The Qi army built a camp outside Zhending City. It was too late for Wo Kuotai to drive the Qi army away.

At this time, if the Mongolian army attacks the Qi army's camp, it will only cause greater losses. However, if it does not attack the Qi army, Zhao Tai will sooner or later push the camp to Zhending city.

The Qi army used Pizhou artillery, which had a long range and was set up in the camp. The Mongolian army had no weapons to counterattack and could only be passively bombed.

Wokuotai was reluctant to use the Mongolian cavalry to charge the camp, but the Han army was useless, and the situation suddenly became very passive.

In the next few days, Wokuotai sent Han troops to attack the Qi army camp, but the Han army could not rush in. He also sent cavalry out of the city and bypassed the Qi army camp, trying to cut off Zhao Tailiang Road, but 20,000 Qi army cavalry immediately left the camp. , the Mongolian cavalry could only retreat.

"Khan, this is too passive! The Zhao thieves are pressing harder and harder, and the Han army outside the city can no longer withstand it!" Subotai was worried.

Wokuotai said with a stern face, "If you can't withstand it, you have to resist it! If we break camp and enter the city, Zhao Tai's fellow will definitely push the camp to the city, and then shell Zhending, so that the warriors in the city will have no peace."

The Han army outside the city was already under a lot of pressure when facing the Qi army encamped close to them. They were also bombarded by the Qi army's artillery groups, and they were under tremendous pressure every day.

Most of the elite men under the banner of the Han army in Lianghe were lost on the battlefield of the last southern invasion. Now nearly half of them are new recruits who are about a year old.

The Qi army had an overwhelming advantage over these new soldiers. Zhao Tai bombarded the enemy camp during the day and blew the Mongolian camp to pieces. At night, he continued to extend the Qi army's camp forward, forcing the Mongolian army outside the city to retreat step by step.

In less than half a month, the Qi army relied on artillery bombardments and heavy steps to plunder, gradually moved the camp closer to the Zhending city wall, and began to bombard the city.

~~~~~~

When Zhao Tai was approaching Zhending, the Mongolian envoy Yang Weizhong had already arrived in Lin'an.

At this time, as soon as Yang Weizhong arrived outside the city, an official informed Shi Songzhi.

"Historical Prime Minister! The Mongolian envoy is about to enter the city!" Qiao Xingjian suddenly entered the political hall.

Shi Songzhi frowned when he heard this. He heard that the Mongolian envoys were coming, so he naturally knew the purpose of the Mongolian envoys. They must be forcing the Song army to send troops to attack Qi.

Shi Songzhi narrowed his eyes and said thoughtfully: "Xiang Qiao, since the envoy is here, I will help you to go out of the city to greet him, and then place him in the post house."

"Prime Minister, the visitor is the adopted son of the Great Khan of Mongolia, Yang Weizhong, the political advisor of Zhongshu Province. Are you being neglectful if Prime Minister Shi doesn't greet him personally?" Qiao Xingjian asked worriedly.

Shi Songzhi said with a sullen face, "I know his intention, but he just wants us to send troops to the Song Dynasty. However, sending troops now is of no benefit to the Song Dynasty. If I go to greet him, he will definitely talk about sending troops. If I refuse, Mongolia will definitely be unhappy. We can't offend the Mongols now, so I can only delay them for a while by avoiding them."

Shi Songzhi knew that Zhao Tai could not hold out for long, so he naturally did not want to send troops now, so he deliberately avoided Yang Weizhong in order to continue delaying the attack.

Now Zhao Tai is at war with Mongolia, and both sides will suffer losses. This is exactly what Shi Song wants, and he is not in a hurry to send troops.

Although the imperial court issued a proclamation, denounced Zhao Tai for sabotaging the peace negotiations, and defined Zhao Tai as a traitor who disobeyed the imperial court, the people did not see it that way, especially the people in Huainan, who generally sympathized with Zhao Tai, which also put great pressure on Shi Songzhi and the Lin'an court. .lack

Now that Zhao Tai is following the instructions he sent to the Northern Expedition to Mongolia, if the Song Dynasty sends troops to Shandong at this time, it will definitely be reviled by the people, which will be detrimental to Shi Songzhi's reputation.

Therefore, when the Mongolian envoy arrived in Lin'an, Shi Songzhi had to try his best to delay the meeting with him, so that both Mongolia and Zhao Tai would suffer losses, and he would come out to clean up the mess.

Hearing this, Qiao Xingjian understood what Shi Songzhi meant and couldn't help laughing and said: "The prime minister is a wise man, so I will go and greet the envoy!"

Shi Songzhi stood up and said, "I'm going out of the city to hide on the West Lake. You should be polite to the envoys when they come into the city, and try your best to delay me. If I can't delay it anymore, I'll tell you that I'm out on business and I'll be back in a few days!"

Qiao Xingjian smiled and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Shi!"

At that moment, Qiao Xingjian left in a hurry to meet the Meng envoy outside the city, while Shi Songzhi returned to the mansion, packed some things, and took his servants to hide in Jingci Temple on the south bank of the West Lake.

After Qiao Xingjian left the political hall, he led a group of officials to wait for the Mongolian envoys outside Lin'an City.

The group of people waited at the city gate for a long time, and then Yang Weizhong came to the outside of the city gate under the escort of the Song army.

Qiao Xingjian immediately stepped forward and saluted, "My envoy has worked hard all the way, and I, Qiao Xingjian, have led all the officials to greet me."

Yang Weizhong looked down at the crowd from his horse and frowned. He was an envoy from the Shang Kingdom. He was an official and participated in political affairs. His status was second only to Prime Minister Yelu Chucai. The Southern Song Dynasty should send someone higher than him to greet him.

However, Yang Weizhong came with a mission and did not want to get entangled in these details, so he got off his horse and cupped his hands, "Xiang Qiao, I haven't seen you in more than a year."

Qiao Xingjian smiled and said sideways: "Yes! I'm preparing a banquet in the city, please invite me!"

When the group of people entered Lin'an City, Qiao Xingjian accompanied Yang Weizhong, explaining to him the scenery of Lin'an as they walked.

"Sir, all the streets in Lin'an City are very prosperous. In front is Baohua Street, and on both sides are shops selling various calligraphy, paintings and jewelry."

"There are many shops in the city, and your Majesty can buy anything you want. If your Majesty doesn't like the noise in the city, I can also arrange for your Majesty to take a boat trip to the West Lake. The scenery on the lake is amazing!"

Yang Weizhong just nodded slightly, looking a little absent-minded.

Now Zhao Tai stormed Hebei and forced the Mongolian army to fight with him. Wo Kuotai ordered him to send an envoy and asked the Southern Song Dynasty to send troops. But would the Southern Song Dynasty agree?

Although Mongolia was the superior state of the Southern Song Dynasty and Zhao Tai tore up the peace agreement, the Southern Song Dynasty was at a loss. However, if the Southern Song Dynasty did not want to send troops, there were many ways to deal with it.

Just now he came to greet Shi Song before seeing him, which was a bad sign.

Yang Weizhong suddenly interrupted Qiao Xingjian's eloquence and said in a deep voice: "Put aside the fun things for now, I want to know where the Prime Minister is? I came with my credentials and I need to question the Prime Minister face to face!"

Qiao Xingjian swallowed his saliva, pretended to be confused and said with a smile: "It's late today, and the envoy has been working hard all the way. Why not eat first, and then have a good rest. As for meeting with Shi Xiang, there is no rush!"

Yang Weizhong reined in his horse, looked at Qiao Xingjian sharply, and said in a deep voice: "I am the envoy of the Great Kingdom, the adopted son of the Great Khan, and I have paid homage and participated in political affairs. Today I am coming to An'an. If your emperor doesn't come to greet me, forget it.

Why didn't Shi Songzhi come? You don't need to say anything, I will definitely see Shi Songzhi today!"

Qiao Xingjian didn't expect that Yang Weizhong would fall out with him at any time, so he could only explain: "Your Majesty, it's not that Prime Minister Shi didn't come to greet you, it's really unlucky. Prime Minister Shi happens to be away from Lin'an and won't be back until a few days later."

Yang Weizhong was so smart, but he didn't realize that this was a delaying strategy. Without saying a word, he suddenly raised his riding crop and hit Qiao Xingjian directly in the face, shouting angrily: "I told you to let Shi Songzhi come see me!"
Chapter completed!