Zhenjiang Prefecture is adjacent to Jiankang, with the Yangtze River to the north. It is the most important garrison location of the Song Army in the south of the Yangtze River, besides Jiankang.
Xu Xian brought Yue Lin and Xin Qiji to Zhenjiang Mansion that day and inspected the defenses along the river.
"Do you think that if the Tatars break through Yangzhou City and go all the way south, can we resist the Tatar army based on the Zhenjiang line?"
Xu Xian looked at the river at this time and couldn't help but ask the two of them.
"Prime Minister Xu, why are you asking like this?"
"Is it true that, as has been rumored in the Japanese army these days, His Highness the Crown Prince intends to abandon Yangzhou and let Liu Qi retreat to Zhenjiang?"
Yue Lin suddenly said at this time.
"If we abandon Yangzhou at this time, doesn't that mean we are letting the Tatar navy go south?"
"If the Tatar navy goes south to the Yangtze River, the consequences will be disastrous!"
Xin Qiji also looked worried.
"Of course I know the consequences will be serious!"
"But do you know the news that the Jin Navy has begun to move south from Haizhou, preparing to take a detour to attack Lin'an?"
"If our Song Dynasty concentrated its navy at this time and blocked the Tatar navy on the canal, then Lin'an would probably be in danger!"
"And now the Tatar army is close to surrounding Yangzhou on three sides. If we want to defend Yangzhou, we have to cross the river. The cost of supplies is too difficult!"
"So when I got this news from His Highness, I discussed it with His Highness and Grand Master Zhao Kangbo, and finally decided that in order to save the capital Lin'an, we had to give up Yangzhou for the time being!"
Xu Xian explained to the two of them.
"If we want to give up Yangzhou, we can't give up easily!"
"I wonder if Prime Minister Xu and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can make appropriate arrangements?"
Xin Qiji asked.
"I have asked Liu Qi to set up ambushes along the way. It will not be easy for the Tatars to easily capture all the places north of the Yangtze River, including Yangzhou!"
"Now I can only hope that Minister Ye will bring back good news from the Tatars soon!"
Xu Xian certainly had high hopes for Ye Yiwen's trip to the Kingdom of Jin.
"Is there Xin Zhangshu ahead?"
"Is it Zhang Shu?"
At this moment, a fishing boat suddenly rowed over from the center of the river, and someone on the boat was heard asking loudly.
"Xin Zhangshu?"
"Could he be calling you, Brother Xin?"
Xu Xian looked curious at this time.
"Prime Minister Xu, it is indeed here to find me!"
Xin Qiji quickly responded to Xu Xian.
"I'm here...I'm here!"
Then he loudly responded to the people on the boat in the river.
"I really can't hide anything from you, Prime Minister Xu!"
"My true identity, Xin Qiji, is that I am the secretary-general of Geng Jing, the commander-in-chief of the Tianping Army!"
"That day, I disguised myself as a soldier and wanted to cross the river to meet Emperor Zhao Gou, hoping that he would support our Tianping Army's anti-gold cause!"
"I didn't expect to meet you, Prime Minister Xu, and later I learned that Emperor Zhao Gou has now handed over all his powers to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"
"So I originally wanted you to introduce me to the crown prince alone to talk to it, but later I found out that the crown prince has no good impression of me!"
"And I found that Prime Minister Xu is not only wise and decisive, but also ambitious, and even more ambitious to regain the Central Plains, so I am willing to stay here to assist you, Prime Minister Xu!"
Xin Qiji began to explain to Xu Xian.
Of course Xu Xian knew something about Xin Qiji's deeds, but he didn't expect it to be like this.
Xu Xian naturally absolutely recognized Xin Qiji's character, and of course he would not care about it.
"Brother Xin, you don't have to be too grudge-y. I, Xu Xian, won't care about this little thing!"
"After all, aren't you telling me the truth now?"
Xu Xian certainly didn't want Xin Qiji to think too much.
At this time, the fishing boat finally docked, and then a one-armed man stepped out of the fishing boat.
"Brother Chen!"
"You...why are you like this!"
"What happened?"
Xin Qiji ran up to the one-armed man with great concern.
"Xin Zhangshu!"
"General Geng is dead!"
"Commander Geng was killed!"
As the one-armed man spoke, tears continued to flow down his face.
"What?"
"Commander Geng was killed?"
"what happened?"
"Tell me quickly!"
"Who killed Marshal Geng?"
"Who is it?"
When Xin Qiji heard the news, the veins on his forehead were exposed, and he grabbed the one-armed man and shook it excitedly.
Marshal Geng?
Could it be that the Marshal Geng this man is talking about is Geng Jing?
Geng Jing is now the largest rebel force behind the Tatars. Why do I still expect Geng Jing to disrupt Wan Yanliang's rear?
How could it die like this?
Xu Xian thought of this and glanced at Xin Qiji, who was still excited next to him. He knew that at this time, he must first stabilize Xin Qiji's emotions and let this person tell him what the most important reason was.
"Brother Xin, don't get excited!"
"Don't get excited!"
"Let this brother rest for a while and wait for him to tell the truth!"
So Xu Xian quickly came over to comfort Xin Qiji.
Xin Qiji temporarily calmed down his emotions at this time, and then the man named Chen Ding began to talk.
It turned out that Geng Jing quickly occupied several state capitals in Shandong after the uprising in Shandong.
After Xin Qiji saw that Geng Jing's uprising was successful, he also followed the uprising, quickly accumulated more than 2,000 people, and took refuge in Geng Jing. Because of Xin Qiji's extraordinary literary talent and strategic talents, he was valued by Geng Jing and was appointed by him.
He is in charge of writing in the army.
At the same time, another general named Zhang Anguo and Jia Rui also led his rebellious troops to defect to Geng Jing, making Geng Jing's tribe stronger.
So Geng Jing led these people to attack the city and plunder the territory. For a time, Wanyan Liang had no choice but to divide his troops to encircle and suppress them.
At this time, in order to gain the recognition and support of the Southern Song Dynasty court, Geng Jing sent his secretary Xin Qiji to contact Emperor Zhao Gou.
But unexpectedly, as soon as Xin Qiji left, something happened to Geng Jing the next day.
It turns out that Geng Jing's most trusted subordinate, Zhang Anguo, was originally a soldier under Han Shizhong. After experiencing the unjust death of Yue Fei, Han Shizhong was forced to abandon his military career and become a civil servant. Later, he was dissatisfied with the mediocrity of the Southern Song Dynasty and fled to the Kingdom of Jin.
Therefore, Zhang Anguo did not agree to return to the Song Dynasty with Geng Jing and Xin Qiji in the future. After all, Zhang Anguo knew that Yue Fei and Han Shizhong would end up.
Seeing that Geng Jing and Xin Qiji insisted on joining the Song Dynasty, Zhang Anguo naturally began to feel dissatisfied.
At this time, the Jin Army general Pu Sanzhongyi, who happened to be encircling and suppressing the rebel army, issued a recruitment order in order to help Wan Yanliang stabilize the situation in the rear.
Zhang Anguo knew in his heart that Geng Jing would defect to the Southern Song Dynasty sooner or later, and he definitely did not want to go back to the Southern Song Dynasty, so after weighing the situation, Zhang Anguo chose to secretly accept Pu San Zhongyi's recruitment order.
In order to issue a military order to Pu San Zhongyi, Zhang Anguo made an appointment with Geng Jing alone on the pretext that he had to discuss important matters with Geng Jing alone, where he had already set up an ambush, and killed Geng Jing.