Zhao Kai followed the loud voice and saw an old man wearing a brocade gown, a black gauze headdress, and a jade belt around his waist walking quickly towards him, and he was there in a blink of an eye.
This old man was in his seventies, with a dark complexion and a tall build. His chin seemed to be pricked with needles, and a few scattered beards had turned white. A pair of triangular eyes were emitting brilliant light, sizing up King Yun Zhao Kai who was still wearing serial armor.
Zhao Kai recognized that this person was the Privy Council official, Taishi, the governor of Hedong and Yanshan roads, and Tongguan, the prince of Guangyang County.
The relationship between Tong Guan and Zhao Kai is very close, otherwise Zhao Kai would not have almost become the commander-in-chief of recapturing the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun - this happened because the Northern Expeditionary Army commanded by Tong Guan encountered an enemy at the Baigou River. It failed miserably and had to give up.
And Tong Guan can now go straight into the inner residence of Prince Zhao Kai without any hindrance, which also proves that the relationship between the two is extraordinary.
Zhao Kai had already remembered that he seemed to be in the same group as Tong Guan, a traitor, so he had to ask Xiang Ke to lead Tong Guan to the study to wait. He entered the dormitory first and asked Pan Yulian to take off his armor and change clothes. He wiped his face again, then put on a moon-white cross-collar robe and Dongpo scarf. He also ordered Pan Yulian to prepare some wine and food to send to the study. Then he walked towards his study with tired steps and excitement.
As soon as he entered the study room, Zhao Kai saw Tong Guan standing up and bowing to him. He was just about to ask Tong Guan to sit down without ceremony, but the other party had already spoken in a sad tone.
"If I had known that His Highness the King was a great hero, I should have tried to protect the King as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition. If so, how could there have been the collapse of Baigou? Yanyun had already recovered a few years ago, and there would not have been the rampage of Guo Yaoshi, let alone There will be no disasters like gold thieves invading the Central Plains. I am so close to the king, but I don’t know that the king has the ambition to imitate Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. I am really ashamed..."
Zhao Kaixin said: You old and treacherous minister, don't be ashamed. In fact, I have just arrived. The Zhao Kai before was also a coward, and even delivered food when he went to Hebei. But...if I had come a few years earlier, would I have really been able to reverse the situation of the exhausted Western Army and the failure of the Northern Expedition?
Thinking of this, Zhao Kai first asked Tong Guan to sit down, and then sat opposite Tong Guan himself. At this time, Xiao Huangmen from Prince Yun's Mansion led two maids, brought some hot food and wine, and placed them on the desk between them.
"Everyone, go out, you are not needed here."
Zhao Kai dismissed all the messengers, and then said to Tong Guan with a smile: "The grand master has been busy for most of the day, so he must not have time to eat well. Why don't you just use some at my place."
Tong Guan smiled and said, "Then I would rather be respectful than obey your orders."
Zhao Kai nodded, then looked down and saw two wine bottles on the desk, several plates of meat and vegetables, several plates of fruits and vegetables, a plate of steamed buns, which he didn't know were steamed buns, and two pairs of bowls and chopsticks.
I don’t drink wine...Zhao Kai, it should be that Zhao Kai didn’t learn how to drink in his previous life! So he picked up a steamed bun with chopsticks, stuffed it into his mouth and took a big bite. It was filled with stuffing, like diced bamboo shoots, chicken, mushrooms, and other things. It was very delicious.
Zhao Kai had been busy all day wearing a armor that weighed dozens of kilograms. He only ate some dry food around noon. Now he was so hungry that his chest was pressed against his back, so he ate hungrily. I ate a plate of steamed buns wholeheartedly, and then I felt all my strength return.
Tong Guan is getting older, his appetite is not as good as before, and he has something on his mind, so he eats a few mouthfuls of vegetables to satisfy his hunger, and then watches His Highness King Yun in front of him gobble it up - it turns out that the king is hungry and doesn't care about the appearance of his food. ah!
Seeing Zhao Kai finish eating, he continued to talk: "I have been a veteran for twenty or thirty years. Before the Northern Expedition to Yanyun began, I could say that I was invincible in every battle and captured every attack. I was simply the pillar of the country, and my scenery was unparalleled." . It would have been better if there had not been the subsequent Battle of Yanyun and the current invasion of gold thieves..."
Zhao Kai thought to himself: Without the subsequent Battle of Yanyun and the invasion of gold thieves, who in future generations would have known that you were a traitorous minister? Who would know that Zhao Ji is an extremely foolish and foolish king?
It seems that Tong Guan still doesn't know that he is already a notorious traitor, and he is still regretting it!
"Actually, before I sent out the troops, I knew how difficult the battle against Yan would be... It's a pity that I was obsessed by the false reputation of a prince, and I only wanted to take over the land of Yanyun for the country. But I didn't find out about the king's The hero has also forgotten that he is just a lowly eunuch!"
How could you forget this? Aren't you going to go to the hut? Zhao Kai thought to himself: That's a key component missing! Even if you can forget it, your eldest wife and little wife can’t forget it either!
When Tong Guanhua said this, he actually became sad, and his tears kept falling. Zhao Kai was soft-hearted. Seeing that a lonely and disabled old man was crying sadly, he had no choice but to comfort him: "Grand Master, don't be sad. The Song Dynasty's soldiers have been weak for a long time, and it is not your fault. In exchange for my king's military governor, Is it possible that the weak soldiers below can become stronger?"
"Your Majesty, your words are wrong," Tong Guan waved his hands repeatedly, "I don't think our soldiers of the Song Dynasty are very weak... Of course they are not as good as the Jurchen barbarians who were killed in the mountains and forests of Liaodong, but they are definitely not as good as the elites. All lost, how far behind were the dying Liao soldiers. If the soldiers of Song and Liao were really so far apart, how could there be more than a hundred years of harmony between the two countries? The Chanyuan Alliance did not rely on three to five million soldiers a year. It can be exchanged for years old coins, but it was obtained by relying on the bloody battles of the Song Dynasty soldiers and causing heavy losses to the invading Liao army!
The Western Army led by the old minister was a soldier who had fought for a long time. Although he was tired, he could still fight... The defeat of the Northern Expedition was not because the soldiers were weak, but because the general was too weak! "
Ah, you finally admit that you are a traitor with no ability, right?
"The old minister is 72 years old this year. He was 69 years old when Baihe was defeated and Baigou was defeated. He has long lost his courage." Tong Guan sighed, "And Liu Yanqing, Yao Gu, Zhongshidao, Zhongshizhong generals are also How can an old man with declining popularity compare to Yelu Dashi in his prime?"
That's right... none of these old guys can be worth a big Yelu stone! He was the founding emperor of Western Liao and was a figure on the same level as Zhao Kuangyin. Zhao Kaixin said: Looking at the Song Dynasty today, I, the chosen one, are better than him.
Tong Guan said again: "Moreover, these people are either eunuchs or warriors. Or they have the title of commander-in-chief. The civil servants on the ground in Hebei who are serving as envoys can become the powerful commander-in-chief of our family." Not to mention them, even the prefects of a state and a government, as long as they are civil servants, will not take me too seriously. Not to mention the civil servants in the court... Although Yelu Dashi is only one in Yanshan The land of the mansion, but everyone is willing to obey his command, everyone fights to the death, everyone dares to fight, and fight with us together. However, no matter how scarce the manpower, material and military power of the Yanshan mansion are, compared to the Western Thieves (Xixia) It still needs to be rich. The old soldiers under Dashi who have fought hard for seven or eight years are really fierce, and they are better than the elite of the Western Army.
So if we want to win that battle, we must have a Hebei generalissimo who can control all the prefectures and counties in Hebei and Hedong, control the armies in Hebei and Hedong, and silence the ministers of the DPRK and China... .This person is none other than the king! "
