100,000 elite soldiers, 100,000 blood. Overnight, the land of Hebei was full of smoke and war. The army of the Four Roads was like half of the four groups of demons that had been released, sweeping the Hebei Road with a devastating force. The defenders of these state capitals fled in desperation and were crushed.

From the beginning of the riverside encounter on July 15 to the first day of the first month of August, in just 15 days, the forbidden army on Hebei Road lost 100,000, which was really 100,000 elite soldiers and 100,000 blood. The war reports flew like snowflakes to the capital, and the desks of the Privy Council and the Government Hall were piled up.

What to do, what to do, at this time, the ministers of the political hall were dumbfounded, if it goes on like this, as long as the Jin army crosses the Yellow River, then it will drive straight to the capital.

The Jin army is too strong, almost to the point of outrageousness. At this time, rumors were flying all over the capital, and it was no longer the wealthy and powerful who fled, but ordinary people began to flee, and even the beggars were unwilling to stay in the city. The whole city smells of death.

This was the only city in the world with one million inhabitants at that time, and it was obviously unrealistic to evacuate all of them, but tens of thousands of people left the city every day, and it was not easy to hide from the officials.

Kaifeng Mansion Yin Xu Bingzhe is now a big head, this is tens of thousands of people out of the city every day, if intercepted, it will cause turmoil, if it is not intercepted, the problem is even greater, as long as it is the political hall to blame, this knowledge of Kaifeng Mansion will be the end.

Sure enough, while explaining to the officials, the political affairs hall strictly ordered Xu Bingzhe to find a way to stop the people from leaving the city.

The official family has never been so nervous, he really can't figure it out, Liu Zhenglong's fight against the Western Xia soldiers in the northwest is like cutting a watermelon, so easy, but why is Hebei Road so collapsed? In just half a month, 100,000 troops were annihilated, and once the Jin army crossed the Yellow River, it would be out of control.

"An army of 100,000 is 100,000 pigs, and it won't be killed so quickly." The angry official family had an urge to kill, at this time, he finally couldn't bear it anymore, and sent all his anger on Tong Guan, in the eyes of this Daojun Emperor, Hebei Road was killed by the Jin army, not because the forbidden army was weak, nor the general's martial arts, all of this was caused by Tong Guan, a bastard.

The official picked up the imperial pen and prepared to write the holy decree, but what did he write? He had no idea for a while, and it was rare that he really wanted to kill Tong Guan.

At this time, the chief manager Zhang Di carefully put the teacup on the dragon case, and he said softly: "Your Majesty, you can rest for a while, and you will meet Taishi Cai later?" ”

Taishi Cai, yes, at this time, I really took a look at what Taishi Cai meant, and the official waved his hand and said: "Hurry up and invite Taishi Cai, by the way, invite Liang Shicheng too." ”

Zhang Di has been following the official family for more than 20 years, and he quickly understood what the official family meant, that is, the official family had murderous intentions towards Tong Guan, but he was not resolute and a little reluctant.

When Cai Jing was invited in, Zhang Di said cautiously: "The official family has that meaning, now it's up to you Taishi." ”

Cai Jing suddenly didn't understand, he lowered his voice and said, "When Taifu Liang comes in for a while, you will find an opportunity to say to the official family that His Royal Highness King Yun wants to come in and ask for peace." ”

Although Zhang Di didn't know what Cai Jing meant, he still remembered it.

When the official family saw Cai Jing coming, he waved his hand and said, "Old lady, you don't need to be polite, sit down, let's talk about the monarch and ministers." ”

"Your Majesty, the old minister received a report from Xihe Road, saying that Qin Guogong had done a good job in disaster relief in the northwest. However, Qin Guogong has always emphasized that His Majesty is the reincarnation of the Bodhisattva, and it is you who sympathize with the suffering of the Li people, take out 5 million yuan from the national treasury for disaster relief, and meet the disaster area for three years of taxes. Not only that, but the local army will also help build houses for the victims to ensure that they can move into new houses before winter arrives. The dynamics of Xihe Road can be said to be freezing cold, and if the victims can't live in it, I'm afraid it will be difficult to survive the winter. Now the common people are chanting the emperor's grace, saying that His Majesty is the reincarnation of Da Luo Jinxian. ”

The officials have listened to the words of merit and virtue too much, and calluses have long grown in their ears, but today's words are pleasant and beautiful, temporarily diluting the unhappiness in their hearts. He waved his hand and said, "These are all ghosts made by Liu Zhenglong's kid, but only this son-in-law of mine can do so well in the whole world for disaster relief." It's a pity that if there was no such thing and he was allowed to serve as a Xuanfu envoy on Hebei Road, Hebei would not have fallen, and the 100,000 forbidden army would not have been annihilated. ”

Cai Jing secretly slandered in his heart, it was you, the emperor, who insisted on letting Liu Zhenglong Xuanfu Hedong Road and Tong Guan continue to Xuanfu Hebei, why is Hebei Road lost now, but you regret it.

Although he was slandered in his heart, Cai Jing didn't dare to say that, he sorted out his thoughts and said: "Your Majesty, the fall of Hebei is not enough, it should be that the friction has escalated, and the imperial court should send important ministers to negotiate with the Jin State, so that the Jin State can withdraw from those occupied state capitals, and strictly implement the maritime alliance." Of course, the imperial court will give some financial compensation. ”

Absurd, how can you vomit the food you eat in your stomach? How could the city occupied by the Jin army be returned? Cai Jing's proposal is obviously absurd, but the official family is convinced.

The official family has been deceived by the courtiers for many years, and they can't recognize the situation at all, and they have always thought that the Great Song Dynasty is strong and has enough strength to crush the Jin State, and they also think that Cai Jing's suggestion is very good, as long as the important ministers go and show a certain sincerity, the Jin army will withdraw at the end of the month. How good it would be for the two countries to be at peace and have nothing to do, so why bother to meet each other?

After pondering for a moment, the official said, "The old lady is reasonable, but who is the right person to send this important minister to the Jin State?" ”

"The cardinal is the most suitable." Cai Jing decided to send Tong Guan to the guillotine, and it was obvious that at this time, it was very appropriate to send Tong Guan to Hebei to negotiate with Jin Guo. He said very firmly: "As the king of Guangyang County and the privy envoy of the Privy Council, Tong Shuxiang can be said to be a high and powerful position, and the weight of the envoy country is enough, so that the Jin country can see the willingness of my dynasty and the Jin country to reconcile. Not only that, Tong Shuxiang has been operating on Hebei Road for many years, and he is very familiar with the situation in Hebei, and he has also dealt with Jin Jun. ”

It seems that Cai Jing is right, but the official family always feels that something is wrong, but now there is really no second person who is more suitable than Tong Guan to envoy.

To tell the truth, when the official family crowned Tong Guan as the king of Guangyang County, he thought that this old fox would accept it when he saw it, and took the initiative to resign as a privy envoy, but this old fox just pretended to be confused.

The official family is very angry with Tong Guan who doesn't know how to advance or retreat, but after all, he is loyal to himself, and he is a little reluctant to kill him. Now that Hebei has almost fallen, it seems that this old fox is still inseparable. He didn't realize that Cai Jing was digging a pit for Tong Guan, so he said, "Let's talk about it when Liang Qing's family comes." ”

At this time, Liang Shicheng came in, and as soon as he came in, he saluted and said, "Your Majesty, the minister has a book." ”

"What is it, it makes Liang Qing's family anxious." The official family was in a much better mood at this time, and completely threw the fall of Hebei out of the clouds.

Liang Shicheng glanced at Cai Jing, and after getting the other party's affirmation, he said: "Now the people in the capital are panicking and have left Beijing, and the prefect Xu Bingzhe has not handled it properly, and now the resentment outside is boiling, and the situation is in danger of getting out of control." The ministers asked Xu Bingzhe to be dismissed and Nie Shan to be appointed as the prefect. ”

What is this, how is it involved in the change of prefect. The official family knew that there were a large number of powerful people fleeing outside, but he didn't take it seriously, why did even the common people have to leave Beijing now, do these people think that the forbidden army can't hold the capital, and the Jin army will conquer the capital?

The good mood of the official family just now suddenly ran out of the clouds, and he snorted and said: "This Xu Bingzhe is really a waste, and there is more than enough success and failure." Liang Qing's family, not to mention Xu Bingzhe, tell me how many people go out of the city every day now? ”

"More than ten thousand."

More than 10,000, the subordinate officials here are really angry, he said angrily: "Pass the decree, from tomorrow, there will be more than 3,000 people out of the city, and Xu Bingzhe, the prefect, will not do it." In addition, officials of the fifth rank and above are not allowed to leave Beijing by their families. Military family members are also not allowed to leave Beijing. Princes and ministers, and meritorious families are not allowed to leave Beijing, and once discovered, they will be severely punished. ”

Cai Jing and Liang Shicheng looked at each other and smiled, the two of them really knew a little, and now they are glad to obey Liu Zhenglong, transfer their families and property in advance, and also buy houses and fields in Hangzhou. If you buy it now, I don't know what the market is. A year ago, there were 5,000 acres of courtyards in Hangzhou, but now 300,000 yuan can't be bought.

At this time, Zhang Di said in a stint and needle: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness King Yun wants to see you." ”

King Yun, as soon as he heard King Yun, the official family remembered Tong Guan, remembered the forbidden army, without Tong Guan's intervention, how could King Yun win over the commander of the forbidden army? At this time, the official family made up his mind in his heart, and he said: "Send a decree to Tong Guan, and let him, the envoy of Hebei Road Xuanfu, go to the Jin State to negotiate." If he can't recover Hebei, he won't be the king of the county, and he won't have to be the privy envoy. ”

Negotiation is one thing, strengthening defense is another, the official said to Cai Jing: "Master Cai, do you say that it is necessary to recruit the Duke of Qin to come back to defend against the enemy?" ”

"The Jin army has also invaded Hedong Road, at this time, if Qin Guogong comes back, the situation on Hedong Road will deteriorate, and I am afraid it will be even more difficult to end at that time." Cai Jing promised Liu Zhenglong to do two things, the first was to dig a pit for Tong Guan and kill the old fox. The second is to prevent the official family from summoning him back to the capital.

Now that the Jin army has captured Hebei, if you can't find a suitable reason at this time, it will be difficult to prevent the official family from recalling Liu Zhenglong. Cai Jing pondered for a moment and said: "The imperial court should be actively preparing for war, and the forbidden troops of Jingdong East Road, Huainan East Road, and Huainan West Road should be dispatched back to the capital for defense. Losing Qin Guogong is not the best choice, once Qin Guogong leaves Hedong Road, if the Jin army occupies Hedong Road, then Jingzhao Mansion can be invaded to the west, and then the northwest half of the country will fall. To the east, the capital will be invaded, and if the capital is attacked by the Jin army in the north, the capital will be in danger. ”

Liang Shicheng knew that it was time for him to appear, so he stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, if you transfer Qin Guogong without authorization, then it will give the world an illusion, that is, the Great Song Dynasty will not be able to play without Qin Guogong." In that case, where is the majesty of the imperial court? Besides, didn't Prime Minister Tong go to the Jin State to negotiate, if he could solve the problem through negotiations, why provoke a war? Moreover, Liang Fangping had already led 80,000 troops to garrison on the bank of the Yellow River, and as long as the Jin army could not cross the Yellow River, then the Jin army would not be able to threaten the capital. ”

The official family was originally a hesitant person, but now he is hesitant again, he doesn't want Liu Zhenglong's prestige to be too high in his bones, and he is also afraid that this protégé of the Son of Heaven will become a chaotic minister and thief, which is why Liu Zhenglong was relieved of his military power in the first place. As for the later letting Liu Zhenglong Xuanfu Hedong instead of Xuanfu Hebei, this also has the meaning of prevention. Hebei Road is too close to the capital, and if Liu Zhenglong really fails to rebel and thieves, he will definitely threaten the Jingshi. Obviously, it is safe to put it on Hedong Road.

Finally, the official waved his hand and said, "Leave the matter of defense to the Privy Council." The two of you will discuss how to stabilize the situation in the capital, so as not to make people panic and restless. ”

Cai Jing and Liang Shicheng left happily, in the eyes of the two of them, Jin Guo would not return the occupied states and counties 100%, and Tong Guan's dismissal entered the countdown.

Sitting at home behind closed doors, woe will come from heaven.

After running back from Taiyuan Mansion, Tong Guan was already low-key and couldn't be low-key anymore, but he was still wiped out. After listening to Zhang Di read the holy decree, the old fox slumped to the ground, and he didn't know what to say for a while.

Zhang Di looked at Tong Guan with disdain and said, "King Guangyang County, still don't you receive the decree to thank you?" This means that the imperial court envoy is such a beautiful thing, you should feel how much Your Majesty values you, thank you, the miscellaneous family still has to go on an errand? ”

"Thank you." Tong Guan didn't know when Zhang Di left, he just knew that he couldn't escape this catastrophe, so he could only go to Jin Guo hard.

Now the Jin State intends to invade the Great Song Dynasty, and in this state, the Jin State will be sent back, and the Hebei Road will be asked back, which is no different from killing the head for Tong Guan, but the thunder, rain and dew are all Jun En, and they can't be avoided, so they can only reluctantly go to the envoy.

Before death comes, ants are still stealing life, and they are human! Tong Guan's last situation privy envoy power, without going through the Privy Council, he transferred 30,000 Shengjie troops to Hebei without authorization, which can be regarded as escorting his envoy this time.

Shengjie Army, also known as the New Western Army, is an army built with a lot of money when Tong Guan Xuanfu Northwest was born, and I have to say that this army is still very brave and good at fighting when it is fighting with Western Xia, which is the lifeblood of Tong Guan, and now it is a critical moment of life and death, and he can only be transferred to save his life.

The Shengjie army originally had 150,000, but unfortunately most of them were stationed in other places, not the Beijing division, otherwise Tong Guan would have applied to take the Shengjie army to Hebei to recover the lost territory, instead of bringing 30,000 troops to the envoy.

Every move in the capital is under the monitoring of the Imperial City Division, and Tong Guan asked the 30,000 Shengjie army to escort it, which was originally a very confidential matter, but under Liang Fang's ulterior motives, it became known to passers-by. The newspapers were full of news about the resentment of the Shengjie army's resentment in Hebei. gives the melon-eating audience who don't know the truth an illusion, that is, Tong Guan, the king of Guangyang County, is determined to recover Hebei, and if the negotiation fails, he will use force to solve the problem.

The news soon spread to the palace, and the official family looked at this matter very lightly, and did not think that Tong Guan had any big problem with the unauthorized mobilization of the Shengjie army, as long as he recovered Hebei, then everything was not a problem, on the other hand, if he finally lost power and humiliated the country, it would be death.

After leaving Beijing, Tong Guan had a feeling that he couldn't come back, so he summoned Sun Fu, the secretary of the military department, before leaving.

After all, Tong Guan had commanded the battle on the Western Front, which made Sun Fu, a weak scholar, admire, and he cautiously asked Tong Guan: "King of the county, do you say that this Jin man will come over?" ”

"Yes, definitely." Although he took the Shengjie army this time, Tong Guan still firmly believed that the Jin army would definitely cross the Yellow River and come to the city. It doesn't matter if there is a result or not, the key is to save your life.

As soon as he heard that Jin Jun could fight, Sun Fu's knees weakened and he was almost paralyzed to the ground. He stumbled and said, "King Jun, how will that be good, how will it be good." ”

"Let's have a destiny, maybe those meritorious families are right, no matter whether the Jin army can come to the city or not, they must transfer their families to the south." Tong Guan and Sun Fu have been friends for many years, and he didn't want his friends to fall, so he said: "The military department has no military power, you know this very well. However, the capital is about to usher in drastic changes, and it will not work without military power. My envoy this time, no matter what the result is, the position of the privy envoy will not be able to be kept, and the successor is likely to be Gao Chen, so you can find a way to operate it and serve as the privy envoy of Tongzhi, this is still possible. As for how it works, find the old lady Cai Jing, and try to win the support of the meritorious family, after all, their opinions are very important for this kind of thing. ”

"Thank you, King of the County."

"You and I have been friends for many years, so there is no need to be polite, after this king leaves, the family affairs will be handed over to the virtuous brother."

"We will not fail in our mission."

The departure of the Shengjie army from the capital made the defense of the capital further weakened, which was obviously not a good signal, in this case, more military officials and dignitaries left the capital. This is not something that Kaifeng Mansion can stop, so it turns a blind eye and treats it as if nothing has happened.

When the 30,000 army came to the bank of the Yellow River, Tong Guan deliberately met with Liang Fangping.

To tell the truth, Liang Fangping has also spent these days in torment, Hebei Road fell within fifteen days, of course, most of them surrendered, and there were not many states and counties that were really conquered. This eunuch himself is greedy for life and afraid of death, where has he gone through the war, but the emperor's order has to hold on. Now that Tong Guan is here, it is a savior for Liang Fangping, he is very excited, and he can't wait to serve around Tong Guan as a pug.

Liang Fangping has always been a dog, not only Liang Shicheng's cronies, but also secretly loyal to Tong Guan, this greedy for life and afraid of death, two-faced guy pursues the philosophy of respecting the strong, and trying to tie up the strong as much as possible.

Tong Guan inspected the 80,000 garrisons, and this inspection found many problems, but he did not intend to point them out, and now that the officials are unkind to him, then don't blame himself for being unjust. He said to Liang Fangping: "It is difficult for this line of defense to stop the Jin army from moving south, and your task is heavy. So you must have a perfect countermeasure, otherwise once the Jin army crosses the Yellow River, you will be in big trouble. ”

"Please show the county king."

"You should ask the imperial court to build a line of defense, you go to the second line of defense, and then hand over this line of defense to someone else." Tong Guan's consideration was not Liang Fangping's safety at all, but his mission to Hebei this time. You must know that if you go to Hebei this time, it will be more auspicious and less auspicious, and you must be fully prepared. He continued: "This time the king will go to Hebei, and if there is a war, you will send a boat to cross the river to meet you, and then burn the pontoon bridge on the river to prevent the Jin army from crossing the river. ”

"Yes." Liang Fangping really didn't want to stay on the edge of the Yellow River, and he also wanted to return to Beijing early, so he accepted Tong Guan's suggestion and wrote a recital overnight, hoping to build a second line of defense.

On the third day, the wind and the sun were shining, and Tong Guan led 30,000 victorious troops to cross the Yellow River.

At this time, the land of Hebei was full of wars, remnants of defeated soldiers everywhere, and displaced refugees everywhere, which was really miserable. Tong Guan didn't think much of this, he just wanted to go to see Wan Yan Xianye, the marshal of the Jin Kingdom, as soon as possible, so as to end this mission early.

Hebei is not entirely right to say that it has fallen, at least there are Zhending Mansion, Zhongshan Mansion and the two big mansions are under the control of the imperial court, these two big cities are easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the army and the people are united, not to mention the 15th, that is, it may not be able to fight down for three months. This time, Wanyan Zongwang was more insidious and cunning, and did not directly forcibly attack the city, but knocked down all the counties around Zhending Mansion and Zhongshan Mansion, turned these two cities into isolated cities, and also blocked the contact with the outside world.

The army led by Wanyan Yan's mother was very close to Zhending Mansion, and there was no plan to conquer Zhending Mansion, after all, the casualties of taking this big city were too great. Now that I heard that Tong Guan led an army of 30,000 to come, he immediately had an idea, and this guy ordered the blockade to be temporarily lifted and allowed the 30,000 army led by Tong Guan to enter Zhending Mansion. What he wanted was to trap Tong Guan to death in Zhending Mansion, after all, there were 30,000 more troops, and the material consumption was huge, Zhending Mansion was a military city, and there would not be a lot of food reserves. As long as the surrounding roads are blocked, it will be much easier to force Tong Guan to surrender.

People are not as good as heaven, Tong Guan did not enter Zhending Mansion in the end, but chose to enter the small city of Xinde Mansion, the reason why this Xinde Mansion did not fall is not that the Jin army can't beat it, but that this city is too small, and it makes little sense to take it down before the Zhending Mansion is laid. Moreover, the connection between the two cities has long been severed. Of course, Xinde Mansion became the only small city under the control of the imperial court except for Zhending Mansion and Zhongshan Mansion. Hebei Road, the rest of the states and counties, large and small, all fell.