Chapter 248 Martial arts is Tianlong’s primary productive force!
The strong trunk and weak branches of the Song Dynasty really brought great convenience to Murong Fu.

The reason why Murong Fu was able to attack Tokyo directly was because the prefectures and counties along the way had very few soldiers and were extremely weak.

After Murong Fu occupied Tokyo, he quickly took control of the entire Gyeonggi Road.

There were 1.3 million people in Gyeonggi Province, 1 million of whom were in Tokyo. Naturally, the surrounding areas surrendered at the sight of the enemy and had no power to resist.

Including when we arrived at Hebei East Road, the whole way was smooth and unobstructed, it was like a dimensionality reduction attack.

Wherever Murong Fu's army went, the place was often caught off guard and was quickly conquered.

Then Murong Fu's "door-knocking prime minister" Su Che and others appeased the local officials, and soon these places changed their ways and became part of the new dynasty.

Unexpectedly, when he arrived at Daming Prefecture, Murong Fu was turned away.

The Daming Prefecture had actually been prepared in advance and had made arrangements to defend the city.

Although it's of no use.

At this moment, on the city wall of Daming Prefecture, Pei Shitong, the transport envoy of Daming Prefecture, Zhao Ye, the governor of Daming Prefecture, the pacification envoy, Qiu Daoyuan, the garrison commander, and others were all looking at the magistrate of Zhaozhou named Zong Ze.

Qiu Daoyuan said: "As Brother Rulin said, these are indeed not soldiers from our Song Dynasty. They are actually enemy troops. This is incredible!"

Their official positions were far higher than Zong Ze's, but they were at a loss and terrified.

It turned out that Zong Ze was on official business in another prefecture or county. He saw with his own eyes Murong Fu's army attacking cities and strongholds, recruiting surrenders and rebels, so he took advantage of the chaos to run to Daming Prefecture to report the news.

Zong Ze also found it hard to believe that the core area of ​​the Song Dynasty, East Hebei, was actually attacked, and it seemed that the enemy was not the Liao army.

Could it be that there was a rebellion within the Song Dynasty? Impossible!
The army of the Song Dynasty was scattered throughout the country. It had no money and no men. At least 50% to 60% of their salaries were wasted. Most of the soldiers were peddlers, not professional soldiers. How could such an army possibly rebel?
Although Zong Ze was confused, he still rode at full speed to Daming Prefecture to report the news.

At first, the high-ranking officials of Daming Prefecture did not believe Zong Ze's words at all. It was not until Murong Fu's army approached from afar that they realized something was wrong, and Zong Ze said something very convincing:

"How can the army of our Song Dynasty be so strong? Look at these people, flying under unfamiliar banners, they are as fast as the wind and as slow as the forest, and none of them are left behind. Can the army of our Song Dynasty have such a military appearance? They must be foreign enemies without a doubt."

This time, all three senior officials were convinced.

Yes, they knew how bad the Song army was. The enemy was too strong. It was definitely not the Song army.

Therefore, with the support of Qiu Daoyuan and Zhao Ye, Zong Ze assisted Qiu Daoyuan in arranging defenses. Although Zong Ze was only good at paper negotiations, he followed the methods in military books and, given that Daming Prefecture already had strong walls and a garrison of several thousand men, he actually put together a decent defense.

Just looking at the momentum of the enemy approaching the city, several leaders of the daimyo prefectures broke out in cold sweats.

This is no longer an ordinary rebel. Could it be that the Liao Kingdom is launching a full-scale invasion?

The damn Liao Kingdom actually tore up the Treaty of Chanyuan. It has no spirit of contract at all!

"The Liao Kingdom is very close to our Hebei Province. The enemy's army is so strong, it must be the Liao army!" Pei Shitong gritted his teeth and said, "The Liao Lord is treacherous. We and the Liao Kingdom are brother countries!"

Pei Shitong couldn't help but feel sad and angry.

Hebei was originally the front line against the Liao army, and the Hebei Imperial Guards were also the most elite among the Song Dynasty's imperial guards. However, since the Treaty of Chanyuan, the Liao Kingdom has always kept its promise and has no intention of invading the Song Dynasty at all.

Hebei began to relax, and out of trust in the Liao Kingdom, these bureaucrats colluded with military generals, and together they happily drew empty salaries and defrauded the court's funds.

It's really like "If you don't take it, how can the Transport Envoy take it? If the Transport Envoy doesn't take it, how can the Governor-General take it? If the Governor-General doesn't take it, how can the Prime Minister take it? How can everyone make progress?"

Moreover, the Yellow River kept changing its course and indeed washed away some of the imperial guards, so they were able to settle the accounts quite smoothly.

I had thought that such a prosperous and peaceful era could last another hundred years, but who knew that the Liao Kingdom would actually invade.

Pei Shitong cursed in his heart: Khitan dogs misled me, I trusted you Khitans so much, but you actually did such a thing, you are really beasts! Hey, should I surrender to the Khitans?
"They are not Khitan soldiers. The armor and uniforms of these soldiers are all of the standard of our Song Army, and the cavalry are all of the standard of the Tanguts." Zong Ze looked into the distance and said, "It's really strange. Could it be that someone in our Song Army is colluding with the Western bandits? Could it be the Western Army? But the Western Army can only build strong camps and fight stupid battles. How can they have any elite field army?"

"The other side's flag is 'Ming'. Do you know what this 'Ming' is?" Zhao Ye asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

Qiu Daoyuan asked, "Rulin, what should we do now? Can the few troops we have in Daming Prefecture really stop the enemy?"

Qiu Daoyuan is a good-for-nothing, and he knows that he is, so he is very self-aware and able to listen to other people's opinions.

He found that Zong Ze seemed to be capable and very alert, so he let Zong Ze serve as his deputy, but in fact he listened to Zong Ze's opinions on most things.

Except for Zong Ze's request for the wealthy families in the city to contribute money and manpower, Qiu Daoyuan rejected it.

Are you kidding? Many wealthy families in Daimyo Prefecture have connections with Tokyo, and their connections are reported to the emperor. They cannot be offended.

"Defend the city, and then ask for help from the capital." Zong Ze said, "First ask where the enemy came from."

After a while.

Murong Fu's army approached and arrived at the city wall of Daming Prefecture.

The soldiers and civilians of Daming Prefecture were all very nervous. They had enjoyed peace for so long that they had no experience in fighting. They even felt guilty about defending the city.

Zong Ze took a breath of cold air when he saw the densely packed and well-organized Ming army.

This army actually has a kind of spirit that was only seen at the founding of the country: "iron horses and golden swords, and the courage to swallow the thousands of miles like a tiger."

This is something that the Liao, Song and Xia dynasties did not have.

"Where are you from?!" Zong Ze asked loudly.

Murong Fu waved his hand and called his "door-knocking prime minister" team.

Su Che, Lu Dafang and others are now "gate-calling prime ministers".

These people were all high-ranking bureaucrats of the Song Dynasty. They had deep roots and many students and former officials. When Murong Fu left Tokyo, he took them with him.

It's not that he wants to trouble these old men, but without their interference, the first and second assistants appointed by Murong Fu can do their work better.

Moreover, they had many students and former officials, and many people in the court knew them. When they went to knock on the door, they could often trick the city gate into opening.

After conquering a place, many bureaucrats could quickly surrender following their example.

Murong Fu killed Zhao Xu, but he did not "call the emperor to the door", but he did "call the prime minister to the door", which is the same.

Su Zhe was numb, and asked expressionlessly: "Your Highness, Prince of Yan, are you trying to trick the city gates into opening?"

Murong Fu said: "Try to deceive as much as possible, and if you can't deceive, then beat him."

"Yes."

So, escorted by several soldiers, Su Che came to the gate of Daming Prefecture, looked at the unfamiliar Zong Ze on the tower, and shouted, "Let Pei Shitong come out and talk!"

Zong Ze looked at Pei Shitong in the room and said, "The thief below is very polite and wears the purple robe of our Song Dynasty. He looks like a prime minister. He wants to talk to you."

"What?" Pei Shitong was shocked.

He quickly came to the city wall, looked down, and was surprised and said, "Master Su, why is it you?"

"It's me!" Su Che said stiffly, "The Liao people suddenly marched south, and Kaifeng Prefecture was caught off guard. The outer city was breached and the city was in danger. Behind me is the Western Army Zong Shidao who came to defend the king. Open the city gate and let us in. We are ordered to defend Daming Prefecture." Pei Shitong and others were shocked. They trusted Su Che and were about to ask someone to open the city gate, but Zong Ze stopped them and said:
"Look, Master Su looks painful, as if he has something to hide."

"Besides, he is a prime minister, how could he accompany the army? There is no such precedent in our dynasty."

"And if the Liao people attacked Kaifeng, our Daming Prefecture is very close to the Liao Kingdom. Why is there no movement at all? We haven't even received any documents from the court?"

"I saw this group of people attacking our Song city before. If they were the army to support the king, why would they attack their own city?"

"There must be something fishy going on here!"

Pei Shitong also looked at Su Che in confusion, and said to him, "Mr. Su, this matter is of great importance. Please withdraw your troops for the time being for thirty miles, and let us discuss it carefully."

Su Che sighed and reported to Murong Fu.

Murong Fu said: "Since we can't trick the city gates open, let's set up the catapults!"

Murong Fu's base camp is in the southeast, and he uses local materials in the north.

Apart from the 500 Dragon Elephant Cavalry he brought with him, the Jinyiwei that controlled Tokyo, the West Factory, the East Factory, and the Ming Cult branch, most of the people he used were the imperial guards of the Song Dynasty.

Most of these imperial guards were unable to fight. Their morale improved only after Murong Fu distributed land and money to them.

In addition, Murong Fu's management is in place, and although the army appears to be a group of tigers and wolves, it is actually unable to fight tough battles.

Fortunately, Murong Fu did not need them to fight a tough battle, he just needed them to follow Murong Fu and fight a favorable battle.

Because Murong Fu himself is equivalent to an elite and powerful army.

Five hundred dragon-elephant cavalrymen are equivalent to a powerful army.

Tong Lao, Master Lingxiu and Chen Zhen, three peerless masters, can also represent a strong army.

The Shaolin "卍" monk corps is also a powerful army.

So it was just four powerful armies that led the Song Dynasty's imperial guards.

In the feudal dynasties, wars were always led by a small number of elite troops, while the large number of soldiers were merely vassals. Often, the elite troops would be defeated and hundreds of thousands of troops would be scattered and vulnerable.

The Battle of Feishui, in which Murong Fu's ancestor Murong Chui participated, was even more disastrous. Even just someone shouting "Our Qin army is defeated" behind the battle line caused Fu Jian's 700,000-strong army to collapse. The army was in a state of panic and the Former Qin Dynasty was destroyed.

Murong Fu's siege equipment was also directly drawn from the Song Dynasty's arsenal. There were no counterweight catapults, only ordinary catapults.

These catapults could destroy a small watchtower, but they were completely incapable of taking down an important town like Damingfu.

Seeing that Murong Fu had deployed hundreds of catapults, Zong Ze said, "They are indeed the enemy. If they can't trick the city gates open, they will attack the city. These catapults can't break into our Daming Mansion. However, even a man like Scholar Su has fallen into the hands of the thieves. What on earth has happened to our dynasty?"

Pei Shitong said: "I feel vaguely uneasy, as if something earth-shattering is happening in our dynasty, and we don't even know about it."

They did not think that these catapults could break through the solid defenses of Daming Prefecture, so they were relieved and worried about the changes in the imperial court.

Logically speaking, a prime minister like Su Che should have been stationed in Tokyo, but he ended up falling into the hands of thieves. This is terrible.

They couldn't help but think of Huang Chao.

It couldn't be that Tokyo was breached and the new-age Huang Chao "trampled the bones of all the nobles in the streets"?
Kaifeng is so strong. There are one million people in the city, and the imperial guards have more than 100,000. Even the Liao-Xia coalition forces cannot break through!

After hundreds of catapults were ready, Murong Fu gave the order to fire, and then he flashed in front of the formation like lightning.

Facing the flying boulder, Murong Fu dodged and moved flexibly, using the Dou Zhuan Xing Yi technique.

His Qi Qi moved and formed an arc of energy with a range of ten feet. When the arc of energy touched the boulder, it instantly changed the direction of the boulder and used Murong Fu's internal force to increase the attack speed.

Boom boom boom!
In the eyes of everyone, Murong Fu was like a ghost, shuttling among the boulders. Then, those boulders were accurately transferred by Murong Fu to the city gate of Daming Prefecture, and he aimed at the top of the city gate and bombarded it continuously.

At this moment, Murong Fu turned into a boulder archer. The boulder was like a straight line, shooting out from Murong Fu's side and continuously towards the city gate.

This is a machine gun!

Even though the city gate of Daming Prefecture was strong, it could not withstand such shooting and soon collapsed.

On the city wall, Zong Ze, Pei Shitong and others had cold hands and feet, as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.

"Is this a human?" Zong Ze felt that he was powerless to save the situation.

How do you deal with an opponent who can change the direction of the boulders thrown by the trebuchet, giving the trebuchet an epic boost?

This is not taught in the Art of War!

"It's a demon!" Pei Shitong's face was grim, "It's a magic trick!"

"No, it's actually martial arts. I've learned tiger claws and hard qigong, so I understand. I just didn't expect that there would be such a master in the world!" Qiu Daoyuan said, "I'm sure of one thing now, Tokyo may have been breached by thieves, and the official may be dead or alive!"

As for Murong Fu's side, everyone saw that Murong Fu was like a god and had smashed down the city wall of Daming Prefecture. Suddenly, their morale was high and the atmosphere was boiling.

"Long live King Yan!"

"The King of Yan is mighty!"

Murong Fu said: "Follow me to attack the city!"

At that moment, Murong Fu took the lead, followed by Tong Lao, Zen Master Lingxiu and Chen Zhen. Five hundred Dragon Elephant Iron Cavalry and Shaolin "卍" monk soldiers were also galloping like tigers with beacons raised.

Even the combat effectiveness of the Song Dynasty's imperial guards briefly soared threefold.

Husband fights with courage.

The true meaning of war is to inspire the courage of soldiers. Is there anything that can motivate soldiers more than the godlike performance of the commander?
Faced with a war that was sure to be won, all the soldiers were filled with confidence and fought with overwhelming force.

Murong Fu was in the front, and when he wielded the Six Meridians Divine Sword, wherever he passed, the defenders of Daming Prefecture fell down in large numbers like wheat being cut.

Zong Ze was stunned upon seeing this.

Qiu Daoyuan sighed and said, "Rulin, don't be sad. This god has descended from heaven. I think the fate of the Song Dynasty has come to an end. We have also tried our best, but unfortunately we are powerless. We are not worthy of the high position and generous salary given to us by the government. Look, Scholar Su has a higher position and generous salary than us, but he still surrendered. We can't let the soldiers and civilians die or get injured again. I suggest that we surrender!"

"Second!" Pei Shidao said.

"I second the motion!" Zhao Ye also closed his eyes in pain. He was a member of the Zhao royal family and a descendant of Emperor Taizong. After Emperor Shenzong reformed the royal family law, he allowed royal family members to take the imperial examinations and become officials. Only then was he able to make a difference in his official career.

The Song Dynasty belonged to his family, which was why he insisted on defending the city.

But in this case, what's the point of defending?

After a while, the garrison commander of Daming Prefecture, including the appeasement envoy Zhao Ye, the transport envoy Pei Shitong, the defending general Qiu Daoyuan and others, led the people to surrender, and Daming Prefecture fell.

Murong Fu visited Daming Mansion, to which he was most loyal.

"I don't know whether Tong Guan has taken Taiyuan, but the eastern part of Hebei has already belonged to me," Murong Fu thought.

(End of this chapter)