Xuan Zhen pondered for a long time and no one dared to disturb him. Until an accompanying staff member came up from the mountain road panting: "Master, there is new news."
"speak."
"I heard that Wanyan Heda failed to attack Li Ting's troops at night and was defeated and died."
There was a wind blowing in the mountains. Xuan Zhen lowered his head and twitched his fingers: "Five days."
He said: "Wanyan Heda was the first to receive orders from his disciple Shan Yi. He was an important official who protected King Sui when he went south to Kaifeng. He was also the hero who defeated the Red Coat Army Yang An'er's troops in the first battle. He served as the marshal of the capital in the Kaifeng court and appeased Hebei West Road. The envoy was regarded as a barrier to the north of the Kaifeng imperial court, but he ran into Li Ting's troops and only lasted five days!"
He found a stone and sat down and asked, "Where are Li Ting's troops now?"
"The heavy rain that night when the two armies fought caused floods that washed away many roads in Cizhou and Jiangzhou. Therefore, I heard that the subsequent march of Li Ting's troops was not very fast. But..."
"But what?"
"Zhao Jue's troops marched directly along the Yuhe River. The famous Xuanfu envoy Bilan'alu led the troops and could not leave the city, while the commander-in-chief Aotun Xige who was stationed at Ligudu in Huazhou surrendered in large numbers. This army was the last to attack. We may arrive at Kaifeng City soon."
Ligudu is a famous ferry in the middle reaches of the Yellow River.
After the Jingkang Incident, the Jin soldiers escorted the two emperors of Huiqin and more than 3,000 princes and nobles to the north. It is said that this is the Yellow River that was crossed from then on.
Later, when the Song and Jin Dynasties came together, the envoys from the south to the north also passed through this place. Among them, Fan Chengda, Lou Yao and others left book records handed down from generation to generation, telling the story of going 45 miles north from Kaifeng to Fengqiu, and from Fengqiu to Fengqiu. Forty-five miles north to Xucheng, and another forty-five miles north of Xucheng is Ligudu.
It is also said that this ferry is located in a relatively narrow section of the Yellow River. One hundred and eighty boats were connected to form a pontoon bridge, half of which were stranded on the sand moraine. On the beach mud caused by the breach, there were many firewood paving the way.
Therefore, Li Gudu was quite famous in the Song Dynasty. Anyone who knows something about the story between Song and Jin countries knows this place.
Upon hearing that Li Gudu had changed hands, all the entourage on the left and right paled. Someone said: "That is the key to the north side of Kaifeng! That means that both the east and north sides of Kaifeng City have fallen into Guo Ning's hands? So quickly? Only ten years ago God's work!"
Another person said: "Of course, it's faster. Guo Ning has been waiting for the opportunity for a long time. If he doesn't use it, it will be fatal. If he does, it will be fatal. I think he is also afraid that if it is too late, something will happen."
"Where can there be any changes? This is already a thunderous momentum! Who can resist it?"
Someone hesitated and said: "Maybe our Song Dynasty court..."
Just as he was guessing, a horse came galloping down the mountain, bringing up billows of smoke. Xuan Zhen stood up quickly, rolled up the sleeves of his robe, and stood in front of the hillside to look around.
The horses circled the mountain road several times before arriving at the slope where everyone was. The knight decided to dress like a naval officer, dismounted from his horse and asked, "Is Mr. Xuan of the Song Dynasty here?"
"I am Xuan Zhen."
"Just now, a speedboat arrived in Haizhou, carrying a letter from home to Mr. Xuan, and a box of cakes sent with the letter. We knew that Mr. Xuan was traveling today, so we didn't dare to delay, so we brought it immediately."
Xuan Zhen walked forward quickly to take the letter box and asked casually: "Oh? I just arrived in Haizhou a few days ago, and a letter from the south was delivered?"
The knight laughed and said: "When the armies come and go, many ports on the sea are under control, and all ships are inspected. Perhaps the letter was originally sent to Zhongdu, but we intercepted it halfway."
"That's a coincidence. What good luck."
Xuan Zhen laughed, opened the sealed letter box in front of the knight, and then opened the letter to read directly.
After looking at it twice, he thanked the knight who delivered the message, and personally accompanied him for half a circle on the mountain road before turning back.
The staff member took half a step forward and asked in a low voice: "Sir, why did the letter come? What did it say in the letter?"
Xuan Zhen breathed out heavily: "It really came from the Prime Minister's Palace. The paper, handwriting and signature are all correct. As for the content... Well, you have a look."
The staff member took the letter, glanced at it twice, and said in a voiceless voice: "Did Xianggong Shi decide to join hands with Duke Zhou?"
The staff member was constantly exposed to the situation while traveling in Lin'an every day, and he understood the significance of the Kaifeng court of the Jin Kingdom to the Song Dynasty.
It doesn't matter how powerful the Kaifeng court is, how many troops it has, or whether its relationship with the Song Dynasty is hostile or friendly. The Kaifeng court was just a flag used to disturb the flags of the Central Plains and the North. As long as this flag remains, Guo Ning can only focus on this mortal enemy and has no time to turn elsewhere.
They all also understood that since Guo Ning's uprising, it means that the original policy of the Song Dynasty failed to affect the situation in the north at all and was a complete failure. Therefore, Xianggong Shi will make a new decision sooner or later, and maybe he will send a new envoy north.
But the content of the letter was a bit beyond everyone's expectations.
It turned out that Jia Sidao was actually Li Yun, a subordinate of Zhou Guogong, and he relied on Ruhuang's words to persuade Shi Xianggong, prompting the court to abandon the Kaifeng regime and instead focus on repairing with Zhongdu.
This... doesn't this seem too frivolous? How can we do this when it comes to major national affairs? A Jin spy actually became an official of the imperial court. Shouldn't he be arrested immediately, tortured, and interrogated with his accomplices? How can you treat someone like a distinguished guest and then listen to his nonsense?
"This...this..." The attendant folded the letter, then opened it and looked at it.
He raised his eyes to look at Xuan Zhen again, but was speechless. He just felt that the Song Dynasty was going to repeat the same mistake of joining the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty and digging a hole for himself.
"That's all." Xuan Zhen responded with a long sigh.
"What do you mean, sir?"
"Jia Sidao has been active in the Song Dynasty for several months. Now that he has exposed his true identity as Li Yun, the assistant minister of the Marshal's Mansion in the Kingdom of Jin, Xianggong Shi cannot disagree with his opinion."
"This...I don't understand, this is just a little thief..."
"During the Qiandao period, Liu Yungu, a son of the Han Dynasty, returned south from the Yan region and became a judge of Youtong Zhilang and Taiping Prefecture. Later, this person was exposed as a spy of the Jin Kingdom, causing huge turmoil in the court. At that time, Dongzhu The treacherous person was Shi Xianggong’s ancestor, King Shi Zhongding of Yue. It is precisely for this reason that Shi Zhongding always insisted on using fewer reformers, let alone granting authority easily..."
"It just happened that Prime Minister Shi used a spy and used him to participate in the military affairs of Huainan and establish a new army!"
"Exactly."
Xuan Zhen sighed heavily: "Think about it, since Jia Sidao is from the Jin Kingdom, can his father Jia She be trusted? If Jia She is not trustworthy, can Huaidong Zhishi be trusted? Huaidong Zhishi is a subordinate , is it credible that the Zhongyi Army, which Prime Minister Shi was originally responsible for Cui Yu and others, and was later transferred to Jia She? Is it credible that he took the lead in drafting the charter for the Shanghai trip? "
"Jia She is only one person, no matter what..."
"Jia She is very good at business and has a wide network of contacts in Huainan. He is a person who can influence everything in Huainan. Who can guarantee that so many military and civilian officials and businessmen in Huainan will not be attracted by him? Even if you can guarantee that, in the court and Shi Xianggong Will those who don’t deal with it believe it?”
"this……"
"Let's look at Jia Sidao himself. He spends money like water in Lin'an, spending thousands of dollars at every turn; in Ningbo, he directly handles maritime trade matters, and distributes dividends and rebates to Prime Minister Shi's cronies every now and then, and spends thousands more at every turn. He went out; he ran around in several newly established money guards in Huainan, assisted Shi Kuanzhi in preparing another new army, and still went out with thousands of money at every turn. With such skills, who can guarantee that no one in Lin'an will be attracted by him? Who can Guarantee that no one from the maritime merchants will be won over by him? Who can guarantee that Shi Kuanzhi, the eldest son of the Tiantai historian family, has not been secretly colluding with him? Who can guarantee that I, Xuan Zhen, have not become Li Yun's lackey?"
If Xuan Zhen is involved, what will happen to his subordinates?
Upon hearing this, the staff turned pale.
Xuan Zhen continued: "If you raise any of these suspicions, they will arouse countless mad dogs in the court who are dissatisfied with Shi Xiang, and trigger a bloody storm against Shi Xiang's family! Let's go back to the original topic, Shi Xiang's respect for the elders The adults can discern treacherous plots, but Shi Xiang went against the practice of his ancestors and used reformed people to form a military force and people from the sea to make money... What is this? The Master said that he did not change his father's ways for three years, which can be called filial piety. Come on, has Shi Xiang done it?"
The staff member's lips trembled and he could not speak.
From the standpoint of a political opponent, this move by the Prime Minister is undoubtedly unfilial. Once he is accused of being unfilial, who can guarantee that the bloody storm in the court will only reach the Prime Minister's family and not the Prime Minister himself?
"so……"
Xuan Zhen also felt bored. He beat his chest and said in a deep voice: "So the Prime Minister can only have a tacit understanding with Zhou Guogong from the beginning. The Prime Minister can only know Li Yun's identity from the beginning. The Prime Minister can only know Li Yun's identity from the beginning." From the beginning, he and Zhou Guogong Guo Ning jointly organized the war against the Kaifeng court."
This decision may or may not be successful, but no matter what, it is ten times and a hundred times better than if Shi Xiang was deceived by Guo Ning.
Whether this decision was beneficial or harmful to the Song Dynasty, for Shi Xiang, it was the only way to avoid the immediate predicament.
The entourage was stunned: "Then... what should we do?"
Xuan Zhen opened the box containing the pastries, twisted a piece, and threw the box to his staff: "What can we do? Let's go quickly, I have to show my goodwill to Yelu Chucai!"
There are fifteen or six kinds of pastries in the pastry box, all of which are famous in Lin'an. Among them, Xuan Zhen’s favorite snowflake cake on weekdays only has one piece. Just then Xuanzhen took the piece of snowflake cake in his hand without hesitation.
Several attendants listened to his instructions and hurriedly went to lead the horses. No one saw Xuan Zhen slowly kneading the snowflake cake into crumbs. And among the debris, there was a very long and slender note.
