«——【Preamble】】 ——»
Tong Guan, the word Daofu, a native of Kaifeng, his parents are unknown. Around the late period of Zhezong, Tong Guan entered the palace and became a eunuch, working under the eunuch Li Xian.
Li Xian spent his life mainly leading troops in other places. Tong Guan followed Li Xian since he was a child, often went in and out of the Guanzhong area, opened his eyes, learned a lot of military knowledge, and laid the foundation for leading the army to fight in the future.
Tong Guan is very shrewd, good at figuring out other people's thoughts, and is quite favored by his master. In 1101 AD, Zhezong died of illness, he had no heirs, and the suave Zhao Ji inherited the throne of the imperial brother, known as Song Huizong in history.
1. Becoming more and more arrogant, no one in sight
In the early days of his reign, Song Huizong had lofty aspirations. After his position was consolidated, he revealed his true nature and began to indulge in wine and pleasure again. Tong Guan is a shrewd person, how can he not see the emperor's intentions.
Every time he encountered an opportunity, he mentioned the south in front of Song Huizong, saying that there were many rare treasures, precious flowers, and paintings by famous painters Gu Hongzhong, Zhou Wenju and others, so he might as well send someone to collect them.
The more Huizong listened, the happier he became, and he felt that it was very much in line with his wishes. He asked Tong Guan to do this in the name of the Inner Court Worship Palace, and went to Jiangnan to look for treasures of calligraphy and painting.
To this end, Huizong issued an edict to set up the Mingjin Bureau in Hangzhou and appointed Tong Guan as the supervisor. Tong Guan led the crowd to Hangzhou Mansion and met Cai Jing, who was degraded, and expressed deep sympathy.
Every time, Cai Jing has any beautiful works, whether it is the screen, bed camphor, fan belt, etc., Tong Guan sends someone to the capital, and specially attaches a letter, saying that Cai Jing is so loyal to the imperial court.
Song Huizong was fascinated by Cai Jing's calligraphy and painting, and promoted Cai Jing to the governor of Dingzhou. A year later, in the first year of Chongning, Cai Jing was promoted to the prefect of the Daimyo Mansion.
In May of the first year of Chongning, Song Huizong recalled Cai Jing back to the capital and worshiped him as Shangshu Zuocheng. After Cai Jing returned to the imperial court, he immediately bowed to Tong Guan, and then voted for the preferences of Song Huizong, and often offered calligraphy and paintings.
In July of the first year of Chongning, Song Huizong worshiped Cai Jing as the right minister. In the first month of the second year of Chongning, Cai Jing was promoted to the left prime minister and became a powerful man under one person and above ten thousand people. How to thank Tong Guan for his support?
It seems that the only way to let the benefactor fight for the country and make great contributions! In the main hall, Cai Jing brought up the relationship between the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia, which had been pacified for many years, again, to wash away the national shame of the time of Shenzong, and advocated the recovery of the Qingtang area and the expansion of the territory of the Great Song Dynasty.
At that time, the Qingtang area had been occupied by the Western Xia for many years, and Song Huizong did not want to provoke the Western Xia. But some ministers also took the opportunity to follow Ah Yihe and continued to play the book, and Song Huizong agreed.
Cai Jing took the opportunity to say that Tong Guan had followed Li Xian in Guanzhong for many years when he was the first emperor, and he was very familiar with the western border and the abilities of the generals.
Huizong approved the decree and appointed Wang Hou, the governor of Hezhou and the general, as the chief soldier, and Tong Guan as the overseer. The Song army was about to arrive at Xige City, and the Qiang people Zang Zheng was so panicked that he had no way to escape, and wanted to surrender the city.
But the Song general Liu Zhongwu was asked to take a son as a hostage to verify the sincerity of the Song army. At that time, the generals said that the Qiang people's hearts were too bad, but Liu Zhongwu disagreed and sent his son Liu Yanglu to be a hostage.
At this time, the river bridge had just been built, Liu Zhongwu led the army to the city of Brother Xi, and Brother Zang Zheng hurriedly offered the city to welcome the surrender, which surprised the Song army very much.
The Song army was like a great enemy, and Zang Zhengpu had no soldiers and horses, and there were only 28 people who surrendered, including women and children. Liu Zhongwu brought them back and dedicated them to Wang Hou.
Tong Guan deliberately exaggerated his military exploits, boasted of Zang Zheng's strength, and reported the good news to the imperial court, without mentioning Liu Zhongwu's military exploits, and Liu Zhongwu did not dare to argue.
When Tong Guan added the inspection of the school, he was embarrassed with the chamberlains Huang Jingchen and Zhongcheng Lu Hang in the palace, and gradually did not take Cai Jing to heart. Every time there was any important military situation or the appointment of an officer, he often did not report it to Cai Jingyu, but directly reported it to Song Huizong.
Cai Jing's relationship with Tong Guan was originally very deep, but this kind of overstepping his authority often aroused his disgust, and he said bad things about Tong Guan in front of Song Huizong in a fit of anger.
Tong Guan was a close confidant of Song Huizong, and he planted many eyes and ears around the emperor, how could he not know that the relationship between the two had contradictions since then. Soon, Song Huizong wanted to seal Tong Guan as the Kaifu Yi and the three divisions.
Cai Jing saw that Song Huizong wanted to seal Tong Guan to hold an important position, and hurriedly persuaded: "Kaifu Yi and the three divisions cannot be awarded to eunuchs!" He also refused to sign and seal, refusing to obey the order.
As a result, Tong Guan was not promoted and was full of resentment towards Cai Jing. Some hostile officials felt that there was a gap to take advantage of, and hurriedly fell into the ground, and the recitals exposing Cai Jing's sins continued to reach Song Huizong.
Zhongcheng Shi Gongbi has played dozens of chapters in a row, impeaching Cai Jing for bullying the monarch and oppressing the people and harming the country. Cai Jing saw that he had become the target of public criticism, and hurriedly resigned.
Song Huizong approved and ordered him to be the master of the Taishi, and the title was the envoy of the first palace of the Taitai, expressing the importance of the dismissal and pension of the old ministers. Since then, Tong Guan's power has become more and more powerful and very tyrannical.
In the first year of Zhenghe, the 57-year-old Tong Guan guarded the northwest as an overseer, repeatedly led the army to defeat the Qiang soldiers and defeated the Western Xia army.
One day, Tong Guan wanted to further attack the relatively powerful Liao State. He went to the northwest and asked for the Liao State detective strength. After reading Tong Guan's above table, Song Huizong was overjoyed and wanted to promote the prestige of the Song Dynasty and expand his territory.
He decreed that Tong Guan should be appointed as the lieutenant of the school, and Zheng Yunzhong, a scholar of the Duanming Palace, should be appointed as the birthday envoy of He Liaoguo, and Tong Guan should be the deputy envoy. Tong Guan was ordered to return to the capital, and Zheng Yunzhong took the national letter of congratulations, marched to the north, and arrived in Liao.
Emperor Tianzuo of the Liao State summoned the Song envoys, and after that, Tong Guan played in Beijing for a few days, took the opportunity to inquire about some of the situation of the Liao Dynasty, and arranged for his return.
After Tong Guan returned to the court, he and Zheng Yunzhong jointly reported the situation of the Liao State to Song Huizong. He also repeated Ma Zhi's words. Song Huizong trusted Tong Guan very much and believed in these words.
Since the spring of 1118, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty has continuously sent envoys to the Jin State to discuss the matter of attacking the Liao State. In the autumn of the second year of Xuanhe, Song Jin made the "Maritime Covenant".
Jin took Liao's Dading Mansion, Song took Liao's Yanjing, and after the Liao was destroyed, Song dedicated the annual coins to Liao to Jin. In the third year of Xuanhe, Fang La gathered people in Qingxi, Muzhou, Jiangnan, and rebelled.
The Fangla rebel army developed rapidly, and in just two months, it successively captured Muzhou, Shezhou, Quzhou, and Hangzhou. Song Huizong decided to end the discussion of the Liao invasion first.
Tong Guan was appointed as the envoy of Jiang, Huai, Jing and Zhejiang, and Tan Zhi was promoted to the envoy of the Changde Army, and Wang Yu was appointed as the commander of the capital. Huizong of the Song Dynasty dispatched the border guards of the six towns in the northwest to march south, with a total of 150,000 people.
Second, the battle of Fangla, blood flowed like a river
At this time, it was the time when the Fangla rebel army was at its strongest. Hangzhou was the stronghold of the rebel army, and attacking Hangzhou was the most important thing for the Song army. However, the Song army attacked several times, and the city of Hangzhou was difficult to break due to the stubborn resistance of the rebel army.
Tong Guan and others were helpless. At this time, the people and horses of Liangshanbo and Song Jiang, who surrendered to the Song Dynasty, arrived, and most of the people and horses of Liangshanbo were born as robbers, all of them were brave and fierce, and they boarded the city of Hangzhou in one fell swoop, and after a massacre, they occupied the city of Hangzhou.
Tong Guan also adopted the method of surrendering to the rebel army of Fangla. In February of the third year of Xuanhe, Tong Guan issued an edict of surrender in the name of Song Huizong, and the soldiers of the peasant rebel army in Fangla scolded the dog emperor angrily, and captured Chuzhou.
On 7 February, Tong Guan led a large army to attack the rebel army at Qingheyan, and the troops invested by both sides were no less than 200,000. Tong Guan commanded the Song army to attack, and Fang La also concentrated his forces for a decisive battle.
The two sides fought for five days without a victory. On the sixth day, when the two sides were fighting fiercely, the Song army sailors rushed to the flank of the rebel army, and the rebel army was attacked and retreated to the city.
On April 18, the rebels set fire to all the official residences and the treasury of the palace, and when the rebels withdrew, only an empty city remained. After that, the Fangla rebel army adopted a strategy of sticking to the danger and completely fell into passivity.
In the end, Fang La left 200,000 rebel troops, only knowing that they were holding on to the danger, losing the initiative, and the territory was getting smaller and smaller. Wang Yu, Xin Xingzong and others pursued all the way for 170 miles, and by the end of April, the Song army surrounded Fangla's last base area, Bangyuandong.
Bangyuan Cave is located in the steep mountain, the rock is drilled for the house, divided into three parts, the passes are blocked in various places, and the row is full of rolling wood and stones. Tong Guan saw the overgrown trees, feared an ambush, and ordered a fire to be set all over the mountain.
The fire burned up the mountain, and the Song army and Liangshanbo took the opportunity to attack. The deep stream in the cave, the road is complicated, the Song army defeated the rebel army, but they could not find Fang La and others.
In a fit of rage, the Song army killed more than 10,000 prisoners, still not knowing where Fang La was hiding. A small school and a few companions grabbed a village woman and inquired about the residence of Fang La and others.
On the one hand, he sent people to report to the Song army, and on the other hand, he broke into the secret cave and fought with Fang La's own soldiers in the cave. When the Song army got the news, they swarmed in, and Fang La was captured by the Song army's junior colonel.
This small school is the famous anti-gold general Han Shizhong in later history. The Song army besieged the entrance of the cave, and Fang La, Xiangguo Fang Fei and civil officials were all captured, as were Fang La's wife Shao Shi and others.
In the Bangyuan Cave, the families of the rebels are all inside, and there are more than 500,000 people hidden among the people. The Song army and Liang Shanbo rushed into the cave, burning, killing and plundering.
After the Fangla rebels were wiped out, Tong Guan escorted the leaders of the Fangla army to the capital and tortured Ling Chi. A large number of rebels were taken prisoner and slaughtered on the spot.
In February of the third year of Xuanhe, the Jin State continued to send envoys to urge the Song Dynasty to fulfill the "Maritime Covenant". In the fourth year of Yihe, Emperor Liao Tianzuo fled to Selling Mountain, and Yeluchun, who stayed in Yanjing, was proclaimed emperor.
Song Huizong hurriedly sent Tong Guan and Cai You to lead an army of 150,000 to recover Yanyun. As a result, the Liao army refused to surrender, and Song Huizong ordered the class to be divided. Soon, Liao Emperor Yeluchun died of illness, and Song Huizong sent troops again.
At that time, Yanjing City was already surrounded by the Song army, and Yanjing City was within reach. Tong Guan saw that the Liao army refused to surrender, and Tong Guan ordered the camp to retreat, throwing away all the grain, grass and military supplies accumulated on the northern border over the years.
In December, the Jin army captured Yanjing. After many negotiations between the two countries, the Song Dynasty only recovered Yanjing and other six states, on the condition that the Song Dynasty would dedicate the annual currency to Liao to the Jin State, and also pay 1 million yuan of "Yanjing tax money" every year. ”
When the Jin army withdrew, it was taken away, and the population and wealth of Yanjing and other six states in the Song Dynasty were only obtained one by one. In the fifth year of Xuanhe, Jin Taizong finished Yan Sheng's accession to the throne, and the deputy marshal of Jin returned to Beijing to meet him.
At this time, the guards of Shuo, Ying, and Wei of the Jin State took the opportunity to defect to the Song Dynasty, and Tan Zhi, the minister in charge of the Lianghe region of Jingdong in the Song Dynasty, thought it was a great opportunity to send the Hedong Song general Li Siben to lead the army into Shuo, Ying, and Wei Prefectures.
This incident annoyed the Jin people, and Mu Han led the Jin soldiers to pounce, and Li Siben was so frightened that he fled back to the Lianghe area of Jingdong. Sticky Han pacified the three states of Shuo, Ying, and Wei. At that time, Tan Zhi was busy searching for rare treasures.
Song Huizong was furious and dismissed Tan Zhen. When Song Shenzong was dying, he left a testament: those who recover the land of Yanyun will be crowned the king of the other land. In June of the seventh year of Xuanhe, Tong Guan was named the king of Guangyang.
In October, Mu Han led the Jin army to attack Taiyuan from the clouds. Song Hui sent Tong Guan to Taiyuan to supervise the army. Tong Guan thought that the Jin people were just for the border matter, so he hurriedly sent his generals Ma Kuo and Xin Xingzong to negotiate.
Sticky Han accused the Song Dynasty of seeking to capture the three states of Shuo, Ying, and Wei, and also accused the Song Dynasty of accepting Zhang Jue, a traitor to the Jin State. On December 23, the seventh year of Xuanhe, Zhao Huan ascended the throne as Song Qinzong and granted amnesty to the world. He did not lead the Jin soldiers on the East Road to the Yellow River.
The Song army on the north bank of the Yellow River never trained in peacetime, and they could not ride steadily after getting on the horse, so they saddled with both hands. As soon as the Song army on the north bank saw the Jin soldiers, they fled without a fight.
The bridge guards on the south bank saw the Jin soldiers and hurriedly burned the bridge cable, and the Song army on the north bank was almost wiped out. When the Jin people went to the river, they finally found a few small boats, and it took them five days to cross.
The Jin soldiers rushed to the capital and occupied the Mutuogang in the northwest. Mu Huogang is the horse farm of the Song army, the grain, grass and bean material are piled up, and there are 20,000 war horses, all of which have become the trophies of the Jin soldiers.
3. Summary
Song Huizong escaped from Tongjin Gate in the middle of the night, at this time, the main battle faction asked Song Qinzong to drive the expedition in person, Song Qinzong ordered Tong Guan to stay in the capital, Tong Guan did not obey the order, and led 20,000 victories to catch up with Song Huizong.
Song Huizong crossed the pontoon bridge, and the forbidden army cried bitterly. Tong Guan was afraid of delaying time, so he ordered the Shengjie army to release arrows and shoot dead more than 100 guards of the forbidden army. Tong Guan, Cai Jing, Liang Shicheng and other traitorous ministers fled south with Song Huizong, and Liang Shicheng and others told Song Huizong that the matter of succession was wrong.
Song Huizong also did not take Song Qinzong seriously, and wanted to come to power in the southeast region and regain the throne. Soon, the servant Shi Sun Mo wrote a letter to ask Tong Guan, Cai Jing and other traitors to be killed.
Song Qinzong was ready to send Nie Chang to deal with Cai Jing, Tong Guan and others in the name of the shipping envoy. Soon after Tong Guan's death, Jin Bing went south again.
Breaking through Bianjing, capturing the Hui and Qin Emperors, almost swept away the property and population accumulated in Kaifeng for more than 150 years, and the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed.