"Brother, did I read that correctly? The defenders on the city wall actually escaped?" Zhang Xian followed Yue Fei and said in disbelief.
"That's right, it's true." Yue Fei also said in a daze.
To be honest, both of them were shocked. They knew that Bianliang's imperial army was very weak, but they didn't expect it to be so "weak". It wasn't even "weak" anymore, it simply had no combat power at all. They didn't even
I've heard of something like this - the enemy just fired a shot of arrows from below, but not a single person was killed, and all the defenders were scared away!
If Yue Fei had a ladder beside him, he could lead his soldiers to attack Bianliang City now. Or Yue Fei could order his soldiers to form a "human ladder", with the people on top stepping on the shoulders of those below, going up layer by layer.
You can also enter Bianliang City. Historically, although it was rare to build a human ladder to siege the city, it is not unheard of. In the current situation of Bianliang City, there will be no problem in setting up a human ladder to siege the city.
Of course, Yue Fei just wants to disturb this place now, and does not really want to attack Bianliang City.
Yang Lin and Lu Fang were also shocked. They followed Yue Fei to Bianliang this time. They originally thought that they would experience a hard battle, maybe even a narrow escape. After all, the number of forbidden troops in Bianliang City reached 800,000. But looking at Bianliang now
The appearance of the city's forbidden troops has no fighting capacity at all. If all the forbidden troops were like this, then this mission would be almost like an outing and there would be no danger.
Yang Lin and Lu Fang couldn't help laughing, and the Liangshan soldiers next to them also laughed.
"Brother, I think we can attack the city directly!" Zhang Xian laughed.
"There is no need to attack the city, we can just circle around the city." Yue Fei said.
At that moment, Yue Fei led his troops and horses galloping under Bianliang City. Wherever he went, the Imperial Guards on the city walls were dodging. Sometimes after a shot of arrows, all the Imperial Guards disappeared. Sometimes, they had not arrived yet, and the Imperial Guards on the city walls were hiding.
Hearing the sound of horse hooves, he had already moved away from the distance.
In this way, Yue Fei led his troops and horses around the city for two hours without encountering any resistance.
"I will lead a thousand soldiers and horses, Zhang Xian, you will also lead a thousand soldiers and horses, Yang Lin and Lu Fang will each lead a thousand soldiers and horses, everyone will act separately and don't leave too far away." Yue Fei thought for a while and gave the order.
command.
At this moment, Bianliang City is already in chaos.
People on the street are running around, some are looking for their relatives, others are looking for friends, and they want to call these people home. At this moment, it is safer to stay at home.
The officials of the imperial court headed towards the palace one after another. They wanted to know how His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince would handle this matter. The enemy troops had already arrived outside the city. If the enemy troops were not driven away, everyone's lives would be in danger.
In the palace, the eunuchs and concubines were also in a group. Some eunuchs and concubines had already changed their clothes and were ready to leave the palace at any time.
"Where is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?" At this moment, an official in his 70s entered the palace. Seeing this official, the eunuchs and concubines all kowtowed and packed their bags.
This official was none other than Cai Jing, the leader of the ministers.
Cai Jing headed towards the East Palace under the leadership of several eunuchs. When he arrived at the East Palace, he found that Prince Zhao Huanduan was sitting above, and countless ministers had arrived below.
"Your Highness, the enemy is outside the city. We must drive them away now!" After Cai Jing entered the main hall of the East Palace, he did not salute at all, but directly shouted.
Some time ago, Song Huizong fainted because of the fake envoy incident, and then asked the crown prince Zhao Huan to supervise the country, so now Zhao Huan is nominally handling all matters.
But in fact, Zhao Huan was in name only and did not have much power at all. The real power was still in the hands of Cai Jing, Gao Qiu, Yang Jian and others. These people had to visit the emperor Zhao Ji every day and tell Zhao Ji all the major events. This time
If Liangshan soldiers and horses had not attacked the city, Cai Jing and others would not have come to the East Palace at all.
"Such a big matter is not something that a mere prince like me can handle. If you go to the harem to ask for an audience with your father, he must have a plan in mind." Zhao Huan said calmly.
"Your Highness, it's not like you don't know that His Majesty is not in good health. He asked you to supervise the country, so you should handle this matter!" Cai Jing said pretending to be painstaking.
"Hmph! What kind of prisoner? What kind of prince? Do any of you regard me as a prince? Do any of you regard me as a prisoner?" Zhao Huan suddenly became angry and pointed at Cai Jing below, and then pointed at Gao Qiu and others.
, shouted angrily: "I know your thoughts, you have never regarded me as a prince in your heart. My father likes Zhao Kai, so you all think that he will definitely be a prince in the future. My princedom is only temporary? Isn't that right?"
Zhao Huan suddenly said such words, and all the ministers below were stunned.
In fact, this is also a recognized thing in the late Northern Song Dynasty. Everyone knows that Zhao Huan does not like Zhao Ji, and Zhao Ji intends to depose Zhao Huan and make Zhao Kai the crown prince. Therefore, all the officials have not respected Zhao Huan enough. Even Zhao Huan was the supervisor.
Not many people from the country came to see him, so Zhao Huan was left to handle the specific affairs.
In the original history, if it had not been for the invasion of the Jin soldiers, Zhao Gou hurriedly gave up the position of emperor to Zhao Huan, I am afraid that Zhao Huan would never have become the emperor. Of course, even if Zhao Huan became the emperor, he would also be the last king, and he would later be killed by Nv Zhenren
He was taken prisoner and died of humiliation.
Zhao Huan has had enough these days. He knows why Cai Jing and others came to see him today. It must be because his father was frightened and unable to handle the matter, so he handed it over to him. He doesn't want to do it now.
, after saying these words, he stood up suddenly, then looked at the ministers below with a sneer, and walked away.
After Zhao Huan left, the ministers were stunned. After a while, a middle-aged official in his 30s stood up and said: "Master Cai, let's go see His Majesty the Emperor right now."
Cai Jing glanced at the minister and said, "His Majesty is indeed in poor health. Should we not bother him anymore?"
The 30-year-old middle-aged official also became angry and said: "Mr. Cai, do you think we don't know? His Majesty's body has recovered a long time ago, and you ask to see His Majesty every day! Today you must have met His Majesty first.
Come again and ask to see the prince! The enemy army is outside the city and Bianliang City is in danger. If your majesty doesn’t come to handle the affairs at this moment, who will? If you are unwilling to go, I will take the ministers to see your majesty!"
Cai Jing was stunned and said: "This..."
Before he could finish speaking, the middle-aged official strode outside. The rest of the ministers followed the official, and Cai Jing, Gao Qiu and others also hurriedly followed.
"Damn Qin Hui!" Cai Jing cursed secretly.
The middle-aged official in his 30s was Qin Hui, a famous official in later generations. However, at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Qin Hui was still a famous upright official in the world. He had extraordinary knowledge and an excellent reputation, so he became a prince when he was in his 20s.
The students must be upright. Taixue is the highest institution of higher education in the country, almost equivalent to the current combination of Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Central School D. Many officials are from Taixue.
Selected from among the students. Qin Hui was able to become the Imperial Academy Xuezheng in his 20s, which shows his knowledge. After reaching the age of 30, he became the Yushi Zhongcheng, which was the official position that Bao Zheng once held. He became the Yushi Zhongcheng.
After Shi Zhongcheng, he was able to supervise and impeach hundreds of officials. He has truly become the leader of officials, and to a certain extent can compete with Cai Jing and others.
Later, when Nv Zhenren invaded, Qin Hui firmly disagreed to cede territory and seek peace, so he had a higher status in the hearts of the Song people. This was also the folk foundation for his later ability to become the prime minister. Qin Hui's change came after he returned from the Jin Kingdom.
He changed from a resistance faction to a capitulation faction, from an upright official to a traitorous minister.
Now Qin Hui strode towards the harem, followed by countless ministers. These ministers all regarded Qin Hui as their leader. They looked at Cai Jing, and Gao Qiu and others looked very unkindly.
The harem was in chaos, and no one stopped Qin Hui and others. A quarter of an hour later, they arrived at the entrance of a palace at the back, and saw several Taoist priests standing at the entrance of the palace. When these Taoist priests saw so many ministers arriving, they ate
Surprised, two Taoist priests stretched out their hands to intercept and said: "Your Majesty is doing some cleaning inside. You must not enter."
Qin Hui was furious and said: "What time is it now? The enemy is besieging Bianliang, our lives are in danger, and the Song Dynasty is also surrounding us! At such a moment, your Majesty is still doing Qing Xiu?"
He suddenly stretched out his hand and pushed the two Taoist priests to the ground, then strode into the palace, and the other ministers followed him into the palace.
The palace was filled with smoke, and the dignified Emperor Zhao Ji of the Song Dynasty was actually wearing a Taoist uniform. He sat cross-legged on the ground, with an alchemy furnace in front of his eyes, his eyes slightly closed, and his mind was wandering.
"Your Majesty, the enemy is attacking the city. What should we do now? Please give us your order!" Qin Hui strode to Zhao Huan, knelt down and shouted loudly.
Countless ministers behind him knelt down, and Cai Jing and Gao Qiu also had to kneel down.
Zhao Ji opened his eyes, looked at Qin Hui in front of him, and saw the ministers behind him. He was startled at first, and then said angrily: "Didn't I say? All matters will be handled by the crown prince, why do you bother us again?
I?"
Qin Hui said: "Your Majesty, the prince is too young to handle such a big matter. Now that your Majesty is well, why are you still hiding here? Your Majesty, please make a decision early!"
Zhao Ji was ashamed and angry and stood up. The reason why he has been hiding here these days is mainly because the incident of the fake envoy was too embarrassing. He could not face the officials and was afraid of being questioned by them. Now this matter has been exposed by Qin Hui
, he wished he could slap Qin Hui on the face.
At that moment, he was walking around the palace. Thinking of the situation outside, he was sweating profusely and said, "How many enemy troops are there? Where are the enemy troops?"
Cai Jing hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, it seems that there are only more than ten thousand people. Yesterday, Sun Zhaoyuan, who was left behind in Luoyang, wrote a letter saying that bandits from Hedong were crossing the border. We thought they were going back to Hedong, but we didn't expect that they would come to Bianliang. The minister was not careful.
, It’s really a crime worthy of death.”
Zhao Ji said: "I can't blame you for this! It turns out that there are only more than 10,000 people, so it's not worth mentioning. Don't we still have 800,000 forbidden troops in Bianliang? Gao Qiu, you are the Taiwei of the Palace Commander's Mansion, and all the forbidden troops are under your control.
, you lead the troops to fight now!"
When Gao Qiu heard this, he was stunned. It is true that he is a Taiwei, and he is indeed in charge of 800,000 imperial troops. But as a Taiwei, he is useless except for pleasing the emperor and playing football. He is not good at all.
He knows nothing about military affairs but has no martial arts skills. How can he lead troops to fight?
At that moment, Gao Qiu hurriedly begged: "Your Majesty, I am afraid that I will not be able to drive away the bandits from Liangshan, so please appoint virtuous people!"
Zhao Ji snorted coldly and said: "You are a Taiwei. If you don't lead the troops, who will? Well, this matter is settled like this. You are limited to one hour to lead the troops into battle. If you are still in the city by then,
Here, I will throw you out of the city!"
Zhao Ji now hates Gao Qiu, mainly because Gao Qiu exposed the incident of Gao Li's fake envoy, which made him lose a lot of face, so this time he wants to rush Gao Qiu into the firing line and let Gao Qiu face it.