Fenghou

Xu Xiantu picked up the newspaper, put it on the imperial case, sighed and said, "Chen Qing will definitely help Yue Fei, so why is Your Majesty so annoyed!"

"Could it be that they really colluded?" Zhao Gou snorted heavily.

"Your Majesty, if there is really a collusion, Yue Fei will not plan to attack South Jinghu Road in the south, and he will not be imprisoned when he comes. The reason why I said that Chen Qing will definitely rescue Yue Fei is because Chen Qing wants to buy people's hearts. Yue Fei's number Wan Jun joined him, the best way for him to buy the hearts of these soldiers is to help Yue Fei, frankly speaking, on the one hand, Chen Qing wants to help Yue Fei, but at the same time he does not want Yue Fei to return to Jingxiang."

Zhao Gou restrained his anger a little, and said coldly: "He wants to stand up for Yue Fei, write to me directly, maybe I will give him face, what is it for him to threaten me with the late emperor?"

"Your Majesty, I was puzzled at the beginning, would his threat backfire? But I soon felt something was wrong."

"What's wrong?"

"Your Majesty, Chen Qing and Yue Fei don't have such a friendship, so they wouldn't use the late emperor as a threat. Could it be that if your majesty kills Yue Fei, he will help the late emperor to ascend the throne? I'm afraid even Lu Yihao doesn't have this kind of treatment! What is Yue Fei?"

Zhao Gou sat down slowly. After Lu Yihao's analysis, he also felt that something was wrong, yes!Chen Qing would not have to fight himself to the death just for Yue Fei.

"Then Ai Qing said, what does he mean?"

"My minister feels that His Majesty has to think the other way around."

Zhao Gou frowned, "I don't quite understand, please be more specific."

"Your Majesty, if a person wants to kill someone, he will never shout all over the world. I want to kill someone. It's like a dog barking desperately, but it won't bite. In the same way, Chen Qingruo really wants to help the late emperor." Ascend to the throne, he will not threaten this matter."

Zhao Gou tapped heavily with his fingers, "Then what does he mean?"

"I feel that what he means is that he gave His Majesty a favor in the matter of the first emperor, and he wants His Majesty to pay him back a favor in consideration of this matter!"

"Is that right?"

Xu Xiantu nodded, "Other than that, there is no other explanation. What's more, the meaning of the word is very downcast and sad, and there is absolutely no reorganization of the mountains and rivers. The momentum of high-spiritedness, my understanding should be correct."

Zhao Gou read the words carefully again, and found that he was very depressed and sad, and he really didn't have the feeling of forging ahead.

Most of Zhao Gou's anger disappeared, he nodded and said: "If this is the case, I will think about it carefully!"

This is a bad face and a bad face, both soft and hard. Chen Qing himself sang the red face, so he needed someone to sing the bad face to appease him. He chose Xu Xiantu.

Chapter 21 Save Yue

The next morning, Emperor Zhao Gou held a military and political discussion in the political affairs hall in the side hall of Ziwei Hall.

In addition to the five prime ministers, there were also several university scholars who also participated in the discussion.

The reunification of Zhang Jun and Zhao Ding was very sudden this time. Although it is quite normal for a prime minister to reunite after being dismissed, there are usually warning signs, and basically I will know it in advance.

But this time there was no sign at all, and the sudden decree to reunite was really unexpected to the two of them, but it happened that they were both in Lin'an, so they put on the purple clothes again the next day.

Everyone was talking in low voices, Zhang Jun said to Zhao Ding: "These two days the court has called for the Northern Expedition quite loudly, does Mr. Zhao know?"

Wang Ding nodded, "I've heard something about it. It should be related to Chen Qingdong's campaign. I heard that Chen Qing's campaign went smoothly, and the court couldn't sit still."

Zhang Jun hesitated and said: "The imperial court thinks the Northern Expedition is a good thing, but I feel that it seems a bit hasty, more hasty than ever before."

Wang Ding sneered and said: "Bianliang will be captured by the Western Army, can the court not be in a hurry?"

On the other hand, Qin Hui seemed a little restless, Zhu Shengfei talked to him about Yue Fei, but he lost the enthusiasm he had before.

It is not without reason that Qin Hui has been the Prime Minister for so many years. He is not only good at figuring out the emperor's intentions, but also has strong political acumen. The two poems published in the "Beijing News" yesterday meant that Chen Qing had a hand in Yue Fei's matter.

Then the emperor held a temporary meeting in the political affairs hall early this morning. Will he talk about Yue Fei?

As for the matter of his son Lin Yifei, Qin Hui didn't really care much about it. The officials already knew about it, and now that he had no children, the officials also sympathized with him, so they naturally wouldn't accuse him of concealing the son born to his ex-wife.

The key is that Qin Hui couldn't figure out the emperor's attitude, so his attitude on Yue Fei's matter became vague and not as tough as before.

At this time, the guard shouted, "Your Majesty is here!"

Everyone got up one after another, the emperor Zhao Gou walked quickly from the side, stood in front of the dragon couch and said apologetically, "I kept you dear ones waiting for so long!"

Everyone saluted together, "Join Your Majesty!"

Zhao Gou waved his hand, "Please sit down!"

Everyone sat down, Zhao Gou pondered for a moment and said: "Today, dear friends, we are mainly discussing the possibility of the Northern Expedition. Yesterday I received a joint letter from hundreds of officials, which reminded me of the difficulty of starting a business and maintaining success for my ancestors. After leaving Bianliang and thinking of Daqing Palace, I stayed up all night."

Just when everyone thought that the Son of Heaven was going to start discussing the Northern Expedition, unexpectedly Zhao Gou changed the subject and said, "But before discussing the Northern Expedition, I want to conclude the matter of Yue Fei first, Mr. Qin and Mr. Zhu, what do you want to say? ?”

Qin Hui's heart trembled, as expected, he really wanted to talk about Yue Fei first, and he remembered very clearly that when the officials mentioned Yue Fei's matter the day before yesterday, they used the word "case", "Yue Fei's case", but today the case changed. It became a matter, 'Yue Fei's matter'.

With this small wording change, Qin Hui knew that the attitude of the officials had changed. Perhaps the threat Chen Qing published in the "Beijing News" yesterday had taken effect. At this critical moment, Qin Hui also decided to take a step back.

Qin Hui bowed slightly and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, I have nothing to say for the time being."

Zhu Shengfei became anxious immediately, yesterday he talked about convicting Yue Fei together, why did he have no objection today?

Zhu Shengfei didn't care about Qin Hui, he bowed and said: "Your Majesty, it is clearly stated in the memorial of my minister that Yue Fei and Chen Qing colluded in private, and he deliberately allowed Chen Qing's army to pass through the border, which led to the deterioration of the situation on the Jingnan Road. The testimonies of witnesses must be strictly reviewed, and if they prove guilty, they should be severely punished!"

At this time, Xu Xiantu stood up and said, "I have different opinions on what Zhu Xianggong said. Please allow me to say a few words, Your Majesty."

Zhao Gou nodded, "Xu Xianggong, please tell me!"

Xu Xiantu held up a memorial and said: "This is the letter from Dali Temple transferred to the Privy Council early this morning. It is Yue Fei's letter. I have copied a copy and handed over the original to Your Majesty."

A eunuch stepped forward to take the letter and put it on the table of the emperor. Zhao Gou flipped through it while listening to Xu Xiantu's explanation.

"Yue Fei said in a letter that he had never reached any agreement with Chen Qing on the transit of troops, military rations, and supplies. The only first time was with the permission of Orihiko, allowing [-] cavalry to cross the border to Jingnan to suppress bandits. , and then the soldiers went back to their hometowns to visit relatives and cross the border, other than that, there was no such thing as Chen Qing’s army or military rations crossing the border.”

Zhu Shengfei said angrily: "Xu Xianggong, could it be that his subordinate Fu Xuan's denunciation letter is to frame him?"

Xu Xiantu said calmly: "I also read Fu Xuan's denunciation letter, which probably refers to the fact that tens of thousands of camels from Jingzhao crossed the border with loads and traveled many times. Fu Xuan thought it was military rations and funds, but Regarding this issue, Yue Fei also explained in his letter that those camels carried ordinary goods, and they were actually Jingzhao’s official merchants, and he never interfered with the transit of commercial goods.”

Zhu Shengfei sneered, "But who knows if it's goods or military supplies?"

"That's the problem. Fu Xuan didn't know what the camels were carrying. He also guessed that they were military supplies, but Yue Fei had evidence to prove that the camels were not food and military supplies."

"Xu Xianggong, what evidence does Yue Dutong have?" Zhao Ding spoke for the first time. He had a good impression of Yue Fei, and he did not believe that Yue Fei had the intention of treason.

"The West Army stationed on South Jingnan Road belongs to the Bingma Mansion of Sichuan Road. Their military supplies and personnel replacement are all arranged by the Bingma Mansion of Sichuan Road. There will never be Jingzhao Mansion bypassing the Bingma Mansion of Sichuan Road and directly It is not allowed in any army to send military rations to Jinghu South Road to garrison, just like our court will never bypass the state capital and go directly to a certain county.

Secondly, it should be more convenient to transport grain and grass materials by water. If there is a good Yangtze River water transport, do you have to use camels to carry a little grain and grass materials and travel thousands of miles to Jiangling? "

There was a burst of laughter in the hall, and Qin Hui hurriedly smoothed things over and said, "Mr. Zhu didn't know where the garrison on Jingnan South Road belonged. He also deduced from common sense. After all, there were indeed more than 9000 cavalry passing through the border."

At this time, Zhao Gou became a little impatient, his attitude was so clear, there is nothing to argue about, he waved his hand and said: "Maybe Yue Fei has done something wrong, but he has made meritorious deeds in fighting gold, and his deeds outweigh his demerits. Since the Northern Expedition is to be considered, but to convict a general who used to go to the Northern Expedition is unjustifiable both emotionally and rationally, and it will be criticized by the whole world, so I decided not to pursue it any longer. Zhangzhou matter."

……

Yue Fei finally came out of Dali Temple. He was like a dream. Before he was imprisoned, he had the title of General. Jing, but after he was released from prison, he turned into a fifth-rank civil servant.

Yue Fei looked at the clear sky and let out a long sigh. He knew that he would never have another chance to lead the army.

Yue Lei was waiting in front of the official office of Dali Temple, he hurried up to support his father, Zhang Bao also stepped forward and choked up and said: "My lord has finally come out!"

Yue Fei smiled bitterly and said, "It's really not easy for me to come out! I owe Chen Qing a huge favor, Zhang Bao, and I'm going to Fujian Road to be a civil servant soon, will you still follow me?"

Zhang Bao wiped away his tears and said, "I am an orphan in a humble position. If I don't follow the lord, where can I go? Of course I will follow."

Yue Fei nodded, "Lei'er, is your mother still in Yuhang County?"

"Let's go! Let's go to Yuhang County."

Yue Fei got into the bullock cart and followed his son and Zhang Bao to Yuhang County.

Three days later, Yue Fei and his family boarded a [-] stone ship at the Qiantang River Wharf. This was specially arranged by Hu Yun. The ship left the Qiantang River and took the sea route to Zhangzhou to take up his post.

On the same day Yue Fei left Lin'an, the Political Affairs Hall passed the "Northern Expedition Proposal" proposed by Tao Lin, a senior scholar, and jointly appealed by 270 four officials. Under the control of the northern capital, he led an [-]-strong army to the north to attack Xuzhou, Suzhou, Haizhou and Pizhou. The soldiers pointed at Li Qiong's [-]-strong army.

Chapter 22 Capture

The counties of Kaifeng Prefecture were not rich and had a small population during the Northern Song Dynasty, and the countryside was especially desolate. Tokyo Bianliang was like a black hole, sucking away the population and resources of Kaifeng Prefecture.

After the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, Bianliang declined rapidly and the population dispersed, but Kaifeng Mansion improved a bit. At least the rural scenery was not so desolate, and there were yellow wheat fields everywhere, and the wheat was about to be harvested soon.

It was precisely because the wheat had to be harvested that Chen Qing and Wanyan Wushu reached an oral agreement on a temporary truce for harvesting wheat. Wanyan Wushu needed military rations, and Chen Qing was unwilling to destroy the farmers' hope of harvesting.

However, both parties' emphasis on intelligence has not been weakened because of the wheat harvest.

In Fugou County, south of Kaifeng Prefecture, a team of cavalry was resting in the woods to the southwest of the county seat. This was a 20-man cavalry scout from the Western Army. Their task was to check the deployment of the enemy army and find the main force of the enemy army.

The leading general is a young scout Dutou, named Shen Qing, from Jingzhao. He has only been in the army for three years, but he has excellent martial arts skills and has made outstanding achievements repeatedly. He was promoted from a small soldier to the capital.

Shen Qing's task is to move around Fugou County and investigate Jin Bing's intelligence.

The soldiers lit a few briquettes, put them into the marching stove, put them in a pot, and boiled the noodles. Of course, the briquettes used by the scouts were different from ordinary people. The briquettes used by the scouts contained nitrate powder and sulfur powder. It is easy to ignite, has great firepower, and burns quickly. It is very suitable for the life of scouts in a hurry. A large pot of water boils quickly, and a large pot of noodles is boiled. Spices, jerky, and I started to eat it.

Shen Qing sat on a big rock, while eating noodles, while looking at the map on the stone, they have traveled all over Fugou County, and found no sign of the enemy army, and it is relatively easy to find the enemy army, Jin soldiers usually have vanguards, The farmers' sheep and livestock were forcibly confiscated, but the rabbits did not eat the grass beside the nest. It is hard to say whether the Jin soldiers plundered the farmers in Kaifeng Prefecture in this way, but one thing is certain, the vanguard of the enemy will definitely arrive.

At this moment, the sentinel on the tree shouted: "A cavalry team is found in the north, about ten miles away, and it is running towards us!"

Shen Qing immediately ordered: "Pack up your things and prepare to retreat!"

The scout army is not a combat team, they will not fight the enemy at will, unless it is necessary, such as capturing the opponent's scouts to obtain information and so on.

The soldiers ate the noodles in a few bites, cleaned up quickly, and led their horses to hide deep in the woods, leaving Dutou Shenqing and the sentinel to watch the enemy.

Not long after, a group of golden sentry cavalry came galloping like lightning, and rushed into the woods. They turned over and dismounted in the open space where the Song army had just rested. They brought sixty or seventy sheep, and tied two for each horse. It is relatively spacious here, next to the small river, it is very convenient for eating or resting.

"Dutou, the other party is not a Jurchen!"

Generally, soldiers of the Song Army couldn't tell the difference between the Jurchens, the Khitans, or the Bohai people. They all looked the same, but the scouts could distinguish each other from the equipment.

The sentinel cavalry were all wearing leather armor. Although they were double-layered leather armor, it meant that they were definitely not Jurchen soldiers, but Donghu soldiers.

Shen Qing discovered a deeper problem. This cavalry is sentinel cavalry. The elite among the elite can only wear double-layer leather armor, so ordinary soldiers can only wear single-layer leather armor. This is Donghu soldiers, then What about the signed soldiers?

Shen Qing felt that this information was very important, he had to capture some prisoners of war and bring them back.

But there are 20 people on the other side, and they only have [-] people, how to catch them?

Thirty soldiers were roasting sheep over a fire, and several washed and peeled sheep were hung on wooden racks. The cavalry were chatting excitedly while roasting the meat.

Shen Qing's eyes fell on the opponent's horse. The opponent was afraid that the horse would be smoked by the barbecue, so all thirty horses were tied upwind, and the distance was a little far away, at least thirty steps away from where they were grilling.

But there is a sentinel on the big tree where the horses are tied. He is watching the official road outside and is also responsible for guarding the horses.

Shen Qing immediately had a bold plan in his mind, he waved to his sentinel, and the two retreated quietly into the dense forest.

……

Shen Qing called everyone to assign tasks, they were a capital, a deputy capital, and nineteen soldiers.

"Yang Da and Wei Qilang are in charge of stealing horses. Wei Qilang's arrow skills are good, and he has to kill the sentries on the tree with one arrow. Everyone, the sentries will scream and fall down when they are shot. The screams are the signal for our action. Shoot with a crossbow. , and then we will keep three alive and bring them back for interrogation, this is up to me to decide."

Shen Qing explained some details, everyone agreed, and then they split up, leaving one soldier to look after the horse, and the other soldiers split up from all directions.

Thirty Donghu soldiers had already started eating mutton, gulping down the goat's milk wine in their skins. Two soldiers from the Western Army reached the northeast corner. Thirty war horses were tied to two big trees. A sentry was squatting, also eating the leg of lamb with relish, completely unaware that the danger was approaching.

They are most likely to be attacked while eating, and this is the reason why they are all focused on the food and not paying attention to the risks of the outside world.

A soldier of the Western Army raised his crossbow to aim at the soldier on the tree, while another soldier of the Western Army quietly approached the horse. At this time, all the soldiers raised their crossbows, waiting for the scream of the sentinel.

"Crack!" The sound of the crossbow machine sounded, and a powerful crossbow arrow 'whoosh! ' shot out and hit the Sentinel's chest, and the Sentinel uttered a scream and fell from the woods.

Almost at the same time, [-] crossbow arrows were shot powerfully, and each arrow hit one person. The key is the reasonable distribution of the enemy troops. If an enemy soldier is shot by seven or eight arrows, it means that the sneak attack failed.

A round of crossbow arrows was fired, and fifteen soldiers from Donghu fell down. The Western Army threw away their crossbows and charged forward with their spears raised.

The Donghu soldiers were blinded by the shots. When the Western Army rushed towards them shouting, they turned around and fled to the horses in fright. Unexpectedly, the place where the horses were tethered was empty, and none of the thirty horses had disappeared.

The chief centurion shouted, "Scatter and run for your life!"

As soon as the words fell, suddenly there was a sharp pain in the head, and the vision went dark, and I didn't know anything.

Shen Qing stunned the enemy centurion with a wooden stick, and tied him behind his back with a rope.

The scouts of the Western Army chased and killed them all the way, and several Donghu soldiers rushed out of the woods, fleeing for their lives in a panic.

"Stop chasing!"

Shen Qing shouted, the soldiers stopped chasing, they captured three prisoners of war, tied them behind their backs, and covered their heads with black bags.

He quickly cleaned the battlefield, stripped off the armor, took away the weapons, dug a pit and buried the corpses, and then ran towards Xuchang with the three prisoners of war.

……

During this period of time, Chen Qing has been reorganizing the army. He has assembled more than [-] Yue Fei's troops. Among them, the three elite troops of Yue Fei's army, the Tabai Army, Youyi Army, and Beiwei Army, have all been completely acquired by Chen Qing. up.

He needs to break up his army and Yue Fei's army, mix them together, and then reorganize.

Among them, Yue Yun, Zhang Xian, and Xu Qing were organized into the Huben Army. Each of them commanded [-] troops. The ten-jin gold-backed machete is an infantry general. He was appointed by Chen Qing to be in charge of the Black Armored Infantry Battalion, commanding [-] Black Armored Infantry of the Western Army.

His generals were incorporated into the capital camps of Gaoding, Liu Qiong, Liu Cui, and Yang Zaixing respectively, none of them were downgraded, and the number of troops under his command was the same as before.

In addition to reorganizing the army, their family members have to be resettled. There are nearly 20 people and more than 5 households. Chen Qing adopted the method of voluntary selection. If his hometown is nearby, he will be resettled back to his hometown. They were resettled in Dengzhou, Ruzhou, Yingchangfu, Chenzhou, Caizhou and other four prefectures and one prefecture, and distributed official and military fields to them, ensuring that each family had at least [-] mu of land, and at the same time Like soldiers of the Western Army, they enjoy life-long tax exemption.