The east has not yet revealed the whiteness of the fish's belly, and the early morning mist covers the ancient city walls. On the streets of Ezhou, people who sell morning tea, deliver firewood, collect dung, and all kinds of people who make a living appear one after another, and these ant-like citizens gradually converge into a bustling flow of people, merging from alleys into the streets, and from the streets into the alleys. The whole of Ezhou also woke up from last night's slumber from the shouts and greetings of these people. It's just that the morning greetings these days are a little strange.

"Did Yingchang win?" One of them snorted and stood next to the door and asked.

"There's no news yet," the vendor with the burden of morning tea shook his head and explained very seriously, "The villain has just been to the South Building, and the notice of the government only says that Cao and Yue led the official army to fight against Liaogou, while Zhao Xianggong guarded Fancheng and cut off Liaogou's way back. The peddler sighed, "That's all there is to it, believe it or not, the officials are fine." ”

The man also sighed, took out more than a dozen yuan, bought two oil cakes and a large bowl of intestinal blood powder, closed the door, and told the Hun family and the children about the latest battle situation this morning. Since Zhao Xingde sent troops, the Ezhou government has made the news of the Northern Expedition public, encouraging the people in the southeast to have money to contribute, and to make a strong contribution to help recover the Central Plains, but it has also received some results. Nowadays, not only Ezhou, Yuezhou, Guangzhou, but also Jiangning Mansion and Hangzhou Mansion under the rule of the Khitans, the street talk of the gentry and the common people are also the topics of the Northern Expedition. Many people are looking forward to this battle to completely defeat Liaogou and return the Great Song Dynasty to a peaceful and prosperous era. In such a general atmosphere, the news that Cai Jing and Li Bangyan, two officials of the imperial court, were beaten to death by Liao in Jiangning only subsided after only one or two days of rumors among the people.

"Is there any news from Yingchang Mansion?" Zhao Huan asked in a low voice, his sleeve inadvertently covering the paper on the table.

"There are budding oaks in the mountains, and there are six oaks in the mountains" Zhou He's eyes swept over, and he only saw these two lines of words, and his heart was stunned, and he said secretly, "Is it possible, Her Royal Highness the princess has secretly affection for Li Zhuangyuan?" He didn't dare to think about it, his eyes looked at his nose, his nose looked at his heart, and he bowed back: "According to some news in the Privy Council, the Liao side is Yelu Dashi's personal expedition, and at least 150,000 foot cavalry have gathered in the area of Yingchang Mansion, and the Liao army intends to cut off the connection between General Zhao and Cao Xianggong's department, and prevent Wang Shi's northern recovery of the Central Plains. General Zhao has entered Fancheng, but because of the Liao cavalry blockade and the news is different, Cao Xianggong and Yue Xiangcheng led the Liao army to fight hard, and the victory is not divided. After Zhou He's report, Zhao Huan sighed regretfully and didn't ask any further. Zhou He said again: "There is still one thing to report for the humbleness." ”

"Oh?" Zhao Huan was slightly surprised, and said in a low voice, "General Zhou, please speak." ”

"There is a colleague in the lowly position who is now in the Ministry of War, and the day before yesterday he had a face-to-face with the lowly position, so he persuaded the lowly position," Zhou He hesitated slightly, and said respectfully, "Bianliang has fallen, the Imperial City Division and the Jinguan Mansion are scattered, and the imperial court does not have a very solid grasp of the news from the Quartet. Now that the imperial court is employing people, it wants to rebuild the Jinwei Mansion, so it ...... The imperial court hopes that the old people of the imperial city like Beizhi will return to the Jinguan Mansion and recruit heroes from all over the world to ...... the eyes and ears of the imperial court" Zhou He was very worried that Zhao Huan would misunderstand that he wanted to change the court, and his words were a little slurred.

"It is a great thing for General Zhou to serve the country," Zhao Huan frowned and said in a low voice, "It's just that it is an eventful time now, and the party struggle in our dynasty is fierce, like Cai Xianggong, Li Xianggong, Chen Xianggong, and Hou Xianggong, they all have their own distinctions." General Zhou must be careful not to get involved. She told this, and she was slightly surprised, as a woman, she would say this, but it seemed natural to tell her family and friends to be careful of some turmoil in the court.

Zhou He's face was flushed, he leaned down and knelt down, and said in a low voice: "Your Highness Xie, it will be difficult to repay the powder in the end." ”

"General Zhou, please get up, please get up." His kneeling made Zhao Huan extremely embarrassed, and he quickly stood up and avoided it sideways, not being accepted by his kneeling. Zhou He stood up, his expression was even more respectful, he hesitated for a moment and then said: "Your Highness lives in the boudoir, or you don't know, Cai Xianggong, Li Xianggong, together with several family guards, were beaten to death by the students in Gusu just a few days ago. ”

"How so?" Zhao Huanhua's face was pale, and she immediately covered her mouth so that she would no longer be shocked.

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

"How so!"

With a roar, followed by the sound of porcelain shattering. Deng Su sighed slightly, it had been several days, and His Majesty was still angry. As a member of the Li Society, Deng Su knew everything about killing Cai Jing. Most of those people are Wu Zilong's protégés. Wu Zilong is the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Rites is in charge of the world's schools, and there is no doubt that this matter is at the instigation of Wu Zilong. In all fairness, Deng Su also despised Cai Jing and Li Bangyan, but Wu Zilong's treatment of them was too intense. Although Cai and Li were cut off in one fell swoop, but giving people a handle, the consequences were also very great, and His Majesty Long Yan was furious, which was even more expected.

"Does Chen Dong want to do what Wang Mang and Cao Cao did!" The green tendons on Zhao Qi's forehead burst out, and he roared out of breath.

He didn't care that his voice came out of the house, and it was likely to be reported to the Prime Minister's Mansion. His Majesty was angry, but Deng Su was silent, which fueled his anger even more. After the news that Cai Jing and Li Bangyan were beaten to death by Jiang Ning's madness came back, Zhao Qi didn't believe it was true at first, and then the news was confirmed to be true, for several days, Zhao Qi woke up in a nightmare, the gentle and beautiful maid, the precious play, and the famous handwriting could not calm his mind, he even refused to eat the food served by the waiter, and only after someone tasted it in front of him for an hour, he would lift the chopsticks and eat those cold things.

The days of worrying about him were just a few days, and Zhao Qi seemed to be a lot older, and even had a lot more gray hair. However, no matter how anxious he was, in Ezhou City, the emperor was just a name, and Zhao Qi was actually powerless to do anything about the deaths of Cai Jing and Li Bangyan, and he couldn't do anything. The thing was done by the students of Jiangning Mansion, and Jiangning Mansion was occupied by the Liao army.

"Shameless, shameless!" Zhao Qi turned around a few more times like a trapped beast, suddenly stopped, and shouted again, "Full of benevolence, righteousness and morality, full of power and tricks!" Deng Su sighed slightly, but saw that His Majesty glanced around vigilantly, beckoned to let Deng Su come to him, and said in a low voice: "Deng Qing's family, Chen Dong and others are arrogant and domineering here, if they don't take precautions, I'm afraid that Wang Mang and Cao Cao's matter is right in front of them." ”

"So how do you prevent it?" Deng Su was shocked and asked rhetorically.

"I issued a secret edict to summon the country's abbot Cao Qing's family to quickly return to the division to defend the holy car." Zhao Qi gritted his teeth and said, "What does Aiqing think?" ”

"Your Majesty, by all means!" Deng Su was shocked, regardless of Zhao Qi's suspicions, knelt down on his knees, and said in a low voice, "The recovery of the Central Plains is at a critical time, if Your Majesty orders Cao Xianggong to withdraw from the army, I am afraid that it will be a big mistake, not only will it be difficult to recover the homeland of the Central Plains, but also lose the hearts of the people in the world." He saw that Zhao Qi only had a look of uncertainty on his face, and his heart changed, and he said, "In addition, Ezhou City is densely covered with Chen Dong's eyes and ears, even if Your Majesty writes an edict, how should he send it out?" In case it falls into the hands of Chen Dong, there is still some dignity, and everyone tears their faces, which is even more detrimental to His Majesty. Seeing that Zhao Qi's face turned hesitant, Deng Su's heart was ruthless, his knees moved forward alternately, and he said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, don't forget the matter of the Han Emperor's edict, once it is a big mistake, it will be too late to regret it!" ”

"But ......" Zhao Qi's eyes stared at Deng Su, as if to see through whether there was still a heart of loyalty in his chest, and finally, his face turned from doubt to despair, and the ruthlessness just now seemed to have exhausted all his strength. Sitting down on the dragon chair, Zhao Qi put his hand on his forehead and sighed long: "The Great Song Dynasty has been a hundred years old, how can they be a bunch of wolf-hearted dogs." ”

Deng Su was still kneeling on the ground, with a long sigh in his heart, and cold sweat was pouring down his back.

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

"Acting like this, such as roasting Chen on a charcoal fire, this matter is still small," Chen Dongchang sighed, "Cai and Li have been in charge of the court for more than ten years, and their protégés are all over the world. After the invasion of the north and the south, we occupied the name of righteousness, and Qingliu rose up, these people were afraid of the reputation of the traitorous party, and they were all silent, but now Cai Li and the others are dead, but it has given these people an excellent excuse to make trouble. Now that we are at a critical juncture, how can we give birth to such a big mess? ”

"Shaoyang, don't forget, how the traitorous party did to us in the first place," Wu Zilong looked unhappy and said with a cold face, "Your Majesty was deceived by Cai and Li, as long as the situation eases a little, it will inevitably let these two people come out to hinder the government." And you also said that Cai Jing and Li Bangyan's protégés are all over the world, and although these scum remnants are now dead, they are still looking at Cai and Li, and once the time is right, they will jump out and make waves. Tell me about it? Is it better to cut through the mess with a quick knife and get rid of these two traitorous party leaders immediately, or to tolerate and nurture the traitors, so that the turbidity can be cleared and stand in the court, so that the party struggle will continue to consume national strength and vitality? Speaking of later, Wu Zilong's voice was full of emotion, "If Chen Xianggong wants to explain to the people of the world, my Wu Zilong's head can be borrowed." ”

"Alas-" Chen Dong sighed again, "Brother Wu doesn't know me Chen Dong, why bother talking like this?" ”

Since Cao Di and Yue Fei jointly played a joint game, encountered a large group of Liao soldiers in Yingchang Mansion, and discovered the imperial flag of Yelu Dashi, Chen Dong has been sleeping in the signing room for several days. He did not sleep endlessly, urging the military department to speed up the delivery of military supplies to the front, never let the grain, grass, and arrows drag the front and the hind legs, and urged Wang Gui and other generals who stayed behind to speed up the training of the battalion, on the one hand, to prepare for the north to reinforce, on the other hand, to prevent the Liao army from winning the victory and taking advantage of the south, he also ordered the military department to report to the Prime Minister's Office and the Privy Council, even if it was a few words from the mouth of the Liao prisoners, and to report it immediately to the Prime Minister and the Privy Council if there was a major military situation, even if it was late at night.

"There is no room for interference in the Northern Expedition," Chen Dong's face was slightly gloomy, and he ordered, "The staff department of the military department must send additional manpower to carefully screen it, and never let the matter of Cai and Li spread to the front, so as not to disturb the morale of the army." He hesitated for a moment, then ordered in a low voice, "Your Majesty, you must also guard against the villain's demagogy and pay more attention." He shook his head, rubbing his temples with one hand, his eyes still on the topographical map of the mountains and rivers on the table.