Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 415

The rebellious king Zhao Jiong killed his brother to seize the throne, so all dynasties of this dynasty took strict precautions against his brothers.According to the old system, the emperor's son was named prince, the emperor's grandson was named county king, and the great-grandson was named state prince.The clan members of the Song Dynasty had a noble status but were not in power, and they were not allowed to leave the capital without official permission.His Majesty suddenly mentioned King Jing, and the faces of all the ministers changed. Sure enough, Zhao Ke said again: "The state is difficult, the Liao army is approaching the city, and the capital is in a state of commotion. To prevent traitors from hijacking the clan to make chaos ’, if the princes, county kings, princes and other clans want to leave the mansion, they need the permission of the Zongzheng Temple.

Regarding matters involving the royal family, all the ministers looked at each other in blank dismay, and no one dared to object.Zhao Ke glanced at his officials, snorted coldly, remained silent for a while, and was about to stand up and leave the court.Suddenly footsteps were hurried outside the hall, and not long after, the inner courtiers filled the emergency post on a golden lacquer plate, passed the prime minister and the privy envoy, and sent it straight to the imperial court.I don't know what major event happened again, the officials were in a state of surprise, and they didn't whisper to each other because of Chao Yi.The prime minister Zhao Zhifu, the privy envoy Shao Wu, and dozens of eyes from the civil and military squads all looked at the officials.

"Could it be that the Liao army has invaded Hedong? Or is Xia Guo taking advantage of the fire to rob?" Zhao Ke started the memorial anxiously, yes, his eyes swept away, and he was suddenly shocked: "Fang Layu's party turned against him again?" The memorial is that Liu Yanqing was deployed in the southeast camp, Wang Xie, the envoy of Jinghu South Road, and Du Zhan, the envoy of Jinghu North Road, jointly signed the memorial, saying that the remnants of Fang La rebelled in various places, and the leaders of the rebels were She Wupo and Miao Luo , Gu Shangyuan, Yu Yi and so on.The food-eating monsters in the southeast thought that the court was tired of dealing with the invasion of the Liao army, so they responded one after another, coercing the people, looting prefectures and counties, and shaking the southeast half of the country.Liu Yanqing led the southeast reinforcements to march slowly, at this time, please stay in the Jinghu area temporarily to calm the chaos.

Zhao Ke's face was pale, and he stayed for a long while, unable to put the memorial back on the tray. He could not even speak, so he could only raise his hand and waved, signaling to hand over the gold medal to the prime minister, privy envoy and other important ministers. look.Zhao Zhifu, Shao Wu and others all changed their faces after reading the memorial, while the other courtiers were even more unbearable, they couldn't help whispering in panic.Zhao Zhifu and Shao Wuhan were silent at the same time.Li Ruobing frowned tightly. Fang La still couldn't succeed, and these remnants were even more difficult to make a big deal. Unfortunately, the southeast reinforcements were held back by the Demon Cult.The east camp was busy dealing with the Mierbo people, the Hebei army was defeated, and the Xijing camp preserved its strength. The Song Dynasty claimed to have 80 forbidden troops.A censor from Shaowu's family came out and impeached Liu Yanqing with fierce words. He was recommended by Cai Jing, and he was a traitor.Because when the first emperor was in power, Zhao Zhifu was also recommended by Cai Jing to join the political affairs hall. Someone immediately retorted that the court was in the midst of employing people, and Cai Dang was not the one recommended by Cai Jing.

At this moment, no matter how fiercely the ministers quarreled, they could not attract the attention of the officials.Zhao Ke looked at the prime minister, Zhao Zhifu, in a daze, and said in a trembling voice: "The northern captives are invading, and the southeast is in chaos. What should we do?" "Since war is out of the question, can you send envoys to the Liao people to express the intention of relieving troops and cooperating with each other? The Song and Liao dynasties belonged to the Northern and Southern Dynasties, which lasted for hundreds of years. Every time the Liao army went south, they were greedy for money. Just settle it with money.”

Zhao Zhifu had long wanted to ask for peace, but he just wanted to be famous in the world. Now that the official raised this matter first, his eyes lit up immediately.

The privy envoy Shao Wu immediately objected: "The alliance under the city is absolutely impossible." Looking at Zhao Ke's pale face, he stepped forward and said, "At this moment, the Liao army has won a new victory, and the soldiers are approaching the city. They are arrogant and greedy. But the Liao army is far away. Come, food and grass cannot last long. But Bianliang City is high and deep, and there are still 20 defenders, and the divisions of the Quartet Qinwang, such as Lingnan Township, are coming day and night. The current situation is just solid. Waiting for help, waiting for the king's army is great. However, as long as our dynasty shows the intention of suspending the troops, it will not only encourage the arrogance of the Liao people, let the Liao soldiers take the opportunity to demand too much, but also disturb the hearts of the capital. The teacher of the king of Qin is chilling. May I ask your Majesty, who proposed this claim for peace? This is a policy that is harmful to the country. If there are "treacherous" sycophants in the court who want to make peace, I ask your majesty to cut them down and correct people's hearts!"

Seeing that the officials frowned, Prime Minister Zhao Zhifu immediately said: "In the alliance under the city, the peace seeker is a 'traitor' and a sycophant who can be killed. On Baideng Mountain, if there is no Chen Ping's plan, how can Gao Zu be solved? On the Baqiao, if it is not the Tang Dynasty Taizong killed the white horse and made an alliance, how can he retreat the Turkic soldiers? According to Shao Shumi's words, both Chen Ping and Tang Taizong can be killed. Absurd!" Usually, Zhao Zhifu was somewhat tolerant of Shao Wushang, but now he got the official's instruction, and his words Immediately he became impolite, Shao Wu's face darkened, and it seemed that there would be another dispute.

"Okay! I've made up my mind!" Zhao Ke said in a deep voice, "Send an envoy to the Liao camp to ask for a peace and cessation of troops, who among the lords can be in charge?"

This time, the officials did not dare to speak.The Liao army came to the city to seek peace, and their strengths did not disgrace the state. They were likely to die.There is no more rare job in the world than this.The Chuigong Palace was completely different from the market just now, the important ministers even held the sound of their breathing, and became silent.

Zhao Ke was furious for a while, and said angrily: "I have been supporting scholars in the Song Dynasty for hundreds of years. When the incident comes, is there no one available?" He patted the armrest of the dragon chair with his right hand, glanced at Tong Guan, and said secretly: "Tong Guan What the Taiwei said is indeed true, military generals often cover up defeats for merit, courtiers talk a lot to deceive the emperor, each seeks self-interest, and there are very few pure ministers who really share the country's worries." He looked sullenly at the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, especially ruthless He gave Privy Envoy Shao Wu a hard look.

The Privy Council reported that there were no less than 20 imperial troops in the capital.However, according to investigations by the Imperial City Secretary, there are nearly 3 vacancies, and there are only more than [-] real numbers.Over the years, elites have been dispatched to station in Hebei and Southeast. Most of the brave fighters in the forbidden army invited themselves to border towns. The rest of the soldiers were so redundant that they could not even ride horses unless they grabbed the saddles. .According to Tong Guan, there are only more than [-] imperial squadrons in the imperial army in the Beijing camp that can still fight, and the others are no different from idlers and jugglers in the market.Zhao Ke didn't believe it at first, but first the Imperial City Division checked the vacancies and the situation was correct. Later, the Liao army easily crossed the river, and the defense line of the imperial army was useless, which made Zhao Ke completely lose confidence in the imperial army of the Beijing camp.

There was a long silence in the hall.Most of the courageous civil servants took the lead in the battle, such as Shao Wu, the privy envoy, and Li Ruobing, the Shaoqing of Honglu Temple, who themselves opposed the alliance under the city and were absolutely unwilling to seek peace.And the civil servants of Zhuhe were afraid of the ferocity of the Liao people. Qin Hui, a political adviser in the court, had already been captured. Even if he was not killed when he was sent to the Liao camp, he might be detained.There is no reason to send military commanders as envoys.Therefore, none of the more than [-] court officials in the Chuigong Palace took the initiative to invite Ying, so Zhao Zhifu recommended Feng Xie, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, as the envoy, and Li Ruobing, the Shaoqing of Honglu Temple, as the deputy envoy.

After Zhao Ke agreed, he personally told the two men that after arriving in the Liao camp, they must endure everything and never try to be aggressive and offend the Liao army.No matter what conditions the Liao people put forward, they cannot be rejected outright, and the court and China can make long-term discussions.In order to reflect the sincerity of the court for peace, the two envoys, Jiamian, deliberately added Feng Chen to participate in political affairs, and Li Ruobing moved to Honglu Temple as Zhengqing.Although Feng Xie and Li Ruobing may not be willing, they cannot refuse.

The courtiers could not allow His Majesty to take back his order, however, the news of sending envoys to sue for peace spread, which immediately aroused an uproar in Bianliang City.Since the Liao army invaded the south, the killing has been extremely heavy.In the prefectures and counties of Hebei Province, all of them were slaughtered by the Liao army.Bianliang is kind and generous, and he can't help but gnash his teeth and scold when he hears it.The imperial army has been defeated repeatedly, but ordinary people think that the Liao army is just taking advantage of our unpreparedness.There were 6000 million soldiers and civilians in the Great Song Dynasty. As long as they are united and united, they will definitely defeat the Liao army and end the war with dignity.At this time, the imperial court suddenly sent out the news of seeking peace, pouring a ladle of cold water on the bloody blood. Some of the millions of Bianliang people felt humiliated, some were fearful, and some were aggrieved.The folk rumors are getting more and more outrageous. Some say that the Liao army will agree to whatever it wants, whether it is land cession or compensation; some say that the imperial court wants to follow the old practice of the late Tang Dynasty. Withdrew the army; others said that the officials were preparing to flee south, and the four gates of Bianliang City were opened, and the Liao army was still satisfied with washing the city and leaving.All kinds of theories are becoming more and more bizarre, and the spearheads are directed at Prime Minister Zhao Zhifu, Taiwei Tong Guan and others in front of the palace.

In Taixue Fengming Zhai, Liu Wengu and more than a dozen other Taixue students were reading scriptures at night, and an open copy of "Justice of the Mean" was placed in front of Liu Wengu.The door of the Zhaishe was knocked open with a "bang", Liu Wengu looked up, Jia Yuanzhen and Ma Yuan rushed in wrapped in a gust of cold wind, seeing many classmates dissatisfied with him, Ma Yuan was full of grief and indignation, and said loudly: "The imperial court I will send envoys to seek peace from Khitan, and the world will perish, what books are you still reading! Hurry up and beat the Dengwen drum together, kneel down and beg Your Majesty to take back the edict!"

After a brief moment of silence, the Tai students who were stunned by the news came back to their senses. Several people cursed: "Which 'treacherous' party advocates seeking peace, you should kill it to thank the world!" ! Dengwengu!" "Go to the palace gate to ask for orders, and the officials will take back the edict!" "If this continues, the world will perish!"

"What, the imperial court wants to send envoys to seek peace?" Liu Wengu's face showed an expression of disbelief, he was too powerful to bend, he would rather bend than bend, Khitan invaded our Central Plains, killed my people, and plundered my children's treasures.How could the imperial court kneel down and ask Khitan for peace even if it was the last one soldier!Liu Wengu felt the blood all over his body pouring into his head, he stood up involuntarily, and said loudly: "Knock on the Dengwen drum!" The long-simmering grievance was aroused in an instant.If you don't go to the gate of the palace to beat the Dengwen drum, your blood will burst.

"Wen dies to remonstrate, and Wu dies to fight!" Jia Yuanzhen said loudly, "If you fight to the death, you must let the officials take back your life! Don't bend your knees and ask for peace!"

More than 3000 Tai students rushed to tell each other, invited each other, and rushed to the palace gate to express their feelings overnight, asking the officials to take back the edict.

When the common people in Bianliang heard about this, some wept, some were helpless, and some followed the imperial students to the gate of the palace in groups.Within a few hours, tens of thousands of people gathered on the Royal Street at the gate of the palace.At the beginning, the government officials in Kaifeng wanted to drive the people away from the entrance of the forbidden palace on the grounds of spying on the forbidden palace. Who would have thought that just as soon as they made a sound, they were angered by the gathered people. In the excitement of the crowd, they almost beat up the slow-running officials. die.The duty in front of the imperial guard only guards the gate of the palace to prevent the "disorderly" people from entering the palace without permission, even if there is a disturbance outside the gate of the palace.However, the Kaifeng Mansion asked the Sanya to transfer the forbidden army to calm the 'chaos', but the privy envoy Shao Wu himself was not the one who took the lead in the war, so he reprimanded the governor of Kaifeng Mansion, and the Kaifeng Mansion no longer dared to take care of this matter.