Xuan Zhen pondered for a long time, and no one dared to disturb him. Until an accompanying staff member came up from the mountain road panting: "Master, there is new news."
"speak."
"I heard that Wanyan Heda failed to attack Li Ting's troops at night and was defeated and died."
There was a wind blowing in the mountains. Xuan Zhen lowered his head and twitched his fingers: "Five days."
He said: "Wanyan Heda was the earliest disciple to be ordered by Shan Yi. He was an important minister who protected King Sui when he went south to Kaifeng. He was also the hero who defeated the Red Coat Army Yang An'er's troops in the first battle. He served as the capital marshal in the Kaifeng court and pacified the West Road of Hebei.
The envoy was regarded as a barrier to the north of the Kaifeng imperial court, but he ran into Li Ting's troops and only lasted five days!"
He found a stone and sat down and asked, "Where are Li Ting's troops now?"
"The heavy rain that night when the two armies fought caused floods that washed away many roads in Ci and Mingzhou. Therefore, I heard that the subsequent march of Li Ting's troops was not very fast. But..."
"But what?"
"Zhao Jue's troops marched directly along the Yuhe River. The famous Xuanfu envoy Bilan'alu led the troops and could not leave the city. However, the commander-in-chief Aotun Xige who was stationed at Ligudu in Huazhou surrendered in large numbers. This army came later and was the first.
We may arrive at Kaifeng City soon."
Ligudu is a famous ferry in the middle reaches of the Yellow River.
After the Jingkang Incident, the Jin soldiers escorted the two emperors of Huiqin and more than 3,000 princes and nobles to the north, which is said to be the Yellow River they crossed from then on.
Later, when the Song and Jin Dynasties came together, the envoys from the south to the north also passed through this place. Among them, Fan Chengda, Lou Yao and others left handed down book records, telling the story of going 45 miles north from Kaifeng to Fengqiu, and from Fengqiu to Fengqiu.
Forty-five miles north to Xucheng, and another forty-five miles north of Xincheng is Ligudu.
It is also said that this ferry is located in a relatively narrow section of the Yellow River. One hundred and eighty boats were connected to form a pontoon bridge, half of which were stranded on the sand moraine. On the beach mud caused by the breach, there were many firewood paving the way.
Therefore, Li Gudu was quite famous in the Song Dynasty. Anyone who knows something about the story between the Song and Jin countries knows this place.
As soon as they heard that Li Gudu had changed hands, all the entourage on the left and right were pale. Someone said: "That is the key to the throat of the north of Kaifeng! That means that the east and north sides of Kaifeng City fell into Guo Ning's hands? So fast? It only took ten years.
God's work!"
Another person said: "Of course it's faster. Guo Ning has been waiting for the opportunity for a long time. If he doesn't do it, it will be fatal. If he does, it will be fatal. I think he is also afraid that if it is too late, something will happen."
"Where can there be any variables? This is already a thunderous momentum! Who can resist it?"
Someone hesitated and said: "Maybe our Song Dynasty court..."
Just as he was guessing, a horse came galloping down the mountain, bringing up billows of smoke. Xuanzhen quickly stood up, rolled up his robe sleeves, and stood in front of the hillside to take a look.
The horse circled the mountain road several times before arriving at the slope where everyone was. The knight dressed in the uniform of a naval herald officer, dismounted from his horse at a distance, and asked: "Is Mr. Xuan of the Song Dynasty here?"
"I am Xuan Zhen."
"Just now a speedboat arrived in Haizhou, carrying a letter from home to Mr. Xuan and a box of cakes sent with the letter. We knew that Mr. Xuan was traveling today, so we didn't dare to delay, so we brought it immediately."
Xuan Zhen walked forward quickly to take the letter box and asked casually: "Oh? I just arrived in Haizhou a few days ago, and a letter from the south was delivered?"
The knight laughed and said: "When the armies come and go, many ports on the sea are under control, and all ships are inspected. Perhaps the letter was originally sent to Zhongdu, but we intercepted it halfway."
"That's a coincidence. What good luck."
Xuan Zhen laughed, opened the sealed letter box in front of the knight, and then opened the letter to read directly.
After looking at it twice, he thanked the knight who delivered the message and personally accompanied him for half a circle on the mountain road before turning back.
The staff member took half a step forward and asked in a low voice: "Sir, why did the letter come? What did the letter say?"
Xuan Zhen let out a heavy breath: "It really came from the Prime Minister's Palace. The paper, handwriting and signature are all correct. As for the content... Well, just take a look."
The staff member took the letter, looked at it twice, and said in a voiceless voice: "Xianggong Shi has decided to join hands with Duke Zhou?"
The staff member was exposed to the situation during his daily visits to Lin'an, and he understood the significance of the Kaifeng court of the Jin Kingdom to the Song Dynasty.
It doesn't matter how powerful the Kaifeng imperial court is, how many troops it has, or whether its relationship with the Song Dynasty is hostile or friendly. The Kaifeng imperial court is just a flag, used to disrupt the flags of the Central Plains and the north. As long as this flag remains, Guo Ning will only
I can always focus on this mortal enemy and have no time to turn elsewhere.
They all also understood that since Guo Ning's uprising, it means that the original policy of the Song Dynasty failed to affect the situation in the north at all and failed completely. Therefore, sooner or later, Mr. Shi will make a new decision and may even send new troops.
The messenger went north.
But the content of the letter was a bit beyond everyone's expectations.
It turned out that Jia Sidao was disguised as Li Yun, a subordinate of Zhou Guogong, and he relied on Ruhuang's words to persuade Shi Xianggong, prompting the court to abandon the Kaifeng regime and instead focus on repairing with Zhongdu.
This... doesn't this seem too frivolous? It is related to the country's major political affairs. How can we handle things like this? A Jin spy has become an official of the imperial court. Shouldn't he be arrested and tortured immediately and his accomplices interrogated? How can we wait for him?
As a distinguished guest, you still listen to his nonsense?
"This...this..." The attendant folded the letter, then opened it and looked at it.
He raised his eyes to look at Xuan Zhen again, but was speechless. He just felt that the Song Dynasty was going to repeat the same mistake of joining the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty, digging a hole for himself.
"That's all." Xuanzhen responded with a long sigh.
"What do you mean, sir?"
"Jia Sidao had been active in the Song Dynasty for several months. Now that he has exposed his true identity as Li Yun, the assistant minister of the Marshal's Mansion in the Kingdom of Jin, Xianggong Shi cannot disagree with his opinion."
"This...I don't understand, this is just a little thief..."
"During the Qiandao period, Liu Yungu, a son of the Han Dynasty, went south from Yan to return to his rightful righteousness. He became a right-hand official and a general judge in Taiping Prefecture. Later, this person was exposed as a spy of the Jin Kingdom, which caused huge turmoil in the court. At that time, Dongzhu
The treacherous person was Shi Xianggong’s ancestor, King Shi Zhongding of Yue. It is precisely for this reason that Shi Zhongding always insisted on using fewer reformers, let alone granting authority easily..."
"It just happened that Prime Minister Shi used a spy and used him to participate in the military affairs of Huainan and establish a new army!"
"Exactly."
Xuan Zhen sighed heavily: "Think about it, since Jia Sidao is from the Jin Kingdom, can his father Jia She be trusted? If Jia She is not trustworthy, can Huaidong Zhishi be trusted? Huaidong Zhishi is a subordinate
, is it credible that the Zhongyi Army, which Prime Minister Shi was originally responsible for Cui Yu and others, and was later transferred to Jia She? Is it credible that he took the lead in drafting the charter for the Shanghai trip? "
"Jia She is only one person, no matter what..."
"Jia She is very good at business and has a wide network of contacts in Huainan. He is a person who can influence everything in Huainan. Who can guarantee that so many military and civilian officials and businessmen in Huainan will not be attracted by him? Even if you can guarantee that, in the court and Shi Xianggong,
Will those who don’t deal with it believe it?”
"this……"
"Let's look at Jia Sidao himself. He spent a lot of money in Lin'an, spending thousands of dollars at every turn; in Ningbo, he directly dealt with maritime trade matters, and distributed dividends and rebates to Prime Minister Shi's cronies every now and then, and spent thousands more at every turn.
He went out; he ran around in several newly established money guards in Huainan, assisted Shi Kuanzhi in preparing another new army, and still went out with thousands of money at every turn. With such skills, who can guarantee that no one in Lin'an will be attracted by him? Who can
Guarantee that no one from the maritime merchants will be won over by him? Who can guarantee that Shi Kuanzhi, the eldest son of the Tiantai historian family, has not been secretly colluding with him? Who can guarantee that I, Xuan Zhen, have not become Li Yun's lackey?"
If Xuan Zhen is involved, what will happen to his subordinates?
Hearing this, the staff turned pale.
Xuan Zhen continued: "If you raise any of these suspicions, they will arouse countless mad dogs in the court who are dissatisfied with Shi Xiang, and trigger a bloody storm against Shi Xiang's family! Let's go back to the original topic, Shi Xiang's ancestor respects the old man
The adults can discern treacherous plots, but Shi Xiang went against the practice of his ancestors and used reformed people to form a military force and people from the sea to make money... What is this? The Master said that he did not change his father's ways for three years, which can be called filial piety.
Come on, has Shi Xiang done it?"
The staff member's lips trembled and he could not speak.
From the standpoint of a political opponent, this move by the Prime Minister is undoubtedly unfilial. Once he is accused of being unfilial, who can guarantee that the bloody storm in the court will only reach the Prime Minister's family and not the Prime Minister himself?
"so……"
Xuan Zhen also felt bored. He beat his chest and said in a deep voice: "So the Prime Minister can only have a tacit understanding with Zhou Guogong from the beginning. The Prime Minister can only know Li Yun's identity from the beginning. The Prime Minister can only know Li Yun's identity from the beginning.
From the beginning, he and Zhou Guogong Guo Ning jointly organized the war against the Kaifeng court."
This decision may or may not be successful, but in any case, it is ten times and a hundred times better than if Shi Xiang was deceived by Guo Ning.
Whether this decision was beneficial or harmful to the Song Dynasty, for Shi Xiang, it was the only way to avoid the current predicament.
The entourage was stunned: "Then... what should we do?"
Xuan Zhen opened the box containing the pastries, twisted up a piece, and threw the box to his staff: "What can we do? Let's go quickly, I have to show my goodwill to Yelu Chucai!"
There were fifteen or six kinds of pastries in the pastry box, all of which were well-known in Lin'an. Among them, there was only one piece of snowflake cake that Xuanzhen liked to eat most. Just now, Xuanzhen pinched this piece of snowflake without hesitation.
Crisp in hand.
Several attendants listened to his instructions and hurriedly went to fetch the horses. No one saw Xuan Zhen slowly kneading the snowflakes into crumbs. Among the crumbs, there was a very slender note.