More than a month ago, since Fengzhou was seized by the party, the atmosphere in the court has become colder day by day. Today, the news of the siege of Yongzhou by the Jiaozhi soldiers came, and the temperature in the Chongzheng Hall had dropped below freezing.

In any palace in the imperial city, as long as the Son of Heaven comes, ice cubes will be placed in the summer, and charcoal fires will be raised in the winter, so that the Son of Heaven can sit comfortably on the imperial couch. Wisps of cigarette smoke wafted out from the crane-shaped incense burner, wrapping around the beams and pillars, making every palace where the Son of Heaven was located like a heavenly fairy palace.

But Han Gang felt that the temperature in this hall was still cold enough, and it was deserted, although the number of people was several times more than usual.

Today's Chongzheng Hall is no longer just five or six zaifu plus more than ten important ministers of the two systems, but has been expanded to the level of the service system, plus several important and military-related supervisors, gathered together to discuss the problems to be faced today.

However, compared with the imminent emergency military situation, the indistinguishable responsibilities, the ministers who use the topic to play, and the angry Son of Heaven, this is the more difficult problem.

Zhao Ji looked at the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, the thunder and anger converged in his eyes, and the flames burned in his chest.

Who can tell him what the hell is going on?!

There are enemies in the north, enemies in the south, and internal troubles in the country, and the warning signs in the sky have only passed recently, why is there so much chaos at once? Everything is a lot of anxiety, but now it's piled up in front of you.

The war in the north was provoked by himself, and Zhao Ji would not settle accounts for this matter. But when the matter dragged on to the involvement of the Khitans, how could Zhao Ji not get angry?

That is, half a month after the fall of Fengzhou, Western Xia sent people to Beijing, saying that they wanted to exchange Fengzhou for Luo Wu.

When Zhao Ji heard this, he couldn't help but put the man with a sheep. The envoy of the taste ordered to be driven out of the palace. Isn't it just that the Liao State is already standing behind them? As long as the Liao State has not officially delivered the credentials, Zhao Ji can ignore it completely. thought that if he won just one Fengzhou, he would be able to force him to submit, but he would underestimate him, the son of the Great Song Dynasty.

At least at that time, Zhao Ji also thought that Fengzhou would soon be able to take it back, and if he was lucky, maybe the silver and summer land would also be in his hands. Therefore, he hung the Western Xia envoys in the Duting Xiyi in the west of the city and ignored them.

But then the news came that the attack on Yinxia failed, and only the Xiangling Village that controlled the mountain pass was saved; Then there is the military situation in Hedong, the army of Linfu Road and Taiyuan Province totaling nearly 30,000 to recover Fengzhou, due to insufficient vehicles, it is difficult to cross the snow-heavy mountain road, and is blocked on the line of the ancient Great Wall; Then Huainan and Jiangdong reported an emergency, saying that the people's livelihood was flowing due to drought and locusts, and thieves had appeared, and they begged that the 600,000 stone grain that should be sent to the capital this winter should be left in this road for relief; The last blow came from the south, and Qinzhou and Lianzhou fell one after another.

As these unfavorable news spread from the court, the conditions reported by the Western Xia envoys were changed to exchange Fengzhou for Suide City.

That's right, it's no longer for Luo Wucheng, but for Suide!

Change Suide? It's a big joke. Once Suide returned it, of course, Luo Wucheng could not be saved, and all of them were lost back along with the southern foot of Hengshan. In the years since he ascended the throne, all the enterprising development in Yanyan Road has come to naught.

If the price was still Luo Wucheng at this time, Zhao Ji might really change it. But with such a lion's big mouth, as the son of the Great Song Dynasty, he couldn't bear it, so he directly ordered someone to forcibly send this Western Xia 'profiteer' who met the wind and price hikes out of the country, and didn't even think about whether to send Fengzhou to the Khitan.

But yesterday, as soon as the envoys of Western Xia left, the envoys of Khitan He Zhengdan also arrived. And it was Xiao Xi who Zhao Ji didn't want to see the most. When he came to ask for land as an envoy several times, Xiao Xi's seemingly honest smiling face, Zhao Ji gritted his teeth when he saw it.

Xiao Xi brought the Liao lord's greetings to the empress dowager, and at the same time urged the Great Song and Western Xia families to call off their troops. According to the alliance of the Yuanyuan, the Liao lord Yelu Hongji was Zhao Ji's nominal uncle, and he married his daughter to the Xia lord Bingchang, who was the ruler of Western Xia. As an elder, it is justified to persuade the children and nephews not to make trouble.

It's just that this level of kinship only exists in the national letter, and no one cares about it. What Yelu Hongji used to persuade Zhao Ji to give up the war against Western Xia was not the letter of state or Xiao Xi's mouth, but the transfer of troops in Xijing Road, so that Taiyuan Mansion sent gold medals overnight to Beijing.

And the things that made Zhao Ji sad were not only that. Two days ago, the fifth son of the emperor, Zhao Yan, died in infancy. Finally, his Zhao Ji's heirs increased to two, and at this time, there was only one third son, Zhao Jun, left.

Internal and external troubles, the heavy burden pressed on Zhao Ji's shoulders, making him even feel that breathing became difficult for a while. And the courtiers below were still arguing, and the quarrel made his head split.

"The small country of Jiaozhi, since the time of Li Rizun, has neglected to pay tribute. The imperial court remembered that its country was small and outnumbered, and it was tolerant. Unexpectedly, his heart of a deer did not feel the kindness of the court, but instead offended Tianwei and China. Elected as a good general, raise a large army, destroy its city, destroy its country, capture its queen mother and lord, and insist on asking for guilt in front of Your Majesty! ”

This is a waiter who has just entered the capital and is shouting excitedly about the war, but what he says is the same as if he didn't say it. Who doesn't know how to retaliate against Jiaozhi Xingbing, the key is how to do it! Whether it is slow or urgent, where the generals should be transferred, and who should bear the responsibility for joining the army, these are the main points of contention. It's easy to yell a few words, but if you want to make a good impression in front of the Son of Heaven, you don't do it.

Therefore, Lu Huiqing glanced at it with disgust, "It is the right thing to dispatch troops and punish the southern barbarians, but the top priority is to quickly deploy troops and horses to rescue Yongzhou." ”

"Guangxi and the capital are thousands of miles apart, far away from the mountains. When Jingzhong received the battle report and immediately sent the letter, nearly a month had passed. Now in the middle of Beijing, it will take a month to gather troops and horses and select good generals, no matter how fast it is, and it will not be urgent. The art of war is cloudy, and if you go for a hundred miles and fight for profit, you will be a general. There are five mountains to block, no matter which way to transfer troops, how can it be thousands of miles away? The top priority now is not to rescue, but to clean up the aftermath so that the thieves dare not look at China again. ”

Wu Chong retorted to Lu Huiqing. He said to Zhao Ji again: "Your Majesty." Shen Qi and Liu Yi were greedy for side work, and they made trouble one after another, which led to today's changes. The minister asked His Majesty to take the heavy responsibility of the general, in order to set an example, and selected a precise and resolute person to replace Liu Yi and serve in Guizhou, which belonged to the side, paid cheaply, and ordered him to elect the military generals under the ministry. The official of his own road, the imperial court selected for him, so that he cooperated to engage in it, recruited household registration, and each of them worked in his own business. Wait for the situation to be convenient, and take measures on the spot. The forbidden army was sent south again, and the local Ding Zhuang was recruited to divide the border city of Tun Yuan, so that it was enough to protect the vital points, and it could be rescued. The thief does not dare to peek inside! ”

"Wu Shumi. The military situation is like fire, how can it delay time! Lu Huiqing said sharply, "The thief's desire is difficult to fill, no matter whether Yongzhou can be insured, if the king does not come, the thief will never stop." The later the king went south, the longer the thieves wreaked havoc. Thousands of people in Guangxi, are the privy councillors planning to give up? ”

"The comet is out of the Nakshatra, and this day is a warning signal. If you had taken precautions earlier, how could you have the tragic situation of Lishu in Guangxi today?! ”

Listen, and all at once it's back to arguing about whose responsibility it is!

Zhao Ji hated in his heart when he heard this, and gritted his teeth. This ancestral disagreement is the same as the ancestral law that he wants to change, and it is all about chaos when a major event comes.

"If you want to rescue Yongzhou, you can transfer troops from Jinghu." Han Gang stood up and spoke his opinion before Zhao Ji's anger erupted. This is actually the opinion he agreed with Zhang Dian yesterday, "The old age was Dingjingnan, and the soldiers and armor on Jinghu South Road were sufficient. Now that Jingnan has been pacified, there are quite a few people who can transfer the garrison of Tanzhou to the south. ”

Han Gang glanced at Zhang Dian as he spoke.

Zhang Dian stepped forward: "Li Xin and Liu Zhongwu are both good generals, and the defenders of Tanzhou also have a lot of sharp soldiers who have experienced wars. After a pause, he added, "And Jingnan is a miasma land, so from this road to transfer troops to the south, there is no risk of many sick and wounded troops." ”

Tanzhou is the seat of Jinghu South Road, when Zhang Dian led the army to pacify the Jingnan Shanman, it was to transfer the Tanzhou garrison as the main force, but the core was still a group of generals and soldiers transferred from Shaanxi. Now some of these people have returned to Shaanxi, and some have been transferred to other places, but there are also quite a few of them. Among them, Li Xin and Liu Zhongwu have already soared, relying on the several years of war in Jingnan, they have all been promoted to the level of capital supervisors. They are also a new generation of famous generals in the south.

Han Gang and Zhang Dian sang together, and at a glance, they knew that they already had a tacit understanding in private.

Zhao Ji thinks this opinion is not bad, Jinghu and Lianglu were originally the strategic center of the south, relying on the waterway transportation of the Yangtze River, the Han River and the Xiangjiang River, and the tributaries of the Yangtze River, to the east to the south of the Yangtze River; to the west to Bashu; Go north to the Han River to Xiangyang, and then enter the hinterland of the Central Plains; If you go south, you can rely on the Xiangjiang River, Lingqu and Lishui to reach Guizhou. Relying on the elite soldiers and strong generals who have experienced wars, they should be able to give Jiaozhi people a good look.

But someone immediately came out to object: "Jingnan Xinding, it needs strong soldiers and good generals to guard it, how can it be transferred out at will?" ”

Everyone in the hall looked over, and it turned out to be Cai Ting talking. What's going on? Suspicions were everywhere, and Cai Ting continued, "The newly restored land of Jingnan, if there is no heavy army to defend it, there should be repetitions among the barbarians. If it is discovered that Guangxi is engaged in troops, and the troops are echoed, there will be chaos in the south! ”

When his own merits were doubted, Zhang Dian immediately retorted: "How can you not save the disaster that you have already lived because of the changes that have not yet arisen?!" And the land of Jingnan was swept away by the king's division, and his majesty was bowed down, and the mountain barbarians had already surrendered, so there was no reason to rebel again. ”

"Jiangdong is hungry this year, and all the states reported that the hungry people had done it the day before yesterday. And Jiangxi is now also starving, if something happens...... The Tanzhou garrison can still rush to Jiangxi! ”

Feng Jing's speech was very calm, but after Zhao Ji heard it, his heart tightened for a while.

There were sounds on all sides, and the country seemed to be full of smoke. When did his world become so turbulent?