Chapter 454: Taishang Zhao Ji

By October of the fifth year of Song Longxing, the Jin army had taken half of the Great Song Dynasty through three large-scale southern expeditions. Hebei, Hedong, Shandong, and Henan all fell into the hands of the Jinren. In the Great Song Dynasty, only Sichuan, Shaanxi, Liangzhejiang, Jinghu, Jianghuai and other regions remained. Zhao Guan's family was forced to retreat, and if they wanted to retreat again, they would probably have to go to Fujian or run to the sea.

However, Zhao Huan did show courage at this time, rejecting the suggestion of the ministers that he would move away, and issued an edict to Zhao Dian, who was stationed in the Jianghuai region, first indicating that he would not move away, and the Son of Heaven would not retreat. Then he asked them to fight hard to prevent the Jin army from crossing the Yangtze River, and promised an unprecedented reward. Zhe Keqiu and Zhao Dian led the army south, and Gong Wei Xing was behind, both built festivals, and were second-class members. Further up, it is the highest rank of the military minister, the second rank of the Tai Lieutenant.

But the emperor and the prime minister both believed that this was probably not enough to motivate the generals to lead the troops on the front line, and promised the position of "three orphans" of the young master and promised the duke. Some ministers even suggested that in the past, in order to inspire the subjects of the world to restore their homeland, Emperor Shenzong made a promise to restore Yanyun to be crowned king. Later, Tong Guan recaptured Yanyun Prefectures and was named the king of Guangyang County. Although it was later learned that he had just ransomed a few empty cities from the Jurchens and came back to make up the number and deceive the prince, the Great Song Dynasty did set this precedent.

Since ministers with different surnames can be crowned kings, at this time when the country is in crisis and the society is in danger, why not sacrifice this supreme glory? Who can repel the Jin army, keep the line safe, and be crowned king

However, few people agree with this suggestion. The ministers generally believed that this opening could not be opened, and although Tong Guan was crowned king, he was later deprived of the title of king, and even cut off his head. In the chaotic world, the king is widely allowed, and once this head is opened, the corrupt dynasty will not be said. Now the status of the military ministers is elevated, and the front-line commanders rely on them, if military merit is used as a condition for the king, they are the ones who are most likely to receive this honor, if the military ministers are crowned kings, where will the civil officials put their faces? It's also unfair to civil servants

Zhao Huan originally had a negative attitude towards this matter, and as soon as the ministers objected, he made it clear that the highest title of a minister with a different surname was still limited to the national prince.

The Wushu army went south, and soon broke through the two places of Haozhou and Suzhou, intending to approach Yangzhou in a straight line, and then cross the river to attack Zhenjiang Mansion. Fortunately, after Zhao Huan moved south, Zhi Yanzhi and others began to plan the defense of the line. Zhe Zhonggu proposed that in the future, if an incident occurs and the Central Plains falls, then the final bottom line should be to "resist the enemy in Jiangbei". Therefore, in addition to building warships and sailors in the Yangtze River, they also made good arrangements in the north of the Yangtze River.

At this time, the Zhejia army was deployed in Zhenzhou, Hezhou, and Zhaodian was deployed in Yangzhou, both of which were important towns in Jiangbei, and Zhenjiang Mansion was guarded on three sides. The Central Plains was in turmoil, and thousands of refugees flocked to the south to follow the Son of Heaven. The ferries on the Yangtze River were overcrowded, and some incorruptible and shameless scum also acted as the Jin army's meticulous work and mixed in, probing the Song army everywhere.

When Wushu learned that the Taishang Young Emperor was in Zhenjiang and vowed not to retreat, he was overjoyed, urged the three armies, divided into several routes, and attacked the Song army's Jiangbei defense line

The originally prosperous and peaceful Zhenjiang Mansion had fallen into fear, and the people who lived comfortably in the warm wind of Jiangnan did not expect that the flames of war would burn in front of them so quickly. Speculation, rumors, and panic spread like a plague in Zhenjiang Prefecture. Although the Son of Heaven has a clear edict and will not retreat, it cannot eliminate the worries of the people. Nowadays, many people in the city have dragged their families and people to other places to join relatives and friends, forcing the army of the Imperial Camp Division to restrict entry and exit.

The Imperial Palace, the Vertical Arch Palace.

The place where the Son of Heaven deals with daily affairs and receives ministers is now crowded. Officials from various provinces and departments of the DPRK and China gathered together. It's not that they don't do their job, but because the Jin army has once again hit the center, and they have nothing to do at all. There is only one purpose of gathering the vertical arch hall, that is, to respond to the call of some of the ministers, come to the emperor to admonish, and persuade the officials to evacuate Zhenjiang

The Son of Heaven is the head of the country and the leader of all the people, and he cannot risk his life, as long as the emperor is there and the court is there, the army and the people will have hope and hope. If it is for the sake of temporary significance, sitting in Zhenjiang Mansion, if the Jurchens are allowed to cross the Yangtze River, and even the emperor brings hundreds of officials to serve it, what will the world do?

In the hall, Geng Nanzhong, Huang Qianshan and other ministers led the kneeling and bowing to the ground, resolutely pleading. Zhe Yanzhi, Xu Han, Qin Hui, He Guan, Yao Gu and others stood aside, all with worried faces.

And Zhao Huan, the son of heaven, was on top, and he was also frowning and restless. The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty resolutely asked to leave six or seven times out of ten, and the rest did not express their position, which made him embarrassed.

"Your Majesty's gold thief has arrived in Jiangbei, for the sake of the Jiangshan Society, for the sake of the people of Li, I implore Your Majesty to leave Zhenjiang" Geng Nanzhong knocked again and again, his face full of pain.

As soon as he shouted, the officials behind him also shouted in unison: "I implore Your Majesty to leave Zhenjiang"

Zhao Huan shook his head, closed his eyes and said: "The country has reached such a point that even the old capital of Tokyo has fallen into the hands of thieves, I have already retreated once, where else can I retreat?" Where is the retreat to the head? Further south, there is a vast ocean behind you. ”

"As long as the official family is safe and sound, the court is sound, and the military and people all over the world will not lose their fighting spirit, there will always be a day when they will recover" Huang Qianshan's words, to put it in layman's terms, is to stay in the green mountains, not afraid of no firewood, we will not fight to the death with the Jin army here, obviously we can't fight others, how can we not escape? Either way, let's save my life first

"Huang Xiang's words are extremely official, the Jin army plundered the Central Plains, the military is flourishing, Jiangbei can ask Zhao Dian and others to resist the ten thousand invitations to the Son of Heaven to leave the line temporarily, in order to avoid its misfortune and wait for the Jin army to retreat, it is not too late"

Just as the ministers were trying to persuade each other, Zhe Yanzhi suddenly saw a member of the Privy Council stepping into the temple, and when he saw this situation, he seemed to have lost his bearings, and stood at the door of the temple at a loss. He quietly left his position and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

When the privy councillor saw him, he couldn't help but clench the objects in his hand, and hesitated: "Prime minister, the Jin army broke Chuzhou Zhenzhou, and the troops were divided into two routes, all the way to attack Yangzhou, all the way to attack Hezhou, trying to cross the river from these two places, Ling Zun has gathered troops to defend in Hezhou, do you want to report it immediately?" ”

Zhe Zhonggu was shocked, Yangzhou has Guazhou Ferry, and Zhou has Baiqiaodu, all of which are large ferries that can be used by the army to pass through

It's just that on this occasion, as a Xifu brain, he can't mess up. He immediately hid the military newspaper and sternly warned his subordinates not to publicize the matter.

In addition, Zhang Suo, who stayed in Tokyo, led the army across the river with Han Shizhong, and arrived there. In addition, Yue Fei, the general who stayed behind, led his troops to arrive and reported to the Privy Council. ”

Orihiko nodded, dismissed his subordinates, and quietly returned to the class. At that time, hundreds of officials in the palace were in a hurry to persuade the emperor to run away, and no one paid attention to him. Only He Guan whispered, "What's the matter?" Zhi Yanzhi shook his head lightly, signaling him not to ask, how to instill, and not to say more.

"I know the heart of the country and the king. However, it is not easy for the gold thief to cross the river. If you leave at this time, I am afraid of losing the hearts of the army and the people" Pay attention to Zhao Huan's words, he is not saying that I, as the emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, swear to stay here, inspire the army and the people, and never retreat, but said, it is not yet time to run away, if I leave, the army and the people will be disappointed. After all, not long ago, I personally issued an edict, and I said conclusively that I would not take a step back.

Geng Nanzhong is worthy of being the old man when Zhao Huan was the prince, knocking on the ground, banging, crying bitterly: "The ministers are not afraid of death, but they are afraid that the country has no owner and ask the officials to endure for the time being, avoid the edge of Beiyi, and then the Zhaoxi army will come to the aid and try to recover."

No matter how urgent the situation is at the same time, you can't say what the situation is in Shaanxi, no one knows, it's not going to be hot, how can you come to the rescue?

It's just that so many ministers are persuaded to retreat, and it is difficult for a few of them to come forward to refute, otherwise they will stand on the opposite side of most of the courtiers.

Zhao Huan couldn't make up his mind in his heart, he was overwhelmed, and waved his hand: "This matter can be discussed later, the top priority is to encourage the soldiers to fight bravely and stop the gold thieves from Jiangbei, let's retreat."

Where are the ministers willing to follow, aside from the loyalty and patriotism, their wives and children are all in Zhenjiang, if they don't retreat, everyone will end up together, so the hanging arch hall is full of mourning, all begging the emperor to give up walking.

Zhao Huan patted the imperial case, brushed his sleeves and left the ministers of the palace, crying out in pain

Seeing that the time had come, Zheyan came to Zhao Ding, the governor of the political affairs, invited him aside, and whispered: "There is a military report from Jiangbei, and the situation is not optimistic, so you can go to the king." ”

Zhao Ding suddenly turned sideways, stared at Zhi Yanzhi for a moment, and asked in a trembling voice, "Where are you?" ”

"The two states of Chu have been broken, and they are attacking Heyang." Orihiko said in a low voice.

Zhao Ding was shocked, so away from Zhenjiang Mansion, isn't it a river? He Guan also stepped forward: "Don't panic, the Imperial Battalion Division still has 30,000 soldiers in the south of the Yangtze River, and there are also sailors in the river, and it is not easy for the Jin army to cross the army."

"Well, the left-behind Zhang Suo in Tokyo also led the remnants of the army to cross the river, and he himself has already entered the city, and there is still a turning point in this matter, but the face of the gentleman is right," Orihiko added.

Zhao Ding, acting prime minister, is the brain of the government, thought about it for a while, and immediately decided: "I will go to see the Son of Heaven, and advise the enemy to stop the enemy in Jiangbei in Zhenjiang, and then send envoys into Shaanxi. ”

Zhi Yanzhi and He Guan glanced at each other, Mo said that the Western Army may be difficult to protect itself now, but it is fine, this Shaanxi Jiangnan is thousands of miles away, and when will it take for them to come to their rescue? Now there are only two roads, either to block the Jin army and prevent it from crossing the river. Either it is really as the minister in the palace invited, protect the official family, and flee until the Jin army gives up the pursuit, but the consequences of doing so are extremely serious, then it is not only the fall of the Central Plains, the south may not be guaranteed until then, let me ask the whole world, where else can we stand? Let the Son of Heaven go to Sichuan?

Zhi Yanzhi made this layer clear, and Zhao Ding gritted his teeth and said: "Ignore this matter, take care of the front first"

As soon as his feet moved, a person jumped out of the cold, grabbed his sleeve, and said sharply: "The situation has fallen so far, what do you have to do?"

Several people were startled, and when they looked at it, it was Geng Nanzhong. Zhao Ding pulled back and said: "It is precisely because of the danger that we have to ...... it."

Geng Nanzhong pulled his sleeve and didn't let go, without waiting for him to finish, he cut it off: "The Manchu Dynasty civil and military forces are persuaded to retreat, you wait as a ruler but don't say a word, I don't know what you are thinking?" I want to leave the official family in the treacherous place of Zhenjiang to make a name for you."

Zhao Ding roared angrily: "It's better than you to run away"

Geng Nanzhong didn't give up, he just grabbed him and didn't let go. He Guan suddenly changed color, stepped forward and lifted his hand, and left after protecting Zhao Ding, who is he? The heroes who supported the new monarch have always been trusted by Zhao Huan

Geng Nanzhong's whole face fell, and when he saw Zhao Ding and the others leaving the palace, he hurriedly found the deputy minister Huang Qianshan and said: "In a hurry, Zhao Ding and the others must go to the court to persuade them to stay, and we must not let them succeed, but are we willing to take the risk and break into the palace with me?" ”

Huang Qianshan's face turned pale, and after hesitating for a moment, he said loudly: "It's about the national body, what is the risk?" Don't fight but don't want the black veil on your head, and you should also keep the Son of Heaven safe"

"Okay, find a few more important ministers, follow me"

But it was said that Zhao Huan left the vertical arch hall and walked to the harem worriedly, and the left and right attendants trotted behind, and they didn't dare to take a breath. As a result, he didn't walk a few dozen steps, and suddenly saw half of the official's body crooked and fell to the ground. Shocked, the attendants rushed up and helped the emperor up.

Zhao Huan suffers from a disease called "wind disease", when he is ill, his hands and feet are paralyzed, and he is unsteady on his feet. I used to do it when I was in Tokyo, but it's not very common. But because of the arrival in the south of the Yangtze River, perhaps the water and soil were not adapted, and it collapsed again at this time. The chamberlains rushed the emperor into the palace, and in a mess, they urgently summoned the imperial doctor to diagnose and treat him.

Zhao Ding Zheyan and others chased all the way, but when they saw the meat servants coming and going, they panicked, and Zheyan stepped forward and grabbed one and asked, "What's the panic?" ”

"The official family is in a hurry," the chamberlain replied tremblingly.

The three important ministers present couldn't help but be shocked at this juncture, but they couldn't do this kind of thing and expected the Son of Heaven to imitate the story of Zong Lanyuan and supervise the battle of Zhenjiang

"The Son of Heaven's old illness, what can I do? To report or not to report? He Guan asked Zhao Ding.

Zhao Ding didn't have an idea for a while, and at this time he went to the palace to see the driver, and it was obviously inappropriate to ask Zhi Yan: "What does the cardinal think?" ”

Zhe Zhonggu was willing to take the risk to break into the palace, but now that the Son of Heaven is sick, it is another matter. After thinking about it again and again, he was about to speak, but when he saw the imperial doctor coming out of the palace, the three of them stepped forward to stop him and ask about the condition of the Son of Heaven.

"The official family is too worried, so that he is sick, and the lower officials have opened a prescription to calm the nerves, and after taking it, there should be no major problem." The Imperial Physician replied.

After the imperial doctor left, the three of them were discussing whether to make a report, but they heard He Guan suddenly say, "Taishang." ”

Zhao Zhe and the two ministers looked up at the same time, and saw that the Emperor Taishang led the three or five chamberlains to the Son of Heaven's bedroom. Since Zhao Huan's southern tour, coupled with his many years on the throne, he believes that he has a solid foundation. And Zhao Ji also reversed what he did in the Jianghuai region when he first abdicated, but he asked about political affairs and was obsessed with calligraphy. Zhao Huan relaxed his strict control over Emperor Zhao Ji, but he still couldn't leave the palace one step.

"The ministers meet the emperor." The three important ministers bowed and saluted.

Zhao Ji took a look, among them He Guan was his old minister, and the other two were new sons. Because he only asked about political affairs, he didn't say anything and went straight to the emperor's bedroom.

When Zhao Huan was lying on top of the royal collapse, an attendant was massaging his hands and feet, and when he saw the arrival of the emperor, he informed Zhao Huan. As soon as he heard that his father had arrived, Zhao Huan forcibly got up, looked at Zhao Ji and asked, "Why did Taishang come here?" ”

"Without him, the emperor hasn't come to see him for a long time, and the old father is anxious, so I came to take a look." Zhao Ju replied.

Where is Zhao Huan willing to believe this? He has not forgotten the past when the Emperor Taishang was unwilling to return to the court in the Jianghuai region, making it difficult for him to sleep. Moreover, in the last years of Xuanhe, his father gave him the throne, and at the same time handed over a mess to him. Over the years, I don't know how tired he is.

"State affairs are like this, I have no skills, and I ask for the understanding of the Taishang and the Queen Mother." This 1un principle is constant, although it emphasizes the monarch and the minister, it also attaches importance to the father and the son. Even if you are the king in public, but in private, you are still the son of man.

"The emperor is ......" Zhao Ji just appeared, and his son didn't seem to be right.

Zhao Huan beat his spirit: "Oh, it's a little trouble, and it's okay." ”

"Although the emperor is the monarch of the country, he is assisted by his ministers, so he doesn't have to do everything himself, he has to take care of his health." The Emperor doesn't seem to know what happened yet.

Zhao Huan stared at his father for a long time, as if he wanted to see from the other party's face whether he really didn't know or pretended. After a long time, he said in a deep voice: "The Jin army has come to the north of the river. ”

Zhao Ji was stunned when he heard this, he didn't seem to hear clearly, and wondered: "What? ”

Zhao Huan sighed: "The Jin army has conquered the Central Plains, and the troops are in Jiangbei. ”

"This, how can this be, isn't that ......" Zhao Ji was shocked and spoke incoherently.

Seeing him like this, Zhao Huan secretly said in his heart, if it weren't for the extravagance and extravagance of Taishang's reign, where would there be today's situation? At the beginning, the country's situation was not as good as day by day, and in order to escape, you hurriedly gave up the great position to me. Now, I can't leave the burden on the underage prince, right?

The more I thought about it, the more angry I became, so I said bluntly: "The situation is chaotic, and the palace in the city is busy coping, please return to the palace." ”

Zhao Ji got up slowly, as if he was shocked by this, and muttered, "Why is this so? Why? Now I repeated it several times before I went out of the palace.

Zhao Huan stared at his back, his expression became more and more solemn, but when he saw that the Emperor Taishang had not taken a few steps, he suddenly replied: "He Guan and other ministers outside the palace seem to have something to do." After finishing speaking, he walked straight out.

Outside the palace, the three ministers saw the ceremony, and Zhao Ji didn't know what to think, and said to the three important ministers of the court: "The national crisis is the head, and the secretaries should work hard to assist the emperor in the difficult times." ”

The three of them also felt that his words were a little abrupt, but they still bowed down and said, "Remember, ministers." ”

"The emperor is suffering from a wind disease, and now he is recovering, and he needs to recuperate. If you wait to do something, it's best not to wait too long and let the emperor rest. Zhao Ji said.

The three important ministers looked at each other, and had to bow down again and respond: "Yes." ”