Immediately, Li Gang and Zhong Shidao each took sedans and rushed to the palace.
The streets and alleys of Bianjing City were filled with people. The soldiers and civilians also heard the news that the Jin army was about to withdraw, and they couldn't help but rejoice.
When Li Gang and Zhong Shidao came over in their sedan chair, soldiers and civilians all over the street knelt on the ground, saying they were wise. The people, soldiers and civilians of Bianjing admire Zhong Shidao and Li Gang very much. Seeing Zhong Shidao's sedan chair, the people, soldiers and civilians felt much more at ease. The soldiers and civilians knew that Bianjing was not lost this time, and the people, soldiers and civilians were not massacred by the Jin army. They all relied on the protection of the old general Zhong, Daozhong; if the old general Zhong had not led the Western Army to come to the rescue, Bianjing would have been captured by the Jin soldiers long ago. .
In the sedan chair, Zhong Shidao saw the soldiers and civilians kneeling in the street from behind the curtain of the sedan chair, and was very sad. Zhong Shidao thought to himself, I'm sorry, I can't forgive everyone. I could have wiped out the Jin army in one fell swoop, but because of the treacherous ministers, I'm afraid my wish will be in vain. Master Zhong was filled with excitement and anger, and blood surged to his throat. Zhong Shidao tried his best to swallow the blood. Zhong Shidao felt salty in his mouth. Thinking that the march might return to the Northeast unharmed, Zhong Shidao felt sad and could not calm down.
Master Zhong wanted to comfort the soldiers and civilians along the street, so he reached out and opened the sedan curtain.
The soldiers and civilians saw Master Zhong in the sedan and shouted in unison: "Master Zhong! Master Zhong!"
Zhong Shidao waved his hand, and a burst of blood suddenly surged up. Zhong Shidao couldn't hold it back. The blood finally spurted out from Zhongshi Road and hit the outside of the sedan curtain. "Lord Zhong!" Following the cry, soldiers and civilians cried together.
The bearer hurriedly stopped the dumplings, opened the sedan curtain, and shouted urgently: "Master Zhong! Master Zhong!"
Zhong Shidao swallowed hard and waved his hand: "Go quickly! Enter the palace!"
The bearers lifted the sedan again and quickened their pace.
The people, soldiers and civilians in front were heavily crowded. The man who opened the way banged the gong vigorously and shouted loudly: "The Tokyo Defense Envoy is going out, the soldiers and civilians should stay away!"
The sedan chairs of Li Gang and Zhong Shidao were moving among the bustling crowd.
About half an hour later, the sedan chairs of Li Gang and Zhong Shidao arrived in front of the palace gate.
The palace officials have received orders from Bai Shizhong and Li Yangang not to allow anyone to enter the palace to see the Holy Emperor. The palace officials and the imperial guards stopped the sedan chairs of Li Gang and Zhong Shidao.
Li Gang opened the curtain of the sedan chair and shouted loudly: "Li Gang, who is staying in Tokyo, and the Tokyo Defense Envoy Zhong Shidao have urgent military matters to see the Holy One. Please report them immediately!"
The palace official bent down and replied: "Master Li, just now the Prime Minister has issued an order that no one is allowed to enter the palace to see the Holy Majesty."
"How outrageous!" Li Gang shouted loudly: "This is a major military matter. It's extremely urgent. How can the Prime Minister use all his strength to prevent ministers from entering the palace to have an audience?! Report it quickly!"
While the palace official was still hesitating, the sedan chair for Zongshi Dao also arrived.
Seeing the commotion in front of him, Master Zhongdao asked a follower to go over and investigate. The follower went over, whispered a few words to Li Gang, came back, and reported to Master Zhong: "Master Zhong, Prime Minister Bai and Li have issued an order that no one is allowed to enter the palace to have an audience."
When Zhong Shidao heard this, he was furious. He struggled down from the sedan chair, took a stick in his hand, moved it over, raised it high, and asked the palace official to beat him. When the palace official saw Zhongshi Dao coming at him with his stick, he quickly dodged. Before Zhongshidao could reach the palace official, he almost fell down and vomited out a mouthful of blood. The palace official was shocked and rushed over. He supported Master Zhong who was about to fall and said, "Lord Zhong, please calm down! I am also following orders!"
Zhong Shidao glared at the palace official and said: "This important military matter cannot be delayed. Report it in as soon as possible!"
The official in charge of the palace was not afraid of Li Gang, but was afraid of cultivating the teacher's way, so he hurriedly informed him to go in. After a while, a report came out from the palace, asking Li Gang, who was staying in Tokyo, and Zhong Shidao, the Tokyo defense envoy, to come to the palace to see him.
Li Gang and Zhong Shidao hurriedly entered the palace to see him.
After entering the hall, Li Gang and Zhong Shidao knelt on the ground, kowtowed and shouted: "Long live, long live, long live the Holy One!" After shouting, Zhong Shidao vomited out another mouthful of blood. Qinzong was shocked and hurriedly stood up from the dragon chair, walked down to the main hall in a few steps, supported Master Zhong and said, "Old Zhong, what's wrong with you?" While asking, he shouted: "Quickly call the imperial doctor!"
Zhong Shidao waved his hands and said: "It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter! I'm so anxious after hearing this from your Majesty, I'll be fine after a while." Qin Zong said: "Hu Zheng! You're so sick, why don't you take a good rest!"
Just as he was talking, the imperial doctor came to the palace.
Qinzong yelled at the imperial doctor: "Hurry and show Old General Zhong what's going on."
The imperial doctor rushed to Zhongshi Dao, grabbed Zhongshi Dao's hand, and took Zhongshi Dao's pulse. The imperial doctor closed his eyes tightly and carefully felt the pulse of Master Zhong. After a long time, the imperial doctor let go of Zhong Shidao's hand, and asked Zhong Shidao to open his mouth, looked at it for a while, and then looked at Qin Zong. Qinzong asked hurriedly: "What's going on?" The imperial doctor said: "I'm reporting back to you, Your Majesty. I'm observing that Mr. Zhong's skin is dull, his face is haggard, his mouth and tongue are red and irritated, and his fur is yellow and unclear. These are the symptoms of phlegm-heat, illness caused by overwork, and... For some time, the tuberculosis has become more severe in recent days, and the coughing of blood will not stop, and the damage will last for a long time, and the disease will affect the kidneys. The kidneys cannot accept qi, and they are extremely weak."
Qinzong asked anxiously: "What should we do?"
The imperial doctor replied: "You can prescribe some tonics to rest your mind and get more rest."
Qinzong then said: "Quickly prescribe the prescription and ask the imperial pharmacy to prepare the medicine. It will be taken to the defense envoy's house later and taken on time."
The imperial doctor bent down and replied: "I obey your order!"
The imperial doctor came out of the main hall and went to write prescriptions and prepare medicine.
Qinzong complained to Master Zhong and said: "Old Zhong, you are weak and don't take good care of your injuries, so you rush into the palace again. Why? No matter how big the deal is, you have to pay attention to your health. Aren't you forgetting your life!"
Master Zhong said: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for caring about me. I am deeply grateful."
Qin Zong said: "Old Zhong, I see that you are very ill. Today we, the monarch and the ministers, will not talk about political affairs. You should go back home quickly and rest in peace. After you recover, we will talk about business."
Master Zhong said: "Your Majesty, I came to the palace today because I was ill because I wanted to discuss political affairs. I boldly ask Your Majesty, is there any order prohibiting pursuit when we advance and withdraw our troops?"
Seeing this, Qin Zong pondered for a moment and said, "Old Zhong, please sit down first, and we, the monarch, will explain in detail slowly."
With that said, Qinzong helped Zhongshi Dao sit on the chair next to him.
Qinzong returned to sit on the dragon chair, looked at Li Gang and Zhong Shidao and said: "Two gentlemen, the Jin army is strong and has besieged the capital for more than a month, only to fall. God bless the Song Dynasty, the Jin army will finally withdraw. Prime Ministers Bai and Li came to see me and said that as a plan for Bianjing, they should not disturb the Jin army and make them leave the country as soon as possible to avoid causing trouble and causing another crisis in Bianjing. I have approved the request of Prime Ministers Bai and Li and strictly prohibited it. The imperial troops and horses intercepted the Jin army so that the Jin army could leave the country as soon as possible."
Li Gang shouted: "Your Majesty, the Jin army is at the end of its war effort and is in a dilemma. If we don't attack and annihilate the Jin army now, when it returns safely, it will still be a thorn in our side in the future."
Zhong Shidao coughed and struggled to say: "Your Majesty, the war opportunity is fleeting, and now is a great opportunity to annihilate the Jin army. The Jin army invaded our Song Dynasty, burned, killed and looted, how could we let him leave safely? Go? At present, we only have to deploy troops on the banks of the Yellow River. When they cross the river, they can be annihilated in one fell swoop. This can severely dampen the arrogance of the Jin army and make them no longer dare to peek at the country of Song Dynasty. If the Jin army returns, any one of them can If he makes an excuse, he can make a comeback, and by then, the Song Dynasty will be in danger!"
"That's not the case!" Qin Zong said: "The Song Dynasty has 800,000 forbidden troops. The people are rich and the country is strong. Why should we be afraid of the barbarians of the Jin Kingdom?! But at the moment, the imperial troops are not ready, and the Jin Yang Army is coming again. If the war is not ended in time, when the Jinyang army arrives, his two armies will gather together, and they will surely capture Bianjing in one go. Now Wanyan Zongwang does not know the news about the victory of the Jin Army in the West and intends to withdraw. This is a good thing and must not happen again. The end of war is just a loss of lives,"
"No!" Master Zhong said, "Your Majesty. The imperial troops and horses have gathered around Bianjing one after another. The number of soldiers has reached hundreds of thousands. It will be easy to annihilate the 60,000 Jin army. When the imperial troops and horses gather to annihilate the east road, they will march forward. After that, the Jin army on the west route will definitely flee and will not pose a threat to Bianjing. Your Majesty, please think about it. The 120,000 soldiers and horses on the west route of the Jin Kingdom were blocked by General Jinyang in Taiyuan for more than a month. It can be seen that the combat power is average. If The imperial court has seasonal superior forces and can annihilate the Jin army on the east route to ensure stability for decades. The Jin army will definitely not dare to invade the territory of the Song Dynasty again."
The words of cultivating the way of teaching made Qinzong hesitate.
Li Gang asked: "Your Majesty, what Old General Zhong said is absolutely true. This great opportunity must not be lost."
Qin Zong said: "What the two ministers said makes sense. However, I have agreed to the request of Prime Minister Bai and Li and ordered them to issue an order not to allow the imperial troops to intercept the Jin army. Now that the order has been conveyed, what should we do?"
Master Zhong said: "Your Majesty can order Prime Ministers Bai and Li to withdraw their orders and not to prevent the imperial troops from encircling and annihilating the Jin army."
Qinzong began to ponder on the dragon throne.
Zhong Shidao said anxiously: "Your Majesty, you can't hesitate any longer; if you hesitate any longer, the Jin army will cross the Yellow River and return to the Kingdom of Jin."
Qinzong still did not dare to take the risk of fighting the Jin army again, and also wanted to let the Jin army cross the Yellow River as soon as possible and return to the Kingdom of Jin, so he perfunctorily said to Li Gang and Zhongshi: "You two gentlemen, please retreat until I call Bai, Li Erxiang went to the palace to see him and discuss the matter of withdrawing the Prime Minister's order."
Li Gang suddenly stood up and said: "Let's start with your Majesty. Now, instead of summoning Bai and Li to the palace to meet and discuss the revocation of the prime minister's order, the Holy Majesty directly issued an edict, allowing General Zhong to mobilize the imperial troops around Bianjing to annihilate the invasion. The Golden Army."
Qinzong glanced at Li Gang and said: "Old General Zhong has become so ill, why doesn't Li Liushou have any compassion? Li Liushou asked if General Zhong can still lead troops to fight?"
Seeing this, Master Zhong stood up and said, "Your Majesty. I am unable to fight despite my illness, but my brother Zhong Shizhong has led the Western Army to Bianjing. He can charge into the battle and annihilate the Jin army. I can also go to the front line in person to encourage him. Morale. Your Majesty, I promise that we will never let the Jin army return to the Jin Kingdom alive."
Qinzong looked at Zhong Shidao and said: "Old General Zhong, there are many battles to fight. The top priority is to take good care of your body."
Master Zhong became anxious and argued: "Your Majesty, it doesn't matter if I die alone. What is important is that the imperial court, the country, the country, and the country cannot be harmed at all. Your Majesty, I request an imperial edict and order me to lead a strong force of the Western Army to the bank of the Yellow River to gather and annihilate Jin Man, I will die without regrets." As he said this, Master Zhong started to bleed again.
Qinzong was shocked and called the imperial doctor. The imperial doctor had already prescribed the medicine, grabbed the medicine, and after hearing Qin Zong's call, hurriedly entered the palace. Qinzong asked if the imperial medicine could be prepared? And winked at the imperial physician. The imperial doctor understood Qinzong's intention and wanted to send Master Zhongdao and Li Gang away, so he quickly replied: "We have collected all the medicine. General Zhong must not be anxious. The best thing is to stay in peace and recuperate."
Qinzong then said: "I love you, your health is very important. You should go back first. After I have discussed with Prime Minister Bai and Li, I will issue an order to you immediately."
Zhongshi Dao was so anxious that he kept coughing. Qinzong hurriedly ordered the eunuchs in the palace to escort Zhongshi Dao and Li Gang out of the palace.
