Fenghou

And Han Shizhong's [-] troops also entered Jiaxing Mansion smoothly, getting closer and closer to Lin'an Mansion.

The good news passed through Li Jian to the ears of the emperor Zhao Gou who was hiding in Meiluan.

Before dawn, more than a thousand guards began to go up the mountain to welcome the return of the emperor, and the emperor Zhao Gou and the Queen Mother Wei also boarded the light chariots and began to return to the palace.

The word chariot means a cart carried by two husbands. It is actually a large sedan chair carried by dozens of guards. The emperor sits in it. Of course, cloth curtains cannot be used, which will form a claustrophobic space. A layer of light gauze, the emperor sits inside and has a wide view, as does the empress dowager.

Due to the narrow mountain road, they could only sit in a light chariot. Four guards lifted them up high, surrounded by guards for protection.

Emperor Zhao Gou sat in the chariot with a thick blanket on his legs, worried for a day and a night, he finally got a little sleepy and took a nap on the chariot.

There are two small chariots in front and one behind, the chariot of the emperor Zhao Gou is in the front, and the empress dowager is in the back. There are no court ladies or eunuchs, but only ten guards. The less the better.

Fortunately, the guards have all gone up the mountain, and they are about to join the emperor.

Two small chariots came out of the narrow path and turned onto the avenue. Just as they turned the corner, they heard 'Ka!Click! 'Two poisonous crossbow arrows shot out from the woods like lightning, pierced the tulle on the chariot, and hit the throat and chest of Emperor Zhao Gou.

Zhao Gou let out a muffled snort, and fell into the chariot. Several guards were shocked and shouted: "There are assassins!"

Several guards drew their swords one after another to protect the small chariots of the emperor and the queen mother, while the four guards drew their swords and rushed up, and fell down as soon as they reached the woods. The queen mother shouted anxiously: "Put Aijia down!"

The eight guards who carried the chariot came to their senses, put down the chariot quickly, drew their knives and stood guard in front of the two small chariots, and stood in a stalemate for a stick of incense, when the welcoming guards appeared in the distance, and the guards shouted: "Help, help!" assassin!"

A large group of guards rushed forward with their swords drawn, and surrounded the dragon chariot, while another group of guards rushed into the woods, looking around, but there was no trace of the assassin.

At this time, Su Hong, the commander of the guards, came galloping on horseback. Hearing the news of the assassin, he immediately rushed to him and shouted, "Your Majesty is well!"

After a while, a guard shouted sadly: "Your Majesty, it's broken!"

The first thousand and 450 chapters of public anger

The square in front of the Daqing Palace was full of angry ministers. They all came to sue the emperor and demanded that Yan Xin, the governor of the Plum Blossom Guard, be severely punished. This time, there was a serious riot, and many ministers’ residences were hit hard, or their property was looted, or His wife and daughter were humiliated, the ministers couldn't accept this tragic experience, and they came to ask for an explanation, and they would never give up if they didn't execute Yan Xinling late and severely punish the rebellious soldiers.

At this time, a deep bell sounded from the palace, "Boom—boom—"

The ministers were stunned. This is the Jingyang bell. The Jingyang bell will be rung only when the emperor ascends the throne, abdicates or dies. What's going on?

At this moment, the ministers couldn't care about their own grief for the time being, they talked a lot, and an ominous feeling enveloped their hearts.

An old eunuch walked slowly to the steps and shouted out in great grief: "Ministers, misfortune has come, Your Majesty... His Majesty the Emperor has passed away!"

The news was like a bolt from the blue, everyone was stunned, Qin Hui knelt down and cried loudly, "Your Majesty—"

"His Majesty!"

The ministers burst into tears, and the old eunuch said again: "The Empress Dowager invites Qin Xiangguo, Xu Xiangguo, Zhang Xiangguo, and Zhu Xiangguo to discuss matters in the inner palace, and other ministers please wait here!"

Qin Hui, Xu Xiantu, Zhang Jun, and Zhu Shengfei all got up and went to the inner palace, while other ministers were sitting on the steps discussing in small groups. At this time, more and more officials came to the palace, and Yang Yizhong also came crying. He also got news of the death of the emperor.

The guards blocked the way and prevented Yang Yizhong from entering the inner palace. While they were arguing, Su Chun, the commander of the guards, hurried over.

He was immediately surrounded by Yang Yizhong and the ministers, "General Su, what's going on, why did the emperor die suddenly?"

Su Chun said sadly: "The Son of Heaven encountered an assassin, poisoned arrows entered his body, and he collapsed when the imperial doctor arrived."

All the ministers were in an uproar. The emperor was assassinated. It was too shocking. Yang Yizhong asked anxiously, "Who is the assassin? Can he be caught?"

Su Chun shook his head, "Your Majesty encountered an assassin when he was avoiding civil strife in Houshan. The assassin just entered from Houshan. Unfortunately, the assassin escaped, but he left clues. I have already made a preliminary judgment of who did it."

"who is it?"

"It should be the Xiang family. There is a word Xiang on the shaft of the arrow, and there is a line of small characters."

"What small print?" Everyone urged to ask.

Su Chun was a bit embarrassed to speak, and after a while he said: "The revenge of killing your father is irreconcilable!"

The ministers looked at each other and looked at Yang Yizhong together. Yang Yizhong sighed and said, "It is possible that Xiang Desheng was bestowed dead by the emperor last night, and his nephew Xiang Kui also died, but his two sons are missing. Xiang Jun may be in Wang Jian's army, but Xiang Wen's whereabouts are unknown, and Xiang's family has raised a few confidantes who died."

"Could it be that the emperor was assassinated by Xiang Wen?" the ministers asked in shock.

Yang Yizhong sighed and said: "Based on the time, it's completely in time. Although Xiang Wen doesn't know martial arts, if he brings his confidants and dies, and coincidentally meets the Son of Heaven in the back mountain, this is heaven...it's fate to be here. robbery."

Yang Yizhong almost said it was God's will, and hurriedly changed his words, but it was still inappropriate. How could he say that the fate of the Son of Heaven should be like this?

But at this moment, everyone was in a state of confusion, and no one cared to refute Yang Yizhong's slip of the tongue.

Su Chun shook his head and said: "Yang Dutong, it's not a coincidence. It should be Li Jian sending letters back and forth, which was noticed by the assassin. Li Jian also admitted that he felt that someone was following him, but he didn't arouse his vigilance."

"God's will! God's will! The cycle of karma, the retribution is not good, happy! Happy!" Someone shouted.

Everyone turned their heads and stared angrily, seeing that it was Taichang Shaoqing Zhong Zixuan, dancing and dancing, already in a state of madness.

Yang Yizhong was furious, and put his hand on the hilt of his sword, only to hear someone beside him whisper: "A dozen plum blossom thieves broke into his house, his father was killed, his wife hanged herself after being insulted, what a pity!"

Yang Yi was heartbroken and let go of the hilt of his sword. It was indeed ill-advised for the officials to order Meihuawei to attack the powerful. The officials were responsible for so many tragedies.

At this time, an eunuch came out in a hurry and said to Yang Yizhong: "Yang Dutong, the queen mother has called, where is General Yan?"

Yang Yizhong shook his head, "General Yan doesn't seem to be here!"

"Who said I didn't come!"

Yan Xin suddenly appeared next to him, and the ministers immediately became angry, and rushed over together, "Kill him! Kill him!"

Yan Xin was caught off guard by his mistake, and was grabbed and beaten by the ministers. Taichang Shaoqing Zhong Zixuan threw Yan Xin down and bit off his ear. Yan Xin screamed in pain, tried to draw his sword but couldn't, and then The other ear was bitten off.

Su Chun wanted to rush up, but was stopped by Yang Yizhong, and said calmly: "The Son of Heaven will die at his hands indirectly, if he doesn't die, the law of heaven will not tolerate it!"

Su Chun also stopped the guards, and Yang Yizhong said to him again: "He must have brought his own soldiers, they must be stopped, the news will spread, and the plum blossom guards will rebel!"

Su Chun was shocked, "There are no guards in front, what should I do?"

At this time, Yan Xin's screams suddenly disappeared, Zhong Zixuan pulled out the dagger in his leather boots, and stabbed it in his chest.

Yang Yizhong said to the old eunuch: "Please tell the Empress Dowager, I'm afraid the Plum Blossom Guard will rebel, I must stop them!"

The old eunuch pulled Yang Yizhong aside and asked in a low voice, "The Empress Dowager wants to know if Zhao Bocong is still there?"

Yang Yizhong shook his head, "The Son of Heaven decreed to execute him, and he bore the brunt of it. Several sons were also exterminated."

The old eunuch had no choice but to nod and said, "Go to Yang Dutong quickly! It seems that the Queen Mother also wants Yang Dutong to maintain order in the city!"

Yang Yizhong turned around and ran away. At this time, the ministers were all up. Yan Xin was covered in blood, his face was unrecognizable, his eyes were pierced, his ears, nose and lips were bitten off, his throat was bitten off, but the most deadly Instead, a dagger was stuck in the chest, directly piercing the heart, and died of exhaustion.

Yan Xin never dreamed that he would die in this way.

Su Chun quickly ordered the soldiers to carry Yan Xin's body away, and hundreds of ministers let out a bad breath.

……

In the side hall of the Ziwei Palace, the Empress Dowager Wei and the four ministers discussed the heir to the throne, but they encountered a big problem. The emperor had no children, and Zhao Bocong, the only one who could inherit the throne, also died in the chaos, and the life and death of several sons were unknown.

The five of them could only make a compromise plan. First, the queen mother would listen to the government behind the curtain, and after finding a suitable heir to the throne, she would immediately support her ascension to the throne.

In fact, they all knew that the former prince Zhao Chen had two sons in Jingzhao, who were the authentic grandsons of the emperor, but no one dared to mention this.

While they were discussing, an eunuch rushed in to report, "The Queen Mother, the gentlemen, just got the news that the Plum Blossom Guard rebelled!"

Empress Dowager Wei was shocked and asked urgently, "Is there someone to stop it?"

"I heard that Yang Du led the army to fight fiercely with the Plum Blossom Guard in the West Lake area. The situation is unknown!"

Empress Dowager Wei was really worried, "Why is everything not reassuring, it's endless!"

Zhang Jun comforted the Queen Mother and said: "Don't worry, Queen Mother, the Plum Blossom Guards are all mobs and vulnerable, I believe General Yang will wipe them all out!"

Empress Dowager Wei nodded, "Sirs, let's go to rest first! Aijia is also tired, and we will discuss the specific government arrangements tomorrow."

Several ministers went down, but the Empress Dowager Wei did not leave. She came to the emperor's imperial study and sat down on the throne. Her ambitions began to swell. Why did she look for an heir to the throne? Couldn't she be enthroned as an empress?

The first thousand and 450 chapters surrounded

Meihuawei's rebellion was quickly extinguished. Yan Xin was killed only in Dahuo County. The root cause was the confiscation of the property looted by the soldiers. They tried to rob Lin'an again, but this time they were monitored by Yang Yizhong's army. As soon as the soldiers rushed to the barracks, they were ambushed by [-] soldiers with strong bows and crossbows, and more than [-] soldiers were shot and killed.

Empress Dowager Wei wanted to buy the hearts of all the officials, so it was the best choice to attack Plum Blossom Guard, who would definitely be welcomed by all officials, so Empress Dowager Wei issued a killing order, using the blood of Plum Blossom Guard to sacrifice to the throne.

The remaining soldiers of the Plum Blossom Guard were brutally massacred by the soldiers of the Guards. It was useless to cry and beg for mercy. Everyone was beheaded.

The Plum Blossom Guard was wiped out, and the Empress Dowager Wei condemned the three major crimes of the Plum Blossom Guard, and ordered the complete ban on the Plum Blossom Guard. .

Chen Qing led hundreds of large ships and an army of [-] sailing eastward along the Yangtze River. After he got the news of the emperor's death, he ordered three armies to march south.

Commander Yang Zaixing led [-] troops across the Yangtze River from Hezhou, Zhenzhou and Yangzhou on the north bank of the Yangtze River. Gao Ding led [-] troops from Shangrao County and marched into Quzhou. The army went north from Fujian Road and marched into Wenzhou and Chuzhou in two ways.

The Western Army was in full swing, and it did not commit any crimes wherever it passed. It was warmly welcomed by the local people. The deputy general of the Song Army who stayed behind in Zhenjiang Mansion was the governor of the capital, Wang Gui.

He paced back and forth in the camp, unable to make up his mind. He had only one choice, either to surrender or lead his troops to retreat. It was impossible to fight. The [-] troops of the Western Army crossed the river in Jiangning and were heading towards Zhenjiang Mansion. There are still [-] Western troops on the river starting to land, and I only have [-] troops, and sending them up is also hitting stones with eggs.

Wang Gui was originally very loyal to the emperor Zhao Gou, but the Empress Dowager Wei did not like him. She obstructed his appointment several times, and in the end he was only appointed as the Jiangyin military envoy, completely marginalized. , how could it not be his turn to sit in Zhenjiang Mansion.

At this time, Chang Lin from Jiangyin, his aide, persuaded: "Now that the emperor is dead and the queen mother is in power, I think she must support the young emperor to ascend the throne. If she comes to control the government, then the first thing to bear is to control the military power. People she trusts will be promoted. Once in power, the person she hates will definitely degrade and seize power, the general can ask himself, which category does he belong to?"

Wang Gui sighed and said: "I must belong to the latter. When I was in Lin'an, I ignored her solicitation and was hated by her. In the past, I was trusted by the officials. If you die, the Queen Mother will definitely make an example to others, and I guess I will be that chicken."

"Then why is the general hesitating? Surrendering to the Western Army will cost you at least [-] troops. No matter how bad you are, you can still be in control. The general has done his best to the emperor. Now it's time to consider your own future and destiny."

Wang Gui let out a long sigh, "You're right, I've done my best to Da Song, it's not that I don't want to be loyal, but Da Song won't tolerate me anymore!"

Wang Gui immediately ordered that the resistance of the Western Army was not allowed to cross the river, and the whole army changed its flag and surrendered to the Western Army.

……

At the same time, Qi Qing, the deputy general of Liu Kai who was staying in Quzhou, also led [-] troops to surrender to the Gaoding army. The Western Army slowed down a little and began to march towards Lin'an in parallel. In Jiaxing Mansion, Gaoding's [-] troops entered Yanzhou, and Liu Qiong and Tang Qian's [-] troops entered Shaoxing Mansion.

More importantly, all the Song Dynasty taxes and taxes were abolished wherever they went, and the Yongwang decree was promulgated to exempt urban and rural areas from taxes for five years. We eat pots of milk to welcome the arrival of the Western Army.

At the same time, it is also tolerant enough to the government, and all officials will continue to serve, except that the prefect of the prefecture is changed to the governor, the county magistrate is changed to the county magistrate, and the general judgment is changed to the long history.

In fact, all officials are human beings. They all know that the Song Dynasty is over. As long as they are not aliens and do not harm their own interests, it is normal to change dynasties. When the Song Dynasty replaced Hou Zhou, no Hou Zhou official committed suicide.

The Western Army moved southward, eastward, and northward like a broken bamboo. Seven days later, 28 Western Army occupied Chongde County in the south of Jiaxing Prefecture, Deqing County and Wukang County in the south of Huzhou, Tonglu County in the east of Yanzhou, and Shaoxing Prefecture. In the northernmost Xiaoshan County, there are [-] warships of the [-] navy blocking Qiantang Bay.

In other words, the Western Army did not enter Lin'an Mansion, or in other words, only Lin'an Mansion was left in the imperial court.

The imperial court was in turmoil, and one emergency report after another made the officials tremble with fear, which made the Empress Dowager Wei, who had just taken over the power of the government, feel restless day and night. She kept meeting with the Prime Minister and ministers to discuss countermeasures.

Qin Hui comforted the Empress Dowager Wei and said, "Reporting to the Empress Dowager, we have not yet reached the end of the mountain and we still have money. The Song Army currently has 7 people and 100 guards. The population of the entire Lin'an Prefecture is still more than 3000 million. The important thing is that we still have a lot of accumulated wealth, grain has millions of stones, wealth in Zuo Zangku and Neiku exceeds 20 million guan, and there are also a large number of soldiers in the warehouse, we can increase our troops to quickly reach [-] troops.”

Empress Dowager Wei sighed, and asked Xu Xiantu again: "Xu Aiqing, the officials valued you the most when they were alive, what do you think?"

Xu Xiantu pondered for a while and said: "The Western Army is currently standing still, as if they are waiting for something. The humble post is probably waiting for the arrival of King Yong. Qin Xiangguo also has some reason. After all, we still have a little capital. I suggest using this capital to negotiate with the Western Army. Find a solution acceptable to both parties."

"Xu Xiangguo meant to make Ai's family surrender?" Queen Mother Wei was really dissatisfied.

Xu Xiantu shook his head, "Negotiation is not surrender. Surrender is only when you open the city gate and raise a white flag. Negotiation is a civil war, and it is a way to protect your own interests. That's why it is said in the Art of War. Attack, attack the city from the government."

At this time, Zhu Shengfei also said: "Queen Mother, you can indeed try to negotiate, at least you can touch the bottom line of the other party, and it will also buy time for us to prepare for the war!"

It was still Zhu Shengfei who could speak and regarded negotiation as a strategy. Empress Dowager Wei nodded, "Let's talk about it first! Ask them why they are so impatient when the official family's bones are still cold. What do they want to do?"

Speaking of this, Queen Mother Wei glanced at Zhang Jun, and asked coldly: "Zhang Xiangguo, you are very silent today!"

For so many years, Zhang Jun has always been the enemy of the Empress Dowager Wei. Now that the Empress Dowager Wei is in power, she has become more and more intolerable to Zhang Jun. If the Western Army did not suppress the situation, the Queen Mother Wei would be the first to dismiss Zhang Jun.

Zhang Jun said indifferently: "Wei Chen supports Mr. Xu's opinion. Negotiation is our only way out. Wei Chen advises the Queen Mother not to conscript any more. It will cause the people to panic and flee."

"The only way out!"

Empress Dowager Wei sneered and said, "It seems that Zhang Xiangguo really wants to meet Chen Qing and catch up on old feelings. I'm afraid this is Zhang Xiangguo's only way out."

"Wei Chen has no such intention!"

"Zhang Xiangguo is so indifferent, Ai Jia also gives you a suggestion, take the initiative to let Xian!"

Empress Dowager Wei couldn't bear Zhang Jun, and finally issued an order to chase each other.

Zhang Jun sighed in his heart, bowed and said, "My minister is sick and unable to perform the duties of the court. I want to recuperate at home. I implore the Queen Mother to help me!"

"Prelude!"

"Thank you Queen Mother!"

Zhang Jun resigned and left, and Empress Dowager Wei immediately issued an order to remove Zhang Jun from his posts of political affairs and Shangshu Youcheng, appoint him as the Biejia of Xuanzhou, and allow him to recuperate at home.

At this time, King Yong's special envoy Lu Gang entered Lin'an City again.

The first thousand and 450 chapter two first talk

Most of the Yongwang special envoy's office had been burned down in the riots in Meihuawei, and a small house remained intact. Lu Gang re-hanged a sign in the small house with the words 'Yong Guo special envoy' written on it.

It was originally the special envoy's mansion of King Yong, but if one word was changed, the meaning would be different. It used to be the relationship between the king and the emperor, but now it is the relationship between the countries.