Time flies, more than half a year has passed in the blink of an eye, and it is August.

Due to Zheng Fei's secret support, a steady stream of firearms were secretly transported to Xijing, Wang Qing's strength increased greatly, and the Fangshan army also relied on the towering and sturdy city walls of Xijing to launch a stubborn counterattack against the Song army, relying on expensive firearms to cause huge casualties to the Song army, and more importantly, the deterrent power brought by firearms was far greater than its real power, and it became a dark cloud that could not be dispersed in the hearts of the Song army!

Tong Guan commanded the army to attack Xijing for a long time, and repeatedly wanted to lure the Fangshan army out of Xijing, but the Fangzhou army was not fooled, and it was not possible to stay in Xijing, anyway, Xijing had grain and grass, and it would not be a problem to support it for another half a year.

At the same time, the Fangzhou army after Xijing was also gradually stepping up its attacks on the surrounding states and counties, and they took two more states in half a year.

The disaster is not a single line, and there is intelligence that because Tong Guan has withdrawn the 70,000 troops of the Western Army, the total strength of the Western Army has plummeted, resulting in the emptiness of the Northwest Army, which is okay for a short time, and with the disadvantage of the Xijing Suppression of Bandits, the situation of the emptiness of the Northwest Army has become more and more obvious, and there is intelligence that Xia Guo seems to have been aware of this situation, and is beginning to move again, as if he wants to make a comeback, and avenge the defeat of the Northwest the year before last!

The emperor was extremely dissatisfied with this, and gradually lost patience, and in the past half a month, he even sent five gold medals in a row to urge King Jia and Tong Guan, and King Jia also fell into extreme anxiety.

"You brought me to this place in Xijing, now my father is disappointed in me, and the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty are also suspicious of me, this is all caused by you, you must do something, we can't delay any longer, we must launch a decisive battle against the thieves as soon as possible!" Jiawang Zhao Kai said unceremoniously to Tong Guan, his eyes were bloodshot, and it was caused by poor sleep for a long time, and the huge pressure also made this young and handsome prince lose a lot of reason.

"It's really all the old minister's fault," Tong Guan sighed, "It's the old minister's miscalculation of the situation, I didn't expect the Fangshan thief to be such a difficult bone to gnaw, and the firearms in their hands are so powerful, but, Your Highness, we haven't failed yet, it's just that the progress is not good, we must not mess with ourselves, now is not the time to launch a decisive battle, otherwise we will really lose!" Your Highness, don't forget how the crown prince was defeated in the southeast! ”

"So what should we do?!" Zhao Kai said angrily, "Xia Guo is about to move, if we don't end the battle quickly and transfer the western army back to the northwest, if there is chaos in the northwest, we will also be a big crime!" ”

Tong Guan didn't speak, his heart was also very heavy, and for the first time in all these years, he had a feeling of despair, but he understood that he must not impulsively launch a decisive battle, because maintaining the current state at least has not caused a major crime, and once the decisive battle is lost, he has committed a heinous crime,

So what should be done? Transferring back to the Western Army will bring ruin to the situation in Xijing, and relying on this group of waste-like Xijing Army alone can only lead to defeat; But if you don't transfer back to the Western Army, if something happens to the northwest, the responsibility will still be your own, and the black pot will also be borne by yourself!

Tong Guan fell into deep thought.......

Zhao Kai was even more furious when he saw this, he simply hated this eunuch to death, if it weren't for him, he would not have come to Xijing, let alone fall into this dilemma, Zhao Kai only felt that his heart was extremely bored, and he could only keep walking around the tent like a madman to keep him from going crazy on the spot.

"Your Highness, we only have one way now!" Tong Guan's voice suddenly sounded, Zhao Kai was suddenly overjoyed, and hurriedly stopped a few steps and walked in front of Tong Guan and said urgently, "What way?!" ”

Tong Guan said in a deep voice, "Go back!" ”

Zhao Kai was stunned for a moment, and said in surprise, "Return...... Go? ”

Tong Guan nodded, "Go back to Tokyo and stay away from this quagmire!" Even if we return in vain, the Holy One may be very dissatisfied with us, but it is better than staying here and waiting to be killed! The Holy Lord likes you so much, it won't be long before he forgets all about you in Xijing! Nothing will change! ”

Zhao Kai was horrified in his heart, but he knew that what Tong Guan said was the truth, compared to continuing to stay here and make the same big mistake as the prince in the southeast, the best way is indeed to stay away from this land of right and wrong as soon as possible, and then find a way to regain the favor of his father in the future, but the problem is ......,

Zhao Kai hesitated, "It's good to go back, but ...... How can we go back? We can't tell our father that we can't defeat the thieves, let's go back to Tokyo or something, right? ”

Tong Guan said, "The old man has already thought of a way, which is to let someone replace us." ”

Zhao Kaiqi said, "Who?" ”

Tong Guan said word by word, "Prince! ”

Zhao Kai was taken aback again, "Big brother? Big brother would be so kind to come here for us? ”

Tong Guan nodded very confidently, "He will definitely come, even more than the last time, because we have already failed here, and if he succeeds, not only will his previous purpose be achieved, but he can also take the opportunity to suppress us!" With so many benefits, he would definitely be willing to come. ”

Zhao Kai hurriedly said, "If that's the case, wouldn't we give him a chance to make meritorious contributions and climb to our heads in vain?" ”

Tong Guan smiled coldly, "How can there be such a good thing?" When we leave, I will deliberately leave a lot of good things for the Fangshan bandits, and I will deliberately lose a few more important strongholds, after the prince comes, the situation he faces will only be more sinister than ours! ”

Zhao Kai hesitated again, "Don't forget, the eldest brother is coming, Zhu Wu must come, Zhu Wu's army is so powerful,......"

Tong Guan shook his head and said indifferently, "That's simpler, the old minister also has a way to make Zhu Wu only send a small number of people!" At that time, the prince will not be able to form too strong combat power at all by relying on these rabble-like Xijing army, so it is impossible for him to win, and as long as he also loses, it will be no different from us, everyone is a loser, and no one can get cheap. ”

Zhao Kai's heart was struggling, he didn't know if he could trust Tong Guan again, what if Tong Guan made another mistake? But if you don't believe him, there is nothing you can do now, and once his method is done, it will indeed have the effect of putting death and resurrection!

Finally, Zhao Kai gritted his teeth and said to Tong Guan, "Okay! I agree, what should we do? ”

Tong Guan suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, King Jia only had to nod his head, "The old minister will immediately write to a few adults in Tokyo, and ask them to arrange for someone to visit us in the court, and persuade the saint to remove the two of us, once the saint agrees, he will re-appoint a candidate to replace us, and then several adults will strongly recommend Zhu Wu, and as long as Zhu Wu comes, the prince will definitely not be able to sit still, as long as the prince petitions, a few adults will make a little trick, so that the saint is concerned about Zhu Wu's threat, then Zhu Wu can only send a small number of troops at most, And there will be a detour to Tokyo, and by then, it will be too late for the prince to regret it! ”

Zhao Kai nodded slowly, looking at Tong Guan with a long sigh of relief in his heart, he couldn't help but feel a little afraid in his eyes, and he couldn't help but secretly rejoice in his heart, fortunately this person was on his side, otherwise ......, I am afraid that I would not even know how to die in the end!