Taiyuan could be said to be one of the most resilient cities in China's history. Before Zhao Kuangyin's death, he had dispatched an entire army on a northern expedition against Northern Han. However, they had suffered a crushing defeat at the gates of Taiyuan. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers had attacked in turn, but they had been unable to capture Taiyuan.
Perhaps they had been able to capture it, but Zhao Kuangyin had died at that critical juncture. The cause of his death was a mystery, and the Song army had retreated.
After the internal problems of the Song Dynasty had been dealt with, Zhao Guangyi had hastily established his position in the army after obtaining the imperial throne. He had led the army on a second northern expedition against Taiyuan. This time, he had finally captured the city. However, the capture had been extremely difficult.
Taiyuan's tenacity had left Zhao Guangyi badly battered and bleeding. However, behind the Song army was the unified Central Plains and Jiangnan, the strength of a nation. As for Taiyuan, as the capital of Northern Han, it did not have the potential to resist the Song army. As a result, Taiyuan had still been captured.
Zhao Guangyi was endlessly vexed by these enormous losses. At the same time, he still had lingering fears. As a result, he ordered the burning of Taiyuan.
However, Taiyuan was an indispensable part of the Song Dynasty's defense. As a result, three years after the burning of Taiyuan, Zhao Guangyi ordered Pan Mei to build a new city at Tangming Town, on the opposite bank of the Fen River, thirty li northeast of Taiyuan.
The current Taiyuan had originated from that time. However, the current Taiyuan was far from being as unyielding as when it had resisted the Song army.
Taiyuan's tenacity and unyieldingness left a lingering fear in Zhao Guangyi's heart after his failed northern expedition against Youyun. In order to guard against Taiyuan, Zhao Guangyi ordered Pan Mei to make all sorts of small moves against Taiyuan, greatly reducing the effectiveness of Taiyuan's defenses. It could no longer be compared to the defenses of Northern Han.
However, Zhao Guangyi could not have imagined that when the Jin army invaded the south, it was precisely this relatively small and weak Taiyuan that he had been guarding against that caused the Jin army to suffer a setback. Taiyuan persisted and refused to surrender. Isolated and without reinforcements, the valiant and tenacious Taiyuan held out for more than two hundred and fifty days before finally falling.
Ironically, even though the situation was hopeless, Taiyuan's garrison commander, Wang Ling, continued to lead his starving and exhausted soldiers in urban warfare. In the end, he broke out of the city while carrying the statue of Emperor Taizong, which had been enshrined in the Taiyuan Ancestral Temple. The Jin army pursued with all their might, and Wang Ling, who had been stabbed dozens of times, committed suicide by throwing himself into the Fen River.
Zhao Guangyi had probably never imagined that the Taiyuan he had burned down would become the brave warriors of the Zhaosong Dynasty.
After the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, although Taiyuan no longer had the influence that it had in the past, its strategic position was still important. In order to guard against the Mongols, two of the nine borders were in Shanxi. Taiyuan, which was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty, showed signs of regaining its former grandeur. Because the King Of Jin was stationed there, its political status also increased.
This time, in order to prevent the Mongolians from invading south, Wang Shiyang had moved the King Of Jin's family to Qi County in the south in advance. This was to avoid the tragedy of the King Of Qing's family being captured when Ningxia City was attacked.
After the rebellion in Ningxia was quelled, although the youngest son of Prince Qing was rescued by Xiao Ruxun and his bloodline was preserved, the officials who did not fulfill their responsibilities at that time all suffered. After the war, the officials in Ningxia were reshuffled, and more than one person lost his head.
Wang Shiyang was strict and did not allow himself to encounter such a situation. Therefore, he first moved the big treasure of the King Of Jin before starting the defense of Taiyuan City. At the same time, he strictly restricted the entry and exit of people in Taiyuan City because he was afraid that spies would enter.
Now that the Northern Barbarians were defeated, before Wang Shiyang went north, he had told the general guarding Taiyuan City that the control of the war would not end until the war was over. Although he still did not allow anyone to enter and leave as they wished, he could allow the residents of the city to go out and harvest at a fixed time every day. However, he had to guard the gates.
He arranged for soldiers to guard the roads so that spies could not be casually allowed in. Everyone who went out had to go through a roll call before returning.
Liu Xi knew this very well. He told Tualik that with the defenses of Taiyuan City, if they allowed them to close the gates, no matter how many siege weapons the Northern Barbarians had, they would not be able to quickly take Taiyuan City. Taiyuan City was very suitable for defense. They only had one way, and that was to blend in with the troops of the woodcutters.
Tualik immediately shook his head.
"What if we are discovered? Few of the warriors under this king know how to speak Chinese, so it would be very easy for them to be exposed. How could they enter? "
Liu Xi really wanted to curse.
"We are not going in. We are going to get close to the gates and kill the soldiers guarding the gates. We will take down the gates and prevent the Ming Army from closing the gates. At the same time, let the army hide in a hidden place. Once we start to take down the gates, the cavalry will have to rush into the city as fast as possible!
The Ming army does not know of our existence. Although they are prepared, they are not that prepared. It is not the first time that they have sent people out to harvest. Right now, their defenses are not as tight as they were in the first few days. As long as our troops can get close to their city gates, we can suddenly attack!
Once our cavalry enters, Taiyuan City will be finished! We can directly break through Taiyuan City. Even if the Ming Army wants to defend, they can only fight us in the streets. The defensive facilities on the outer walls of Taiyuan City will be completely useless. Taiyuan City will in fact be taken down by us. After that, the King can do whatever he wants. "
Tualik looked like he was suddenly enlightened. He slapped Liu Xi's shoulder and almost slapped Liu Xi to the ground.
"Hahahahaha! Advisor, although you Han people have a lot of idiots, I am very happy to have a smart person like you! Hahahaha! "
Liu Xi cursed in his heart and put on a smiling face in front of Tualik.
"I only hope that after the King breaks through Taiyuan City, you can let my grandfather, grandmother, and mother go. My grandfather, grandmother, and mother are all in Taiyuan City. I really do not want them to be hurt."
How could Tualik not agree?
"En! Good! You're a filial son, and filial children are usually very loyal. This King hopes to see your loyalty. After we breach the city, This King will give you a group of men. You can bring them to protect your family. This King will also tell my men not to harm your family. How about it? "
Liu Xi was overjoyed. "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"Hahahaha!"
After leaving the house, Liu Xi took a deep breath of the bloody air. He suddenly felt that his legs were a little weak.
In order to survive, he had killed many people. He could foresee that in order to survive, he would kill even more people. Could a person like him really continue to live? After everything was over, could he really live?
However, even if he did not have a good death, before he died, he had to take away those who had pushed him to this step. For this, he had to do it at all costs!
Liu Xi began to plan. With his sharp senses as the regional leader of a merchant group, he noticed that when the Ming Army arranged for the residents of Taiyuan City to go out to harvest, they had arranged special routes and escorted and monitored the troops. However, because the area of the harvest was relatively large, in order to avoid blind spots, they had specially arranged several directions for the harvest.
There were about six hundred people in each direction, and a hundred soldiers were arranged to escort and monitor them. This was to ensure that every resident who went out to harvest stood up and returned to the city. There were no Northern Barbarians spies in the city. There were also ten cavalrymen for emergency response. If they realized that something was wrong, they would immediately run back to report. They would immediately close the city gates and prepare to defend the city. As for the people outside the city …
It did not matter.
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