Shopkeepers Dong An and Wei Yanzong looked at each other. They never thought that the person who threw the note was Jia Yingfang. When Zhong Huan learned Jia Yingfang's identity, he couldn't believe that the treacherous person in front of them would actually help them.
"Mr. Jia, how could it be you?" Dong An couldn't understand and asked directly.
Jia Yingfang gave a wry smile and said, "Shopkeeper Dong thinks I can't help you? In fact, you have been exposed for a long time and were suppressed by me."
Dong An was even more uneasy. He placed a cup of tea in front of Jia Yingfang and asked nervously: "Excuse me, Mr. Jia, how could I be exposed like this?"
"Shopkeeper Dong asked too many questions. It is unreasonable for the shopkeeper of an ordinary teahouse to be concerned about the number of soldiers in the Song Dynasty, the deployment of troops in Lin'an, the status of food reserves, and the city wall construction plan all day long. You must have asked these questions before!"
Dong An's face suddenly turned ugly. Lin'an County Lord Bo Yangyong actually betrayed him.
"Master Yang did not betray you. He is a fellow countryman of mine. He confided this to me while drinking at my house. I immediately guessed that you were the intelligence point of the Western Army. I asked Master Yang to remain silent to avoid retaliation for my family.
."
Zhong Huan was even more puzzled, "Why does Mr. Jia want to help us?"
The information he got showed that Jia Yingfang was very greedy for money. If he exposed them to Qin Hui, he would definitely get a heavy reward and promotion, but he didn't do that. Instead, he helped them at the critical moment, which is simply unbelievable.
Jia Yingfang sighed, "I am very greedy for money, but no matter how greedy I am, it can't stop me from hating the imperial court and the Kingdom of Jin."
Speaking of this, his eyes showed deep hatred, "I am from Fu County, Bozhou City. My parents, wife and children all farmed in my hometown to make a living, but I was the only one who studied at Yingtianfu Imperial College. In the second year of Jianyan, I
Du Chong, who was left behind in Tokyo, opened the Yellow River to stop the Jin soldiers. The huge waves of the Yellow River swallowed up my hometown, and none of my parents, wife, or children survived."
At this point, Jia Yingfang burst into tears, and he said with grief and anger: "Later I found out that it was the emperor who gave the order. He only cares about his own escape, but does not care about the life and death of the people. He even frantically ordered the digging of the Yellow River. It was in vain."
Emperor Song."
Everyone understands that in the second year of Jianyan, when the Yellow River captured the Huaihe River, Du Chong dug out the mouth of the Yellow River, and Sizhou, Yingzhou, Bozhou, and Suzhou were flooded by the Yellow River. Hundreds of thousands of people died and millions of people fled their homes. This
Jia Yingfang's whole family is the victim.
Zhong Huan picked up the note, which read: 'The prince pays homage to Yonggu Mausoleum, beware of assassins.'
Zhong Huan raised the note and asked: "Wei Tong wants to assassinate the prince in Yonggu Mausoleum?"
In the big tent, Chen Qing finished reading the note and handed it to Zhou Kuan next to him. He asked, "What does Jia Yingfang say?"
Zhong Huan said quickly: "He said that the most cunning and cunning one was Qin Hui. Through his nephew Wang Bo, Wei Tong was unknowingly taken the bait. There were many forces who wanted to assassinate the prince, and they all pushed Wei Tong out."
Chen Qing nodded, "Jia Yingfang said that his whole family died on the Yellow River fighting for the Huaihe River. Is it credible?"
"It should be credible. I can see clearly that his sadness and anger are not fake. A forty-year-old man cries like a child."
Zhou Kuan next to him said with a smile: "Actually, his life experience is not important. The key is that he did save my life. If he hadn't delivered the letter in time, I would have been assassinated."
"That's right!"
Chen Qing pondered for a moment and asked Zhou Kuandao: "When are the arrangements for paying homage to Yonggu Mausoleum?"
"The morning after tomorrow!"
Chen Qing sneered and said: "Then let the storm come more violently!"
On the morning of the next day, tens of thousands of soldiers guarded the West Lake, with one post every three steps and one sentry every five steps. All the shops near the lake were closed, and all boats were not allowed to enter the lake.
The family generals and the late emperor met on the West Lake.
However, rumors about the martial law at the West Lake were confirmed. Tens of thousands of people flocked to the area near the West Lake, looked at the water from a distance, and witnessed this historic scene with their own eyes.
There is a two-thousand-stone painted boat moored on the West Lake. There are more than a dozen ships on the east and west side. The west side of the boat is full of palace guards. Yang Yizhong is wearing heavy armor and standing on the bow of the boat with a spear in hand. And on the east side of the boat is the west boat.
Liu Qiong personally led 300 soldiers to guard the ship.
The emperor Zhao Gou and the late emperor Zhao Huan have already entered the ship. From a distance, they can be seen sitting on the second floor of the boat. They drink tea and chat, laughing from time to time, looking very relaxed.
In less than half an hour, Emperor Zhao Gou got off the boat first. Under the protection of his guards, he boarded another boat, and the boat left immediately.
Zhao Huan also disembarked. Several soldiers came forward to protect him with large shields. They also boarded a painting boat. More than a dozen ships escorted the painting boat and sailed toward the southeast.
The meeting between the brothers ended within an hour. No one knew what they talked about or whether they reached any compromise.
But the person behind the arrangement of this meeting between the two emperors was drinking tea in the Lu Mansion's inner house and chatting leisurely with Lu Yihao.
"After taking Taiyuan, why didn't you think of continuing north to take Datong Prefecture??" Lu Yihao asked with a smile.
Chen Qing said with a smile: "Without capturing Datong, the Jin Kingdom's focus was on how to keep Datong, rather than how to recapture the southern part of Hedong Road. If no room was left and Datong was captured in its entirety, the Jin Kingdom would begin to consider a counterattack.
On Hedong Road, their target will not just be Taiyuan Prefecture."
"It makes sense. Datong is the Xijing of the Liao Kingdom. The Song Dynasty almost never got it, and it is an important passage for the grassland nomads to go south. The Jin Kingdom itself has too few people. They are likely to mobilize the nomadic army to go south. You want to
Be vigilant.”
Chen Qing nodded. Now that the Jin Kingdom has insufficient troops, Lu Yihao's worries are entirely possible.
"In addition, you have to be careful when the Jin Kingdom proposes peace talks with the imperial court. They will concentrate their forces and resources on the Western Army."
"Actually, I've thought about this issue, and I'm thinking about it now. Will the imperial court take the opportunity to attack Bashu, or secretly support the Jin Kingdom?"
Lu Yihao nodded, "It is entirely possible. When Wan Yanchang went to Lin'an for the second time, he proposed to exchange the Central Plains for Sichuan."
"The imperial court didn't agree? Let's restore Bianliang!"
"Qin Hui encouraged the emperor to agree, and Queen Mother Wei was also persuading the emperor, but Zhang Jun and I firmly opposed it. After telling the emperor the reality, the emperor had to give up."
"How did my grandfather convince the emperor?"
The grandfather in Chen Qing's tone was very natural and he said it completely casually, which made Lu Yihao very pleased.
He smiled slightly and said: "In reality, after the Yellow River burst in the second year of Jianyan, the originally prosperous southern Central Plains was basically destroyed, and the people were in dire straits. This is why the puppet Qi army clearly had no military salary, but could easily raise fifty
Because of the tens of thousands of troops, being a soldier can give you a full stomach. In fact, you should have a deep understanding. In just one month after the puppet Qi was abolished, millions of people from the Central Plains fled to Guanzhong. As long as there was still a little way to survive, they would
I won’t leave my hometown in the background.”
After a pause, Lu Yihao continued: "We later learned more and more about the situation in the Central Plains. Then several Northern Expeditions aroused strong opposition from many officials in the imperial court. They all believed that the imperial court could not afford the destroyed Central Plains. Taking it back would be a huge burden.
The imperial government's finances would collapse, so later the government and the opposition reached a consensus that the Northern Expedition would end at the Huaihe River."
Chen Qing nodded silently. Lu Yihao was absolutely right. The imperial court would indeed never want the Central Plains again, but if the imperial court gave up on the Central Plains, he could not give up either!
At this moment, Chen Qing suddenly realized that precisely because the imperial court gave up, the Central Plains was his biggest opportunity.