As soon as these words came out, the entire Zichen Hall was in an uproar, and Chai Zongxun, who was sitting on the dragon chair, was even more frightened and cried. Fortunately, at this time, Fan Zhen, Wang Pu, Wei Renpu, Han Tong and other important ministers were still calm-headed, and they kept everyone quiet while asking about the specific situation of the messenger who came to report the news.

At this time, the messenger who reported the news also realized his gaffe, and after a few breaths, he regained some composure, and when he heard the inquiry, he hurriedly replied: "The official family, the queen mother, and the minister were originally ordered to convene the guards of the gates of the outer city to enter the palace to receive rewards, but they didn't want to go to the Anyuan Gate of the inner city, and they saw that the people near the city gate were shouting horses and neighing, and it was very lively. When the minister took a closer look, he found that the Anyuan Gate had been opened at some point, and the city gate was controlled by a group of soldiers dressed in colorful clothes and armed with completely different firearms from those equipped with the 'Divine Machine Army'. Outside the city gate, a group of soldiers and horses were marching from the direction of the outer city Fengqiu Gate, and the number was only 40,000 or 50,000. Seeing that the situation had changed, the minister did not dare to rush forward to ask, but took his entourage to the top floor of a restaurant not far from Anyuan Gate, and while monitoring the soldiers and horses entering the city, he asked the guys in the restaurant for news.

According to the guy in the restaurant, at about the end of the day, a team of soldiers and horses suddenly came outside the Anyuan Gate, claiming that it was Xu Xinsheng, the guard of Fengqiu Gate, who was ordered to enter the palace and play the right thing, and asked the Anyuan Gate guard to open the door quickly and let him enter the inner city. The guards of Anyuan Gate did not know that there was a deception, and did not ask Xu Xinsheng for the will of the court, so he ordered his soldiers to open the city gate. Unexpectedly, after Xu Xinsheng entered the city, he immediately commanded the soldiers of the headquarters to subdue the guards of Anyuan Gate and his subordinates one by one, and took advantage of the situation to seize Anyuan Gate. And almost at the same time that Xu Xinsheng earned Anyuan Gate, there was also movement in the direction of Fengqiu Gate in the outer city. I don't know who opened the city gate and put the so-called 'Jingnan Army' outside the city into the city. However, at this time, there were many more flags next to the banner of the 'Jingnan Army', among which there were the 'Beiping Army' and its subordinate 'Flying Dragon Army', 'Security Army' and other military flags. ”

"Is it really the Beiping Army that entered the city? Where has this army gone? Han Tong asked anxiously.

"Captain Han, the lower officials really saw it above the restaurant, this so-called 'Jingnan Army' did play the banner of the 'Beiping Army', and its uniforms and weapons were indeed no different from the legendary 'Flying Dragon Army' and 'Security Army'." The envoy replied, "Because the minister was afraid of being discovered by the Beiping army, he had to avoid his brigade and make a detour back to the palace to report the news, so it is not very clear where he is now. However, inferring from the speed and direction of its travel, I am afraid that at this time, I am afraid that it should have reached the left of the imperial city. ”

Hearing that the Beiping Army was approaching the imperial city, there was an uproar in the Zichen Hall again. Just when Fan Zhen, Han Tong and others were trying their best to maintain order in the palace and calm the mood of the ministers, the door of the Zichen Hall was knocked open again, and an inner eunuch ran in in a panic, and said on the ground: "The official family, the queen mother, the envoy of the Beiping Army, the Taibao of the inspection school, the general Zuo Wuwei, the prince of Beiping County, and the prince of Beiping County, Kunjun, are asking to see outside the Zuoye gate. ”

"What are you going to say?" Empress Dowager Xiao Fu and all the civil ministers and generals present asked almost in unison.

Although the eunuch who came in to report the news was taken aback by such a formation, he was not completely frightened, and subconsciously repeated: "The official family, the queen mother, the envoy of the Beiping Army, the Taibao of the inspection school, the general Zuo Wuwei, the Jieyue, and the prince of Beiping County, Kunjun, asked to see him outside the Zuoye Gate. ”

"How many people did Wang Kunjun bring with him?" Fan asked.

"I don't know if Prime Minister Fan asked about the number of soldiers and horses outside the palace gate, or the number of guards who followed Wang Taibao?" The eunuch, who had regained some senses, asked cautiously.

What do you mean by that? What's the difference? Fan Zhen was a little confused.

"Outside the place two arrows away from the Zuoye Gate, although there are about more than 10,000 Beiping troops lined up, there are only 12 guards who come to the Zuoye Gate with Wang Taibao to wait for the order." The eunuch replied seriously.

After listening to the answer of the eunuch, everyone present, including Empress Dowager Xiaofu, Fan Zhen, Han Tong, etc., was a little stunned, and couldn't understand which one Wang Kunjun was singing now. In their opinion, the Beiping army went south this time, called King Qin's rescue and cut off the rebellion, but in fact, it was taking the opportunity of Zhao Kuangyin to raise troops to rebel and do the things of Zhou Zili. According to their estimates, once the Beiping army enters the city, it will do what every Central Plains dynasty has done since the Tang Dynasty - kill the monarch and usurp the throne, establish the country and claim the emperor. Unexpectedly, after the other party had actually controlled the entire Kaifeng City, he came to Zuoye Gate alone and asked to enter the palace to see the driver. This was really beyond the expectations of everyone present, so that everyone did not know what to do for a while, and there was silence in the hall, and there was no longer any more noise and noise.

After a long time, it was Prime Minister Fan Zhen who was the first to come to his senses, and he went out of class and said: "The official family, the queen mother, Wang Kunjun's move is too strange, and the minister thinks that the court should not act rashly at this time." Otherwise, the minister will first go out of the palace to deal with him, try to find out his true intentions, and then improvise and deal with it carefully. In addition, just in case, the Empress Dowager was also asked to invite Concubine Lin and Duke Yan to the main hall, so that if necessary, the concubine would come forward to mediate and mediate between the imperial court and the Beiping Army. ”

"This is a safe policy for the old man, and the minister seconded it." Hantong immediately spoke out in support.

Although Empress Dowager Xiaofu knew very well that Fan Zhen's proposal to invite Concubine Lin Xiaoyu to the main hall as a hostage was far stronger than being an intermediary, but now, she has lost her opinion, and she will not give up any proposal that may save Da Zhou and keep the throne of Chai Zongxun. Therefore, after a little thought, Empress Dowager Xiao Fu nodded in agreement and said, "In this way, according to what Fan Aiqing said." ”

So, Fan Zhen got Yi Zhi and went out of the palace to meet Wang Kunjun, and the Empress Dowager Xiaofu immediately sent people to invite Concubine Lin Xiaoyu and Yan Guogong Chai Zongqian to Zichen Hall to discuss matters.

Fan Zhen hurried to the left gate and climbed the palace city wall to look outside. But as the eunuch who had just reported the news said, at least more than 10,000 soldiers dressed in the unique uniforms of the Beiping Army stood in a position about two arrows away from the Zuoye Gate. The huge phalanx was silent, full of murderous aura. The black and shiny artillery placed in front of the array made people tremble and chill down their spines.

More than ten paces away from the Zuoye Gate, a young man who was also dressed in the unique uniform of the Beiping Army, with a sturdy body, a handsome face, and a majestic face was looking at him with blazing eyes. Although Fan Zhen only had a relationship with Wang Kunjun when the "Qingyuan" brothers went south to meet Chai Rong, but thanks to his own crossing physique, Wang Kunjun, who was much younger than his actual age before the crossing, has hardly changed in appearance in the past nine years after the crossing, and there is no trace of aging compared to nine years ago, so Fan Zhen still recognized at a glance that the young man under the city who was riding a tall horse and under the escort of twelve elite soldiers was the Beiping Army Festival Envoy, the Taibao of the Inspection School, and the General Zuo Wuwei. Holding the festival Yue, the prince of Beiping County, Kunjun.

Wang Kunjun outside the city gate naturally saw Fan Zhen on the wall of the palace city, he urged him to take a few steps forward, arched his hand towards Fan Qian, and said with a slight smile: "Fan Xiang, it has been a few years since Kaifeng was separated last time, and it has always been good recently?" ”

Perhaps infected by Wang Kunjun's relaxed and easy-going, perhaps impressed by the momentum of the other party, or perhaps shocked by the murderous aura of tens of thousands of troops outside the city, Fan Qian, who was supposed to reprimand Wang Kunjun outside the city, raised his hand and returned the salute at this time, and then after realizing that he had lost the prestige of the court by doing so, he hurriedly withdrew his hand, and pointed to the five Kunjun under the city and shouted: "Wang Taibao, you are not in the Beiping Army to defend the frontier for the Great Zhou Dynasty and defend the Khitan barbarians, why did you not get the will of the imperial court, He led hundreds of thousands of troops south and besieged the imperial city without authorization, but what did he want? ”

When Wang Kunjun heard this, he replied with a dissatisfied face: "Fan Xiang's words are wrong. Ben Taibao led the troops to the south this time, not to enter Beijing without a purpose, but to hear that Zhao Kuangyin and his henchmen raised troops to rebel and besiege Kaifeng, and the imperial court issued an edict of King Qin, ordering all parts of the feudal towns to enter Beijing King Qin to quell the rebellion. Fan Xiangfang just said, wouldn't he equate this Taibao and the hundreds of thousands of soldiers under his command with that Zhao Shun, so I am afraid that it will hurt the hearts of all the soldiers and loyal ministers in the world. ”

Wang Kunjun's rhetoric made Fan Zhen speechless for a while, and he didn't know how to answer - because the other party was reasonable, King Qin's edict was indeed issued by the imperial court, and the Beiping army waved its army south to follow the edict, and it was obviously unreasonable to accuse the other party with this. It's just that as an important minister of the imperial court and the safety of the Great Zhou, Fan Zhen naturally won't give up the initiative because the other party grabbed the white. Therefore, after a while, Fan Zhen, who had stabilized his mind, continued to ask: "Since the Beiping army was ordered to quell the rebellion, why did the Zhao rebel army outside the city ignore it, but instead led tens of thousands of elites into Kaifeng and besieged the imperial city. ”

"Why did Fan Xiang say this?" Wang Kunjun said with a look of grievance and innocence, "I think that Zhao Shun has been in charge of the forbidden army for many years, and his cronies and henchmen are all over the army and the court. Although Zhao Yi and the main force of the rebels are surrounded by the Beiping army outside the city, their cronies and henchmen in the capital will not give up in order to escape the punishment of the imperial court and seek glory and wealth. In order to prevent Zhao's henchmen from taking advantage of the end of the war and the chaos in the city to harm the people and threaten the officials, the Taibao led the army into the city. On the one hand, he temporarily took over the defense of the city gates to defend the rebellion of Zhao and his party in the defensive army; On the other hand, they garrisoned outside the imperial city to protect the palace and protect the officials. Ben Taibao and the soldiers of the Beiping Army have always been loyal to the imperial court, how could they do the evil act of rebellion and murder of the monarch. Fan Xiang said this, if it is heard by the soldiers behind him, it will definitely chill everyone's loyalty to the court and the official family. Besides, if Ben Taibao really had the intention of usurping rebellion, he would have led troops into the palace at this time, so why would he ask to see the official family in one more move, and put himself in danger, and only bring a few guards to talk to Fan Xiang at the gate of this imperial city? ”

Although he knew that what Wang Kunjun said was full of lies, he couldn't find fault with it. In addition, Fan Zhen was also worried that he would be entangled too much, causing the other party's disgust and dissatisfaction, and then tore off Zuihou's disguise, and really made a move to attack the imperial city. Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, Fan Zhen finally decided to take a gamble, this Wang Kunjun under the casino only wants to be Cao Cao who "coerces the Son of Heaven to order the princes", not a rebel minister and thief like Zhu Wen and Shi Jingjiao who killed the monarch and usurped the throne since the fifth generation of Tang Ji. Therefore, Fan Zhen hurriedly put on a smiling face and said: "Kaifeng City is in chaos, and Wang Taibao has brought a large army into Beijing, and the prime minister is worried about the safety of the official family, so he can't ask a few more words." If there is any offense, I hope that the Taibao will have a lot of sea covers. The prime minister entered the palace to tell the official family the original intention of the prince Taibao to enter Beijing, and asked the Taibao to stay for a while. ”

The change in Fan Qian's attitude was naturally expected by Wang Kunjun, since the other party agreed to enter the palace to discuss, he didn't think it would have any impact on his Jihua, so Wang Kunjun also accepted it very generously, and waited very patiently outside the Zuoye door. And unlike Wang Kunjun, who was waiting for a response from Shi Shiran outside the door, Fan Qian, who had roughly judged the other party's thoughts, was flying under his feet at this time, and hurried back to Zichen Palace.

Although he was angry at Wang Kunjun's strong words, although he knew that the other party wanted to be Cao Cao, although Han Tong, Zhang Lingduo and other generals wanted to cut Wang Kunjun with a thousand knives after he entered the palace, the situation was stronger than others. At present, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses of the Beiping army are arrayed outside the imperial city, and they say that they have killed Wang Kunjun here, but they are afraid that if Wang Kunjun is left for a while, they may make the Beiping army outside the city kill into the imperial city due to misunderstanding. At that time, even if Wang Kunjun can be killed, everyone in this imperial city will inevitably be buried with him. Therefore, even if everyone hates Wang Kunjun and the Beiping Army in their hearts, they can only endure it now, and then find a way to divide and split the Beiping Army in the future and regain power - this is also the strategy that the first emperor originally planned to use against the Beiping Army but had time to use in the future. Now, what everyone can do is to obey Wang Kunjun's wishes, invite him into the palace, and listen to what this guy wants from the court. So, after discussing with everyone, Fan Zhen went to Zuoye Gate for the second time, and Xuan Wang Kunjun entered the palace to meet him.