On the evening of the fifth day of the third month of the lunar calendar of the ninth year of Xiande, Zhao Kuangyin's army arrived at Chenqiaoyi, which was fifty miles away from the capital Kaifeng, and set up camp there. That night, Zhao Kuangyi and Zhang Fei brought news to Zhao Kuangyin respectively.

After Zhao Kuangyi secretly left the army a few days ago, he rushed all the way to the capital in only two days, and successfully infiltrated his own house in the city under the response of Yang Guangyi, one of the "Ten Brothers of the Righteous Society" and Xu Xinsheng. Subsequently, with the help of Yang Guangyi and Xu Xinsheng, he secretly transferred his family members and relatives to the Dingli Courtyard presided over by Zhao Kuangyin's trusted person to hide. After the family settled down, Zhao Kuangyi sneaked out of the city overnight and rushed to Chenqiaoyi, the necessary place for Zhao Kuangyin's army, to meet his brother. Thanks to Jihua's meticulousness in advance and the assistance of his own confidants and cronies in the city, whether it is from the process of transferring his family or from the results of Zuihou, Zhao Kuangyi's trip to the capital can be called successful and even perfect.

Compared with Zhao Kuangyi's extremely smooth completion of the task assigned by his brother, Zhang Fei's task was stumbling and very tricky. Zhang Fei, who was about to show his hand in front of the new master and show what he and his subordinates could do, had just ordered the "Feiyan Hall" to step up the investigation of the movements of the Beiping army in front of him in Ying, Mo, Yi and other states where Zhao Kuangyin wanted him to focus on. Although the spies of these branches also put up some resistance, and some of them were very stubborn. But an attack came very suddenly, and the "Feiyan Hall" responded in a hurry, always passive. Second, the other party has an absolute advantage in numbers. In this way, it is inevitable that the branches of the "Feiyan Hall" will be completely inferior in this sudden confrontation, and they can only barely parry. As a result, in just two days, the branches of "Feiyan Hall" lost more than half of their staff. Among them, some branches were wiped out because they couldn't respond, and no one survived. And those branches that still retain some strength, in order to avoid repeating the mistake of other branches being wiped out, have to retreat again and again, in order to buy themselves some time to reorganize and recover. With the retreat of the forward branch, the "Feiyan Hall" was naturally unable to maintain and completely interrupt the investigation and monitoring of the possible southward movement of the Beiping Army. At this point, in front of the Beiping Army, the Zhao group has actually become deaf and blind, and has lost the opportunity.

The sudden attack and huge losses were a blow to Zhang Fei, who had just been valued by Zhao Kuangyin and planned to make a contribution to the surveillance of the Beiping Army and consolidate his position in the Zhao group, and immediately smashed him into a daze. When the mind clears up a little, the emotions of fear and panic will follow. Because Zhang Fei knew very well that the reason why he was able to get Zhao Kuangyin's attention and support, persuading Zhang Cunxin to surrender was naturally a reason, but the more important thing was the secret spy Liliang in his hand. This liliang is strong, and his position in Zhao Kuangyin's heart will become more and more stable and higher. And once this Liliang is weakened or even collapsed, he will lose his use value in Zhao Kuangyin's heart. Although the other party may continue to keep himself in the Zhao group on the credit of his persuasion of Zhang Cunxin, in the eyes of the other party, his image will also change from a minister who can be relied on to a poor worm begging for shelter and charity - this is something that Zhang Fei never wants to see.

Therefore, when the news came, there were only two options in front of him: telling the truth and lying and deceiving, for his current status, for his dignity in front of other members of the Zhao Group, and for the dream of glory and wealth that although the opportunity was slim, but it was not completely impossible to realize, Zhang Fei gritted his teeth and his heart was crossed, and finally decided to take a risk, use deception to keep his current identity and status, and gamble on his future rich future - of course, while deciding to take risks, Zhang Fei also arranged a retreat for himself in advance. Once the matter is revealed, he can leave and disappear without a trace under the reception of his henchmen, leaving Zhao Kuangyin to deal with the wolf-like Beiping army by himself. In this way, the news that Zhao Kuangyin got from Zhang Fei was that there was no sign of the mobilization of the Beiping Army, and the branches of the "Feiyan Hall" were stepping up their investigation and reporting back in time to ensure that the surveillance operation was foolproof.

With these two pieces of news reported by Zhao Kuangyi and Zhang Fei, Zhao Kuangyin not only had no worries about the safety of his family, but also dissipated his worries about the Beiping Army's possible interference and hindering his "great cause". On the night of the day when the army was stationed in Chenqiaoyi, Zhao Kuangyin once again gathered a group of confidants and cronies in the general to prepare for the upcoming "great cause".

Soon after the secret meeting of the Zhao group, Zhao Kuangyin ordered someone to set up a banquet, and under the pretext of celebrating himself and everyone in advance for meritorious service and awards, and being promoted to a knighthood, all the generals of the rank of the general were invited to drink with him. Maybe he was happy about to return to Beijing to be enthroned, or maybe he was happy to successfully kill Zhang Yongde, in short, in the eyes of those generals who were not Zhao's henchmen and descendants, Zhao Kuangyin and his henchmen who had a banquet with him that night drank quite heartily and exhausted. So much so that as the protagonists of the banquet that were toasted the most by everyone, their Zhao Dianzhen and Zhao Taiwei were finally completely poured down, and they had to be carried back to the dormitory of the pavilion by their own soldiers to rest.

Zhao Kuangyin left the table drunk, and the banquet naturally ended. However, unlike those generals who were not close to the Zhao family, they went back to their tents to rest, but Zhao Kuangyin's henchmen did not disperse. Everyone ordered their subordinates to reset the banquet, and then pushed the cup and drank the wine for a while, which was considered to be exhausted. When everyone gradually quieted down, Zhao Pu stood up with a wine glass and said to everyone: "Whether the 'great cause' is successful or not is tonight, I hope you will do your best to make things successful and complete." For the captain, for yourself to seek a glorious and prosperous future. ”

"We will live up to the high expectations of the captain." Everyone present also raised their glasses and echoed in unison.

Subsequently, Zhao Pu announced the end of the banquet. After the people came out of their accounts, they went their own way and did according to their plans.

That night, Miao Xun, who had always been familiar with astronomy and geography in the army, and was good at observing the images of the sun, moon and stars, spread the news throughout the camp with the cooperation of Chu Zhaofu, saying that he watched the sky every day, and saw that there was a day after day, and the black light was grinding for a long time.

Zhao Kuangyin's confidants, Li Chuyun, Ma Renyu, Li Hanchao and other well-known generals in the army, contacted around the camp, and held private gatherings with familiar soldiers, declaring: Now the lord is young and cannot govern himself. The power of the court is in the hands of ** and a group of traitorous villains who don't know soldiers. I am here to die for the birth of the Great Zhou, and to extinguish the traitorous thieves, but the credit of Zuihou is theirs, and who in the world knows our prestige. Rather than this, it is better to first support Zhao Taiwei, who shares weal and woe with me, as the Son of Heaven. Then go down to Huainan and wipe out Li Wei, it's not too late.

At midnight, a group of generals in the army broke into the room where Zhao Pu and Zhao Kuangyi were deliberating, and expressed their desire to support Zhao Kuangyin as the Son of Heaven, so as to seek stability for the people, peace for the world, and meritorious deeds for themselves. Zhao Pu, who had expected all this, immediately became furious and shouted: "Taiwei Zhao is loyal to Da Zhou, and if you wait for such a big rebellion, Taiwei will not forgive, and he will not disperse quickly." ”

The generals looked at each other when they heard this, and they didn't know what to do for a while. Among them, there were a few speculators who didn't really want to rebel, but just planned to go with the crowd to bargain for some cheapness, and when they saw Zhao Pu's reaction, they couldn't help but feel timid, and quietly slipped out of the house when everyone was not paying attention. However, this silence and hesitation did not last long, and the remaining generals in the room who were determined and sincerely wanted to follow Zhao Kuangyin to seek wealth and wealth stepped forward again, drew out their swords and swords, and shouted: "What we just said is already the end of great rebellion and the destruction of the clan, so why are we afraid of the punishment of the captain." Now, we have made up our minds. If the captain does not comply, how can we retreat and let our own family and relatives suffer the calamity of annihilation? ”

Seeing the excitement of the crowd, Zhao Pu was secretly happy in his heart, knowing that great things could be accomplished. He glanced at Zhao Kuangyi without a trace, nodded slightly, and then the two of them scolded in unison: "It is a big thing to make a decision, you should be cautious and prudent, how can you be so casual and arrogant." ”

After the generals quieted down and sat down under their instructions, Zhao Pu continued: "Now that Zhang Reverse is suppressing, Li Reverse is still raising troops in Huainan to make trouble. If it is not eliminated as soon as possible, I am afraid that those who hold military power will compete to follow suit. According to Zhao's opinion, it seems more appropriate to calm Huainan first, and then discuss the matter of policy. ”

When the generals heard this, they objected one after another, and said: "Now that the DPRK and China are interfering in politics and traitors, this rebellion is not settled, and the Taiwei will be summoned back to the capital, and there must be something strange in it." If you act according to what the secretary says, I am afraid that if you don't wait to calm down that Li Rebellious, the Taiwei will already be victimized by the traitor. Now that the Taiwei has been ordered to return to Beijing and the army is stationed in Chenqiaoyi, the imperial court has no suspicions, and it is the best time to lead the army into Beijing and do that great thing. As for Li Chongjin, he is just a clown like Zhang Yongde. As long as the strategy is successful, we will lead our troops south, and we will be able to pacify it in a short time. Besides, if the captain insists on not being informed, I am afraid that the army will not be able to move forward. ”

Seeing that the play was almost over, and the emotions of the generals were fully mobilized, Zhao Pu turned his head and said to Zhao Kuangyi: "The matter has come to this point, if you and I are not in control, it is better to make an appointment with the generals in three chapters." ”

Regarding Zhao Pu's suggestion, Zhao Kuangyi, who had long known it, naturally would not object, and nodded again and again when he heard the words. Seeing this, Zhao Pu said to the generals again: "Changing the dynasty and changing the surname of the king is in accordance with the will of heaven, but the more important thing is to respond to the will of the people." Now, if there is chaos in the capital, there will be no ill-intentioned people to follow Zhang and Li and do that rebellious move. If the generals can strictly control the sergeants under their command, prohibit them from wanton plundering, and ensure the stability of the people in the capital, then the local festival will naturally not dare to act rashly. In this way, the generals can also maintain their wealth and prosperity for a long time. I don't know if the generals think what Zhao said is true? ”

Whether it is Zhao Kuangyin's confidants and cronies, or those non-Zhao group descendants generals who want to take advantage of the dragon's merit and take advantage of this opportunity to change the dynasty to seek wealth and nobility, they have no objection to Zhao Pu's proposal and have expressed their approval.

Subsequently, Zhao Pu and Zhao Kuangyi agreed with the generals present on the next step, or the next day's action plan. On the one hand, Zhao Pu ordered Guo Yanyun, the envoy of the government army, to secretly enter Beijing and liaise with Yang Guangyi, Wang Zhengzhong, Xu Xinsheng and others, who were responsible for defending the city, in order to prepare for the army to enter the city. On the other hand, Zhao Pu also arranged for some of the powerful descendants of the generals to closely monitor the non-descendant generals who were not discussing the matter in the account at this time - those who had participated in the initial clamor and instigated the action, and after being reprimanded by himself, they quietly slipped away were the focus of the surveillance operation. For those generals who have different thoughts from their own, if they dare to make any changes in tomorrow's actions, Zhao Pu only has four words on his side - kill or kill. When the people present heard this, they responded violently and took the order.

On the morning of the sixth day of the third month of the lunar calendar in the ninth year of Xiande, Zhao Kuangyin was still hungover, and slept peacefully in the pavilion, snoring like thunder. When it was nearly five watches, the sky was getting brighter, and the people around the pavilion were boiling, and the sound shook the field. Zhao Pu and Zhao Kuangyi had just stepped into Zhao Kuangyin's bedroom according to the prior agreement, and the generals who discussed the matter with Zhao Pu and Zhao Kuangyi last night had already put on their armor and rushed to the door of the dormitory, and said loudly: "The generals have no master, and I wish to establish the Taiwei as the Son of Heaven." ”

Zhao Kuangyin was "surprised" when he heard this, and hurriedly dressed and got out of bed. Before he could ask about the situation, the generals had already swarmed into the house, helped him out of the bedroom, and draped a yellow robe that had been prepared for him long ago. Immediately, the crowd gathered around, bowed down, and shouted long live. Seeing that something big was about to happen, although Zhao Kuangyin was happy in his heart, on the surface, he looked sincerely frightened and resolutely refused. In this regard, the people present will not agree. Everyone couldn't help but help Zhao Kuangyin on the war horse, hugged out of the pavilion, and immediately ordered the army to pull out the camp and march in the direction of the capital.

The army marched for several miles, and saw that the generals who did not participate in the discussion of last night all followed the Chinese army either actively or passively, and did not have any abnormal reaction, Zhao Kuangyin then ordered his mount, summoned a group of generals to him, and said: "Since you are greedy for glory and wealth, and support a certain as the son of heaven, then you must listen to the order of a certain person." Otherwise, a certain would rather die than accept it. ”

When all the generals heard this, they all dismounted and bowed, and answered in unison: "We will obey our orders." ”

Seeing this, Zhao Kuangyin did not let the generals get up, but said solemnly: "Young Master Zhou and the Queen Mother are both in the north. The ministers of the DPRK and the Central People, in addition to those traitors and villains who mislead the country and the people, are also people who are on a par with my colleagues. Thou shalt not be rude in thy waiting, nor shall thou shalt not be wantonly bullied. Since the Tang Dynasty, all generations of emperors have entered the city, all of them have plundered and robbed the treasury, and even the capital was in chaos. When you enter Beijing this time, you must restrain yourself and your subordinate sergeants, and you must not have such a situation again. If thou wilt do as thou canst comply, and when the great matter has been decided, thou shalt be rewarded and all the sergeants with great rewards. Otherwise, a certain clan will punish him. ”

When the generals heard this, they dared not obey, and immediately bowed to the ground again and received their orders in unison.

On the afternoon of the sixth day of the third lunar month of the ninth year of Xiande (April 12, 962), Zhao Kuangyin led an army of 70,000 troops to the north of Kaifeng outside the Chenqiao Gate.

On the same day, Qian Yuanshan and Muttel led the vanguard of the "Jingnan Army" to pass through the Zhaoyi Army and enter the territory of Weizhou. At this time, it is fifty miles away from the Yellow River and two hundred miles away from Kaifeng City.