At the beginning of February of the first year of the Great Song Jingkang, Bianliang City, Tokyo.

Outside the city of Bianliang, the dense army of King Qinwang is spread all over the four fields, the flags are fluttering, the camp tents are dense, the iron horses are back and forth, and the Song army that rescued Tokyo outside the city has reached more than 200,000 people.

It's just that although there are many camps, it is difficult to hide the signs of decay, and the sergeants are not necessarily elite. In addition to the cultivation of the master Dao and the Western Army under the command of Yao Pingzhong, although the other Wang Shi had different clothes, they all showed a full appearance of chaos.

The red tasseled Fan Yang hat, coarse cloth jackets, and many sergeants have no battle armor, unkempt, and tattered clothes, and their dress is not as good as that of ordinary people.

The young ones were slender and weak, and the old ones were hunched over and trembling, and they didn't know how long they could hold out under the onslaught of the Jin cavalry.

The gold seal on the faces of the soldiers is clearly visible, and those who don't know it think that this is a deep prison in a certain prefecture, and the prisoners are released to move their muscles and bones.

As for the weapons in the hands of the people, they are also of all kinds, all strange, swords, swords, halberds, axes, hooks and forks, and many people's blades are rusty and unused. The camp was noisy, like a bazaar.

As for the area around the camp, yellow and white things can be seen everywhere, and if you are not careful, you will be hit by thunder, coupled with the stench of corpses, the air in and around the camp is disgusting.

In the past few days, the division of King Qin has come one after another, or 10,000 people a day. The imperial court set up the Xuanfu Division, the seed master Dao was the Xuanfu envoy, and Yao Pingzhong was the capital to control the Quartet Qinwang Division. The imperial court gave grain and grass armor and set up a village to restrain it.

In the winter of last year, Wanyan Zongwang and Wanyan Zonghan led the eastern and western armies south to invade the Song Dynasty. Wanyan Zongwang captured Danzhou, Jizhou, Yanshan Mansion and other places, and recruited Guo Yaoshi's victorious army, making Yanshan Mansion an important stronghold for the southern invasion of the Jinren East Road army. On the west road, Yan Zonghan captured Shuozhou and Daizhou, besieged Taiyuan, and defeated Hedong and Shaanxi reinforcements in the north of the Fenhe River.

On the third day of the first month of the first year of Jingkang, the army of Wanyan Zongwang on the east road arrived on the north bank of the Yellow River, and the inner servant Liang Fangping burned the bridge and fled, and the military horses of He Guan on the south bank also fled in the hope of the wind, and Junzhou was lost, and the Jin soldiers were able to cross the river and approach Kaifeng.

The Jin soldiers besieged the city, Zhao Ji accepted Wu Min's plan, gave the throne "Neizen" to the crown prince Zhao Huan, and fled south with the royal family and attendants.

On the seventh day of the first month, Wanyan Zongwang's army arrived at Kaifeng City, the capital was under martial law, and the city gate was closed during the day, so that the people went to the city to defend the palace. Tens of thousands of men, women, and children of the capital residents walked along the river along the East Water Gate, and half of the people who met the gold were killed. The house was set on fire outside the golden city, and the light and candles were not stopped, and the people in the city were afraid. The Jin soldiers attacked for several days and successively repelled the Song army.

The Jin people went all the way south, the momentum was like a bamboo, the people of Tokyo City were panicked, the lord and the ministers shouted for supremacy, the new emperor hesitated, and the first rat was at both ends. The court has a number of ministers and generals, and survival is imminent.

"Now we will discuss peace, and the things of the master shall be five million taels of gold, fifty million taels of silver, one million pieces of silk and silk, and ten thousand horses and camels, mules, and donkeys. Honoring the lord of the gold country as an uncle; All those who are in the Han Dynasty will return to them; Cutting the land of the three towns of Taiyuan, Zhongshan and Hejian, with the prince and the prime minister as the hostages, is a retreat. ”

The imperial court sent an envoy to negotiate peace, and the Jin people opened their mouths so loudly. Even after the looting of Tokyo City, I am afraid that there will not be so many items, and the greed of the Jin people can be seen.

Seeing that the Song army was strong, Wanyan Zongwang did not dare to make another attempt, and the Eastern Route Army under him was only 60,000. Wanyan Zong ordered his subordinates to move to the north of the city, restraining the rangers to plunder the Quartet, but they just stuck to the Mu Huogang, dug trenches, built barriers to defend themselves, and never returned to the arrogance of the past.

It's just that since 1 February, the morale of the main battle faction and the generals of the Song army, who had been complacent and completely had the upper hand, suddenly withered.

On the night of the first month of February, under the auspices of Li Gang, the commander of the Song army, Yao Pingzhong, took advantage of the darkness of the night to launch a sneak attack on the Jin camp. Unexpectedly, the sneak attack failed, but it was ambushed by the Jin army, losing more than 1,000 people. Yao Pingzhong didn't dare to take the charge, so he fled overnight, and he disappeared, and there was an uproar up and down the government and the opposition.

The ministers of the surrender faction in the city, led by the emperor Geng Nanzhong and the second minister Tang Ke, had already been frightened by the Jurchen iron cavalry. Hearing the news of the defeat of the Song soldiers, the scholars gloated one by one and spread rumors, saying that the reinforcements outside the city had been completely wiped out, and the court attacked Li Gang for his own use and sabotaged the peace agreement reached with the Jurchens.

Zhao Huan, an official of the Great Song Dynasty, panicked, and on the one hand, he sent Yu Wenxuzhong, a scholar of the Zhengdian University, and Wang Yu, a scholar of the Zhidong Shangge, to envoy Jinying to apologize to the Jurchens, and on the other hand, he removed Li Gang's Shangshu Youcheng and Xingying envoys, and replaced him with Cai Mao.

As a result, in another battle and peace battle in the Great Song Dynasty, the main peace faction and the surrender faction gained the upper hand again.

In the Chongzheng Palace, Zhao Huan, the son of the Great Song Dynasty, had a gloomy face, listening to the report of the courtiers below.

Cai Mao, the newly appointed Shangshu Youcheng and the pro-conquest envoy of the camp, said: "Your Majesty, after investigation, the battalion division has lost only more than 100 people, and the western soldiers and the division of King Qin have only more than 1,000 people injured, and the rest are the same, and there is no loss."

"I see."

Zhao Huan let out a sigh of relief, and then frowned again.

"Geng Xiang, aren't you rulers admonishing, saying that the division of the king of the western soldiers and the soldiers of the camp are all annihilated by Fanzi, and there is no survivor, how can you lose only more than a thousand?"

Geng Nanzhong's face did not change, and he bowed calmly: "Your Majesty, this is the news from King Qin's righteous teacher, and the ministers also misheard the rumors, I hope Your Majesty will forgive you."

In the second year of self-administration and (1112 AD), the Ministry of Rites and the Wailang was the right concubine of the prince, and the prince Zhan Shi and Huiyou Pavilion were directly bachelors, and in the East Palace for ten years, Song Zhaohuan ascended the throne, and Geng Nanzhong was worshiped as a scholar of the Imperial Palace, and signed the Privy Council. Soon, he was promoted to Shangshu Zuo Cheng and the servant under the door, and became the head of the civil ministers.

As an old minister of the East Palace and the emperor's teacher, Geng Nanzhong is a real lord and faction. The Jin people besieged the capital division, please cut the three towns to make peace, and the speaker was mostly the main battle, but Geng Nanzhong and his henchmen wanted to cut the land and seek peace.

As for his students, Geng Nanzhong also knows it. Zhao Huan has no experience in governance, just a little prevarication, the Son of Heaven will be helpless, and he will not do it.

"Your Majesty, the deacons are also worried about state affairs, so that they have not investigated such false rumors. However, Li Gangli led the war, and the success and failure were indeed his faults, and His Majesty was asked to make a holy judgment. ”

Li Bangyan hurriedly stepped forward and said, the target went straight to Li Gang.

This kind of militaristic event, these humerus ministers of the imperial court, with a light sentence of "misheard rumors" and "without detailed investigation", ignored the past, their faces were not red, their hearts were not beating, and they could still find out the reason.

"Geng Xiang, Zhongqing, now that the Jin people want to cede the three towns, what can they do?"

The emperor's hesitation was in his eyes, and Tang Ke's eyes swept over Geng Nanzhong, who was not wavering, and stepped forward and said:

"Your Majesty, the three towns in the north, the imperial court has tasted it, and if you don't do it now, it is China's distrust in Yidi. If not, the Jin people will come to attack the country, so what can I do?"

"Hebei, the four branches of the world, the four branches, I don't know who they are."

Wang Xiaodi, the squire of the Chinese book, came out and bowed solemnly and said: "Your Majesty, the Jin people once said that if you don't cut the land and pay the money, when the city is broken, it will kill all the men and women in Tokyo, burn the palace, and take all the gold and silver, Your Majesty needs to think twice!"

In the middle of the matter, Li Ye also stood up and said sharply: "Your Majesty, the Jin people's strength is unstoppable, as the so-called: people are like tigers, horses are like dragons, mountains are like apes, water is like otters, their momentum is like Mount Tai, China is like tired eggs, how can my Heavenly Empire be an enemy." Seeking peace is the best policy, and Your Majesty will make a decision. ”

Li Ye's words made the civil and military officials in the palace, especially the scholars and civil officials who held the authority of the imperial court, all tremble, and Geng Nanzhong, Tang Ke and others were even more pale, their bodies trembled, and they seemed to fall to the ground.

Zhao Huan had no master, muttered to himself, raised his head, and said in a trembling voice: "Where is Yao Pingzhong's people, haven't you found it yet?"

"Back to Your Majesty, Yao Pingzhong abandoned the army and fled, and there is no trace of him so far. I guess he died on the battlefield. ”

Seeing that the emperor's face was ugly, the chamberlain hurriedly relieved.

"Ridiculous! If he died on the battlefield, the Jin people would have hung their corpses outside the city to show off. is a well-known "little captain", but in the end it is just an embroidered pillow, which is useless. It's really thrown into my big Song's face!"

Zhao Huan shook his head and sighed: "I regret not listening to the persuasion of the seed Shaobao, so that there is today's disaster." I really can't regret it!"

Geng Nanzhong hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the golden man rides vertically and horizontally, crowns the world, and everyone who is in charge of it is scattered, this is the will of heaven, and it is not humanly possible." Your Majesty, it's only to blame that Li Gang for instigating it and rushing to achieve results. ”

"Including Nanzhong, Li Gang has no merit; Hidden goodness, Zong Ze died", the evaluation of future generations can be described as good!

Sure enough, Zhao Huan shook his head and asked listlessly, "Geng Qing, where is Li Gang now?"

"Li Gang came to the Chongzheng Palace to ask for the right, and when he went to the palace gate, he heard that he had been dismissed, so he retreated to the bathhouse to wait for the edict."

The chamberlain replied respectfully.

Zhao Huan sighed and said, "The matter has come to this, call Li Gang to the palace."

Li Gang entered the main hall worriedly, and said to the ground: "The criminal minister Li Gang sees Your Majesty!"

He ignored Xuanfu's suggestion that the seed master Dao stick to the four walls, and strongly advocated Yao Pingzhong to steal the camp, thinking that he could make a great achievement, but he ended up with a loss of soldiers and generals, and he controlled Yao Pingzhong's escape alone.

Yao Pingzhong's public heart is private, and his ambition is great and talented, but he urges it. Now that Yao Pingzhong is defeated and missing, what face does he have to see the Son of Heaven and the people in Bianliang City.

As the head of the Qingliu, he is not his strong point in using soldiers, but he is worthy of the monarch and the people, he is selfless, and he lost militarily, and Yao Pingzhong's escape is not something that he Mr. Liang Xi can control.

Even if he is defeated, it has nothing to do with him Li Gang, who is a mediocre general and a lazy soldier, while he Li Gang is a blue sky and a white sun, worthy of heaven and earth.

Zhao Huan looked at Li Gang with a stubborn face, and then looked at the only scholars and doctors next to him, who were useless scholars, but they could crisscross the battlefield, where are the soldiers who can fight well?

In the more than 100 years since the founding of the Great Song Dynasty, these forbidden armies and the Xiang army have no blood and energy, and they have all been raised into waste. During the Great Song Dynasty and the Xia Dynasty, even the soldiers recruited in the northwest countryside were much more brave and good at fighting than the elite of the forbidden army of the imperial court.

"Li Qingjia, you are the one who wants to send troops, although you have failed, but you are also loyal. Although I have removed you from your official position, I know that there are extenuating circumstances. I will give you five hundred taels of silver, and five thousand pieces of money. The Qing family only needs to be loyal, and the court will live up to the Qing family!"

Li Gang's body trembled, and he bowed solemnly: "Thank you, Your Majesty." The ministers will do their best to share the worries of His Majesty and the court!"