Fenghou

The remaining 2 troops were led by Wang Gui, Zhang Xian, Yue Yun, Xu Qing, and Dong Xian. Among them, Yue Yun and Wang Gui each commanded [-] men, and the other three commanded [-] men each.

This time Beitou West Army, Dong Xian's army is stationed in Yingzhou, there is no news so far, Wang Gui will stay and continue to sit in Xiangyang.

In addition, the commander Peng Qi led 5000 people to sit in Suizhou, but he was the first general to go north to defect to Chen Qing. This was because he had long wanted to defect to Chen Qing, but Yue Fei treated him well, and he couldn't bear to abandon Yue Fei. This time Yue Fei was convicted and sent to prison, and Zhang Jun wanted to take over the army. Peng Qi led the army north without hesitation, becoming the first general to go north to Dengzhou.

At this time, Chen Qing was in Dengzhou, waiting for Yue Fei's army to arrive.

He set up two large camps in Xinye County, which is closest to Xiangyang in Dengzhou, one for his [-] troops, and the other for tens of thousands of troops who came to defect.

In addition, Xinye County has been vacated, and he temporarily used it to accommodate military families. There are houses for houses, but no houses for tents. Zhang Xiao led a hundred civilian officials and thousands of soldiers to take charge of this matter.

Chen Qing had an idea a long time ago. He planned to place the family members of Yue Fei's army in Yingchang Mansion, Dengzhou, Ruzhou, and Chenzhou. These four places had a huge amount of official land, and it was no problem for a family to be divided into hundreds of acres. Dozens of family members of senior officials above the command They will be placed in Jingzhao New City.

At noon, the mighty army arrived outside the camp. The army was neatly dressed, the armor was bright, and the soldiers were full of energy. At first glance, it looked like a well-trained army. It really was worthy of the famous Yue Family Army.

Liu Qiong and Tang Qian were responsible for the reception, and Tang Qian led the soldiers to lead tens of thousands of troops to the camp to rest.

Liu Qiong came to see Chen Qing with dozens of generals. Xu Qing was in charge at the front. Xu Qing was from Yue Fei's hometown. , has been encouraging Yue Fei to support himself.

He brought everyone to meet Chen Qing, they knelt down on one knee, cupped their fists and said, "See Your Highness Prince Yong!"

Chen Qing waved his hands and said with a smile: "You don't need to be polite. We used to be comrades-in-arms fighting against gold, and we will be brothers fighting side by side in the future. We are all soldiers, so I won't talk nonsense. From now on, you are a part of the Western Army." member."

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Chen Qing asked his generals to go to the camp to rest. Although Chen Qing recruited the generals with the best treatment, it does not mean that he has no principles. He must adhere to the principle of separation of soldiers and generals. This is also the principle of all armies. All armies must be dismantled, reorganized, and redistributed.

The general also knew this principle and had no objection, so he followed the soldiers to the camp to rest and have lunch.

Chen Qing specifically left Yue Yun and Zhang Xian behind.

Chapter 17 Secret Envoy

Yue Yun handed his mother's handwritten letter to Chen Qing. After reading the letter, Chen Qing said to the two of them, "I will do everything in my power to help Yue Dutong, but there is one thing you must understand in your hearts. Among the crimes, the third one is collusion and treason, and the rebellion is me. If I rescue Yue Dutong, then he will be convicted of this crime. Even if I get out of prison because of my face, the court will not give him any permission to return to the army. Opportunities, at most, they can only be transferred to civil servants, or even dismissed as civilians."

Yue Yun and Zhang Xian looked at each other, Yue Yun quickly asked: "Your Highness, you mean that my father can be released as a civilian at worst?"

Chen Qing smiled slightly, "Of course, if there is still a conviction, what's the point of me helping him?"

Yue Yun was overjoyed, bowed and said, "Please leave everything to Your Highness!"

Zhang Xian couldn't help but asked: "May I ask what method His Highness used to rescue Yue Dutong, can you reveal one or two things?"

Chen Qing said lightly: "I have a chess piece in my hand, which is the thing that people are most afraid of today. Do you know what it is?"

Zhang Xian thought for a while, and suddenly blurted out, "The late emperor!"

Chen Qing nodded, and said to Yue Yun: "General Yue, please rest assured, your mother and siblings are going east, I have instructed my subordinates to make proper arrangements for them, and they will be taken care of along the way, not to mention their safety."

Yue Yun was touched, bowed again and said: "Your Highness loves you so much, Yue Yun can only do his best to serve His Highness in return for your kindness!"

Chen Qing said indifferently: "You are not only working for me, you are also earning a future for yourself. Your descendants will all be blessed. Go and rest! Follow me back to Xuchang tomorrow, a big battle is about to begin."

In the afternoon of the same day, Chen Qing issued the order of King Yong, conferring Xu Qing, Zhang Xian, and Yue Yun as commanders of the upper army, 13 people including Peng Qi and Yao Zhen as commanders, and 12 deputy commanders. and Commander.

In addition, there are civil servants Xue Bi, Li Ruoxu and others who are all employed as staff officers and engaged in military and civilian positions.

Early the next morning, thousands of people were left to continue to resettle their families, and the remaining [-] troops returned to Yingchang Mansion in a mighty manner.

But Yue Fei's army's coming to serve did not end. Although Wang Gui and Dong Xian did not come, many soldiers under their command came north one after another. Within half a month, more than 5000 people came to serve. Chen Qing finally Got the Yue Family Army of [-] people.

……

In Lin'an, the night fell, but there was still a lot of people in the big and small tiles, and the business was prosperous, but the residential area and the government area gradually quieted down.

The front of Qin Hui's mansion was also very quiet, but behind him, there were more than a dozen servants standing in front of Xiaohe pier, waiting for someone with lanterns.

At this time, a passenger ship came slowly and stopped at the pier. Xiao Yi, the envoy of the Kingdom of Jin who was stationed in Lin'an, stepped off the ship. The envoy of the Kingdom of Jin who just took office.

He is a Khitan native, proficient in Chinese, Jurchen and Khitan, and especially understands the customs and culture of the Han people, and has always won the trust of the emperor of the Kingdom of Jin.

He had already sent someone to deliver a letter during the day, saying that he would visit Xiangguo Qin Hui at night.

Envoys from the Kingdom of Jin usually come to visit Qin Hui by water. Of course, this is also Qin Hui's request. There is a street in front of his house, and there are people coming and going. There are always envoys from the Kingdom of Jin visiting in the middle of the night. It is easy to be criticized and affect his reputation.

"Is your Xiangguo there?" Xiao Yi walked ashore and asked with a smile.

"I'm waiting for Officer Xiao, please follow me!" the butler said with a lantern.

"Wait a minute, I have another companion."

I saw another Han coming down from the boat, about 40 years old, short in stature, unattractive in appearance, but dressed as a businessman.

"Who is this……"

"Don't worry! He is our man, I will guarantee it."

Xiao Yi obviously didn't want to explain more to the butler, but the butler had no choice but to nod, "You two please follow me."

Lanterns in front lead the way, from the pier, there are two doors in Qinhui Mansion, one door leads to the inner house, and the other door leads to a long alley leading to the front yard, most people use the alley to go to the front yard.

But Xiao Yi left the inner house and went all the way to Qin Hui's study yard.

"Emissary Xiao hasn't come for a long time, what news did he bring today?"

Qin Hui greeted Xiao Yi with a smile, but his eyes fell on the middle-aged man behind him, and his intuition told Qin Hui that this was a scribe, not a businessman.

Xiao Yi stepped back and introduced the businessman behind Qin Hui, "This Mr. Xu is the aide of King Liang, and he just came from Bianjing!"

The middle-aged scribe saluted and said, "My servant, Xu Houde, will be in charge of official assessment in the Liang Palace."

Qin Hui was startled. This unattractive middle-aged man was actually the head of the official department of Wanyan Wushu. He was puzzled again. Why did Wanyan Wushu come to find him? Qin Hui had always been in contact with Wanyanchang.

"You two, please sit down!"

Qin Hui quickly asked the two to sit down, and then asked the maid to serve tea.

Xiao Yi held the teacup and tasted it slowly. Today he is accompanying the guest, and Xu Houde is the master.

Xu Houde was not in the mood to drink tea, he said with a serious face: "I wonder if Mr. Qin knows about the battle in the Central Plains?"

Qin Hui glanced at the "Beijing News" on the table, and said with a dry smile: "I know something, the Western Army captured Xuchang, forming a situation of attacking Bianliang from both sides."

"Didn't your court respond?" Xu Houde asked again.

Qin Hui picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea, said lightly: "Of course we are very concerned, we care more about the refugees!"

Xu Houde took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Qin Hui, "This is a personal letter from King Liang to Xiangguo."

Qin Hui took the letter and read it again, his face was uncertain, Wanyan Wushu actually asked him to persuade the emperor to send troops to Huaibei and attack the states on the north bank of Huaihe River.

Of course, Qin Hui understood Wanyan Wushu's intention, which was to attack the back of the Western Army. In fact, it became an alliance between Song and Jin to attack the Western Army.

Qin Hui was in a bit of a dilemma. First, he did not contact Wanyan Wushu. He had always been in contact with Wanyan Chang. Now Wanyan Wushu wrote a letter very abruptly, asking the Song Army to send troops to the Northern Expedition. Who did he think he was? Representing the Kingdom of Jin?

Secondly, the imperial court is now busy taking over the military power, how can it care about the affairs of the Central Plains?

Wanyan Wushu did not send soldiers to deliver the letter, but sent his staff to deliver the letter. He also hoped that his staff could persuade Qin Hui. Of course he knew that Qin Hui had always been in contact with Wanyanchang.

"Does Mr. Qin feel that there is something wrong?" Xu Houde asked Qin Hui, staring at Qin Hui's expression.

"This...it is useless for me to promise to use troops in the Central Plains. The key is to ask the emperor to agree. Now the military power is in the hands of the officials. Of course, I can try my best to persuade the emperor, but I can't give any guarantee to King Liang."

Xu Houde took out another letter and handed it to Qin Hui, "This is a personal letter from King Liang to your emperor, please send it to the emperor, Prime Minister Qin, and then try your best to persuade the emperor."

This is fine, Qin Hui took the letter and said happily: "I will pass the letter to the emperor tomorrow morning, and I will try my best to persuade you."

If you can’t be persuaded, it’s a matter of writing your own letters. If you can’t convince yourself, how can you still count on me?

"Qin Xianggong, can you arrange for me to meet the emperor of your country?" Xu Houde continued to ask.

Qin Hui glanced at Xiao Yi, with some dissatisfaction in his eyes, which means, this person surnamed Xu doesn't understand the rules, don't you understand the rules?

Xiao Yi laughed dryly and said: "Mr. Xu was mentioned when Mr. Qin reported. If the emperor wants to see him, he can arrange it. If he doesn't want to see him, then forget it."

"Okay! I'll mention it tomorrow."

Xu Houde said again: "In addition, you need to tell Qin Xianggong that Li Qiong, who surrendered to the Kingdom of Jin before, has now surrendered to Chen Qing. His [-] troops are deployed on the front lines of Haizhou, Xuzhou, Pizhou, and Suzhou. You can attack Li Qiong. , not only to avenge the betrayal of the past, but also to take advantage of the trend to occupy the four states of Xupi and Haisu, and threaten the back of Chen Qing's army. You can also use an excuse to recover the Central Plains! Do you really want Chen Qing to successfully recover Bianliang?"

Qin Hui narrowed his eyes, he suddenly felt that maybe the emperor really wanted to go north.

Chapter 18 Pressure

Early the next morning, Qin Hui came to the imperial study in a hurry. Coincidentally, Zhang Jun's bulletin was sent to the Privy Council by flying pigeons, and Xu Xiantu was reporting to the emperor!

"Xiangguo came just in time! I am about to send someone to call for it."

"Your Majesty, what happened?" Qin Hui asked with a smile on his face.

"This is the bulletin Zhang Jun sent back from Xiangyang. Xiangguo will take a look first."

An eunuch forwarded the copy of the pigeon letter to Qin Hui.

The letter was sent by pigeons, so it was very short, only two lines.

"The minister led an army of [-] troops into Xiangyang and captured the Yue army. However, the Yue army rioted and a large number of troops descended from the north to the west. The captured army refused to obey the control and showed signs of rebellion. The minister suggested that they should be disbanded and returned to the peasants on the spot. I am eager for a reply!" '

Qin Hui understood that Zhang Jun had controlled Xiangyang, but the army could not control it. Many surrendered to the Western Army, and the rest of the army surrendered on the surface, but there were signs of rebellion in secret, so Zhang Jun suggested disbanding.

Qin Hui received [-] yuan from Zhang Jun every year for all kinds of filial piety. Since Zhang Jun suggested disbanding, there is no harm in disbanding.

"Your Majesty, we currently have an army of 50, and military expenditures have been overwhelming us. If we can reduce the number of troops by [-], I, the prime minister, will raise my glass to celebrate."

Qin Hui first made a joke to ease the atmosphere, and then said to Zhao Gou: "I have always advocated disarmament. Your Majesty should remember that I have already written two memorials on disarmament. Now Yue Fei's army will be laid off and the army will be laid off. They disband on the spot, and our finances will be greatly relieved, Your Majesty, the financial burden has been reduced, and the troubles of the heart have been removed, why not do it?"

Zhao Gou nodded, Qin Hui's words touched his heart, he was so worried about money that he couldn't sleep every day, Zhang Jun wanted to share his worries for him, of course he was willing.

"Xu Xiangguo, that's it! Send a letter to Zhang Jun immediately, I agree with his plan, and Yue Fei's army will be disbanded on the spot."

Xu Xiantu was the head of the Privy Council, of course he knew that Yue Fei's army was the most elite army in the Song Dynasty, and Chen Qing would not let it go. He desperately recruited them, but the emperor decided to disband them.

But Xu Xiantu had no choice. He knew that the emperor didn't care whether the army was elite, but whether the army was loyal. After Liu Miao's change, the emperor didn't believe in generals at all, and he didn't trust the army brought out by these generals.

"The minister obeys the order!"

Xu Xiantu bowed and left in a hurry.

At this time, Qin Hui bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I have one more important matter to report."

"what's up?"

"Your Majesty, Xiao Yi, envoy of the Kingdom of Jin, came to visit Wei Chen last night. He brought a person who is Wanyan Wushu's staff, and a letter written by Wanyan Wushu, which is for His Majesty."

"Wanyan Wushu wrote me a letter?"

Zhao Gou was stunned and said in surprise, "Where is the letter? Show me?"

Qin Hui took out a letter and handed it to Zhao Gou. Zhao Gou opened the letter and read it carefully. Of course, Wanyan Wushu's literary skills were not so good. When he wrote a letter, his staff wrote it according to his instructions. Wanyan Wushu personally pressed the seal.

Zhao Gou couldn't sit still after reading the letter. He stood up with his hands behind his back and came to the window. The content of the letter was of course to persuade him to make a northern expedition and compete with Chen Qing for territory.

Wanyan Wushu actually persuaded himself to make a northern expedition. It sounds ridiculous, but the reality is that the situation in the Central Plains has changed drastically. Chen Qing has occupied [-]% of the land in the Central Plains, and the essence expressed in Wanyan Wushu's letter is that of the Song and Jin Dynasties. Form an alliance to eliminate Chen Qing together.

Zhao Gou was not very willing to participate, not because Chen Qing was also in the Song army. In fact, Zhao Gou hated Chen Qing more than Jin Guo, and wished to destroy his nine clans.

But Zhao Gou is not a fool. He knows in his heart that even if he and Wanyan Wushu team up to drive Chen Qing out of the Central Plains, Wanyan Wushu will still clean up himself and drive his own army out of the Central Plains. wedding dress.

It's just that the last sentence in Wanyan Wushu's mind hit his heart, "Does Your Majesty want Chen Qing to recover Bianliang so that Zhao Heng and his son can return to Bianliang?" '

This is the key point of Zhao Gou. As long as Chen Qing doesn't recover Bianliang, Luoyang and Yingtianfu, he can bear it, but he can't bear to recover Bianliang unless Chen Qing gives Bianliang to himself, but is it possible?

Chen Qing will definitely enter Bianliang with the emperor's brother and his son, what if the emperor's brother ascends the throne again in Bianliang?

Thinking of this, Zhao Gou shuddered a little.

Although the first emperor Zhao Huan had expressed his willingness to give up the throne and gave himself an abdication edict without the seal, saying that the seal was still in the Kingdom of Jin, that was fine, the key was that the etiquette did not match.

When the emperor abdicates, he should build an altar in front of the Taimiao to offer sacrifices to his ancestors, and then formally announce in front of all the officials that there are no such etiquettes. It is just a notice of abdication in the "Beijing News", which is not the headline on the front page. Which emperor announced his abdication in the newspaper?

If he refused to admit that he had written the edict of abdication, how could he prove that it was true?

After discovering this major flaw in etiquette, Zhao Gou has been sitting on pins and needles for a year. He made a move to attack South Jinghu Road. In fact, he also wanted to renegotiate with Chen Qing. The ancestors rewrote the edict of abdication under the notarization of hundreds of officials and read it out in public, and then formally ascended the throne in front of the Taimiao to complete this set of rituals, then he would rather assign the entire Jingnan Road to Chen Qing.

Zhao Gou sighed and asked, "What else did the envoy of Wanyan Wushu say?"

"The envoy also said that Li Qiong, who was stationed in Xu, Su, Pi, Hai and Lianshui, had surrendered to Chen Qing. We can send troops to destroy the rebel Li Qiong and capture the army of the four prefectures of Xu and Su, which will destroy Chen Qing. The plan to attack the Kaifeng mansion forced Chen Qing to shrink his strategy, and as a thank you to us, Wanyan Wushu can be given to us by the army of the four prefectures of Xusu."

Zhao Gou was really tempted. If he could not only destroy the traitor Li Qiong, but also occupy the army of the four prefectures of Xusu, especially prevent Chen Qing from recovering Bianliang, and kill three birds with one stone, Zhao Gou would be very willing. He asked again He said: "What if Wanyan Wushu repents and sends troops to attack us?"

Qin Hui hastily said: "With Chen Qing staring at the west, Wanyanwushu needs us to create momentum in the east to contain Chen Qing's attack on the Central Plains. I believe that Wanyanwushu will not backtrack on this matter. He You must be happy to see us stay in the first army in the four prefectures of Xusu."

"This matter is of great importance, I will think about it again!"

……