A group of riders walked from the bluestone pavement of Hengjie to the loess pavement of East Cross Street.

The farriers no longer beat the slates, the crisp sound of horses' hooves died down, and the noise of pedestrians, cars and horses in the streets immediately filled the ears.

In the summer, it dawns early, and before midnight, the eastern sky is already white. The ghost market closes two quarters of an hour earlier in the morning than in winter, and Pu Zongmeng's Yuan Sui does not need to light up the lantern to light the way.

The further along the street you go, the more officials there are on the street, and the pace of your progress slows down. However, when they saw the momentum of Pu Zongmeng and his entourage, most of them consciously vacated the middle road.

Those who were eligible to participate in the early dynasty were all court officials, and among the tens of thousands of bureaucrats in the Great Song Dynasty, they were the ones who were in the treetops. However, Pu Zongmeng, who served as a scholar of Hanlin, stood in the position of the tallest branches on the treetops. Except for the Zaizhi in the two mansions, he can be regarded as standing at the forefront. Although it is not yet the status of the prime minister and other ministers to avoid the way, it also makes people dare not compete with him.

Pu Zongmeng was proud, and the horse's hooves were urgent. After passing several courtiers who were inferior to him, he saw a very striking group of people appearing in front of him.

That team was a sight to behold, both the riders and the mounts. The horses are all fat and strong Hexi good horses, and the riders' riding skills are also first-class, and the sitting posture on horseback is completely different from Pu Zongmeng's own Yuan Sui.

"But Han Longtu?" Pu Zongmeng motioned to Yuan Sui beside him to shout forward.

I saw that the purple-robed official in the center of the group of riders in front turned around, and then the whole team, like other officials, gave way to the side of the road and gave way to the middle road.

Pu Zongmeng retracted the smile on his face, but he stepped forward proudly, the Longtu Pavilion Bachelor was not as good as the Hanlin Scholar after all.

When he got closer, Pu Zongmeng lightly lifted the reins of his horse, slowed down, bowed his hand to Han Gang, and then walked side by side.

"It's another day," Pu Zongmeng looked up at the blue sky and laughed self-deprecatingly, "I listened to Yukun's words yesterday, and I couldn't sleep well at night. I have always dreamed that there have been changes in Lingzhou, and the achievements of the officials and the army have fallen short. ”

He glanced at Han Gang, saw that he was silent, and sighed, "Yesterday's news from Lingzhou said that the ordnance and tunnels had been prepared, and the city would be attacked with all its might from the next day. With the strength of the official army, the news will be transmitted back today and tomorrow...... Although Yukun opposed this battle, he must have wanted to hear the good news of the victory of the official army like Zong Meng, right? ”

Pu Zongmeng said it so sincerely that people couldn't feel the malice in it at all.

Han Gang turned his head and glanced at Pu Zongmeng deeply, and asked with a sigh: "Chuanzheng, do you know that the Son of Heaven summoned Zaifu into the palace at night?" ”

Pu Zongmeng was stunned for a moment, and then his face changed greatly: "There is such a thing?!" ”

Although Han Gang did not explain the inside story, it is unknown why he summoned the important ministers of the two prefectures in the middle of the night. Either the army is defeated or trapped, and there will be no other reason.

"There is also a copy of Han Gang, so I know it." Han Gang didn't hide it at all, "You also know that Han Gang has a good reputation in military affairs, so he was summoned together." ”

"Yukun, you were summoned to the palace at night?!"

As soon as Pu Zongmeng's words fell, he knew that he had asked something stupid, and sure enough, Han Gang smiled and said, "Isn't Han Gang walking with Neihan?" If you are summoned to Hajj in the middle of the night, it is only two hours, where is it possible to leave the palace and enter the palace again? ”

Pu Zongmeng's expression changed several times, and he asked in a deep voice, "What is the reason?" ”

"I didn't ask in detail last night, so I pushed it directly. If you really want to listen to the details, you are called to enter the palace at night and forbidden, and the capital still doesn't know how to spread it today? Presumably, several ministers and rulers can also be stable. Han Gang sighed again, "But last night's dream is indeed a dream omen, and the northwest is indeed defeated." ”

Pu Zongmeng's face turned from blue to red, he took a deep breath, suppressed the fire in his heart, and was about to ask carefully, but Han Gang claimed that he didn't know the details and couldn't answer, which made Pu Zongmeng uneasy all the way.

When he arrived at the Xuande Gate, Han Gang stepped forward to greet the officials he was familiar with, and Pu Zongmeng, who had found an opportunity, hurriedly found a civil official who was usually close to him and asked him about the matter.

"Yes, it is." That civil official arrived one step earlier than Pu Zongmeng, and he had already heard about it. There are no secrets in the capital, and what happened only two hours ago has been spread by everyone in front of the Xuande Gate, "The Son of Heaven did summon the two mansions and Han Yukun into the palace at night." ”

"But it's because of the defeat of Lingzhou?" Pu Zongmeng asked anxiously.

"Neihan and Han Yukun just arrived, haven't you heard about it?" After asking a rhetorical question in surprise, the civil official continued: "It seems that Gao Zunyu and Miao Zhu were defeated under Lingzhou City, but they are not sure yet...... But at night, the prince was summoned to the palace alone, and the others did not move. ”

“…… Yuan Houzhi didn't go either? ”

The civil official shook his head and replied in the affirmative: "No!" ”

Pu Zongmeng fell silent, his right hand clenched into a fist.

……………………

Han Gang didn't have time to think about Pu Zongmeng's mental health problems at all.

In the Chang Dynasty of the Wende Palace, the Son of Heaven did not attend the meeting, and only the prime minister escorted the class. However, Wang Jue did not arrive, and the consuls were also summoned to the Chongzheng Hall before the court meeting.

As the most knowledgeable soldier in the court today, and the only one with experience in commanding an army, Han Gang was also summoned together with Lu Gongzhu, Lu Huiqing, and Yuan Jiang.

Stepping into the hall, the hall was filled with a thick smoke.

The royal giant candle with ambergris incense has always been known for its sparkle of fireworks, but from midnight to now, dozens of candles have been lit in the hall at these hours.

In the hall, there are only Zhao Ji, the son of heaven, and Wang Qi, the prime minister, both of whom have smoky eyes and are red. It seems that Wang Jue was summoned to the palace last night and discussed with the Son of Heaven the result of coming down in the middle of the night.

When the deacons finally arrived, Zhao Ji hesitated for a while before he spoke up and asked Wang Qi to inform several other important ministers of the battle situation in Lingzhou.

Hearing the details of the specific defeat, the hall fell silent for a while.

After waiting for a long time, no one spoke on this matter, Zhao Ji couldn't help it, and nodded to Yuan Jiang: "Yuan Qing, what do you think about this matter?" ”

Yuan Jiang thought for a while and said: "In the middle of the night, Zaifu was summoned into the palace, although it was because of the urgent military situation, but the three rivers and rivers, Haoshuichuan and Dingchuan Zhai were defeated one after another, and Emperor Renzong did not open the palace door in the middle of the night. The northwest is only a border trouble, and the shaking of the hearts of the people in the capital is the disease of the heart. I beg your Majesty to think twice. ”

"I know the way." Zhao Ji responded very coldly, and his face was pale with lack of blood.

Han Gang was at the bottom, and the faces of Zhao Ji and Wang Qi were in full view. Yuan Jiang refused to enter the palace last night, do you still expect him to continue to support Wang Qi?

Seeing that after the two of them heard Yuan Jiang's speech, their expressions were the same, Han Gang felt a little in his heart, could it be that during the time when the Son of Heaven and Wang Qi were alone before, they had reached some kind of tacit understanding, hoping that someone would support them?

"Lu Qing." There are two people surnamed Lu in the palace, and Zhao Ji called Lu Huiqing, "I don't know what Lu Qing thinks." ”

"The casualties of Jingyuan and Huanqing are unknown, and the movements of the western thieves are unknown, so the ministers dare not make a conclusion." Lu Huiqing pushed and said: "However, the morale of the Western Thieves is strong after the big victory, and it is difficult to resist their offensive at this time, whether it is Wang Zhongzheng, Chong Ge or Li Xian, and without Gao Miao and the two marshals, there is a danger that the two roads will be broken by each other." It's better to retire for the time being, and make a comeback in the future. ”

During this time, the New Party was suppressed very badly by Wang Jue, and the Taixue case, looking at the momentum, is to wipe out the foundation and future of the New Party.

Zhao Ji couldn't see any expression on his face, he let go of Lu Huiqing and asked Lu Gong, "Lu Qing's family, you are a privy envoy, in your opinion, what is the best policy?" ”

The minister also has the same view as Lu Shenzheng. The two roads of Huanqing and Jingyuan suffered heavy setbacks under the city of Lingzhou, and the army was defeated like a mountain, and the situation in the northwest was irretrievable. ”

Lu Gongzhu's rare support for Lu Huiqing, he finally found a chance to turn over. Before, because of Chen Shiru's mother murder case, the Lu family was involved too much, and even used Dali Temple to interfere with the judgment of Kaifeng Mansion. Now that the Northwest has failed miserably, his chance has finally come.

"And there are Liao people eyeing each other. With the cunning of Yelu Yixin, when he heard of the defeat of the official army, how could he not take advantage of the fire to rob. Lu Huiqing echoed.

Zhao Ji's face was ugly, but Lu Gongzhu followed without caring and said: "Your Majesty's current army to attack the summer is because of the successive victories of the old king's division, thinking that the officers and soldiers are sharp, and there is nothing in the world to stop them. However, the strength of Western Xia is far comparable to non-cochin. The minister asked about the art of war, and the general was the general if he fought for profit for a hundred miles. Thousands of miles raiding Lingzhou, is there any reason to be invincible? This time, nearly one million soldiers and civilians were sent to a land of thousands of miles, and not only the army was full of complaints, but also the people were also miserable. ”

Han Gang wanted to laugh when he saw it, it was really rare...... The new party and the old party, for more than ten years, rarely stand in the same trench for one time.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Wang Qi hurriedly said: "Although Wang Shi has been frustrated, the main force still exists, and he still has more than 200,000 horses. The strength of the western thieves should not exceed this, how can there be a practice of retreating without a fight. ”

"Since His Majesty ascended the throne, the army has been used to build up military service, year after year, the national strength has been wasted, and there are few victories. Today's defeat is a reasonable matter, even if Xingling is captured for a while, it is difficult to preserve it for a long time - it must be known that before Li Jiqian, Xingling was also the land of China. Within ten years, the ministers asked His Majesty to stop speaking soldiers. ”

After all, Lu Gongzhu is the old party, and finally tried to see the dagger, and Lu Huiqing can no longer unite with him at this time, "Your Majesty has implemented the new law for many years, the country is abundant, the army is strong, and the generals can be used, so there are many victories in Hehuang, Jingnan, Hengshan, Southwest and Jiaozhou." The defeat of Lingzhou was due to the treacherous and cunning of the western thieves, which caused a small setback for the king. Although it is not suitable to fight again at the moment, it is not difficult to recuperate for a year or two, and then select famous generals and raise troops to fight for summer. ”

"The elite soldiers of the four roads still exist, how can they retreat?!" Wang Jue asked sharply.

Yuan Jiang still didn't keep his hand, "Wang Shi unfortunately failed, although there was a small loss to the state, but fortunately there was no big problem." However, the situation in the country is worrying, and His Majesty hopes that His Majesty will pay attention to this to prevent rumors and traitors. ”