"Ping Zhanggong is so concerned about Zhao Huai's capture. Could it be that he is worried about Zhao Shu?"
"Yes, we have stationed troops upstream to protect Lin'an. If something happens to Jiankang Mansion behind us, how will we deal with it?"
Jia Sidao put down the information in his hand, stood up, walked to the map, and pointed out a few places.
"Why do I care? Let's look at us from all directions. How many people can be trusted? Who is not a collaborator with the enemy? Lu Shikui will not say anything about Xia Gui, who is guarding the upper reaches. Huang Wanshi, the envoy to Jiangxi, Zhao Shu, the envoy to Zhenjiang, is set up along the river.
I am afraid of the flood in my house..."
Liao Yingzhong said: "When Xia Fu and Lu Wenhuan surrender, Xia Gui and Lu Wenkui are probably unreliable. In comparison, Zhao Shu is the most trustworthy."
"Xia Gui has been secretly contacting the rebels to discuss the terms of surrender. I have been trying to persuade him recently. If he can't be persuaded, I will take action. At this time, Li Tingzhi surrendered and Zhao Huai was captured. Oh, I am overwhelmed...
It’s really overwhelming.”
"It's too difficult to Ping Zhanggong." Liao Yingzhong said helplessly: "The Song Dynasty was only supported by Ping Zhanggong."
"The country has reached this point, and it cannot be turned around by one person. Looking back at the time when Mongolia made money, Meng Shuai still had Zhao Kui, Du Gao and others to help him."
When Jia Sidao said this, his eyes showed unwillingness and said: "What happens now? Lu Wende died, Li Tingzhi surrendered, and even Chen Yizhong, who I single-handedly promoted, betrayed me. Who will support the country with me?"
Liao Yingzhong couldn't help but be surprised, secretly thinking that because Ping Zhanggong was so conceited, he could say such words now... He felt a sense of sadness that a hero is dying in his twilight years.
As a staff member, he could not think of a way to relieve Jia Sidao's worries.
"Pingzhang Gong, I heard that there is a Sansheng Temple in the southwest of the city, which is very efficacious. Do you want to go and pay homage to the Buddha and ask for the blessing of the Buddha to win this battle and keep the country in good condition?"
Jia Sidao was about to shake his head, but then he realized that it was better to believe that this matter existed than to believe that it did not exist. Perhaps it was this thought that could turn disaster into good.
"Let's arrange a trip in these two days and prepare more money for incense."
...剉
The next day, Jia Sidao set out to burn incense at Sansheng Temple.
To show his piety, he got off his horse and walked three miles away, and climbed the rugged mountain road in person.
Listening to the chirping of birds on both sides of the road, my anxiety gradually dissipated a lot.
Jia Sidao even regained some of his dissolute habits, and laughed with Liao Yingzhong: "So what if I lose? I have my niece by Li Xia's side. Even in the worst case, I can save my life and visit the mountains and rivers... Yesterday I asked whose family
I don’t understand Li Ni, but I have forgotten that my family is the one who has the closest collusion with Li Ni.”
"Since ancient times, fighting for the world has been a struggle between several relatives. The Sui Dynasty replaced the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty replaced the Sui Dynasty. There is nothing wrong with that." Liao Yingzhong said: "Speaking of which, Li Ni also has to call Ping Zhang Gong his uncle. Because of this relationship, Ping Zhang Gong
If you can still defend the Song Dynasty, you don't have to worry too much about Xia Gui, Zhao Shu and others."
Jia Sidao felt much better and cheered up. He looked at the mountain road in front of him and said to himself: "I will not flatter those villains. When I take my hand away, I will go back to Lin'an to deal with them..."
When he arrived at the Sansheng Temple, Jia Sidao offered incense with his own hands and kowtowed to the Buddha, rarely showing any awe.
After being given a large sum of money for incense, he calmed down even more.
It was already noon, so everyone stayed in the temple to have a fast meal.
Although there are a few simple vegetarian dishes, the dishes are very good, including two plates of refreshing wild vegetables, a plate of spring bamboo shoots, a bowl of soup, and the rice is also fragrant and sweet.
"Huh."
When the spring bamboo shoots came up, Liao Yingzhong was surprised.
"Mr. Pingzhang, please see if these two bamboo shoots resemble two characters."
Jia Sidao took a closer look, and sure enough he saw that the shape of the bamboo shoots resembled the Chinese character "峉".
He tilted his head and read it.
"Determined... to win... determined to win."
"It's really a sure win."
Jia Sidao came closer, picked up the bamboo shoot piece and looked at it. He saw that it was cut like this, and it was not carved deliberately. He couldn't help but chuckle.
"This is a sign that God will bless Ping Zhanggong and God will bless the Song Dynasty."
Although Jia Sidao did not fully believe it, he became more confident and said: "I have been good at gambling all my life. Maybe I am really destined by heaven."
Because of this good omen, they donated more money for incense to Sansheng Temple after eating the fast meal, and left a cup of tea.
After leaving the temple gate, Jia Sidao's wide sleeves were swinging, and Shi Shiran walked a few steps. When he looked back, he noticed something special about the plaque of Sansheng Temple.
He then walked back again, stopped under the plaque with gold characters on a red background and looked up.
"This is……"
Liao Yingzhong was also surprised and hurriedly sent someone to find the old abbot in the temple to inquire.
"The benefactor has extraordinary eyesight, and this plaque is indeed inscribed by the emperor, a saintly man of virtue, virtue, virtue and filial piety."
The old abbot's sparse long beard has completely turned white, and his expression is calm when he speaks, as if he is neither happy with things nor sad with himself.
It was in this state of mind that he never even showed off the plaque inscribed by his royal pen. When someone asked, he answered.
"More than a hundred years ago, three eminent monks from our temple were passing by here. They encountered lightning and thunder. They hurriedly took shelter under a ginkgo tree. Suddenly, a thunder exploded and knocked down the ginkgo tree. However, they were safe and sound. Only the light of Buddha in the sky was seen.
At dawn, Guanshiyin Bodhisattva revealed his true face. This incident reached the ears of the emperor, and the emperor happily wrote the book "Three Saints Ancient Temple"..."
The four characters on the plaque were in regular script, not thin gold script, so no one realized it at first.
But when I look at it again, I see that the font is long and thin, with a sharp tail hook, thin and straight, and the calligraphy skills are extraordinary... It is really the handwriting of Song Huizong.
Jia Sidao remained silent.
I came here specially to pray to God and worship Buddha, but unexpectedly I bumped into Emperor Huizong's imperial pen... I felt a little unlucky for no reason.
~~
A few days later, the battle report came and Lu Shikui surrendered. The Tang army had passed Jiujiang and continued down the river.
The war is approaching Jia Sidao's eyes, and it is getting faster and faster.
"Report! The rebels have broken through Chizhou, and Chizhou guard Zhao Maofa hanged himself to death..."
Following this news, the Tang army arrived in front of Jia Sidao.
The two armies are only less than two hundred miles apart. Once Gao Changshou orders an attack, they can reach the Song army's defense line in one day.
In Lugang, the sound of horns conveying orders was heard one after another, and the ships were constantly moving back and forth.
Jia Sidao's camp was set up on the shore, and the soldiers were busy going back and forth.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense. Before this, Song Jun did not seem to realize that the rebels would come so quickly.
"Send the order! Pingzhanggong summoned the generals all night to discuss matters!"
"Quickly, go and pass the order..."
In the Battle of Jiangling, Jia Sidao abandoned a large number of troops and marched eastward with only the troops he could command. As expected, he forced the court to withdraw its orders and temporarily reconcile with him. However, as a result, there were no more 200,000 troops left.
to half.
In addition, the generals stationed in this area were also summoned by Jia Sidao, including Zheng De from Jiangyin Army, Liu Quan from Wuwei Army, Meng Zhijin from Taiping Prefecture...
Soon, the generals hurried to the camp.
The map has been installed.
Jia Sidao glanced at it and saw that Xia Gui hadn't come yet, so he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
But there was no time, so he got straight to the point and talked about the war situation.
"The rebels have arrived."
After only saying four words, the generals were in an uproar.
"This... is too fast!"
"Two days ago, I said I hadn't conquered Jiujiang, but so quickly I've conquered Chizhou..."
"Boom!"
There was a drum sound, but it was Jia Sidao who personally picked up the drumstick and struck it hard on the big cowhide drum.
"quiet!"
"I've been waiting here for several months just to suppress the rebellion. What's the fuss about?"
Jia Sidao's face was as dark as water, and he finally regained some of the majesty he had when he was under Meng Gong's tent.
"Since the rebel army marched eastward, they have been advancing like a rock without any resistance. Are our soldiers of the Song Dynasty really vulnerable?! Can you cheer up..."
At this point, he swallowed the next sentence.
Originally he wanted to say, "It means the country will be destroyed. Can there be a battle worth mentioning for future generations?", but he knew that these generals might not be able to stand such a provocation.
He walked to the map, raised his hand and drew a circle.
"Here, at the forefront of the battlefield, is Xia Gui's headquarters. Xia Gui has served the Song Dynasty for forty years, but his son Xia Fu..."
Just when he said this, the sound of communication sounded outside the tent.
"Marshal Xia is here!"
Jia Sidao was stunned for a moment, then looked up and saw Xia Gui, with white hair and white beard, rushing in with only two guards, not an army.
"I'm late, please send me Ping Zhanggong."
In fact, Xia Gui has not actually committed treason until now. At least neither Jia Sidao nor the Song Dynasty has any evidence. It is just because Xia Fu was held hostage and defected, and Xia Gui once said that the Song Dynasty was about to be powerful.
Generals, let Jia Sidao think that he has counter-intentions.
After testing and balancing each other until today, Xia Gui rushed to the camp and finally proved his innocence.
Of course, it is more likely that he and Gao Changshou have not come to an agreement.
No matter what, Jia Sidao's confidence increased greatly.
…
If Xia Gui came to give Jia Sidao a reassurance, Zhao Shu soon sent a second one.
"Ping Zhanggong, news from Jiankang Mansion has arrived."
Jia Sidao received the letter from Zhao Shu, turned to the soldiers he sent to Jiankang and asked: "How is the situation at the rear?"
"Zhao Shu had collected the ships on the north bank of the Yangtze River long ago. Therefore, although the rebels obtained the two Huai Rivers, they had no ships. They only found a few fishing boats and escorted Zhao Huai to the foot of Jinling City to recruit Zhao Shu..."
"What?" Jia Sidao immediately became alert and asked, "Zhao Huai surrendered?"
"Everyone thought that Zhao Huai had surrendered, but when Zhao Huai arrived at the city in a small boat, he shouted to Zhao Shu, 'Brother, man, you will die if you die, don't surrender.' The rebels were furious, killed Zhao Huai on the spot, and pushed the body away.
Enter the river."
"Zhao Huai is dead?"
"The villain can see clearly from the top of the city."
Jia Sidao nodded and opened the letter sent by Zhao Shu. He saw a map inside. The postscript was that the Lianghuai rebels had no ships and could not cross the natural chasm of the Yangtze River. They only had to block the Gao Changshou Division upstream to defend the Yangtze River.
.
In this way, if the situation eases a little, the Song Dynasty can still plan for it slowly.
The two commanders who were originally unreliable suddenly became reliable before the war, giving people a feeling of "there is no way out despite the mountains and rivers, and there is a village with dark flowers and bright flowers."
Jia Sidao put down the letter and couldn't help but think of the word "dingsheng" he saw at Sansheng Temple.
Maybe God's will is to let him become Xie An.
We still don’t know what God’s will will be, but at this time, artillery fire was heard on Dingjiazhou, the forefront of the Song Army’s defense line, which was more than a hundred miles upstream, and the Tang Army had launched an attack...