Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 62 The Abandoned Sea (1)

The news of the Liao people's invasion of the invaders was first spread by the beacon towers, and the defeated army scattered around, spreading all kinds of news of defeat. The county capitals of Junzhou began to close their gates during the day, Xiongzhou, Bazhou, Zhending Liao cavalry traces were discovered successively in important towns in Hebei.Overwhelming rumors spread throughout Bianjing almost overnight, and the Privy Council waited anxiously for further definite news. On the night of the 28th night of the first lunar month, the military letter issued by the Hejian Mansion was rushed by the five-hundred-mile gold plaque. When it was delivered, the Privy Council did not dare to neglect it, and reported it to the Ouchi overnight.

Outside the Chuigong Hall of the White Jade Palace, the eunuchs and maids on duty were trembling, and when they submitted their military documents, they tiptoed, and they were afraid to breathe heavily.All the diptero incense candles in the hall were lit, shining as brightly as day. The official Zhao You stood in front of the huge topographic map of Hebei mountains and rivers with a livid face. Gaoyang Pass had undoubtedly been broken through by the Liao army. As usual, the soldiers took advantage of the fast and erratic cavalry. More than ten military prefectures in Hebei discovered the traces of the Liao army at the same time.The only thing that is certain now is that at least one main force of the Liao army is besieging Hejian Mansion.However, the Hebei camp was defeated by the Liao army after an inexplicable mutiny. Fortunately, the new Hebei capital deployed Tong Guan to fight repeatedly. Tens of thousands of defeated troops retreated to Hejian Mansion, and they were still fighting with the invaded Liao army. At loggerheads.

"If Mr. Tong can hold the river, the Liao army will not be able to gain a foothold in Hebei. After looting, they will retreat automatically." Li Bangyan, the deputy privy envoy, comforted, "Besides, the imperial court has been running the Daming Mansion in Beijing for a long time, and the Liao army wants to drink horses. The Yellow River is not so easy."

"The Daming Mansion is the old camp in Hebei. Most of the elite soldiers stationed there were taken to Hejian by Mr. Tong. Now there are no soldiers and no generals. How can we stick to it?" Zhao Zhifu, the political adviser, frowned, "If the name is lost, Bianjing will be destroyed." The door is open, I'm afraid..." He didn't continue, Zhao You became more and more annoyed the more he heard it, he reached out and grabbed a brush washer, slammed it on the ground, and shouted angrily: "Tong Guan loses his teacher and humiliates the country, ten thousand deaths are not enough to escape the blame !" The sound shook the eunuch who was waiting outside the door, his back went cold, and he almost knocked over the things in his hands.

"Your Majesty is sorry for your anger," Prime Minister Cai Jing said slowly, "Your Majesty Tong has always been loyal to the country. There must be other reasons for such a major event in the Hebei camp. However, it is important to repel the Liao people at the moment. Let’s talk about it later.”

"What the prime minister said is true." Zhao You was reminded by Cai Jing and calmed down. Right now, he still needs to rely heavily on Tong Guan to stick to Hejian and threaten the back of the Liao people.

"This time the Liao soldiers invaded differently than usual. It seems that the march is quite slow. Right now, all the inland states and counties are found are Liao cavalry. The brigade seems to be still in the north of Hejian. It seems that the Liao army is determined to conquer this time. In Hejian, the idea of ​​taking Hebei's geographical advantage is not just a looting." Shen Yun of the Imperial City Department said slowly, "However, in this way, the threat to the capital is less."

Shen Jun's words somewhat relieved Zhao You's worries about the capital, "Hejian," he looked at the city besieged by the Liao soldiers, and then moved his eyes down, "Daiming," the defense in the north of Bianjing is centered on the Daming Mansion If the name is lost, the situation will further collapse. At this time, Zhao You can't help secretly regretting that the Hebei camp was moved to Hejian. For the fast-moving cavalry of the Liao people, the position of the Hebei camp was too high. The defense is very passive.

"Your Majesty," Cai Jingqing coughed lightly, "the Daming Mansion is not completely devoid of soldiers. Liu Yanqing is still deployed in the Hebei battalion who retired. There are not a few soldiers who have returned from Hejian's defeat one after another. Liu Yanqing can be reinstated." Arranging for the troops in Hebei, ordering him to gather the defeated troops, stick to Daming Mansion, wait for an opportunity to attack, and expel the Liao army. In addition, he can order the east camp to assist Hebei, and transfer the troops from the Xijing camp to consolidate the capital. In this way, the overall situation will be stable. .”

He instructed Tong Guan to accept Hu Qi as a reliance, originally planned to provoke the situation in Hebei, and then put the blame on Prince Zhao Ke.In order to prevent the situation in Hebei from collapsing, Liu Yanqing was specifically told to stay in Daming, just in case someone could come out to clean up the situation.Unexpectedly, the crown prince was still in the Daming Mansion, and Ke Lie conspired to cause "rebellion" by making falsehoods real, and even colluded with the Liao people to invade the bandits, leading to the collapse of the Hebei camp.Unintentionally 'inserting' willows, Liu Yanqing's idler is really useful.It's just that, to place the responsibility for Hebei's corruption on Zhao Ke's head, Liu Yanqing and Tong Guan are still needed.

Zhao You's eyes lit up. According to the military report of the Privy Council, the Hebei camp was defeated by the Liao soldiers, and most of the more than [-] soldiers fled.Because most of the family members of the Hebei Army were in Daming, a considerable part of these fleeing troops must be fleeing towards Daming, and it happened that Liu Yanqing was used to clean up the mess.

"The old prime minister was far-sighted, and he advised me not to urge Liu Yanqing to go to Beijing as soon as possible." Zhao You showed a smile on his face. Although Liu Yanqing has always been called mediocre, he has presided over Hebei camp for many years and defeated the army. It fits the bill.He stared at the arrows marking the main force of the Liao Army on the map, and thought to himself, except for Gaoyang Pass and some insignificant fortresses, none of the important towns in Hebei has been lost, and there are as many as [-] to [-] Forbidden troops stationed in Hejian Zhending. However, if the Liao army hastily went deep, it would be a chance to win a big victory.

Zhao Xingde is in Hebei, and his teachers and friends in Beijing, Li Gefei, Chao Buzhi, Chen Dong, Zhang Bing, etc., are all looking around for the situation at the front.In Li's mansion, the maid rolling the curtain also comforted Li Ruoxue and said: "Miss, Mr. Zhao is an auspicious man, and he will come back safely. You should go to bed earlier." "Yes," Li Ruoxue agreed, but stood up Come on, the flowers and trees outside the window are still spring buds, and the dry branches are trembling slightly in the wind. It seems that if the north wind is a little stronger, the blossoming snow accumulated on the branches will fall to the ground, just like the city of Hejian. Dangerous situation.The spring was cold, and a gust of cold wind came in through the window. The young lady was as thin as a white plum in the cold wind. The roller blind hurriedly found a cloak to put on her, and sighed with her.

In the Rouyi Hall of the White Jade Palace, Zhao Huan was walking back and forth in unlined clothes, but when he heard the door slam, he nervously pulled Qing Nu who came in and asked, "Is there any news about Mr. Zhao?" Qing Nu frowned. Rubbing his forehead, he said, "Princess, forgive me. This servant only heard that Liao thieves were besieging Hejian. Eunuch Tong is in Hejian City, but there is no news of Mr. Zhao. Since he is Eunuch Tong's subordinate, he must also be in Hejian. Let's go." Her eyes slightly avoided Zhao Huan's gaze, but in fact, where a court lady went to inquire about those military and state affairs, she just slapped around the eunuchs in the imperial study, Zhao Xingde, a Confucian scholar who didn't even have an official position, let alone There may be the slightest message. "Hmm..." Zhao Huan frowned deeply, and sighed softly, wishing that the auspicious person would have his own appearance.

That night, the cold wind was bleak, and from Bianjing to Hebei, I don't know how many people couldn't sleep at night.

In the next few days, the news from Hebei continued. Generally speaking, the main force of the Liao army seemed to stay in the Hejian area.Tong Guan tidied up the troops in the Hebei camp, and tried his best to repay the emperor's grace with his merits and crimes, and fought against hundreds of thousands of Liao army.According to Hejian's military newspaper every day, the Liao army has been bluntly attacking the city without any advantage.Zhao You also gradually calmed down the anger of wanting to punish Tongguan at the beginning, remembering his past achievements, not only ordered him to continue to stand firm, but also cut off the Khitan people's retreat, and ordered the Privy Council and Yushitai to suspend the impeachment of the Hebei camp mutiny and Khitan Responsibility for invaders.

In the territory of Daming Mansion, dozens of riders retreated from Hejian all the way to Daming. The horses were almost exhausted, and the people were not fully armored.Thinking of the mighty tens of thousands of troops marching from Daming to Hejian at the beginning, it is like a world of difference. "It was all caused by that eunuch." Tian Shizhen, the commander of the Jingsai Second Army, hadn't closed his eyes for two days and one night, his face was full of tiredness, and the general's helmet was also lost, so he randomly found an ordinary soldier to wear it on his head .The camp mutinied, and the situation was out of control. As soon as the Khitan army appeared, he did not want to die, so he led the group of personal soldiers and retreated southward. Whether he fell into the grass as a bandit or asked to attack the Khitan to pay for his crime, he planned to go to the Daming Mansion to see the situation first. Make another decision.

"General, there seem to be dozens of people blocking the official road ahead." In normal battles, the official army sometimes guards key passes to intercept soldiers who flee without authorization, and they can even behead them on the spot.When they heard that someone was blocking the way, the soldiers who followed Tian Shizhen's retreat became a little nervous. They had all done the killing of deserters before.

"His 'grandmother', he doesn't need to give his surname by name. If the situation is not right, he will rush to kill him." Tian Shizhen is not the one who kills without a fight. He was ruthless, and first sent a soldier to take a look , others took out their sabers, bows and arrows, and prepared to seize the road.Tian Shizhen was furious, when the soldiers came back and said: "In front, Mr. Liu is deployed to meet us personally, and reorganize the camp!"

"What?" Tian Shizhen was overjoyed, and immediately lashed the horse with a whip, surpassed all the soldiers, and rode alone to the smiling Liu Yanqing. Before the horse stopped, Tian Shizhen shouted loudly: "Marshal , The last general has suffered unjust injustice!" He got off the saddle, and when he looked up again, tears were streaming down his face.