Chapter 289 The Monster from Liangshan Lands in Shanxi

Liang Zhongshu successfully escaped across the Yellow River and arrived in Tokyo City.

When father-in-law Cai Jing saw his son-in-law coming to him in a miserable state, he knew that Daming Mansion had been lost.

Daming Prefecture is so big, with tens of thousands of combat soldiers, countless auxiliary troops, well-trained soldiers and sufficient food. The imperial court also hopes to use it as a stronghold to recover Hebei!
It would be fine if you lost such a strong and sturdy city after defending it for a year or two, but you fled back before the war even reached Tokyo. You really deserve to be killed!
But when his daughter started crying, his heart softened again and he had no choice but to go to the morning court.

The Xuanhe era was really an unlucky year.

Inside the imperial palace, in the Chuigong Hall where the emperor held court.

Zhao Ji, who had always been a gentle and refined gentleman, was so angry that it was hard to describe.

He was an all-round artist. Whether it was poetry, songs, calligraphy, painting or articles, he was an outstanding figure among literati and influenced the aesthetics of China for thousands of years.

But politically, he is incompetent.

Prime Minister Zhang Dun's words "Prince Duan is frivolous and unfit to rule the world" turned out to be a prophecy. Huizong could do anything except being the emperor!

The magnificent Chuigong Hall was shrouded in dark clouds.

Zhao Ji had a gloomy face and shouted at Cai Jing: "Prime Minister, Damingfu was taken in one battle. Was it a paper city? Can't the 800,000 imperial guards stop the Liangshan bandits? Liang Zhongshu should be killed! Cai Jing, Gao Qiu, give me an explanation. When can we recover Hebei and Shandong?"

"..."

No one dared to give the emperor such a guarantee.

Cai Jing was the prime minister and Gao Qiu was the grand marshal, who was in charge of the imperial guards.

He drew a salary without working, worked as a laborer, and made private money.

The 800,000 imperial guards are the ATMs for corrupt officials.

The problem of collecting empty salaries has been a constant in every dynasty. Even in later generations, when the Russians invaded Chechnya, this lowest level of corruption was exposed.

As for being coolies, the Imperial Guards were used in many different ways by the Grand Marshal Gao Qiu. He forced the Imperial Guards to repair gardens for private individuals, do brick and tile work, and do mud work, in other words, he used the army as coolies to serve his own benefit.

The general has made a fortune, and the lieutenant generals and lieutenants under him are not stupid either. Although they cannot go out to take big private jobs, they can produce value in the army!

They forced the soldiers to do embroidery, weave, make jewelry, or paint. They openly occupied the territory and exempted them from training. They were listed as soldiers but had no idea of ​​their ranks. They were soldiers but had no idea of ​​how to attack or defend.

In short, it means making the soldiers do women's work, such as embroidery, weaving, jewelry making, etc., anything that can make money, but no training.

This is an open secret, everyone knows that the Imperial Guards are not capable of fighting.

But Emperor Zhao Ji didn't know! Everyone was hiding it from him.

He only knew that the Tokyo city had 800,000 imperial guards and was as strong as a rock.

Seeing that the emperor was getting angrier and angrier, Cai Jing stepped forward, holding his tablet and said, "Your Majesty, the defeat of Daming Prefecture was not due to the soldiers, but to the food and money. Since the turmoil in all directions, the court has long been unable to make ends meet. The generals fought desperately to kill the enemy to repay Your Majesty, but the soldiers had no money to receive, so they became resentful and secretly surrendered to the enemy chieftain. Among them, Lu Junyi of Daming Prefecture was the worst. He..."

Zhao Ji waved his sleeves and said, "Prime Minister Cai, just tell me how to solve this problem. I don't want to hear these excuses. I only know that Damingfu was lost and Hebei was lost!"

Cai Jing straightened his face, bowed and said: "I can only make the people suffer a little longer, and I will bear the blame!"

"If the taxes are increased again, the Central Plains will be in chaos!" someone said in horror.

Cai Jing ignored him and said loudly: "Heaven and earth are unkind and treat all things as straw dogs. Saints are unkind and treat the people as straw dogs. Ten thousand deaths is a number, and the death of one hundred thousand or one million people is also a number. The most urgent task is to wipe out the rebels. As long as the bandits on all sides are wiped out, everything will be worth it. When the world is peaceful, we can reduce or exempt taxes, or even not levy taxes for three years, so that we can recuperate." War costs money!
Mountains of gold and silver are not enough to fight a few major wars.

But even if we plunder mountains of gold and silver, can we really successfully wipe out the Little King Wei of Shandong?

Taxes were increased in the Central Plains, in Sichuan, in Hunan and Hubei, and thus the entire Song Dynasty was subject to increased taxes.

The people are living in poverty and the officials are forcing the people to rebel, and the situation is getting worse and worse.

The imperial court collected enough food and wages, but before the imperial guards could set out, the Liangshan army had already used Daming Prefecture as its base and marched westward.

Soon, the troops crossed the Taihang Mountains and headed straight for Shanxi.

The monster from Liangshan has landed in Shanxi!!!

Hebei completely lost contact with Zhao Song.

Not only the imperial court was shocked, even Tian Hu was stunned.

He rebelled in Qinyuan County, Weisheng Prefecture, his hometown. The county was surrounded by mountains and was easy to gather. At that time, there were frequent floods and droughts, and the people were poor and destitute, and their minds were in chaos.

Tian Hu took the opportunity to gather fugitives, fabricate lies, and incite the ignorant people. At first he looted some property, and later he invaded states and counties, and the officials and soldiers did not dare to confront him.

Tian Hu is just a hunter, why is he so rampant?
There is no official in the world who is not corrupt!
Civil officials want money, and military officers are afraid of death. Although there are soldiers in each prefecture and county for defense, they are all old and weak. Some of them eat the salary of two or three soldiers, or they want to take someone else's idle servants, and pay more than ten taels of silver to buy a servant, so that the guards can use some food and salary. When they are called to drill, they go and hire people to do it.

The upper and lower levels were deceiving each other, and the country spent all its money, but nothing was of any use.

When the time came to fight, I didn't know how to fight. I was standing there in a panic. When I saw the dust and cannon fire in front of me, I just wished my parents had not given me two more legs.

At that time, there were a few officers who dared to fight. They led some troops and went to hunt down Tian Hu. Those soldiers dared not go forward, but just followed behind, running around, bluffing, and even killing innocent people to claim credit.

The people became more and more resentful and turned to join the bandits to avoid the government troops.

The three Tian Hu brothers were not ordinary souls, and their fighting power was rare in the world. They made a name for themselves after several battles.

So for the past six months, he has occupied three states.

The three states are: Weisheng, Zhaode and Jinning.

After gaining control of the three states, Tian Hu built a palace in Linfen City, Jinning, and set up fake civil and military bureaucrats, internal ministers and external generals, thereby dominating the area. He also named himself the King of Jin, imitating the young King of Wei, Cao Jie.

Firstly, the soldiers are well-trained and the generals are brave; secondly, the mountains and rivers are steep and dangerous.

Since it was difficult to suppress the imperial court at the moment, he became a local tyrant, living a carefree life, and did not train soldiers, smelt iron, or forge weapons. He was just enjoying himself.

Since ancient times, most peasant uprisings have been like this: once they gain some territory, they quickly degenerate.

The dragon-slayer warrior eventually becomes a dragon!
While he was enjoying himself in Shanxi, the army of Liangshan occupied various important places in Taihang Mountains, cutting off the connection between half of Hebei and the court. Without much delay, the army headed straight for Taiyuan Prefecture. Only then did Tian Hu realize how far behind he was.

He became complacent after occupying three states and called himself the king.

The King of Wei, Cao Jie, has already occupied two routes in Jingdong and Hebei, and has dozens of counties in his hands...

(End of this chapter)