The gods began by supporting Guo Jing to become emperor

Chapter 222: Humiliating Song today, humiliating Song tomorrow, the fall of Jin

So, the Han army began to prepare for the next attack.

In the room, a gilded animal-shaped incense burner was burning with fragrance. Sunlight shone into the room through the window. A figure was crouching over a desk. The bright light from the sky reflected his resolute and tough face, giving off an extraordinary aura.

There was a thick account book on the table. Guo Jing slowly flipped through it, his brows gradually furrowed. "This Jiangnan area is shocking."

Compared with the land conditions in the north, the situation in the south was even more shocking. The major aristocratic families occupied nearly 90% of the land, leaving the poor with no place to stand. However, the Song Dynasty still maintained millions of imperial troops on its books.

These account books were left over from the former Song Dynasty. Guo Jing specifically asked someone to dig them out from the pile of old papers for reference. But now he understood why the Song army was so weak. With so many soldiers, if their combat effectiveness increased, they would not be able to be suppressed by civil and military means.

How can the soldiers win a battle if they have no permanent property and no will to fight?
Only by linking soldiers with land and having permanent property can soldiers maintain collective interests. This is what Guo Jing has been doing. There is no land restriction order in the Song Dynasty, that is to say, as long as you have money, you can buy land without restrictions. This is also an important reason for the development of the Song Dynasty's economy and handicraft industry.

The people had no land and had to find other ways out. This can be said to be an abnormal prosperity, and it was also an important reason why the Song Dynasty had the most peasant uprisings in all dynasties.

The economy in the south is developed, and land is concentrated in the hands of most people. In Guo Jing's opinion, these guys with large amounts of land should either hand over the land or be subject to heavy taxes.

However, he has no idea how to formulate the tax law. In short, it is absolutely impossible to be like the Song Dynasty. Before that, Guo Jing should try his best to expand the size of the government soldiers. They serve in the army, and only the land and family make them concerned.

Otherwise, it would evolve into the guards of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms and the imperial guards of the Song Dynasty. One would be impossible to control, while the other would become a burden to the court but unable to fight.

"Equalizing the tax on square fields is just a wild idea."

Looking at the tax system of the previous dynasty recorded in the document, Guo Jing felt contempt in his heart. This law required an inventory and measurement of cultivated land in each county, determined the amount of land owned by each household, divided it into five or ten grades according to terrain, soil quality and other conditions, compiled land registers and various books, and determined the tax amount per acre for each grade of land. The law seemed to be a good law, but it was difficult to implement and eventually had to be abolished.

"It's difficult!"

Guo Jing sighed quietly, feeling sad in his heart. All dynasties had restricted land annexation, but after a hundred years, it continued despite repeated bans and eventually became a source of disaster. If he established a new dynasty, he would definitely restrict land annexation and would never ignore it like the Song Dynasty did.

But the problem is that there is no effective solution.

At this time, Da Hu walked into the room and reported, "My Lord, the Kingdom of Song has sent an envoy."

Guo Jing said without even looking up, "I will not see them. Let Pei Andao entertain them!"

"My Lord, the current commander of the Song army is Zhao Hong, the Duke of Ji. He is the crown prince of Song. His prestige in the court has been greatly reduced after the defeat in this battle. I am afraid that it will affect the current war situation. How should we deal with it?"

Guo Jing's tone was full of affirmation, "No need, I think this man has great ambitions but little talent. The various divisions of the Song army are at a loss as to how to advance or retreat, and they can't unite as a whole. They will definitely not be able to take down Lin'an. In the end, they will have to rely on us!"

Although he looked down on the current Jin army, he looked down on the Song army even more. Their generals might not be bad, but the soldiers were too weak and had no fighting spirit. How could they take Lin'an, which was fighting desperately?

……

"Messenger Song is here?"

In the Jiankang Palace, Mu Huali sat on the dragon throne with a cold expression.

As early as in the north, his clothing system was completely in accordance with the emperor's etiquette, and it was even more so when he arrived in Jiankang. No one dared to criticize him. He was the Grand Tutor and King appointed by Genghis Khan himself. At least in the north, no one had a higher status than him.

He leaned back on the dragon chair, playing with a jade ruyi, and glanced at the people around him, "Huolimu, do you think I should meet him?"

"Father, the destruction of the Jin Dynasty is imminent. I think it would be a good idea to meet them and listen to their plans."

"Okay, let's meet then."

Soon, the envoy from Song State was brought to the main hall.

"The envoy of the Song Dynasty pays homage to the King of Taishi."

"No need to be polite, just stand up." Mu Huali sat upright with a calm look in his eyes. "What do you want from me? You don't want to form a brotherhood with us again?" There was a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

The Song envoy was a middle-aged man in a scarlet official robe. Hearing the mockery in these words, his expression did not change. He lowered his head slightly and said, "King Taishi, our Great Song and Mongolia can sign an alliance later. The most urgent task now is to completely destroy the Jin Kingdom."

"Duke Ji specially invited Mongolia to join forces to destroy the Jin Dynasty. After the success, we will not take a penny. Lin'an City will belong to you. We only want the body of the Jin emperor."

Mu Huali's eyes turned cold. "What a joke! You attacked Lin'an without telling us. Did you tell us? Which of Xuzhou and Jiankang was not conquered by us? We have conquered all the tough ones, but we can't even defeat a soft persimmon. What qualifications do you have to negotiate with me?"

The naked insult and contempt stunned the Song envoy. He did not defend himself, but lowered his head and said, "King Taishi, we can discuss the conditions again. We will try our best to satisfy you."

Mu Huali gave them an ultimatum without thinking, "That's easy. I'll give you half a month. If you still can't take Lin'an in half a month, then we'll take over. As for the body of the Jin emperor, you can redeem it with money."

"Your Majesty the King, this?" The envoy from the Song Dynasty looked embarrassed.

At this time, Mu Huali was too lazy to listen to his nonsense and directly asked his son to send him away, "Huolimu, send him away!"

The envoys of the Song Dynasty were driven out of the palace. At this time, among the two political forces in the north, Guo Jing was the strongest one, but his status and qualifications were not as good as Mu Huali, so he had to meet him first.

……

The next day, an envoy from the State of Song came to visit.

However, when he saw Guo Jing, he was ridiculed again, "Why, after the defeat, you remembered to look for us?"

There was no way. The Song Dynasty entered the war too late. It only joined the war after the Battle of Xuzhou, when the Jin Dynasty was defeated. It almost had the expression "being the one who reaps the benefits" written on its face. It had no intention of resisting the Jin Dynasty at all, but just wanted to gain more benefits.

Now, Mongolia has taken over Huai area and Jiankang, which are only a hundred miles away from Lin'an. However, the Song Dynasty fought with all its strength, but was still defeated.

There is no place for the weak in front of the strong, especially in times of great contention.

"Your Majesty, you are joking. Our Song Dynasty has only suffered a temporary defeat. Once we have some time to rest, we will be able to capture Lin'an." His attitude in front of Guo Jing was different from that in front of Mu Huali.

Guo Jing didn't even bother to maintain the surface of politeness and asked directly, "A temporary failure? Then tell me, how much time do you have to take Lin'an?"

"This?" The envoy from Song State was speechless again.

"Let's talk about it when you can capture Lin'an, but in my opinion, you may not be able to take this small Lin'an. Except for the time when Yue Fei was alive, when have you ever had a big victory against the Jin Kingdom? You have been defeated again and again?" These words made his face twitch and he fell silent. He wanted to say something, but what he said was the fact. After Yue Fei, they seldom had a big victory against the Jin Kingdom. There were small victories, but they almost never won the overall battle.

And after Guo Jing's sudden rise, they suffered one defeat after another.

At this time, the envoy of Song State once again played the emotional card, "My Lord, we are all Han people in front of the alien race. Can we put aside our past prejudices and unite to face the outside world? We can talk about anything after we defeat Jin."

At this time, the Chief Clerk Pei Andao spoke up, "What does destroying the Jin have to do with your Great Song? The land of Youyan is in the hands of Mongolia, which was taken back by the Mongolian Khan. Henan and Hebei are in the hands of the Grand Tutor and the King. The Three Jins and Guanzhong were conquered by the Marquis. Has your Great Song ever sent troops to help us?"

"Mongolia and Song signed two alliances before, agreeing to fight against the Jin together. But what about you? After we started our army, you stopped fighting with the Jin, leaving us to face the Jin army head-on. If it weren't for the fact that you are Han Chinese, do you think you would still be able to see my Lord?"

Guo Jing nodded, "Yes, even the grain they sold to us after the plague was sold at a high price. Is this what they call an ally?"

After a few words, the Song Dynasty envoy's head almost hit the ground and he could no longer utter a word.

Guo Jing is not Mu Huali, who is completely in the dark about the situation in the Song Dynasty. He has many information channels in the south and is very clear about the movements of the Song Dynasty.

Finally, the Song Dynasty envoy froze for a while and could only leave helplessly. "Since the Marquis thinks so, I will take my leave."

In double grief and indignation, the Song envoys left Jiankang and returned to the Song army camp.

……

After hearing the envoy's report, the generals of the Song Dynasty could no longer sit still. "Your Highness, the Mongols are bullying us too much. We don't need to cooperate with them. We can still capture Lin'an."

One general retorted, "Fight? What can you use to fight? We know Lin'an's defense system better than the Jin people do. You also know how much it will cost to take this city. If we lose a lot of troops to take Lin'an, how can we resist the Mongolian army in the future?"

From his words, it can be seen that he was very wary of Mongolia.

A young man was sitting in the commander's seat. Hearing the generals' different opinions, his face looked very unhappy. He cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, is there no other way to quickly capture Lin'an? We must take this city. The masters in Nanchang are still watching us."

He was Zhao Hong, Duke of Ji, the adopted son of Emperor Zhao Kuo and the next successor to the throne of the Song Dynasty.

A general suddenly said, "Unless we can get the new Mongolian catapult, this catapult has a much longer range than ordinary equipment and is convenient for attacking cities. Unfortunately, it has been hidden deep in the Mongolian territory and our people can't even see it."

Thanks to this Huihui cannon, the city walls of the country established by the Ming Dynasty were incredibly thick. The ancient city wall of Xi'an that has been preserved in later generations is several meters thick, and the cannons of that time could not hit it. This is also a major reason why heavy cannons could not be developed in the Ming Dynasty and could only be used to defend the city. There is no other reason: the city walls were too thick.

It is totally unusable for attacking cities and too cumbersome for field battles, but it is just right for defending cities.

It is different in the West. Their passes and castles cannot be compared with those in the Central Plains at all, but their cannon research is at the forefront of the world.

"Tell me, can we buy a catapult with our money?"

"You can give it a try!"

Soon after, the Song army sent people to contact again, but Mongolia refused without even looking at it. Only a fool would give away such a military weapon.

The Song army had no choice but to attack Lin'an.

However, after attacking for half a month, with heavy casualties, the Jin army's resilience was so terrifying that they could not be defeated no matter how hard they fought.

As a last resort, they could only discuss the next war with Mongolia.

……

Nanchang Prefecture Government Hall.

When the Prime Minister Zhen Dexiu saw the battle report sent back from the front, his heart sank to the bottom, "It seems that Lin'an can't be taken back."

Qiao Xingjian, who was sitting with him, said directly, "Withdraw the troops. Leave Lin'an to the Mongols. We must retain our strength."

"This is the only way." Zhen Dexiu was very unwilling, but he couldn't win the battle. The Song army was too weak. They were good at defending but not good at field combat, let alone siege.

Even if they spent a huge price to capture Lin'an, it would not be worth it. It was clear that Mongolia had come with ill intentions. Although the principle of the survival of the fittest was not written in books, how could these smart people not know it?

It's not worth it to fall out with Mongolia just for Lin'an.

"Mukhali and Guo Jing of Mongolia are both in Jiankang. After we destroy the Jin Dynasty, we should have a conclusion on what to do next. I plan to go to Jiankang to negotiate with them in person. What do you think, Mr. Qiao?"

Qiao Xingjian was surprised, "You're going there in person?"

"Well, His Majesty is seriously ill, and Duke Ji should not stay in the army for long. He must return early to stabilize the court. Moreover, this kind of thing should be done by us officials. How can we let His Majesty get involved?"

Zhao Hong was the future emperor. Negotiation was a thankless task. Once Mongolia tore up the alliance, he, as the emperor, would have to take the blame. The best way was to not get involved and leave it entirely to his ministers.

Faced with a Grand Tutor and a Marquis, both of whom were powerful, only the Prime Minister and ministers on the Song side were qualified to negotiate with them.

……

Soon, the Song Dynasty court issued a military order, and the Song army withdrew from the vicinity of Lin'an, occupied key water and land points a hundred miles away, and gathered a large number of troops for heavy defense.

Upon learning that the Song army had retreated, Guo Jing did not send a large army, but only sent a detachment of 10,000 people led by Zhang Rou to attack Lin'an together with Mu Huali's eldest son Huolimu.

In their eyes, compared with Wanyan Honglie, Wanyan Kang in Lin'an is not worth mentioning at all, and there is no need for them to take action in person.

A few days later, 30,000 Mongolian troops arrived at the city. When the Jin soldiers in Lin'an saw the enemy's flags, they changed color and their morale plummeted. Even Wanyan Kang personally went into battle to boost morale, but to little avail.

On this day, the city of Lin'an suffered an unprecedented attack. Catapults came one after another, destroying the defensive facilities on the city walls. The morale of the Jin soldiers continued to decline.

Afterwards, the Mongolian army attacked the city. The Jin army only resisted for five days before the city wall was taken. Then the city gate fell and the army entered the city.

Upon learning that the city had fallen, the Jin Dynasty Emperor Wanyan Kang set the palace on fire and burned himself. Afterwards, Mongolian soldiers dug out a body that was believed to be his from the ruins. From then on, the Jin Dynasty was completely destroyed and became history!
(End of this chapter)