Fu Song

Chapter 285
It was dark in the small courtyard, and only a faint light flickered in the window of a small bungalow.

This is a remote corner of King Jing's Mansion, which used to be the residence of some ordinary servants.After King Jing was reprimanded and went home to contemplate his mistakes behind closed doors, a large number of servants and guards in King Jing's mansion were forcibly dismissed, and some houses here were left unused.Perhaps due to the lack of human care, some of the bamboos that had been placed against the wall in this yard were also withered and wilted, and there was no trace of greenery, but they were already dead.When you get closer, you can see that the walls are also mottled and damaged. In less than two years, these houses have become like this.

Jing Wang Zhao Zhe stood in the darkness with his hands behind his back.

The loose black hair was blown up by the bitter cold wind, and the falling snowflakes fell on his head and body, covering his whole body with a layer of white color.

Zhao Zhe didn't seem to notice anything, just like a sculpture standing in the wind and snow.

The door of the small courtyard was open, a few steps outside the house, there was a narrow alleyway, and at the end of the alleyway, there were two roads, one on the left and one on the right, one leading to the front yard of the palace, and the other leading to a road behind the palace. side door.And now, this side door has already been guarded there.

A man with a hood and a bamboo hat knocked lightly on the side door on the courtyard wall, and the side door opened silently, and the visitor walked in without saying a word, walked along the alleyway, towards the hut After a while, he stepped into the threshold of the small courtyard, looked up at Zhao Zhe who was in the snowstorm, clasped his fists in his hands, saluted silently, and then stepped aside.

Hong Yuan, who was standing under the eaves, nodded at the other party.

One after another, people walked in from the outside, saluted Zhao Zhe one by one, and stood aside.

When Tao Dayong walked in, the courtyard door was closed.

No one made a sound, and everyone's eyes fell on Zhao Zhe in the middle of the courtyard.

A crow flew over from nowhere, folded its wings and landed on the beast's head on the roof of the hut, croaking non-stop towards the yard.

A burly man in the courtyard frowned, bent down, grabbed a ball of snow in his hands, squeezed it tightly, then raised his arms, and with a whoosh, the snow ball flew out.

The crow on the roof seemed to sense the danger and spread its wings to go away, but the snowball came too fast, and just as it jumped up, the snowball had already hit it heavily.

With a loud croak, the crow fell from the sky like a stone, and landed on the roof without making a sound.

The cry of the crow seemed to have awakened Zhao Zhe. He took a deep breath, and then let it out heavily. He turned his head and looked at the two rows of people standing on both sides. full of snow.

"All here?" Zhao Zhe grinned, as if smiling.

"Your Highness, those who came today are absolutely trustworthy." Hong Yuan stepped forward and said in a low voice.

Zhao Zhe nodded, shook his arms, and the snow fell from his body, and he headed towards the house.

Behind him, a group of people followed up one by one.

When everyone entered the house, the door was closed with a bang, and dozens of warriors came out from the back of the house, guarding every three steps, and sentrying every five steps, firmly surrounding the small house.

This year, Zhengdan envoy of the Liao Kingdom to the Great Song Dynasty is very different from previous years. Yelujun, the king of Qishui County and the governor of Nanjing Road, is the most powerful person who ranks first among the successors of the Liao Kingdom. The extravagant figure on the throne of the emperor.

For so many years, this is the most prominent figure from the Liao Kingdom who has been sent to the Song Dynasty.

How to receive them is naturally a question that needs to be treated with caution.For the Song court, this is a major etiquette event that must not be underestimated, especially when both sides have been arguing about who is the orthodox of China.

It would make the world laugh if it was a faux pas on such a matter.

Peer-to-peer reception comes naturally.

If the Song Kingdom now has the Crown Prince of the East Palace, then naturally, don't worry too much, and just let the Crown Prince go down to be the ambassador of this embassy.But the current problem of Song State lies in this.

All court ministers kept their mouths shut, not wanting to throw out their opinions on this issue at will.Because everyone knows that this is a stance, a political stance.

If you stand right, you will naturally be rich and prosperous for decades or even more. Salmonella drank the sea breeze.

Of course, there are also people who are not afraid of things and jumped out first.

The first one to jump out was Cui Ang Cui Huaiyuan, Yushi Zhongcheng. He strongly recommended Zhao Jing, king of Chu, as the accompanying envoy. The reason was that Zhao Jing was the eldest son, and he was always wise and virtuous.

Cui Ang's recommendation made some people couldn't help it immediately, Xiao Yu, the envoy of the third division, turned up angrily, and recommended King Jing Zhao Zhe as the accompanying envoy of the embassy. King Jing has fought against each other for many years, but when King Jing served as the appeasement envoy of Hebei Road, Yelujun didn't get any benefits.On the contrary, as soon as King Jing left office, Hebei Road suffered a major defeat for decades.At this moment, allowing King Jing to receive each other can effectively attack the opponent's arrogance and increase Song's prestige and morale.

I have to say that Xiao Yu's book really caused ripples in the court, especially those middle and low-level officials. Even though they knew that the emperor didn't like the second son, they all felt that considering the overall situation, it was up to King Jing to come. It is the best to be the ambassador of this embassy.Otherwise, won't Yelujun, the winner, have his tail up to the sky after he arrives in Bianliang?

Before the two governments spoke, the Cui and Xiao factions had already quarreled in the court. If Xia Jie hadn't prepared earlier, Xiao Yu had already rolled up his sleeves several times and was ready to attack.

Of course, Cui Ang was also guarding against this move. With Xiao Yu's current confidence, if he really wanted to beat Cui Ang, the emperor might not do anything to him. Who would let him have a good son!
During the quarrel between the two factions, Chen Gui, the head of the Western Mansion, put forward a compromise plan, using Zhao Zheng, king of the Tang Dynasty, as the escort of the embassy, ​​and then choose a highly respected veteran, such as Luo Song, the governor of the Eastern Mansion, as his assistant.

Tang Wang Zhao Zheng is only eight years old now.

It seems that this is indeed a good plan.

Just when everyone thought that whether it was the chief assistant or the official family, they would choose the plan of the privy envoy Chen Gui, a shocking scene appeared.

The first assistant Xia Jie supported Cui Ang's proposal, and Zhao Jing, the king of Chu, was the accompanying envoy of the embassy.

This was a fatal blow to the King Jing support faction headed by Xiao Yu.

After Xia Jie expressed his attitude, Luo Song, who originally supported Xiao Yu, fell silent, and Chen Gui fell silent, while Li Guang, another member of the Privy Council, expressed his support for Xia Jie too much.

The direction of the wind in the hall was instantly reversed.

The officials issued an imperial decree to appoint Chu Wang Zhao Jing as the accompanying envoy of the embassy, ​​and also appointed Chu Wang Zhao Jing as the preparation ambassador for next year's Zhengda Festival.

This is almost announcing that King Zhao Jing of Chu is the Prince of the East Palace.

There was no fire in the house, and when everyone breathed, a cloud of white mist flashed between the mouth and nose.

The body is very cold, but there is a fire burning in everyone's heart.

Jing Wang Zhao Zhe, who had been hesitating all this time and hadn't made up his mind, finally made his final decision.

And this is why they are gathered here today.

If you don't do it, you have no chance.

While Xia Jie decided to support Zhao Jing, the King of Chu, as the accompanying envoy, he also suggested that the emperor recall Zhang Chao, the chief of the march on Hebei Road, and let Zhang Chao return to Beijing to serve as the commander of the Upper Fourth Army again. .

Once Zhang Chao returns to the capital, King Jing Zhao Zhe will have no chance at all.

The Fourth Army is indeed not the opponent of the frontier army, but anyway, the Fourth Army has more than [-] forbidden troops in and around Bianliang. Once Zhang Chao returns to Beijing, these people are scattered, they are the old rules of the Privy Council It was also impossible to gather them together, but once Zhang Chao came back, his prestige in the army would be enough to knead the loose sand together.

Ants kill elephants.

No matter how powerful the frontier army is, there are only more than [-] people. Even if they are covered with iron, how many nails can they drive?

"The treacherous officials are in power, the country will not be the country!" King Jing Zhao Zhe glanced at everyone's faces one by one, "If they are allowed to go on like this, my Song Dynasty will perish forever. The country is about to turn the tide and save the country! You should understand that you want to follow me, but you are ready to die and ruin your reputation? Now whoever has regrets, please get out of this place Go to another room and stay away from Bianliang, I, Zhao Zhe, will never blame you."

With a crash, everyone in the room knelt down on one knee and said loudly: "We are willing to follow His Royal Highness King Jing, turn the tide, and seek the fate of the country. Even if we die, we will have no regrets."

"Okay!" Zhao Zhe tore off his outer robe with a chirp, and everyone discovered that Zhao Zhe was actually wearing a suit of armor under his outer robe.

Tao Dayong, Lin Min and others burst into tears.

When Zhao Zhe served as the appeasement envoy of Hebei Road, when he first summoned these frontier generals, he was dressed like this.And this room is almost full of his old department in Hebei.

"Gentlemen, when we were in Hebei, the situation was so dangerous, but we carried it through and built an iron-like defense line. Now, it's time for us to go upstream again. This time, we will fight for the Song Dynasty. Build an iron line of defense."

"Your Highness, please order!" Everyone said in a deep voice.

Zhao Zhe took a deep breath and said: "Zhang Chao and his party have already arrived at Jingji Road, and he will stay there for a few days. Ma Xing transferred Zheng Xiong, the magistrate of Huazhou, to Hebei Road, and Zhang Chao is still there. Where to spend a few days with Zheng Xionghuan, and make some military explanations with Zheng Xiong. Once it is over, we will be able to rush back to Bianliang within ten days. Once he comes back, we will have no chance. Therefore, we must immediately Do it."

Everyone nodded silently, and the problem had to be resolved before Zhang Chao came back.

Military remonstrance, this has never happened since the founding of the Song Dynasty.

Chen Qiao's rebellion against the superior Taizu took precautions against such a thing very closely. The seeds were planted at that time. For so many years, no general can still have this The ability to do such a thing in Bianliang.

But I am afraid that Taizu would not have thought that it was his own descendants who wanted to do such a thing today.

Open the bow without turning back the arrow!

Zhao Zhe also understands that the only people he can rely on now are these people in front of him.In Bianliang, even those civil officials who liked him, supported him, and wanted him to be in power, including Xiao Yu, would not be able to support him in launching a mutiny by force.

Only, only these frontier soldiers will always support him.

"Tao Dayong, Qin Min, the army, how are you preparing?" Zhao Zhe asked sharply.

Tao Dayong stood up and said: "Your Highness, the [-] brothers in the Dingwu Army are already on standby, waiting for His Highness's order."

Qin Min continued: "Your Highness, under the command of the last general, three thousand border army brothers have been assembled, and the assembly can be completed within one day."

"Where's the weapon?"

"Your Highness, we have already investigated and arranged for the arsenal of the craftsmen camp in Andingfang. One of our attack targets is there. The arsenal only has one guard in charge, so it is easy to deal with them." Qin Min said: "This There are all kinds of weapons and armor in the arsenal. The second attack target is a cavalry battalion of the Dragon Guards stationed outside the city, and what we want are the horses there."

"Five thousand frontier troops, when will they be ready for the final attack?"

"One day, one day!" Qin Min glanced at Tao Dayong. The Dingwu Army was originally a well-organized army. Naturally, needless to say, the main reason is his concentration here and the speed of forming an army. "Seizing the arsenal, obtaining weapons, and war horses, I only need one day to make all the preparations. For this day, we have been preparing for too long. Every thing, every detail, is in my mind. Thousands of times."

"Okay, five thousand frontier troops, this is our core strength!" Zhao Zhe nodded and said, "Then there are two most important things we have to do, the first is to find the official and control him, and the second The first thing is to control all the civil and military officials. If we do these two points, we will be more than half successful. I will inquire where the officials will be and determine the location. Then Qin Min will lead the army to attack, and Tao Dayong will lead the military army Coping outside to buy time for Qin Min, as for the civil and military officials, Hong Yuan, how is the organization of the Sun Family Gang?"

"Your Highness, everything has been arranged. At that time, all the civil and military officials in Beijing will come to invite them to the Jing Palace to attend the meeting." Hong Yuan said.

"Warning to everyone, when you go to invite people, be polite. If anyone takes this opportunity to get dirty hands and feet, don't blame me for chopping off his hands and feet afterwards!"

"Yes!" Hong Yuan nodded.

"Qin Kai, go to Jingji Road and meet Zhang Chao." King Jing looked at Qin Kai and said, "Tell him everything that happened in Bianliang, understand it with reason, and move it with emotion. It is best to let him support me." , even if it doesn’t work, delay his schedule and prevent him from mobilizing the surrounding troops to return to King Jingqin!”

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)