Huang Gongshao received a congratulatory gift from Jia Sidao. On his return journey, he still went down to the Three Gorges, arrived at Jiangling, went north to Xiangyang, crossed the Han River, and then went straight to Kaifeng.
Most of the journey passed through the Song Dynasty. He was very frightened at first, worried about encountering danger, but in the end he never encountered any trouble. Every time he passed a city, the accompanying soldiers only needed to take out the coins given by Lu Wenhuan and Jia Sidao.
If you pass the pass, you will be welcomed with respect.
This made him suddenly realize the arrogance he felt when the envoys from the Kingdom of Jin entered the Song Dynasty. He hurriedly hurried slowly, and on the second day of August, he finally rushed back to Kaifeng City.
"Hey!"
The carriage slowed down slowly, and Huang Gongshao lifted the curtain and stuck his head out.
This was the first time in his life that he came to Kaifeng, and he couldn't help but murmured: "I'm back in Beijing."
He said he was returning to Beijing, because the nominal capital of the Song Dynasty is still here, and Lin'an is still just a walk. But in fact, he was not returning to Beijing, because he was no longer a Song Dynasty official.
How can one not be filled with emotion when faced with such encounters in life?
When we got closer to the city, we saw an endless stream of horse-drawn carriages on the official road, soldiers and civilians coming and going, and people lining up even to enter the city.
After crossing the Huangbian River, we entered the Nanxun Gate. In front of us was an urn city. The top of the city had just been built, and some civilians were hoisting the artillery to the top of the city. The wooden frame collapsed because it was too heavy, causing a rush.
"Rebuild it! With the artillery mounted, you can feel at ease living in this city..."
After passing the Wengcheng, there is Imperial Street in front of you. The accompanying soldiers have already asked for the direction of the palace, so just go straight ahead.
Royal Street, Bao Gong Lake, Xiangguo Temple... these were all places that Huang Gongshao was familiar with, but it was the first time he saw them. When he arrived in front of the palace and got off the carriage, he was already sighing.
But I saw a familiar figure coming out of an official office not far away. "Brother Weng?"
Weng Yinglong was hurriedly carrying two brochures. He turned around and quickly stepped forward, calling Huang Gongshao's name and said, "Weng Zhi, have you seen Mr. Ping Zhang?"
"I saw him." "How is he?"
It can be seen that Weng Yinglong missed Jia Sidao very much, and his face was moved when he asked this question. "I am incompetent and failed to persuade him to join." Huang Gongshao was filled with regret.
Weng Yinglong, however, was not surprised at all and whispered to himself: "That's natural. It's difficult to go from extravagance to frugality." Huang Gongshao was stunned for a moment and didn't understand what he was talking about, so he thought he had heard wrong.
Looking closely at Weng Yinglong, I haven't seen him for a month. I saw that he has lost a lot of weight and is much darker. His beard and hair are no longer as neatly taken care of as before, but are messy. He still smells of rotten soil.
taste.
"Brother Weng, you..."
"I'm leaving first, I'm still busy."
Weng Yinglong didn't say much, turned around and left. His footsteps became faster and faster, and he soon turned into another official office. Huang Gongshao didn't know why, so he went to the palace.
The Song Palace has been destroyed, and even the Xichun Pavilion was moved to Kaiping City by Kublai Khan to build the Da'an Pavilion. On the original site, there was only a briefly rebuilt palace when Yuan and Meng governed Kaifeng.
He looked dilapidated and frugal, but when Huang Gongshao was summoned and walked into the palace and saw Li Xia sitting there, he felt that he was even more royal.
After describing the meeting with Jia Sidao in detail, Li Xia first asked: "What did you find out?"
"Kuizhou City has not yet been lost, but the Song army believes that the food and grass in the city have been exhausted again, and Jia Sidao wants to capture Kuizhou before the Mid-Autumn Festival."
"anything else?"
"Yong'an City seems to be still there, but this is all I found."
After Huang Gongshao said this, he took out the map given by Jia Sidao and presented it with some uneasiness.
"Is this Jia Sidao's gift?"
"Your Majesty, calm down."
"It doesn't matter, you did a good job." Li Xia said: "Go to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and get an official position. Now the Central Plains is full of waste and waiting for prosperity. You are a talented person, so you should work harder."
"I thank your Majesty for your kindness."
Huang Gongshao retreated in confusion, thinking that after a long journey back here, he would be able to receive an official position immediately. His Majesty really treated him with great kindness.
However, when I walked out of the palace, I inexplicably thought of Weng Yinglong's thin and dark figure.
The bitterness on his face and in his eyes.
~~
Li Xia sat alone, staring at the map given by Jia Sidao, his eyes looking very cautious.
Jia Sidao was right. With his national strength, it was of course impossible for him to go to war with the Song and Yuan countries at the same time. He had always won by cleverness.
Strike first, conquer the princes, capture Henan and Hebei as quickly as possible, catch Kublai Khan off guard, and then turn around to eat the Yuan army in the south. Then destroy the alliance between Song and Yuan, and concentrate all forces to defeat Kublai Khan.
It is such a simple strategic idea. It is very simple for Jia Sidao to crack it. He only needs to not retreat or change the direction of attack.
"I see through you."
It's as if I can hear Jia Sidao talking through this map.
Stubbornly and arrogantly, he showed Li Xia that he was worthy of being a powerful opponent. "Are you scaring me?"
After a long time, Li Xia picked up some draft letters on the table and read them. These were the original texts of the decree he had recently issued.
Among them, Zhang Jue was ordered to quickly go north, through Jinan and Cangzhou, and control the eastern front to prevent the Yuan army from making detours and suppress the Yuan army's range of activities;
Kaifeng was tentatively designated as the accompanying capital, and many officials from Chang'an were summoned to Kaifeng to facilitate the administration of the Central Plains and provide immediate supplies to the Northern Expedition army;
There are also other small things in various aspects, such as counting the population, dividing the land, repairing the city, controlling floods, etc.....
The army has already moved north, but it still takes the time to do this. One premise is to ensure that the Song army will not take advantage of the situation, otherwise it will be very dangerous.
Although Li Xia was more confident, the relationship was so big that he was inevitably a little uneasy. When night came, Zhang Wenjing asked, "Is your Majesty worried?"
"You see?" Li Xia smiled bitterly and said, "It seems that he was frightened by Jia Sidao." "How could it be? Even if Jia Sidao really wanted to go to war, how could Song Ting continue to support him with money and food?"
"So what if it's a small group of soldiers?" Li Xia rubbed his forehead and said, "Lu Wende did something like this. He attacked Kaifeng with three thousand men and caught the Mongolian army by surprise. If I were Jia Sidao, I would have done the same.
He will do this, select the best, use small bets to make big bets, and go straight to the three capitals."
Zhang Wenjing hugged Li Xia and thought for a while, then said: "Then it will take another Li Xia in the Song army. But I think it will be difficult for the Song army to even have Lu Wende. This is not enough for one person with courage, it takes three thousand people
Everyone has courage."
"Are there no heroes among the Song army?"
"It also depends on who you are targeting. During the Duanping period, the Song army fought with great enthusiasm against the Mongols. Now, which general dares to say that he can let his soldiers go through life and death to attack the Tang army? In my opinion, the Song Dynasty wants to fight this battle again. It
I can’t fight either.”
Li Xia smiled and said, "Then I'll lend you some good words."
"Your Majesty clearly thought so too, so he ordered the army to go north so early. Why are you worried again?" "You are getting timid." Li Xia turned around, lying face to face with Zhang Wenjing, and asked: "Remember that time in Lu?
Yap?"
"How could I forget this?"
"In those years, every difficulty was a gamble with your life. Later, you gambled with the lives of many people, often just betting on a slim hope. But now, I feel afraid even of things that are 100% sure, and I have become less courageous.
.”
"The burden on Your Majesty is too heavy."
"I don't want to anymore. The more you are afraid, the more indecisive you will be, and sooner or later you will become as helpless as Song Ting."...
Jia Sidao's intimidation was nothing more than that to Li Xia. After some emotion, Li Xia did not change any strategic arrangements.
Five days later, Wang Xun's messenger arrived. "Chen Yizhong has killed Han Zhen."
Hearing these words, Li Xia's heart settled.
Once Han Zhen died, it meant that Jia Sidao had completely lost control of the Lin'an court, and he had no choice but to return to his army.
It can be said that the situation in the south is basically stable. "Tell me more carefully."
"Chen Yizhong originally wanted to ask Zhao Yu to issue an edict and then kill Han Zhen on the grounds of rebellion, but the Song court was procrastinating. Wang Xianggong was worried that if it took too long, they would react and postpone the peace talks, so they might as well strike first.
Shocked to death
Later, his subordinate Li Daming accused Chen Yizhong of treason and wanted to lead the imperial army to control the palace city. Chen Yizhong received orders from the Privy Council and Zhao Yu to mobilize troops, and the two sides fought in Lin'an City. Li Daming was defeated and led hundreds of people and their families.
I fled to Jiankang Mansion, and must be waiting for Jia Sidao to return..."
After hearing the news, even Li Xia was stunned for a moment. This progress was actually smoother than he imagined.
To take advantage of the situation, Chen Yizhong certainly could not let Jia Sidao be dismissed smoothly. Being forced by Wang Xun, the internal fight in the Song Dynasty could no longer be resolved in a short time.
Since Li Daming handed the news to Jia Sidao, Chen Yizhong couldn't suppress it even if he wanted to. So, can Zhao Fu's will still recall Jia Sidao?
Li Xia couldn't imagine, and he didn't even know how Jia Sidao would feel when he received the news. So he threw the map sent by Jia Sidao into a box, among other documents that were to be discarded.
Next, he will discuss with his important ministers how much compensation he should ask for from the Song court.
Before that, Li Xia summoned Jiang Fan.
As soon as Jiang Fan left the palace, he immediately sent the fastest messenger.
"Send it to Chongqing Prefecture as quickly as possible and make sure it is handed over to the coach Jiang Cai."~~
In the following days, more messengers and horses rushed to various parts of the Central Plains, delivering similar orders. Afterwards, more and more military camps sounded the horns of assembly.
"Send the order! Go north immediately!"#
More and more neat footsteps sounded across the Central Plains.
And a group of teams that had just recovered from their injuries starting from Zhengzhou were still marching along the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain. "Quick, we must get to Weizhou before tonight!"
Fan Xueyi, who was running, shouted orders and turned around, only to see Hao Gouer's steps slowing down. "Hao Xingbang, keep up!"
"Commander, look!"
Fan Xueyi looked in the direction Hao Gouer pointed, but he saw patches of golden fields at the foot of the mountains in the distance.
That's a wheat field.
The wind blows, and you can faintly see the waves of wheat surging, blowing a burst of wheat fragrance. It turns out that autumn has arrived again before you know it...