It's night time in Bianjing City.
The guards inside and outside the palace were already locking the palace doors.
The palace people held fire starters with long handles and lit the bowl lanterns on the top of the palace one by one.
The protocol envoy Wang Zhongzheng was summoned by the officials and was going to the palace to face the saint.
During the Qingli period, there was a riot in the palace, and the whole palace was in panic. At that time, Wang Zhongzheng used his bow and arrow to shoot the bandits, helping to calm down the chaos. For this, he was appreciated by Emperor Renzong.
Wang Zhongzheng was only eighteen years old at that time. Because of his courage and courage, he was often entrusted by the court to supervise the army.
Wang Zhongzheng also became the first person in the eunuchs besides Li Xian who knew the military.
Wang Zhongzheng was also surprised when he learned that the officials asked him to go to Xihe immediately. The official's intention was to let him take office immediately as a horse on Xihe Road. The first thing he did after taking office was to immediately order Zhang Yue to stop advancing troops.
Wang Zhongzheng thought to himself, no, the officials had just given Zhang Yue the power to make arbitrary decisions when the opportunity came, and now they asked him to stop advancing troops. Isn't this order contradictory and contradictory?
Wang Zhongzheng once again confirmed the official's intention, and after receiving the correct order to restrain Zhang Yue from advancing troops, he understood that it would not be a good job for him to go to the northwest.
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But the official said: "I had a word at the beginning, saying that the Xihe River today is like a tiger holding a jade in a breast. We should take it when its minions are not prepared. Now because of the defeat of Jing Sili Hezhou, we know that Dong Felt's campaign is not easy. With others, I plan to stop for a while, not to say that I won’t take Xihe, but to assess the situation. You must clearly tell Zhang Yue what I mean when you go."
Wang Zhongzheng lowered his head and thought, Zhang Yue had just sent out troops, how could he stop so easily? If he went to Xihe, wouldn't he be in conflict with him?
However, the eunuch represents the emperor's will, which is bound to be in conflict with a border official like Zhang Yue.
Wang Zhongzheng did not want to offend Zhang Yue, but he did not dare to offend the emperor.
At this point, Wang Zhongzheng was a little envious. The previous two successors, Liu Xishi and Li Xian, were promoted after returning to the court because they cooperated with Zhang Yue in the northwest and achieved military exploits.
Wang Zhongzheng thought to himself that since he was unlucky, he had to make sure that nothing unexpected happened to him.
So Wang Zhongzheng said: "Report to your Majesty, I will go now, but the chariot and horse are slow after all, but your Majesty, please give the gold medal to the army before I do, and order Zhang Yue to stop the advance first."
The official said: "It's better that you think carefully."
The officials immediately ordered people to write an imperial edict immediately and deliver it with a gold medal.
Immediately, a messenger took over the gold medal's decree, and saw that the gold medal was a wooden strip, about one foot long, and the whole body was covered with vermilion paint.
The reason why the scarlet gold medal is called a 'gold' medal is because of the eight characters engraved on it.
These eight characters are "imperial characters, not allowed in the shop", and they are written in gold.
The so-called royal writings are not allowed in the shop, which means that the gold medal conveys the imperial edict of the official family. The person delivering the imperial edict can only hand it over on horseback and is not allowed to hand it over in the post station.
The envoy held the gold medal high in one hand and whipped up his whip. The horse under his crotch was in pain and immediately kicked off its hooves and began to run wildly.
I saw the horse rolling with four hooves, the bells on the horse's neck ringing loudly, and the horse and the people galloping away like meteors. It was the middle of the night. The gold medal held by the messenger was dazzling, and he was as fast as lightning when galloping. , people on the road saw it and all avoided their shadows.
When the messenger was about to arrive at the post station, the post soldiers saw the gold medal from a distance and immediately led the horse out. Along the way, the messenger changed horses without changing people, traveling five hundred miles a day, day and night!
The next day after learning that Wang Zhongzheng was sent to the northwest, Wu Chong made a speech in the palace: "Your Majesty, Zhang Yue has already controlled the military affairs in Xihe, and now he has ordered Wang Zhongzheng to control the military affairs. If he acts like this, I am afraid it will be difficult to blame the front line for its success. ."
The official said: "I know that there was no defeat in Hezhou before, so I thought that with Zhang Yue's power, I could control the northwest. But now that Jing Sili has lost his army and lost his land, and he has sacrificed his life for the country, I am very worried. What if Xihe If we lose again, not only will Xihe be unprotected, but the Westerners will also attack Qinfeng Road in large numbers. If Qinfeng Road is lost, even Yongxing Mansion may not be protected. Therefore, I have slightly changed my previous plan and postponed the Xihe Road matter."
After a pause, the official added: "It's not that I don't trust Zhang Yue, I'm just afraid that he is dedicated to relieving the imperial court's worries and is eager to perform meritorious services. If he leads his army into danger easily, the northwest will be in danger. Now my first priority is to protect Xizhou. As for the conquest of wood, Dong Fei's matter will be planned slowly later."
After the officials finished speaking, Wu Chong knew the emperor's contradictory mood at the moment. He wanted Zhang Yue to make meritorious deeds, but he was afraid that Zhang Yue wanted to make meritorious deeds too much and was defeated.
Therefore, the former order asked Zhang Yue to make his own decision, and the latter order asked Zhang Yue to immediately stop advancing troops. At the same time, Wang Zhongzheng and the gold medal envoy Wubaili were sent to urgently order Zhang Yue to stop.
Wu Chong said: "Since there is a gold medal envoy, your Majesty, please withdraw Wang Zhongzheng first, and Zhang Yue will use the northwest. How can he like to have someone to control him?"
The official said: "When Zhang Yue first came to Beijing, he also said that it was difficult to communicate with the central government, so he asked Wang Anli to join the shogunate to supervise the army. Later, he asked the eunuch to supervise the army from the army. I also followed his original request for this matter."
When Wu Chong saw that the official was obviously being cunning, he immediately said: "Your Majesty, Zhang Yue had no choice but to say this at the beginning. Later, Wang Gui said that His Majesty would not send an intermediary to supervise the army, and Zhang Yue did not say no. Zhang Yue wanted the intermediary to be there. In the army, it is necessary to have people who are trusted by His Majesty at your left and right, so that you can stop slanderous words."
"Now Zhang Yue has no one else. He is focused on regaining Xihe for the imperial court. What if the king is holding different opinions in the army, like when Tian Qinzuo forced Guo Jin to happen again?"
The officials were silent when they heard this.
Wang Anshi on the side said: "I also thought that I could evacuate Wang Zhongzheng. Although Hezhou is defeated now, it is because of Jing Sili's carelessness. Zhang Yue is quite famous in the Tibetan tribe on Xihe Road. He can appease the Tibetan tribe and recruit its heroes at the same time. For use, this way you can control the crops with the crops."
Wang Gui also said: "Your Majesty, I also believe that this defeat is due to the imperial court's temporary failure, rather than the imperial army's troops at Xihe being defeated by Dong Felt and Mu Zheng."
The words of Wang Anshi and Wang Gui made the official think again, and then he paced back and forth in the palace with his hands behind his back.
…
When the gold medal envoy arrived at Zhang Yue's army, Zhang Yue's army arrived at Xizhou.
Cai Yanqing, the transfer envoy of Qinfeng Road in Xizhou City, took officials from Xihe Road out of the city to meet Zhang Yue.
When Hezhou was in a tight situation before, Xizhou was also uneasy. The Tibetan people wanted to sneak into the city to ambush and seize Xizhou City, but Cai Yanqing found out. After that, the Tibetan people attacked the city several times, but were all repelled by the Song army.
However, Cai Yanqing was worried all day long and recruited Fan troops from various forts in Xizhou to defend the city. Even so, the city of Xizhou was still in turmoil.
After Jing Sili's defeat, Cai Yanqing quickly urged Zhang Yue to immediately lead his army to help. Now he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the army arriving outside Xizhou City.
Cai Yanqing and Zhang Yue met outside the city. After not seeing each other for several months, Cai Yanqing suddenly looked much older. The hair on his temples was almost white. This shows how much pressure he has been under these days.
Zhang Yue and Cai Yanqing entered the city together and sat down in the Jinglue Mansion. They comforted him and said, "Don't worry too much, Mr. Cai. Now that I have led my army to Xizhou City, everything will be safe."
Cai Yanqing sighed: "I can't help you. When you left Xihe, you repeatedly told me to be careful and not to use troops easily. But... I acquiesced and allowed Wang Shao to lead the army to attack Minzhou. As a result, You fell into the Tibetan people's plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain!"
"I'm really sorry for you. I'm really the eternal sinner of the imperial court!"
Cai Yanqing looked heartbroken, and Zhang Yue was silent. Thinking of Jing Sili who died in the battle, Blind Yao felt a little sad.
Zhang Yue knew that Wang Shao and Cai Yanqing's dispatch of troops to Minzhou involved the political struggle between Wang Anshi and himself.
In the end, Cai Yanqing admitted his mistake, but Wang Shao still feels that he was right.
He said to Cai Yanqing: "The matter has come to this. Wang Zichun has been spying on my position as the general, so he made this drama. In fact, with his military skills, how could he be so disappointed? It’s all greed that makes people blind!”
"As for Cai Gong, don't worry. I have no intention of blaming you. Now you and I should work together to support the overall situation. Only in this way can we repay His Majesty's trust."
Cai Yanqing said: "Thank you so much for the relief. Now Jing Sili has died for his country, and even his head is missing. Guizhang has led an army to besiege Hezhou City, and he doesn't know how many days it can last. Wang Hou led his army to retreat to the front line of Xiangzi City. , the situation is really unfavorable to our army."
"I don't know how Duzhi plans to deal with it?"
Zhang Yue asked, "What is Mr. Cai's advice?"
Cai Yanqing sighed: "What good ideas are there now? I think it is not easy to defend Xizhou now. Let's not try to get him in Hezhou for the time being. Gao Zunyu also writes a letter every day asking us when we will send reinforcements to rescue him. ?”
Hearing this, Zhang Yue couldn't help but said angrily: "Xia Guo, Dong Fei, and Mu Zheng each have their own agendas, and they don't have much energy. He, Gao Zunyu, has many soldiers and horses at his disposal, so it's a pity that he opened his mouth like this."
The Second Army of Xihe is all in Gao Zunyuna, and there are many Fan troops accompanying them. It is not an exaggeration to say that the troops are strong and the horses are strong.
However, there was a famine in the Xia Kingdom, and the Liang brothers and sisters were also at odds with the major families in the country, so they did not send many troops to attack Lanhui Prefecture.
As a result, Gao Zunyu kept shouting that I couldn't stand it anymore, and I couldn't stand it anymore. He also cut off the money and food for the reinforcements sent by Qin Feng Luben to Hezhou and used it for himself. This move was really annoying.
Now that Xihe has fallen into this situation, Gao Zunyu cannot escape the blame.
Cai Yanqing said: "Gao Zunyu has always been like this, but I have to believe it. What's more, no one in the army is willing to go to Hezhou when it is mentioned."
After listening to Cai Yanqing's words, Zhang Yue knew that pessimism had spread in Xizhou City, and everyone was afraid of moving forward when he mentioned Hezhou.
Zhang Yue said resolutely: "Mr. Cai, Hezhou must be saved!"
Cai Yanqing was silent for a moment and said: "Fan Bing is not a fool, and his tactics are cunning. Otherwise, our army would have fallen into his trap again and again."
Finally, Cai Yanqing said: "After all, Zhang Jinglue is a border official. This responsibility does not lie with me. If you must send troops to rescue Hezhou, please be extremely careful."
Zhang Yue said: "Don't worry, Mr. Cai."
When Zhang Yue convened his generals for a military discussion to discuss marching to Hezhou to rescue the siege, the gold medal envoy rushed to the army.
ps: In fact, the gold medal system was only introduced in the sixth year of Yuanfeng.
