The wrinkled back of the hand and the yellowed drawings all reveal the vicissitudes of time.
The scroll is spread out to the end, and the freehand lines outline half of the Song Dynasty.
"The rebels are too close to Lin'an. Rather than sit back and wait for death, it is better to take the initiative."
"Ping Zhanggong said 'attack'? But... where are the troops?"
"I have sent a message to the Queen Mother to recruit loyal and loyal people, and ordered the people from all over the world to lead the army, horses and kings to work together to revive the country." Wang Yao showed his optimism and said, "The king's edict will be conveyed to all states and counties in a few days."
"Who can be the commander-in-chief?"
"Only Zhang Shijie can fight."
Wang Yao said and began to point to the map.
"The rebels are not familiar with the terrain in the south of the Yangtze River, and there are many waterways in the south of the Yangtze River, which is not conducive to the passage of cavalry. Therefore, the main force of the rebel army must use the surrender troops as the vanguard and attack Lin'an along the canal. I intend to order Zhang Shijie to build fortifications at Jiaoshan..."
"Ping Zhanggong, with all due respect, Zhang Shijie is a surrendered minister and a native of the north."
"So what? Looking at the Song Dynasty today, can we still find a commander who is comparable to Zhang Shijie? He is at least more loyal than the ministers in the court!"
"I know he can fight, and I believe in his loyalty. But how can he convince the people? How can he win the battle if he is appointed commander but cannot make all the generals work together?"
Although Wang Yao is old, he still has the determination to defy everyone's opinions.
He suddenly raised his voice and said: "Then we will appoint a prime minister to supervise the army and command the river defense to protect the generals."
Everyone in the hall fell silent.
Among the two prime ministers, Chen Yizhong had returned to his hometown, but Wang Yao didn't mention it, so everyone could only pretend that they didn't know it, and just pretended that Chen Yizhong didn't want to supervise the war.
So they all looked at Liu Mengyan.
Liu Mengyan had not participated in the discussion. He was twirling his beard and thinking when he felt everyone's eyes on him and shook his head.
"Jia Sidao led his army into battle and was severely defeated. I'm afraid it would be inappropriate to attack again now."
"Then, according to the wishes of the Right Prime Minister, are you waiting for the country to be destroyed?"
Liu Mengyan said: "I'm just expressing my opinion briefly. Military affairs still need to be decided by Duke Pingzhang."
He didn't care how Wang Yao arranged military affairs, but he made it clear that he would not go to the front line to supervise the army.
Wang Yao understood the meaning of leaving Mengyan, so he did not agree on the prime minister to supervise the army for the time being. He first discussed how to recruit troops to serve the king...
Liu Mengyan wasn't listening.
In his opinion, finding that cat is more important than anything else.
~~
Kaifeng.
"What's this?"
Li Xia took a letter from Zhang Wenjing, opened it and took a look, but still didn't quite understand it.
"Yan Rong and Zhao Jin asked Hu Zhen to find out what happened to the cat they had entrusted to Jia Sidao. Hu Zhen did not dare to use spies from the Public Opinion Department to do the work, so he only asked Jiang Fan. He learned that the Zhang family also had a detailed operation in Lin'an, so he asked Chen Rong
Kai wrote a letter and sent it over. Shen Kai didn't dare to hide it and asked his wife to mention it to me during a casual conversation. I thought it would be better to tell His Majesty."
"A small thing becomes complicated."
"Originally it was a trivial matter, but after Liu Mengyan gave Zhao Song's confidential military information, things changed."
"There are so many surrendered ministers."
In fact, during this period of time, Li Xia was frightened to see more and more Song officials surrendering, surrendering with the city, selling information, and recruiting relatives and friends to surrender.
He often thought that it was him who was marching south, but what if it was Kublai Khan?
Was Song Ting also devastated like this?
The weak ones surrendered first, and the last ones left were those who persevered.
He has been trying to filter by laws and regulations, hoping to attract those who are upright and talented, and to exclude the treacherous villains.
Although he also believes that most people can be changed by the environment, and most officials can become good officials under good systems and supervision.
It's just that the Song Dynasty collapsed too quickly, much faster than he expected.
He needs to think about how to fully accept everything about Song Ting as soon as possible, including the good and the bad...
Thinking of this, Li Xia put down the letter Liu Mengyan was holding in his hand, turned around and walked to the eucalyptus, spread out his pen and ink and started writing a letter.
He planned to ask someone how to distinguish between the good and bad officials when they took over Jiangnan?
How do we know what the Song officials thought when they surrendered? What they thought when they resisted? How can we ensure that the new dynasty will not be corrupted by the long-standing abuses in Jiangnan?
The person he asked wanted to know very well what Song Chen was thinking now.
But Tang officials obviously couldn't do it. Now even Lu Xiufu couldn't sympathize with Song officials' situation.
Only one person is still in that situation, and Li Xia trusts him very much.
It is said that people's hearts are separated from each other. Observing other people in the world needs to test Li Xia's vision. But only the character and temperament of that person can be answered by history books.
~~
Jiangnan West Road, Ganzhou.
Nowadays, the Song Dynasty is in turmoil, but here it seems very peaceful.
In mid-May, Chen Jizhou, the counselor of the state government, rushed to the public house and asked: "Zhizhou, I heard that an edict from the imperial court has arrived?"
Wen Yun Sun was holding an edict and reading it. He nodded and said, "Not bad."
"Recruiting soldiers and horses from King Qin? Ke Yunzhizhou led his troops to Lin'an."
"good."
"Okay!" Chen Jizhou couldn't help stroking his hands and said, "Zhizhou can finally show off his talents."
Wen Yunsun asked rhetorically: "How do you think I can show off my talents?"
"With Zhizhou's loyalty and righteousness, we must do our best to protect the Song Dynasty." Chen Ji Zhou Kang said with enthusiasm, "The people of Ganzhou are grateful for Zhizhou's kindness and will be willing to respond in groups."
After saying that, he cupped his hand and said: "I am willing to contact the Xidong barbarians for the magistrate of the state and recruit at least 3,000 barbarian soldiers."
"No need for the moment." Wen Yunsun shook his head, "Let me think about it."
"Does Zhizhou not trust the Xidong barbarians? We have appeased them before, and they..."
"You said, if the resurgence of Li Tang has become the general trend and the unification of the world is imminent, but I allow the people to bleed and sacrifice again, is it against the law of heaven?"
Chen Jiyi was stunned and looked at Wen Yunsun, as if he felt a little strange.
He could not believe that the Wen Yunsun he knew would say such a thing.
"Song Rui?"
Chen Jizhou no longer called Wen Yunsun by his official position, but by his name. This was to inquire as a friend.
"Song Rui, are you scared?"
Wen Yunsun shook his head calmly, and then nodded again, saying: "I have been really scared lately because I can't tell right from wrong."
"Excuse."
Chen Jizhou raised his hand and pointed to the door and said: "The country has raised its ministers for more than three hundred years. Now the country is in crisis and the country is recruiting troops, but no one has entered Lin'an. Why does everyone have such a high-sounding excuse?"
Faced with such accusations, Wen Yunsun still looked calm.
"I need to think about it for the sake of the people I govern. I don't want to make a quick conclusion because of your irritating words."
Chen Jizhou couldn't help but chuckle.
He is Wen Yunsun's staff and friend.
But maybe because I admire Wen Yunsun so much, once his teachings are different, I feel huge disappointment.
"Consider the people under your rule? Song Rui, do you know? You looked so sanctimonious when you said this."
"I never said I wanted to surrender. I was just discussing with you whether to recruit troops."
"Then have you decided? Should you recruit troops?"
Wen Yunsun closed his eyes and sat there motionless.
After a long time, he opened his eyes, shook his head and said, "No."
"good."
Chen Jizhou didn't expect this answer, so he responded like this at first.
"I misjudged you."
Wen Yun Sundao said: "When I am appointed as an official in a state, my duty is to protect the peace and stability of the common people, and I will not invite them to die. Since the imperial court has issued an edict, I am willing to personally lead the state's soldiers there. Although I do not overestimate my ability, I am just showing favoritism..."
Chen Jizhou shook his head and said, "It's convenient for you to surrender later, right?"
After many years of friendship, he actually turned around and left after these words.
Wen Yunsun hadn't finished speaking yet, seeing his friend going out like this, he said no more.
He had no way to prove his loyalty to Chen Jizhou.
Even though he didn't say a word to express his surrender just now, Chen Jizhou was so suspicious that he looked like a weakling.
Wen Yunsun digested his emotions alone, got up and returned to the inner hall to start arranging everything.
He still planned to go to King Qin and bring only those who were willing to die for the Song Dynasty. This was the only way he could be both loyal and common people after he thought hard.
There is no way to have both worlds, but he cannot feel guilty...