Xianxia version of Water Margin

Chapter 346 General Gao, your retribution has come

Historically, Yao Pingzhong's failed attack on the Jin camp did not result in much loss, with only a few thousand people killed.

However, Yao Pingzhong felt that he had not achieved his intended goal and was afraid that he would be beheaded by Zhong Shidao for disobeying orders, so he ran away alone before dawn. It is said that he fled into the deep mountains and forests and lived in seclusion, and later became an immortal.

Whether he became an immortal or not is another matter.

It is certain that Yao Pingzhong would flee for fear of crime.

It is difficult for Yao Pingzhong, who had no intention of dying for his country, not to be persuaded by Wu Yong, who was particularly good at "persuading people".

Under Wu Yong's coaxing, coercion and inducement, Yao Pingzhong gritted his teeth, wrote a confession, explained his conspiracy with Zhao Huan, signed and sealed it, and expressed his willingness to testify that he led the army to rob the Yuan army camp under Zhao Huan's order.

In this way, the Yuan Empire had complete evidence that the Zhao Song Dynasty started the war first and tore up the peace treaty signed by the Yuan and Song Dynasties.

Soon, Yao Pingzhong's confession and Yao Pingzhong were sent to Yuan Dadu.

After reading Yao Pingzhong's handwritten confession, Jiang Hongfei looked to the south and said leisurely: "Zhao Huan, you started it first, so don't blame me for being rude."

Jiang Hongfei immediately summoned a group of prime ministers and important officials to discuss with them the matter of attacking Song...

Let's go back to the Zhao Song Dynasty.

On the day when Yao Pingzhong led his troops to sneak across the Yellow River to attack the Yuan army camp, Zhao Huan did not sleep all night. He anxiously waited for Yao Pingzhong's victory report! Even though he knew that even if Yao Pingzhong's surprise attack went smoothly, even if Yao Pingzhong sent an urgent report back for 800 miles, the victory report would not arrive until tomorrow daytime.

After hesitating again and again, Zhao Huan once again ordered to send a fast horse to Junzhou, asking Liang Fangping to send troops to support and meet Yao Pingzhong.

After thinking about it again, Zhao Huan felt that he had to tell Zhong Shidao to lead the army to the north immediately to prevent any accidents.

Zhao Huan sent someone to deliver a letter to Zhong Shidao: "Pingzhong has started the rebellion and will definitely achieve great success. You can lead the army to the north to respond."

Zhong Shidao then realized that Zhao Huan and Yao Pingzhong had done a good job, and he quickly ordered the army to assemble.

At dawn, the first army to the king, Zhang Hui, the commander of the front army, Shi Jun, the commander of the right army, Xin Kangzong, the commander of the middle army, Liu Dian, the commander of the left army, Wang Shigu, the commander of the rear army, and Fan Qiong, the commander of the brave army, assembled and they immediately advanced to Hebei.

Then, the army to the king went north one after another.

Zhong Shidao also led the Jingyuan army in person and went north as soon as possible.

When Zong Shidao arrived in Junzhou, he learned that although Yao Pingzhong's army was completely destroyed, Liang Fangping defeated the Yuan army when he came to support him. He braved arrows and stones and chased the Yuan army for a hundred miles, killing more than 30,000 Yuan soldiers and returning victoriously.

Zong Shidao was so experienced that he knew Liang Fangping was lying about military intelligence as soon as he heard it.

Zong Shidao knew very well what kind of people Liang Fangping's subordinates were. He praised them for their success and failure.

Yao Pingzhong, Yang Kesheng and others were definitely the bravest generals in the Western Army.

Let me ask, the 7,000 elite Xihe Army led by Yao Pingzhong and Yang Kesheng were all annihilated by the Yuan army. How could Liang Fangping and his group of drunkards achieve such a brilliant victory?

Zong Shidao asked someone to investigate the losses of Liang Fangping's troops.

It turned out that Liang Fangping's troops only lost more than 300 people.

After hearing this, Zong Shidao was more certain that Liang Fangping lied about military intelligence.

In fact, Liang Fangping led his men to cross the Yellow River Bridge, but as soon as they reached the middle, they were shot back by the Yuan army with a divine arm bow.

Liang Fangping's troops retreated immediately.

But Liang Fangping and his men did not want to be overshadowed by the Western Army, and they also wanted to gain military merit, so they lied about military intelligence.

This kind of thing often happened in the Song army.

What's more, many Song army soldiers liked to kill innocent people to gain merit.

In this regard, Zong Shidao, who had been in the Song army for nearly 60 years, could guess what was going on with his heels.

But after hesitating again and again, Zong Shidao did not report Liang Fangping to Zhao Huan.

Zong Shidao did this because he was afraid that Zhao Huan would be frightened by Yao Pingzhong's defeat and change from advocating war to advocating peace.

If that happened, the Zhao Song Dynasty might have no hope.

With the "great victory" achieved by Liang Fangping offsetting it, Zhao Huan might not change from advocating war to advocating peace, thereby destroying Zong Shidao's plan to save the Zhao Song Dynasty.

However, Zong Shidao still underestimated Zhao Huan's weakness.

Zhao Huan thought that Yao Pingzhong's surprise attack on the Yuan army camp would definitely succeed, and he expected the good news of Yao Pingzhong's great victory from the front line.

However, soon the prime minister and the censors reported together: "The Western Army, which came to defend the king, was annihilated by the enemy and no one survived. Your Majesty, the big thing is bad!!!"

Zhao Huan was shocked when he heard the news. He did not expect that Yao Pingzhong would not only fail in his expedition, but also lose more than he gained.

Zhao Huan hurriedly issued an edict, ordering the troops not to advance or provoke the Yuan army.

A few days later, Jiang Hongfei sent Chai Jin and Xiao Rong to the city of Bianliang in Tokyo to question the crime. They also brought a letter written by Jiang Hongfei to Zhao Huan.

Jiang Hongfei said in the letter: "On the night of February, your dynasty's Yao Pingzhong, Yang Kesheng and others led their troops to attack our Yuan army camp, and later Liang Fangping attempted to cross the bridge and rob the camp. The two countries have already made peace, and they came to rob the camp again. Your dynasty has already broken the alliance and torn up the peace treaty, and there is no intention to say more. Moreover, if the two dynasties do not tolerate each other, they will have to fight. If so, not only will the danger worsen, but I am afraid that the lives of the people will be in vain. That is why I sent people to wait for your report..."

Seeing that the Yuan Empire was going to go to war with the Zhao Song Dynasty, Zhao Huan was horrified and quickly summoned the prime ministers to hold a meeting in front of the emperor to discuss countermeasures.

The failure of the camp robbery was a great blow to Zhao Huan.

The key is that if things go wrong, Zhao Huan will make things worse and bring war to the Zhao Song Dynasty, or even its destruction.

The timid Zhao Huan immediately panicked!

Moreover, practice seems to prove that Li Bangyan and other prime ministers were right to oppose sending troops.

Zhao Huan immediately made a 180-degree turn on the spot and completely turned to Li Bangyan and other peace advocates, and even ignored Zhong Shidao. Zhao Huan was even less concerned about the "great victory" achieved by Liang Fangping.

In other words, Li Bangyan and other peace advocates regained Zhao Huan's trust.

Li Bangyan and other peace advocates believed that the Zhao Song court must not admit that they knew about the camp robbery in advance, and should quickly find a way to eliminate the negative impact of this incident on the Zhao Song court.

Zhao Huan decided to send another person to Yuan Dadu to explain the situation to Jiang Hongfei.

However, no minister of the Zhao Song Dynasty dared to accept the order. Because everyone knew that the Yuan Empire must be furious at this time, and Jiang Hongfei and his ministers could do anything in anger.

In the end, it was Yuwen Xuzhong who stepped forward and bravely accepted the mission of being an envoy to Yuan Dadu.

Zhao Huan wrote another letter to Jiang Hongfei, in which he argued that the Zhao Song court had no idea that Yao Pingzhong, Yang Kesheng and others were greedy for profit and wanted to make trouble...

Li Bangyan and other peace advocates believed that it was not enough to take these measures, and they should also show their sincerity in peace talks with practical actions. They should order people to take the letter of state to cede land for peace and present maps; if not, they should marry two more princesses to Jiang Hongfei, or provide annual tribute to the Yuan Empire.

Zhao Huan agreed to all of this. He ordered Yuwen Xuzhong to explain to Jiang Hongfei in person that Yao Pingzhong and others used military equipment improperly and almost messed up the peace talks, so he specially sent an envoy to sincerely ask for peace.

That night, the prime ministers and relevant parties gathered in the capital hall for a meeting. Everyone agreed that under the current situation, the policy of peace talks must be resolutely implemented without the slightest hesitation.

Zhong Shidao was also present, and he made a different suggestion: "The robbery of the camp has been a mistake, but military strategists also have unexpected means. Sending troops to attack them in different directions tonight is also a surprise. If you can't win, then defend the river and go back to the previous plan, it's not too late. Winning and losing is a common thing in military strategists, so it's time to attack again, why are you so discouraged?"

Li Bangyan and other prime ministers did not listen to Zhong Shidao's suggestion. They were all a group of literati, cowardly, and didn't know how to use troops. How could they dare to use troops against the Yuan army again?

Not only that, Li Bangyan and others also believed that Zong Shidao had instigated Zhao Huan to start a war, which led to the defeat of Yao Pingzhong and Yang Kesheng, and that they could rectify the situation and request the dismissal of Zong Shidao.

Zhao Huan approved the request without hesitation.

Thus, Zong Shidao was dismissed from his post as the envoy of Xuanfu and was replaced as the envoy of Dayi Palace.

In fact, everyone knows that Yao Pingzhong's hijacking of the camp was not organized by Zong Shidao, but arranged by Zhao Huan himself.

But now that the hijacking of the camp failed, someone had to take responsibility, and Zong Shidao became a scapegoat.

—— Zhao Huan and the ministers of the Zhao Song Dynasty who advocated peace planned to sacrifice Zong Shidao and let Zong Shidao take the political responsibility for the hijacking of the camp to calm the anger of Jiang Hongfei and his ministers.

Li Bangyan even said to Chai Jin and Xiao Rong in front of Zhao Huan: "The use of troops was the result of the connection between Minister Zong Shidao and Yao Pingzhong, not the intention of the court."

Li Bangyan and other people who advocated peace also unanimously believed that Zong Shidao should be tied up and handed over to the Yuan Empire for disposal.

However, Chai Jin and Xiao Rong did not accept it. Instead, they thought that this was not acceptable and it would be better for the Zhao Song court to deal with it on its own.

Chai Jin and Xiao Rong's attitudes made Zhao Huan and his ministers panic!

Coincidentally, at this time, Gao Qiu's family was captured by Tong Guan and sent back to Tokyo Bianliang City.

Li Bangyan and other peace advocates remembered that Gao Qiu had deep hatred with many senior generals of the Yuan Empire. How could there be a better reconciliation gift than Gao Qiu's family?

So, Li Bangyan and other peace advocates quickly sent people to send Gao Qiu's family to the Yuan Empire as a stepping stone for peace talks in exchange for the survival of the Zhao Song Dynasty...

...

Gao Qiu regretted it very much!

He regretted that when he heard that the Yuan Empire was going to attack the Song Dynasty in the south, he was scared to death and immediately led 3,000 guards to the south, wanting to go to Zhao Ji and continue to receive Zhao Ji's protection.

At that time, there were many officials like Gao Qiu who left the capital without authorization and went to the southeast region.

Cai Jing, Cai You and Song Huan's family, a total of more than a thousand people, all ran away, and most of the officials under Cai Jing and Cai You also abandoned their posts and fled.

Seeing this, Gao Qiu made up his mind and led 3,000 imperial guards to escort his family south, wanting to continue to stay with Zhao Ji.

But what Gao Qiu never expected was that Tong Guan not only protected Zhao Ji first, but also forced him to guard the floating bridge in Sizhou under Zhao Ji's order and not come south.

——Now, Chen Dong has also made Tong Guan one of the six thieves. If Tong Guan does not hold Zhao Ji firmly in his hands, he may be liquidated by Zhao Huan. Gao Qiu led his troops south, obviously with the same idea. How could Tong Guan give this life-saving straw to Gao Qiu?

Gao Qiu was very suspicious of the imperial pen brought by Tong Guan, and he insisted on meeting Zhao Ji.

However, Tong Guan did not allow Gao Qiu to see Zhao Ji.

Later, Gao Qiu refused to follow Tong Guan's order and led the imperial guards to follow Zhao Ji south.

Tong Guan was furious and decisively ordered Shengjie's personal soldiers to draw their bows and shoot Gao Qiu and his personal guards.

The Shengjie Army was Tong Guan's personal soldiers recruited from the northwest. They had very strong combat effectiveness. The imperial guards were no match for them. On the spot, more than a hundred people fell from the bridge into the Huaihe River and drowned.

Seeing this, Gao Qiu had no choice but to order the imperial guards to stop advancing.

Gao Qiu, his son and his brothers could only stand by the roadside and wait, hoping to meet Zhao Ji.

Soon, Zhao Ji came in a royal sedan. Gao Qiu could only see Zhao Ji from a distance, and the emperor and his ministers shed tears when they looked at each other.

Zhao Ji actually had some objections to Gao Qiu, his former favorite, but, perhaps because Cai You, Yu Wen Cuizhong, Tong Guan and other ministers were accompanying him, in the end, he went south without saying a word.

When people on the road saw this situation, they all burst into tears.

Gao Qiu then stayed in Sizhou and controlled Huaijin to prevent the Yuan army from pursuing him.

If that's all, it doesn't really matter.

However, not long after, Zhao Ji and his ministers also figured out that they had made a big mistake. The Yuan army just changed defenses and had no intention of going south to attack the Song Dynasty.

So, Zhao Ji and his ministers began to discuss whether to return to Bianliang City in Tokyo.

At that time, some supported and some opposed, and both sides were in a quarrel.

Before Zhao Ji could make up his mind, Zhao Ji, who was always paying attention to the movements of Zhao Huan and his ministers, learned that Zhao Huan and Yao Pingzhong actually took the initiative to attack the Yuan Army's camp and tore up the peace treaty they had finally signed with Jiang Hongfei.

Zhao Ji was shocked and regretted giving the Zen position to Zhao Huan. He even began to regret the Zen position.

But now that the matter has come to this, Zhao Ji can no longer let Zhao Huan return the throne to him?

Zhao Ji was so anxious that he was running around! ! !

At this moment, Tong Guan said to Zhao Ji: "Gao Taiwei and the Dayuan generals Lin Chong, Yang Zhi, Lu Zhishen, Chai Jin, Xu Ning, and Wang Jin all have a deep hatred. If they were not forced by Gao Taiwei, these people would not be able to When Jiang Yan went to Liangshan without the help of these people, he couldn't become powerful. How could we, the Song Dynasty, be like this? "

Then, Tong Guan told Zhao Ji in detail how Gao Qiu's family framed Lin Chong and others and forced them to go to Liangshan.

After Zhao Ji heard this, he was very angry!

Zhao Ji, who rarely gets angry, even couldn't help but swear: "The culprit who didn't want to harm me in the Song Dynasty is actually Gao Qiu!"

Seeing this, Tong Guan said to Zhao Ji: "The Gao Qiu family can calm down Dayuan's anger and resolve this crisis."

After hearing Tong Guanchu's idea, Zhao Ji was a little hesitant!

After all, after more than twenty years of love, Zhao Ji really couldn't bear to send Gao Qiu to the Yuan Empire to be manipulated by those who hated him to the core.

Seeing Zhao Ji's hesitation, Tong Guan advised: "Your Majesty, this matter is related to the life and death of our Song Dynasty. You must not be benevolent as a woman!"

Afraid of Zhao Ji, he still couldn't bear to leave Gao Qiu. Tong Guan added, "If Captain Gao knew about it, he would be willing to serve the country with loyalty and loyalty at the cost of the lives of his family and his family in exchange for a chance for the Song Dynasty to take a breather."

How could Zhao Ji not know that Tong Guan just gave him a step up, but in fact, it was impossible for Gao Ji to have such an awareness?

But now that the life and death of the Zhao and Song dynasties had come, how could Zhao Ji really be so merciful for the sake of Gao Qiu's family?

Zhao Ji sighed: "Alas!", then turned and left.

Seeing this, how could Tong Guan not know that Zhao Ji agreed with his suggestion?

Without saying a word, Tong Guan sent his confidants to Sizhou and captured all the men and women of Gao Qiu's family, including his relatives and clans. He also sent people to wrap them in quilts, tie them up, and gagged them. Soft cloth, and sent two imperial doctors to take care of them, and went north with their family...

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