In the first month of 979, Zhao Guangyi sent General Pan Mei and others to lead his troops northward and besieged Taiyuan, the capital of the Northern Han Dynasty. In February, Zhao Guangyi personally led the army to the expedition. The Song army defeated the Liao reinforcements and the Northern Han Dynasty was destroyed. At this point, since the Huangchao Rebellion in the late Tang Dynasty, the nearly ninety years of war between feudal vassals and towns has finally come to an end, and the country has once again achieved formal unity.
In May of the same year, Zhao Guangyi ignored the advice of his ministers and took advantage of the power of the Northern Han Dynasty to launch the Northern Expedition from Taiyuan. At first, the Northern Expedition progressed smoothly, and the Song army recovered Yizhou and Zhuozhou in Hebei. Zhao Guangyi ordered the siege of Yanjing, and the Song army and the Liao army launched a fierce battle on the banks of the Gaoliang River. Zhao Guangyi was on the battlefield and was unfortunately injured by an arrow. Long Yufeng helped Zhao Guangyi escape and was seriously injured. He was eventually captured by the Liao army. The story unfolds from then on...
