Chapter 258 Zengtou City: The Jin Kingdom in the Song Concession

In the Song Dynasty, suppressing bandits to protect the country and the people was not politically correct.

Recovering Yanyun is the politically correct thing to do.

This has also been the wish of the Song family for a hundred years, and they even said, "Whoever conquers Yanyun will be crowned king."

With such a loud outcry, and the fact that the officials in power in the court were all short-sighted, the "Sea Alliance" was formed.

As everyone knows, the lips are dead and the teeth are cold.

Deng Xunwu, the head of the Privy Council, submitted a memorial to refute the situation, saying: "What do you mean by 'attack the weak and attack the ignorant'? I think we should support the weak and suppress the strong. Today, the country's military power is weak, financial resources are scarce, and people's strength is declining. Everyone knows this situation, but no one dares to speak out. I don't understand: is it better to be neighbors with the strong Jin than with the weak Liao?"

In fact, some people in the court also saw the disaster.

However, the six thieves control the central government, and these knowledgeable people have no say.

Among these knowledgeable people, there was also Zong Ze.

They all thought that this was a breach of oath and a provocation on the border, which would lead to years of war and the people would suffer. The war would bring a huge burden to the Song Dynasty society, which had been peaceful for a long time, and make people's livelihood wither. They also thought that Liao was a weak country and should not be attacked by the weak. Making an alliance with the strong Jin was like feeding a tiger with one's own body.

Unfortunately, the Sea Alliance still happened.

And it all started last year.

Affected by the turmoil of the Liao-Jin War, Han people such as Gao Yaoshi and monk Lang Rong from Su and Fu states (near present-day Dalian) sailed on the sea to Wendeng County, Dengzhou.

After learning about the strengths and weaknesses of the Liao and Jin kingdoms from the fugitives and being inspired by their way of escape, the Song court thought of using sea transportation to bypass the Liao blockade and contact the Jin people on the other side of the Bohai Sea.

On August 3, Wang Shizhong, the governor of Dengzhou, issued an edict to recruit seven or eight officers and officials. On the 22nd, they boarded a ship of the Pinghai Army and, with Gao Yaoshi as their guide, went to visit the Jurchens.

When they reached the Jurchens on the northern shore of the Bohai Sea, they were almost killed by the patrolmen on their boats, and were so frightened that they hesitated to move forward.

He returned to Qingzhou on the third day of the first lunar month in the eighth year of Zhenghe.

The failure of the first exploratory diplomacy did not extinguish the court's hopes.

Immediately, he sent Wuyi official Ma Zheng and Pinghai army soldier Hu Yanqing to cross the sea with Gao Yaoshi to discuss matters with the Jurchen army. Wuyi official Ma Zheng crossed the sea from Dengzhou to Jin and conveyed to Jin Taizu the intention of the Song Dynasty to "establish friendly relations and jointly attack Liao", and the two sides began formal contact.

Why was Liangshan able to detect the contact between Song and Jin so quickly?

Because there was an ordinary city called Zengtou in the southwest of Lingzhou, Shandong, it suddenly became a military stronghold.

The "shi" in Zengtou City means market.

Cao Jie had already sent people to investigate, and found out that there were no such Five Tigers of the Zeng Family, nor was there Shi Wengong who shot and killed Chao Gai.

But this spring, Zengtou City suddenly became active.

Because of what?
Because suddenly a man named Zeng Nong and his five sons came and told others that they were originally from the Great Jin Dynasty. When they were young, they came to the Central Plains to do ginseng business and amassed a fortune of tens of thousands of taels.

So he spent money to get a small official position and settled down in Zengtou City.

Isn't this nonsense?
How many years had the Jin Dynasty been established? At most, only three years.

Zengtou City has a radius of 100 miles and a total of more than 3,000 households. Relying on their strong martial arts, the five tigers of the Zeng family actively responded to the government's call. In just over a month, they provided money and food to form a powerful local armed force.

It was unknown from where they hired two martial arts masters, Shi Wengong and Su Ding, as the chief and deputy coaches to provide military training to more than 6,000 young and middle-aged men in Zengtou City, in the hope of turning Zengtou City into an iron wall.

Thanks to the painstaking efforts of the Zeng family, all the people in Zengtou City are soldiers, and the men and horses are strong: the strong men in the village are as brave as King Kong when they grow up; the children in the fields are like devils when they are born. Monks and Taoists can wield sticks, and women are used to using swords and guns. The battles are all led by brothers, and the battles are all led by sons and fathers. Where can such strong soldiers come from in ordinary rural areas?
Everything is weird.

But the imperial court didn't care at all and provided policy support everywhere.

"Brother, many people in Zengtou City are dressed as Jurchens."

Liu Tang took a trip to Lingzhou and explored the situation. He said, "The government dares not offend them. Now Zengtou City is the bridgehead of the Jin Kingdom in our Song Dynasty."

"The imperial court is determined to ally with Jin to fight against Liao. Zengtou City is the concession of Jin in our Song Dynasty."

Cao Jie snorted coldly and said, "Let's find out the truth first. I heard that the coach Shi Wengong is a good man. Let's find a chance to win him over."

"Okay, I'll make arrangements right away."

Zengtou City is located in the southwest of Lingzhou and is a dangerous place.

This place is "surrounded by wild water and surrounded by high hills on three sides. The river and harbor beside the trench are like a snake coiling, and the willow forest under the moat is as dense as rain." In the original novel, even Wu Yong admitted that the root cause of Chao Gai's failure to attack Zengtou City was that "the troops lost the advantage of the terrain."

If the Zengtou citizen militia relied on the advantage of its easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack terrain and adopted a cowardly tactic of holding their ground and waiting for the Lingzhou government troops to come to their rescue and attack from both sides, it would be difficult to predict who would win or lose.

As for Shi Wengong, he had just taken up the post of military leader and chief martial arts instructor of the local militia in Shangzengtou City. He was well versed in military strategy and had courage that could not be matched by ten thousand men.

Zeng Nong, the owner of Zengtou City, treated him as an honored guest, relied on him as his right-hand man, and let his five sons learn skills from him.

With Shi Wengong as the core and the Five Tigers of the Zeng Family as the backbone, the Zeng family quickly formed a militia team of 5,000 to 7,000 people and stationed them in Zengtou City.

His wolfish ambition is obvious.

On this day, Liu Tang and others rushed back with a solemn look.

"Brother, we did see the Five Tigers of the Zeng Family from a distance."

"how?"

"All five of them are Jurchens, with thick bones and savage temperaments. I don't know what kind of soul they are or what kind of skills they have practiced, but they are as sharp as wild beasts."

"Not only that, I think the Five Tigers of Zeng Family are not inferior to me." Liu Tang was very solemn.

"Among the five brothers, the second oldest, Zeng Shen, looks fat and lazy, but he is a natural strongman. According to the information that has been circulated, he can wield a goose-feather knife weighing over a hundred pounds, so hard that no water can get in."

"hey-hey!"

Cao Jie smiled noncommittally: "The Jurchens dared to send a few of them to Shandong, so they are definitely not ordinary people. I think they are all Meng'an Mouke in the Jurchen army."

The History of Jin Dynasty: Military Records records that when the Jurchens first rose up, their chief was called Bojin, and when they marched they were called Meng'an or Mouke, depending on their numbers. Meng'an was the leader of a thousand men, and Mouke was the leader of a hundred men.

"Emperor Taizu of Song once said, 'I will not allow anyone to snore beside my bed.' This Zeng Toushi must be taken down for me!"

At this time, Dai Zong, the "God of Speed," came running up and bowed, saying, "Brother, Mr. Zong asked me to tell you something."

"Say!"

"The master said that if we want to destroy Zengtou City, we must be prepared to fight the imperial court. If we really want to give it a try, he should be prepared early."

Cao Jie frowned slightly: Now the imperial court is determined to deal with the Liao Kingdom and intends to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. They will stop at nothing!
(End of this chapter)