"As the saying goes, 'The strong wind knows the strong grass, and the rough grass knows the honest ministers.' At this point in the country, the court has been emptied of the cowardly and unscrupulous people, and it is the time when loyal ministers and righteous men are inspired."
At the end of May, Wang Yao finally met Zhang Shijie and was filled with emotion and great appreciation.
Because the imperial court issued an order for all the soldiers and horses in the world to be diligent, but all roads had not yet arrived, only Zhang Shijie arrived first.
Wang Yao then personally went outside the city to welcome Zhang Shijie into the city and went to the palace to meet him.
After entering the Xuande Hall, not long after waiting, I saw the Queen Mother and the officials arriving.
"I and Zhang Shijie, the state's defense envoy, wish the official family peace and the queen mother's peace."
"Zhang Qing, there is no need to be polite. Please get back on your feet quickly. If someone comes, please give me a seat."
Xie Daoqing looked very earnest and said, "Zhang Qing has been traveling to Lin'an for days. It's too hard."
"I don't work hard, lest the officials and the Queen Mother be frightened."
Zhang Shijie raised his eyes slightly and looked towards the imperial couch. He saw the official sitting there, who was thin, his eyes were dull, and he was in a daze.
He couldn't help but secretly sigh, feeling that it was pitiful that the royal family had fallen into this state.
"Zhang Qing doesn't have a place to live in Lin'an yet, does he?"
"Queen Mother, no."
"Hurry up and arrange it for Zhang Qing. By the way, have you brought Zhang Qing's family papers? But what else is missing?"
"..."
Then, Xie Daoqing asked Zhang Shijie's family members in detail and rewarded his wife and children with many items.
He also asked them if they were used to eating.
Until Zhang Shijie finally became impatient and saluted: "To the Queen Mother, I am joining the Guard Lin'an to resist rebellion and defend the country. I am not here for enjoyment. I have no merit and I dare not receive the Queen Mother's reward."
Since Xie Daoqing came to power, it is rare to see such a loyal and upright minister, and I can't help but be surprised.
"Yes, quickly issue an edict and appoint Zhang Qing as an official."
Zhang Shijie glanced around and saw no map on the palace floor. He only saw a few eunuchs hurrying about, some holding edicts and others holding official uniforms.
When he entered the palace, he was still a fifth-rank defense envoy. When he left the palace, he was already a fourth-rank Baokang military envoy and general commander of the Tianxiafu soldiers.
What Xie Daoqing meant was to give him a three-level promotion for now, and then wait a few days before promoting him.
He has the attitude of seeking medical attention in a hurry when he is sick.
After leaving the palace city, Zhang Shijie let out a long sigh.
He looked up at the blue sky and murmured: "The emperor's kindness is so great that I can only repay it with death."
Wang Yao had high hopes for him, patted him on the back and said: "If loyal and capable ministers can be appointed to high positions in the temple, the country will surely be prosperous..."
~~
A few days later, Zhang Shijie led his navy up the canal.
In the upper reaches of the canal, after the Zhenjiang Prefecture surrendered in fear of treason, there were surrenders in all the prefectures and counties along the way.
However, officials from all over the country were too quick to wait for Gao Changshou's main force to pass through Jiankang Mansion.
Zhang Shijie took the initiative and recaptured the cities of Pingjiang, Anji, Guangde, and Liyang one after another. The morale of the Song army was greatly boosted for a while.
The navy continued northward and approached Zhenjiang Prefecture.
The trumpet sounded immediately in the army, and the flag was pointed directly at Jiao Mountain.
Jiaoshan is located at the intersection of the Yangtze River and the Canal. It is an island surrounded by water.
If the Song army could occupy Jiaoshan, they would not only be able to strangle the canal, but also occupy a high point and build fortifications here to prevent the Tang army's navy from going south.
Therefore, the strategic location of this place is very important.
They sent people to investigate and saw that the flag of the Tang Army was planted on Zhenjiang City, but there were not many Tang Army warships on the river.
Zhang Shijie ordered the attack, expecting it to be a hard battle. Unexpectedly, the Tang army retreated shortly after the battle.
"Wan Sheng!"
"Wansheng of the Great Song Dynasty..."
Amid cheers, Zhang Shijie climbed to the top of Jiao Mountain.
Looking around, I saw dozens of ships on the river struggling to sail toward the north bank.
His subordinate Shi Guoying saw it and burst into laughter.
"I thought Li Xia was a powerful man in the world, with all his men under his command being tigers and wolves, but it turned out to be nothing more than that."
"Those are not Li Xia's troops, those are the traitorous minister Hong Qiwei."
Zhang Shijie, however, was not happy, and his eyes were very solemn.
"We haven't encountered a truly powerful enemy yet, so we must not take it lightly..."
~~
Yangzhou.
Li Tingzhi got the news and hurried to the ferry, and actually saw Hong Qiwei's warship retreating in defeat.
He couldn't help but his face darkened and he frowned.
Although he hadn't asked in detail, he could probably guess that Zhenjiang Mansion was probably recaptured by the Song army.
"Li Tingzhi!"
Hong Qiwei jumped to the shore in a hurry, but immediately raised his hand and pointed at Li Tingzhi and shouted: "A large number of the Song Army's navy attacked Zhenjiang. I have asked you for help many times, why don't you send troops?!"
Before Li Tingzhi opened his mouth to ask, he didn't expect to be accused first, and he couldn't help but be shocked.
"When will you send troops for reinforcements?"
"Well, Li Tingzhi! You're pretending to be ignorant to evade responsibility, right?"
Li Tingzhi couldn't help being furious, and almost ordered his followers to capture Hong Qiwei.
However, when the words came to his lips, he took them back.
The two men had the same official position, but Hong Qiwei was more senior in terms of seniority. He had been very constrained by Hong Qiwei in the Song Dynasty.
Now that both of them have moved to Xintang, the gap has widened.
He was defeated and surrendered, but Hong Qiwei took the initiative to surrender with the city. In terms of rewards for merit, Hong Qiwei's official position should be higher, how could he be dealt with by him.
In addition, when Li Tingzhi surrendered to Li Xia, he requested not to participate in the battle to destroy the Song Dynasty, out of the kindness of the emperor and his ministers.
Although he returned to Yangzhou to serve, he had actually handed over his military power. Moreover, Yangzhou was located to the north of the Yangtze River. Considering that the Song army was unlikely to counterattack north of the Yangtze River, there were not many troops stationed.
In other words, Li Tingzhi is currently serving as a civilian official and is not suitable to be involved in war affairs.
Hong Qiwei saw that he was mute, and stroking his long beard, he grunted heavily, and with full official air, he led the defeated troops he brought from Zhenjiang towards the city.
~~
Jiankang Mansion.
The boat docked at Taoye Ferry, and the messenger rushed to the Tang army camp and delivered a letter to Gao Changshou's Chinese army tent.
The account was very busy, and the twenty-four council officials were dealing with many matters, and took turns submitting the compiled documents to Gao Changshou for review and sealing.
A counselor read the letter just sent, walked to Gao Changshou, and reported in a low voice.
"Commander, there is a letter from Hong Qiwei."
Gao Changshou had already received the news of the fall of Zhenjiang, and he took it seriously after hearing the news.
"what did he say?"
The letter was very long, but the counselor had organized the contents and placed the letter in Gao Changshou, saying: "He said that as soon as Zhang Shijie's navy arrived, he realized that Zhenjiang did not have enough troops to hold it. He was afraid that it would be too late to go upstream to ask for help.
, so I asked Li Tingzhi of Yangzhou for support."
"Yangzhou has no troops." Gao Changshou said: "If we still need to deploy troops in Yangzhou, what is the point of Hong Qiwei bringing Zhenjiang to surrender?"
"But Hong Qiwei also said... Li Tingzhi had secret contacts with Zhang Shijie and betrayed Zhenjiang's defense layout to Zhang Shijie. That's why the defeat happened."
Gao Changshou couldn't help but frown and murmured softly: "Li Tingzhi? The person your Majesty personally recruited to surrender..."
"Commander?"
"Let Zhang Shun come and see me."
"yes."
After a while, Zhang Shun rushed to the camp, holding his helmet and looking majestic and high-spirited.
Gao Changshou calmed down as soon as he saw him, found a wine bag and threw it over.
"How many days will it take for your department to be ready?"
"Thank you, Marshal." Zhang Shun was not polite, stuffed the wine bag into his armor, and said: "It's almost ready, ready to fight at any time."
Gao Changshou would definitely have doubts if someone else said such big words, but when it comes to water fights, Zhang Shun can be his master.
So he walked to the map and clicked on the location of Zhenjiang.
"Zhang Shijie, the commander-in-chief of the Song Army, took back the entrance to the canal."
"Hey." Zhang Shun grinned and said: "It's his ability to snatch it back. But so what? The emperor of Zhao Song is in Lin'an, and our army has arrived at Jiankang Mansion. The commander-in-chief won't recruit me today.
Come, send Lu Xiaoyou to go south by land. Can this Shijie save Lin'an? If he can, if the ship turns around, won't there be a huge collapse? He is a god, and this battle is difficult to win."
Zhang Shun, a naval general, thought of asking the cavalry to solve problems when he encountered them. This meant that he had jumped out of the original pattern and started to move in the direction of being handsome.
Gao Changshou said: "If you think so, we can safely leave the battle of Zhenjiang to you."
"Thank you, Marshal!"
Zhang Shun clasped his fists and said loudly: "The last general is willing to issue a military order. This battle will be won."
"Go." Gao Changshou waved his hand and said: "The Southern Expedition has reached this point, who is so rare that you want to issue a military order?"
Zhang Shun chuckled, grabbed the military order and left.
Gao Changshou was still pacing in the tent.
At this time, what he was most worried about was not the war in Zhenjiang, but because he felt that some of the bad habits of the Song Dynasty had been brought over.
Even before Lin'an was captured, some people in the army started to bite each other...
"Commander, Lu Shikui wants to see you."
"What's the matter?"
"He said he was here to take the commander to a banquet on the Qinhuai River."
Only then did Gao Changshou remember that he had promised Lu Shikui, Zhao Shu, Zhao Huai and other officials to entertain them today.
He then nodded and said: "When I change into casual clothes... If I don't want to change, then go ahead."
Gao Changshou then put on his armor and carried a sword, left the camp, got on the boat arranged by Lu Shikui, and headed for the city along the canal, arriving directly at a very elegant garden.
At the banquet, Gao Changshou asked the Jiangnan officials what they thought of Li Tingzhi and Hong Qiwei.
Zhao Dao, Hong Qiwei, was born in an extraordinary family. His ancestor, Hong Zikui, was promoted to the official position of Minister of the Ministry of Punishment. He was a bachelor of Hanlin, knew how to make imperial edicts, and was a bachelor of Duanming Palace, so he became famous all over the world.
Afterwards, several poems by Hong Zikui were recited to add to the atmosphere of the banquet.
"When an official leaves, the fish has no bait; when he returns from thousands of miles away, the swallow has a nest."
"I hope silkworms and wheat will be good in peacetime, so that people won't have to ask how Shu is doing."
The poem was a good poem, but that was not what Gao Changshou wanted to know. He turned to look at Zhao Huai again.
Zhao Huai was captured together with Li Tingzhi, but he was always unwilling to surrender. When the Tang army took him to the gate of Jiankang City, he persuaded Zhao Shu to "die as a man and don't surrender." This was his sincere advice.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Shu secretly surrendered a long time ago. It was just a way to deceive others.
When Jia Sidao was defeated in Lugang and the unification of the world was a foregone conclusion, Zhao Huai saw that there was nothing he could do about it, so he surrendered.
At this time, Gao Changshou asked about Li Tingzhi at the banquet. Zhao Huai had already wanted to speak. Seeing his eyes, he hurriedly said: "If the commander-in-chief asks questions because Hong Qi is afraid of slandering Li Tingzhi, please don't believe Li Tingzhi's character.
, I dare to guarantee it with the head on my neck."
Gao Changshou pondered: "But Li Tingzhi is indeed loyal to the Zhao family, right?"
Zhao Huai was stunned.
Gao Changshou asked again: "If we talk about character, not only Li Tingzhi, but Zhang Shijie must also be of good character. But both of them are loyal to Zhao Song. If they are said to have colluded secretly, can you believe it?"