Inside the Lin'an City Imperial Palace.
A fierce quarrel broke out, causing several chamberlains outside the palace to fall silent.
"How many times has this happened?"
"For several days, several husband-in-laws argued endlessly. I heard that something happened to the west."
Several chamberlains were talking in low voices when Jia Sidao suddenly walked out of the palace with an angry look on his face, shocking them into silence.
Lin'an City, Privy Council.
Because of the war between Qi and Song Dynasties, the Privy Council was in charge of the military affairs of the Southern Song Dynasty, so people came in and out, and it was very busy all day long.
As dusk approached, the officials in each room of the yamen packed up the official documents and files on their desks one after another, and then left the public room.
At this time, Su Tongxing signed a letter from the Privy Council and packed up the official documents. Just as he stood up, a colleague came over and said, "Su Tongxing signed the letter. I'll have a drink later. How about it?"
After the war between Qi and Song Dynasty, many officials of the Privy Council would often gather together to discuss the current situation.
When Su Tongxing faced the invitation, he shook his head and said, "Sorry, I have some family matters to deal with today, so I won't go."
Seeing his refusal, the person who invited him did not force him. After nodding, he left with a group of people.
After Su Tongxing waited for them to leave, he quickly left the public house and returned home directly.
In the Southern Song Dynasty, commerce was developed and there was no curfew in Lin'an City.
After Su Tongxing returned home, he took off his official uniform, disguised himself slightly, and quietly left through the back door under the cover of darkness.
Not long after, Su Tongxing came to a relatively remote street in Lin'an City.
There are no brothels or restaurants on this street, and few people come there at night.
Su Tongxing walked into a deserted tavern. The listless waiter was a little surprised when he saw him walking in, but he immediately greeted him with a smile.
"Sir, do you have a reservation?" The waiter stepped forward.
Su Tongxing glanced at the empty lobby and nodded, "Reserve the private room, Peony."
The waiter raised his eyebrows, and the shopkeeper who was fiddling with the abacus looked up, then lowered his head and continued fiddling with the abacus.
"Sir, please come with me!" The waiter quickly led the way and took Su Tongxing to an inconspicuous room on the second floor.
The room was lit with lights, and Su Tongxing pushed the door open. Inside, a man in his thirties was sitting at the wine table, drinking calmly.
"Su signed the book, you're late!" When the man saw Su Tongxing, he raised his glass and smiled.
Su Tongxing calmly sat down opposite him without saying a word.
Seeing this, the man poured him a glass of wine and said with a smile, "Have you heard about Su's signature book?"
The Privy Council was in charge of the military affairs of the Southern Song Dynasty, and many military orders of the Lin'an court were issued from the Privy Council.
Su Tongxing's status in the Privy Council was not high, he was just a small signer, but what he did was copy official documents, and he had access to military orders issued from the Privy Council.
Su Tongxing did not answer immediately. He raised his head and drank a glass of wine. After being silent for a while, he asked: "Zhao Qianhu, can you count on what you promised me?"
The man smiled slightly, took out an official document, and pushed it in front of Su Tongxing, "You can read it first if you sign the document."
Su Tongxing took the official document and opened it to look at it. He suddenly raised his eyebrows and showed excitement.
This is an appointment document, stamped with the seal of the King of Qi, appointing him as the Chief Envoy of the East Road of Zhejiang Province.
The official system of the Southern Song Dynasty was relatively complicated. In recent years, Zhao Tai had made some changes to the official system of Qi State.
The chief envoy of the two Zhejiang East Roads is equivalent to the governor of a province, and can be regarded as a frontier official.
The Southern Song Dynasty, like the Northern Song Dynasty, had a serious problem of overstaffing.
Su Tongxing has been working for many years, but he has been standing still.
Now that he is approaching fifty, it will be difficult to make progress without a breakthrough in politics, and he becomes anxious.
In the Southern Song Dynasty, officials of his age were basically not trained by the Southern Song Dynasty court.
Because not many people in the ancients could live to be fifty years old, it would be a pure waste of opportunities and resources to promote him and then stop working after a few years.
Su Tongxing took the appointment document and his face suddenly became excited.
Seeing this, the man smiled and said, "Su Fantai, where is the news I want?"
Su Tongxing came to his senses, quickly put away the documents, and took out a letter from his arms, "Zhao Qianhu, this is an official document that I copied recently and sent to Chudi from the imperial court!"
The man heard the words and took it, took out the letter and took a look at it, quickly extracting useful information from the many pieces of information.
"Su Fantai, you have made a great contribution!"
~~~~~~~
Under the city of Wuchang, the Qi army camped.
Xiangyang is a fortified city, and in fact Wuchang is also a fortified city.
The Southern Song Dynasty's offensive capabilities were insufficient, and all national power was spent on building cities and strengthening defense capabilities.
Zhao Tai didn't have much to do against Xiangyang, and now that he was under Wuchang City, there wasn't much he could do either.
This time, Zhao Tai bypassed Xiangyang and went south, which was actually quite risky.
As the Mongolian Communist Party said, although the Chu land was a land of plenty, Zhao Tai was not a Mongolian, so it was not easy to plunder the land.
Now he needs the hearts and minds of the people of the Southern Song Dynasty. Although the Qi army occupied many states and counties, it was unable to obtain supplies on the spot.
Therefore, Zhao Tai's move south was actually a gamble.
He was betting that the Lin'an court could not bear the pressure and gave wrong instructions to the Song army in Chu.
If the Southern Song Dynasty court did not intervene, once Mongolia attacked Qi, Zhao Tai would have no choice but to lead his troops back north.
In the Qi army camp, Zhao Tai stood in front of the map with his hands behind his hands, and asked in a deep voice: "Is there no news about Lin'an from the Jin Yiwei?"
Wang Bin shook his feather fan and said, "Your Majesty, there is no news yet. However, I think this plan is quite clever, and Lin'an will definitely fall into it!"
Zhao Tai was not very confident now. He turned around and asked, "Sir, do you also think that Lin'an must fall into the trap?"
Wang Bin nodded, "That's right! The places of Xiangyang and Wuchang, for the Southern Song Dynasty, I think the emperors and ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty must value Wuchang more!"
Zhao Tai stroked his beard and said, "Sir, continue!"
Wang Bin shook his feather fan and said, "As far as the Southern Song Dynasty is concerned, the land of Wuchang will survive if you gain it, but you will perish if you lose it! Wuchang is the key to Lin'an's survival. Lin'an must not sit back and watch the king capture Wuchang. In comparison, although Xiangyang Heavy, the waist and chest in the world are found in the Southern Song Dynasty. They can defend the Northern Kingdom and conquer the Central Plains from the north. But for Lin'an, it is now a chance of survival. Losing Xiangyang may not necessarily destroy the country, and losing Wuchang will not protect the southeast. Therefore, I only want the Southern Song Dynasty. If you feel that Wuchang is in danger, you will definitely protect Wuchang first!"
Zhao Tai nodded frequently, and finally a smile appeared on his face, "Listen to your words, sir. Don't worry about being alone."
~~~~~~~
Xiangyang City.
While Zhao Tai was worried outside Wuchang City, in Xiangyang City, Meng Cong suddenly received an order from Lin'an.
In the festival hall, Meng Gong sat behind the table, looking at the decree in his hand, and he fell into contradictory and desperate emotions.
"Why? Didn't Prime Minister Jia promise that I would have full authority to handle the military affairs in Chu?" Meng Gong showed a look of pain on his face.
When the war between Qi and Song was about to begin, the Meng Cong expected that the Qi army might mainly attack Jingxiang. At the same time, he also considered that the Qi army was strong and the Song army needed to temporarily avoid the edge.
Therefore, he adopted the same strategy as Lian Po in Changping, and warned Lin'an in advance.
But he didn't expect that after he saw through Zhao Tai's plan, Lin'an issued a decree to send troops to rescue and protect Wuchang.
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