"In that case," Liu Wengu's face turned different, "why does the marshal insist on going north alone?" ”

"It's dangerous to be a soldier, and you can't do a peaceful article." Zhao Xingde raised his head, a hint of determination flashed on his face, "Only by fighting for death can we break out of a way of life." He looked up at the sky, took a deep breath, shook his head and said, "Henan and Hebei, I have no less than 10 million people in the Song Dynasty." Just because the imperial court has been defeated again and again, the people's hearts have been extremely depressed, although the soldiers and civilians are dozens of times more than the Liao soldiers, many people are confused, and they would rather die by the neck than dare to resist the Liao people and let them ravage. Because of this, Yelu Dashi was able to get Longwangshu, Hebei and Henan, and wanted to swallow the southeast and destroy the Great Song Dynasty in one fell swoop. In the first battle of Yingchang Mansion, relying on the joint efforts of the army, we defeated the Liao army, who expected that the internal fighting between the DPRK and China would start again. If we want to wait until the party dispute subsides and then try to recover, I don't know how long this dull situation will continue? The soldiers and civilians in the north who have just cheered up are afraid that their hearts will be like ashes. The Liao people have this respite opportunity to consolidate Hebei and destroy Henan, and it will be ten times more difficult for us to recover the Central Plains in the future. Zhao Xingde looked at the gray sky, and a trace of anger burst out of his eyes, as if he wanted to burn the clouds of gloom into ashes. Regardless of victory or defeat, we have to make a needle, a steel needle that pierces the dull situation of the eye. ”

"But," Liu Wengu said hurriedly, "Mr. Da Song is indispensable." He admired Zhao Xingde very much, and this sentence blurted out.

Zhao Xingde was stunned for a moment, and then said: "How can Zhao be virtuous?" He was a little stunned, "There was no such person as me." Seeing that Liu Wengu was still waiting to argue, Zhao Xingde turned to ask: "Wengu, you say, if heaven and earth don't exist, is the truth still there?" Liu Wengu was also stunned, and subconsciously replied: "Nature is still there." Truthful, the universe is so. When all things are not born, there is a reason, and after all things are extinguished, the truth is not destroyed. ”

"That's exactly the case," Zhao Xingde continued, "Don't say that the victory or defeat of the First World War, even if the Liao State destroys the Great Song Dynasty, and all things in heaven and earth do not exist, the truth that we follow is still there, and it will not be extinguished forever." In comparison, what is the life and death of me, Zhao Xingde? Exhaustively studying the principles of the world, the most important thing is the unity of knowledge and action, and the most taboo is duplicity. The so-called Chao asked, it is okay to die at night, let alone go against it? He untied the saber at his waist, handed it to Liu Wengu, and said in a low voice, "You always follow me, you should know my temperament." The Northern Expedition is intended to be exciting, and if there is really a case, for the Great Song Dynasty, it is better to die a general than to live and act virtuously. ”

"Sir," Liu Wengu's eyes were a little blurred, and he took the saber with both hands, "The student obeys." ”

"Okay." Zhao Xingde patted him on the shoulder with relief, "From now on, you will be my Zhao Xingde's doorman." Liu Wengu bowed down to answer the order, only because he was in a military robe, so he did not kneel down to worship the teacher. The two of them spoke, and their footsteps never stopped. Behind Zhao Xingde was the thunder thrower battalion, and the white-legged tooth soldiers took turns pushing the baggage carts, and the wheels pressed the soft ground into deep imprints, extending firmly to the north. Under the dark gray sky, tens of thousands of troops were like a winding dragon, wandering on the withered yellow earth.

............

"Hurry up, let's go! Walk! ”

Zhao Ke staggered two steps, didn't dare to look back at the Khitan man who pushed him, and climbed into the prisoner car himself. "Your Majesty!" The exclamation of the ministers made him feel even more humiliated, this prisoner car was rebuilt from the Khitan cart at that time, the wheels and frame were very tall, but I don't know if the Liao people deliberately humiliated him, the original carriage was demolished, and it was replaced by a wooden cage, and on the long journey to the north, Zhao Ke's food and drink Lazar will be in this tall wooden cage, and will also be seen by his closest subjects.

"The most hasty resignation is the day of the temple ,......, weeping to Gong'e." Zhao Ke's heart swelled with unwillingness, "Why does God treat me so poorly?" He muttered, looking around, as if trying to find the queen who had been escorted separately, but there was a blank look in his eyes.

Bianliang, the capital of the Great Song Dynasty, was full of billowing smoke, the Liao army was wantonly carrying out the final plunder, hundreds of people were crying in panic, and the fire was getting bigger and bigger. When the Liao army occupied Bianliang, the people of Bianliang were as many as one million, and there were countless grains and grasses, weapons and wealth in the city, but after one after another looting, today's Bianliang is like a clean beehive licked by a black bear, there are dilapidated ruins everywhere, the people either flee, or are requisitioned to sign the army, and most of the remaining are the old and weak women and children who are unable to move, as the weather turns cold and the food is becoming scarce, there are a large number of people every day, hastily buried in the abandoned soil outside the city.

Behind the prisoner carts of Zhao Ke and other clansmen, there were more than 100,000 officials and craftsmen who came out of Anyuanmen, and they marched on foot in a panic and panic. In order to prevent the Song people from rebelling in the city, the towers and gates of Bianliang have long been demolished, and only a black city hole remains in the magnificent and majestic Anyuan Gate. The captives of the Southern Dynasty walked out of this black hole and embarked on a long journey. Everyone's hearts were filled with despair, moving their legs numbly like the walking dead. Farther away, even larger than the artisan procession, is an endless fleet of mules and horses. Although the holy decree dictated by Yelu Dashi listed the craftsmen and the Song clan in the first place, and they were to be transported to Hebei before all kinds of materials, but after the implementation of the layers, it fell out of order. For more than a year, the Liao State has been looting the gold, silver, cloth, grain, livestock, etc. of the Southern Dynasty all the time, and many booty have been concentrated near Bianliang along the original channels of the Song State, and then transported to the north. For more than a year, treasures, silk, and slaves from the Southern Dynasties flooded the Liao market, and many powerful and powerful merchants made a fortune.

The cavalry of threes and twos monitored around the team going north, and the Khitans lived in pursuit of water and grass, and most of the Khitan cavalry did not care very much about the gains and losses of the capital of the Southern Dynasty, except for a few important ministers of the imperial court. The cavalrymen looked enviously at the long convoy, unscrupulously chattering about the advantages of the court's dignitaries, and then joked with each other lightly.

Li Ruobing's current clothes are just a dirty and torn short jacket and a pair of sheepskin pants, and he is quite experienced in tying his trouser legs with wool to keep warm. This is necessary during the cold season. He was thrown into the stable at the beginning, but it was a blessing in disguise, because there were too many Song ministers captured, and the Liao people soon "forgot" his identity and called him as a "useful" groom, and correspondingly, he was treated better as a groom than ordinary soldiers, and he didn't even have to walk in the captive ranks like other Song courtiers. From the outside, he no longer looked like a scholar at all, his hair and beard were messy, and he was full of lice, only his eyes were still bright and sharp, but now, there was sadness in those eyes that could not be concealed.

"It's a pity," a Khitan ten-captain muttered in a low voice, "what a city," he patted Li Ruobing's shoulder comfortingly, and half-jokingly said, "If your officers and soldiers don't have to take it back, it won't be ruined like this." Li Ruobing's throat moved, his teeth bit his tongue, and a salty smell rushed straight to his mouth and nose, but he didn't say anything.

Zhu Ying and several other concubines were in a prisoner car not far from Li Ruobing, although she had a hairpin cloth skirt and unkempt sideburns, in Li Ruobing's eyes, she was still beautiful. The pain was like a poisonous snake biting at his heart, and he carefully concealed his eyes, but his gaze stayed on the figure as if it were frozen.

Zhu ..... Nun...... Niangniang ....." Li Ruobing was like in a dream, and her heart was full of mixed feelings.

At this time, Zhu Ying seemed to suddenly feel something, turned her face, the eyes of the two met, Zhu Ying's willow eyebrows frowned slightly, and then she was stunned, although Li Ruobing's appearance changed greatly, she still recognized it at a glance and covered her mouth with her hand. At this point, Li Ruobing didn't care about anything, stroked his beard, and nodded in greeting. In this action, Zhu Ying teased him for being too old, but now things are wrong. Zhu Ying looked over there, only to feel that her heart was like a knife, over the years, she had thought that her heart was like ashes, but when she woke up like a dream, it hurt her heart and lungs. Tears rolled twice in her eyes, and she forced her face away.

Li Ruobing sighed and turned around as well, so as not to be noticed by others. In the panic of the people, no one noticed the bits and pieces between the two people. The people walked slowly and silently to the north, and behind them, countless pillars of smoke were rising into the air, and Bianliang, the capital of the Song Kingdom and the largest city in the Central Plains, was burning, and the whole sky was covered with flying ashes......

............

In Dunhuang, in the Linquan Palace, Zhang Shanfu presented Wu Jie's recital, and said with a displeased face: "Wu Jie's disobedience to military orders, unauthorized marching, and after a great victory, not only did not know how to restrain himself, but instead sent a large army to get involved in the dispute between the Liao and Song Dynasties, which is really proud." ”

Chen Xuan smiled slightly, and did not mention this matter, but asked: "General Wu's suggestion, what do you think of the marching division?" ”

He put one hand on the fold and did not look closely. The situation of the first battle in Yingchang Mansion, Chen Xuan got a report early. Although Wu Jie's troops were sent without authorization, Wu Jie's only led more than 10,000 cavalry, defeated the cavalry army of the Northern Courtyard and the Imperial Ledger in one fell swoop, and beheaded more than 20,000 people, completely cutting off the possibility of Liao annexing Song in a short period of time. Compared with the prolonged war in the west and the delay in achieving a decisive victory, Wu Jie's timely victory was a big victory, and Chen Xuan was very satisfied. However, what the Marching Division was most disgusted by was the arbitrariness of the generals, and Zhang Shanfu's strong dissatisfaction was also expected by Chen Xuan.

"Wu Jie's only thinking about winning military merits, but he didn't see that the Central Plains was the place of the four wars," Zhang Shanfu shook his head, "Even if Yelu Dashi retreats to Hebei, it is only a shrink of troops, and the cavalry can go south at any time." What's more troublesome is that Bianliang is the capital of the Song Dynasty, and Henan is also where the Song Dynasty is located. Now the battle in the west is getting bigger and bigger, and almost all the princes of Dashi are involved, it is the critical juncture of the competition for national strength, how can we open another battlefield, for today's plan, since the Liao State has suffered a heavy setback, and the Song family is caught in internal strife, we just wait and see, and wait for the end of the war in the west, and then send troops to Kanto in one fell swoop. ”

"...... like this" Chen Xuan was a little disappointed and turned to Liu Yi, "What does the prime minister think?" ”