All the doors and windows in Luocheng Palace are open.
Li Xia was sitting there, his clothes still wet with sweat.
"Your Majesty, Marshal Zhang has sent a messenger."
Upon hearing this announcement, Li Xia immediately summoned him.
Soon, the messenger came in and handed over two letters. In addition to Zhang Jue's, the other one was from Lu Wenhuan.
In the Battle of Nanyang, most of the Yuan soldiers were captured or beheaded by Zhang Jue, so Lu Wenhuan hoped that the Tang army could share some of the credit with him. He believed that those heads and captures would have little effect on Li Xia, so he proposed to cede
Nanyang Zhucheng made a deal with Li Xia on condition.
Li Xia thought for a while and could already guess how Lu Wenhuan would report to Song Ting.
First of all, he would definitely not mention his defeat to Zhang Jue in Luoyang. He would only say that he was about to win a big victory. However, he learned about Weng Yinglong and Huang Gongshao's surrender to Li Xia. In order to prevent changes in Jinghu, he had to withdraw his troops overnight and return to Nanyang. Besides, he would not mention the defeat at the hands of Zhang Jue in Luoyang.
At this time, the Yuan army was defeated by the Tang army in Zhengzhou, so Boyan tore up the alliance and led his army south to seek compensation from the Song Dynasty. In desperation, he had no choice but to defeat Boyan and kill a large number of Yuan soldiers.
No matter how Lu Wenhuan fights, there will definitely be no shortage of people in the Lu family who can serve as officials. In short, when the time comes to report it, the Song court will definitely reward him.
Li Xia had just occupied the north of the Huaihe River and was eager to divert Zhang Jue's troops away from the war with the Song Dynasty and head north as soon as possible so that he would not suffer any loss in the deal with Lu Wenhuan.
But he was not satisfied with the conditions.
After thinking for a while, he picked up his pen and wrote a reply to Zhang Jue.
The content is also simple. First, let the Song army trade for grain and grass, and here you can give Boyan's head and commander's flag. Then let Zhang Jue urge Lu Wenhuan to return to Xiangyang, and then he can return to the army immediately.
For the time being, this is the situation on the Nanyang battlefield...
While I was busy with this, I heard footsteps behind me.
Li Xia was lost in thought and was too lazy to pay attention. Suddenly he felt a gust of wind blowing on his back, bringing some coolness.
Turning around, I saw Zhao Jin standing there holding a banana fan, and asked with a smile: "Are you comfortable? In the past, others would hold the fan for me, but today I will be the maid holding the fan for you."
When her eyes met Li Xia's, there were two blushes on her face.
It was only recently that she started to be shy in front of him. In the past, she was generous and even a bit arrogant, but she was definitely not like this.
After Li Xia looked at him for a long time, she gave him a gentle slap.
"What are you looking at? I hate it."
Li Xia then smiled, turned away from looking at her, and said, "No need to fan, you don't mind the heavy weight."
"It's not heavy."
"It's not good to let others see it. After all, it's wartime. Just follow the example and follow the example. All the officials and generals are fanning themselves."
"Okay, I just want to find an excuse to come and see you." Zhao Jin then put down the banana fan, looked at the map on his case for a while but couldn't understand it, and then said: "You are really not like my father when you are the emperor.
Same."
"Because they are here to enjoy the blessings of becoming emperors."
"Isn't that right? What kind of emperor can you be if you don't enjoy happiness?"
"Enjoying happiness is secondary. Being an emperor is about lofty ambitions."
When Li Xia said this, he really didn't think about enjoying happiness.
But as soon as he said the words, he touched Zhao Jin's smooth and delicate little hand... He had to admit that in fact, it was because he had enjoyed all the blessings he could enjoy, and he had long lost sight of those material needs in this life.
Yes, it's not all noble.
After all, Zhao Jin had never seen the world, so he was a little frightened by Li Xia and asked: "What kind of lofty ambitions?"
"For eternity. For example, when people in future generations mention us, they will be thankful that the work we have done has made the country more stable, strong, fertile, and vast. It will make people feel proud when they think of us, rather than humiliation."
Because he said this to Zhao Jin, Li Xia was willing to talk to her about what was in his heart.
He finally said: "In my opinion, being an emperor should at least have this ambition. And so many officials, soldiers, and people are working for this ambition, and the emperor must work for them."
Zhao Jin fell silent and couldn't help but wonder, will future generations feel pride or humiliation when they mention her father?
With this thought in her mind, she found that she understood Li Xia better and felt more relieved.
She put her arms around Li Xia's neck and said, "Then I won't be playful in the future, and I won't just care about enjoying happiness. I'm not the kind of willful princess. Well, I'm just a little willful."
"Okay, I'm just a little playful." Li Xia said, "Go and clean up, we are going to Kaifeng soon."
"Stay a little longer..."
A short while later, the announcement sounded again outside the hall.
Zhao Jin quickly ran away from behind to avoid being caught, and said that Li Xia was spoiling his beloved concubine and delaying official business.
In the past, this was a common thing in the Song Dynasty. Zhao Yun was often admonished for meeting his concubine during the day, but he just ignored it.
~~
Coming out of the small hall although it was called Luocheng Palace, Zhao Jin went all the way back to the backyard and saw Zhang Wenjing taking Zhang Wenwan and Han Qiaoer sorting documents there.
Zhao Jin was determined to change his playful temper and hurried over.
"I'm here to help, too."
"Here we are." Zhang Wenjing said, "I happen to have something to arrange. Can you help me sort it out?"
"OK."
Zhao Jin sat down next to Zhang Wenwan.
Since both of them have lively and fun-loving personalities, they had the best time in the past few days.
"Let me tell you, His Majesty said we are going to Kaifeng soon."
"snort."
Zhang Wenwan snorted and moved to the side, not wanting to talk to Zhao Jin.
Zhao Jin then moved over again and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Don't come closer." Zhang Wenwan didn't hide it at all and said, "I hate you."
"What did I do to you?"
"Hmph, you usually say that my brother-in-law is boring, but you have that intention in mind. I thought you were a straightforward person, but you turned out to be a scheming little girl."
"You're the stinky girl." Zhao Jin, who was also unwilling to suffer, retorted: "The daughter of the Wufu family is ill-educated."
"Who are you talking about?!" Zhang Wenwan was furious, her eyes widened with anger, she stood up and said, "If you have the ability to fight, what's the point of chirping?"
"I won't fight you." Zhao Jin was immediately frightened, "Qiao'er, look at her."
"Qiaoer, who are you helping?" Zhang Wenwan immediately looked at Han Qiaoer, "If you help her, I will never play with you again."
"Han Qiao'er, you have to think clearly about our friendship."
Han Qiaoer was looking at them blankly. When she heard Zhao Jin's words, she blushed, got up and ran away.
"You guys are so annoying."
This was finally a small matter, and it quickly dispersed like dust in this current war-torn situation.
Three days later, Li Xia's chariot set off for Kaifeng.
By this time, Zhao Jin had already calmed down and showed his kindness to Zhang Wenwan several times, but Zhang Wenwan just ignored her.
Later, the closer she got to Fengcheng, the more her thoughts shifted to the old capital of the Song Dynasty.
~~
June 27th.
When the emperor arrived near Zhongmou, news came from the east that Kaifeng City had surrendered.
The troops cheered loudly.
Zhao Jin was very surprised when he heard about it.
"Is this the surrender? But His Majesty hasn't arrived yet."
"Since Boyan has been annihilated, the Yuan army guarding Kaifeng must surrender." Zhang Wenjing said, "We were just negotiating terms in the past few days."
"But." Zhao Jin opened his mouth and murmured: "That's Bianjing, and it was captured so easily?"
Zhang Wenwan saw it and muttered in a low voice: "Song people are just ridiculous."
Zhao Jin was too busy being surprised that he didn't hear it at all.
Zhang Wenjing sighed and said: "What about Bianjing? During the rise and fall of a hundred years, Bianjing was one of the cities that was attacked the most."
Han Qiaoer also said: "We finally captured Kaifeng City. Grandpa, the others, and Sister Mingyue will also come, right?"
"yes……"
None of them understood Zhao Jin's imagination of Bianjing.
Although Zhao Jin had never seen Bianjing, he had heard too many descriptions about it.
They said that Bianliang, Tokyo, was extremely prosperous. The palace city was very large, with a circumference of five miles, and the city towers were magnificent. They said that the city was vast and solid, and there was a moat outside the city called Hulong River, which was three times wider than the Bianhe River.
; It is said that there are many shops in the city, and there are hundreds of good restaurants. Fan Tower, Panji Tower, and Xinle Tower will still be remembered by everyone a hundred years later.
The "Tokyo Menghua Lu" written in the second year of Jingkang has become the entire Song court's memory of that old capital.
"Eight wastelands are gathered together, and all countries are connected. Treasures from all over the world are gathered in the market, and all the peculiar smells of Huihuan District are found in the kitchen. Flowers are all over the road, so there is no limit to spring outings, and the sound of flutes and drums..."
Liu Ci said that Qiantang has been prosperous since ancient times, but it said more about Bianjing.
"The water is playing and the boats are moving, the feast is held, the silver pond is dyed, and the golden embankment is like embroidery... Night candles in the orchid hall, hundreds of families shouting at each other, spring breeze in the painting pavilion, and ten thousand bottles of wine."
"The towering imperial palace is beautiful, the auspicious atmosphere is auspicious, the smoke is lush and green, and the green flowers are beautiful at night. It is the Langyuan on the first floor of the city."
No matter how good Hangzhou is, it is still not Bianzhou.
~~嘂
Finally, Zhao Jin saw Kaifeng City from a distance.
It was completely different from what she thought.
The road outside the city is rugged and muddy, and the Yellow River water looks moribund in the summer heat. You can encounter ditches every time you walk, which is very annoying.
The city walls of Kaifeng are also dilapidated and dilapidated, giving off a sense of desolation and sparsely populated areas.
But she was wearing a formal dress and sitting upright on a chariot. It was rare for her to enter the city in full regalia.
Heading east from Ximen Street, there was no cheering as expected. The people in Kaifeng City all hid out of fear, and only the smell of horse manure lingered in the air.
The Zhao family still remembers Bianjing, and she thought the people in Bianjing still remember the Zhao family. Huh?
However, they have actually forgotten it a long time ago.
Most people don't even know Chinese characters, how can anyone welcome Zhao's daughter back?
Fan Cheng wrote in his poem, "Between the north and south of Zhouqiao are Tianjie, and my father is waiting for his return home in his old age. Holding back his tears, he asked the envoy, when will the Sixth Army really come?" A hundred years have passed, and it has become the wishful thinking of the Zhao court.
.
Zhao Jin raised her head and looked up. Through the bead curtain, she saw some people hiding on the temple tower in the distance and looking here.
From a distance, she couldn't see their faces, but she could feel the disgust in their eyes.
…
"I feel like this city hates me."
"It has been in ruins for more than a hundred years, and I'm afraid it won't be able to recover even if it doesn't take twenty years, not to mention that it has just been recovered."
Zhao Jin felt depressed. He lowered his head and looked at his ceremonial clothes and said: "When you recovered other cities, you never entered the city in such full ceremonial manner. Today, when you put on the ceremonial display, there are not many people walking around to greet you."
"The ceremony is not to show off to the people in the city," Li Xia said, "but to show the world that I am the new lord of the Central Plains."