Traveling through Tianlong: Starting from the Zhenlong chess game

Chapter 579: Seeking Yuan soldiers from outside and stabilizing the morale of the army inside

Wang Jin could not escape, and Huizong easily regained control of the troops in the capital. He replaced all 80,000 imperial guards around the capital with his own men. Now the capital was completely controlled by Huizong.

However, Zhao Mu was able to advance eastwards smoothly thanks to Wang Jin. It was also because of Wang Jin's incident that the generals who were promoted by Zhao Mu felt uneasy.

It was normal for everyone to be worried. Now that Wang Jin had been convicted and was being arrested by the Bian Jing authorities, it was very likely that they would be the next person to be arrested. So everyone decided to go all out. All those who were still leading troops around Qi State turned to Zhao Mu. They wanted to find a way out for themselves and a way out for themselves.

Therefore, Zhao Mu encountered almost no resistance along the way. Not only did he gather the most elite troops of the Song Dynasty, but he also captured many cities in Guanzhong without bloodshed.

When Wang Xian led his army to arrive, he used the "imperial edict" given by Zhao Mu to trick the gate of Chang'an City open, and even used this trick to capture Tongguan in the east. Now the entire Guanzhong area has fallen into the control of Zhao Mu.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the prefect of Jingzhao simply stopped resisting and "revolted" together with the local garrison commander to submit to Zhao Mu.

After Zhao Mu inquired about the whole story, he led his troops into the city without delay and rested temporarily in the palace in Chang'an City, Jingzhao Prefecture.

Although this was not the first time that he had passed through Chang'an City, Zhao Mu had always stayed in the inn arranged by the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, whether he was on the Western Expedition or taking office in Qi State.

Now entering the emperor's palace, Zhao Mu really felt like "Xuanzong returned to the east". However, his "Yang Guifeis" were still there. But Tang Xuanzong was now alone.

Zhao Mu held a grand banquet in the palace for all the ministers who surrendered and restored them to their original positions.

The prefect of Jingzhao also reported to Zhao Mu about the material reserves in the city.

Wang Xian also reported to Zhao Mu the number of troops under Zhao Mu's command.

Except for the 50,000 troops Zhao Mu brought from Qi, almost all the Song troops in Qinfeng Road turned against Zhao Mu. They received a total of 200,000 cavalry and infantry.

After hearing the news, Zhao Mu couldn't help but be stunned.

Zhao Mu said, "Why are there so many people? Back then, the late emperor and I discussed the military reform and dismissed all the old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers who were unable to fight, leaving only the young and strong. At that time, the total strength of the Song Dynasty was only 350,000. At that time, there were still many troops stationed in Qi State, which I took in directly. Now, there are more than half of the country's troops in Qinfeng Road."

The prefect of Jingzhao reported: "This is an order issued by the fake emperor in Bianjing. Although they cannot appoint or dismiss us, the capital can mobilize the surrounding troops. I think the fake emperor is afraid that Your Majesty will return to the capital to seize the throne. Therefore, a large number of troops are gathered here. Not only the troops, but also the warehouses of Jingzhao Prefecture are full of food and fodder for the army."

Afterwards, the prefect of Jingzhao reported the current food and grass situation to Zhao Mu.

Almost all the food and grass for the entire Guanzhong army were in Chang'an City, all provided by his Jingzhao Prefecture. In addition, in order to deal with Zhao Mu, Huizong specially stockpiled heavy troops on the border of Qi State, and there was enough food and grass to support the army.

What he was afraid of was that after Zhao Mu knew that he had ascended the throne, he would return to the court to seize the throne, so he made such a stupid move.

Huizong had not expected that the border guards would surrender so easily. Now he was almost regretting it to death.

Zhao Mu calculated in his mind that the food and grass in Jingzhao Prefecture alone would be enough for his army to eat for more than a year. Now the problem of food shortage was solved.

Zhao Mu held a celebration banquet, but the people in Bian Jing were now like ants on hot pot.

Huizong was sitting in the Jinluan Palace in Bianjing at this time. He looked at his ministers and said, "The rebels of Prince Qi have occupied Tongguan. What should we do, my dear ministers?"

Faced with the question that almost made Huizong cry, all the ministers kept silent.

Especially the civil officials, they are ready to "surrender" to Zhao Mu. It's just that the current situation is still unclear, so they haven't had an affair with Zhao Mu yet.

Although Bian Jing had considered the possibility of Zhao Mu's rebellion before, they did not expect Zhao Mu to come so soon.

In just a few days, almost the entire northwest was lost. At present, there are only 80,000 imperial guards around Bianjing. Only Xijing Luoyang and Hangu Pass can be used as support.

The officials of the Song Dynasty were all very clear about Zhao Mu's fighting ability. The generals left by Zhezong all claimed to be ill and could not go out, while the generals promoted by Huizong were all good-for-nothings. No one dared to lead the army to fight Zhao Mu.

As Zhao Mu's army approached, the civil officials began to pretend to obey but actually disobeyed, which made Huizong see it and feel anxious.

Seeing that his ministers were silent, Huizong was furious and said, "My dear ministers! Please say something! Do you really want me to lead the army in person?"

At this time, Prince Consort Wang stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, the enemy army is coming fiercely. We are unable to resist. The most urgent task now should be to seek reinforcements from outside and stabilize the morale of the army inside."

After hearing what Prince Consort Wang said, Huizong quickly asked, "How do you, my dear Lord Wang, seek reinforcements from outside and stabilize the morale of the army?"

Prince Consort Wang replied, "To ask for reinforcements is to order the vassal states of the Song Dynasty to attack the rebellious Qi State and protect the king."

At this time, General Yang said sarcastically: "What the Grand Master said is totally unreasonable. The surrounding vassal states of the Song Dynasty, the Dali Kingdom and the Western Xia Kingdom are all related to the King of Qi. And the Gao family's Tibetans are powerless. Do we have to go to the Liao Kingdom to borrow troops?"

Prince Consort Wang turned around and looked at General Yang, then said, "Lord Yang is right. At this moment, we can only borrow troops from the Liao Kingdom. The Liao army is strong and has good relations with our Song Dynasty. If we can get the help of the Liao Lord, we will definitely be able to repel the bandits."

All the ministers were shocked when they heard this.

General Yang asked, "Oh? So the Liao people obey us like this?"

Prince Consort Wang continued, "Your Majesty, we can make an agreement with the Liao Kingdom. As long as the Liao Kingdom helps us repel the enemy, the previously shelved annual tribute can be sent back to the Liao Kingdom. And if we repel the Liao soldiers, we can also divide the land of Qi Kingdom with the Liao Kingdom."

Before Prince Consort Wang could finish his words, General Yang interrupted him and asked, "What if the Liao people want the sixteen states of Yanyun that we have finally recaptured?"

Prince Consort Wang turned around and replied: "If you can give up your land to save my lord's country, it's fine!"

"What!? You!" General Yang couldn't believe that this was something the Privy Councilor of the Song Dynasty could say.

Since Huizong ascended the throne, Prince Zhongxiao has been staying at home on the pretext of illness, and the position of Privy Councilor was taken over by Prince Consort Wang, who held the tiger talisman.

After hearing this nonsense, if it weren't for the court meeting, General Yang would even want to beat him up.

At this time, Huizong asked: "How can we stabilize the morale of the army?"

At this time, Prince Consort Wang said with a gloomy face: "Of course, the answer is 'kill'! The reason why the Qi bandits were able to attack the pass so quickly this time is because the border troops defected. Now we should arrest all the families of these rebels and ask them to write letters to persuade them to surrender. If these people are willing to surrender, then it's fine. If they are not willing to surrender, then we should kill one to warn the rest. This will make others who want to defect to the Qi bandits feel afraid."

(End of this chapter)