Upon hearing that it was an envoy sent by the Song Dynasty and made such an unbelievable request, Yelu Dashi's brows quickly wrinkled. The other generals even shouted and cursed one after another, clamoring to kill the Song envoy on the spot to satisfy their hatred.
It wasn't until Yelu Dashixu pressed his hand that everyone stopped shouting and scolding, and then just listened to him say: "Then please invite the Song envoy to come into the tent. I want to see what he has to say such a thing."
A moment later, Yue Fei, dressed in military uniform, came to the tent. He was completely unafraid of the Liao soldiers around him who almost wanted to tear him into pieces. He raised his fist at Yelu Dashi without being arrogant or humble and said, "Young general Yue Fei has seen this before." Dashi Linya. I am here to invite you to the city on the orders of my general Sun. My general has prepared some wine there to welcome you. I hope Lin Ya will not refuse."
"Yue Fei..." Yelu Dashi looked up and down at the twenty-year-old young Song general in front of him. He really saw a bit of heroism and the calmness and fearlessness of a veteran in the army, which made him feel uncomfortable. Sheng praised that the Song Dynasty was luckier than the Liao Dynasty. Not only did he have a great career, but he also had young generals like him in front of him who could serve as pillars.
Then, he chuckled: "You said it lightly, are you really deceiving us that we don't understand the meaning of the Hongmen Banquet and actually want to trick me into the city? If Sun Tu really wants to talk to me, why doesn't he come out of the city himself?"
Yue Fei smiled and shook his head: "Lin Ya's words are too unfair to my general. He really didn't have any ill intentions in inviting you to the city this time. He just thought about the overall situation of the Song and Liao countries and didn't want to start another dispute. As for why he thought of inviting you to the city? As long as you read this letter, you will know the whole story." As he said, he reached into his arms and took out a letter.
Immediately, someone came forward with full vigilance and took the letter from his hand. After confirming that there was no problem, he handed it to Yelu Dashi. The latter was also quite curious about this statement, so he immediately opened the letter and read it quickly. At this glance, his face suddenly tightened, and his breathing became disordered. Then he raised his head sharply: "You..."
As soon as he said the words, he realized that his reaction was too fierce, and quickly stopped it: "Go back and tell Sun Tu that since he wants to invite you, I will agree to him. I will go to the city to visit you tomorrow morning. I hope he can keep his promise and not go back on his word."
"It's natural. My general has always admired Lin Ya's character and ability, so how could he be so scheming?" Yue Fei clasped his fists again, then turned around calmly and strode away. From the moment he entered the tent to the moment he left, he seemed calm and calm, not at all frightened by the hateful soldiers around him.
On the other hand, the generals of the Liao army were full of surprise and doubt on their faces after seeing their leader suddenly change his mind. It wasn't until Yue Fei left the tent that they could no longer bear it and stepped forward one after another and said, "Lin Ya, why did you suddenly agree to enter the city? Is the Song people really okay?"
"Yes, Lin Ya, we can't take any more risks. If we make another mistake, I'm afraid..."
Faced with everyone's confusion and persuasion, Yelu Dashi smiled bitterly, handed the letter that was almost clenched into a ball into the hands of someone beside him, motioned for him to read the content, and said: "Now that's the end of the matter. , we except
There is no better way. "
"Why is this..." Those generals still looked surprised, until the general who received the letter suddenly exclaimed: "How is this possible? How did the Song people know that I had been captured by the Jurchens in Beijing..." After that, They all stopped in surprise, and at the same time, there was a look of horror on their faces.
In an instant, there was silence in the tent, and everyone was full of fear and suspicion. The fear is that once the Song army spreads the news, their situation will be extremely dangerous. The tens of thousands of soldiers and horses will collapse in just an instant; and the doubt is whether someone will reveal this news to Song human.
Fortunately, Yelu Dashi quickly dispelled this suspicion: "Now that Song Jun is in Nanjing, he naturally has all the keys to the city, including our Flying Eagle contact point in Nanjing!"
These generals finally understood. Although they were slightly relieved, their hearts were still heavy.
It turns out that in addition to using fast horses to deliver various messages in the Liao Kingdom, flying eagles were also used to deliver messages when they encountered some of the most urgent confidential matters that needed to be delivered as soon as possible. The five capitals of the Liao Kingdom, as well as some important cities, all have flying eagle contact points, so that they can receive the imperial government's secret reports in the shortest possible time.
Obviously, when Beijing fell into the hands of the Jin army, the local people used various methods to spread the bad news to the south. Among them, the Flying Eagle Messenger sent to Nanjing happened to fall into the hands of Sun Tu and others. It was precisely because he knew that the Liao army was on the verge of collapse that Sun Tu appeared so confident and tough, and even dared to directly invite Yelu Dashi to the city to discuss matters. This was completely threatening.
After understanding this, although everyone was angry, they felt powerless. They could only reluctantly persuade: "Lin Ya, don't fall into that Song man's plan. He must be unkind when he invites you to the city. Why don't we do it right now?" Retreat…”
Facing their dissuasion, Yelu Dashi gave another wry smile: "Retreat? Retreating for no reason will only completely collapse the morale of the army. When the time comes, as long as the Song army goes out of the city to pursue, it will be a disastrous defeat. We can no longer bear the defeat." , not to mention there are still 100,000 troops in the south..."
"But..." Others wanted to persuade, but he waved his hand and interrupted: "I think Sun Tu didn't really want to attack me by doing this, because he has no need at all. If he really wants to defeat us, he will definitely You can just spread the news, why bother to invite me and just show me the letter?"
After a pause, Yelu Dashi's face became resolute: "I have made up my mind. I will go to the city to see him tomorrow. Maybe this is really the last chance to save the current situation. Compared with this, my life and death, Yelu Dashi, don't matter. what?"
"Dashi Linya..." All the generals were moved when they heard the words. Some were worried, but most of them were filled with admiration. Dashi Linya is indeed one of the few loyal ministers and generals left in Daliao today, but it is a pity that there are too few people with such ability and loyalty in the court.
The decision was made. The next thing Yelu Dashi and the others had to do was to calm the morale of the army, at least not to let the soldiers below know about it or be affected by the bad news of the fall of Shangjing. In order to prevent the Song army from taking the opportunity to send troops, they moved their camp again and retreated, setting up their military camp more than ten miles away.
Early the next morning, Yelu Dashi took only a dozen personal guards and rode to attend the invitation. What was somewhat beyond his expectation was that the Nanjing city gate actually opened due to his arrival, instead of hanging a basket from the top of the city to pull him up. This showed how confident the Song army was.
However, his soldiers were left at the city gate after entering the city and were not allowed to enter together. In this regard, Yelu Dashi did not insist too much. After all, he had entered the city where the Song Army was stationed. He was surrounded by enemy troops. A few more guards would not provide any protection at all.
Yelu Dashi, who thought he had adjusted his mentality, still changed a little when he was brought to the place where the banquet was held today, because this was his residence in Nanjing. This really showed a deep sense of ridicule. It was clearly the Song Dynasty people who declared their ownership of Nanjing to themselves. No matter how calm he was, his face became very ugly, especially when he saw that most of the people serving in the mansion were Now that they were all former slaves, the feeling of being humiliated in public became even stronger.
But the current situation prevented Yelu Dashi from getting angry. He could only endure his anger and walked inside. At the entrance of the hall of the third courtyard, he saw Sun Tu standing there to welcome guests with a smile. On both sides, the Song generals all smiled with gloating and malicious intent, as if they were watching his joke.
Suppressing the anger in his heart, Yelu Dashi forced a smile on his face: "General Sun, it's been a long time." After saying that, he cupped his fists and gave a salute.
When Sun Tu saw him acting like this, he clasped his fists and returned the greeting: "Lin Ya, there's no need to be polite. We haven't seen each other for many years since we parted ways in Youzhou." The two of them easily ignored Qianri City. After all, the conversation that took place up and down the city, we couldn't see each other's faces at that time, so it was considered that we had never met each other.
Although the two of them had not seen each other for many years, they could not really exchange greetings with old friends after a long absence, so after greeting each other, they entered the hall together and took their seats as guests of honor. But when he sat down, Yelu Dashi still felt awkward. In this hall, he had always been sitting at the top, but today he was the guest. This feeling of dislocation was really uncomfortable.
After the other generals sat down, the food and wine were finally served. They were all meats that the Liao people were used to eating, and all were made in a crude way, not as refined as the Song people should be. However, no one here really wanted to eat or drink, so they didn't pay much attention to it. After taking a few bites, they returned their attention to the two protagonists.
After Sun Tu toasted Yelu Dashi, he looked him up and down and said with emotion: "In seven or eight years, Lin Ya has become much older. I think back to the time we spent together in Bianjing." , how high-spirited you are..."
"Haha, the matter is in the past, what's the use of mentioning it again?" Yelu Dashi smiled bitterly, thinking about the past and looking at the present, it is really frustrating.
He didn't want to get entangled in such false things anymore, so he immediately said: "General Sun, you and I are both leaders of the army, so why do we need to follow the tricks of those sour scholars? Today you are prepared and invite us. , I’m here too, if you have anything to say, please just say it. I’m really curious about what you call something that is beneficial to both our countries!”