One Piece of Song Dynasty

The previous commander-in-chief and magistrate of Zhending Mansion was Liu Tao, the commander-in-chief of troops and horses was Wang Yuan, and the commander-in-chief was Li Zhi. This team has good leadership, effective measures, and relatively strict city defense deployment, building Zhending Mansion into one of the strongest cities in Hebei. When the Jin army invaded the south for the first time, Zong Wang also tried to capture Zhending, but he was violently fired by powerful crossbows on the city. Knowing that it was difficult to capture, he circled the city.

Later, in order to relieve the siege of Taiyuan, the imperial court appointed Liu Ao as deputy envoy of Xuanfu and ordered him to lead troops to Liaozhou. Liu Ao also summoned Wang Yuan and Li Zhi to serve in the Xuanfu Division, and almost all the available soldiers of Zhending Mansion were taken away by them.

Li Miao was originally the deputy privy minister. After Liu Tao left, he was sent to Zhending Mansion as the pacifier and magistrate. In fact, Li Miao was superior to his official position but was poor at adapting to changes. It was actually inappropriate to send him to Hebei to defend the city. What Tang Ke, Geng Nanzhong and other prime ministers did was actually an act of personal revenge regardless of national interests. Because Li Miao had previously refused their appointment to send him as an envoy to the Jin army. They thought that Li Miao was too timid to send an envoy to the Jin army, so they deliberately sent him to the front line in Hebei to fight against the Jin army.

At that time, there were less than two thousand guards in Zhending City and less than two million copper coins. After Li Miao took office, he made an announcement to mobilize the people to contribute money and food to jointly fight against the enemy. Later, he raised guan of copper coins and shi of grain. Li Miao recruited thousands more warriors to form a volunteer army and stepped up training.

At the beginning of the Jin soldiers' second invasion south, Li Miao predicted that the Jin soldiers would attack Zhending. So they sent people to copy the small roads and send secret messages to the court. As many as thirty-four copies were submitted, but there was no news from them all.

On September , the Jin army approached the city and immediately launched an attack on Zhending City. Facing an enemy that was ten times stronger than himself, with no powerful troops inside or outside and no reinforcements, it was difficult to determine where this isolated city should go. Some people tried to persuade Li Miao to open the city and surrender, but Li Miao refused and beheaded him in public.

The defense envoys of Jizhou and the soldiers and horses of Zhending Mansion commanded Liu Xu, determined to coexist with Zhending. He set an example and led his troops to fight on the city wall day and night. As soon as the Jin soldiers attacked the north of the city, Liu Xu made the north of the city the focus of defense. Later, the Jin soldiers pretended to attack the east of the city, trying to claim the east and attack the north, drawing the Song army's defensive attention to the east of the city. Liu Xu was not fooled and still focused on defending the north of the city.

Li Miao didn't understand military affairs. When he saw the Jin soldiers attacking the east of the city, he ordered Liu Xu to shift the focus of defense to the east of the city. Liu Xu had no choice but to obey the order and lead his troops there. The Jin soldiers attacked the east of the city for two days. That night, they suddenly moved the siege equipment to the north of the city without anyone noticing. The defenders in the city had no idea and were still guarding in the east of the city.

At dawn, I suddenly heard the noise of people in the north of the city. It turned out that a large number of golden soldiers had ascended the battlements through ladders, and the city defense had been breached.

On October , when the Jin army was violently attacking Zhending Mansion, Wang Yun, an envoy from the Song Dynasty, came to see Zong Wang outside the city and conveyed to Zong Wang the emperor's wish to cede the three towns in the form of taxes. Zong Wang did not reply on the spot, but took Wang Yun and others to a high ground to watch the Jin soldiers siege the city.

On October , Zhending Mansion fell. But there were still defenders fighting in the city. It was Liu Xu who led his troops to fight in the streets with the Jin soldiers. The street fighting lasted not long, and Liu Xu saw that some of the soldiers around him had died and some had fled. He knew that the situation was over and he had no way to save himself. He turned around and said to his brother: "I am a general, how can he be killed by thieves?"

Liu Xu rode his horse forward, broke through the siege of the Jin army, and wanted to rush out of the city. However, at this time, the city gates were all occupied by the Jin army and they could not get out. Liu Xu was unwilling to be captured and humiliated, so he went to the mountain pavilion in Sun's garden, took off his belt, and hanged himself.

Jingkang Xiaoya praised Liu Xu for "knowing the principles of loyalty and filial piety, so he was not afraid of killing himself as a minister and a teacher, which can be said to be the style of the ancients." He also wrote a poem specifically for Liu Xu: "The general died in Sui, which is what the ancients were good at. Just like Liu Gong, and The whole city was destroyed. The soldiers and crossbows were like mountains, and the Duke took responsibility for them. He exhausted his courage and defeated the dogs and sheep with all his strength. Heaven has not regretted the misfortune, and the captives are getting more and more angry. Although the Duke has closed his eyes, his fragrance will be passed down through the ages."

Li Miao heard that the city had been lost and Jin soldiers had entered the city. He wanted to commit suicide by throwing himself into a well, but was stopped by the people around him.

After Li Miao was captured, as the highest official of Zhending Mansion, he was brought to Zong Wang by Jin Bing. Jin Bing forced him to kneel down, but he refused and said, "This dynasty has no such courtesy."

Jin Bing used fire to grill Li Miao's eyebrows, beard, and legs, but Li Miao still refused to kneel. Jin Bing was about to torture him in another way, but Zong Wang stopped him and said, "He is a man of high integrity and cannot be compromised."

Zong Wang asked: "You gathered the militia to attack me and said I was a thief. Why?"

Li Miao replied: "You betrayed your alliance and robbed my children of gold and silk everywhere. Are you still afraid of me telling you?"

Zong Wang smiled and wanted to keep Li Miao by his side and go south together, but Li Miao flatly refused, so Zong Wang sent someone to escort Li Miao to Yanjing.

Yang Yun and his men all saw Li Miao's performance. After learning that Li Miao was going to be taken to Yanjing, Yang Yun quickly sent someone to sneak back to Yanjing to report the news. After Zhao Yun heard the letter, he first reported the fall of Zhending Mansion. The news was passed to Xinghan Island, and then people were sent to inquire about Li Miao and began to prepare manpower to rescue Li Miao.

The Song court's campaign to expose and criticize Li Gang did not come to an end until early October. On October , Emperor Qinzong of the Song Dynasty ordered Zhong Shidao to serve as a border patrol envoy in Hebei Province as a member of the Privy Council of Tongzhi and inspect the border defense in Hebei Province. Soon, Zhong Shidao was appointed as the governor of Hedong and ordered to go to Heyang to take over Li Gang's original work.

Since his beloved brother Zhong Shidao died in the battle in Yuci, he felt "very tired from old age and illness" and urged to retire to recuperate. Emperor Qinzong of the Song Dynasty dismissed him from the post of Xuanfu envoy and ordered Li Gang to take over. Now that Li Gang has been dismissed, Song Qinzong ordered Zhong Shidao to take over.

On this day, Zhong Shidao, who was seriously ill, walked to Zhengzhou, and suddenly his condition worsened and he passed out. After waking up, people around him advised him to stay in Zhengzhou to recuperate and not go to Heyang. Zhong Shidao sighed softly and said: "Reciting the words of His Majesty Lin Xuan, I can't bear to enter."

Judging from Zhong Shidao's physical condition, it is true that he cannot go to Heyang to organize the army. But in order to repay the emperor's kindness, Zhong Shidao endured the pain and moved forward hard. After arriving in Heyang, Zhong Shidao worked hard day and night, and his condition suddenly worsened and he fell into coma many times. After hearing the news, Song Qinzong urgently summoned him back to the capital for treatment.

Zhongshidao met the Jin envoy Wang Rui in Heyang and saw that his attitude was very arrogant. Zhongshidao judged that the Jin people were likely to invade in large numbers soon, so he fell ill and wrote a final memorial to Song Qinzong, giving him the last suggestion: "The people of Jin immediately invited the gold coins to go north safely. If they come back now, they will gather all the countries to make a big move, and they will be unstoppable. The ministers did not listen to the previous plans. Qing, Cang, Wei, and Hua did not have troops, and there was no help from the vassals. If you want, I beg you to be lucky enough to be in Chang'an to avoid the enemy's attack. As for defense and attack, the responsibility lies with the general, as fighting is not something that can be done by thousands of chariots."

Although Zhong Shidao was seriously ill, his mind was still very clear and he still saw the situation clearly. If Song Qinzong had adopted the suggestion of cultivating teachers, the Northern Song Dynasty would never have suffered a sudden collapse.

However, the minister thought Zhong Shidao was timid and disapproved of his suggestions.

At that time, the ministers surrounding Song Qinzong, whether they were the war faction or the peace faction, lacked the basic judgment and understanding of the current situation. Although subjectively they all wanted to preserve the Song Dynasty, objectively they were pushing the Song Dynasty into the abyss step by step.

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