The news of the Liao people's invasion of the Kou was first spread by the wolf smoke of the beacons, the rout army was scattered everywhere, spreading all kinds of news of defeat, the capital city of Junzhou County began to close the city gate during the day, and the Liao cavalry traces were found in Xiongzhou, Bazhou, Zhending and other important towns in Hebei successively. The overwhelming rumors spread throughout Bianjing almost one day and night, and the Privy Council waited anxiously for further conclusive news, and on the night of the 28th day of the first month, the military letter sent by the Hejian Mansion was delivered in a hurry by the gold plate of the daily journey of 500 miles, and the Privy Council did not dare to slack off, and reported to Ouchi overnight.

Outside the vertical arch hall of the White Jade Palace, the eunuchs and palace maids on duty trembled, and when they entered the military book, they tiptoed, and they were even afraid of panting. The dipterocarp incense torch candles in the hall are all lit, shining as bright as day, the official Zhao You stood in front of the huge topographic map of the mountains and rivers of Hebei with a blue face, Gaoyang Pass has been broken through by the Liao army undoubtedly, the Liao soldiers have played the advantage of cavalry swiftness and fluctuation as usual, more than ten military states in Hebei have found traces of the Liao army at the same time, and the Song army stationed in Tun can only guard the city walled and dare not act rashly. The only thing that is certain now is that at least one main force of the Liao army is besieging Hejian Province. And the Hebei camp was actually defeated by the Liao army in one fell swoop after an inexplicable mutiny, but fortunately, the new Hebei capital deployed Tong Guan to defeat and fight repeatedly, entangled tens of thousands of defeated troops to retreat to Hejian Mansion, and was still holding on to the Liao army that entered the Kou.

"If Master Tong can hold the river, the Liao army will not be able to gain a foothold in Hebei, and after plundering, it will automatically retreat." Li Bangyan, the deputy privy envoy, said with relief, "Besides, the imperial court has been running the Beijing Daimyo Mansion for a long time, and it is not so easy for the Liao army to drink the Yellow River. ”

"The Daimyo's Mansion is the old place of the camp in Hebei, and most of the elite soldiers and generals who were originally stationed were taken to the river by Lord Tong, and now there are no soldiers and no generals, how to hold on?" Zhao Zhifu, the governor of the political affairs, frowned and said, "If the name is lost, the door of Bianjing is open, I am afraid that it will ......" He didn't say any more, the more Zhao You listened, the more annoyed he became, he reached out and grabbed a pen wash, slammed it to the ground, and shouted angrily: "Tong Guan lost his teacher and humiliated the country, and ten thousand deaths are not enough to excuse himself!" The sound shook the back of the eunuch waiting outside the door, and he almost knocked over the thing in his hand.

"Your Majesty is angry," Prime Minister Cai Jing said slowly, "Lord Tong has always been loyal to the country, and there must be other reasons for such a major event in Hebei." It's just that it is important to repel the Liao people into the Kou at the moment, and this matter of investigation will be discussed later. ”

"That's what the prime minister said." Zhao You was reminded by Cai Jing and stabilized his mind, and now he still needs to rely on Tong Guan to stick to the river and threaten the back road of the Liao people.

"This time the Liao soldiers into the Kou is not more than usual, it seems that the march is quite slow, at present, the inland states and counties are found to be the Liao country's rangers, the brigade of men and horses seems to be still staying in the north of the river, it seems that the Liao army has made up its mind to conquer the river, all the idea of taking Hebei's geographical advantages, not just looting." Shen Yun of the Imperial City Division said slowly, "But in this way, the threat to the Jingshi is less. ”

Shen Yun's words somewhat relieved Zhao You's worries about the Jingshi, "Hejian," he looked at the city that was besieged by the Liao soldiers, and then moved his gaze downward, "Daimyo," The defense north of Bianjing is centered on the Daimyo's Mansion, if the Daimyo is lost, the situation will further collapse, at this time, Zhao You can't help but secretly regret that he ordered the Hebei camp to move to Hejian, for the cavalry that acted quickly with the Liao, the position of the Hebei camp was too forward, and the defense was very passive.

"Your Majesty," Cai Jingplease coughed lightly, "The Daimyo Mansion is not completely without soldiers, the outgoing Hebei camp has deployed Liu Yanqing is still there, and there are not a few soldiers who have been defeated and returned from the river one after another, but Liu Yanqing can be reinstated as the envoy of the Hebei army, so that he can collect the defeated army, stick to the Daimyo's Mansion, and wait for the opportunity to attack and expel the Liao army." In addition, he could order the eastward battalion of the river to aid Hebei, and the armies of the western Beijing battalion were dispatched to consolidate the Beijing division. In this way, the overall situation can be stable. ”

He instructed Tong Guan to rely on Hu Qi, and originally saved the calculation of provoking the situation in Hebei, and then blaming the crown prince Zhao Ke. In order to prevent the situation in Hebei from collapsing because of this, Liu Yanqing was specially told to stay in Daimyo, just in case, someone could come out to clean up the situation. Who knew that the prince was still in the Daimyo's mansion, and Kelie made a fake rebellion, and also colluded with the Liao people to enter the Kou, resulting in the collapse of the Hebei camp. unintentionally inserted willows, Liu Yanqing, an idler, really used it. It's just that to put the responsibility of Hebei erosion on Zhao Ke's head, he also needs the cooperation of Liu Yanqing and Tong Guan.

Zhao You's eyes lit up, and according to the military report of the Privy Council, the Hebei battalion was defeated by the Liao soldiers, and most of the more than 100,000 soldiers fled. Because most of the family members of the Hebei Army are in the Daimyo, a considerable number of these deserters must be fleeing towards the Daimyo, just using Liu Yanqing to clean up the mess.

"It's still the old prime minister who was far-sighted, and he persuaded me not to urge Liu Yanqing to enter Beijing as soon as possible." A smile appeared on Zhao You's face, although Liu Yanqing was mediocre, he had presided over the Hebei camp for many years, and it was just right for him to defeat the army and defend the big name. He stared at the arrows on the map marking the main force of the Liao army, and secretly thought that at present, except for Gaoyang Pass and some insignificant forts, none of the important towns in Hebei have been lost, and there are as many as 70,000 or 80,000 forbidden troops stationed in the Zhending area of Hejian.

Zhao Xingde was in Hebei, and his mentors and friends in Beijing, Li Gefei, Chao Buzhi, Chen Dong, Zhang Bing, etc., were all asking around about the situation at the front. In the Li Mansion, the maid curtain also comforted Li Ruoxue and said: "Miss, Zhao Gongzi Ji has his own natural appearance, and he will definitely come back safely, you better go to bed early." "Well," Li Ruoxue agreed, but stood up, the flowers and trees outside the window were still budding, and the dry branches were gently trembling in the wind, as if the north wind was a little stronger, and the white snow accumulated on the branches was about to fall to the ground, just like the dangerous situation in Hejian City. The spring cold is steep, a cold wind enters through the window, the young lady's body is as thin as a white plum in the cold wind, the roller blinds are busy looking for a cloak to put on her, and sigh with her.

In the Rouyi Hall of the White Jade Palace, Zhao Huan was wearing a single coat and was walking back and forth, but when he heard the soft sound of the door, he nervously pulled Qingnu, who had flashed in, and asked, "Is there any news of Zhao Gongzi?" Qingnu frowned and said: "The princess forgives the sin, the slave only heard that the Liao thieves were besieging the river, and the Tong father-in-law was in the river, but there was no news of Zhao Gongzi, since he was a subordinate of the Tong father-in-law, he must also be in the river." Her eyes slightly avoided Zhao Huan's gaze, in fact, where did a palace maid go to inquire about those military affairs, left and right were just knocking on the eunuchs in the imperial study, Zhao Xingde, a Confucian student who didn't even have an official position, couldn't have the slightest information. Hmm...... "Zhao Huan frowned deeply and sighed softly, wishing that Ji Ren had his own natural appearance.

That night, the cold wind was bleak, from Bianjing to Hebei, I don't know how many people couldn't sleep at night.

In the following days, the news from Hebei did not stop, and in general, the main force of the Liao army seemed to stay in the Hejian area. Tong Guan cleaned up the troops in Hebei, worked hard to repay the emperor's grace, and fought hundreds of thousands of Liao troops. According to Hejian's daily military reports, the Liao army has been dull under the city and has not bargained for anything. Zhao You also gradually calmed down the anger of wanting to condemn Tong Guan at the beginning, remembered his past achievements, not only ordered him to continue to hold on, cut off the retreat of the Khitans, but also ordered the Privy Council and the Yushitai to suspend the impeachment of the responsibility for the Hebei camp mutiny and the Khitan invasion.

At the boundary of the Daimyo's Mansion, dozens of horsemen retreated all the way from the river to the Daimyo, and the war horses were almost exhausted, and the people were not fully clothed. When I think of the time when tens of thousands of troops marched from the daimyo to the river, it was like a world of difference. "It's all the eunuch who killed it." Tian Shizhen, the commander of the Second Army of Jingsai, had not closed his eyes for two days and one night, his face was full of fatigue, and the general's helmet was also lost, and he randomly found an ordinary soldier to wear on his head. The camp mutinied, the situation was out of control, as soon as the Khitan army appeared, he was unwilling to die, so he took this group of soldiers to retreat south, whether to fall into the grass for the Kou or to ask himself to attack the Khitan to make a decision, planning to go to the Daimyo's Mansion to see the situation first, and then make a decision.

"General, there seem to be dozens of people blocking the official road in front." In the usual battles, the officers and soldiers would sometimes guard the key passes, specifically intercept the soldiers who fled without authorization, and could even be beheaded on the spot. As soon as they heard that there were people blocking the road, the pro-soldiers who followed Tian Shizhen's retreat looked a little nervous, and they had all done the things of killing deserters.

"His grandmother's doesn't need to be named and surnamed, if he sees that the situation is wrong, he will rush to kill him." Tian Shizhen is not a lord who can be killed, he was ruthless, and first sent a personal soldier to take a look, while the others took out sabers and bows and arrows, preparing to seize the road. Tian Shizhen was ruthless, and his own soldiers came back and said: "In front, Liu Laodu deployed to personally pick up us and reorganize the camp!" ”

"What?" Tian Shizhen was overjoyed, and immediately whipped on the horse's buttocks, surpassed all the pro-soldiers, and rode alone to the smiling Liu Yanqing. He dismounted, and when he looked up again, he was in tears.