vrcanaries Chapter 315 The Song Dynasty's Plundering of Surnames
Chapter 315 The Song Dynasty's Plundering of Surnames
"In the end, 200,000 taels of gold and 4 million taels of silver were collected from the people. This was the maximum amount the people could possibly contribute; apart from this, the people were completely depleted." (Continuation of Zizhi Tongjian)
"What kind of court is this? What kind of officials are they? There is still room for maneuver between the Song army and the Song army, yet they would rather crack down on their own people and exploit their wealth than resist for a little longer and wait for the reinforcements to come to the rescue!"
"Back then, Li Gang led the soldiers and civilians in the city to fight against the Jin. How could he have been so shameless as to hide in the background? He really had a big face!"
A spoiled young master from the Song Dynasty: ...How disgusting are these people! What's the difference between this and robbery!?
The optimist Su Dongpo: Insane! I never imagined that such a group of officials would exist at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty!
Zhu Bajie of the Ming Dynasty: I'm so angry! If these people weren't from the Song Dynasty, I would have skinned them all alive and stuffed them with straw!
Cheng Yaojin of the Tang Dynasty: A bunch of cowards who bully the weak and fear the strong! Why don't they bombard the Jin people?!
In an instant, the comments on the small screen were filled with profanity, almost all of which were directed at Emperor Qinzong of Song and Li Bangyan!
In another timeline, Emperor Qinzong and his ministers: Stop cursing! Isn't it enough that they've admitted their mistakes? Do you have to insult their ancestors?!
……
"However, what they swindled from the common people wasn't enough, so this group set their sights on the emperor, taking all the jewels and precious stones from the imperial palace as money. No one else has ever gone to such lengths as an emperor!"
"But! When these people arrived and calculated the amount, it still wasn't enough, so they took back everything that had been previously given as rewards."
"Their gaze was fixed on wealthy officials, soldiers, and gentry, as if the Jurchens wouldn't invade southwards if they could simply pool their money!"
"Once this was done, not only did public resentment boil over, but the city also ran out of supplies, and the once prosperous capital city of Tokyo became a ruin, unable to generate any income whatsoever."
"It was Li Gang who petitioned the Emperor to stop; otherwise, if they had continued, I think the people in the city would have all gone to beat up these people!"
"Keep in mind that it was the dead of winter. The Jurchens were used to this weather, but the people in the city might not have been."
"With little in the way of supplies and even less money, how could they possibly survive such a winter? As a result, many people starved to death and froze to death one after another."
"Who could have imagined that just days ago, the soldiers and civilians in the city were united in resisting the Jurchen siege? If the imperial court could have stalled for time and waited for reinforcements, things would never have come to this!"
Wanyan Zongwang: I miscalculated! I should have known better than to fight!
Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty (spitting blood in anger): ...
General Judy, the Northern Expeditionary Army: These guys are shameless! Can't they stand up for themselves a little?!
A certain romantic scholar of the Tang Dynasty (smiling face): I didn't die at the hands of the Jurchens, but at the hands of my own people! These guys are something else! @Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty!!!
Emperor Qin Shi Huang: What the Song Dynasty has done has truly broadened my horizons!
……
The people of the late Northern Song Dynasty were filled with despair upon hearing this, regardless of where the small square screen came from!
But just listening to her description of the scene, it was like the end of the world. There was no way to run away, and staying here meant waiting for the court to plunder them!
That was money they had saved up little by little. If only King Cheoljong were still alive!
If it were him, this would never have happened!
……
"Putting everything else aside, given this kind of court, do those soldiers still want to serve?"
As Lin Ke finished speaking, he realized that perhaps the Northern Song Dynasty did not fall at the hands of the Jin people, but rather at the hands of its own people!
She continued, "Speaking of which, reinforcements from other regions, including the Western Army, have been arriving in Kaifeng one after another."
"What they didn't expect was that what they thought was a great opportunity turned out to be their good emperor sending several large chests of gold and silver treasures to the enemy camp!!"
"Focusing on an ineffective attack, the Jin people are laughing all the way to the bank!"
Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty: (?°?д°?)…
"However, the arrival of Zhong Shidao and Yao Pingzhong also calmed the hearts of many people in the city."
"Especially the soldiers guarding the city were thrilled to see the vanguard of the Zhong family army's banner. After all, the Zhong family army had been fighting on the border for a long time, and they had all heard of their reputation."
"It's a bit of a pity. If Emperor Qinzong had waited just a little longer and hadn't been so terrified at the mere mention of the Jurchens, then there wouldn't have been a need to plunder the city's inhabitants, and the situation wouldn't have been so dire!"
"Following closely behind the Zhong family army were the loyalist forces led by Zhong Shizhong, Wang Yang, and Han Shizhong, among others. The Song Dynasty's forces were growing stronger and stronger."
"This is where things got funny. Zhao Huan's mindset changed. He actually calmed down and wasn't afraid anymore!"
Wang Anshi of the Northern Song Dynasty: ...
Emperor Shenzong of Song, Zhao Xu (laughing angrily): It was unstable earlier, but it became stable just when the army arrived!
A spoiled young master from the Ming Dynasty: I'm not afraid of his stable mindset, I'm afraid of his frivolous mindset!
A spoiled young man from the Tang Dynasty: As everyone knows, capable ministers don't matter, the key is what kind of person is above them!
A bystander from the Han Dynasty commented: "There's a 99.9% chance that Emperor Qinzong gave the orders haphazardly!"
……
"And now that Emperor Qinzong of Song has a large army at his command, not only is his mindset more stable, but he actually wants to fight again! It really makes me laugh and cry. Look how cowardly he was a while ago!"
"A bunch of shameless people have been ripping off ordinary people, and now they want to retaliate!"
"However, Emperor Qinzong originally intended to make Zhong Shidao Li Gang's deputy in terms of personnel arrangements, but now someone has jumped out to object, believing that the two should lead two separate teams."
"As for Emperor Qinzong of Song, he lacked his own opinions. In fact, in terms of personality, he was not very suitable to be the emperor. So he agreed to this opinion, and with a series of actions, the army was divided."
"Moreover, he divided the five troops led by Li Gang into three routes of imperial guards: left, center, and right, which weakened Li Gang's military power in some ways."
"It is clear that Emperor Qinzong of Song and the ministers in the court really disliked Li Gang. Perhaps in their eyes, he always made some untimely suggestions."
"But in this case, congratulations to Emperor Qinzong of Song and his group of civil officials. You have further surrendered to the Jin people. No wonder you followed the Jin people northward after half a year. It seems that you really like the effects of failure and missing opportunities!"
Lin Ke's sarcastic remarks nearly embarrassed Emperor Qinzong of Song. Could he say he hadn't anticipated the consequences?
Zhu Baba of the Ming Dynasty: After watching so many episodes, the late Song Dynasty is the most disappointing!
General Judy, the Northern Expeditionary General: Would he die if he got angry? He only focuses on suppressing others!
Li Erfeng of the Tang Dynasty: Rotten to the extreme!
Optimistic Su Dongpo: ??? So it was another wrong choice…
……