The news of Yanyun's army pressing the border reached Jinling, and the officials and the people were panicked. In the palace hall, Zhao Heng urgently convened the ministers to discuss the matter. Wang Qinruo, the envoy of the Privy Council, said: "Your Majesty, Yanyun Tiger and Wolf are invincible, and the plan for today is to think of peace with them!" In the past, the Khitans went south, seeing that the world was about to overturn, and they finally turned the danger into a disaster by negotiating peace! "Zhao Heng took all the civil and military officials south when Yang Peng was preparing for the southern expedition, and lived in Jinling, where Zhao Heng built a palace a few years ago. He was also afraid of Yang Peng's surprise attack on Bianjing.

The ministers had a lot of discussions, and looking at their appearance, many people obviously agreed with Shen Heqiu's strategy.

Kou Zhun said: "This simply won't work!" Everyone looked at him in unison, only to hear him continue: "If the Yan King is willing to accept the peace negotiation, my previous mission to Tianjing New City will not be in vain!" The condition we offered was that half of Jiangnan would pay taxes, and he didn't agree to such conditions, so what other conditions could we propose? Isn't the condition higher than half of the tax in Jiangnan half of the country? If so, then it is not a negotiation of peace, but a surrender! ”

Everyone felt very depressed after listening to Kou Zhun's words, and Shen Heqiu had nothing to say for a while. An old man standing on the left side, on crutches, bowed at the waist, with snow-white hair and squinted eyes, like a longevity immortal, said: "The minister thinks that he must not negotiate peace with the wicked thief who deviates from the way and perversely!" "This old man's name is Huang Cong, he is a famous Confucian in the south of the Yangtze River, with outstanding prestige, many officials in the Jiangnan officialdom and many famous talented Confucian scholars, are his protégés, this person can definitely be called a peach and plum all over the world, a Confucian giant. Zhao Heng Sangu Huawu finally invited him out, he was really ecstatic, quite Liu Bei's Sangu Thatched House got Zhuge Liang's meaning, and immediately enshrined him as the imperial master, and paid tribute to Youjia.

Everyone, including the emperor, saw that Huang Cong had spoken, and they all showed respect, to see what he had to say.

Huang Cong said: "As human beings, we must not only maintain orthodoxy, but also maintain the right path!" The orthodox, the great Song Jiangshan of His Majesty, the righteous one, the way of the saint! That Yang Peng, named Song Chen, is actually a Song thief, a man who eats the king, but he has a sinister heart, and he is really a minister of great rebellion; And since he occupied the Central Plains, he has reversed the black fear, destroyed the righteous path, disobeyed the saints, and did not follow the avenue, which can be described as a demon, and Huaxia will fall into a situation of no return under his rule! Speaking of this, he paused, glanced at the emperor and the ministers, and said awe-inspiringly: "Everyone, we are the courtiers of the Great Song Dynasty, the so-called food monarch bears the worries of the king, when this orthodox crisis is in danger, the people of our generation should unite as one to overcome the difficulties together!" This is not only to uphold orthodoxy, but also to uphold the righteous path of the saints! If you sit back and watch that thief sit on China, China will surely fall into the darkness of no return, and it will sink forever! It is our duty to defeat King Yan's rebellion and keep the saint on the right path! Since ancient times, good and evil are not separated, light and darkness are not separated! Either the king of Yan is destroyed, or we are martyred! ”

Huang Cong said impassionedly, and everyone couldn't help but be moved, but after the excitement, they all beat drums in their hearts. It's easy to talk about it, but how do you do it? Fight with Yan Yun to the end, but does his own side have the ability? That Yanyun is a tiger and wolf, and no one is invincible in the world! Can you resist it with your own strength? If Cao Yong and Cao Hu can resist the onslaught of Yan Yunjun's attack, but if they can't, what can they do? When everyone thought of the terrible place, they couldn't help but change color.

Huang Cong glanced at everyone and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, with our own strength, it is indeed a little difficult to fight against Yang Peng's rebellion and the Eighth Prince. Therefore, the minister suggested that we should unite with the Khitans! Although the Khitans negotiated peace with Yan Yun, they were only forced by the situation to do so. The Khitan people have fought countless bloody battles with Yan Yun, and they have suffered heavy losses under Yan Yun, and they must hate Yan Yun in their bones, and they can't wait to eat his flesh and sleep on his skin! The Khitan secret envoy came to Jinling, which illustrates this point! Not long ago, the secret envoy of the Liao State came to Jinling and euphemistically expressed his willingness to deal with Yan Yun with the Song State's troops, but at that time, Yan Yun's army had not yet moved south, so Zhao Heng hesitated.

Everyone whispered, and the emperor couldn't help but be moved, and asked Huang Cong: "Taishi, can we deal with Yan Yun with the Liao State alliance?" The Khitans are always defeated in the hands of Yan Yun! ”

Huang Cong said: "The reason why the Khitans were defeated before can be said to be caused by carelessness and underestimation of the enemy, and it is not the fault of the war!" This time the situation is different, the Khitans will definitely do their best to fight Yan Yun to the death! Your Majesty, this is the last chance to defeat Yan Yun's rebellion, if you miss it, you will definitely regret it! ”

Zhao Heng couldn't help but feel impulsive, but he still felt a little worried.

Huang Cong looked at the emperor's expression in his eyes and said: "Your Majesty, the strength of the Khitans is not weaker than Yan Yun, and with all his might, Yan Yun is difficult to be sure of victory even if he does his best!" And our army has pinned down their main force in the south, if the old minister's expectations are good, this time the Khitans will definitely attack the Central Plains in one go! At that time, the Yanyun army that attacked us in the south would definitely retreat north in panic, and we would take this opportunity to counterattack with all our might! Defeating Yan Yun is certain, and he will be able to recover the old capital Bianliang in one fell swoop! ”

When everyone heard Huang Cong's words, they all felt as if they had seen the dawn of victory, and they couldn't help but get excited.

Huang Cong said again: "I heard that the merchant who went to Bianliang to do business, now Bianliang has not only completely restored the prosperity of the year, but also surpassed!" Recovering Bianliang is not only a very good thing morally, but also very beneficial in terms of financial help for the imperial court! Everyone's eyes couldn't help but shine with greed.

Zhao Heng said: "After listening to some words from the Grand Master, I have no doubts in my heart!" Kou Zhun snorted coldly and said, "The Khitans are not a good thing, they will not help us in vain after spending so much effort, right?" Zhao Heng's heart moved, and asked Huang Cong: "But I don't know what the conditions of the Khitan people are?" ”

Huang Cong said: "The Khitans' demands are not too much, they want all the land north of the Yellow River, plus Shanxi!" ”

Zhao Heng and all the ministers felt that now that even the land north of the Yangtze River was rebelliously occupied, it was not too much for the Khitans to want the land north of the Yellow River and Shanxi. "No! This is not possible! Kou Zhun suddenly shouted.

Everyone was taken aback, and looked at him in unison, Huang Cong said unhappily: "Lord Kou Zhun, what's wrong with this?" ”

Kou Zhun hugged his fists at Huang Cong and said: "The Taishi is bent on restoring the Great Song Dynasty, and the lower officials are very admired!" But the north of the Yellow River and Shanxi are also the land left by the ancestors, how can they be given to the Khitans? If we do this, how will we face our fathers and fathers in the future? It's okay to use the Khitans, but if you really want to cede those lands to the Khitans, you can't! ”

Huang Cong snorted and said, "Those who become big things are not informal!" In order to restore the Great Song River and Mountain, in order to maintain the righteous path of the saints, the necessary sacrifices are worth it! Besides, the Khitans are not stupid, if you want to use them without any evidence, how can they be at the mercy of them, and in the end they can only be self-defeating! ”

Kou Zhun said angrily: "The world does not only belong to the Great Song royal family, but also belongs to thousands of ordinary people. No matter how bad Yang Peng is, he is still a descendant of the Han Dynasty, but the Khitan people are Fanbang Hulu, and they give up the land of their ancestors to Hulu, which is extremely shameless! ”

When Huang Cong and Zhao Heng heard Kou Zhun's words, they couldn't help but be annoyed and angry. Huang Cong pointed at Kou Zhun and shouted angrily: "Kou Zhun, are you a courtier of the Great Song Dynasty or a lackey of Yan Yun, you actually said such a rebellious thing!" Are you going to rebel? ”

Kou Zhun said loudly: "Kou Zhun's naked heart can be against the heavens, the earth, the sun and the moon!" Those of us who are officials, if we don't think about the common people, then it's nothing! Zhao Heng said angrily: "Kou Zhun, you are too presumptuous!" Do you still have me as an emperor in your eyes? Kou Zhun's heart sank, and he hurriedly bowed: "Weichen is loyal to His Majesty, and he just lost his temper because of his emotion, please forgive Your Majesty!" ”

Huang Cong snorted coldly and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, Kou Zhun can be punished!" He said that just now, and he kept saying that the world belongs to thousands of ordinary people! What does that mean? Doesn't it mean that anyone can be an emperor? Such a great rebellion, if it is not severely punished, how can hundreds of officials and people in the world be vigilant! Please kill Kou Zhun to set an example! Kou Zhun was furious, pointed at Huang Cong and scolded: "You old bastard! ”

When the emperor and the ministers saw this, they couldn't help but be stunned. Immediately, the emperor was furious and shouted: "Kou Zhun, you dare to insult the Taishi, that is to insult me and the entire court!" If I don't punish him severely, how can the officials be convinced! ”

Kou Zhun also realized that he had lost his temper, and his heart sank, and he hurriedly hugged his fists and said: "Weichen is guilty!" The emperor snorted coldly and said, "Since you are guilty, then I have not wronged you!" Come on! "When two royal guards came in, they clenched their fists and promised. The emperor pointed at Kou Zhun and shouted: "Take off Kou Zhun's top and go to the prison!" "The two guards came up, took off Kou Zhun's crown, and escorted Kou Zhun down!"

Huang Congwu was incomprehensible, and said indignantly: "Your Majesty is too merciful, people like this should be beheaded for public display!" The emperor nodded and said, "This matter can be discussed later, there are more important matters at the moment." Huang Cong nodded and said, "What Your Majesty said is extremely true!" The top priority is to deal with Yan Yun, as for Kou Zhun, you can deal with it slowly after understanding the big things! ”

Zhao Heng said to Huang Cong: "Regarding the matter of uniting with the Khitans, please continue to bother with the Taishi!" Huang Cong bowed and said: "This is a matter within the old minister's responsibility, Your Majesty doesn't have to be polite!" There should be no problem in this matter, Your Majesty can be relieved! ”

Zhao Heng nodded, glanced at everyone, and asked in a loud voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, do you have anything important to report?" ”

Huang Cong said: "Your Majesty, there is one more thing. Song Qinzong showed a look of listening. Huang Cong said: "Recently, rumors have spread all over the country, and this situation is very worrying to the old minister!" Yan Yun's set of crooked theories said a few words of demagogy, and many people were bewitched without knowing it! ”

Zhao Heng showed a worried look and hurriedly asked, "What can the Taishi do?" Huang Cong said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, this situation is easy to solve." Your Majesty may issue a holy decree strictly forbidding the people to discuss state affairs in vain, and those who violate them will be arrested; At the same time, the magistrates were ordered to offer rewards for the arrest of those who spread rumors. In this way, I believe that it will not be long before the rumors disappear and the rest of the world will return to peace! Zhao Hengshen thought so, and said, "Just do what the master wants!" ”

All parts of the south of the Yangtze River were disturbed, the officials arrested people everywhere, took the opportunity to extort money on a large scale, the people trembled, the restaurants and tea shops became deserted, and everywhere was shrouded in an atmosphere of fear.

Gao Hu led 50,000 trapped troops to arrive at the city of Dengzhou, only to see tens of thousands of Song troops waiting for the city wall with their backs, the formation was like a mountain, the flag was like a cloud, and the momentum was extraordinary. Gao Hu couldn't help but admire: "It is worthy of being the elite under Cao Yong, and it is really a hundred battles!" Then he raised his right hand. The horn of the Yan Yun Army immediately sounded, and the 50,000 army immediately began to line up!

At this moment, the war drums on the opposite city wall thundered, and a Song army general led three thousand heavily armored soldiers to rush up with a shout, like a tiger out of the box, the momentum was amazing!

Gao Hu frowned, and immediately ordered three thousand light cavalry to attack. Three thousand light cavalry immediately broke away from the brigade with a shout and rushed towards the enemy troops, like the waves of the sea! At the same time, the other Yan Yun troops continued to line up on the spot!

The two sides were a hundred paces apart, and the Yanyun war cavalry raised the cavalry crossbow and shot a wave of arrows. The rain of arrows fell into the middle of the Song army, or was bounced off by the heavy armor, or nailed to the heavy armor, but did not cause much damage to the Song soldiers. Seeing this, Gao Hu, who was watching the battle under the Shuai flag, frowned and muttered: "Their heavy armor is not the previous heavy armor!" ”

In the blink of an eye, the soldiers of the two sides slammed together, and the powerful impact of the cavalry hit the Song army to stagger, and the Song army's bold axes also slashed Yanyun Zhan's horsemen on their backs! The two sides fought fiercely, Yanyun Zhan rode and urged the horse to slash in the Song army, cutting the corpse of the Song army and flying blood, while the Song army soldiers struggled forward, slashing people up and down with a big axe, and one by one Yan Yun Zhan rode down in a pool of blood! The armies on both sides looked at them coldly, and they had no intention of stepping forward to help at all.

At first, the casualties on both sides were equal, and gradually, the number of casualties of the Song army increased, and after two quarters of an hour, the number of Yan Yunjun's army had clearly surpassed that of the Song army. I saw that Yan Yun's soldiers urged the war horses to come and go ruthlessly and slash, although the Song army resisted desperately, the situation continued to deteriorate, these Song troops were indeed very elite, brave and good at fighting, but compared with the Yan Yun army after all, it was a little worse, like a leopard and a tiger, although the leopard was also fierce and abnormal, but compared to the tiger after all. The Yan Yun warrior who led the team and the Song army warrior fought together in the thousands of troops, and the knives and guns were inseparable, and they were already red-eyed!

The fierce battle lasted for more than two quarters of an hour, and all the Song troops were killed, and the corpses were all over the field, and no one escaped until the last one! The three thousand Yanyun cavalry also suffered heavy casualties, and the three thousand cavalry suffered more than two thousand casualties!

A few horns sounded in Yan Yun's army, and all Yan Yun cavalry retreated. When the soldiers of the Song army saw that all their soldiers were killed, they all stared at each other, and they were extremely resentful, and they just wanted to rush up and fight with Yan Yunjun, but the general did not give an order, and they did not dare to act rashly! Yao Zhong frowned, he was very shocked in his heart, he just attacked with three thousand iron armor, just to take advantage of the other party's lack of time to line up to rush the other party in one fell swoop, and then the army covered up and defeated it in one fell swoop, but it backfired, the other party only sent out three thousand light cavalry, not only resisted the surprise attack of his own three thousand iron armor, but also annihilated his own three thousand elites! Yao Ping couldn't help but sigh in his heart: Yan Yunjun really deserves his reputation! The tiger and wolf are sharp, invincible in the world!

Gao Hu sighed, raised his right hand and waved forward. The whole formation began to move forward, and a loud rumbling sound followed, like a muffled thunder, and the earth trembled.

The distance between the two sides was three hundred steps, and a sharp arrow like a locust suddenly flew out of the Yan Yun army's array. Yao Ping had already taken precautions, and with a loud shout, the army immediately raised the big shield, and in an instant, the big shield formed a huge screen, covering the soldiers of the whole army. The arrows fell like a torrential rain, crackling and hitting the shield like a torrential rain hitting a plantain leaf. A handful of arrows passed through the gaps between the shields and knocked down the Song soldiers below.

Yan Yunjun stopped shooting after shooting a wave of arrows, and the army continued to approach the Song army! The distance between the two sides was two hundred paces, and the Song Junshen Arm Bow began to shoot. Yan Yunjun had been prepared for this, and Song Jun's shooting did not play a big role. Yan Yunjun did not fight back, but continued to approach the Song army under the cover of an iron-inlaid heavy shield, while the Song army's divine arm archers kept shooting, and the ground was densely filled with arrows, and at the same time, new arrows were constantly inserted into the ground.

The distance between the two sides was a hundred paces, and Yan Yunjun suddenly stopped. Another wave of Song Army's arrow rain passed, and Yan Yunjun's shield was suddenly removed, and then there was a loud buzz, and an arrow suddenly erupted! This time it's not a throw, it's a straight shot!

In the blink of an eye, the dense arrows hit the shield of the Song army, and in the loud sound of puff, the shield was penetrated, and the soldiers of the Song army behind the shield fell to the ground one after another. The soldiers of the Song army were caught off guard and couldn't help but become confused!

At this moment, the second wave of powerful arrows flew, and the soldiers of the Song army turned on their backs, and the entire battle array shook. Just came back to his senses, only to hear a loud rumbling sound, looked up, and saw thousands of Yanyun war horses rushing like angry waves, and couldn't help but be shocked!

Yao Ping shouted: "Release the arrow!" Only then did the crossbowman react, and hurriedly released the arrows, the arrow rain passed, and many Yanyun war horses fell, but the rolling tide did not have the slightest intention of stopping, but the speed became faster and faster, and the momentum became more and more amazing, roaring and rolling horses' hooves, like the roar of the sea tide, and like thunder!

Yao Ping frowned, urging the war horse to meet the first with a big knife, and the soldiers of the army saw that the main general should meet the enemy first, and their morale was greatly boosted, and they rushed forward with shouts.

In the blink of an eye, Yao Ping rushed into the wave of cavalry, roaring and wielding his sword to kill, with the elite of Yan Yunjun, he was like a no-man's land for a while, and no one could be him! At the same time, the wave of cavalry and the tide of the Song army slammed together, and the Yanyun war cavalry was like countless sharp knives tearing countless openings in the middle of the Song army! Yanyun cavalry rushed forward, trampling with iron hooves, slashing with long knives, fifteen thousand, unstoppable, although the soldiers of the Song army were not afraid of death, it was obviously difficult to resist such a sharp iron hoof soldiers, and they fell to the ground one by one with blood; The soldiers of the Song army fought back desperately, and also caused a lot of casualties to Yanyun's cavalry, but the overall situation became more and more unfavorable!

At this moment, Yan Yunbu's infantry army was divided into two wings and outflanked the Song army. Yao Ping, who was fighting a fierce battle among thousands of troops, was taken aback when he saw this, looked at the battlefield again, and couldn't help frowning when he saw that his side was in a contrarian situation. At this moment, the Yan Yun warrior who was fighting with Yao Zhong poked a shot, Yao Ping was startled, quickly avoided it sideways, followed by a false shot, and deceived the opponent to parry, and he took this opportunity to turn his horse's head and gallop towards the city gate, while galloping, gesturing towards the city gate tower.

Seeing this, the adjutant general standing on the tower of the city gate immediately shouted: "Quick! Hurry up! Hurry up! ”

The soldiers of the Song army on the city wall immediately got busy, tearing off the pieces of black tarpaulin that had already been at the head of the city, revealing a statue of artillery. The artillery had already been loaded with gunpowder and projectiles, and the Song soldiers immediately lit the fuses on the cannon with torches. Boom Boom Boom~! A huge roar suddenly sounded, and the soldiers on both sides who were fighting on the battlefield were shocked, and at the same time, countless cannonballs whistled and fell into the middle of Yan Yun's army, and only flesh and blood flew when they landed! Although Yan Yunjun was brave and good at fighting, he couldn't help but be chaotic when he was suddenly bombarded like this.

The soldiers of the Song army took this opportunity and retreated into the city. Gao Hu saw that the other party had withdrawn into the city, and there were many artillery pieces on the city, and knew that it was impossible to capture Dengzhou in a hurry, so he ordered the army to stop the attack and retreat.

Yao Ping couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw Yan Yunjun temporarily retreating from the city. Then I saw the scene of corpses strewn all over the outside of the city, and I couldn't help but feel anxious. In today's battle, Yao Ping originally wanted to take advantage of the exhaustion of Yan Yunjun's coming from afar to give them a dismount, but he didn't expect Yan Yunjun to be so brave, let alone give them a dismount after a battle, the whole army almost failed to retreat to the city! However, this battle is not without gains, at least I understand the strength of Yan Yunjun!

Yao Ping shouted at the generals around him: "Strictly guard against death, no one is allowed to fight without my order, and those who violate the military law will be dealt with!" The generals agreed in unison. Yao Ping looked at a tall and thin general and said, "General Li, you go and count the losses of our army!" The General Li clenched his fists and ran down. Yao Ping turned his head to look at Yan Yunjun, who was camping in the distance, and frowned deeply.

Inside Yanyun's big tent, Gao Hu was discussing with everyone about the offensive strategy. General Xie Yuan said: "This Yao Ping is really brave, in today's battle, if he hadn't charged first at a critical time, our army would have been able to defeat the Song army in one go!" ”

After all, what happens next, let's see how it will be broken down next time.