Li Jiqian, the king of Western Xia, had the grain and grass support of the Liao State, the alliance of the Shu State, and the involvement of the pirates in the east to the Great Song Dynasty, so he was like a hungry wolf, leading his troops to rush out of the old nest and pounce on the five states of Dingnan.

At this time, it was Zhang Qixian, the envoy of Lingzhou to pacify the Western Xia, who was at war with Western Xia. Zhang Qixian was a famous minister of the Great Song Dynasty and once served as the prime minister, but was later deposed for some reason. He is not only a good hand at governing the country, but he is also not inferior to leading troops to fight.

It's just that at this time, the elites of the Great Song Dynasty are all in Jianmen Pass, and some of them are placed in the north to defend the Liao State, Zhang Qixian led less than 30,000 troops, and they are all old, weak, sick and disabled, how can they stop Li Jiqian, who is like a hungry wolf.

Therefore, when Zhao Mingyue rushed to Qinzhou to hunt for treasure, Xiazhou and Yinzhou, which were in the west of the five states, had already been captured by Li Jiqian, and the other three states were also in danger.

Zhang Qixian fought back, defending Suizhou, Jingzhou, and Youzhou, and at the same time quickly reported to the imperial court for help.

Zhao Heng was at a loss after seeing Zhang Qixian's performance, the Jianmen Pass was not as good as a day, and the east coast was frequently harassed by pirates and could not do anything, where to send troops to reinforce Zhang Qixian now?

I had no choice but to call Kou Zhun to discuss.

After careful consideration, Kou Zhun said to Zhao Heng: "Your Majesty, it is no longer possible to transfer troops and reinforcements, so it is better to negotiate peace with Li Jiqian." ”

"Negotiate peace, how to discuss? Li Jiqian is crazy now, can he negotiate peace with us? Zhao Heng asked.

Kou Zhun said: "Doesn't Li Jiqian just want to set the five states in the south? Then give it to him, anyway, the five states of Dingnan don't mean much to our Great Song Dynasty, there is no natural danger to prevent, and there is no fertile land to cultivate, as long as he can stop, give it to him. ”

Zhao Heng fell into deep thought, as an emperor, ceding land to others always hurts a little, but other than that, there is no other way. So he said: "Okay, let Zhang Qixian negotiate peace with Li Jiqian, even if it drags him for a year and a half, and in the future, after cleaning up the rebels of Shu State, it is not too late to clean him up again." ”

After Zhang Qixian received the holy decree, he immediately began to negotiate peace with Li Jiqian.

The peace negotiation process was very smooth, and Li Jiqian's ultimate goal at the moment was to recapture the five states of Dingyan and unify Western Xia. Therefore, when he heard that the Song Dynasty took the initiative to give him the rest of the three states, and that he would also lift the ban on Shang (jìn), how could he not agree.

After a series of detailed discussions, the peace was finally successfully negotiated.

Li Jiqian was attached to the Song Dynasty, and Western Xia became a part of the Song Dynasty

Zhao Heng issued an edict to entitle Li Jiqian as the envoy of the Dingnan Festival, and gave the name Zhao Baoji, assigned all the five prefectures of Dingnan to the Western Xia, and lifted the Shang (ban jìn), and tried his best to provide the goods needed by the Western Xia.

As a result, the Song Dynasty and Western Xia entered an unprecedented honeymoon period.

However, the so-called honeymoon is a sweet and sweet month. A month later, Li Jiqian, a hungry wolf, was not satisfied again and began to expand outward.

Especially after Helian Jingying returned to Western Xia, she talked about her alliance with Shu. If you give up the alliance with Shu, then in the future, Shu will enter the Central Plains, let alone divide the river and rule, and it will not even be possible to rule by rowing the river.

Look at the desert Gobi in Western Xia, and then look at the fertile fields of the Central Plains. Li Jiqian gritted his teeth, tore up the contract with the Great Song Dynasty, ordered an army of 50,000 to rush out of Dingnan, and sent it to Jianmen Pass, in an attempt to cooperate with the Shu army, flank the Song army, and take all the north of the Yangtze River into the bag when the time comes.

Zhang Qixian didn't expect Li Jiqian to change his hexagram so quickly, and he was so angry that he had to deploy troops to block Li Jiqian, and at the same time quickly enter Beijing to report.

On this day, Zhao Heng went to the Chu Palace's Mansion to find the eldest brother Zhao Yuanzuo to pick a son, you are the eldest brother, this emperor is still yours, I can't do it, since I became the emperor, I haven't been born for a day.

Zhao Yuanzuo had already left the South Palace and restored the prince, and at this time he was living a rich and illustrious and carefree life, and he had never committed madness before.

Everyone else is scheming for the sake of being the emperor, and there are dangers. However, Zhao Yuanzuo was scheming all his life in order not to be the emperor, and he almost died several times, so he naturally would not take this mess at this time. So he cheered for Zhao Heng like a child, made him strong, and kept the ancestors' country.

Zhao Heng had no choice but to return to Long Live (hall diàn) again. Looking at the neat four stacks of folds in front of the table, he felt a pang of weakness and sat down in his chair.

The thickest stack of folds came from the east, and recorded the process of pirate invasion of the east coast again and again. The frequency of pirate intrusions was so fast and the cruelty of their methods that he couldn't bear to open and review them.

The stack next to it was sent by Zhang Qixian, and the Western Xia tore up the contract and sent troops to attack Jianmen Pass, intending to form an alliance with Shu and jointly plot against the Great Song Dynasty.

The next stack is from the Jianmen Pass, the Shu Road has been conquered by the Shu army, the most powerful weapons in the army (bed chuáng) crossbows and chain horses have been broken, and the Jianmen Pass is at any time

There is a danger of breaking through.

The last stack is a briefing sent by Yang Yanzhao from Yanmen Pass, but fortunately, there is no movement in Liaoguo now. But Liao is the real tiger, if it doesn't move, it will roar in the mountains and forests, so it can't relax its vigilance for a moment.

Faced with embattlement, Zhao Heng wanted to die. It's just that now he doesn't even have the qualifications to die, how can he meet his ancestors when he dies at this moment?

So he gritted his teeth and asked Prime Minister Kou Zhun to come over to discuss the matter.

The twists and turns were all sent from the Zhongshu Province, so Kou Zhun was extremely familiar with these (情qíng) situations, but he couldn't do anything about it. First, he really can't fight, and second, even if he can fight, he can't attack on all sides at the same time.

"Kou (Ai) Qing, is the Great Song Dynasty going to die like this?" Zhao Heng trembled and said: "Since I succeeded to the throne, I have been conscientious, walking on thin ice, without a trace of slackness, why does God want to treat me like this?" ”

Kou Zhun knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, Weichen is incompetent, and I can't share my worries for the emperor, I'm really ashamed." "I knocked my head to the end and didn't raise my head for a long time.

What a conceited person Kou Zhun is, he was in charge of Zhongshu Province in his 20s, and he never said such a thing as "the minister is incompetent", and this time he is obviously really powerless.

Zhao Heng let out a long sigh and shed two strings of tears: "It seems that I can't escape this dead country. The name of the king. ”

"Your Majesty, maybe it's not to the point where the mountains and rivers are exhausted, you can find the eldest princess to think of a way." Kou Zhun still lowered his head and said.

"Mingyue?" Zhao Heng shook his head and said: "Kou (Ai) Qing, you and I are the monarch and minister, plus how many men are in the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, do you have to rely on a girl in Mingyue for everything?" ”

"The minister is ashamed, but Weichen knows that from the time when the emperor was still King Shou to the present, every time a major event is encountered, it is Princess Mingyue who helps resolve it, and nothing has disappointed the emperor so far."

"Yes, how can I not know that from the violent death of King Xu, the coup d'état of the Queen Mother, the southward movement of the Liao Kingdom, to the recent Empress Wei's treasury incident, it is all the credit of Mingyue. It's just that Mingyue came back this time and became (Yin yīn) indifferent and depressed, and I really couldn't bear to trouble her. ”

"Your Majesty, in front of Jiangshan Sheji, personal honor and disgrace are nothing, the eldest princess has high ambitions since she was a child, she will not complain about the emperor." Kou Zhun persuaded.

"Okay, I'll be cheeky and go to Wan'an Palace again." Zhao Heng sighed: "Hey, if Mingyue is a man, I will not hesitate to give her the throne." ”