Zhongshi Dao failed to succeed and died on the journey. When the body was transported back to Bianliang, Tokyo, it alarmed the civil and military officials of the court and the people in the city. People flocked out of the city to welcome Zhongshi Dao's body. The scene was filled with cries, filled with grief and anger.
After Emperor Qinzong heard the news, he also drove out of the palace to welcome Zhongshi Dao's corpse back to the capital. Emperor Qinzong still trusted and appreciated Zhongshi Dao. At that time, the Jin soldiers were approaching the city. It was Zhong Shidao who led the Western Army. They traveled thousands of miles and worked tirelessly to rush to the capital to be rescued by King Qin. It was the arrival of Zhongshi Dao and the Western Army that shocked the Jin army, basically maintained the situation, and ensured that Bianjing was not lost.
However, Emperor Qinzong was also well aware of the brutality of the Jin army. Qinzong also wanted to rely on the numerical superiority of the imperial troops to attack and annihilate the Jin army; but after several battles, few won and many lost, so that the Jin army became greedy, had a huge appetite, and asked for huge amounts of gold and silk. ,land. As for gold and silk, Qin Zong fully agreed. What is money? What is property? The Song Dynasty was the richest in the world and had everything. It was not a big deal. Since the barbarians asked for it, just give it to them; but when it came to land, Qinzong was reluctant to part with it. However, the Jin army approached the city and reached the trench. It was so fierce and arrogant that it had the potential to seize Bianjing and occupy the entire Song Dynasty. Is this a big deal? ! This is my country, how can it be taken away by your golden people? Seeing that the Jin army could not leave the city, Qinzong had no choice but to agree to cede Taiyuan, Zhongshan and Hejian to the Jin people. At that time, Taiyuan was still firmly under the control of Wang Zhen. Wang Zhen refused to acknowledge the situation and ceded Taiyuan to the Kingdom of Jin, which made Marshal Wanyan Zongwang of the East Route Army of the Kingdom of Jin very unhappy. In fact, Wang Zhen refused to cede Taiyuan to the Jin people, and Qinzong was very happy. After all, it was his country, how could he willingly give it to others? Unexpectedly, Taiyuan was captured after several months of attack by Marshal Wanyan Nianhan of the Jin Kingdom's West Route Army, and Wang Zhen also died for his country.
Seeing that the court could not defeat the Jin people, Qinzong was very worried. The Jin people also proposed to withdraw their troops because the soldiers and horses of King Qin from all over the Song Dynasty continued to come to the area around Bianjing, and because they were unable to provide their own logistics supplies, they were afraid of being surrounded and annihilated by the Song Dynasty soldiers and horses.
This was originally a stopgap measure for the Jin people, and it was also a good opportunity for the imperial troops to gather to annihilate the Jin army. However, Qinzong regarded the withdrawal of the Jin army as a good opportunity to protect himself. He was afraid of the enemy like a tiger, and hoped that the Jin people would leave the country quickly and return to his country. A barren land far in the northeast.
Zhong Shidao and Li Gang made a careful study of the Jin army's withdrawal from Bianjing. They believed that the Jin army was at the end of its war effort, lacked food and grass, and had no additional soldiers. It was also fighting in the Song Dynasty. At this time, the imperial court gathered the superior troops and horses to defeat them in one fell swoop. Encircling and annihilating the Jin army can solve the problem once and for all. Therefore, Zhong Shidao and Li Gang firmly advocated gathering and annihilating the Jin army.
Qin Zong had the heart but not the courage. Firstly, Qinzong was not sure whether the imperial army could defeat the Jin army; secondly, Su Wang Zhao Shu and the young prime minister Zhang Bangchang were still hostages in the Jin camp. In fact, the fact that Su Wang Zhao Shu and Shao Zai Zhang Bangchang were hostages in the Jin camp is not the key. The key is that Qin Zong did not have the courage, fearing to offend the Jin army, and took away his country and country in one fell swoop; the most important thing is that Qin Zong has two people around him. Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan, the treacherous ministers and thieves who strongly advocated surrender.
Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan were afraid of the Jin people, and always wanted to calm things down by giving away money and land, so they made noises around Qinzong, saying that they must not go to war with the Jin army. Once they started a war with the Jin army, the Jin army would have an excuse. They captured Bianjing and took away all the imperial land. During Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan's coaxing and intimidation, Qinzong no longer dared to fight the Jin army. He also sent troops and horses to escort the Jin army out of the country. If any imperial soldiers and horses tried to intercept the Jin army, they would be killed without mercy.
Zhong Shidao was so angry that Wei Zhiyu, sent by Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan, stopped him from attacking the Jin army. Qinzong felt that he was in the wrong, so he rushed to the outside of the city in a sedan chair to greet Zhong Shidao's body.
When Li Gang saw Qin Zong, he refused to give up. He threw himself at Qin Zong's feet, hugged Qin Zong's legs, and cried to ask Qin Zong to give an explanation to Zhongshi Dao and the military and civilians. Emperor Qinzong had no choice but to issue an edict: "Zhong Shidao served as the envoy of the Jingnan Army and the envoy of the Gyeonggi and Hebei Provinces. He was fully responsible for military operations in Bianjing and Hebei. He shouldered the heavy responsibility of defending Bianjing. He charged into battle and worked hard with great merit; now, I am deeply saddened that Zhongshi Dao died for his country, so I have specially appointed Zhongshi Dao as a loyal and loyal general, and conferred it on Zhongshi Dao's descendants as high-ranking officials of the third rank to serve in the capital. I admire this!"
What kind of edict is this? ! Li Gang and the soldiers and civilians did not shout long live, but instead cried. Qinzong felt that it was boring, so he took a sedan chair and returned to the palace.
While Bianjing was dealing with the funeral affairs of Zhongshi Dao, the Jin Army's East Route Army, led by Wanyan Zongwang, had retreated to the bank of the Yellow River. Along the way, Wanyan Zongwang urged the Jin army to advance rapidly without delay. Wanyan Zongwang was also worried that the superior soldiers and horses of the Song army would catch up and surround and annihilate the Jin army in Song territory.
Wanyan Zongwang was leading the East Route Army to retreat to the north when he suddenly saw a war horse galloping in front of him, with a general riding on it, waving a mountain ax in his hand, shouting loudly: "Report! Report!"
The general flew up on horseback, and when he came to Wanyanzong to look at the Chinese army, he rolled his saddle and fell off his horse, and loudly reported: "Report to the Grand Marshal! The Song army is displaying its troops and horses, and the formation is on the road. Our army's return is blocked!"
Wanyan Zongwang was shocked when he heard the report. He thought that it was over. It seemed that the Song Army was going to fight the Jin Army relying on its numerical superiority in troops and horses! Wanyan Zongwang was shocked because he was guilty and fearful. Wanyan Zongwang only had more than 60,000 soldiers and horses, and he was fighting in the Song Dynasty. He was already exhausted and had no supplies. The Song army had more than 300,000 soldiers and horses only around Bianjing. If these 300,000 soldiers were to pursue him, they would be blocked by the Yellow River. , and the Song army chased after him. This was exactly what made Tiantian unable to respond, and what awaited him was the annihilation of his entire army.
In a panic, Wanyan Zongwang asked hurriedly: "How many troops are there in the Song army?"
The general replied: "Reporting to the general marshal, judging from the Song army's formation, it has no less than 50,000 soldiers and horses!"
Wanyan Zongwang became even more panicked and hurriedly turned to ask the general Liu Yanzong beside him: "The Song army broke their word and sent heavy troops to intercept the road and cut off our army's retreat. What should we do?"
Liu Yanzong pondered for a moment, but before he could answer, Wanyan Zong looked at Wanyan Yan's mother on the other side and shouted loudly: "Charge! Rush over! We can't let the Song army stop us!"
Liu Yanzong said: "When two armies meet, the brave one wins! You must charge, but you can't be reckless. Grand Marshal, first, arrange the troops and horses to prepare for the charge; secondly, you can call King Su and Shaozai to come and ask, the Song army displays its troops." Ma, when you set up your formation, what do you want? Could it be that you are going to have a big battle with Dajin?!"
Wanyan Zongwang then looked at Wanyan Yanmu and Wanyanchang and ordered: "Two uncles, you two lead 20,000 troops and prepare to charge into the formation!" Wanyan Juanmu and Wanyanchang replied loudly: "Obey the order! "
Immediately, Wanyan Zongwang said to Liu Yanzong: "Quickly call Su Wang Zhao Shu and Shaozai Zhang Bangchang to come!" Liu Yanzong turned to his subordinates and said: "Quickly summon them!" After hearing the order, his subordinates ran back.
After a while, Su Wang Zhao Shu and Shao Zai Zhang Bangchang were brought to Wanyan Zongwang and others. Su Wang Zhao Shu's face was full of horror, and Zhang Bangchang suddenly knelt on the ground.
Wanyan Zongwang stared at Su Wang Zhao Shu and asked: "The Jin and Song Dynasties agreed to withdraw their troops, why did your court not believe it?! Why did you send troops and horses to Yu Lu to intercept? Do you still want our army to attack Bianjing?"
Su Wang Zhao Shu was held hostage in the Jin camp, and he was extremely worried. King Su Zhaoshu knew in his heart that once there was a dispute between Song and Jin, he would be the first to be unlucky, and the Jin Kingdom might kill him to vent its anger.
Su Wang Zhao Shu was panicking and said in a low voice: "Back to the Generalissimo, since the Song and Jin Dynasties have agreed to withdraw their troops, it is impossible for Yu Lu to intercept your army. Maybe it is a misunderstanding. We should send someone to inquire."
Zhang Bangchang, who was kneeling on the ground, also hurriedly said: "What King Su said is absolutely true. The Generalissimo must have misunderstood. We should send someone to inquire. I am willing to accompany him, inquire about the situation, and give the Generalissimo an explanation."
When Wanyan Zong saw this, he said to Wanyan's mother: "Uncle Eleven, you took King Su and Shaozai to see what happened? If the Song Dynasty court did not keep its word, King Su and Shaozai should be killed. slaughter!"
When Zhao Shu and Zhang Bangchang heard this, they were so frightened that they trembled all over.
Wanyan's mother then took Zhao Shu and Zhang Bangchang, mounted their horses, and rode forward.
Zhao Shu was riding on his horse, following Wanyan's mare, thinking about his own ideas. Zhao Shu thought to himself that the Jin army had tens of thousands of soldiers and horses here, and they couldn't escape if they wanted to; besides, the king was held hostage in the Jin camp, so if I ran away, it would definitely bring trouble to the court. However, if they don't run away, the imperial court sends troops to intercept the Jin army, which is obviously a violation of the agreement between the two parties. The Jin people will definitely attack me. In that case, what should I do?
Zhao Shu then thought that no matter what the emperor's brother arranged, when he met the Song general, as a prince, he ordered him to give way and not to intercept the Jin army. In that case, his life might be saved.
Zhao Shu followed Wanyan Yan Mu to the front of the battle. Wei Zhiyu had already explained the situation to the Jin army's vanguard officer, saying that the imperial court sent him not to intercept the Jin army, but to intercept the Song army and prevent the Song army from attacking the Jin army. . When the vanguard officer of the Jin Army really wanted to report the situation to the back, Wanyan Yanmu came with Zhao Shu and Zhang Bangchang.
When Wei Zhiyu saw Zhao Shu, he hurriedly knelt on the ground and said loudly: "I will pay my respects to the prince at last!"
Su Wang Zhao Shuna cared about this etiquette and asked loudly: "Who sent you to establish a stronghold on the road?"
Wei Zhiyu replied: "They are the two prime ministers Bai and Li."
"Nonsense!" Zhao Shu shouted loudly: "The imperial court has reached an agreement with the Kingdom of Jin and allowed the Jin army to leave the country safely. Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan took advantage of you to set up camp and intercept the Jin army. Wouldn't they put this king to death? No! Disregarding the safety of the imperial court!"
Zhang Bangyan also said from the side: "What King Su said is absolutely true! You must move the stronghold to make way and do not conflict with the Jin army. This is King Su's order. Just carry it out. If the two prime ministers Bai and Li are held accountable, just find them." That’s all King Su, it has nothing to do with you.”
Zhang Bangyan was also afraid of losing his life, so he pretended to be a tiger and used his status as King Su to order Wei Zhiyu to move out of the way to prevent the Jin army from killing him and King Su because of being blocked.
