Within ten days, the Northern Expeditionary Army successively destroyed 60,000 Jin troops and severely defeated the defenders of Yanjing City.

On November 27, the news of the Northern Expedition reached the camp of the Great Song Emperor in Jinan Mansion, and Zhao Yan was happy.

On the 28th, Zhao Yan convened the ministers of the camp and discussed with a group of important ministers to continue to go north to Hejian Mansion to reward the Northern Expeditionary Army and boost the morale of the whole army.

The Great Song Dynasty monarchs and ministers discussed in the camp for an hour, except for a few ministers who supported the emperor's visit to Hejian Mansion in person, the vast majority of ministers strongly opposed it, and the reason for their opposition was nothing more than the emperor's safety.

Jinan Mansion is far enough away from Zhending Mansion or Liaoyang Mansion and Yanjing City, once the battle on the front line of the Northern Expeditionary Army is unfavorable, the emperor can evacuate immediately, whether it is to withdraw from the south by land or from the south by sea, it is more convenient and fast, but if the emperor goes to Hejian Mansion with his life, the Jin army will be difficult to evacuate calmly with cavalry.

In addition to security issues, Hejian Prefecture also had a relative shortage of materials, especially living materials, which were too few compared with Jinan Prefecture, and it was difficult to ensure the needs of the camp and officials in order to ensure the use of the Northern Expeditionary Army. You must know that the total number of the emperor's camp and official entourage has reached 10,000, not counting the Su Guard, once you go north to Hejian Province, the difficulty of logistics and supply will be unimaginable.

Even though the vast majority of courtiers opposed Zhao Yan's continued northward journey, he still insisted.

Because Yang Congyi told Zhao Yan in the good news that the defenders in Yanjing City did not exceed 60,000, and within ten days, the 200,000 Northern Expedition army of the Great Song Dynasty would be able to surround Yanjing City, and before the twentieth day of the lunar month, Yanjing would be taken!

Conquering the eternal prosperity of Youyan is an irresistible temptation for Zhao Yan, who wants to become the emperor of the ages.

If Zhao Yan was not at the scene and was not at the forefront when he captured Yanjing City, then what was the point of him leaving Bianjing this time?

Although it was true that going to Hejian Mansion at this time was in danger of being harassed by the Jin cavalry, Zhao Yan had a reason why he had to go.

In fact, the old ministers who opposed Zhao Yan's imperial drive to Hejian Mansion also knew the reason why he ventured forward, and they also had great concerns about Yang Congyi's sole command of the 300,000 Northern Expeditionary Army, and they were also worried that Yang Congyi would seize Yanjing, and after the success of the Northern Expedition, his reputation among the Great Song Army and the people would be too long, and it would be difficult to suppress and control it, but they had more worries.

They were worried that after Yang Congyi commanded the 300,000 Northern Expeditionary Army to seize the former capitals of Liao and Jin, his prestige and prestige in the army could no longer be matched by anyone.

Back then, Taizu Zhao Kuangyin was able to wear a yellow robe, but now Yang Congyi, who is full of cronies in the Northern Expeditionary Army, why can't he be?

But these words, during the critical period of the Northern Expedition, none of the old ministers dared to mention them to Zhao Yan in person, because they didn't know how many of the ministers were Yang Congyi's people.

Although these old ministers don't know how to fight, they also know that once the imperial court loses trust in the commander of the Northern Expedition at this time, it will not be beneficial to them or the imperial court.

To put it bluntly, there are not many of them in the main force of the entire Northern Expeditionary Army, and the vast majority of the generals in the army mobilized by the Northern Expedition are more or less related to Yang Congyi, and many of them are still his former subordinates and henchmen, and the strength of the two sides in the army is extremely different.

In fact, since the relocation of the capital to Bianjing, Wenchen and the emperor have lost control of the army north of the Yellow River, and the control and command of hundreds of thousands of troops are in the hands of Yang Congyi.

In the entire Great Song Dynasty, the most effective armies were in the northern regions such as Damingfu, Jinanfu, Yidufu, and Hejian Fu, and these armies were all established by Yang Congyi in the counterattack against the southern invasion of the Jin lord Wanyan Liang and the subsequent Northern Expedition, and Li Xianzhong and Wu Gong, who also made great contributions in the Northern Expedition, led the army they led never crossed the north of the Yellow River.

Therefore, whether it is Zhao Yan or the ministers of the court, they all know that the north of the Yellow River is actually Yang Congyi's territory, and if he doesn't want others to interfere, no one can interfere.

However, Yang Congyi did not interfere too much with the imperial court's appointment of officials at all levels in the Daimyo Mansion, Jinan Mansion, Yidu Mansion, Hejian Mansion and other places over the years, and of course, the emperor and the imperial court would not fail to ask his opinion when appointing important officials in these places, and if he expressed disagreement with the proposed officials, in most cases, it would be difficult for those officials to obtain posts.

In these years, the Jin army has always threatened Bianjing, before recovering Guanzhong and Hedong, Wan Yanliang may wave his army east to Guguan at any time, drive troops to Bianjing, and can also gather all the troops of Zhending Mansion, and the troops will be in Bianjing within three days, because the sword hanging on Bianjing's head has always existed, so whether it is Zhao Yan or the ministers of the court, no one dares to challenge Yang Congyi and force him to hand over his military power.

It wasn't until four years ago that the Great Song Dynasty came out with several troops, recovering the land of dozens of state capitals in Guanzhong and Hedong in one fell swoop, and clearing all the forces of the Jin people in Guanzhong and Hedong, and the threat to the west of Bianjing City disappeared, plus the Sichuan and Shu army completely occupied Guanzhong, and the Sichuan and Shu army had little to do with Yang Congyi, so that the Bianjing monarchs and ministers had the possibility of retreating to Guanzhong and Shuzhong in the moment of crisis.

Therefore, after the Great Song army recovered Guanzhong and Hedong, Zhao Yan and the civilian clique began to gradually take charge of the appointment of local officials at all levels in the Daimyofu, Jinan Mansion, Yidu Mansion, Hejian Mansion and other places, and even began to install generals attached to the civilian clique in these places, gradually restricting and restricting Yang Congyi's military deployment in the north.

Although Zhao Yan acquiesced to these actions of the civilian clique, he also knew very well that if there was no Yang Congyi, it would be almost impossible for him to recover the sixteen states of Yanyun, and if he wanted to be the first emperor of the ages, it would be even more impossible to use his unparalleled fame and prestige to recover half of the rivers and mountains south of the Yangtze River, he needed a strong army, and he needed Yang Congyi to unite the army.

Zhao Yan knows very well that in the past ten years since the capital was moved to Bianjing, what is the significance of Yang Congyi to the imperial court and the whole world, others can not be clear for a while, but he can't, at least not yet.

Although the vast majority of people oppose Zhao Yan going north to Hejian Mansion, even if he may be in danger, in order to make the Great Song Dynasty forever, in order to achieve the first emperor of the ages, he must go this time!

In the end, Zhao Yan tried his best to overcome public opinion and decided to conquer Hejian Mansion in person.

Moreover, Zhao Yan also unreservedly told his ministers that he would also personally lead the Northern Expedition to capture Yanjing City!

The semi-public edict soon spread all over the world, and in less than ten days, both the officials and the people on both sides of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River knew that the Great Song Emperor Zhao Yan was going to personally lead the Northern Expedition to recover Yanjing!

The emperor insisted on going his own way, and the courtiers in Jinan Mansion also found it difficult to force the emperor to retract his order, so they had to compromise and agree to act with the emperor.

Five days later, Zhao Yan took hundreds of civil and military officials under the escort of the Suwei Forbidden Army, and a group of more than 50,000 people set out from Jinan Mansion and went north to Hejian Mansion along the wide and flat official road.

Yang Congyi, who learned that Zhao Yan was going to conquer Yanjing City in person, knew the risk of the emperor going north.

Although the tens of thousands of forbidden troops in Yanjing City did not dare to go out of the city, the 60,000 or 70,000 Xijin elites in Zhending Mansion were not vegetarians, and if they were dispatched with the whole army, it would be difficult to transfer troops to the north to prevent the Xijin elites from attacking and harassing Zhao Yanxing's camp with only 100,000 troops stationed in the Daimyo's Mansion.

As a result, Yang Congyi had to send the Jingwu Forbidden Army, which had made great contributions in the Tongyun Campaign, to Jinan Mansion to strengthen the emperor's ability to defend the camp.

At the critical juncture of the Northern Expedition to Yanjing, Zhao Yan must not have an accident, otherwise all his efforts over the years will be in vain, and this outcome is difficult for Yang Congyi to accept.

Yanjing City is at his fingertips, if there is any change during Zhao Yan's northward trip to Hejian Mansion, even if it is just being harassed or besieged by the Jin army, the entire Northern Expedition may have huge variables, and he has to pay attention to it.

It's just that in this way, the Jingwu Forbidden Army was transferred, and the Northern Expeditionary Army lost a flexible and mobile spearhead, and it lost the ability to quickly resist the enemy and contain the attack in resisting the possible cavalry attack and harassment of the Jin Army, which caused a certain inconvenience to the entire Northern Expeditionary Army to quickly encircle Yanjing City, and the marching and assembly time of the various armies had to be delayed.

On the first day of the lunar month, Yang Congyi did not wait for Zhao Yan to go north to Hejian Mansion, nor did he go to the camp to accompany Zhao Yan to the north, so he personally led the rectified 40,000 troops from Gu'an County to the south of Yanjing City.

On the second day of the lunar month, Ming Fu led an army of 40,000 from Xianghe and approached the east of Yanjing City.

On the fourth day of the lunar month, Yao Chang led nearly 40,000 people to cross the Chaobai River with the goal of aiming at the north of Yanjing.

At the same time, the defenders of Pingzhou and Laizhou City allocated 30,000 people to support Yanjing City under the leadership of Luo Cong, and the overall defense of Laizhou and Pingzhou was handed over to Zhang Dai.

At the beginning of the twelfth year of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Northern Expeditionary Army of the Great Song Dynasty had a total of 150,000 people, marching from the south, east and north to encircle Yanjing City.

At this time, there were only 60,000 defenders in Yanjing City, and the 30,000 reinforcements sent by Wanyan Yong from the direction of Liaoyang were blocked in Jinzhou City.

In addition, the Great Song Dynasty naval army held on to Suzhou City under the personal command of Liu Shi, the head of the naval capital, and never left the Liaodong Peninsula, and used the vehicles and ships that could travel against the wind made by the Mizhou Institute to attack Gaizhou, Chenzhou and other coastal places in Dongjin, making it difficult for Wan Yanyong to continue to divide troops to support Jinzhou.

Not only that, when Wan Yan Yong personally commanded the troops and fought with the Great Song Dynasty naval army in Suzhou, an army from nowhere suddenly attacked Liaoyang City, although in the end the army of unknown origin was driven out of Liaoyang City, but it caused great chaos to Liaoyang City, so that Wan Yan Yong had to withdraw his troops from Suzhou.