"Knock knock!"

There was a knock at the door.

When he woke up from his sleep, Xiao Jingmao only felt sleepy.

He rubbed his eyes, glanced out the window, the sky was gray and gloomy, and thought to himself, "What happened? Why did you come so late?" and thought it wasn't a big deal, but he felt dizzy and dizzy, and he got back into the bed, and the snoring sounded again.

After all, during the day, he was like a whipped spinning top, spinning non-stop, and there was no quarter of an hour to rest.

So when Xiao Jingmao returned to the bedroom, when he stuck to the bed, he would immediately fall asleep, and no matter what happened, he would never wake up.

It's just that today, the knock on the door is getting louder and louder, making him feel a little impatient, and he turned over the quilt and scolded directly: "Who is it!

"It's me! Premier Xiao, please open the door quickly, I have an urgent matter!"

An anxious voice came from outside the door.

It was his secretary Zhang Wei, who had always been responsible for helping Xiao Jingmao convey all kinds of documents, and when Xiao Jingmao was resting, he basically handed over everything to this person.

Only today, he seemed to be a little anxious, and the door creaked and was almost knocked on.

Xiao Jingmao turned over, walked down from the bed, took the clothes next to him and put them on, and thought as he wore them: "If there is no reason, wait for me to go to work, see how I fix you." Pulling open the door, a cold wind poured into the house along the door, and he suddenly felt extremely cold, clutched his clothes, and asked, "Tell me, what is the matter, in such a hurry?"

"It's a letter from Handan!"

Zhang Wei stepped into the room, handed a letter to Xiao Jingmao, and said, "Wang Shiyi has sent news that they have captured Handan City, and asked us what we should do next?"

"What! Something happened to Handan?"

Xiao Jingmao's eyes were blank, looking at the letter in his hand.

"How could it be them?"

The appearance of his former friend came to mind, Xiao Jingmao lost his mind for a while, and he didn't know what to do with it!

The rebellion at this time was so unexpected!

After all, they are far away in Chang'an, too far away from Handan, if they want to support it, it will be too difficult, and it will have a bad impact on the current Northern Expedition.

Zhang Wei was a little puzzled and asked, "Then, what do you mean, Premier Xiao?"

Xiao Jingmao was completely sleepy, and after thinking about it in his mind for a while, he ordered: "By the way, you first notify the ministers of various departments of this matter and let them come to the Government Council for a meeting." After all, this matter is too important for me to make a decision on my own. Seeing that Zhang Wei was about to leave, he shouted again: "By the way, who else knows about this?"

If this matter had been known to the Mongols or the Song Dynasty, or even to the people in the army, it would have caused a lot of storms, at least one riot was certain.

"No one knows about it but me. Zhang Wei said.

Xiao Jingmao put his mind at ease and advised: "As my secretary, you should know the importance of this matter, and you must not tell others, do you know?"

"I see!"

Zhang Wei nodded, and then left the matter, ready to inform the others so that they could discuss the handling of the matter.

The darkness is gone, and the morning light is shining.

In the Government Affairs Yuan, Xiao Jingmao was already sitting upright, quietly waiting for the arrival of the heads of the nine major departments of the State Council.

Zhu Yuzhen of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Li Mingcheng of the Ministry of Agriculture, Xu Department of the Ministry of Finance, Yang Chenglong of the Ministry of Railways, Qin Jian of the Ministry of Industry, Zhang Feng, Minister of Public Security, Wang Chenglin of the Ministry of Education, Yu Cheng of the Ministry of Commerce, and Ma Yundong of the Ministry of National Defense.

Compared with the six divisions adopted by the Song Dynasty, the departments of the Red Phoenix Army were significantly more than three departments.

The reason for the increase was that, on the one hand, because of the birth of the railway, the Chifeng Army had to make a special Ministry of Railways to be responsible, and on the other hand, in order to meet the increasing population of Chang'an City, it had to refine its functions so that it could better manage the affairs in the city.

"Brother Xiao, why did you call us here today?"

Stepping into the Government Affairs Yuan, Yang Chenglong felt a little strange when he saw Xiao Jingmao's sad face.

Xiao Jingmao was silent, just waiting for everyone to sit down before he complained: "Today's matter is very important, please keep your mouth shut, don't tell others, do you know?"

"Hmm, what's going on, why are you so nervous?"

As soon as he sat down, the Ministry of Finance's Xu Division was puzzled.

"It's about Handan!"

Xiao Jingmao instructed Zhang Wei to hand over the prepared information to everyone, and then he said it slowly.

Seeing the information in his hand, Ma Yundong was immediately shocked: "Is it Wang Shijian? He is still alive? God is pitiful, I thought he was dead a long time ago!"

Ma Yundong was a veteran who followed during the uprising, and later resigned from the army to become Minister of Defense due to lack of qualifications and injuries.

Under his management, the Ministry of Defense has always fulfilled its responsibilities well and taken good care of every veteran.

Xiao Jingmao closed his head and replied, "That's right. He was still alive, and just a few days earlier, he had revolted and taken the city of Handan. ”

"So you're going to let us come and discuss this?"

Zhu Yuzhen frowned slightly, and said with some concern: "It's just that Handan is hanging alone, and we are afraid that it will be beyond the reach of the whip." ”

Since leaving Lin'an, she has cut off ties with her clan and devoted herself to developing within the Chifeng Army, and after Li Lian retired, she took over the post of Minister of Civil Affairs.

Xiao Jingmao's face was bitter, and he replied in a low voice: "That's right. That's why I'm bringing the rank to discuss what should be done. ”

"In that case, then we should fully cooperate. ”

Ma Yundong slapped the table with some excitement and said: "You must know that they are in the enemy camp, if there is no support from us, I am afraid that they will be wiped out by the Mongolian army anytime and anywhere!"

"But this place is too far away from Handan, if you want to support it, with our current strength, I'm afraid it won't work!" The Ministry of Finance opened his mouth to complain.

There is no need to calculate, he only needs to think about it a little and know that Ma Yundong's proposal is simply impossible.

After all, between the two places, there is still a province east of the river.

If they want to support Handan, it means that they have to open another front.

And as far as the current situation of the Red Phoenix Army is concerned, it cannot be supported at all.

Ma Yundong's hair was all open, and he slapped the table and shouted: "Then according to your meaning, we should watch our comrades-in-arms sacrifice?"

"No! I'm just telling the truth. ”

It's good that Zhang Chu doesn't defend himself, but his defense immediately made Ma Yundong even more angry.

I saw that Ma Yundong did not hide his anger at all, pointed his finger at Zhang, and spit in his mouth and flew straight away: "What do you say according to the truth? Do you think I don't know your thoughts? You just want to wait for our old bones to die, so that you can give up a seat for you, right! Don't think that you are a local, I am afraid of you!"

The momentum of scolding Fang Xuan made people not feel that the person in front of him was an old man who was nearly sixty years old.

"But Handan is too far away, and it will be too difficult to get support to you. ”

Xu Chu insisted on his own ideas.

"The journey from Luzhou to Chang'an has traveled more than 10,000 miles, don't we also come over? Why can't we do it now?" Ma Yundong was even more stubborn, always holding his head high arrogantly, looking down at Xu Zhi.

When Ma Yundong was the Minister of National Defense, he had many conflicts with the Ministry of Finance, so he never looked at Xu Zhi wrongly.

"In the final analysis, this matter is not something we can do, and Premier Xiao has to make a decision. Premier Xiao, what do you think should be?"

Although Xu Chu was angry, he also knew that the person in front of him was highly qualified, and he couldn't fight against it, so he had to look at Xiao Jingmao with a pleading face.

"What should I do?"

Xiao Jingmao was stunned for a moment, and immediately noticed that Ma Yundong was looking at him, and immediately showed a trace of timidity, and complained: "To be honest, I don't know how to deal with it. After all, it was so sudden, and I wasn't prepared for it. ”

"Do you mean to give up?" Ma Yundong asked.

Xiao Jingmao defended: "It's not Ma Lao. You also know the current situation, the Lord is fighting against the Mongols, and the Northern Expedition is imminent, if you start another front, I am afraid that the rhythm of the Northern Expedition will be completely disrupted. ”

"What about you? Are you going to give up? Don't forget, if they hadn't given their lives in the first place, how would we have survived until now?" Ma Yundong rebuked a little bitterly.

Xiao Jingmao's expression was gloomy, and his heart was in a mess, so he had to bow his head and remain silent.

Emotionally, he naturally wanted to rescue his comrades who were trapped in the enemy camp.

But from a rational point of view, now that the Northern Expedition has consumed most of Chang'an's strength, it is best to put this matter on hold.

Ma Yundong saw that Xiao Jingmao didn't answer for a long time, and he was even more violent, and he had a feeling of betrayal in his heart, constantly reprimanding.

"In my opinion, you are just blinded by this world of flowers, so you have forgotten that we used to share weal and woe!"

"Without their sacrifices, why do you think we would have been able to get to where we are now?

"In that case, then what kind of prime minister are you going to be? If you resign as soon as possible, you will even be embarrassed here. ”

“......”

Ma Yundong's words didn't have many dirty words, but the words were hearty, which really made Xiao Jingmao powerless, and his whole face became darker and darker, and even gray.

The rest of the people had relatives in front of them, so they could only stay by the side and quietly watch everything that happened in front of them.

After Ma Yundong rested easily, Zhu Yuzhen interjected and persuaded: "Both of them are ministers of the dragon, and they naturally have great merits for today's achievements, if they make noise because of this matter, I am afraid that even the lord may not be willing." ”

If this scene continues, then the Government Council cannot be called the Government Council, and it will be renamed the vegetable market!

"Hmph, if you don't give me an explanation today, I'm not done with you!"

Ma Yundong snorted lightly, sat down undeniably, picked up the teacup next to him and poured it into his mouth.

And his pair of sharp eyes also stared at Xiao Jingmao, and he had the feeling that he would not give up until he reached his goal.