"Ms. sir, look!" Liu Boxian pointed at the outside of the city in horror.
Zhao Fan moved his eyes away from the corpses of the people under the city wall and looked into the distance. He saw countless Mongolian cavalry, like gray carpets, spreading over the ice of the Huaijiang River and heading towards the Chuzhou city wall.
For a moment, the defenders on the city couldn't help but be silent. Zhou Simao, the governor of Xuanfu, had never seen such a scene, and some civil servants in the city were so frightened that they started to fight.
"Dark clouds are pressing down on the city, threatening to destroy it, and the armor's light is shining towards the sun's golden scales!" Zhao Fan looked at the Mongolian cavalry and murmured in his mouth.
When the refugees gathered outside the city saw the Mongolian cavalry, they immediately panicked and fled around the city.
~~~~~
Lin'an.
The tension on the front line did not affect this place, and there was still singing and dancing.
In the first year of Duanping, Zheng Qingzhi led the Song army to enter Luo. At that time, the people in the city often talked in wine shops about regaining the three capitals and regaining the old territory.
It has only been a year now, and very few people in the city are talking about recapturing the three capitals anymore.
This put Zheng Qingzhi in an embarrassing situation. The Shangguan family in the court lost confidence, and the people also lost interest in regaining the Central Plains because of their failure to enter Luo.
The current atmosphere in Lin'an can only be described in two words: "Accept your fate!"
This made Zheng Qingzhi feel a little shaken and began to think about a question.
He has recently read all the history books and feels deeply that he is beyond his capabilities in the current situation.
Throughout the ages, up to this dynasty, all unification battles have been fought from the north to the south.
The Jin Dynasty destroyed Wu, followed by the Chen Dynasty, the Song Dynasty destroyed the Southern Tang Dynasty, and surrendered to Wu and Yue, all in this way.
This made Zheng Qingzhi couldn't help but think about the root cause of this phenomenon.
"Ms. sir, what are you thinking about?" Zhao Kui saw that Zhao Fan was silent and looked very worried.
Zheng Qingzhi cast his gaze out of the boat, looking at the snowy scenery of the West Lake and the lively cruise ships on the lake. "I want to think about it again, Jiangnan has beautiful mountains and clear waters and prosperous commerce. Do people here just want to be comfortable and have fun?"
The imperial court took a very passive decision regarding the war in the north, wanting to avoid war and handing over the initiative to Mongolia.
What Zheng Qingzhi and Zhao Kui can do is to send more Lin'an imperial troops to Jiangbei to increase the defense of the Huaihe River. Other than that, there is nothing else they can do.
The two of them just sat in Lin'an waiting for the Mongols' reaction. Feeling bored, they went to the West Lake to cook wine and go boating.
Zhao Kui heard the overtone and gave Zheng Qingzhi a glass of wine, "Business girls don't know the hatred for the country's subjugation, and they still sing songs in the backyard across the river. There are people who enjoy themselves in the government and the public, but there are also many people with lofty ideals. Recently, the attitude of the officials has changed. , but that’s just the officials who were influenced by Li Xiang and others and had illusions about Mongolia. In my opinion, once the Mongols invade, the opportunity for the husband will come. "
Zheng Qingzhi took a sip of his wine and chuckled, "I hope so!"
The two were silent for a while. Zheng Qingzhi looked at Zhao Kui and asked sincerely: "Brother Nan Zhong, tell me honestly, if Mongolia goes south, what is the chance of our Song Dynasty winning?"
When Zhao Kui was asked this question, he silently drank the wine in his glass and pondered for a while, "If the Mongols attack, there will be soldiers from the Huaihe River and Huaihe River on the front line, the imperial court will have official support, and the soldiers and horses from Jinghu and Sichuan will fully cooperate, we will still There is a chance of winning.”
Zheng Qingzhi heard what he said and said no more. He put down his wine glass and stood up, "Go back!"
When the boatman heard Zheng Qingzhi's words, he turned the bow, and Zheng Qingzhi walked out of the dock. He stood on the bow and saw a beautiful landscape painting of a winter tour of the West Lake. He couldn't help but sigh, "Jiangnan is good! Jiangnan is good! Jiangnan is so romantic!" When I live here, I am so happy that I don’t miss Shu, and I forget about my great ambitions!”
Zheng Qingzhi came to the lake to relax, but now he was even more silent and melancholy.
At this time, Zheng Qingzhi was no longer optimistic about his results.
After listening to Zhao Kui's words, he knew that the Song army had no chance of victory.
The gentle countryside in the south of the Yangtze River is the best way to wear down people's will. If the Song army cannot win, cannot achieve a great victory, and enters the Central Plains, even if it falls into a confrontation and a tug of war, and draws a tie with Mongolia, most officials and courtiers will choose like Gaozong. Peace talks.
Because Jiangnan is so good, it makes people feel comfortable and happy, and they cannot fight a long-term war. Seeing that they cannot win, they will most likely choose to compromise in exchange for comfort.
The ship docked, Zheng Qingzhi got off the ship in a depressed mood, and saw a man hurriedly came forward, "Prime Minister Zheng, you are finally back."
Zheng Qingzhi came back to his senses and saw a group of servants standing at the pier, seemingly waiting for a while.
He saw clearly that the person coming was an internal official around Zhao Yun. He also saw that everyone looked anxious, and an ominous premonition arose in his heart.
Since the failure of entering Luo, the officials have not been as worried about state affairs as before, and rarely summoned him on their own initiative. Now that they sent their servants to wait for him, it was probably because something big had happened.
Thinking of this, Zheng Qingzhi was shocked and asked: "What's the matter?"
"My lord, the Mongols are coming! I'd like to trouble you two lords and hurry into the palace to meet with the officials!" The internal official had been waiting for a long time, and it was estimated that the palace was impatient, so he turned sideways and asked.
Zheng Qingzhi and Zhao Kui looked at each other, and what was supposed to happen eventually happened.
Zheng Qingzhi said in a deep voice: "You can go back and take orders first. I will change into court clothes and enter the palace immediately."
Lin'an, Imperial Palace.
As the New Year approached, Zhao Yun was watching a play in the palace. When he was in good spirits, an official came to report that the Mongols were attacking.
In recent days, there are rumors in Lin'an City that Mongolia will only attack the remnants of the Jin Kingdom and will not attack the Southern Song Dynasty.
Officials from Jinghu and Sichuan upstream reported that Mongolia had sent officials to negotiate with the Song Dynasty and intended to negotiate peace with the Song Dynasty.
The failure to enter Luo last year made Zhao Yun realize his own abilities and the strength of the Southern Song Dynasty.
In his opinion, it would be too much for him to defeat Mongolia and regain his ancestral heritage.
Since it is difficult to regain the Central Plains, it is better to be like Emperor Gaozong and let the people of Jiangnan and himself enjoy a few years of peace.
This made Zhao Yun, who did not want to fight anymore, think that Mongolia would not launch an attack. However, news came from the front that Mongolia was moving south in a large scale.
Zhao Yun was not prepared for this and was quite panicked, so he could only call many ministers to discuss it.
At this time, in the Wenzheng Hall, Zhao Yun was sitting on the throne, with a panic look on his brows. Standing underneath him were Zhen Dexiu, Xue Ji, Wu Qian and other ministers. The hall was filled with anger and depression. It was probably that they had already quarreled about the Mongolian invasion.
Zhao Yun looked worried when he heard that the Mongols were coming. At this moment, Zheng Qingzhi and Zhao Kui followed the internal officials and came outside the palace.
"Your Majesty! The two ministers have arrived!" The internal official went to the palace to report.
Zheng Qingzhi and Zhao Kui hurried in, lifted up their clothes, and saluted: "Your Majesty!"
When Zhao Yun saw the two of them, he still wanted to see the main combatant in a battle. He immediately beamed with joy and said, "My dear friends, please excuse me immediately!"
As soon as the two stood up to express their gratitude, Zhao Yun couldn't wait to say: "Zheng Qing and Zhao Qing are here. Li Aiqing, please tell the two Aiqings about the situation quickly, so that I can listen to their opinions."
