After seeing that the city of Luzhou was deserted, Zhu Xi immediately led his people to join the battle to support the Liang King's servants and loyalists.
Shi Bin's Song army was already struggling to cope with Pu Shan Zhongyi's army. After seeing Zhu Xi's army coming to support them, they immediately formed a rout.
So Shi Bin had no choice but to lead the remaining troops to retreat. Unexpectedly, Shi Bin was intercepted by Li Mingzhong on the way back, and all the remaining Song troops were randomly surrounded.
Shi Bin was unwilling to surrender, so he committed suicide. Most of the other Song soldiers surrendered.
After Li Mingzhong and Pu San Zhongyi destroyed the Song army, they did not stop at all. They divided their troops into two groups, heading east, attacking Huaidong, and continuing south to reach the Yangtze River.
Lin'an City.
"Your Majesty, our army suffered a great defeat in Luzhou, and now the rebels are getting closer and closer to Jiankang!"
"Please, Your Majesty, make a decision quickly!"
An official came in a hurry to report to Emperor Zhao Gou.
"Luzhou was lost?"
"Then...then wouldn't the entire Huaixi fall?"
"Liu Qi...where is Liu Qi?"
As soon as Zhao Gou heard the news, everyone panicked.
"Liu...Old General Liu Qi has...died of illness!"
"Now he is being escorted back to the court by Yang...Yang Cunzhong!"
"We are almost arriving in Lin'an now!"
officials responded.
"What?"
"Liu Qi is dead?"
"How could it die?"
"Why didn't you tell me about this in advance?"
Zhao Gou was also very surprised when he heard the news that Liu Qi had died of illness.
"Since Yang Cunzhong is back, why not hurry up and summon him... summon him!"
"I want to question it...question it about the fall of Huaixi?"
Of course Zhao Gou was already impatient.
An hour later, Yang Cunzhong came to Zhao Gou.
"Taifu Yang!"
"Why did Huaixi fall so quickly?"
As soon as Zhao Gou saw Yang Cunzhong, he began to question him.
"Return to the Holy Spirit!"
"The fall of Huaixi is unavoidable. The reason is simply that the army in the middle route was completely annihilated, which caused our army in the east route to come under strong pressure from the bandits!"
"There is a saying that a dike of thousands of miles breaks in an ant nest. I believe that you, the Holy One, are so wise that you will understand it!"
Yang Cunzhong replied.
"All right!"
"This time it was indeed my fault in employing men that led to Shao Hongyuan's defeat at Guangcheng Pass!"
"Oh...it's all my fault!"
"It's all my fault!"
"If I hadn't listened to the slander and replaced Li Xianzhong with Shao Hongyuan, how could we have ended up in this situation?"
Zhao Gou suddenly blamed himself.
"Your Majesty!"
"The top priority now is not to blame yourself, but to make the necessary decision immediately, Your Majesty!"
"After all, the bandit army is coming fiercely. I'm afraid it will happen sooner or later that the army reaches the north of the Yangtze River!"
"Please, Your Majesty, please stop blaming yourself!"
Yang Cunzhong took the opportunity to remind.
"You want me to make a decision?"
"What else can I do now?"
Zhao Gou seemed to not know what to do all of a sudden.
"Your Majesty, you should immediately inform His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to express the anger of the people!"
"After all, the reason why Xu Xian, the thief leader, rebelled was nothing more than your suppression and persecution, Your Majesty!"
"So you are passing on the crown prince immediately. Considering the relationship between the crown prince and the thief leader Xu Xian, maybe Xu Xian will be willing to return to our Song Dynasty?"
"Otherwise, when the bandit army gathers strength and crosses the Yangtze River, our Song Dynasty will be doomed!"
Yang Cunzhong said suddenly.
"Bold Yang Cunzhong!"
"As a Tutor, you actually threaten the Holy One!"
"Are you so bold?"
At this time, Tang Sizui, who had not spoken for a long time, spoke.
"Prime Minister Tang!"
"Do you think there is a better way besides abdicating the throne and making way for the emperor?"
Yang Cunzhong retorted.
"You...you are so presumptuous!"
"You asked the Holy One to abdicate the throne at this time and make way for others. Where did you put the Holy One?"
"Do you hope that by then, everyone in the world will call the Holy One a coward?"
Tang Sihui continued to accuse Yang Cunzhong.
"Your Majesty!"
"This Yang Cunzhong obviously has bad intentions and is conspiring to rebel!"
"I sincerely request the Holy One to put this man in jail and punish him immediately!"
Tang Situi then made further suggestions to Zhao Gou.
"Prime Minister Tang, you have bad intentions!"
"If you and Monk Fahai hadn't been deceiving the public in front of the Holy One all day long, how could our Song Dynasty be in this situation today?"
"So it is you, Prime Minister Tang, who should be sent to prison!"
Yang Cunzhong immediately retorted and Tang Si retreated.
"Yang Cunzhong, you have committed the crime of treason!"
"How dare you, a traitor like you, dare to slander the truth?"
When Tang Si retreated and saw Yang Cunzhong attacking him, he became anxious.
"Stop arguing!"
"stop fighting!"
"Let me see this!"
"Since Huaixi has been lost, Taifu Yang, you are responsible for rushing to the rescue of Xiangyang on my behalf and responsible for guarding the land of Jingxiang!"
"And Prime Minister Tang, you will immediately go to Jiangbei to supervise the war and be responsible for all matters of defending against the enemy!"
"As for all the absurd things you mentioned just now, just pretend that I have just gone deaf!"
Zhao Gou suddenly woke up at this time.
"Your Majesty, this... this is not possible for me to go to Jiangbei to supervise the battle!"
"Jiangbei must be in chaos now. I have no talent to lead troops in battle, how can I supervise the battle!"
"So the person supervising the battle in Jiangbei should be Taifu Yang who wants to atone for his sins with his merits!"
Tang Situi first started to shirk the blame.
"Ha ha…!"
"Prime Minister Tang, you were not afraid even when you were on several missions to the Kingdom of Jin. Why did you become so scared when you went to Jiangbei to supervise the war?"
"Is it possible that Prime Minister Tang, like the former Prime Minister Qin, was a concubine placed by the Kingdom of Jin in our Song Dynasty, so he is not afraid of going to the Kingdom of Jin, but is afraid of going to war?"
At this time, Yang Cunzhong couldn't help asking Tang Si for retreating.
"You...you are talking nonsense!"
"I think you are an old fool, Mr. Yang, and you actually slandered the truth!"
"The true nature is that I am absolutely loyal to the Holy Emperor and to the Song Dynasty!"
"When I go on a mission to the Kingdom of Jin, I am actually representing the Song Dynasty and the Holy One!"
"You are slandering the Holy One by slandering me, collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country. Do you know that?"
Tang Situi immediately used Zhao Gou as a shield again.
"snort…!"
"Could it be that Prime Minister Tang meant that the one who really collaborates with the enemy and betrays the country is the Holy One, not you?"
"No wonder there are rumors outside recently that His Majesty has changed his surname to Wanyan. It seems that this is all due to you, Prime Minister Tang, right?"
Yang Cunzhong also dared to speak.
"Be bold!"
"Mr. Yang, I don't care about your previous mistakes. Instead, you are becoming more and more presumptuous!"
"Do you still have me in your eyes?"
After Zhao Gou heard this, he was naturally angry.
"Your Majesty!"
"I know my guilt!"
"But this is Tang Si's betrayal of the enemy and his country. You must not believe it anymore!"
"And I still said the same thing as before!"
"The best solution to this situation is for you, Your Majesty, to abdicate immediately and make way for His Highness the Crown Prince!"
"Otherwise our Song Dynasty will be in danger... in danger!"
Yang Cunzhong tried hard to persuade him.
"presumptuous!"
"Mr. Yang, you really go too far!"
"Someone is coming...!"
"Someone is coming!"
"Take it down here!"
"Take it down...!"
Seeing that Yang Cunzhong kept forcing him to abdicate, Zhao Gou couldn't help it.
So Yang Cunzhong was taken away and put into prison.