I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 250 The Day the Yellow Robe Was Donned, When the Defeated Soldiers Knocked on the Door

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The southeast is a land of strategic importance, and the capital of the Wu region has been prosperous since ancient times!

This is a line from a Northern Song Dynasty poet praising Hangzhou.

Indeed, Hangzhou is a place of beautiful mountains and rivers, picturesque scenery, and outstanding people. It has always been the capital of Liangzhe Road of the Zhao Song Dynasty and the political, economic and cultural center of the southeast.

Countless high-ranking officials, landlords, and merchants regarded Hangzhou as their den of iniquity and haven, gathering there to indulge in unbridled pleasure.

Not only were powerful and influential people enamored with this place during their lifetime, but they also wanted to be buried here in Hangzhou, a city described as "a magnificent and splendid place with its own mansions." For example, Cai Jing buried his father and grandfather here.

They were convinced that they could stay here peacefully forever, indulging in the pleasures of singing, dancing, and revelry.

Therefore, they transformed Hangzhou into the second richest capital of the Song Dynasty, second only to Bianliang (Kaifeng).

The terrain within Hangzhou slopes from northwest to southeast. The area is surrounded by mountains on the north, west, and south sides, forming a horseshoe-shaped barrier facing southeast. The northwest is characterized by towering mountains and deep valleys, while the southeast is characterized by hills and wide valleys with flat terrain, making it a naturally defensible and difficult-to-attack place.

To ensure that this prosperous capital was even more impregnable, the Song Dynasty spent nearly two hundred years building an indestructible outer city of Hangzhou, stretching from Qinwang Mountain, eastward along the Jiajiang River, to Qiantang Lake, Huoshan, and Fanpu, covering a circumference of seventy li.

The city also contained thousands of elite soldiers and mountains of grain.

These are sufficient to ensure that Hangzhou can hold its ground and await reinforcements for a long period of time.

However, Fang La's rebel army still managed to capture Hangzhou City using sheer numbers, massacring all the officials, gentry, and landlords in the city. In their anger, they burned down the government offices and mansions that had caused them so much suffering. They even went to Linping Mountain to excavate the tombs of Cai Jing's father and grandfather, exposing their remains and hurling insults at them.

During that period, Fang La's rebel army was overjoyed. They massacred the officials, gentry, and landlords who had oppressed them, set fires everywhere, and celebrated the liberation of Hangzhou and their great victory for days on end.

Because Fang La's rebel army got carried away, they accidentally burned down the granaries in Hangzhou. Or perhaps the granaries were burned down by the remnants of Hangzhou's officials, gentry, and landlords. In any case, due to Fang La and his men's carelessness, most of the grain in Hangzhou was destroyed.

This was definitely a big deal, but Fang La and his group acted like nouveau riche and didn't take it seriously at all.

In Fang La's words, "The destruction of the country and the chaos of the people are natural occurrences."

This was also because Fang La and his followers were busy expanding their gains and developing their networks everywhere, hoping that the uprising would spread throughout all of Jiangnan.

Yes.

Fang La and his accomplices achieved their goal.

After Fang La raised the banner of rebellion, the Manicheans in Xianju County, led by Lü Shinang, formed an army of over 10,000 in just a few days. In their first battle, they annihilated the Xianju Song army led by County Commandant Xu Mocheng and liberated Xianju Xiancheng. Then, they successively captured Huangyan, Tiantai and other places. Their army, numbering 100,000, advanced directly towards Taizhou, causing the Taizhou Prefect Zhao Zidao to flee in terror.

And this was only one of Fang La's rebel armies, and not even the fastest-growing one.

The fastest-growing region was Hongzai in Chuzhou.

Hong Zai first captured Longquan, then took Songyang, occupied Gongcheng, and divided his troops to attack Suichang.

Zhao Yucai and Deng Ying, local gentry from Songyang, organized a local armed force to resist the northward advance of Hong Zai's rebel army in Mengshan.

Hong Zai personally led over a hundred men by boat to circle around behind Zhao Yucai, Deng Ying, and others. Everyone wore a silk scarf on their head and a mirror on their wrist. They made a ruckus of gongs and drums in the Longquan Mountains and sailed south downstream, defeating Zhao Yucai and Deng Ying. Officials, gentry, and landlords in the nearby counties fled in terror.

Hong Zai occupied the entire territory of Chuzhou in one fell swoop, and even annexed Fang La's rebel army under Huo Chengfu.

Next, Hong Zai robbed and killed officials, gentry, and landlords, plundered their money and grain and distributed it to the poor, recruited righteous soldiers, and his army expanded rapidly, claiming to have an army of 400,000.

A quick calculation shows that the nominal number of Fang La's rebel army is close to two million, and the actual number of Fang La's rebel army is also as many as one million.

However, the vast majority of Fang La's rebel leaders were developing their own forces and were adopting a stance of obeying orders but not procuring them from Fang La.

Fang La summoned Bao Kang, Wang Gong Laofo, and others, and said to them, "Now the Song army is marching south in a large force, and that scoundrel Song Jiang has accepted the imperial pardon. The situation is unfavorable to us. I'm afraid that my seventh brother and little sister won't be able to stop that scoundrel Song Jiang from marching south. In that case, they will definitely attack Hangzhou. We only have 100,000 troops in Hangzhou. How can we withstand the combined attack of the Song army and Song Jiang? Furthermore, the heroes from various places are not obeying my orders and are not leading their troops to help us. What should we do?"

The difficulties that Fang La mentioned are objectively real.

Moreover, Fang La had not yet revealed the greatest difficulty they faced.

The difficulty was that, due to the burning of the granaries in Hangzhou and Fang La's indiscriminate distribution of grain regardless of the actual situation, Fang La's rebel army was already short of food.

Given this situation, General Lü proposed: "We can no longer defend Hangzhou. We must leave Hangzhou as soon as possible and head south to preserve our forces. We should also unite with Protector Lü, Protector Qiu, Marshal Hong, and other troops, and then proceed with our plans gradually."

It must be said that General Lü's strategic vision was very accurate.

He realized that if Fang La's rebel army continued to linger in Hangzhou, they would only bring about their own destruction. Therefore, he advised Fang La to withdraw from Hangzhou as soon as possible.

Moreover, he pointed out a clear path for Fang La: to seize the military power of Lü Shinang, Qiu Daoren, Hong Zai, and others, and then find a way to fight against the Zhao Song Dynasty.

Fang La firmly believed that he could become emperor and that Wu was the place where he would rise to power, so he did not want to leave Hangzhou.

However, Fang La could not say this directly. He could only say, "If we retreat south, the Song army and Song Jiang will follow us like a shadow. Where can we find a place to settle down? Where can we negotiate with the Song army and Song Jiang?"

After a moment of silence, Lü Jiang said, "Only Fujian remains."

Upon hearing this, Fang La was so angry he laughed.

Why?

This is simply because Fujian has a reputation as a "land that military strategists do not contend for".

This saying actually originated during the War of Resistance against Japan.

But similar ideas have existed in Chinese history for a long time.

This is mainly because Fujian is neither a grain-producing area, nor an economic powerhouse, nor a military stronghold.

More than 90 percent of Fujian is hilly and mountainous, described as "eight parts mountains, one part water, and one part farmland," with very little arable land.

The area of ​​arable land determines economic development and population size. Fujian's unique topography has resulted in neither its economy nor its population being particularly outstanding.

Gu Zuyu, a geographer in the Qing Dynasty, once commented on Fujian: "If one were to contend for the world from Fujian, then Fujian's military strength and financial resources would be insufficient to achieve this goal."

This can be considered a very good summary of Fujian.

Fang La had been operating in the southeast for so long, he must have had some understanding of the situation in Fujian.

Therefore, when General Lü told him to retreat to Fujian, Fang La thought that General Lü was trying to trick him.

Little did they know, Lü had his own considerations.

Fujian is surrounded by mountains on three sides and faces the sea to the east. During the Qin and Han dynasties, it was one of the most difficult places to reach by land. Therefore, for a long time, the only place in Fujian accessible by sea was Fuzhou, which was an exclave controlled by the central government.

After the Qin and Han dynasties, land battles in the Fujian region often took place in the Wuyi Mountains in the northwest. Among these, there were three important passes: Shan Pass, Fenshui Pass, and Xianxia Pass.

With these three checkpoints and one lock, it is very difficult for outsiders to enter Fujian by land.

If Fang La's rebel army could gain control of Fujian, and when things became untenable, they could establish a separatist regime in Fujian and vigorously develop their navy.

In this way, it would both protect itself and cut off the Song Dynasty's maritime trade, thus severing the Song Dynasty's economic lifeline.

The key point is that General Lü didn't mention that Fang La's rebel army abandoned other territories after occupying Fujian.

With Fujian under its control, Fang La's rebel army would be able to both attack and defend, greatly increasing its overall strategic depth.

Imagine if the Song army marched south and Fang La's rebel army was truly no match for them. In that case, Fang La could have led his rebel army to retreat to Fujian and hold their ground, and then slowly reclaim the lost territory.

Apart from the Yangtze River to the north, the Liangzhe region has almost no natural defenses. As long as Fang La's rebel army occupies Fujian, the Song army will definitely not be able to hold the Liangzhe region unless it maintains an absolute numerical advantage.

In other words, as long as Fujian remained in the hands of Fang La's rebel army, it would be useless for the Song Dynasty to recover the Liangzhe region, because sooner or later Fang La's rebel army would seize the Liangzhe region again.

Moreover, Quanzhou in Fujian is the largest port city in the East.

Starting from Quanzhou, one can travel through Guangzhou to Champa, Cambodia, Brunei, Java, and Srivijaya, and then westward to India and the Abbasid Caliphate.

Using the geographical terms from Zhao Yu's previous life, it means that one can take a boat directly from Quanzhou to Middle Eastern countries. Given the geographical relationship between Middle Eastern countries and Europe, it can also be said that one can even go to Europe from Quanzhou.

Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty once said something very objective: "The profits from maritime trade are the greatest. If managed properly, the gains can easily amount to millions."

As long as Fang La's rebel army can occupy Fujian and blockade the Taiwan Strait, why worry about money?
Maintaining an army and waging wars are always the most expensive things.

Fang La's rebel army couldn't keep relying on looting to make a living, could they?

From this perspective, although Fujian was not a place where dragons rose to power, it was still very suitable for Fang La's rebel army to grow and expand.

Of course, this is also based on the current situation, and it is the advice that Lü Jiang gave that is most beneficial to Fang La's rebel army.

Besides, General Lü didn't order Fang La's rebel army to retreat to Fujian indefinitely. He just wanted them to temporarily use Fujian's geographical advantage to hold out for a while, so as to avoid being wiped out by the Song army.

Survival first, then development.

However, Fang La had no intention of leaving Hangzhou, the capital of Liangzhe Road, the political, economic and cultural center of the southeast, "his place of origin".

Therefore, Fang La didn't bother to understand Fujian at all, and said, "How can Fujian be of any use? Nonsense!"

Before Lü Jiang could explain, Fang La, eager to change the subject, rejected Lü Jiang's suggestion, saying, "Occupying Hangzhou is better than conquering ten prefectures. When the people see us capturing Hangzhou, they will surely rise up in response. If we lose Hangzhou, the momentum of the uprising will be hindered, and how will we survive?"

At this point, Fang La, wanting to demonstrate his ability to recognize and value talent, turned to General Lü and said, “It is indeed not easy to hold Hangzhou, but for the sake of our great cause of rebellion, how can we retreat because of difficulties? I regard Hangzhou as my heartland, the very foundation of our rebel army. In the past, Emperor Gaozu dominated the world from Guanzhong, and Emperor Guangwu established his rule from Henan. Both were able to plan for the future because their bases were secure. Although I am not talented, I also wish to emulate the sages of the past, using Hangzhou as a base to radiate outwards and achieve an immortal legacy.”

Upon hearing this, Lü Jiang sighed inwardly, knowing that Fang La's mind was made up and difficult to sway. He understood that Fang La's attachment to Hangzhou stemmed not only from his view of it as the foundation of his rebellion, but also from its prosperity, wealth, and rich cultural heritage, making it a strategically vital location. However, strategic bias often leads to tactical errors, and Lü Jiang couldn't help but worry about the future of Fang La's rebel army.

Fang La glanced at Fang Fei without making it obvious.

Fang Fei understood and said, "In my opinion, if the name is not correct, the words will not be proper. The reason why they do not obey the Thirteenth Prince's orders is because I have not changed the dynasty. If the Thirteenth Prince ascends the throne and bestows titles and rewards upon them as kings, marquises, generals and ministers, they will surely lead a large army to come and receive the rewards. Once I have gathered a million troops, what are the Song army and Song Jiang worth?"

Listen to the sound of speaking, and listen to the sound of gongs and drums.

Everyone immediately understood that Fang La wanted to become emperor.

The main reason they didn't raise the rebellion flag at the time was because they harbored illusions about being recruited by the government.

However, it now seems that the imperial court has no intention of offering them amnesty.

Not only that, the imperial court also adopted a posture of wanting to wipe them out.

If that's the case, it doesn't really matter whether they rebel or not.

No.

It should be said that if they clearly raise the banner of rebellion, it can boost morale and unite people's hearts, letting the people of the world know their determination, thereby attracting more like-minded people to join their ranks.

Furthermore, they risked their lives to start an uprising, all for fame and fortune; otherwise, who would undertake such a perilous undertaking?

Therefore, many people supported Fang La's desire to become emperor.

However, intelligent people like Bao Kang, Chen Gutong, and Lü Jiang believed that Fang La was digging his own grave.

They knew very well that the reason why Zhao Yu did not offer amnesty to Fang La now was because the mess Fang La had made was too big. How could the court possibly support more than a million Fang La rebels?
Therefore, even if Zhao Yu wanted to offer amnesty to Fang La, he would have to wait until Fang La's rebel army and Song Jiang's rebel army, including the Song army, had almost exhausted each other.

Otherwise, the already overburdened Song Dynasty would have had to bear an even heavier burden.

The premise is that Fang La does not seek to change the dynasty, but instead, like Song Jiang, honestly helps the court to kill gentry and landlords and assists the court in implementing the two new policies.

Conversely, if Fang La were to take the step of rebellion, Zhao Yu would undoubtedly have to execute him without any room for leniency.

Bao Kang and others tried to persuade Fang La not to do anything foolish.

However, too many people want to rise in rank along with Fang La, and if they oppose him, they will inevitably offend those who aspire to become kings and generals.

Secondly, Fang La was not wrong. The reason why Lü Shinang and others did not obey his orders was that his status as the leader of Manichaeism was not enough to command these rebel leaders, especially those who were not from Manichaeism.

Thirdly, the current situation is indeed very critical. If Fang Qifo and his men cannot stop the Song army and Song Jiang's rebel army from advancing south, Hangzhou will be in danger. If Fang La were to grant Lü Shinang and others the title of king, they might actually be able to bring troops to reinforce Hangzhou.

Most importantly, the true core figure of Manichaeism, Wang Gong Laofo, supported Fang La's ascension to the throne as emperor.

Helpless, Bao Kang and the others could only keep their opinions to themselves and watch helplessly as Fang La went further and further down the path of courting death.

On the 28th day of the first month of the ninth year of Hongwu's reign, Fang La ascended the throne in Hangzhou, calling himself "Holy Duke" and changing the era name to Yongle. He made his wife, Lady Shao, empress, his eldest son, Fang Ding, crown prince, his second son, Fang Bo, second crown prince, Fang Fei, prime minister, and Fang Baihua, princess, among others.

In short, Fang La established a large number of civil and military positions, with provincial and ministerial officials, inner ministers and outer generals, and all kinds of ministers receiving titles and rewards.

Fang La's rebels planned to take this opportunity to celebrate.

Unexpectedly, just as Fang La ascended the throne, news arrived that Fang Qifo and his men had been defeated.

Soon, Fang Qifo led his remaining troops back to Hangzhou like stray dogs...

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(End of this chapter)