In the seventh year of Xiande, 960 A.D., on the first day of February (the first day of the first month), the wonder of the Tengu eating the sun appeared in the sky at the beginning of the day, and then the horse came to play, saying that it was an invasion of foreign enemies, and the New Year's Day banquet in the court showed visions and disasters for no reason.

Above the court, Fan Zhen and other ministers received the news that the Han Liao army was heading south, and they were very panicked, if the first emperor was there, it would be good if the first emperor was there, and his few Zaifu were just civilian officials, and they didn't know anything about marching and fighting.

At this moment, there are not enough troops in the capital, and it is difficult to resist the Han Liao army.

Empress Dowager Fu and Emperor Guo Zongxun didn't know what the military situation was, and they were so frightened that they didn't know what to do, so they summoned the ministers of the first emperor to come to discuss the matter.

Now that Wang Pu is recuperating in the house, Fan Zhen immediately discussed state affairs with Wang Pu and Wei Renpu in the side hall, and then the Empress Dowager Fu and the Son of Heaven avoided and went to the main hall Guangde Hall to wait for news.

Among these three people, Wang Pu and Wei Renpu are supplements, and Fan Zhen is the main one, both of them obey Fan Zhen's opinions, and they both say: "Fan Xianggong, who should be sent to defend the enemy now?" ”

Fan Zhen frowned and said: "The sky has a vision, and Han Liao is going south, I'm afraid it's not a good thing, only this is a big general." ”

In Kaifeng, the capital, except for Han Lingkun guarding the north, only Xiang Gong, Zhang Yongde, Li Chongjin, and Zhao Kuangyin are qualified for this position.

Since Fan Zhen has always been wary of the first three, he said: "I'm afraid that only the front of the palace will check that Zhao Kuangyin is suitable to lead the troops." ”

Wang and Wei both agreed with this method, and then Fan Zhen said again: "In order to prevent it, it is better to send the former deputy capital of the palace to check Murong Yanzhao to serve as the deputy of the Northern Expedition." Restrain each other and do not change. ”

Wang and Wei replied: "Good !! ”

After that, the three of them asked the Empress Dowager Fu to give an order.

Fan Zhen three out of the hall, see hundreds of officials, envoys of various countries are drinking in the Guangde Palace, and their faces are suspicious, previously suffered by the eclipse of the change, although sitting on the seat at the banquet, but all of them turn their heads, see Fan Zhen here, so he closed his mouth, and sat down.

Immediately, the messenger suddenly unfolded the holy decree and said: "Due to the invasion of Liao and Hannan, calm the two states are in an emergency. Zhao Kuangyin was specially sent to check Zhao Kuangyin as the generalissimo of soldiers and horses, and Murong Yanzhao was checked as the marshal of the soldiers and the vanguard commander in front of the palace. ”

After that, Fan Zhen and other ministers asked the Empress Dowager to issue an edict to let Zhao Kuangyin be the commander of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and Murong Yanzhao was the vanguard of the Zhenning Army Jiedu, and went north to conquer the Liao State.

……

In Songzhou City, on January 31, Miao Xun and others had already publicized the southward movement of Han Liao, and then forged court documents, and Zhao Kuangyin saw it, and immediately led the army westward, and opened the first army to the outskirts of Kaifeng on the first month. At that time, Lang Guan, who had spread the news, had just left the city and saw Zhao Dianjian, and he immediately passed the emperor's holy decree to Zhao Dianjian for inspection.

But Zhao Kuangyin was startled when he saw it later, and his face was suspicious, didn't he have received a holy decree yesterday, and then led the army out of Songzhou City and westward to Kaifeng.

But today I arrived outside Kaifeng City, and there was a will, the content of which was similar to yesterday's, what should I do if this was passed out, if the minister participated in his own accusation in front of the Son of Heaven, and transferred troops back to Beijing without obeying the order, I don't know what will happen when I am introduced.

Who is it that has falsely proclaimed the Holy Decree and wants to frame himself?

Zhao Kuangyin looked around, staring at everyone around him, at this time Miao Xun met Zhao Kuangyin's gaze, and then he smiled kindly, as if saying that Miao Guangyi did it.

Zhao Kuangyin doesn't matter who it is, he must be careful in the future, and now that he has the military power in his hands and is the commander of the Northern Expedition, his heart hurts.

Zhao Kuangyin exchanged pleasantries with the official of the decree for a while, and the army was stationed outside the city, he immediately entered the city and went to the palace alone, and was immediately named a point inspection and was in charge of the military. And now Zhao Kuangyin seems to have arrived in the capital shortly after the imperial court issued a will, and this speed is too fast (from Songzhou to Kaifeng, about 280 miles away, one day's work).

And at this moment, it is tight to go north to defend against the enemy, and Fan quality is not careful.

The imperial court's will: It was decided that Murong Yanzhao would send 50,000 troops as the front and set off on the second day of the first month, and Zhao Kuang would set off on the third day of the first month.

and point to Gao Huaide, Han Chong, Song Yanwu, Zhang Guanghan, Zhao Yanhui, Wang Yansheng, Zhang Lingfeng, Luo Yangui. Cao Bin, Pan Mei and other generals led the army and water soldiers and horses to accompany the expedition.

Shi Shouxin and Wang Xianqi inspected both inside and outside the Beijing Division, and were responsible for protecting the Beijing Division.

On the second day of the first lunar month, Fan Zhen took the emperor's will and went out of the city to personally send Murong Yanzhao's 50,000 troops out of the city.

Fan Zhen saw that half of these generals were not Zhao Kuangyin's descendants, and he was at peace in his heart. After a few words of encouragement, he was instructed to leave the teacher on time.

Murong Yanzhao immediately ordered all the generals to go back and gather his subordinates to prepare for the expedition. The generals took the orders and left.

On the third day of the first month, after the 80,000 troops were gathered, Zhao Kuangyin led the generals, strategists Zhao Pu, Miao Xun, Chu Zhaofu, Li Chuyun and others, out of the north gate of Chenqiao, and the army went north.

Ministers such as Fan Zhen, Wang Pu, and Wei Renpu, as well as generals such as Zhang Yongde, Han Tong, Shi Shouxin, and Wang Xianqi, all went out of the city to see them off, while Wang Pu was recuperating at home at this time. And after Zhao Kuangyin left the city that day, the Zhao family went to the temple to pray for peace.

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The soldiers of the Northern Expedition have reached Chenqiaoyi, which is forty miles away, and then the sun is setting in the west, and the sky is getting late.

At this moment, it was snowing lightly in the north, and the soldiers were reluctant to go on the expedition, so the army was stranded here. The main general, Zhao Kuangyin, then ordered the army to rest all night and bury the pot to make rice.

And Zhao Kuangyin and others were helpless, because of the light snow and temporarily unable to go north, what should I do, if the speed of the march was delayed, the Liao and Han soldiers and horses went south, and according to the military order, the commander and deputy marshal had to bear a large part of the responsibility.

That day, Miao Xun and Wuyong also went out with the army, and then after the two of them combined, they went to Zhao Kuangyin's military tent, and at this moment Zhao Kuangyin was depressed and drank a little wine, I wanted to go out of Chenqiaoyi today, but the world is snowing, the road ahead is long, the road is not easy to walk, if it is affected by the weather, it is not good to delay the military aircraft.

Zhao Kuangyin saw Brother Miao Xun coming here and asked, "Brother Guangyi, what's the matter?" ”

"Brother Yuen Long, watch the sky at the right time, and rest here for one night today, the snow will stop tomorrow, everything is in the sky, Brother Yuen Long, please don't be impatient."

"Poor Dao and Senior Brother also feel that this matter will not delay the military situation, and Zhao Dianjian can rest assured."

Of course, Zhao Kuangyin will not deny the observation of the two Miao Xunshi brothers, after all, they studied under Fuyaozi and have a deep study of celestial phenomena.

"Thank you, Brother Guangyi and Daoist Wuyongzi."

Miao Xun and Wu Yongzi walked out of the military tent, passed by the battalions, and then saw that the soldiers were all in the barracks, all doing nothing.

The incident in Han Liaonan is just a pretense, and now it is also a plan to bring the army here, and it is not only Zhao Dezhao, Miao Xun, and Chu Zhaofu who promote the incident, but also Zhao Kuangyin's brothers in the forbidden army, and of course Zhao Kuangyi and Zhao Pu.

One night in Songzhou, Miao Xun suddenly arrived, and then discussed a matter with Zhao Pu and others, to Zhao Pu's expectations, it turned out that Miao Xun also supported the mutiny, and changed the dynasty, but it was indeed very difficult to hide from Zhao Kuangyin alone, but now Miao Xun said that he had a good plan.

Since the third year of Xiande, after the first emperor's northern expedition, the country has not fought for more than half a year, and now the war has started again, the military order is like a mountain, who dares to disobey, the troops are finally assembled, and if there is light snow today, the road is not passable.

On the occasion of the New Year, there should have been a three-day holiday in the barracks, they fought on the front line, and they wanted to spend the New Year with their families, but unexpectedly, there was another war in the north, and they were going to go to war again, so it is conceivable that they also complained in their hearts.

Several military leaders and military academies saw the two coming over and hurriedly came over to salute. said: "Happy New Year, two gentlemen. ”

Miao Xun said: "Okay, how are you soldiers having a good year? ”

"What a fart, I am riddled with trivial things at home, I have an eighty-year-old mother, and I have a wife and children to raise, I wanted to spend the festival with them in the three days of the New Year, but what I didn't expect was that I suddenly went on the expedition."

"yes, yes—"

"Yes, yes, why fight?"

The soldiers listened to the chatter.

Another military leader said: "On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the order was suddenly given to go out, many soldiers were unhappy, and several brothers in the Japanese camp were at home, and suddenly heard that they were going to march north, and when the soldiers were mobilized, they were all extremely unhappy. And just when they were about to enter the camp, the sky was dark, and two suns appeared in the sky, and the soldiers were very frightened, and they had been discussing this matter in the camp for two or three days. Is it good or bad? What do you say is the explanation of this celestial phenomenon? Aren't you a descendant of Fuyaozi? ”

"Everyone, don't be impatient, and I'll calculate this matter, whether it's good or bad."

When the soldiers heard this, they suddenly fell silent.

Miao Xun took out nine copper coins from his pocket, and then threw them on the ground, all of them with the words on their side facing up.

"It's all written side up, what does that portend?"

At this time, the snow was still fluttering down and falling on the copper coin, and Miao Xun suddenly said: "Soldiers, from this hexagram, it shows that there are traitors in the court today, but the Son of Heaven is ignorant. The day before yesterday, the day before yesterday, you can see it, why is this? Tiangu eats the day, Han Liao goes south, but what is the crime of this strange soldier? Why did the catastrophe befall the world?

His Majesty is only eight years old, Empress Dowager Fu hangs the curtain to listen to the government, and the affairs of the state are in the hands of the women of the deep palace, orphans and widows, at the mercy of the ministers. Recently, the army went out on the expedition and encountered bad weather, where is the life of the soldiers? ”

When the soldiers heard this, they all started to talk about it, and at this time, Chu Zhaofu came over, and he said: "Since it is as Miao Junshi said, I don't know what to do about this matter?" ”

"There are no two days in the sky, but the sky is two days, and now the hexagram is like a word, but I Miao Guangyi is not good at commenting, if I leak the secret of heaven, wouldn't it be a big crime."

Chu Zhaofu said: "What is the heavenly machine, Miao Junshi should not swallow it."

The leaders of the army are willing to follow, and Miao Xun has to explain it clearly.

Miao Xuncai reluctantly said: "Since this is the case, I will make this heavenly opportunity clear, but I have already spied on the heavenly opportunity, so I will give up my heavenly life and make it clear to everyone." However, a broad reminder to everyone is that when everyone hears it later, don't spread it. ”

Everyone immediately nodded in agreement.

Miao Xun was reluctant and said in a low voice: "The husband is also the image of the king." Day after day, this day is the current day and Zhao Dianji, I believe you all know...... I won't say more. ”

Miao Xun didn't say it anymore, and after he finished speaking, he left with Wuyongzi, who said something like this when he left: "The world is firm, humanity is slim, what is the matter with loneliness, it starts from recklessness, heroes are not found, and Chen Qiao is a hero." ”

At this moment, a military academy slapped his thigh and said: "Miao Junshi studied under Fuyaozi, and he is a true god." As early as in the capital, I heard a rumor that a wooden plaque was found in the palace that 'checked as the Son of Heaven'. At the time, I didn't believe it, and thought it was a rumor, but after listening to the military advisor's words today, I suddenly realized that this matter was true. ”

"If it's true or false, if it's true, if it's not in the army today, we ......"

"Yes, yes, this matter is an opportunity, I have been in the army for many years, and I barely managed to get into a military school, and I will be ashamed of our family when I say it."

"Big brother, it's not as good as us-"

Some of the soldiers understood this, and one of the soldiers said loudly: "Now that the little emperor in the capital doesn't care about the life and death of the soldiers, why should we ask for hardship, it is better to support Zhao Dianjian and have a good future when the time comes." ”

Chu Zhaofu stood on the side, and he said: "Your mind, Zhao Dianjian is at ease, everyone might as well go to Zhao Dianjian in front of the military tent and beg for inspection." ”

All the army leaders cheered together and said, "If Zhao Dianzhen becomes the Son of Heaven, he will obey the will of Heaven." Zhao Dianzhen loves soldiers like children and cares about our suffering, which is much better than an eight-year-old doll. ”

"That's it, I might as well go home for the New Year."

"It's just..."

", me."

“……”

The officers and men in the barracks talked about it in private, so it spread ten, ten to hundreds, but one night, it was spread to all the soldiers and junior officers of the whole army.