Song Emperor Jiangshan

"Your Highness, do you want to let the officials go?"

Zhao Yuan was speechless.not let go?Zhao Gou will think that he intends to fight against him; let go?They will also be charged with ulterior motives and misconduct.In this case, not talking is the best choice.

While Zhao Yuan remained silent, another news came from the guard at the south gate——Zhao Gou had left the city, and Yang Cunzhong, the commander in front of the palace, brought 3000 people to escort Zhao Gou and the women in the harem.

What Zhao Yuan can do at this time is to have people block the news and send people to chase after Zhao Gou. He thought for a while and said: "The officials only take so few people out of the city. If they encounter bandits, I'm afraid If there is an accident, send out all the cavalry in the city, and if you catch up, you must persuade His Majesty to come back." A person on the side asked: "What if you can't persuade him to come back?"

Zhao Yuan let out a long sigh: "Then protect him, wherever he is going, just go!"

The commanding envoy of the guard Ma Junsi took the order to go, the soldiers and horses in the city moved back and forth, the torches were scattered in the night, and the noise was endless.

Although Zhao Yuan tried his best to block the news, the fact that Zhao Gou ran away was immediately known by the people in the city.

The people who had already been awakened by the sound of fighting all packed up their soft packages and went to the street, wanting to escape, in a mess.There was a lot of crying and shouting in the city, and some local hooligans even took the opportunity to cause chaos, killing and looting everywhere. Before the enemy came, corpses had already appeared on the streets of Lin'an.Some people went to the south gate and attacked the soldiers defending the city, trying to open the gate and escape.

Some young and middle-aged men in the city gathered at the gate of the palace, cursing and shouting loudly, and the crowd was agitated.There were only some unfavorable concubines and court ladies and eunuchs who didn't know the news. When Zhao Yuan entered the palace, what he saw was crying everywhere, silver and copper coins were scattered everywhere, and the situation was messy.

There was a sudden pain in Zhao Yuan's heart. If he had known this before, it would be better not to persuade Zhao Gou not to run away. He ran away suddenly, leaving behind such a mess.

Some maids and eunuchs ran towards Zhao Yuan, crying desperately: "Your Highness, take me away, take me away!" They rushed up, but were stopped by the guards around Zhao Yuan, but in this chaotic situation, Can't stop it at all, Zhang Miao next to Zhao Yuan made a slap, pulled out the sword from his waist, and wanted to slash at the crying maids rushing over.

Zhao Yuan suddenly stretched out his hand, pressed the sword in Zhang Miao's hand, and said loudly: "This king will not run away! There are no golden soldiers outside the city, but some refugees. If you want to stay, go back to sleep. If you don't want to stay Yes, you can go out of the palace as much as you like. But now the city gate has been closed, and the city is in more chaos, not only can’t go out of the city, but will be robbed and killed by the local ruffians!” Having said this, Zhao Yuan turned his head and ordered: “Open the Xuanhua Gate!”

Xuanhua Gate is the gate of the imperial palace. At this moment, there are many young and middle-aged people gathered outside. Once opened, they will inevitably rush into the palace and cause even greater riots.

Zhang Miao hesitated a little: "Your Highness, once the palace gate is opened, the palace may be ransacked."

Zhao Yuan's face was heavy: "I will go to the Xuanhua Gate to stabilize the people's sentiments. You bring good bows and arrows. If anyone dares to make trouble, kill them all!"

Zhang Miao answered loudly "Yes!", Zhao Yuan strode towards the palace gate without looking back, some eunuchs and maids in the palace refused to really go back to sleep, they all followed behind Zhao Yuan, but they didn't Dare to get too close, and only keep a relatively safe distance.

Many people have gathered at the gate of the palace, and there are also famous officials. Many guards in the forbidden palace have been taken away by Zhao Gou, and the rest are maintaining law and order on the four walls of the city to resist attacks from outside the city.Zhao Yuan could only call the yamen servants from Lin'an Mansion to form an formation at the palace gate to maintain order, at this moment the palace gate was slowly opened, Zhao Yuan was wearing pro-royal uniform, and slowly walked out from inside.

His court attire is also black gown, but the style and crown are slightly different from the emperor's. In the dark night, everyone can't see clearly. At first glance, they thought it was Zhao Gou, and they immediately fell silent. When I walked in, I saw that it was King Jian.

Zhao Yuan boarded the tower, and the guards around him raised torches to illuminate his figure. In the light of the fire, his face was calm and determined: "There are no golden soldiers outside the city, but rogues. This king has already..."

Before he finished speaking, someone in the crowd shouted: "Has the emperor run away? Has he left us again?"

Before finishing a sentence, Zhao Yuan waved his hand, and the guards on the tower opened their bows and set arrows, and the person who asked the question was killed immediately.

Everyone never expected that asking a question would lead to death, so they fell silent for a while, Zhao Yuan said loudly: "This king will not run away! I would rather die than stay in Lin'an City. Now I have something to say , Those who dare to interrupt will be killed without mercy!!"

Just as everyone was about to yell loudly, all the guards on the palace city raised their bows and arrows together and shouted in unison: "Shut up!", no matter who they are, as long as they make a sound again, they will die here immediately.

In the square in front of the palace, it was immediately quiet. The eunuchs and maids inside the palace gate, and the common people and officials outside the palace gate raised their heads, looked at Zhao Yuan, and waited.

Zhao Yuan took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "The official family is seriously ill and cannot come out, so I specially ordered this king to come and command the army in the city. Outside the city is a group of bandits, taking advantage of the national crisis, plotting a rebellion, The crime should be punished. You don’t need to panic, all the guards are ready, and the officials in the city should be on guard. If anyone dares to take advantage of the chaos and abandon the official to escape, he will be killed without mercy!”

When the officials outside the palace gate heard Zhao Yuan's order, they looked at the guards around Zhao Yuan who were armed with bows and arrows. They were all terrified, and replied sparsely: "Yes! We will serve the country with all our loyalty."

Zhao Yuan sternly said again: "The rogues are out now, and the city is under martial law. If someone takes advantage of the chaos and commits a crime, he will be cut in half in the city!"

There was an uproar among the crowd, just as the tower guards were about to draw their bows and shoot arrows, Zhao Yuan raised his hand slightly, pressed the button in the air, signaling not to kill anyone, and said loudly: "I, Zhao Yuan, swear here that I will never abandon the city and run away. If the bandits want to enter the city, they must step on my dead body! If you violate this statement, I will be quartered by five horses and my wife will be killed!"

When everyone heard such a specific poisonous oath, they were stunned and clicked their tongues.Swearing in public is not without it, and Zhao Gou has done it too, but it has never been so vicious and specific.

Public oaths will eventually be fulfilled. Except for the most vicious gangsters, everyone attaches great importance to oaths and will never swear lightly.

Amid the sound of clicking tongues, Zhao Yuan said slowly: "The soldiers and horses in the city are enough to defend against the rogues, and we don't need any help from the people. From now on, people in the city are forbidden to go to the streets for no reason. Walking on the streets without a royal token No pardon for those who are killed! Go home first, I will order people to beat the drum three hundred times, and when the sound of the drum stops, the foot ban will begin to be enforced. If there are still gangsters wandering around in the street, they will all be killed!"

After his words fell, there was a bang of drums from the gate of the palace, but none of the people were willing to leave. Zhao Yuan glanced at the officials at the city gate, and Shi Hao took the lead in bowing deeply towards Zhao Yuan, then turned and left.

As soon as he left, some civil officials also left. Amidst the sound of drums, the common people followed behind the officials and gradually dispersed.

The beating of the drums was not in a hurry, there were towers in every district of the city, and there were big cowhide drums in them, which were usually used to announce fire alarms, but at this moment they were all used to beat the drums.

All of a sudden, the sound of drums was heard in the whole city, and the people who heard Zhao Yuan's order communicated to each other, entered the house and closed the door.

Three hundred drums rang for an hour before they stopped.

After Zhao Yuan waited for another half an hour, he ordered Yu Mo to take the rest of the guards in front of the palace to patrol the city, and if they encountered anyone walking around in the street, they would be arrested and temporarily detained in Dali Temple.

He didn't dare to send Lin'an's government office to do this, because he was used to oppressing the people, and he was afraid that these people would take the opportunity to make trouble and cause even greater commotion.

Zhao Yuan breathed a sigh of relief when there were no more people on the streets in the city. Yu Mo divided his 100 men into four teams to patrol the four districts in the southeast, northwest, and some hooligans took advantage of the opportunity at first. After they were caught making trouble, they were thrown into Dali Temple. In just one night, the prison in Dali Temple was already full of people, and no one dared to walk around in the streets.Although he said that there is no amnesty for killing, he was afraid that killing indiscriminately would cause a wider panic, so he was only temporarily detained and dealt with afterwards.

After Zhao Yuan arranged everything, he walked towards the north city gate. He boarded the gate and looked out, only to see that there were only some bandits holding knives and guns, not forming a team. There were not many people, just two 3000 people.Some people had tattoos on their faces, they were broken soldiers who came back from the front line, fearing that the court would hold them accountable, so they simply became bandits.

It was much easier to face these people. Zhao Yuan ordered people to go out of the city to fight, and they had already retreated at dawn. Zhao Yuan was worried that these people would harass the nearby counties and counties, so he issued a recruiting order: "Anyone who is defeated, go to their respective Reported by the state and town where it belongs, it will not be held accountable."

Lin'an City was in chaos for a day and a night, and on the third day, normal order had been restored. Zhao Yuan's foot-restriction order began to be lifted, and some merchants began to come and go to sell grain and fish.

But the worse thing waiting for him is that Wan Yanliang's [-] troops have already captured Guazhou, an important ferry on the north bank of the river, and are preparing to go south.

But Zhao Gou fled in a hurry and took Yuxi away. Several important officials in the city, including Prime Minister Tang Situi, Shumi Ye Yiwen and others, also ran away with Zhao Gou, some on the same day, some on the same day. The next few days.Although Lin'an is now the capital, it does not have any right to dispatch troops.

The Jianwang Mansion where Zhao Yuan lives is surrounded by people every day, both at the front door and at the back. Those people are afraid that Zhao Yuan will also run away. Every time Zhao Yuan goes to Zai Zhi’s meeting hall, a group of Lin’an people will follow from a distance behind him. .

As the heir of the emperor, he could only use his private seal and the name of Chen Junqing, who signed the secret court affairs, to order the troops stationed in Jiangzhou, Zhenjiang, Jiankang and other places to quickly gather on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and obey Jiankang's control of Wang Yan. dispatch, organize front-line defense, and actively fight.

When Zhao Yuan was so busy, exhausted, and had no time to take care of him, Zhao Gou also took a boat and floated to sea.

Zhao Gou left Beijing that day and ran all night. In the middle of the night, he heard the sound of cavalry chasing horseshoes behind him in the direction of Lin'an.

When he ran to the mouth of the sea overnight, the cavalry sent by Zhao Yuan to chase Zhao Gou stopped Zhao Gou.

Zhao Gou thought it was the Jinren cavalry, but now he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was his own, but no matter how much the other party persuaded, Zhao Gou refused to go back, and insisted on boarding the huge sea ship, and interviewed the nearby Li Bao, the general who led the water army, asked him to stop Wan Yanliang's water army no matter what.

Zhao Gou breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Li Bao say that Yan Liang's trip to the south was just a tentative attack and he didn't even bring a boat, but he was still afraid and refused to go back.

It wasn't until more than ten days later that Zhao Yuan got the news that there were only routs and rogues outside the city that night. After Zhao Yuan had suppressed the situation, he returned to the capital under the escort of five or six thousand palace officials.

When Zhao Gou ran away, he was in a panic. It was only the tide of the Qiantang River that night, so he was so frightened that he abandoned the city and fled. After returning, he felt deeply ashamed.

When Zhao Yuan heard that Zhao Gou was back, he felt extremely helpless, so he specially sent someone to tell Zhao Gou not to enter the city with great fanfare, because what he told everyone was that the emperor was seriously ill, not that the emperor had run away.

Empress Dowager Wei, who had followed Zhao Gou for half a month, only showed a slight smile at this time, and said: "Yuan Yuan is a mature child, and he also cares about the face of the royal family." The Empress Dowager Wei said, looking at Zhao Gou with dissatisfied eyes. After that, Zhao Gou only felt some cold sweat coming out of his back.

Empress Wu didn't say a word, she couldn't accuse Zhao Gou in front of the queen mother, but the dissatisfaction and contempt in her eyes had already made Zhao Gou feel stuck in her throat.

That night Zhao Gou entered the city secretly. He returned to his bedroom in the palace in a desperate state, and saw that his residence was not in the slightest mess. After more than a month, it was still clean and tidy, and he felt at ease.

The eunuchs and maids at the side had already told Zhao Gou what happened that day to Zhao Yuan. He abandoned the city and fled. Although the court ladies and eunuchs did not dare to express any dissatisfaction, they buried their heads deeply when they answered, which made Zhao Gou Feeling despised.

The next day, Zhao Yuan announced that the emperor had recovered from his illness. Zhao Gou returned to his dragon chair, and everyone bowed down to congratulate him on his health. The moment he looked up at himself, the contempt in his expression was hard to hide.

Among all the people, only Zhao Yuan looked respectful as usual, and took the initiative to hand over the matter of dispatching the world's soldiers and horses to Zhao Gou: "Now that your majesty has recovered, please take charge of the overall situation as soon as possible to reassure the people."

Zhao Gou touched his jade seal, looked at the imperial edict that the Privy Council was about to issue today, and felt mixed feelings in his heart. Now that he knew that Wanyan Liang had no boats, he was no longer worried about him crossing the river. After reading it, he asked the left and right: "Who issued these edicts?"

Chen Junqing replied: "It was drafted by His Majesty King Jian, and the minister wrote it. Because His Majesty is not here... His Majesty is ill, so His Majesty dare not issue the edict indiscriminately, and only uses his own private seal. Please also use your Majesty's seal, and quickly mobilize the rest of the imperial edicts." Garrison the army to resist the gold thieves."

Zhao Gou nodded slightly. There was nothing wrong with the edict drafted by Zhao Yuan, but what made Zhao Gou feel very comfortable was that even though he ran away, this son still respected him very much, not only in his words, but also in his actions. Thinking of himself everywhere—giving himself a pardon for the people who were imprisoned in Dali Temple during the riots at that time, so that he could buy people's hearts.

Zhao Gou ordered the eunuch in charge of Fubao to take out the jade seal, stamp on it, draw his own imperial custody, and then go to Dali Temple to release people in person. When those people left the prison and were grateful to Zhao Gou, Zhao Gou Gou finally regained a little bit of face.

After doing all this, he felt extremely tired and returned to his bedroom.

For more than a month, this was the first time he had touched a firm bed. Zhao Gou closed his eyes and fell asleep. After sleeping, he really fell ill.

He was away these days, and he was afraid, even on the boat, he was worried that Wan Yanliang would come.After returning, he felt shameless to face the crowd and didn't want to see anyone, so he ordered Zhao Yuan to supervise the country.

No matter how busy Zhao Yuan was, he always took an hour every day to come to accompany Zhao Gou, make concoctions for marriage, tell him about the battle, read to him the imperial edict he was about to issue, and at the end, say some soothing words to comfort him.

Zhao Gou shook his head on the couch and sighed: "Yuan Yuan, you are such a good boy."

Zhao Yuan showed no superfluous expression on his face, he just said: "When I was young, Dad taught me to read and write, and also taught me the principles of life. I remember Dad said, to be a man of indomitable spirit, to protect the people of the country, to be good My son has never dared to forget the way he treats his relatives."

Zhao Gou nodded, and finally felt that the words of those foolish children in the early years were not in vain.

After a while, he asked again: "You just said, let the troops stationed in Xiangyang, Ezhou, take the initiative to attack and go north? Don't let them come to rescue?"

Zhao Yuan said: "This is the suggestion of Xiao Shan, the defender of the Xinyang Army. The rescue is too far away, and the army is exhausted. After arriving, they may not have enough food and grass. It is better to attack nearby and harass the hinterland of the Jin people on the opposite side. Wan Yanliang led the troops here , the Central Plains is empty, and they will inevitably return to the army to rescue them, which is the fastest way to relieve the Jianghuai crisis."

Zhao Gou thought for a moment, and finally nodded: "Okay, let's do it this way. Bring the edict, and I will write a letter to him. If the golden soldier can retreat, I will promote him to the official position!"

Three months later, Wan Yanliang tried to attack Zhenjiang several times. On one occasion, the vanguard had already crossed the Yangtze River, but they were all guarded by frontline soldiers, and it was difficult to get any closer.At the same time, he also received news that his empty hinterland was under attack, and Xiao Shan had captured three cities in a row.

Wan Yanliang finally withdrew from Lianghuai after weighing the balance.When the news of Wan Yanliang's retreat came, Zhao Gou was overjoyed, and immediately sent someone to deliver the peace agreement, and offered to give up the towns of the Kingdom of Jin that he had already captured, and was willing to cede Sizhou, which the Jin soldiers had already occupied, so that he could go back quickly.

Wan Yanliang smiled contemptuously after receiving the peace agreement: "Zhao Gou is really cowardly, I will make preparations in the future, and send millions of troops to the south, throw the whip into the river, and sweep the world!"

The war that lasted for half a year finally came to an end in the winter of that year.However, Zhao Gou's affairs were far from over.

Despite Zhao Yuan's repeated orders not to leak the news of Zhao Gou's escape, the news spread like wildfire. Officials in court and generals at the front did not dare to write letters to scold Zhao Gou, but some scholars couldn't sit still. One after another, Zhao Gou wrote a letter to talk about things. At first, Zhao Gou took a look at it, but later, Zhao Gou only felt disturbed after reading it, and didn't read it at all.

Not only that, when Wan Yanliang sent someone to congratulate the Zhengdan of the Southern Song Dynasty, the envoy walked up to the Zichen Hall, opened Wan Yanliang's letter of credence, and read aloud: "I heard that you have the heart of disobedience, so I will teach you a little lesson this time." If you dare to have a next time, I will definitely send troops to the south, and I will personally come to capture you, and let you tell your elder brother to say goodbye to each other!"

When Zhao Gou heard these words, his face turned pale. Zhao Gou's eldest brother, Zhao Huan, was still a prisoner in the Five Kingdoms City of Jin Kingdom for more than 20 years. Now Wan Yanliang insulted himself like this, threatening to One can imagine the anger in Zhao Gou's heart for wanting to take him back to play.But he didn't dare to scold the Jin Kingdom's envoys, so he just turned around and went to the apse.

All the ministers who came to congratulate him looked at each other in blank dismay, they were already pointing their noses and cursing, Zhao Gou didn't say a word, it was too embarrassing.

When watching the fireworks at night, Zhao Gou was depressed all the time. Seeing this, Empress Wu asked, "Officials, now that the Jin people have retired, why is Your Majesty still sighing and sighing so much?"

Holding on to the railing in the palace, Zhao Gou watched the fireworks all over the sky. After a long time, he said: "Do others know the difficulties of being an official? It's not as good as a fisherman on the river."