The fall of Yanjing City not only caused a stir among the people in the capital, but also shocked the court. It implemented the ostrich policy for nearly a year. When the war finally came, both the emperor Zhao Ji and Wang Fu and other important officials had to pull their heads out of the sand and face the upcoming regime crisis.

This is an eternal theorem. When an authority causes a huge crisis due to improper operation, its power legitimacy will be widely questioned. In this case, the emperor who holds the power of the prime minister will be in a difficult position to avoid.

Early in the morning, in the side hall of Xuanzheng Hall, Zhao Ji convened an emergency military and political discussion. All dozens of officials of third rank and above participated in the discussion to discuss how to deal with the crisis caused by the Jin invasion.

At this time, the Song Dynasty court was internal and external troubles. Although it obtained a large amount of Liao wealth from Yanjing City, it was consumed in less than half a year. Now not only the national treasury is seriously empty, but even the emperor's inner treasury is not enough. The court's finances are extremely difficult, and even the daily military expenditure is difficult to support. The court cannot prepare for war in Hebei on a large scale, nor can it deal with the military provocations of the Western Xia, which is largely due to financial constraints.

"Dear friends, now that things have come to this point, I don't want to hold anyone responsible. Let's talk about it! How should we deal with the invasion of the Jin Kingdom?"

Zhao Ji's voice was not high and his expression seemed very tired. The invasion of the Jin Kingdom brought him tremendous pressure and made him restless. He could no longer deal with the crisis that was sweeping around and could only seek plans from his ministers.

There was silence in the hall. At this critical moment, everyone remained silent. They did not want their remarks to affect the final decision, and no one could bear the responsibility.

Zhao Ji had no one spoke for a while, and couldn't help but feel a little displeased, so he said to Gao Qiu: "Sir Gao, let's talk first!"

Gao Qiu was named, but he had no choice but to stand up and said, "Your Majesty, it's actually only eight words to deal with invasion. 'The soldiers come and the generals come and the water comes and the soil floods.' Since the Jin soldiers are coming, we will send troops to deal with it. It's nothing more than two lines, one Hebei line and one Hedong line. The Hebei line has deployed 100,000 fang troops, but the combat effectiveness of the fang army is weak. I suggest that 80,000 more imperial troops will be added to Hebei. I recommend that Liu Yanqing be the main general and lead the army to the north to defend. In addition, the Hedong line is mainly Taiyuan defense. At present, Taiyuan Prefecture has 20,000 elite troops, and the army is slightly insufficient. I suggest that 20,000 more troops will be added to Taiyuan Prefecture. However, Yao Pingzhong is a little weak and has insufficient decision in the face of danger. I suggest that we replace people."

Wang Fu snorted heavily and stood up and said, "Liu Yanqing was defeated repeatedly. Can such a defeated general be of great use? Taiwei Gao, now is a critical moment in the country. I hope you don't have any personal emotions."

Zhao Ji also heard that Gao Qiu had selfish thoughts, and he felt a little unhappy, so he waved his hand to signal Gao Qiu to sit down and said, "Let's talk about other ministers!"

At this time, the prince Zhao Huan, who was sitting in front of the jade steps, said: "Father, can you let me propose a plan!"

At this time, Zhao Huan took the initiative to express his opinion, which made Zhao Ji quite pleased, and nodded and said, "Prince, please tell me!"

Zhao Huan stood up and said, "In fact, the two plans of Taiwei Gao just now coincided with Erchen. They mainly strengthened the defense of the two lines, one was the Hebei line and the other was the Hedong line. Hebei was the three-sided defense, Zhending Prefecture, Xiongba and Hejian Prefecture, 80,000 imperial guards and 100,000 wing troops cooperated, and the number of people was almost enough. The Hedong line was mainly Taiyuan defense war, but Taiyuan was only the second defense. The first defense should be in Daizhou, and add 20,000 troops to Taiyuan, and then transfer the 20,000 troops to the defense of the Western Xia to the Yanmen Pass and Tudun Pass in Daizhou. This is Erchen's opinion."

There was a lot of discussion in the hall, and the prince did not mention the person who led the troops, and he was still a little impressed! Zhao Ji frowned, "Who should the emperor think that should lead the troops?"

"This" Zhao Huan was hesitant.

Cai Jing said on the side: "Your Highness, now is a critical moment. Your Highness is just speaking out and proposes a proper plan to relieve Your Majesty's worries!"

Zhao Ji nodded, "Cao Cai is right, the emperor just speaks bluntly, I will listen."

Zhao Huan had no choice but to bow and say, "My son thinks that in order to solve the danger in front of him, he also has to go out of the mountain!"

The hall was silent for a moment, and Zhao Ji felt a little bitter. Is there no one in the Song Dynasty except Master Zhong?

After a while, Zhao Ji slowly said: "Master Zhong is old and probably has no energy to serve the country anymore. Does the emperor have any other plans?"

Zhao Ji could not accept Mr. Zhong coming out again, and he couldn't stand his face. Of course, Zhao Huan understood that his father could not accept Mr. Zhong coming out again, so he said, "My son has another plan."

"What plan do you think?"

"Father, I recommend Zhang Shuye as the general manager of the Hejian Prefecture, responsible for the defense of Hebei's eastern front, Zhong Shizhong is the general manager of Xiongba, responsible for the central defense of Xiongzhou and Bazhou, and Liu Guangshi is the general manager of Zhending Prefecture, responsible for the defense of Zhending Prefecture on the western front of Hebei Road. I recommend Kang Wang as the general manager of Xiangzhou, and Yun Wang of Daming Prefecture is responsible for the second defense line of Hebei Road, and deploy the 80,000-flank troops of the west route of Beijing and Kaifeng Prefecture on the second defense line. In this way, the two defense lines of Hebei Road can ensure the capital is safe."

Zhao Ji nodded, he could accept this plan, and he asked again: "What about the deployment of Hedong Road?"

"Father, Hedong Road is the key. As Gao Taiwei said, Yao Pingzhong is a little gentle, brave and decisive, and it is not appropriate to defend the city. Erchen suggested appoint Yao Pingzhong as the general manager of Daizhou and lead 20,000 troops to be deployed on the front line of Yanmen Pass. If Yanmen Pass is broken by Jin soldiers, Yao Pingzhong can lead his army to retreat to Jingxing, or even retreat to Luoyang. However, Taiyuan must send Yonglie to guard the future. Erchen recommended Li Yanqing to lead 20,000 Jingzhao troops to Taiyuan."

This plan aroused a lot of discussion, and Wang Fu asked: "Your Highness, Shaanxi Road is also facing the threat from Xixia. If Li Yanqing is transferred to Taiyuan, who will be the chief manager on the Shaanxi Road?"

Zhao Huan smiled slightly, "The national strength of Xixia has not yet been restored, and it may not be possible to attack Shaanxi Road. The Shaanxi Road Transport Commander Liu Wei can temporarily serve as the Shaanxi Road Defense Envoy, and lead the defense of the Shaanxi Road armies against Xixia. In addition, I suggest that I add the title of General of the Seidao to be the General and take charge of Jingzhao Prefecture."

This is undoubtedly a very subtle solution. Currently, Zhong Shidao is in Jingzhao Prefecture to retire, so he has given Zhong Shidao a false position as a general. With his prestige, it is more than enough to guard Jingzhao Prefecture. Moreover, Jingzhao Prefecture is not a front line and does not require too many troops to garrison. Moreover, Zhong Shidao a false position is actually in a state of retreating from office, which does not involve any embarrassing matters.

At this time, everyone looked at the emperor Zhao Ji. Zhao Ji thought for a long time and finally nodded, "Yao Pingzhong did not need to guard Yanmen Pass, but was directly transferred to Xijing to stay. He led 20,000 Taiyuan troops to station in Luoyang. Li Yanqing was renamed the commander-in-chief of Hedong Road and the defensive envoy, and led 40,000 Jingzhao troops to guard Taiyuan and be fully responsible for the defense of Hedong Road. The prince's other plans can be adopted!"

Zhao Ji knew very well that Li Yanqing could not command Yao Pingzhong. Leaving Yao Pingzhong on Hedong Road would only hinder Li Yanqing and would not be conducive to the defense of Hedong Road, so he simply asked him to defend Xijing Luoyang.

Military and political discussions only made decisions in the general direction, but detailed plans such as specific military mobilization and logistics supplementation still require the Privy Council and the Ministry of War to make plans. However, rescue troops were like putting out fires. Zhao Ji ordered Gao Qiu to come up with detailed plans within three days.

But for the court, the deployment of the army was relatively simple, and what was really difficult to solve was the financial difficulties of the court, which was related to the military expenditure of hundreds of thousands of troops. Zhao Ji immediately called Wang Fu, Cai Jing and the crown prince Zhao Huan to the imperial study room to discuss the problem of insufficient military expenditure.

"Gong-gong Cai talks about Zhizhengtang's plan!"

In the imperial study, Zhao Ji still seemed very tired, but perhaps because of the result of the military deployment, Zhao Ji was a little more confident in speaking.

Cai Jing had already prepared the plan. He bowed and said calmly: "Zhizhengtang held a consultation on government affairs for three consecutive days, and has drafted a long-term plan and short-term emergency plan."

"First talk about the long-term plan!"

"The long-term plan will start with tax sources, including increasing the official money for official materials such as wine, salt, tea, pig iron, etc., and at the same time increasing the corresponding commercial tax. The Ministry of Revenue has estimated that if it increases by 10%, the court's annual income will increase from 60 million guan to 70 million guan. If the land tax, household tax and exemption money will be increased by 10% at the same time, the court's income and expenditure will basically be balanced. In addition, increasing the copper and silver output will help increase the issuance of Huizi and is also a long-term way to make money."

"Okay, we will discuss the long-term plan slowly in the future. Now I am more concerned about short-term emergency plans." Zhao Ji interrupted Cai Jing with a little impatiently. He is now more concerned about how to raise the more than 10 million chunks of military expenditure urgently needed.

"The short-term emergency plan was drafted by Wang Xianggong, so please ask Wang Xianggong to explain it!"

Wang Fu bowed and said, "Report to Your Majesty, short-term emergency plans can start from four aspects. The first is to transfer all the deposits of silver mines in the south into the capital. After statistics from Beishi, there are about 1.5 million taels of silver. According to the current market price of silver, it can be exchanged from the private market to 5.8 million guan, or use it as collateral to directly issue 10 million guan.

The second is to sell light goods. Although Zuozangku is short of money, the cloth and silk are sufficient, and some can be transferred to the merchant. Weichen estimated that he can raise about three million guan.

The third option is to use gold for money. Now the amount of copper coins in the private sector is very sufficient, but the gold is in serious shortage. As long as we take out 100,000 taels of gold, we can exchange four million guan.

The fourth plan is to issue one million guan as ten coins. In this way, four-pronged approaches can raise 15 million guan in the short term, and solve the military expenditure of 500,000 troops for half a year."

Zhao Ji looked at the prince Zhao Huan again, "What do the emperor think?"

Zhao Huan hurriedly bowed and said, "Issuing big money is too harmful, which will lead to a surge in grain prices. I believe that it is more convenient to borrow money directly from major money shops with silver and gold as collateral. In addition, selling light goods is also a good way, but the long-term plan still needs to be discussed, and the tax is too heavy."

"The long-term plan will be discussed again. Now Zhizhengtang will raise military expenditures as soon as possible according to the prince's plan. All progress will be reported directly to the prince."

"I obey the order!"

Cai Jing and Wang Fu hurried away, but Zhao Ji kept the prince Zhao Huan. He asked for a moment of silence: "How could the emperor think of letting King Kang and Prince Yun take over the second defensive line?"

"The son minister mainly considers that the royal family is in charge of Hebei, which can inspire the morale of the soldiers of the three armies."

"That's how you think?"

"The son minister really thinks this way, and he dare not hide it from his father."

Zhao Ji looked at Zhao Huan deeply, then turned around and asked, "Why is the battle situation of Hedong Road more critical than Hebei Road?"

"Your father, it's June now, and Bianliang still has natural dangers to rely on. Even if the Jin soldiers break through the two defense lines of Hebei Road, they will not be able to threaten the capital for the time being. Hedong Road is different. Once Hedong Road is lost, the entire west of Tongguan will be dangerous. Moreover, the Jin Kingdom takes Hedong Road as its foundation. In winter, the Yellow River freezes, and the Jin soldiers will march eastward, and the capital will be in danger at that time."

Zhao Ji sighed for a while and said, "The situation is so serious, it is my fault. If the situation continues to deteriorate, I can only issue a decree to abdicate myself!"

Zhao Huan was so scared that he knelt down and kowtowed, "It's the son minister who failed to share his father's worries. All responsibilities should be borne by the son minister, and it has nothing to do with the father's emperor!"

Zhao Ji suddenly felt extremely tired, so he waved his hand, "Get back! I am very tired and want to rest."

"Please rest assured, my son will give up!"

...........
Chapter completed!