On this day, Zhao Deji summoned the ministers to join the enemy, and then Qin Hui faced him alone. Zhao Deji naturally mentioned the continuous good news sent by the two rivers, and laughed: "The captives always take advantage of the plains and spread their armies all over the world. Unexpectedly, Today the Song Dynasty can also achieve great victory in the plains."
Qin Hui immediately said: "Your Majesty's holy will is lofty and lofty, and he is strategizing."
Qin Hui carefully observed Zhao Deji's expression and tone before saying: "It is gratifying that Yue Pengju won, but he did not follow the imperial decree and the arrogant general..."
Zhao Deji was also a little resentful that Yue Pengju did not follow the "heavy force defense, light force selection of profit" and did not expel the people who had taken refuge in the two rivers. However, Qin Hui saw that he still had expectations for victory, so he only mentioned Yue Pengju as "arrogant". A mighty general".
Qin Hui took out the contract sent by the Jin envoy. Zhao Deji took a look at it and saw the third clause. Unexpectedly, the Jin made such a request and frowned slightly: "The Jin is so taboo about Yue Pengju..."
Listening to his tone, Qin Hui did not say whether to kill Yue Pengju or not, but pointed out the Jin people's taboo against Yue Pengju, so he said: "The fourth prince is extremely evil, but good soldiers are unlucky. It is better to take advantage of the captives' old age and frailty, and punish the king with harsh punishments." , take advantage of the victory and withdraw the troops, this is the long-term plan for the country. Now the captives propose a peace negotiation and return it to the Queen Mother... "
Returning it to the Queen Mother is the key point! When Qin Hui came here, he paused smartly. Sure enough, Zhao Deji shed tears again: "The Queen Mother is suffering in the north. I am really unfilial..."
In order to welcome back the Queen Mother, it is natural to make sacrifices. Is it worth exchanging Yue Pengju for the Queen Mother
Qin Hui no longer worried about this problem, so he comforted Zhao Deji for a while, and left this "benevolence, filial piety and great ethics" to Zhao Deji to weigh.
Zhao Deji thought about it, and on the second day, he summoned the censor to report. The censor who presented the report today was Fan Tong. Fan Tong was recommended by Qin Hui and was promoted continuously. He called Qin Hui's "favorous prime minister", and from then on, he was "favorable prime minister". This word has become a secret and unspoken rule in the officialdom. The censor was originally the emperor's eyes and ears, but now he has been reduced to Qin Hui's minion.
Zhao Deji asked: "Now that Yue Pengju has achieved great victories one after another, what does Fan Qing think of it?"
Fan Tong then said: "The important generals of the country gave high-ranking officials generous salaries, fine silks for their children, mansions and fertile land, in the hope that they would serve the country and be loyal. Now I see that Yue Pengju is blindly showing off his abilities and does not obey the orders of the court. He is diligent and frugal. He is not greedy for money and gain, and does not accept beautiful concubines. He can share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, and he is dedicated to recruiting down-and-out scholars and courteous corporals to establish his own good name and prestige. As everyone knows, collusion between civil servants and military generals has always been a taboo... Zhou Gong is afraid of the day of rumors, and Wang Mang is humble and respectful. When we usurped it, Xiangshi died, who knows if it will be true or false in his lifetime?"
The evil thing about him is that he turned all the virtues of Yue Pengju that the scholar-bureaucrats discussed in the past into terrible "ambition!"
Sure enough, Zhao Deji was deeply touched, especially the sentence "Wang Mang was humble and did not usurp the throne", so he said: "What Fan Qing said is true. Since I came to the throne, I have worked hard every time, walking on thin ice, for the sake of the national plan, my hair has turned gray early. Only then did I realize , military generals, some are greedy but not ambitious, and those who are ambitious are not greedy. Before Wang Mang usurped the throne, he wore old clothes and had only one wife. Later, the Han Dynasty was destroyed in his hands... "
Fan Tong was overjoyed to receive this valuable information, but on the surface he remained diligent. He said a few good words that Zhao Deji liked to hear, then left and went out. Taking advantage of the night, he rushed to Qin Hui's prime minister's residence and secretly informed him of Zhao Deji. message.
… … …
On this day, Qin Hui returned home, and Wang Junhua was scolding his daughter-in-law Cao. Her adopted son Qin Xi married his wife when he was a teenager. Qin Xi, relying on the power of his adoptive mother, was just a teenager at this time, and even married his wife Cao. The Cao family was dissatisfied and cried to Wang Junhua, but Wang Junhua's attitude towards his adopted son was exactly opposite to that of Qin Hui. Instead, he scolded his daughter-in-law: "You are a bitch, the son of a dignified prime minister, let alone a third concubine. Even if I have thirty wives and concubines, it won't be your turn to speak."
The daughter-in-law could only swallow her anger, and Qin Hui naturally did not dare to say anything. At this moment, Gao Yigong suddenly came to the door. Gao Yigong was sent by the fourth prince to monitor his husband and wife, so he naturally did not dare to slack off. Wang Junhua hurriedly stopped scolding and drank his son-in-law away. , welcome Gao Yigong to the study room.
Gao Yigong once again took out the secret letter from the fourth prince. In it, the fourth prince said that his son-in-law died at the hands of Yue Pengju. Now he wanted to negotiate a peace. Qin Hui wanted to be a happy and stable prime minister. First, he must persuade Zhao Deji to order Yue Pengju to withdraw his troops. Second, Zhao Deji must be persuaded to kill Yue Pengju.
Qin Hui was very proud: "Master Gao, you can report it to the Fourth Prince. I have some ideas about these two conditions, so I will not disappoint the Fourth Prince."
As soon as Gao Yigong left, Fan Tong came to visit again. After listening to the duel between him and Zhao Deji, Wang Junhua almost jumped for joy: "Hua Rong, this bitch, her death is finally coming! Killing Yue Pengju will definitely kill Hua Rong." !”
Fan Tong said, "I heard that Yue Pengju's envoy Li Ruoxu has rushed back to Lin'an, but what should I do?"
Qin Hui said: "I will summon Li Ruoxu first."
Li Ruoxu was indeed ordered to return to Lin'an to report to Zhao Deji on behalf of his commander, asking the court to suspend the withdrawal of troops. He was originally anxious to confront the emperor, but he had to ignore the prime minister's summons. Qin Hui's summons was nothing more than judging from his conversation. There were clues to see how much Yue Pengju could impress Zhao Deji. But after a conversation, nothing was found, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
On the second day, Li Ruoxu went to court to face him.
The emperor asked: "It is gratifying that Yue Pengju has won consecutive victories. However, it is said that the captives set up heavy troops in Kaifeng to trap the king's army. Is it possible that Yue Pengju plans to win every victory without defeat?"
Li Ruoxu replied: "Kaifeng is the mausoleum of our Great Song Dynasty ancestral temple. When the ministers recalled the Jingkang disaster, they all cried miserably. Now, across the two rivers, Xianggong Zhang and Xianggong Yue should have sent troops together, but Xianggong Zhang We withdraw our troops and hope that your majesty will urge them to join forces to fight, expel the captives, and protect our temple and the country of the Great Song Dynasty. Your Majesty is touring the south and southeast and working hard to govern. Now is a great opportunity to regain the mountains and rivers in the northern part of the Song Dynasty."
The Zhao family's ancestral temple was destroyed by the Jin people. No matter how shameless Zhao Deji was, it was still an unbearable humiliation. Seeing Li Ruoxu mention this matter, he thought for a moment and then asked: "What if Yue Pengju goes deep into it alone?"
Li Ruoxu replied categorically: "If the whole army works together, the soldiers will win!"
Zhao Deji had nothing to say anymore. After thinking about it, he said, "This time we need to provide generous support to the Yue Family Army, with a reward of 100,000 yuan."
Li Ruoxu thanked him and left.
Qin Hui stood aside, seeing that Zhao Deji did not mention asking Yue Peng to withdraw his troops immediately, and knew that Zhao Deji was hesitant. He knew that Li Ruoxu's advice had an effect, and he hated Li Ruoxu with itching teeth, but for a moment he There was nothing we could do. Li Ruoxu was the younger brother of the loyal minister Li Ruoshui who died during the Jingkang disaster, and he was appointed by the imperial court as an aide to Yue Pengju. He wanted to pick a thorn in Li Ruoxu's side, but he couldn't find it for a while, so he could only remember it bitterly. Down.
Li Ruoxu left with the edict from Zhao Deji, and Qin Hui immediately summoned Fan Tong and others for discussion. He was afraid that the fourth prince would be completely defeated. If the two rivers were recovered, Yue Pengju's prestige would surely increase to a terrifying level. In this way, his position would definitely be lost. Save.
Fan Tong saw Qin Hui's sad face and wanted to show off, so he said: "Qin Xianggong, what is the most important thing in the army?"
Qin Hui asked with his eyes, and Fan Tong looked quite proud: "Since ancient times, food and grass have been the treasure of the army. No matter how talented Yue Pengju is, what can he do if the army has no food?"
Qin Hui was overjoyed: "Great idea! If there is no food in the army, how can Yue Pengju still make trouble?"
Qin Hui immediately intercepted and transferred the 100,000 shi of grain and 100,000 guan of money that were originally distributed to Yue Pengju in the name of the cabinet. In the name of Zhang Jun and Zhang Jun's deployment, Yang Yizhong needed it. He wrote an emergency letter Deliver it, and immediately order the book boy to deliver it in person.
Besides, after the Battle of Xiaoshangqiao, Jin Wushu's army turned to attack Xingshui where Wang Gui was. Wang Gui's army had more than 19,000 people, and Jin Wushu had 50,000 troops stationed. They were two miles away from Xingshui. Stop ten miles away and set up your formation.
That night, it rained heavily and it was muddy. Wang Gui was good at fighting. He rode twice in the mud to check the enemy's situation. When he came back, he ordered the infantry to go out to fight and the cavalry to rest. The generals were puzzled. Wang Gui said: "It's raining and muddy. The captives' horses cannot run fast, so we might as well recuperate the horsemen and fight with infantry."
Sure enough, the Jin soldiers' cavalry could not gallop as usual in the mud, and it was very difficult to walk. However, under the supervision of Tu Hesu, they also launched waves of fierce attacks. Wang Gui calmly led his troops to fight, and continued Defeat the attack.
But Jin Wushu made up his mind this time, and relying on his superiority in numbers, he divided the entire army into eight teams and charged in turns. In this way, the two sides fought for 22 consecutive rounds. Both sides turned into bloody men and horses, and the whole army was covered in mud. It was the soldiers of both sides who fell. As for the Jin army, the death toll was ten times that of the Song army. At this time, the cavalry army led by Han Qing, the partial general, rushed forward and fought hard, saving the Song army from danger time and time again.
Twenty-two rounds later, Han Chang and others could no longer bear the anxiety in their hearts. It is important to know that human life is not made of iron and stone. The Jin army watched the charge again and again, and the corpses of their companions fell one after another. If you are willing to continue this "wheel", even if you may be able to completely wipe out the Yue Family Army in the end, you will have to pay the price with your life.
Jin Wushu was supervising the battle on a high mound. When he saw Han Chang coming back from defeat again, he was so angry that he raised his whip and whipped him hard. In anger, he whipped him continuously, even more than fifty times. whip! Han Chang was blind in one eye, and he felt extremely disgusted with the southern invasion. Seeing that the fourth prince ignored his past feelings and beat him repeatedly, he felt even more resentful.
On the second day, Wang Gui saw that the Jin army was slacking off and rushed out the cavalry that had been resting for a long time. The Jin army, which had long been tired of fighting, had no fighting power. They abandoned their helmets and armor and fled all the way. At this point, Jin Wushu had to completely retreat to Kaifeng. Han Chang was unwilling to follow him to Kaifeng, so he took a group of his troops and fled to Changge County, north of Yingshui.
When Yue Pengju led his army to Xingshui, it was already five days later. Zhang Xian, Wang Gui, and Yue Pengju's three armies converged. Of the original 100,000-strong army, there were still more than 88,000 people left, except for the 50,000 who were currently in Xingshui. The rest are distributed in three strongholds in Lianghe.
That night, Yue Pengju led the entire army to hold a grand sacrificial ceremony to commemorate all the fallen soldiers and the soldiers who fought in the bloody battle of Xiaoshangqiao. After the Jin army retreated and collected the corpses of 300 Xiaoshangqiao soldiers, they actually took the corpses from them. More than two liters of arrows were shot down. It can be seen that each person was hit by at least dozens or hundreds of arrows.
The two liters of arrows were placed next to the high fire, and all the soldiers in the army shed tears when they saw it. The memorial text was written by Zhu Fu: "... The majestic appearance is like life, in the family's dream, the return of the triumphant song is vague; the reputation will last forever , the merits of the expedition shine brightly in the history books... "
Surrounded by incense, the collected dead soldiers were cremated, and their souls died in heaven in the flames.