You have truly caused me great suffering!

In Bianliang, people's hearts were in turmoil.

In the first few years, the Song Dynasty was still peaceful and prosperous. However, starting from Tong Guan's campaign against the Liao Dynasty, all sorts of strange winds arose and the country was on the verge of collapse.

This year, even the capital city has been trampled by foreign tribes.

Now, another murder has occurred in front of the emperor, and the one killed is Liang Shicheng, who was once second only to the emperor in the Song Dynasty.

The strict rules have been broken, and the world has become chaotic. In a world without rules, strength becomes the foundation of everything.

Everything that happens next will seem to follow a predictable pattern.

Xinger Lane, near the Imperial City of Bianliang.

When Chen Shao first came to Bianliang, he stayed here. Almost all the people living here were the imperial guards from the capital.

A horse-drawn carriage entered from the dark alleyway and arrived in front of an ordinary house.

Three people got out of the car, two of whom were tall and strong, and helped a middle-aged scholar out of the car.

Yue Fei stepped forward and knocked on the door. After a moment, someone opened the door and looked at them with a puzzled expression.

"You are?"

"This is the Junior Minister of the Imperial Clan Court."

Liu Qi was startled and quickly came out, bowing and saying, "Why has Commander Zong come?"

"Go in and talk."

Liu Qi hesitated for a moment, but then agreed.

These people were eager to fight, but they were not allowed to leave the city to fight.

Now this has become a stain on their reputation, and the people of Bianliang are all talking behind their backs.

In contrast to them were Zong Ze's troops in Cizhou, Hebei, who vowed to fight to the death.

After closing the door, Liu Qi was still somewhat conflicted, silently thinking that no matter what he said, he would not give in.

I am paid by the emperor and should be loyal to him. Since the command is in the hands of the retired emperor, I am just a military officer. I should just follow orders and I can’t make a mistake, right?

Upon entering the courtyard, Zong Ze sat down directly in the center and said with a smile, "The moon is so bright tonight, let's chat in the courtyard."

Liu Qi nodded, clasping his hands in front of him. Putting aside his own stance, he truly respected Zong Ze.

His position, the current situation, and his sense of responsibility to his country and the world put him in a difficult position.

The meaning behind Zong Ze's visit was self-evident; Liu Qi understood it the moment he saw him.

"This year, the Jurchens marched south, and the court appointed me as the prefect of Cizhou to go north and gather troops. At that time, the Jurchens had already captured Zhending Prefecture, and the vanguard of Yelü Yudu's troops had reached the border of Cizhou."

Liu Qi was surprised that the man would talk about his resistance against the Jin dynasty, which made him relax a little.

"After I arrived in Cizhou, I repaired the city walls and dredged the moat; I prepared weapons and repaired armor, bows and crossbows and firearms; I recruited volunteers and obtained several thousand brave men. This Wang Shan was recruited at that time."

"Because of the Jurchens' brutality, Cizhou was devastated. In a short time, I recruited 20,000 soldiers. Wanyan Zongwang sent 1,000 cavalry to attack Cixian, and I led 20,000 soldiers to intercept them."

"Although we repelled the Tartars in this battle, I am ashamed to say that we won. I only wrote a report to declare victory in order to shatter the Tartars' claim that they were invincible and to boost morale."

Zong Ze spoke in a very organized manner and with a very kind tone, much like an elder passing on his experience to a younger generation.

Tell the story in detail.

Liu Qi's thoughts gradually followed his words.

"Then the Jurchen army came, and our hundreds of thousands of righteous troops were forced to hide in the deep mountains."

"I witnessed firsthand how the land of Hebei was torn apart, how countless people were slaughtered, and how the Jin soldiers killed people like cutting grass."

"Back then, were you still guarding Genyue?"

Liu Qi's face turned bright red. He recalled that when Cizhou fell, the Emperor Emeritus was indeed indulging in debauchery in Genyue.

It seems they've taken in two new concubines, both beautiful young women in their thirteens from Bianliang City.

All the military officers of the new army in the capital were given a pot of Puzhong wine.

"The Tartars will come back again. When that time comes, will you continue to protect the Emperor Emeritus in Genyue, or will you join us to drive out the Tartars?" Zong Ze said, "In the northwest of the Great Song Dynasty, there are many military families. Many military officers obtained their positions through their family background. Your father entered officialdom through the military examination and earned his fame through swords and spears. Now he is stationed in Weizhou."

Liu Zhongwu earned his position as a third-rank military officer (a low-ranking military officer) by performing exceptionally well in the martial arts examination, and then rose through the ranks step by step to the border.

His experience was similar to Chen Shao's; both started as the lowest-ranking military officer and rose through the ranks by accumulating military merits.

Zong Ze said, "I hope that you can take responsibility when the country is in danger, so that you will not disgrace your family."

Liu Qi was unable to refute the argument at this point, and the reasons he had prepared for a general to obey orders could no longer be uttered.

Yue Fei was about to step forward and speak when Zong Ze stopped him, telling him to stand behind him and not to say anything.

At this point, Liu Qi needed to think for himself.

About ten breaths later, Liu Qi stamped his foot and said, "Enough, enough! Commander Zong is someone I admire. I am foolish and am willing to obey Commander Zong's orders!"

Zong Ze breathed a sigh of relief. Liu Qi continued, "Many of my brothers are in the new army in the capital, all from the Western Army. I've invited them here to discuss important matters!"

Zong Ze knew in his heart that this matter should be handled sooner rather than later; once he started taking action, others would not be idle either.

Success or failure depends on how many people we can unite tonight. Tomorrow morning, we must force the Emperor Emeritus to release the prisoners.

We must also completely sideline him, so that he has no further opportunity to stir up such a storm.

The Song Dynasty could not withstand any more turmoil.
-
On the city wall of Nanxun Gate, a military officer hurriedly climbed the wall. He had been dragged out of a brothel, so it's easy to imagine that he wasn't in a good mood.

This man was said to be a military general, but if he hadn't been surrounded by his soldiers, you wouldn't have been able to tell at all.

At this moment, he was not wearing armor, nor even the military jacket and trousers; he was only wearing a long robe.

Because the autumn wind was quite chilly, I also wrapped myself in a fox fur coat.

His hands were fair and delicate, and looked as if he had never held any weapons.

He wore a large emerald ring on his finger and looked to be in his early thirties. He had a long, thin beard like a scholar-official, with neat eyebrows and handsome eyes, giving him a dashing and debonair appearance.

Although this man did not look like a military officer, he was none other than Liu Jinye, a general of the Song Dynasty, who was the Deputy Commander of the Tianwu Army and concurrently in charge of the defense and investigation of Nanxun Gate.

He was a seventh-rank military officer, assigned to one of the four upper armies, and also in charge of guarding and inspecting a key city gate. By all accounts, he was a high-ranking military official.

After all, military officers serving in Bianliang could be several ranks higher than those in the border troops from the start.

However, this man had never ridden a horse for a single day, practiced martial arts for a single day, or spent a single night in a military camp.

He was born into a prominent family in Bianliang, the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He had been living in this glamorous place since he was old enough to understand things, and he had no trace of military bearing on him.

From a young age, he began to gather friends and indulge in prostitution and entertainment.

Such people are born at a level that many people strive for their entire lives but can never reach.

When Cai Jing reorganized the Imperial Guards and eliminated many powerful families within them, these families actually became more comfortable.

Many businesses that were once controlled by the imperial guard families ended up in their hands.

This military officer, who didn't seem like one at all, was ironically entrusted with the responsibility of defending the southern part of the Song Dynasty capital.

Although he was in charge of guarding and investigating at Nanxun Gate, Liu Jinye had other things to do besides managing the gate itself, such as the tax revenue from the thousand or so acres of good land inherited from his ancestors.

Or perhaps they were operating outside Nanxun Gate, in the surrounding towns, privately distributing toothpaste to attract merchants and building houses for rent. They never did anything else related to Nanxun Gate.

If we have to say something, it's that they embezzled a large portion of the funds allocated annually for the repair and maintenance of this section of the city's defenses.

As for daily security and defense, he never cared about it.

When the Jin army marched south, he was quite worried for a while, fearing that he would not be able to enjoy his good life anymore.

To his surprise, the Jin soldiers actually withdrew, which made him overjoyed, especially since he had just finished preparing a group of his household entertainers.

Liu Jinye invited a few like-minded friends, all of whom were from his social class. After drinking and getting quite drunk, they then whispered and laughed intimately with the young girls they had just treated.

Listening to these delicate young ladies playing music, zithers, and flutes is the kind of life that people like them should lead.

Despite being a military officer, he was far superior to many civil officials and scholars in his knowledge of poetry, songs, musical instruments, and music.

He is proficient in playing all kinds of musical instruments and singing.

Just as he was relaxing, he was summoned by his deputy, Zhang Hou, who said that soldiers on the city wall had fought to death and that he needed to handle the situation personally.

Liu Jinye originally didn't intend to pay attention, but his deputy Zhang Hou insisted that he come, saying that he had too little prestige to manage it.

Considering that this was a special time, Liu Jinye did not dare to neglect his duties. He apologized to his friends and said he would be back soon.

His friends just joked that the night was long and he didn't need to rush back; there was plenty of time.

Having left the circle of philanderers, and looking at that burly, clumsy man who had only managed to rise through the ranks by enduring hardship and risking his life in the Northwest, Liu Jinye couldn't hide his disdain.

This man was about the same age as me, but he looked like he was in his fifties or sixties. He was crude and lowly, and if you stood close to him, you felt like you would pick up the poor and shabby smell of this country bumpkin.

"You've been in Bianliang for so long now. If you encounter something like this in the future, you need to be able to handle it yourself. Otherwise, what's the point of the court paying you to do this job!"

Deputy General Zhang Hou just kept nodding, his spineless appearance only making Liu Jinye despise him even more.

A peasant is a peasant; even if you struggle all the way to Tokyo, you still won't be able to stand firm.

On the city wall, Liu Jinye looked at the empty low wall and asked, "Where are they?"

Some people emerged from the shadows and slowly approached.

Zhang Hou, the village bumpkin he always looked down on, grinned, revealing two rows of yellow teeth. "General Liu, you always say that we are crude and stupid things that can't be presented to the world, and that we'll never be able to climb up in our entire lives."

Liu Jinye felt like he had swallowed a bellyful of flies. This guy was actually acting so arrogantly in front of someone. Who did he think he was?
She usually avoids glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, afraid that seeing him might ruin her appetite for the day.

But at this moment, a sense of fear welled up in Liu Jinye's heart.

What are these people going to do?
Zhang Hou said, "I would like to trouble General Liu to come with us to open the Nanxun Gate tonight."

"What are you going to do!"

Liu Jinye trembled with fear. What good could come from opening the city gates in the middle of the night?

Thinking of the major events that had occurred in the capital in the past few days, he immediately realized that the deputy general he looked down upon was secretly up to something big.

Liu Jinye suddenly realized that this might be a great opportunity.

He mustered his strength and asked, "Who are you letting in?"

Zhang Hou, who was usually simple-minded and straightforward, now had a ferocious look on his face and punched him in the ribs.

"Who we let in is none of your business. You always laugh at your grandfathers for not being able to climb up. Why don't you take a piss and look in the mirror? If it weren't for your ancestors helping the Zhao family conquer the country, would someone like you have been able to climb this high?"

"She might just be a child prostitute. If you put her on the battlefield, she'd be so scared she'd piss and pee all over the place, and she'd keep humiliating us warriors."

"Now you actually want to take credit for our work? If you know what's good for you, hurry up and open the door, or I'll stab you to death. We brothers can open it by force too!"
-
Most of the money for repairs was embezzled.

Over the years, the city gate has fallen into disrepair, and the hinges are dry and make a loud, unpleasant noise.

In the stillness of the night, it sounded even more jarring.

The noise startled the people around, and soon they saw a group of people rushing in through the city gate.

Because Liu Jinye controlled the defense of this side, and with the help of his inside agents, all the city gates, large and small, were open to the public without hindrance.

In the city, at Cai Jing's residence, a large number of officials had gathered.

They might not have been very familiar with each other before, because they were divided into two camps: a dozen or so people from Hedong who had just banded together, and the other side consisting of Cai Jing's trusted confidants and staunch supporters.

Amid the chaos, a group of cavalry arrived, and Guo Hao, who was leading them, was filled with excitement and boundless emotion.

He glanced at the civil official in high clogs in the crowd; he was one of Cai Jing's most trusted confidants, and the official nodded slightly to him.

Guo Hao immediately ordered all the troops to light torches. The procession, consisting of large clusters of torches, led the civil officials and rushed to Genyue to petition for the release of Yuwen Xuzhong and the return of power to the government!
Whoever does this first, whoever controls the government, will essentially control the future.

Among the military officers under Guo Hao who entered Bianjing tonight, there were those from the Western Army and those from Yinzhou.

Their common characteristic is that, regardless of their background, they are inextricably linked to this new group led by Chen Shao and are extremely loyal to him.

This was already the prototype of the terrifying warlords of the late Tang Dynasty. In the years when the laws and regulations of the Song Dynasty were gradually collapsing, it was very easy for those who possessed strong troops to form a warlord or a family of generals that was similar to a warlord.

Even today in history, if the Northern Song Dynasty had managed to survive and not perish, it's hard to say what the final outcome of the Western Army would have been.

In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, after the relocation of the capital south, the various military generals also acted independently, and Zhao Gou's small court could only constantly appease them.

As the Southern Song Dynasty's rule gradually stabilized, the only area where it could effectively enforce its orders was the present-day Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong regions.

The strategic locations of Huguang, Sichuan, and the Jianghuai region were all protected by generals whose prestige surpassed that of the imperial court.

The succession of generals who guarded a region was similar to the system of retaining a regency in the late Tang Dynasty, especially in the Sichuan area.

If it weren't for the constant presence of the Jurchen Tartars as a formidable enemy in the north, who would attack from time to time, the generals stationed in various regions would still have to rely on the wealthy Jiangnan region controlled by the imperial court for a steady supply of provisions.

Otherwise, it's hard to say whether it might lead to regional separatism.

The central government of the Song Dynasty weakened its authority due to factional strife, and gradually could no longer maintain its suppression of military officials.

The emergence of a rebellion by military generals is a normal and objective phenomenon.

Therefore, Guo Hao and his group were filled with excitement and had no worries about rebelling or causing trouble.

Only the desire for the future and the yearning for meritorious service.

As soon as the torches were lit, the army began to move out, and the entire city of Bianliang was alarmed.

Normally, such things are best done discreetly, but Bianliang City has too many people, too densely packed! And at night, the Imperial Guards never let anyone off the hook, so it's impossible to control.

Therefore, Cai Jing devised a plan to seize victory amidst the chaos. Whoever gained control of the two emperors first would hold the initiative.

If we succeed, with Cai Jing's experience and the military might of the Dingnan Army, the great cause will be accomplished.

The unrest quickly began to spread.

In Xing'er Lane, Zong Ze and the others also heard the commotion.

He immediately realized that something was very wrong.

"Let's go! To Genyue!"

"Has the others stopped contacting you?"

"It's too late!" (End of Chapter)