. Seventh day of the seventh lunar month, Qiqiao Festival.
This day is one of the most important festivals for the prosperous country of the Wu Dynasty. The girls' families wear cardcloths for a banquet, pray to Vega for wisdom and skill, and pray for marriage in the future.
Large families and royal courts often have all kinds of luxurious banquets, and there are lively programs of one kind or another, all night long.
Only in this morning, all kinds of festive atmospheres have filled the city of Bianjing, and in the evening, the lights gradually come on, and one after another Qinglou floats parade along the main street in the noisy sky, which symbolizes this evening. The festivities have officially started. A group of gorgeously dressed men and women, a son, a scholar, and a maid, embellished this subtle but mellow ancient festival with the fragrance of literature and ink.
In the palace, the lanterns were decorated as usual, but the festive atmosphere did not spread to the outside of the palace. In the harem, the princesses, concubines, and palace maids have also prepared a wedding banquet for begging. These banquets and gatherings are usually hosted by the queen, and the emperor will come every time. But after nightfall, the royal merchants hadn't come yet. Several princesses and princesses from the royal family or the prince's family had already competed in needle threading in the center of the banquet. The festive atmosphere was as intoxicating as ever. Only occasionally, there will be some well-informed people who subconsciously look in the direction of the silent palace main hall, and then withdraw their eyes, watching the activities in the center of the banquet, smiling and applauding, and saying a few auspicious words. Son.
The main hall of the imperial palace was not as silent as they had imagined. A little west, in the Zichen Hall, where major events were handled, there had actually been a whole day of uproar, noise, and chills. At this time, the noise was gradually dissipating, and the officials involved should also Having left the palace to go home, but the emperor did not come, it is enough to see the seriousness of the situation.
The fall of Hangzhou, in the eyes of many people, may also mean blame, and half of the southern part of the Yangtze River has collapsed.
Qin Siyuan was the last group of people who came out of the palace, and Li Gang was also with him. Not long ago, a decision was made in the imperial court. Three days later, Tong Guan led the 150,000 elites from the forbidden army to go south to suppress the trouble of Zuila, while Wang Bin and Yang Koshi led an army of 100,000 to attack Liao. Tong Guan had already gone back, but Qin Siyuan, who always knew how to advance and retreat, stubbornly wanted to serve the emperor again. Li Gang stayed with him. Emperor Jinghan and Zhou Au also respected the two sides and kept them for dinner, but the meal was over. After that, there was still no result.
Not to mention Zhou Pin's own opinion, under such circumstances, even if the emperor repents, there is no way to reverse the decision that has been made.
These days, all kinds of news from the south have been flying like pieces of paper, all of which are bad news. Hangzhou is besieged, and the Wu Zu army, who is trying to rescue the south, is blocked on the way. Suzhou Shisheng, Huzhou Gui’an Lu Xing’er, Wuzhou Lanxi Zhu Yan, Wu Bang, Yongkang Fangyanshan Chen Shishi, Chuzhou Jinyun Huo Chengfu, Chen Hooping, Taizhou Xianju Lv Shinang, Yuezhou Yanxian Qiu Daoren, Quzhou Zheng The demon king has come to the fore one after another... Some of these people are already well-known rebels on the official list, and some have no name before, but from the situation these days, Fang La may have been secretly going around long before the official attack on Hangzhou. Contact and plan the arrival of this day's situation.
Reports of these rebellions continued one after another in the southeastern area. Even though they were large in scale, they effectively prevented the troops from nearby Hangzhou from sending rescues to Hangzhou. In the past few days when Hangzhou has become a lonely army, the situation in the court has changed every day. The emperor launched an offensive.
In this court now, Tang Ke, Li Bangyan, Wu Min and others are the representatives of the Annei faction. They don't care about attacking Liaoning, but the interests of most people around are in the south of the Yangtze River, and they care about the order of wars. Now the south has changed. In this way, the rear is unstable, and how to attack, naturally, it is necessary to quell the rebellion early. These words are very reasonable.
Among these Annei factions, there are certain advocates and factions, who were not willing to start a quarrel with the Liao Kingdom, but also stood with the Annei faction and fully supported the suppression of Fang La. At this time, the Northwest old coach who was not in Bianjing taught the teacher, and at this time, he made an admonition to suppress Fang La through urgent news, which also caused the echo of many officials.
As the left minister, Li Gang upholds the right path. He was originally an extremely tough main fighting faction, but this time when the disaster in Hangzhou came, he was actually a little shaken. He probably felt that if Jiangnan was unstable, even if the Wu Dynasty succeeded in attacking Liao, it would inevitably be injured. After regaining his vitality, his actions in the past few days have been somewhat conservative. In the past few days, the important people in the dynasty who insisted on attacking Liao first were not necessarily led by Qin Siyuan. After all, he had left the political arena for too many years. Even if he was powerful at this time, he could not be the biggest. The most resolute, and the most powerful, was Tong Guan Tong Daofu, who was called "the first general of the Wu Dynasty" at that time and was the privy envoy and was in charge of military power.
However, Tong Guan's toughness, and when the news of the fall of Hangzhou came today, he finally knew that nothing could be done, and finally could not resist the huge pressure, and received the order to lead the army south. Only Qin Siyuan, even at the last moment, insisted on the strategy of going north, and when Tong Guan recommended Wang Qi and Yang Keshi to lead the army north to attack Liao, several of Qin Siyuan's cronies also expressed some objections. Finally, several generals were placed in the army. After that, the meeting will disperse, Tong Guan and the others will go home immediately to prepare the next strategy, Qin Siyuan and Li Gang will stay for a while, and only then leave the imperial city.
The evening wind blows, and on the imperial street outside the city, there are fire trees and silver flowers. Two old men with the highest power in the court at this time were walking on the road.
"A night of fish and dragon dance" Qin Siyuan sighed slightly, "Chong Shuai is a sensible person..." "Uncle Chong Yi?" Li Gang frowned. Throughout the day, although some people used Chong Shidao's idea as a bargaining chip, but Among the Bianzong at this time,
The influence of the teacher's way is still not big, "Why did Siyuan suddenly raise him?"
"If you can't attack Liao, then simply negotiate peace. In this way, Liao is better than Jin." "Jiangnan is too important. In all fairness, I also think that it should go south first.
Siyuan didn't do the same a few days ago. If Hangzhou is lost, my Wu Dynasty will be severely damaged. "
Qin Siyuan smiled and said, "Does Ji Weng also think that I'm trying to gain merit today, so I've lost my mind?" Over the past few days, people have often used this to attack him. The most important thing about Qin Siyuan's recovery this time is He thought that the situation in the north was easy for others, and he was doing it for his own sake, ignoring the overall situation. Of course, after saying this, Li Gang also shook his head with a wry smile: "I have known Siyuan for so many years, and I know that Siyuan has always been open and upright. In terms of doing things, I might as well go far, but today's affairs are really forced by the overall situation, and I have no choice. …”
The two were walking down the street, the carriage and the servants were following, Qin Siyuan was silent for a moment.
He sighed: "I don't know that Jiangnan is important, but now the north is more dangerous. If we really want to divide our troops to the south, I would rather have Tong Daofu lead the army north. As for who leads the army south, that's fine..."
"Nowadays, the only people who can really fight in the army, except for the Northwest Commander, is really only Tong Daofu..."
"It's not about being able to fight, it's about the courage to fight Ji Weng. Today, I want to oppose Wang Qi and Yang Keshi for being handsome. Do you know the reason?" Li Gang smiled: "After all... it's because of Tong Dove."
"Yes." Qin Siyuan nodded and lowered his voice, "Daofu is leading the battle, and I understand the reasons. If it sounds bad, he is a eunuch. He has enough money and wants to be famous in history, but he is greedy for ink. It's nothing. If he wants to be famous in history, he must fight bravely. The attack on Liao is the best opportunity for him to become famous, but once the opportunity is given to others, hehe... Wang Qi and Yang Keshi are all members of his boy's family army. The person in the post" Li Gang nodded: "In this way, there will be 100,000 troops going north, and the Liao attack will be temporarily in vain." "It's just a waste of money and food."
Qin Siyuan took a sentence, and the two old men walked for a while. Fireworks and firecrackers were being set off in front of a mansion gate. It was very beautiful. It was the mansion of Tang Ke, the minister of households. Obviously, there was a lively banquet going on inside. The victory of the others in the court today should be regarded as more than joy.
"Qin Sou's second granddaughter is asking for someone." Li Gang said.
"Xu gave it to Wu Min's nephew, and the Wu family climbed high."
"
…”
After saying this, the two walked past the mansion. A young official who came over recognized them and came to say hello. Li Gang returned the salute, and then waved with a smile. After the man left, Qin Siyuan said: " Ji Weng also thinks that I am too resolute in attacking Liao, how does Ji Weng think that my martial arts are peaceful?"
"It's very good, I'm like this, don't I just want to keep this song and dance." Qin Siyuan sighed: "But if you want to sing and dance, you lose your minions. When I was in Jiangning, there was a young man with me. Discussion. There is no difference between people, whether it is warriors, Liao people, or Jin people, they are all the same. I have been in the Wu Dynasty for many years, and there are fewer people who dare to work hard. At that time, Yelu Abaoji was so heroic and talented. At this time, in fact, he has gradually lost his strength in the situation of peace, but we have lost more, and the Jurchens, they fought from the ice and snow, the white mountains and the black water, and they are full of strength. Like hungry tigers and wolves. The Jurchen is invincible, and the same goes for letting us go."
Li Gang didn't say anything, Qin Siyuan continued: "What is the most important thing for these people, not negotiation or conspiracy, only the simplest power can make them look at it equally. Ji Weng, everyone in the court says Jurchen Young Master, it is difficult to attack our Wu Dynasty, but if we let them occupy a large area of the Liao people, wouldn’t it be easy to get an army, we couldn’t even defeat the Khitan people, why would we use the Jurchen?” “So I , Chong Shidao is a sensible person. He was afraid early in the morning, and drove the Liao people to let the Jurchen take root on the side of the couch. If the Jurchen and the Khitans kill both of them, they will lose both, and the Wu Dynasty will be able to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight and pick up a big bargain. What is the use of power and power in the battlefield."
"Ji Weng, that young man is right. We provoked war between the two countries. What we can get is not a cheap one, but an opportunity. We still have to reach out and pick it up. In this opportunity, if I, Wu Chao, can take advantage of the fatigue of the Liao people, After a few big victories, the Jurchen will naturally be in awe of my Wu Dynasty. If I am incompetent, I just fight the autumn wind and lose. Once the Jurchen replaces the Khitan, what we will face is only to change from an old wolf. became a young tiger...
Ji Weng, I am afraid that we will become sinners through the ages. Lou, we should think of countermeasures..." The fireworks rose, the silver flowers and fire trees.
Li Gang was silent for a moment: "Who is that young man?" "A chess friend I accidentally met." Qin Siyuan smiled, "But now he's stuck in Hangzhou..."! . ..