Jiankang, a month ago was still a prosperous city along the river, and the street market was also brightly lit at night, although it was not as good as Lin'an, but it was comparable to Pingjiang Mansion, and its prosperity was not a problem in the top five in the entire Great Song Dynasty.

However, it was a decaying scene, with no one in the market, shops closed, and only groups of soldiers wandering the streets.

When they see an unguarded shop with an open door, they will go straight inside, and even if the door is locked, they will split it with a sword, and go in and search to see if there is anything of value left, and if not, they will make a mess to vent the sullenness in their chests.

A group of soldiers wandered back and forth in the market, and the shops and houses that had been looted by the predecessors were lucky to be carried out by the descendants, thinking that they had not been cleaned, and then went in to search, and when they did not find anything, they inevitably smashed again, and destroyed the doors and windows of the equipment again.

Although Jiankang has not yet been lost, it is no different from the loss, completely out of control, and there are not even many soldiers defending the city.

In the palace, the prefect of Jiankang is telling his relatives and subordinates to pack up their things and prepare to evacuate at any time.

When the chickens and dogs were jumping, suddenly a government official came to report, and Ye Yi, who knew the Privy Council, asked Yu Yunwen, a member of the Zhongshu House, that he had entered the city and went straight to the palace!

When the prefect of Jiankang heard this, he panicked, dizzy, couldn't lift up in one breath, and almost fell to the ground.

"Who did you just say is coming to the palace?" The prefect gasped and asked.

The official said: "The other party said that they came from Lin'an, one is Ye Yiwen, a member of the Privy Council, and the other is Yu Yunwen, a member of the Zhongshu House. ”

"It turns out that it's not the golden people who have entered the city! You didn't make it clear! What is the big thing called in a panic! What a system! "The prefect who came to his senses immediately trained the officer.

The official looked aggrieved, so he could only quickly bow his head and admit his mistake, but he was secretly scolded in his heart, he was as timid as a mouse, and when he heard that he entered the city, he felt that it was the Jin people who came in, and he could blame others?

"Someone! Change! The prefect shouted.

At the entrance of the palace, the prefect was dressed in red and waited down the steps.

In a moment, the two carriages stopped in front of the yamen of Jiankang Mansion under the escort of a team of forbidden troops.

Before the curtain opened, the prefect hurriedly took a few steps forward, raised his hand and saluted through the curtain: "Lord Ye is busy inspecting Jiankang Mansion, and the lower officials have missed the distance, forgive the sins!" ”

The curtain was lifted, and a person came out of the carriage, about sixty years old, dressed in purple, to hang a goldfish bag, with a ruddy face, this person was Ye Yiwen, a member of the Privy Council.

I saw that after he got off the horse and stood firm, he replied: "In this troubled world, the enemy army is close at hand, and the prefect of Fang insists on Jiankang, what is the crime, it should be rewarded." ”

"Lord Ye has won the award, and the officials really don't dare to be the official!" Governor Fang panicked and hurriedly excused himself.

After a while, Yu Yunwen, a member of the Zhongshu House, also got out of the carriage and came to Ye Yiwen's side.

Governor Fang hurriedly raised his hand and saluted: "I've seen Lord Yu, if you miss the distance, take care of it!" ”

Yu Yunwen, who was dressed in red, raised his hand and saluted back: "Governor Fang is polite." ”

"Two adults, come from afar, all the way, go to the guest room in the Yanai to rest for a while, and later the lower officials will convene the upper and lower officials to hold a banquet to pick up the wind and wash the dust for Lord Ye and Lord Yu!" Governor Fang smiled.

"No, this time I came to Jiankang, with the emperor's order, let's talk about business first." After Ye Yi finished asking, he walked towards the palace.

Governor Fang was shocked, so he could only say hello twice, and hurriedly stepped forward to accompany and lead the way.

In the living room of the house, after serving fragrant tea, after a little greeting, all the people retreated.

"This official left Beijing to Jiankang this time, supervised the Jianghuai soldiers and horses, heard that Hezhou has been lost, so he first came to Jiankang to understand the Jinren and Jiangfang affairs, the prefect has been here for a long time, should know very well, introduce one or two!"

After Ye Yi finished asking, he picked up the teacup.

Governor Fang hurriedly put down the teacup in his hand, organized his language for a moment, and replied: "The Jin army's more than 500,000 troops have occupied Hezhou as early as half a month ago, and I heard that there are hundreds of thousands of follow-up people who are coming from the Huaihe River and Luzhou, with a total strength of no less than one million!" After they arrived in Hezhou, they began to collect boats everywhere, and if they couldn't find them, they built their own, and I heard that hundreds of boats had been built, and when the gold lord Wan Yanliang came to Hezhou from Luzhou, he was going to start crossing the river, but I heard that he had only arrived in Luzhou for a few days, even if he wanted to go to Hezhou, it would be half a month later. Regarding the matter of Jiang Fang, the subordinate officials do not understand the soldiers, so they can't intervene, and they can't help. However, Wang Quan brought back nearly 20,000 people from Hezhou, and now they are all stationed near Jiankang Mansion and Taiping Prefecture, so there should be no problem! ”

Ye Yiwen took a sip of tea, then put down the teacup, and then said: "The Yangtze River is wide, the water is turbulent, and it is not easy for the Jin people to cross the river, but if there are really millions of Jin troops, they are building a large number of ships in Hezhou, we still can't resist, and Jiangfang still needs to pay attention to it." Who is in charge of the army stationed in Jiankang Mansion now? ”

Governor Fang thought for a while and replied: "Before, Jiankang was in charge of the royal power, and after he withdrew from Hezhou, he didn't stay in Jiankang for long before he was recalled to Lin'an, and now no one cares." ”

"Nobody cares? The Jin people have hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Jiangbei, and the Jiankang garrison is uncontrolled? Ye Yiwen almost dropped his jaw in shock, and Yu Yunwen, who didn't say a word next to him, also frowned in shock.

Governor Fang hurriedly said: "Don't hide it from your lordship, in fact, there is a commander, when the royal power was transferred, the imperial court has already ordered that Li Xianzhong will be in charge of Jiankang to control the Jiankang army, prevent the Jin army from crossing the river, and let Jiankang Mansion ensure logistics." However, Wang Quan left on the day he received the order, and Li Xianzhong never arrived, so now the defenders are uncontrolled. ”

"It's just nonsense! This ruler will remove this royal officer! Ye Yi asked, very angry.

The emperor asked him to supervise Jianghuai, he just came out of Lin'an, he heard that Luzhou was lost, not yet to Jiankang, and lost again, the Jin army stationed in Hezhou, has been preparing to cross the river, just arrived near Jiankang, and heard that Yangzhou was also taken away by the Jin, that is to say, he has not yet arrived at the Yangtze River, the north of the Yangtze River has been in the hands of the Jin, he supervises Jianghuai, instantly becomes a supervisor of the Yangtze River, it is not good, once the Jin people cross the river, he is not dead, he will be inexplicably guilty, how does he accept it?

Now I heard that Jiankang, where the Jin people were heavily armed, and the Jiangfang was heavy, and the armies turned out to be scattered and unled, which made him know the Privy Council with a dignified state, how not to be annoyed, how not to be angry?

"My lord, it is imperative that we go to inspect the river defense and encourage the army to strengthen the river defense!" Yu Yunwen saw that Ye Yiwen's expression was wrong, and immediately proposed.

As soon as he was reminded, Ye Yiwen immediately woke up and hurriedly said: "Yes, what Staff Officer Yu said is very true, we should supervise the river defense and organize the defense!" ”

After speaking, he immediately asked: "Governor Fang, the defense of the Jiankang River is wide, where is the important place to defend?" ”

Where did the prefect Fang know, he could only reply truthfully: "The subordinate does not understand military affairs, and he doesn't know where to defend." ”

Yu Yunwen asked: "Do you know where the enemy is building ships and where they are going to cross the river?" ”

When the prefect heard this, he immediately said: "This lower official knows that from Jiangnan to Luzhou, the important land of Huaixi, the road through Taiping Prefecture and Hezhou is the closest, so there are ferries on the riverside of Hezhou and Taipingzhou, and the ferry is at the narrowest point of the Yangtze River. However, there are also tens of thousands of Jin troops stationed opposite Jiankang, and it seems that they are also collecting boats, and they are also very likely to cross the river. ”

In this way, the river defense of Taiping Prefecture and Jiankang Mansion cannot be lost, compared to the Taiping Prefecture opposite Hezhou, which is garrisoned by hundreds of thousands of enemy troops, is more urgent, and Hezhou is their first choice for crossing the river, otherwise they will not build troops and build ships in Hezhou. Lord Ye, for the sake of the river defense plan, for the Great Song Dynasty, we should immediately rush to Taiping Prefecture to supervise the river defense situation! Yu Yunwen analyzed.

Ye Yi replied: "What Staff Officer Yu said is reasonable, Taiping Prefecture and Jiankang are both important places for river defense, and if any place is lost, the Jin people will cross the river." At present, the situation is critical, and the official wants to go to Zhenjiang and Taipingzhou, and he also has to take care of Jiankang, so he really lacks skills. Taiping Prefecture was previously garrisoned by the forbidden army of the Infantry Division, so it should be fine, so you go to Taiping Prefecture on behalf of the imperial court to reward the garrison, and ask them to cheer up and guard Taiping Prefecture for the imperial court! ”

When Yu Yunwen saw Ye Yi asking about such an arrangement, he was not easy to refute, he had nothing to say, but he was still very happy in his heart.

Taiping Prefecture, the first choice for the enemy to cross the river, Ye Yiwen, as a fellow acquaintance who supervised the Jianghuai soldiers and horses, did not go to the Privy Council in person, but let him go to a staff officer who did not know anything about military affairs, how did he say it?

Ye Yiwen is Shangguan after all, since he has already spoken, Yu Yunwen can only reluctantly receive the order: "Yes, my lord, the lower official will rush to Taiping Prefecture immediately!" "I'm going to get up.

"Lord Yu, wait for the lower officials to pick up the wind and wash the dust for the two adults, rest in the house for two days, and then go to Taiping Prefecture is not too late, the gold lord will cross the river after Yan Liang arrives in Hezhou, it's still early!" Governor Fang hurriedly retained.

"Hundreds of thousands of enemy troops, soldiers on the Yangtze River, will cross the Yangtze River in an instant, once the river is crossed, Taiping Prefecture will no longer be peaceful, Jiankang Mansion is no longer healthy, Jiangbei Huai River has been lost, now the Great Song Dynasty is in danger, how can there be so much time to rest. Lord Ye, Governor Fang, the next official will take the first step and meet again another day! ”

After Yu Yunwen finished speaking, he got up and saluted Ye Yi.

"It's okay, Staff Officer Yu will go early and return early, if the Taipingzhou River Defense is fine, return to Jiankang as soon as possible." Ye Yiwen nodded in agreement.

"Lord Ye take care, the next official will leave!"

After Yu Yunwen finished speaking, he turned around and walked out of the hall, and he didn't have time to wash the dust, so he strode away.

"My lord, the upper room has been prepared, go and rest for a while, and after the adults have received the wind and washed the dust, it is not too late to convene the commanders of the Jiankang armies to discuss the matter!" Governor Fang said with a smile.

"Well, that's fine. You send someone to inform the commanders of all the armed forces that they will come to the government tomorrow morning to discuss matters. Ye Yiwen nodded.

"Don't worry, you will do it!"