In 1127 A.D., Jin soldiers attacked Bianliang (present-day Kaifeng, Henan Province), the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, and took captive the emperors Emperor Hui Zong and Emperor Qin Zong of the Song Dynasty, as well as thousands of concubines, courtesans, and ministers, in what is known as the ? The Jingkang Rebellion. The Northern Song Dynasty thus fell. Yue Fei, a famous general of the Southern Song Dynasty who fought against the Jin Dynasty, called it the "Jingkang Shame". Jingkang Shame. Later generations only know Hui, Qin two emperors for the dead king, but do not know that these two emperors fell into prison, life began to take the bitter downhill, its tragic end is also lamentable.
The Northern Song Dynasty
At the beginning of the 12th century, the Liao kingdom, which had been founded by the invincible Khitan nation, was on its way out. The last emperor of the Liao kingdom, Emperor Tianzhuo, like most of the dead kings of the dynasty, was extravagant and brutal. The Jurchen people, who had long been oppressed by the Khitan, decided to revolt. In the first month of Liao Tianqing five years (1115), the leader of the female Zhen race, Wanyan Ah Bone-da, established the Golden State, set up his own army, and repeatedly defeated the Liao State.
At that time, Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, seeing that Liao's demise was not far away, decided to unite with Jin to attack Liao, and took the opportunity to recover the sixteen states of Youyun, which had been ceded by Shi Jingtang of the Later Jin Dynasty to the Qidan (located in the sixteen states of the present Beijing, Tianjin, and the northern parts of Shanxi and Hebei). After analyzing the situation at that time, Ah Boneh thought it would be advantageous to make an alliance with the Northern Song Dynasty. So the two sides, after many negotiations, concluded the ? The Alliance of the Sea? which stipulated that Song and Jin would each attack Liao according to an agreed-upon marching route. Jin attacked Liao Zhongjing (now Ningcheng in Inner Mongolia), and Northern Song attacked Liao Yanjing (now Beijing). After the fall of the Liao, the Northern Song took back the 16 states of Youyun, while the Jin took possession of the rest of the Liao's territory. After this, the Northern Song Dynasty transferred the yearly coins given to the Liao Kingdom to the Jin Kingdom.
After the alliance, both sides launched a fierce attack on Liao. The Jin soldiers were victorious in successive battles, and soon conquered the central capital, Liao Tianzuo emperor fled to the mountains. The Northern Song general Tong Guan is still in the south to suppress the Fang La uprising. Tong Guan naively thought that the Liao was already at the end of its strength, as long as the Song army to the north, the Liao army must look to the wind and surrender.
In the fourth year of Emperor Huizong's reign (1122), Tong Guan led his army northward to Heshuo. However, the defense of Heshuo area was slack, even the pond defense line built to stop the Liao cavalry was in disrepair and the water source was dry. Tong Guan sent someone to Liao to persuade them to surrender, but the messenger was killed. The Song army also posted a royal list, counting the sins of the Liao, announcing that they were the king's division to relieve the people of the downward spiral, but the local people did not go out to greet them with a little food and pots of rice. In ancient times, the war was about the right place, the right time, the right person, Tong Guan has lost two factors, but things have come to this point, can only be hard to march.
Tong Guan has sent two armies, both suffered a terrible defeat. When Emperor Huizong heard about it, he immediately became afraid of Liao, and hurriedly called the army to return to the court. Tong Guan shifted the responsibility for the failure to the generals who led the war, and he was able to get away with it.
Soon after, the Northern Song Dynasty decided to send troops to attack Liao again. This time, the first half of the journey was unusually smooth. Liao's defender Guo Yushi saw that the court was losing its power and came to surrender with his army and Zhuo and Yi states. Emperor Huizong got carried away and thought that he would be able to take back the 16 states of Youyun, which he had been dreaming of for a long time.
Tong Guan was still leading the Song army. As the main goal of the battle was Yanjing, the army was blocked by the Liao defenders, making it difficult for the army to move forward. Guo Yakeshi volunteered to lead a few thousand odd soldiers to attack Yanjing at night, and hoped that the Song army would send someone to meet them.
What happened next was a bit brutal. Guo Yaxi successfully attacked Yanjing and encountered fierce resistance. The promised reinforcements have been slow to arrive. Guo Yaxi was outnumbered and outgunned, and half of his soldiers were killed or wounded. Immediately afterward, the Song army's passage for transporting grain and grass was cut off by the Liao army. Liu Yanqing, the Song general, was the first to be disorganized and burned down the camp and fled for his life. Soldiers are like headless flies, and their weapons and provisions are thrown away on the roadside.
The defeat left the Northern Song Dynasty devastated. The soon-to-be-destroyed Liao was victorious. And the Jin, the onlooker, realized the military incompetence of the Northern Song.
Jin successfully captured Xijing and Yanjing, but the Northern Song Dynasty demanded that Jin fulfill the alliance. After several negotiations, Jin only handed over six states and twenty-four counties of Yanjing to Northern Song; in addition to paying 500,000 coins per year to Jin, Northern Song had to pay one million as the tax of Yanjing. The Northern Song Dynasty had no choice but to accept this harsh condition after several times of bargaining. Before withdrawing from Yanjing, the Jin Dynasty plundered the city, leaving the Northern Song Dynasty with a nearly empty city.
In this way, the silver-like Northern Song Dynasty not only did not get a little benefit in the process of Liao's demise, but also suffered great losses. The most important thing is to expose the military incompetence, for the later Jingkang change buried the ambush.