Seven or eight knights galloped in the dark night, the wind whistling in their ears, and the hooves of the horses striking the ground, stirring up billowing yellow dust.

Immediately, the knight wore a soap-colored official uniform, and the head of the prince carried a letter box wrapped in red satin, and the satin had five large characters, 'Golden Word Urgent Foot Order', and several attendants behind him flicked bells in their hands, 'Jingle Bell! Jingling! The crisp sound of the bell spread far away on the official road.

After a short time, the delivery team of the golden word urgent foot order rushed all the way to the Yuhang gate in the north of Lin'an City, and shouted to the city head for the first knight, "We are the golden word urgent foot express from Pingjiang Mansion, there is an urgent military situation to report, please open the city gate immediately!" ”

The Golden Express had the privilege of entering the city at night, but their reasons were puzzling, and the soldiers in the city asked, "What is the military situation in Suzhou?" ”

"It's not Suzhou, it's Suzhou that received the orange military pigeon letter from the northwest, and it can't be forwarded with the pigeon letter at night, so we can only rush to deliver the letter."

The orange military intelligence is the highest level of military intelligence, and it cannot be delayed for a moment, the city gate was immediately opened slowly, the drawbridge was lowered, and several messengers urged the horses to gallop into Lin'an City, shaking the bell, 'Ding Dong! Jingling! 'Run in the direction of the palace to the south.

........

The day has not yet dawned, the civil and military officials will take ox carts and sedan chairs, riding horses from all directions to the Lin'an Palace on the early dynasty, the son of heaven Zhao Gou is a more diligent emperor, adhere to the early dynasty system, rain or shine, but the recent early dynasty has made the ministers a little heavy, the war in the Central Plains and Shandong tightened everyone's heartstrings, for fear that when they came to the palace early in the morning, they heard the news that the army was completely annihilated and the state and county fell.

Right Prime Minister Fan Zhixu, as usual, entered the palace gate at two o'clock, but he found that the atmosphere seemed to be a little wrong today, and the ministers in the Daqing Palace Square gathered together to say something, and their words and expressions were quite excited.

"Pan Yushi, what's wrong?" Fan Zhixu asked Pan Liang, the nearest attendant.

Pan Liang hurriedly stepped forward and saluted, "Enlightened Prime Minister, there is news that the Song army has captured Taiyuan Mansion, I don't know if it's true or not?" ”

"How is that possible? How can any army fly to Taiyuan? ”

Fan Zhixu just finished speaking, but suddenly woke up, could it be Li Yanqing's Jing Zhaojun?

He hurriedly asked, "Where did this news come from?" ”

Pan Liang shook his head, "Xia Guan doesn't know, I just heard people say this." ”

At this time, a low bell came from the front of the Daqing Palace, 'Boom! This is the bell ringing.

Hundreds of officials walked towards the jade steps one after another, only to see Zhu Yun, the young eunuch in the palace, said loudly: "Pass on Your Majesty's dictation, today the big dynasty will be canceled and changed to a small dynasty, please go to the vertical arch hall to participate in the court meeting." ”

There was a lot of discussion in the square, the cancellation of the dynasty, there must be a major event or an emergency military situation, could it be that the Song army really captured Taiyuan Mansion?

The hundred officials refused to disperse, still standing in the square waiting for news, at this time, Gao Shen came out and smiled at the hundred officials: "Everyone go back to their respective rooms to do things!" ”

Someone asked loudly: "Gao Xianggong, are the rumors true?" The Song army captured Taiyuan Mansion? ”

Gao Shen smiled slightly, "I can tell you that the rumors are true, it was the news I got in the middle of the night last night, and Li Dutong of the Jingzhao Army had led his army to capture Taiyuan Mansion three days ago. ”

The square was suddenly jubilant, some of the officials were so excited that they hugged each other, and some people clenched their fists and waved their arms, indulging in loud cheers.

Fan Zhixu was ecstatic, this is what Li Yanqing said before, he will contain the Jin soldiers from the rear, so that the Jin soldiers cannot go south to the Huai River, and sure enough, the capture of Taiyuan will indeed greatly restrain the pace of the Jin soldiers to the south.

However, Fan Zhixu also had some doubts in his heart, didn't Li Yanqing fight fiercely with the army of Wanyan Lou Room on Shaanxi Road? Annihilating tens of thousands of golden soldiers who invaded Shaanxi so quickly?

Fan Zhixu wanted to know the details, so he turned his head and walked towards the Vertical Arch Hall.

The vertical arch hall is the place where the official family deals with government affairs on weekdays, summons the ministers, also called the Chang Dynasty Palace, is located in the south of the Ningfu Palace, the second hall of Lin'an Palace, is a small palace, compared to the empty hall, it seems relatively small and warm, the second half is the imperial study, and the first half is the meeting hall of the small court meeting.

More than 20 important ministers from the third rank and above came to the hall, found their respective seats and sat down, Fan Zhixu asked Gao Shen next to him: "What is the specific situation?" ”

Gao Shen smiled bitterly and said: "Although I was on duty last night, I only received a pigeon letter from Pingjiang Mansion, and the content of the letter was relatively simple, that is, Li Taibao led 30,000 troops to capture Taiyuan City. ”

"What about the Jin Bing on Shaanxi Road? Did it mention anything? Fan Zhixu asked urgently.

"I don't know what to say, I just said that I was trapped in Dunzhou."

"Wait! Is it trapped? Fan Zhixu suddenly heard the clue.

"Dunzhou!" Gao Shen said affirmatively.

Fan Zhixu had previously served as the envoy of Shaanxi Sixth Road, and he stayed in Shaanxi Road for a year, and he knew the situation of Shaanxi Road very well. Could it be.......

At this time, a guard shouted, "Your Majesty has arrived!" ”

Everyone stood up one after another, only to see Zhao Gou, the son of heaven, walking out of the imperial study briskly, waving his hand and smiling at everyone: "Let you Aiqing wait for a long time!" ”

Zhao Gou sat down and said with a smile: "Today is the most comfortable day in my past half a month, I believe everyone knows why." ”

Everyone laughed, "Great news, congratulations to Your Majesty." ”

Zhao Gou nodded, and sighed softly, "It's a pity that it's a pigeon letter, only a few dozen words, and many details can't be understood, I especially want to know what is the situation of the Jin soldiers attacking Shaanxi Road?" I can't let go of it! ”

Fan Zhixu smiled slightly: "Weichen can relieve His Majesty's worries!" ”

"Fan Xianggong knows?"

"Wechen once served as the envoy of Shaanxi Sixth Road, and he is familiar with the situation of Shaanxi Road, so Wechen can analyze it, but he needs a map of Shaanxi Road."

"I have it in the study!"

Zhao Gou hurriedly instructed the two eunuchs, "Go and get it quickly!" ”

The two eunuchs rushed away, and in a moment they were carried along with the wooden frame and the map, and Fan Zhixu asked the eunuch to put the wooden frame in the middle of the hall, facing the Son of Heaven Zhao Gou, and the ministers gathered around to check from both sides.

Fan Zhixu pointed to the map with a wooden pole and said with a smile: "Northern Shaanxi is a loess mountain area, the ravines are vertical and horizontal, the surface is broken, there are many mountains, it is more difficult to enter Guanzhong from northern Shaanxi, there are only two roads since ancient times, one is the Maling River in the west - Jingshui Valley Road, the northern Hu cavalry into Guanzhong is basically taking this road, the other is Luoshui Valley Road, also through Luoshui Canyon into Guanzhong, but the bottom of this road is not easy to walk, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty built the Qin Straight Road on the mountainside, which can be used today, From Yan'an Mansion, you can follow the straight road south into Guanzhong, and first understand these two roads, which is crucial for the following analysis. ”

Fan Zhixu asked Zhao Gou again: "May I ask Your Majesty, is there a sentence in the pigeon letter, Jin Bing is trapped in Dunzhou?" ”

Zhao Gou nodded, "There is indeed this sentence!" ”

"That's the key, where is Juzhou? Please see, it is the Luoshui Road in the east, if you can trap the Jin soldiers, then there is only one possibility, the Jin soldiers are trapped on the Qin Straight Road. ”

"Even if you're stuck on the straight, can't you break through?" Zuo Xiang Lu Yihao asked puzzled.

"Zuo Xiangguo asked very right, could it be that the Song army built fortifications at both ends of the straight road, so that the Jin soldiers could not break through, if this is the reason, then Li Yanqing did not dare to wave his division to attack Taiyuan, after all, as long as the Jin soldiers are desperate, there is still a possibility of breaking through, so I guess it must be another situation where the Jin soldiers cannot break through."

Zhao Gou couldn't help but ask, "What's the situation?" ”

"Your Majesty, the situation that Weichen said is that the road is closed by heavy snow."

"Ahh The surrounding ministers exclaimed.

Fan Zhixu smiled faintly, and continued: "There is a saying in Yan'an Mansion, called the wind and snow in the pass, be careful to send your life, which refers to the dilemma when encountering heavy snow on the straight road, especially when encountering an avalanche, it is basically a life of nine deaths, so the pigeon letter said that Jin Bing was trapped in Yanzhou, and Weichen deduced that Jin Bing must encounter heavy snow to close the road, or even encounter an avalanche, before he will be completely trapped. ”

"Can the golden soldiers escape?" Zhao Gou asked again.

Fan Zhixu shook his head, "If you really encounter an avalanche, it will definitely be impossible to escape, and whether you can survive until next spring can only depend on the will of God." ”

Only then did everyone understand the mystery, and in addition to the excitement, everyone was thinking about how to deal with it next?

Zhao Gou walked a few steps on the steps with his hands in his hands, and said to everyone: "I hope that Li Taibao can always hold Taiyuan, so I don't know how we can help the Jingzhao Army, let's talk about it!" ”

Yin Cao Yan of Lin'an Mansion got up and said: "Your Majesty, the battle between us and the Jin State is actually fought with national strength, whether the Jingzhao Army can hold on all the time, it depends on whether there is sufficient money, food and materials and soldiers to support, Bingyuan Weichen believes that the Jingzhao Army can be solved, the key is money and food materials, Weichen suggested adjusting the authority of Li Taibao, implementing the integration of Sichuan and Shaanxi as soon as possible, and supporting Shaanxi Road to resist Jin with Bashu's materials and money." ”

Gao Shen also said kindly: "Cao Fuyin's suggestion is very correct, when Li Taibao was appointed as the envoy of the Northwest Third Road, it was mainly to consider dealing with the Western Xia crisis, and now that the Western Xia crisis has been resolved, Li Taibao has also changed from fighting against the Western Xia to fighting against the Jin State, and it is indeed necessary to implement the integration of Sichuan and Shaanxi." ”

"What about Fan Xianggong's opinion?" Zhao Gou asked Fan Zhixu again.

Fan Zhixu nodded, "Weichen thinks it's feasible!" ”

Immediately afterwards, Lu Yihao and Zheng Wangzhi also agreed, except for the new Xiangguo Zhu Shengfei to inspect Jingxiang, and the other new Xiangguo Fan Zongyin said that it needed to be discussed again, four of the six Xiangguo have already expressed their approval, which means that the Zhizheng Hall has passed this plan.

Zhao Gou then decreed: "Since this is the case, Li Yanqing will be dismissed from the post of envoy of the three northwest routes, and he will be reappointed as the envoy of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Economy, and at the same time he will also serve as the defense envoy of the Hedong Road, and Liu Tao will be appointed as the envoy of the Xihe Road, and Zhang Suo, the transfer envoy of the Qinfeng Road, will be promoted to the envoy of the Qinfeng Road." ”

Zhao Gou immediately issued a second decree, and immediately transported the money and grain from the treasury of the two prefectures in Sichuan to Guanzhong to support the great cause of Shaanxi Jingzhao Army's resistance to Jin.

At the same time, in order to prevent the Jin soldiers from breaking through the Huai River defense line and recapturing the Central Plains and Shandong, Zhao Gou appointed Zhang Jun, Liu Guangshi, Wang Yan, Yue Fei and Han Shizhong as the five people under the control of the capital, and each led elite troops to resist the Jin in the Huai River and the Central Plains.

In order to solve the problem of insufficient troops, Zhao Gou specially issued a self-recruitment order, allowing all anti-Jin generals to raise troops on their own, and the number of troops recruited was handed over to the Ministry of War for the record, and was uniformly supervised by the Privy Council.

This is also to solve the financial difficulties of the imperial court, unable to recruit troops and take temporary countermeasures, many ministers believe that this will lead to the danger of military generals supporting the army and self-reliance, but Zhao Gou after weighing the pros and cons, or decided to focus on the anti-Jin plan, allowing all anti-Jin generals to raise troops on their own.