The Jin army besieged the city, and the Song emperor’s daughter died

Chapter 210 Foreplay
Wanyan Zongwang was indeed stupid.

After he gathered troops in Qingcheng, he sent out scouts and carefully inspected the defense situation around Kaifeng City.

A total of 25 Song troops were stationed outside Kaifeng City.

These include the Hedong Route Army and the Western Army, which are elites who are stationed at the border all year round and are good at fighting.

The rest are all elite troops from all walks of life, and there are no rural soldiers to make up the numbers.

Only then did Wanyan Zongwang understand why, except for being disgusted by Yelu Yuliyan, his journey was basically smooth and without resistance.

It turns out that the Song Dynasty has deployed one-third of its national defense forces outside Kaifeng City, and it goes without saying that the other third is around Taiyuan. As for the rest, it must be on the Song-Xia border to guard against Xixia.

This situation was much more difficult than when he first besieged Kaifeng.

If he didn't know that Zhao Fujin was imprisoned by Emperor Daojun and his son, a handsome man like Wanyan Zongwang would most likely retreat north immediately, back to the banks of the Yellow River, and then follow the trend.

But now, Wanyan Zongwang has other ideas.

The reason why so many troops were gathered outside Kaifeng City was not necessarily to defend against the Jin army. It could also be because of changes in the Song Dynasty court. These troops were either here to support Zhao Fujin, or were transferred by Emperor Daojun to support himself. of.

In order to verify his opinion, Wanyan Zongwang ordered people to put up the five-color sun-holding flag of the Kingdom of Jin, and also hung his own handsome flag.

He wants to let the Great Song Army outside Kaifeng City, the Forbidden Army and the people inside Kaifeng City know that I, Wanyan Zongwang, am back!

At the same time, the Eastern Route Army issued strict orders not to remove their saddles from their horses and their armor from their men, and to be ready to run away at any time.

Wanyan Zongwang did this because he wanted to see the reaction of these Song troops.

If these 25 troops can be deployed and dispatched in a unified manner to form a joint force, it means that the internal fighting in the Song Dynasty court has ended.

But if these 25 troops fight on their own and restrict each other... then it proves that my view is right.

"Send a herald to inform the Western Route Army that the previous plan to capture Tongguan and stop the Western Army of the Song Dynasty, King Qin, can be abandoned. He said that the Western Army has already entered Kaifeng City, and asked General Zong Han to quickly defeat Taiyuan and send troops to Kaifeng as soon as possible. "

……

……

In the Chui Gong Hall, King Zhao Huan was wrapped like a rice dumpling and lying on the couch.

I was thinking about what I should say when these ministers asked me how I became like this.

But except for Tang Ke, Liu Yu and a few other people with no real power who cared about why they were like this, no one else paid their respects.

Especially Li Gang, not only did he not care about himself, he even asked to meet with the officials again: "His Royal Highness, now the East Route Army has arrived in Qingcheng, and the war is about to break out. No matter what the reason is, the officials are temporarily unable to manage politics. At this time, we must Came forward.”

The king wanted to get angry and scold him, but as soon as he scolded him, he felt pain all over his body. He could only grin and said: "You, Li Gang, think that this king... oh... you think that this king can't handle the affairs of the country." ?”

If it were someone else, even if he looked down upon him in his heart, he would not say it out loud.

However, who was Li Gang? He directly retorted: "The ability of the King of Forces is compared to that of the officials, like fireflies and the sun and moon, corn and the vast ocean. Please don't miss the state affairs."

"Don't mess up the country's affairs" abbreviation: mess up the country!

What a shameful word.

The king was immediately angry and almost struggled to sit up.

But at this moment, a high-pitched voice came from outside Chui Gong Hall: "Your Majesty, the Emperor has arrived."

All the ministers turned around and gave a greeting salute towards the gate of Chui Gong Palace: "I respectfully welcome the Supreme Emperor." Emperor Daojun was dressed in a Taoist robe, with an air of immortality. After entering the Chui Gong Palace, he walked straight towards the king's bed. The father and son looked at each other, feeling connected.

King Bi: My son is so miserable, dad.

Emperor Daojun: It’s okay, leave it to dad.

Emperor Daojun immediately turned around, not angry but powerful, and snorted coldly: "Li Gang, you are so disrespectful when you speak to the king like this."

Although Li Gang was tough, he couldn't bear the crime of disrespect, so he quickly explained: "Your Majesty, the Jin army has arrived, and I am very anxious..."

Before he could finish speaking, Emperor Daojun taunted with a hint of disdain: "If I remember correctly, you were just a little servant before. If I hadn't transferred you to the Yushitai, you would be nothing more than a servant now." What's wrong with you, a junior official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs? Now the pheasant has turned into a phoenix, the native dog has become a tiger, and you have forgotten your identity?"

Li Gang complained in his heart: "If I hadn't remembered you, the third daughter of the Night Royal Guard, in the first place, and I was afraid that you would be recorded in the history books and later generations would say that you were naughty, would you have transferred me to the Royal Records Station?"

Seeing that Li Gang was silent, Tang Ke quickly stepped out and said: "Prime Minister Li, this is your fault. The officials have issued an edict to force the king to supervise the country. As ministers, we only need to obey the order. Why? Do you have to meet the officials?"

Li Gang glanced at Tang Ke and snorted coldly: "Ming Zhao? Are you sure this imperial edict was issued voluntarily by officials?"

Tang Ke was stunned, he couldn't answer this.

But Liu Yu on the side smiled and said: "What Mr. Li means is that the officials were forced to do so?"

Li Gang replied: "You have to meet the official to know."

As soon as these words came out, there was a rustling sound in the Chui Gong Hall.

Emperor Daojun saw this and shouted: "Be quiet!"

Everyone bowed their heads, and Emperor Daojun fixed his gaze on Li Gang and sneered: "When I first issued the edict for the Zen throne, did you ever want to see me to confirm the authenticity of the edict?"

Li Gang was speechless. When Zhao Fujin ascended the throne, he really didn't think about the authenticity of the Zen position. He only felt that Emperor Daojun finally got out. This was really a blessing for the Song Dynasty.

Emperor Daojun looked at Liu Yu again: "Didn't you serve as an official in Hebei Province for punishment? Was it Fujin who transferred you back to Kaifeng?"

Liu Yu quickly explained: "I am indeed serving as a prisoner in Hebei, but I just received the provincial order from Zhongshu some time ago and returned to Beijing to perform my duties as Imperial College."

Emperor Daojun smiled and nodded: "Just come back."

This sentence is rich in connotation. Liu Yu felt happy when he heard it. Tang Ke on the side frowned and thought: "The situation in the court has really changed."

Under the current situation, Li Gang did not dare to meet with the officials again, so he could only retreat and ask: "Since the king is ordered to supervise the country, please make a quick decision on how to deal with the siege of the Jin army?"

The forced king hesitated for a long time without letting out a single fart.

Emperor Daojun sighed in his heart: "Fortunately, I couldn't give him the Zen position at that time, otherwise the Song Dynasty would have died by now."

Although the king could not tell a thing, Emperor Daojun had rich experience in court. He shook his head and said: "Li Gang, Li Gang, how to deal with the siege of the Jin army is a matter for the Privy Council and the Ministry of War. Where is your turn?" Are you here to point fingers?"

What Emperor Daojun said was more than half correct. Under the decentralized checks and balances system of the Song Dynasty, the use of troops was indeed the responsibility of the Privy Council and the Ministry of War.

However, Li Gang felt that he really had no control over the use of troops, but the problem to be solved now was not how to use troops, but whether to negotiate peace or use troops.

As the Prime Minister of a country, I still have the right to set general policies!
"What I'm asking is not how to use troops. What I want to know is whether to use troops?"

Now it was Emperor Daojun's turn to feel embarrassed, so he had to raise his hand: "Then, gentlemen, let's discuss this."

(End of this chapter)