"Really, the golden thief is really gone..."
"Master Privy, where is the golden thief going? Is he going back to his hometown?"
"No, no...no, they are going northwest, probably to Huazhou!"
"Huazhou? Sanshan Floating Bridge! The gold thief still wants to attack Sanshan Floating Bridge!"
"That is, without laying down the Sanshan Floating Bridge, how could they dare to attack Kaifeng Mansion? Haha, the Kaifeng Mansion now is not the Kaifeng Mansion it was in December last year!"
"This is all thanks to you, Lord Privy Council! Kaifeng Mansion is now impregnable. Even if the gold thieves captured the Sanshan Floating Bridge, they can't do anything to Kaifeng Mansion!"
"The Kaifeng Mansion has been preserved, and it is a great contribution to the Privy Council!"
"Hahaha... This is not the result of me alone. It is also thanks to the great blessings of the officials and the lives of the soldiers. Oh, Captain Gao also contributed a lot!"
"Liu Taiwei is a warrior, and he is also an old friend of Taishang and Prince Ding. How can he compare with you, the Privy Councilor?"
"Yes, the Privy Chancellor has made such a great contribution, I think he will be able to enter the political hall soon..."
At the city gate of Chengshi County, the two traitors Fan Qiong and Qin Hui began to flatter Li Gang after confirming that the Jin people had really withdrawn from the siege.
Although the golden thief has not returned home yet, he has gone northwest to Huazhou. But in the eyes of Fan Qiong and Qin Hui, Li Gang personally led a 100,000-strong army to fight against the gold thieves, but more than half of it was left (they didn’t know exactly how much was left), and he was still guarding a lot in the small Chengshi County. Days... This contribution is not small no matter how you look at it.
Moreover, before Li Gang left Kaifeng Mansion, he was also responsible for the reinforcement and addition of Kaifeng Mansion City. This is a real contribution!
The current Kaifeng Fucheng has several layers of fortifications inside and outside, and they can be attacked, defended or retreated - if the main city cannot be defended, you can retreat to Jinming City, or even retreat to Baojin City... ...This is a city that has truly completed its defenses!
The defense of Kaifeng Mansion was indeed completed under the leadership of Li Gang.
Therefore, with the great contribution of the defense of Kaifeng, coupled with the contribution of sending troops this time (there is still a lot of credit left), it is possible for Li Gang to enter the political hall, or even become Dazai directly in one step!
Thinking of this, Li Gang couldn't wait to return to Kaifeng Mansion.
Thinking of this, Li Gang asked Fan Qiong: "Fan Taiwei, since the gold thief has gone to the Sanshan Floating Bridge, should we gather elite soldiers and follow him to wait for an opportunity to fight the thief?"
His words sounded quite sensible, but Fan Qiong was not a fool either. Of course he knew what Li Gang was thinking... After being surrounded for so many days, he was about to run out of food, but the golden thief left on his own. , that’s really a blessing from Bodhisattva, why don’t you get better soon?
"This... Your Majesty the Privy Council," Fan Qiong immediately cried with a sad face, "Now the military rations have been exhausted, the soldiers have been hungry for two days, and they really can't fight! Moreover, there are thousands of households in Chengshi City. We have to keep them safe and evacuate to Dingtao to eat!"
Li Gang twirled his beard, nodded slightly and said: "It makes sense. Food is the most important thing for the people, and the soldiers will be in chaos if they don't have food... Then can Chengshi County be defended? Can three or four thousand people be left to guard it?" Isshou?"
Chengshi County must be defended...at least not lost until Li Gang returns to Kaifeng Mansion. Because Chengshi County is in his hands, Li Gang can boast that he has firmly resisted the gold thieves' army!
This is a great contribution!
As for how much Li Gang lost in sending troops this time? It seems to be only ten or twenty thousand, right? It’s not too ugly, and you can put some powder on it and pretend to be a winner.
"The Prime Minister wants to guard the Cheng family..." Fan Qiong understood immediately and said with a smile, "I will go and make arrangements immediately. Is it enough to leave 3,000 elite soldiers?"
"Is there enough military rations?" Li Gang asked.
"Enough, enough to last for three months." Fan Qiong nodded repeatedly, having forgotten the term "food is exhausted".
"Okay!" Li Gang nodded, "Hurry up and make arrangements... After arranging the defense, I will protect the people and go to Dingtao."
"The general has the order!" Fan Qiong crossed his arms, took the order, and retreated to make arrangements for his escape and defense of the city.
Li Gang immediately said to Qin Hui: "Qin Duantai, you are the envoy sent by the saint, so you don't have to go with me. I will send 300 cavalry to protect you. Go ahead and return to Kaifeng Mansion to report to the saint the situation of the negotiations with the gold thieves." By the way, check to see if the official has come back. If he does, I will draft a memorial and you can send it to the official on my behalf."
Qin Hui immediately understood what kind of memorial Li Gang was going to give to Zhao Kai. Of course, it was to report Gao Qiu's intention to support the emperor's restoration and secretly communicate with the gold thief... Even if Li Gang didn't believe it, he still had to file this small report. !
On the surface, of course Li Gang could keep this matter under wraps, but he must tell the officials in private!
This is a battle for imperial power! Knowing but not reporting is a comrade! If Gao Qiu really loses his head, then Li Gang will have to go to the ends of the earth to die.
Therefore, although the gold thief's counter-intentional plan is not clever, it is indeed very fatal!
Even if Gao Qiu is not killed, he still has to accompany him for half his life!
When Qin Hui thought of this, he immediately raised his hand to Li Gang and said, "If the official has returned to Kaifeng Mansion, I will definitely hand over your memorial to the official!"
"Okay!" Li Gang nodded, "If the official family is still in Liangshan, you can't give the memorial to others."
"It will save you the trouble of lowering your rank."
Of course, the memorial of the small report cannot be read to others casually.
Qin Hui was escorted by 300 Qingqi sent by Li Gang. On the same day that the Jin soldiers withdrew from the siege of Chengshi, he left Chengshi City and went straight to Kaifeng Mansion.
There was no danger on the road, and there was no ambush by the Jin soldiers. We arrived at Kaifeng Mansion the next day.
In Kaifeng Fucheng, Qin Hui heard that Zhao Kai had returned and now sent troops to Sanshan Floating Bridge.
This "treacherous official" (who is even more treacherous than the most traitorous minister) who has gone down in history has immediately shown the spirit of being as loyal as a traitor. Immediately hit the road and rush to the Sanshan Floating Bridge to make a small report to the official Zhao Kai about Taiwei Gao Qiu.
…
In March of Yangchun in the first year of Jingkang, the Song Army's defense in the Sanshan Floating Bridge area was several steps higher than before Zhao Kai left last time!
The Tiancheng Fort to the north of the Sanshan Floating Bridge has now become a truly tightly fortified fortress!
The city walls are taller and thicker, and all kinds of auxiliary fortifications and defensive equipment are also in place.
Moreover, the three dangerous locations including Tiancheng Fort, Dagong Mountain, and Wannian Xindi are now completely integrated into one.
Wenzi Mountain, the Henan section of Wannian Xindi, and Baima City south of the Yellow River have also been reinforced. Although they cannot be compared with those in Hebei, they can still be defended.
As for the expansion of Jushan Dazhai, it has also been in progress.
When Qin Hui came to Huazhou day and night in early March of the first year of Jingkang (the eighth year of Xuanhe), regardless of the fatigue of the journey. Jushan Dazhai has turned into a large-scale city built on the mountain.
Zhao Kai himself now lives here with the Xingying Counselor Department and the Xingying Hanlin Department, as well as Sister Ximen, Guo Tiannu and several other "school beauties".
Of course, Zhao Kai already knew that the army of gold thieves had solved the siege of Chengshi. I also know that the main force of the Jin soldiers after the siege came straight to Huazhou (Sanshan Floating Bridge is between Huazhou and Junzhou) with great fanfare!
This surprised him and He Guan, Zhong Shizhong, Yao Pingzhong, Dong Jingang, Dong Luohan, Cao Li and others.
They originally thought that Wanyan Zongwang would leave the southern part of Defu and Damingfu and go directly to Liyang, but they did not expect that Zongwang also came to surround Wei and save Zhao.
This puts Zhao Kai in a bit of a dilemma... He can't really attack Li Yang and get rid of the chess piece Guo Yaoshi!
He also pointed to this chess piece to inform himself of the major and minor events within the Jin Army!
In addition, he was not sure that he could defeat Wanyan Zongwang's army of at least 100,000 people on the Huazhou border south of the Sanshan Floating Bridge... Although he boosted the morale of his subordinates, he also alleviated some of the fear of money.
However, the organization, training, and experience of the military cannot be improved in a short period of time.
Therefore, Zhao Kai's strength at hand was enough to defend a dangerous position and bully the small soldier Guo Yaoshi, but it was not enough to use it to fight the main force of Wanyan Zongwang and Wanyan Yanmu.
"It seems that we can only abandon Pharmacist Guo, divert our troops to the south of the Yellow River, and focus on deploying defenses in Wenzi Mountain Fort and Baima City!"
He Guan was the most familiar with the situation around the Sanshan Floating Bridge, so he was the first to come up with countermeasures at the military meeting that day.
"Your Majesty, I thought that the gold thief was probably not serious..." Dong Jingang was now qualified to speak at the military meeting.
He is a true gold-savvy person who knows that a gold man may fight a battle that will consume his own life unless it is absolutely necessary.
"Isn't it a real fight?" Zhao Kai thought for a while, "The gold thief feinted with a shot. Was it to relieve Pharmacist Guo?"
"This is one of them," Dong Jingang said, "The gold thief is most likely going to retreat north!"
"Withdrawn?" Zhao Kai was stunned, "They won't come to Kaifeng Mansion?"
When he said this, he was a little disappointed.
Kaifeng Mansion is so strong...why don't the gold thieves come and attack it once?
"Your Majesty, gold thieves are not stupid!" Dong Jingang said, "They must have sent out detailed detectives to investigate these days. They know that Kaifeng Mansion is difficult to defeat, so they decided to retreat."
"Then will they come again in the future?"
Zhao Kai was a little excited again... Kaifeng Mansion belongs to him! If the gold thief doesn't come, no one will be able to rob it?
"I will definitely come again!" Dong Jingang said, "The Golden Thieves' Eastern Route Army is short of troops, and after these days of consumption, the number of regular soldiers saved is probably less than 40,000. Including Ali Xi and various auxiliary troops, there are only ten at most. Thirty to forty thousand. And we have already assembled the soldiers of the King of Qin from all over the world, and the city of Kaifeng Mansion has been strong enough to cope with it. In addition, the weather is getting hotter, and the gold thieves are not used to it, so they will take a step back temporarily.
However, they will not be willing to give in, and they will not retreat too far. After they recover, they will definitely come back to open the Feng Mansion... By then, I am afraid that the whole country's troops will come together! "
Zhao Kai's expression was solemn, "That will be a real life-and-death battle between us and the golden thief...but I will still win!"
