the Jin Dynasty, and would never betray the Jin and surrender to the Ming Dynasty unless absolutely necessary.

Suddenly a Jurchen officer came in and reassured them, "Don't panic. It's just a rebellion by the Gao family of Chengzhou. It has nothing to do with your Zhang family of Liaoyang."

"As long as you stay home, there will be no danger!"

Zhang Xuanzheng felt much more at ease and told his family not to make any noise or move around. He also sent his servants to climb over the wall and spy on the street.

The major families in Liaoyang were all appeased in this way.