Chen Qing frowned and said, "I can't understand why Wan Yanchang was so bold and publicly assassinated a Song Dynasty general. Isn't he afraid of being held accountable by the court?
Liu Qi shook his head, "The reason why Wan Yanchang dared to be so arrogant is because a major event happened that was extremely detrimental to the Song Dynasty."
"What's the big deal?"
Liu Qi lowered his voice and said: "Yesterday morning I received a message from Feiying. Liu Guangshi's 50,000 troops encountered 10,000 cavalrymen commanded by Wanyan Nianhan in the east of Yangzhou. They didn't know that the Jin soldiers were coming and thought they were coming.
It’s Qi Jun.”
"The results of it?"
Liu Qi smiled bitterly, "I don't know yet. There should be a military report tomorrow morning. It's probably more bad than good!"
Chen Qing said slowly: "It was a plan to lure troops from the beginning. Using Yangzhou as bait to lure Liu Shiguang's army to go north was probably Wan Yanchang's handiwork, and it was the same as Shaanxi Lu Jinbing's plan to withdraw troops and lure troops to withdraw.
.”
"What is Jin Bing's purpose for doing this?" Liu Qi was really puzzled.
Chen Qing sneered and said: "It should be to cooperate with Wan Yanchang's mission. If there is no bargaining chip, create one, and then force the court to renew the armistice agreement. Once the war ceases in the east, the Jin soldiers will definitely transfer 100,000 Eastern Front Jin soldiers to Shaanxi
, then the Qi and puppet troops came to guard Jianghuai."
Liu Qi sighed, "I'm afraid that by then, the imperial court will no longer have the courage to cross the Yangtze River. The Jin people's strategy is really better than ours, and the steps are continuous and leak-proof."
Chen Qing pondered for a while and said: "I'm afraid it has something to do with the internal struggle of the Jin people. The Emperor of Jin wanted to weaken Nianhan's military power and handed over his tens of thousands of troops to Wanyan Wushu."
"What you said makes sense, but these things are far away from us. The real reality is that if Wan Yanchang kills you without restraint, the imperial court will still not dare to do anything. Maybe they will use this Zhenwei martial arts hall to topple the cylinder."
"That's okay, you have to give me an explanation after all!"
Chen Qing smiled faintly. If Wan Yanchang couldn't be dealt with at the moment, he could go to the battlefield to deal with it.
But if Liu Huan and Wang Bo were not dealt with, Chen Qing felt really uncomfortable. They happened to be responsible for this assassination case.
...........
At five o'clock in the morning, a burst of rushing war horses came from a distance. The defenders of Yuhangmen looked out and saw several people on horseback running towards this side at a fast speed. They heard the ringing of bells while running in the distance.
.
"It seems to be the golden letter of emergency!" The soldiers all recognized this ringtone, which is unique to the golden letter of emergency.
There are two types of express delivery, one is the ordinary express delivery, which can be used by ordinary people, and the other is the golden express delivery, which is only used to deliver military reports and extremely important official documents.
The difference between the two is the color of the baggage on the body. The ordinary express baggage has a black baggage, while the golden one has a golden baggage, and the golden one will ring a bell to notify the person ahead to give way.
After a moment, several horsemen rushed to the city, and the leading knight shouted: "800 miles urgent military report, open the door quickly!"
The city gate opened a hole, and some soldiers came out to verify their tokens, waved their hands, and the city gate slowly opened. Three messengers rushed into the city gate on horseback and rushed towards Ouchi...
...
At dawn, the news that Chen Qing was assassinated by Jin soldiers quietly spread. The Jin Guo Pavilion was surrounded by a thousand forbidden army groups. The Song army did not attack the gate. There was a dead silence in the Jin Guo Pavilion, as if there was no one.
At this time, Yang Yizhong hurried over with dozens of cavalry and asked loudly: "Where is the general?"
Liu Qi came forward and asked, "What's wrong with Yang Dutong?"
Yang Yizhong raised a gold medal and shouted loudly: "The officials have ordered that all troops withdraw immediately!"
Liu Qi was dissatisfied and said: "But Wan Yanchang sent someone to assassinate Chen Tongzhi. The evidence is conclusive, so we just don't pursue it?"
Yang Yizhong pulled Liu Qi aside and whispered: "Early this morning, the officials received an urgent military report from 800 miles away. Liu Guangshi's 50,000-strong army was completely destroyed in Yangzhou. Only Liu Guangshi and a few hundred people escaped.
In the Yangtze River, the officials were frightened and demanded that the armistice agreement be signed immediately this morning and that all conditions of the Jin Kingdom be agreed to. The assassination is no longer important."
"It's really like that!"
Liu Qi said bitterly: "The general of the Western Army was assassinated without any explanation. This will seriously affect the morale of the army."
"Then what should we do? The officials will definitely not hold the Jin envoy responsible, and they will not dare to hold him accountable, otherwise Wanyan Nianhan will soon cross the Yangtze River to kill him!"
Liu Qi whispered a few words to Yang Yizhong, and Yang Yizhong nodded repeatedly, "Since there are Han accomplices, it will be easy to handle. I will tell the officials!"
Liu Qi immediately ordered the entire army to retreat back to the camp, and the Jinguoguan returned to normal order.
.........
At dawn, the four princes and the Privy Councilor Li Hui gathered in the emperor's study room. The four princes looked very solemn and delivered the eight hundred mile express letter that had just been sent.
Fifty thousand Song troops encountered 10,000 golden soldiers and cavalry. Unfortunately, the whole army was destroyed. Liu Guangshi fled back to the south of the Yangtze River alone. This result was like a huge stone, weighing heavily on the hearts of every prime minister, especially Lu Yihao, whose face turned deathly gray.
This time the troops were sent to recapture Yangzhou because of his strong push. Now not only Liu Guangshi could not escape the blame, but even he could not escape the guilt.
"What do you think we should do now?" Emperor Zhao Gou asked in a hoarse voice with red eyes.
Zhao Ding sighed and said: "The top priority is to prevent the Jin soldiers from crossing the river. Immediately send Zhang Jun to lead the Shenwu Left Army northward to replace Liu Guangshi in Runzhou."
Zhao Gou nodded, "I have also considered this. I have already ordered Zhang Jun to lead his army north. I am worried about the lack of troops and want to transfer Yue Fei to the front line of Jiangning. What do you think?"
Zhang Jun said quickly: "Your Majesty, Yue Fei is guarding the Xuanzhou line. You must not leave now, otherwise the Xuanzhou line will become a gap again. If the troops are insufficient, you can order Liu Qi to lead an army northward."
"According to the report! Immediately declare the decree and order the commander-in-chief Liu Qi to immediately lead 20,000 imperial camp horse infantry troops to Jiangning to garrison on the front line."
After arranging for two armies to go north, Zhao Gou's nervousness eased a little. He asked Zhang Jun again, "What new conditions does he have for signing an armistice agreement with Wan Yanchang?"
"The conditions are the same as last year, but yesterday afternoon he seemed to have put forward a new condition. He said it was not clear yet and he would reply to Wei Chen this morning."
"Go and negotiate with him immediately. As long as the conditions are not excessive, we can agree. I request that the armistice agreement must be signed today."
Zhao Gou was really frightened. The 50,000-strong army was actually driven to death by 10,000 Jurchen cavalry. If Wanyan Nianhan's 100,000-Jurchen army crossed the Yangtze River, they would be completely finished. At this time, he just wanted to sign the armistice agreement, regardless of
He is willing to pay any price.
Zhang Jun bowed and said: "I will go and negotiate with Wan Yanchang now!"
Everyone said goodbye and left. Zhao Gou winked at Qin Hui. Qin Hui understood and he did not leave, but stayed.
"Your Majesty, don't worry. I think the Jin people will not attack Jiangnan for the time being. After all, Wanyanchang is still in Lin'an! Wanyanchang's status is extremely high, and the Emperor of Jin will not allow Wanyan Nianhan to risk an attack."
"I hope Aiqing is right, otherwise I will have to patrol the south again."
Zhao Gou had completely calmed down at this time. He pondered for a while and said to Qin Hui: "The fifty thousand army was completely destroyed. I must hold accountable this responsibility, not only Liu Guangshi's responsibility, but also some important officials of the imperial court.
Strongly promote this adventurous battle."
Qin Hui immediately understood that the official wanted to depose Lu Yihao. Others did not know it, but he knew it well. His wife's constant instigation in front of the Queen Mother finally worked. The Queen Mother must not tolerate Lu Yihao.
"Your Majesty, Xianggong Lu was indeed overzealous in sending troops to Yangzhou. He has a heavy responsibility, but it is a bit far-fetched to hold him responsible solely for the defeat of Yangzhou.
According to Wei Chen's knowledge, he used people for selfish purposes. His clansman Lu Yingwen and his protégé Han Xi served as officials in Jianzhou and Quanzhou. They exploited ordinary people and merchants and made tens of thousands of dollars in stolen goods. The censorship station had already secretly sent a supervisory censor to the two states.
With conclusive evidence in hand, we can dismiss all charges and hold Lu Yihao accountable for his recommendation."
Qin Hui had already arranged for the Yushitai to secretly investigate Lu Yihao's case. He was also waiting for the opportunity. Once the emperor decided to remove Lu Yihao, he would immediately produce evidence to make it difficult for Lu Yihao to escape the blame.
Zhao Gou was very satisfied with Qin Hui's assist, which was very timely. He nodded, "Since the evidence is conclusive, let's arrange for impeachment on the censor's stage!"