At the top of Wuchang City, an unburned flag of the Song Army was thrown off the city wall by the Qi Army who boarded the city wall.

Soon, a large flag with the word "Qi" was erected at the top of the city.

The soldiers of the Qi army occupying the top of the city instantly raised their weapons and cheered loudly, "Great Qi! Victory!"

…

Looking down, the gates of Wuchang were wide open, and large groups of Qi troops with bright uniforms lined up and marched into the city.

On both sides of the city gate, antlers were burning, and many corpses were lying on the ground with arrows and broken spears stuck in their bodies.

In front of the city gate, Liu Zheng stood on his horse and stood beside the city gate, with excitement on his face.

Many surrendered generals surrounded him, each with their chests puffed up, and their faces could not hide the look of pride.

Wuchang City was an important military town in the Southern Song Dynasty, but it only took three days for a group of soldiers who surrendered to the King of Qi to conquer such a city.

This surprised everyone, they didn't expect to be so fierce.

Liu Zheng stood proudly on his horse, stood still for a while, and shouted loudly, "Inform the king that our troops have captured Wuchang. One day later, we will rush to Huangzhou!"

Liu Zheng's status changed very quickly. Half a month ago, he was the guard general of Xiangyang in the Southern Song Dynasty, and now he has become the vanguard of the Qi State's Middle Route Army.

Meng Gong was captured, Xiangyang surrendered, the world was shocked, people in Jingchu were shaken, and the morale of the Song army was extremely low.

At first, the Song army in Chu was still thinking of resisting Zhao Tai, but as the Qi army gained the upper hand, the situation gradually became clearer, and the minds of soldiers and civilians everywhere changed.

Now it was difficult for Zhao Tai to resist, and Zhao Tai's attack on the Song Dynasty was not an invasion by foreigners, but a feudal king seizing the throne. It could be said to be a family matter of the old Zhao family, and the officials and people of the Southern Song Dynasty did not need to be so desperate.

After all, if Zhao Yun wins, the world will be named Zhao; if Zhao Tai wins, the world will also be named Zhao.

Since it is a family matter, it is not easy for outsiders to get involved.

At first, everyone thought that Lin'an could continue to separate the southeast. Since they were officials in the Southern Song Dynasty, they naturally wanted to support Zhao Yun.

Now that Zhao Tai is difficult to resist, and there is a high probability that he will defeat Zhao Yun and become the emperor of the Song Dynasty, they must consider the next thing.

As the balance tilted, today's officials in the Southern Song Dynasty were inevitably divided politically.

Some officials of the Song Dynasty continued to regard Zhao Tai as a traitor and were loyal to Zhao Yun of Lin'an.

Some officials of the Song Dynasty remained silent, waiting for the Qi and Song Dynasties to decide the winner.

They neither immediately surrendered to Zhao Tai nor followed Lin'an's orders to send troops to fight. Instead, they delayed it for various reasons and only paid allegiance to the final winner.

The last group of officials, seeing that Lin'an was bound to be defeated, chose to defect directly to Zhao Tai to ensure their status in the new regime.

After Xiangyang surrendered, Zhao Tai immediately turned around and headed south. Forward Liu Zheng had just arrived at the gates of Wuchang City. The Song generals in the city rebelled and took the initiative to open the city gates. The Qi army immediately entered Wuchang and captured the coach Li Tingzhi alive.

Once Wuchang was defeated, the gate to the west of Jiangnan was wide open, and the Qi army had opened the channel down the river.

…

Wuchang City, temporary palace.

After the Qi army occupied Wuchang, Zhao Tai ordered his army to rest for three days, collect Chu ships, and prepare to go eastward along the river to completely defeat Zhao Yun.

At this time, in the palace, Zhao Tai stood in front of the map with his hands behind his hands, looking at the Jiangfang map of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Behind him stood a group of Qi generals.

"Your Majesty, the main force of the Song Army is gathered in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Now we are heading east from Wuchang. If the Song Army increases its troops upstream to defend Anqing and other cities, the troops downstream will be empty. At that time, I will force the troops from Yangzhou to cross directly, and then

Pounce on Lin'an!" Wang Bin pointed at the map and said.

Zhao Tai nodded slightly and encouraged him to continue.

"If the Southern Song Dynasty still defends the lower reaches, the king will be able to advance from Wuchang all the way to Jinling with overwhelming force. At that time, the Eastern Route Army will take the opportunity to cross the river, the two armies will join forces, and Lin'an will surrender without a fight!" Wang Bin smiled with a smile on his face.

In the lobby, many generals burst into laughter, obviously everyone saw a bright future.

······

Lin'an City.

The war between Qi and Song has been going on for four months. The Song army was completely defeated in Shu and Chu. However, the war on the front line did not seem to disturb the lives of the people in Jiangnan.

Just after the New Year and approaching the Lantern Festival, lanterns were hung on various streets in Lin'an City. The streets were full of people and bustling with people.

The festive atmosphere on the streets in the same city is different, but it is a different scene inside the palace.

In the past month, the entire palace seemed to be shrouded in a layer of gloom, and Emperor Zhao Yun continued to hear bad news.

Before Zhao Yun had time to digest the shock of Meng Gong being captured, the surrender of Xiangyang dealt him another fatal blow.

What Zhao Yun didn't expect was that this was just the beginning. What followed was the destruction of Wuchang, the surrender of Huangzhou, Jiangzhou, and Pengze. Zhao Tai led the Qi army in the middle route down the river and was about to approach Anqing.

Panic and uneasiness spread throughout the palace, but the monarchs and ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty seemed to be helpless about the current situation.

Zhao Tai slipped down from Wuchang. The Qi army was very fast. The Southern Song Dynasty had to come up with a plan as soon as possible. Otherwise, when Zhao Tai reached Jinling and the two armies on the middle and east routes joined forces, Jiangnan would be in ruins.

"We can't negotiate any more!" Ding Daquan stepped out and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, let's negotiate peace!"

Many ministers have been arguing for several days about how to deal with Zhao Tai, but no one has a good strategy.

Of the three battlefields of Bashu, Jingxiang, and Jiangnan, the Southern Song Dynasty had already lost two.

Now Qi State has an absolute advantage to seize the south of the Yangtze River. How can the Southern Song Dynasty resist?

Just like the analysis of Qi State, when Zhao Tai went east from Wuchang, the Imperial Army of the Southern Song Dynasty tried to stop Zhao Tai from going down the river, but they could not stop the Qi army on the east route on the north bank.

Now the Southern Song Dynasty was destined to be unable to break the military situation.

Jia Sidao said solemnly, "Negotiating peace? What is Zhao Tai's purpose? Doesn't Prime Minister Ding know clearly? Will he agree to negotiate peace?"

Ding Daquan said angrily: "If we don't negotiate for peace, then Jia Xiang will come up with a strategy!"

Jia Sidao was speechless for a moment, and the hall fell silent again.

On the throne, Zhao Yun's face was as dark as dripping water. He saw that the ministers had come up with countermeasures, and since they couldn't defeat him, they could only negotiate for peace.

The emperor of the Song Dynasty was quite virtuous when it came to seeking peace.

If you can't defeat them, you can declare yourself a vassal. If you can't, you can cede territory and give them annual coins. In short, as long as you can continue to separate one side.

"Let's negotiate peace!" Zhao Yun suddenly said.

In the main hall, many ministers could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Your Majesty, why does Zhao Tai not agree to negotiate peace?" Jia Sidao asked insistently.

Zhao Yun watched the ministers argue for several days and already had an idea in his mind.

Now that the minister had no strategy, he expressed his thoughts, "Assemble the elites that can be mobilized and go to reinforce Anqing. The envoy will set off first. As long as Zhao Tai agrees to my keeping Jiangnan, then other conditions can be agreed to him. If Zhao Tai does not agree,

If we negotiate peace, then we can only fight in Anqing!"

In the main hall, everyone was shocked after hearing Zhao Yun's words.

According to Zhao Yun's wishes, Zhao Yun could cede Jiangnan, Sichuan, and Jingxiang to Qi, leaving only Soochow in the Southern Song Dynasty.

However, although everyone was shocked, no one raised any objection.
Chapter completed!