On the front line of Yanzhou, the rare good weather, the sun above the head looks particularly bright in the cold winter, and the breeze flows in the air, gently and slowly blowing over the face, giving people an indescribable sense of comfort.

Standing on the embankment of the Yellow River, looking at the gentle flow of the river, feeling the breeze and sunshine, the beauty and harmony of nature seem to be gathered in this piece of time and space, and the spontaneous comfort is more precious in my heart.

The golden tent on the opposite bank occupies a large area, standing on the river bank at this time, the unique golden tent of the emperor of the Jin State, under the wind and sunshine, there is no sense of fierceness and oppression in the past few days, the Jin cavalry patrolling the camp, and the officials who go to the king's tent perform their duties, and from time to time they will turn their heads to look at the Song camp on the other side of the river.

The war lasted for half a year, and it was difficult for the begging stone lie gods and slaves to advance an inch, which made the Jin officials, who had always fought with the Song people and were accustomed to fighting against the Song Dynasty, involuntarily began to doubt the ability of the begging stone lie gods and slaves.

Of course, with the arrival of Emperor Wan Yan Jing, the morale of the Jin people is now even higher, coupled with today's military advantage, and the emperor's personal expedition, many officials who gathered on the bank of the Yellow River with Wan Yan Jing are now confident and stable, in their opinion, recapturing the third road of Hetao and even Jingzhao Mansion is just around the corner.

But when the emperor Wan Yan Jing led all the soldiers and was studying how to defeat the Song army and cross the Yellow River in a battle after his arrival, Wan Yan Jing was suddenly in the camp tent and urgently summoned civil and military officials to discuss the matter.

In the camp tent as large as the palace, Wan Yan Jing sat upright, and the two sides were like the court hall, full of civil and military generals who gathered here with him, and as many officials walked into the camp tent full of doubts, the camp began to sound from time to time, and the sound of civil and military officials quietly discussing below.

As Wan Yan Jing's letter was put back on the desk, the officials below were still talking in a whisper, the purpose of Wan Yan Jing's sudden emergency call to everyone today would be related to the Song envoys who came to deliver the letter early this morning.

All of a sudden, many possibilities involuntarily appeared in the minds of many officials, and the most reliable thing for them was that the Song people sent envoys to send a letter today, were they afraid of the might of the Dajin Kingdom, so they wanted to surrender?

Liu Keshi, who had been seven days late from Xiping Mansion, was anxious along the way, and he couldn't wait to fly back to Jingzhao Mansion immediately.

Although Zhao Shikui had not yet arrived at Jingzhao Mansion, Liu Keshi was even more afraid that he had disobeyed Ye Qing's order, so he did not leave for Jingzhao Mansion at the first time.

Of course, now that the journey has begun, and in the long procession, there is also Princess Chengli of the Liao Kingdom accompanying him, so although Liu Keshi believes that now he has the life-saving talisman that escorts Princess Liao Chengli to Jingzhao Mansion together, which can protect his life without worry.

But I don't know why, he is still a little nervous in his heart, as long as he thinks of Ye Qing's gloomy cheeks, he feels weak and his legs are weak.

wanted to rush back to Jingzhao Mansion as soon as possible, but now the team that returned to Jingzhao Mansion with him was so large that there were 3,000 people.

In addition to the more than 1,000 people of Princess Chengli of the Liao Kingdom, there are also 2,000 cavalry borrowed from Mo Xiaobao and them to protect Princess Chengli, and the team of more than 3,000 people will obviously slow down Liu Keshi's return to Jingzhao Mansion, plus Princess Chengli and other Liao people are injured, Liu Keshi just wants to be fast, but there is no way to get up quickly, and he does not dare to throw down the life talisman of Princess Chengli, and he takes the lead in rushing to Jingzhao Mansion.

The sun gradually disappeared behind him, and the hazy night began to sweep the cold earth, and the gate of Ganzhou City slowly opened, and only after the defenders questioned and interrogated Liu Keshi, did they let the three thousand people enter the city.

The city of Ganzhou has become more and more stable, although there will be some burning, killing and looting from time to time, but with the Song court officials into the government, these states in the Hexi Corridor, although there are still traces of war everywhere, but relatively peaceful as the scene of the past, has also begun to gradually recover in the city.

After entering the warm front hall, Yeluyue still did not take off the headscarf covering her cheeks, but just showed a pair of eyes, and expressed her gratitude to Liu Keshi with a smile.

"Princess Chengli, this is what the lower officials should do. Although you can rest in peace, tomorrow in Ganzhou for a day, the day after tomorrow we will set off again. Although Liu Keshi was anxious, the current situation made him have to focus on Yeluyue.

"I'm fine, I'll leave tomorrow." Yeluyue was still wearing a headscarf, and she had no intention of taking it off.

Now, except for a pair of eyes that are still rare and the same as before, the rest of her eyes are covered with chilblains, especially her hands and feet, when she just got off the carriage and stood on the ground, the unbearable pain made her almost sit on the ground with her legs weak.

Coupled with this escape on a snowy day, her originally white and tender cheeks were also covered with bloodshot and small wounds, so that she never dared to take off her headscarf in front of outsiders.

Ye Luyue really wanted to heal her injuries when she arrived at Jingzhao Mansion, and didn't want Ye Qing to see her embarrassed and injured, but in the past few days, she had more or less heard about Ye Qing's plight in Yanzhou now, as well as the pressure that the Song court put on Ye Qing behind her back.

The pain of losing the country made her not have time to be sad, so she had to worry about Ye Qing, who was now in a predicament in Yanzhou, and her terrifying appearance.

"Princess Chengli...... In fact, there is no need for the lower officials to ...... in a hurry. Although Liu Keshi had never witnessed the scars on Yeluyue's face, when he was brought back to Xiping Mansion by Zhong Silkworm, he still saw Princess Chengli's hands covered with chilblains, very red and swollen, even more frightened than the hands of most soldiers who had chilblains in Xiping Mansion, and it didn't look like a woman's hands at all.

"Princess Chengli, don't hide it, enter today

When he was in the city, he had just received a letter from the messenger, and Lord Ye asked Xia Guan Haosheng to take care of Princess Chengli, so he didn't have to hurry up. Liu Keshi's lie was the same as the truth, and then he still said with a sincere face: "What's more, now Lord Ye has already planned to take the initiative to negotiate peace with the Jin people, so the lower officials are not in a hurry to rush back to Jingzhao Mansion." ”

"Take the initiative to make peace?" Ye Luyue's eyes were slightly worried, and she looked at Liu Keshi and asked, "Is it ...... Defeated? ”

"Nope." Liu Keshi smiled and said with a relaxed smile: "The Emperor of the Jin Dynasty is personally confronted, and now Chen Bing is confronting Lord Ye on the other side of the Yellow River, although the Jin people's strength is better than ours, but my Great Song Erlang is also extremely brave, the Jin people have fought countless battles with Lord Ye in the past six months, but they are still unable to cross the Yellow River." ”

"But isn't taking the initiative to negotiate peace tantamount to admitting defeat?" A trace of loneliness flashed in Yeluyue's eyes, such a lonely look often appeared in her originally bright and beautiful eyes these days.

Looking at some of my pitiful expressions, Liu Keshi bowed his head slightly, and after being entangled in his heart, he said: "Princess Chengli, it really takes strength to negotiate peace. Although there is a huge disparity in strength between Lord Ye and Emperor Wan Yan Jing of the Jin State now, we don't have any advantages, but ...... Lord Ye believed that he would be able to convince the Emperor of the Jin Kingdom to put the people of the world first. ”

"The Jin people have always been cruel, and my Da Liao also suffered a lot of humiliation and suffering at the hands of the Jin people, so I had to move to the depths of the desert to find another way to survive. Has Ye Qing forgotten how the Jin people oppressed the Song Dynasty royal family in the first place? At this time, if you choose to take the initiative to negotiate peace, how can the appetite of the Jin people be so satisfied. Yeluyue's eyes were even more worried, and she muttered a sigh.

The idea of taking refuge in Ye Qing, now she doesn't know if it's right or wrong, since the royal city was broken by the Mongols, she suddenly lost consciousness and became a walking corpse, almost everything was planned by Yelu Yixue, including their eastward refuge with Ye Qing, not so much her Yelu Yue's idea, but Yelu Yixue fled all the way east with the muddy Yelu Yue.

Looking at Ye Luyue who was not talking in a daze, Liu Keshi asked several times in a row, Ye Luyue did not react, and Liu Keshi, who was helpless, had to sigh slightly in his heart, and then turned around and walked out of the front hall, and ordered the two maids who had just been sent over to take care of Ye Luyue.

Even though he is now in Ganzhou, which is already the territory of the Song Dynasty, Liu Keshi, who walked out of the front hall, did not dare to be careless at all, and still dutifully inspected the guards of the mansion before leaving with confidence.

Liu Keshi didn't know, and he couldn't guess why Ye Luyue suddenly became sad, and he carefully recalled the conversation with Ye Luyue just now in his mind, and he didn't feel that any of his words after deliberation aroused the sadness of Princess Chengli.

Along the way, he has been avoiding the topic of Liao's death, and even repeatedly told the accompanying generals to order their soldiers to not get close to the Liao, let alone inquire about Liao.

At this time, in the tent of the Yanzhou frontline, when he knew that Liu Keshi had escorted Yelu to Ganzhou, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Ye Heng who rushed in angrily with some curiosity, and then put the letter away, and said with a smile: "What's wrong with Uncle Ye?" ”

"Are you going to take the initiative to negotiate peace with the Jin people? Also, did you send someone to save the princess of Liao? Ye Heng's expression was serious, with a hint of dissatisfaction and questioning in his tone.

"Yes, I'm planning to make peace with the Jin people. As for Princess Liao...... It's Zhong Silkworm's own assertion. Ye Qing motioned to Ye Heng, who was rushing in with a cold wind and anger, to sit down and speak.

"You're confused." After Ye Heng sat down, he began to say with some anger: "Don't you know, taking the initiative to negotiate peace is equivalent to surrendering, but." And our persistence in the past half a year, we have sacrificed so many soldiers, haven't they all sacrificed in vain? ”

"Uncle Ye......." Ye Qing said with a smile, but as soon as he spoke, he was interrupted again by the heartbroken Ye Heng.

"Do you know how serious the consequences of making peace with the Jin people are? Shi Miyuan is pressing Xin Qi step by step in Jinan Mansion, Han Yanxuan is in Lanzhou Mansion, and he is unrelenting to Yu Yunwen, if you take the initiative to negotiate peace at this time, how will the imperial court view this matter? Shi Miyuan and Han Yanxuan, don't they have more handles to attack you? will even take advantage of this opportunity to seize power in Jinan Mansion and Lanzhou Mansion! In this way, how can you still gain a foothold in the court, how can you ...... in the northland? Wouldn't we all be buried here! Ye Heng said in the end, and even said a little angrily: "Negotiate peace with the Jin people, you made your own opinion, and the court didn't know about it?" ”

Ye Qing was still relaxed and calm, but behind his smile, there was a trace of worry that was imperceptible to others, looking at the angry Ye Heng, and said: "Uncle Ye, we are already at the end of this war, and if we continue to fight, we will definitely lose." Let alone....... Ye Qing stretched out his hand to stop Ye Heng's urge to interrupt him again, and continued: "This time, my goal was originally to carve up the Xia Kingdom with Temujin, but now that the goal has been achieved, there is no need to consume the war with the Jin people. And...... The Liao State is dead, and if we continue to fight like this with the Jin people, we will only let Temujin reap the benefits of the fisherman ...... then. ”

"Even so, you shouldn't take the initiative to negotiate peace! This is about your reputation in the court, and the majesty in the hearts of the Northland officials...... Ye Heng was a little angry and slapped the table and said.

Of course, he never thought that the Mongols, who had always been looked down upon by no one and regarded only Ye Qing as a strong enemy, would take the Liao State that had bullied the Song Dynasty in such a short period of time.

"The Liao State and my Great Song Dynasty have always had a grudge, although since the imperial court crossed to the south, there has never been a conflict, but you rescued the princess of the Liao Kingdom, you ...... You're setting yourself on fire. Shi Miyuan, Han Yanxuan and others, all of them are watching with their eyes, just waiting for your handle to fall into their hands, now that you have saved the princess of Liao, how can they let you go

？ Zhao Shikui has already arrived in Jingzhao Mansion yesterday, and the Liu Keshi you mentioned has not yet entered Guanshan, what are you going to do? Ye Heng suddenly changed his words as he spoke, and talked about the matter of Jingzhao Mansion.

"Because of Zhu Xi's relationship, Zheng Qingzhi, the head of the household department, will put grain to the north, but now that the grain has been used up, even the grain and other things that I privately ordered people to store quietly have been consumed in this battle. Shandong Road has been flooded for four consecutive years, and it has just improved this year, but this year's harvest is enough for the people to be self-sufficient, where is there still food for us? Before Shi Miyuan went north to Jinan Mansion, he had already cut off the food supply to the north, and even if it was Huainan Road, he really couldn't raise more food to help us. ”

"Most of the territory of the Xia Kingdom has been seized by us, and the problem of our lack of troops has been infinitely magnified, look at how many troops we have left outside? And where can there be new reinforcements? Lanzhou, Xingqing, Xiping three important cities, now Xiping, Xingqing outside the two cities are Mongolians, their garrison soldiers, even one of them I can't move, for fear that this will give the Mongolians an opportunity to take advantage of. There are still Han Yanxuan in Lanzhou, and Shi Miyuan in Jinan Mansion has coveted it for a long time. At present, if we can maintain the current situation, it is already extremely difficult, and if we continue to fight with the Jin, there will be disadvantages but no benefits, and it will only allow the Mongols to reap the benefits. ”

If you don't know the price of firewood and rice, Ye Heng only saw that after Ye Qing took the initiative to negotiate peace, he would leave a lot of handles for Shi Miyuan and Han Yanxuan, but he didn't find that in fact, in the continuous consumption, the little family money that had been secretly accumulated in the past two years had been exhausted.

Of course, from Ye Heng's point of view, or from the perspective of other officials, he naturally didn't want the current situation of taking the initiative and gaining the upper hand to be recaptured by the Jin people.

Therefore, in the current situation, if you don't consider the weak family background in the north, as well as the secret obstruction of Shi Miyuan and Han Yanxuan behind it, then it is indeed a pity to negotiate peace with the Jin people at this time, which is equivalent to giving up a great opportunity to the Jin people.

But Ye Qing actually knows better than anyone that the current situation is becoming more and more unfavorable for him, if he doesn't stop the loss in time, and then continue to consume endlessly with the Jin people on the banks of the Yellow River, and bury a lot of troops into the Yellow River, then in less than two years, when Temujin comes back, he and the Jin people will suffer.

War is like the psychology of a gambler, whether he wins or loses, he always thinks about the last hand, this is the last hand, but in the end, all the wealth will be buried in this last hand.

If you lose the bet, you want to get it back by the last hand, and if you win the bet, you want to stop by the last hand, but in the end, it is desire that triumphs over reason, and the result is bound to be a loss.

For the plundering of the Xia Kingdom, Ye Heng and others were like gamblers who had won a bet, their desire to defeat reason, and they began to blindly believe that the Song army was invincible.

But how many people know that Ye Qing's outnumbering of the enemy is entirely because of the advantage of the terrain and the magnificent morale of the Song army in the Xia Realm.

If it weren't for the Song army's successive victories in the Xia territory, Ye Qing would never believe that he would be able to completely block the Jin people from crossing the Yellow River with just this little bit of troops, of course, there is also the jealousy of the gods and slaves of Qishilie, so that he could not completely let go of his hands and feet, so that the Song army could stick to the banks of the Yellow River without taking a step back.

Looking back on every battle with the Jin people on the bank of the Yellow River in the past six months, almost every battle in which the Jin people were able to easily force the Song army guarding the embankment to retreat, almost all of them were when the Song army had no way to retreat, and when the war situation entered the final critical point of time, the Song army suddenly repelled the Jin people like a divine soldier descending from the sky.

It seems that the Song army is like an immortal bird, always able to be reborn in the fire, but Ye Qing is extremely clear in his heart, if it weren't for the strong army of the Hua Family Army, which has been supporting the skeleton of the entire Song army, I am afraid that the Jin people would not have known how many times they had crossed the Yellow River, and the three roads of the Hetao would have been recaptured by the Jin people long ago.

Looking at Ye Qing's resolute face, Ye Heng sighed helplessly: "You really plan to give up like this?" After a pause, he continued: "Negotiating peace with the Jin people will make you fall into a more passive situation again above the court...... ”

"Whether it's war or peace, Shi Miyuan and Han Yanxuan will not stop attacking me. If I continue to fight with the Jinren, they will also attack me, and if I take the initiative to negotiate peace with the Jinren, they will also attack me. So why don't I save my current strength? Not to mention...... Today's Jin people are no longer our main enemy, our main opponent should be Temujin. Ye Qing sighed slightly, and said in a firm tone: "Uncle Ye, I have made up my mind, it's not that I, Ye Qing, are afraid of failure now, but we can't afford to lose now, as long as we lose once, whether it's me Ye Qing or the entire northern land, they will fall into a catastrophe." ”

"The court always has to explain, although you have been in charge of the Northland all these years, but ...... After all, it is Song Chen, and he still has to worry about the impact. If you go outside, you must first settle inside, that's a good thing. But will the Jin people agree? How much does it cost ....... ”

"It's just the price, it's one thing for Wan Yanjing to dare to open his mouth, but it's another thing if he can't eat it. Initiative to negotiate peace ...... It also has to rely on strength, although we are at the end of the strong crossbow at the moment, but the Jin people don't dare to underestimate me Ye Qing. The corners of Ye Qing's mouth couldn't help but appear a touch of arc, and the sneer seemed to Ye Heng to be a creepy feeling, and he wanted to ask Ye Qing if he wanted to go back to Jingzhao Mansion to deal with Zhao Shikui's words first, and because of the somewhat gloomy smile on the corner of Ye Qing's mouth, he was suffocated.

(ps: After returning to my hometown, I couldn't hold it back, just thinking about drinking and playing, and trying to keep a big change every day.) ）