After Xiao Gan escaped from Zhuozhou, he rode back to Yanjing overnight, and then directly entered the palace to report the preparation of Chang Sheng's army to the virtuous woman Xiao Pu.

After hearing this, Xiao Puxian was silent for a long time, and then said leisurely: "Didn't you say that Pharmacist Guo would not descend to the Song Dynasty?" ”

Xiao Gan was ashamed and said: "It's the minister who has lost his eyes, but I didn't expect that Guo Yaoshi is also a white-eyed wolf who can't be raised!" ”

Xiao Gan really didn't expect that Guo Yaoshi would also betray Da Liao and betray him, in his mind, if it wasn't for him, Guo Yaoshi and they would have been killed a long time ago, how can there be today, who betrayed him, and there is no Guo Yaoshi and they betrayed him.

At this time, Xiao Gan remembered that the Changsheng Army was an army with a tradition of betrayal, such an army was not worthy of being trusted, and whoever trusted this army would be counterattacked by this army.

Now, Zhuozhou is about to fall, the southern gate of Yanjing is about to be completely opened, and Yanjing City is really precarious.

Xiao Gan said in a deep voice: "The situation is not optimistic now, I don't know what the Queen Mother has planned?" ”

Xiao Puxian sighed and said, "Let's discuss it tomorrow." ”

The next day, in the Yuanhe Palace, Xiao Puxian said to the civil and military officials: "Now, the Jurchen Tun army is in Bei'anzhou, and it will go south at any time to attack Yanjing. The Jinwu army has captured Ruzhou and Yanzhou, and the army is under Juyong Pass, and will soon knock on the pass and attack Yanjing. Yizhou Gao Feng and Zhuozhou Guo Yaoshi betrayed our Great Liao and surrendered to the Song Dynasty one after another, and the Song army has advanced into Yizhou and Zhuozhou, and will soon be under the city. Nowadays, the situation in our Daliao is very grim, and it can be said that it has reached the time of life and death. If you have any clever plans, you may wish to speak freely. ”

After Li Chuwen was executed by Xiao Puxian, Zuo Qigong succeeded him as prime minister, he looked around, and saw that no one was willing to be the first to stand up, so he came out and said: "In the opinion of the old minister, you can send an envoy to the Jin State or the Jinwu army to be a minister. My Daliao is full of holes, and my breath is dying, and it may be difficult to save it if I don't rely on one strong person. ”

Zuo Qigong is seventy-two years old this year, but he is deaf and clear-headed.

Han Fang, who was to be controlled by the Ganwen Pavilion, put forward a different view, and he said: "The minister thinks that it is better to be a minister to the Jin State or the Jin Wu Army than to be a minister to the Great Song Dynasty." ”

After a pause, Han Fang said again: "My Great Liao and the Great Song Dynasty have a century-old oath and a good historical foundation, and besides, the Great Song Dynasty is a big civilized country, rich and prosperous. And the Jin Kingdom started from the borderland, acting arrogantly, just like an insatiable wolf of wealth, robbing my Daliao territory and digging up the tomb of my Daliao ancestors, and the gentleman is not with him. As for Cai still of the Jin Wu army, he is a traitor of the Great Song Dynasty, and his name is not right, and they don't even have a country name, and more importantly, Cai is still seriously injured and poisoned, and he is in danger, maybe as soon as he dies, the Jin Wu army will fall apart. Such a comparison is naturally the best to claim the domain to the Great Song Dynasty. ”

Han Fang was the champion of the imperial examination ten years ago, who was kind and kind, and always advocated approaching the Great Song Dynasty to protect the community.

Zuo Qigong said to Han Fang: "Don't you see the despicable behavior of the Great Song Dynasty? When our Da Liao was facing the death of the country, they tore up the covenant, took the opportunity to divide up the land of my Da Liao, treacherously and fell into the ground, such an ally can be trusted? ”

Han Fang said-for-tat: "The Great Song Dynasty sent troops north to recover the sixteen states of Yanyun, these places were originally the homeland of the Central Plains, and it is understandable that the Great Song Dynasty wanted to take it back. The Jurchens are not, the Jurchens want to destroy our Great Liao Sect Temple, this is their ultimate goal, so even if we send an envoy to negotiate, it will definitely not have a good result. Therefore, proclaiming to the Jurchens is just wishful thinking on the part of Zuo Xianggong. As for Cai Ying, his barbarism is not inferior to that of the Jurchens, forcibly occupying the daughter of the royal family of our Liao State, and the dignitaries of Yundi were killed by him eight or nine times out of ten, and he is really not a gentleman. Compared with the Great Song Dynasty Zhao Tianzi, he is a well-known Dundun gentleman, who is generous to people, even if his subordinates make big mistakes, they will not investigate deeply. ”

After listening to the words of the two, the ministers discussed a lot and exchanged ears.

Some of them are in favor of reducing gold, some are in favor of reducing the Song Dynasty, and some are in favor of reducing Cai Yi.

Only Xiao Gan and Yelu Dashi were silent.

Seeing that all the ministers were in favor of surrender, and no one advocated desperately defending the city and resisting to the end, Xiao Puxian couldn't help but feel sad and painful in her heart - from the bottom of her heart, Xiao Puxian was resolutely opposed to surrender, although she was a woman, she had a strong personality, and advocated that she would rather be broken than broken.

But—

Now the ministers all suggested that they should seek peace with the Great Song Dynasty, either to Dajin or to Cai Zhen's ministers.

Xiao Puxian thought about it for a while, and decided to push the boat down the river - Xiao Puxian felt that this was also a good delaying tactic, which could buy more time for further planning in the future.

Xiao Puxian said: "Don't fight, I think all three are desirable." For the Great Song Dynasty and Dajin and the Jin Wu Army, we all sent envoys to sue for peace, pay money and call the ministers, who of the three of them accept first, and we Daliao will take refuge in whom, what do you think? ”

The ministers said in unison: "The Queen Mother is wise. ”

Xiao Puxian looked at Xiao Gan and Yelu Dashi and asked, "What do you think?" ”

Xiao Gan had already guessed the intention of Xiao Pu's virtuous daughter, so he smiled slightly, and then said: "The minister has no objection, everything will be subject to the will of the Queen Mother." ”

Yelu Dashi did not object, and he also understood the intentions of Xiao Puxian.

But—

Compared with Xiao Puxian and Xiao Gan, Yelu Dashi thought more far-reaching, he thought: "With the existing forces, if you want to resist the Jin army, the Jin Wu army, and the Song army from three sides, the possibility of winning is almost zero, so you must plan early." ”

Actually-

Regarding the question of where to go after quitting Yanjing, Yelu Dashi and Xiao Gan actually communicated in private.

However, the two have some differences of opinion.

After thinking about it thoroughly, Yelu Dashi thought that they should go west and go to Jiashan to join Yelu Yanxi - in Yelu Dashi's view, Yelu Yanxi still has tens of thousands of troops in his hands, and whether it is Western Xia or a few Dadan tribes who are still loyal to Daliao, it is possible to lend troops to Yelu Yanxi, and even Cai is still likely to lend troops to Yelu Yanxi, so that the two sides may not be able to make a comeback. In addition, the western region has a vast territory and has room and room for development, which can greatly increase their strategic depth.

Xiao Gan thought that he should go north to the area inhabited by the Xi people, he believed that there was a mass base there to facilitate the expansion of the army and survival - Xiao Gan was already disappointed in Yelu Yanxi, and he was not optimistic that Yelu Yanxi would be able to make a comeback, so instead of pinning his hopes on Yelu Yanxi, he preferred to go it alone.

In this regard, Xiao Puxian Nu actually has her own plans - Xiao Puxian Nu also knows that it will not be too long to stick to Yanjing, but she will not withdraw unless it is absolutely necessary, and once she withdraws from Yanjing, she can only go to Jiashan to join Yelu Yanxi, after all, their husband and wife passed the throne to Yelu Yanxi's son (that is, Yeluding, the king of Qin), and Xiao Puxian Nu knew that Yelu Yanxi coveted her, so Xiao Puxian Nu was optimistic that Yelu Yanxi should not resent her, and maybe she would accept her as the queen. She can regain power through Yelu Yanxi, more power.

On the same day, Xiao Puxiannu sent Xiao Rong, the envoy of Yongchang Palace, and Han Fang, the envoy of Ganwen Pavilion, to the Great Song Dynasty, and Zhang Yan, the Pingzhang Shi of Tongzhongshumen, and Zhang Wei, the official of Shangshudu, to envoy Dajin, and Xiao Huai, the deputy envoy of the Third Division, and Li Maung, the governor of the Staff, to envoy Jin Wujun.

The latter two roads are not listed for the time being, only saying that Xiao Rong and Han Fang entered from the Baigou River and arrived at the Baigou Post Station first.

When Tong Guan heard the news, he hurriedly discussed countermeasures with Cai You, Liu Yanqing, Yu Wenxu and others.

Cai You proposed: "You can receive them with military salutes, so as to show the prestige of our army." ”

Liu Yanqing and Yu Wenxuzhong were both in favor.

So, Tong Guan asked Liu Yanqing to gather the team outside Xiongzhou City, and he told Liu Yanqing: "Find more tall and spirited soldiers." ”

Soon, Xiao Rong and Han Fang came to the city of Xiongzhou, only to see the Song army lined up to greet them, the military flag hunting, the camp was neat, and the soldiers were in good spirits.

Xiao Rong's face was full of surprise, and then he turned his head to Han Fang and said, "This is a military salute." ”

Han Fang didn't say anything, but he knew very well in his heart that Da Song was showing them military might.

Judging from the military appearance displayed by the Great Song Dynasty, the military strength is indeed not weak, the equipment is advanced, the troops are sufficient, and the neat team is beyond the bounds at a glance.

This made Xiao Rong and Han Fang even more determined to surrender to the Great Song Dynasty.

Tong Guan and Cai You met Xiao Rong and Han Fang in the Xuanfu Division's meeting room.

Xiao Rong and Han Fang explained their intentions, and then handed over Xiao Puxian's recital sheet to Tong Guan.

Tong Guan looked at it, didn't say anything, and handed the watch to Cai You beside him.

After Cai You saw it, he said: "Don't accept the land, just call the ministers to pay the money?" This is not good, it is not acceptable, we cannot accept it. ”

Han Fang explained: "In the area of Yanjing, the composition of the residents is very complex, there are Khitans, Xi people, Bohai people, not all Han people, if it is completely accepted and handed over to the Great Song Dynasty to manage, it may not be a good thing, so it is the best of both worlds for the Liao State to stay here for more than 100 years to help the Great Song Dynasty govern this place." ”

Tong Guan was silent.

Han Fang said: "Our Liao country is a good neighbor, and history has proven it. If we destroy the Liao State, the Great Song Dynasty will have to get along with the two evil neighbors of the Jin State and the Jin Wu Army, and there may be no peace. ”

Cai You was a little impatient when he heard this, and he said in a very tough tone: "There is no need to say anything, in short, if we don't accept the land, we can't accept it." ”

Tong Guan felt that what Han Fang said also made some sense, so he said: "In this way, I will immediately report this recital of the Empress Dowager Xiao to the imperial court with a fast horse to ask the officials to decide, and ask the two envoys to wait at the post station for a few days." ”

Xiao Rong and Han Fang came to live in the post office.

Xiao Rong felt that there was a lot of hope for peace, so he said to Han Fang: "You are right, after all, the Great Song Dynasty is a civilized power, and it is not a bad thing to call them vassals. ”

Han Fang had a bad premonition, and he had a hunch that this might not happen.

Therefore, after listening to Xiao Rong's words, Han Fang said leisurely: "I hope that reconciliation can be promoted, so that the people of Li will be spared the suffering of misery." ”

……