Zhao Ji's good mood did not last for two days, and was completely destroyed by Zheng Juzhong, who entered the palace overnight. This night, Zhao Ji couldn't sleep, and before the fifth watch, Zhao Ji got up and took the waiting eunuch to the front hall.

The emperor of the Song Dynasty said that the main hall of listening to the government is the vertical arch hall, also called the Chang Dynasty Palace.

After the completion of the monthly synodal meeting and the suburban temple ceremony, the hundred officials congratulate and receive foreign envoys in the Zichen Palace.

But the emperor will go to the Wende Hall first, rest here for a while, and wait for all the civil and military officials to arrive, and then the emperor will start from the Wende Hall and go to the Vertical Arch Palace.

But today, Zhao Ji didn't abide by these red tapes anymore, and went directly to the Vertical Arch Palace.

Some civil and military officials who arrived early saw Zhao Ji's face sinking like water, his face was haggard, and they all looked at each other, remembering the situation where they were going to behead everyone, and they immediately stood there in a big rage.

The vertical arch hall is not as majestic as the Zichen Palace, and most of the emperors of the Song Dynasty have very preferential treatment to their courtiers, so the civil and military officials can directly enter the vertical arch hall and wait for the court, without waiting for the people to gather outside, and then come in together, so as not to suffer from the cold and heat.

The officials who came in later saw that Zhao Ji was already sitting on the dragon chair, and the atmosphere in the hall was depressing and terrifying, so he hurriedly stood in his place.

Zhao Ji waited for a while, and when he saw that most of the ministers were in Qi, he couldn't help but gesture to the head of the palace on the side.

The head of the palace understood, and shouted: "Those who have something to hear." ”

Zheng Juzhong came out and said: "Yesterday, the Privy Council received a document that the Guangji Army was stolen by the Liangshan thieves, and the 100,000 army commanded by Cai You was almost wiped out. After the thieves stole the Guangji army, they divided their troops to attack Shanzhou and Puzhou, and the two states were in an emergency, so they asked the imperial court to send troops to rescue. ”

At this time, the hundred officials knew the reason why Zhao Ji was so haggard, and they couldn't help but exchange their heads for a while.

Zhao Ji looked at the noise below, and couldn't help but say angrily: "Quiet, those who have countermeasures come out and say, and those who don't shut up." Whoever talks in private again will be driven out of the main hall. ”

Zhang Bangchang came out and said: "The bandits in Liangshan are rampant, and the 200,000 troops went to suppress them before, but they were all defeated, which shows that the thieves are brave, and the only ones who can exterminate them in the DPRK and the Western Army are probably only Tong and the Western Army." The Guangji army is only more than 300 miles away from Tokyo, and if the thieves come to attack, I am afraid that Tokyo will be in an emergency. He also asked the emperor to transfer Tong Guan's army back to the dynasty to exterminate the Liangshan bandits. ”

Li Gang, who had just been recalled to the court, said: "Tong Guan's army has just defeated Fang La's rebels and recaptured Hangzhou, and is taking advantage of the victory to pursue. Now that the situation is very good, I believe that it will not take long to exterminate Fang La's rebels. When Weichen returned to the court, he was passing through the south of the Yangtze River, and everywhere he went, the Manichaean cultists were in turmoil, pretending to be ordinary people to return to the court. Manichaeism has spread widely, and there are countless demagogic followers, if the army of Tong Guan comes back at this time, I am afraid that the Fang La thieves will soon expand again, and then they will be exterminated, and I am afraid that they will lose their troops again. ”

Li Gang was also a famous general of the later anti-Jin Dynasty, Jinshi and the first, and was appointed as the supervisor of the imperial history at the beginning, but soon he was dismissed from the official ministry because of the negligence of the court.

However, Li Gangsheng's surname was upright, although he was dismissed from the official ministry, he still announced that in the first year of peace, he asked the emperor to pay attention to internal and external troubles, Zhao Ji was thinking that the world and Cai Jing touted the general "Fengheng Yuda", and when he saw Li Gang's twists and turns, he felt that Li Gang was alarmist, so he demoted him to Nanjianzhou.

These said that Zhao Ji rectified the dynasty, and Su Yuanjing and other Qingliu took the opportunity to ask Zhao Ji to recall Li Gang. Zhao Ji remembered the benefits of Li Gang, so he also recruited Li Gang back and sealed him as Taichang Shaoqing.

Zhang Bangchang heard Li Gang say this, but refuted: "Now that the Liangshan bandits have threatened Gyeonggi, if they come to attack the capital, they may endanger the emperor's safety." Fang La's anti-thieves swept the southeast, and it was only a temporary trouble. Do you know which is more important? ”

When Zhao Ji heard this, his heart was also tight.

Li Gang said with a smile: "The Liangshan thieves divided their troops to attack Shanzhou and Puzhou, obviously trying to steal the entire Jingdong. If the Liangshan thieves did not completely capture the state capital behind them, they would have come to attack Tokyo, and they would undoubtedly be alone in depth, and they would have to be besieged by the soldiers and horses of King Qin from all over the country. The Liangshan thieves may not have the courage to do so, but the thieves pretend to be suspicious soldiers and dare to attack Tokyo. Tokyo's city defenses can withstand the attack of the Liao soldiers, and the Liangshan bandits may not even be able to break through the outer city. ”

Zhang Bangchang was afraid of losing his surname, his eyes rolled, and he arched his hand towards Li Gang and said: "I also admire Lord Li's uprightness, let me ask you, how is the combat strength of the Tokyo Forbidden Army?" ”

Previously, when Gao Yu was alive, Zhang Bangchang naturally didn't dare to mention the forbidden army, but now that Gao Yu has died, he naturally has no scruples.

Although Li Gang knew Zhang Bangchang's intentions, he still said truthfully: "When Gao Yu was in charge of the forbidden army, military discipline was corrupted, and the forbidden army was recruited to choose more craftsmen for his personal service. Those who pay for the forbidden army can be exempted from training, so many soldiers of the forbidden army go to other businesses to make money for Gao Yu. There are indeed not many people in the forbidden army who can fight. ”

All officials knew what Li Gang said, and even Zhao Ji knew some of it, but he thought that the world was peaceful, and the forbidden army could increase some taxes by making a living, so he let it go. At this time, Li Gang said that Gao Yu was useless, and he also felt that some faces were irrelevant, after all, Gao Yu was his favorite minister.

Zhang Bangchang asked solemnly: "Can such a forbidden army hold Tokyo?" ”

Li Gang frowned, thought for a while, and said: "Even the combat effectiveness of the forbidden army is not high, but with the strong city walls of Tokyo, only a few Ding Zhuang guards the city, it is very difficult for the Liangshan bandits to break through." ”

When Zhang Bangchang heard this, he sneered: "Only use Ding Zhuang to defend the city? Lord Li is treating military affairs as child's play, and he wants to ignore the emperor's safety? ”

Li Gang hurriedly turned to Zhao Ji and said, "Weichen just thinks that the situation in Jiangnan is rare now, and he can't give up halfway. Although the Liangshan bandits are closer to the capital, the threat is really not great. The Emperor Mingjian. ”

When Zhao Ji heard this, he couldn't help but hesitate. When Tong Guan's army first arrived in Jiangnan, it was indeed inseparable from Fang La's anti-thief fight, and Zhao Ji had to stop the Northwest Army, inspire the Western Army, and stop Huashigang and other affairs, reducing the number of thieves in Jiangnan, and Tong Guan's army had the upper hand. But the situation in Tokyo also makes it impossible to feel at ease, if the real Liangshan bandits come to attack, once they can't resist it, then the capital that has been operating for more than a hundred years will fall into the hands of thieves, and it can be recaptured, and many palaces and gardens he carefully built may also be destroyed by the thieves.

Thinking of this, Zhao Ji, who had a very strong literati atmosphere, suddenly made up his mind, he could not tolerate the destruction of the palace and garden that he had wasted a lot of painstaking efforts to design, even if it was destroyed, for him, the artistic beauty would be completely lost.

"Summoning the Tong Guan army to return to the division and exterminate the Liangshan bandits."

(To be continued)