It was not until the second half of the night that the people outside the Xuande Gate Tower of Danei dispersed. Zhao Ke was unable to bear the disturbance and never slept all night. When it was dawn, Zhao Ke was extremely tired and was about to go to bed. When the inner minister reported to Prime Minister Zhao Zhifu for a visit. Zhao Ke had to tell him that Zhao Zhifu was welcomed. He forced himself to comfort Zhao Xiang. Last night, the scholars and the people made trouble and asked the people to behead Zhao Zhifu and Tong Guan. Tong Guan had already knelt down and cried bitterly in front of the official family. The idea of ​​sending envoys to discuss peace with the capable official family was in Zhao Ke's heart, and he had a little more favor for these two ministers who had received him on his behalf.

Zhao Zhifu hurried into the imperial study room. When he saw the eyes of the official family were covered with bloodshot, he felt relieved and rested. He lay on the ground and apologized: "I deserve to die, let Your Majesty be frightened!" Zhao Ke hurriedly helped him up and sighed: "The old prime minister is devoted to the country, regardless of praise or criticism, and discuss peace to peace in the world. These scholars do not know the general and take off their anger on the prime minister, alas--"

Zhao Ke sighed. The ancestors of the Song Dynasty were good at admiring scholars, and those who did not kill or speak out, and there were many scholars who beat the drums and heard the drums, which won the hearts of the people, but many of them dealt with. In order to prevent the civil unrest, even the envoys who negotiated peace did not dare to go out of the city gate, and only used a basket to get under the city wall. Thinking of this, Zhao Ke's red eyes showed a hint of resentment.

"These scholars are stupid and ignorant, but they still disturb the government affairs." Zhao Zhifu said carefully, observing Zhao Ke's expression, "The old minister passed by Xuande Tower and saw a mess. The drum was knocked out by the sound of the drum. The incident of ramming the palace gate was rare in history and has not happened in a thousand years. Kaifeng Prefecture reported that last night, there were still many rogues plundering markets and disturbing neighbors. Although this dynasty had a ancestral system of favoring scholars and opening up the road of speech, the old minister was worried that if the enemy was in front of him, he would be afraid of angering the Liao army, and the other would be afraid of becoming a elbow." At this point, he paused slightly, looking like he wanted to speak but stopped.

Zhao Zhifu had a white hair and a sad look in his eyes. Tong Guan stood aside and said to himself: "It turns out that Jiang is still old. Let's see what he has to do? Although he has a common hatred for the enemy, he should not disturb the methods of the Sa family."

Zhao Ke also heard it and asked, "What are the good plans for the Prime Minister?"

"The Liao army invaded Hebei in the south, and it was unstoppable. Even Wang Yan was defeated and died. Only peace can be settled. If peace is not discussed, the world will be in danger. The scholars like to make a comment and do not know the difficulties of being in charge. In the eyes of the old ministers, Zhao Zhifu nodded slightly and said in a deep voice, "Since they claimed that Dayi was going to recover Hebei, they would go with the flow and recruit thousands of Ding Zhuang as the new army to help defend the city, and gave the name Baoyi Army. Deng Sujia, the Minister of Rites, recruited Hebei Pacification Envoy. The Baoyi Army was governed by Zhang Shuye, the chief manager of the Henan Cavalry Army, and stationed between the inner city and the outer city. They gave official positions to the scholars who refused to be harmonious, and all the envoys would enter the Baoyi Army. One way is to restrain these scholars, and the other way is to ask them to leave the city to fight with the Liao army..."

Although Zhao Zhifu's voice was low, Tong Guan was shocked when he heard it and thought that it was such a plan that was a desperate family. A trace of brilliance flowed out of Zhao Zhifu's eyes. The origin of this trick was what he thought of when he couldn't fall asleep last night. He read the biography of Zhang Tang at night. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, Doctor Di Shan offended Zhang Tang and advocated the resumption of troops. Therefore, Emperor Wu of Han sent Di Shan to the north to guard a beacon tower. More than a month later, the Huns invaded the border and killed Di Shan's head and left.

Zhao Ke was aware of it, frowned and thought for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "The peace talks cannot be delayed. The newly established Baoyi Army will give the scholars a chance to serve the country. Please make good arrangements for the Prime Minister, and don't make the people true."

Zhao Zhifu bowed and said, "The old minister obeys the order."

These scholars dared to ask for the beheading of Zhao Zhifu last night, which made him really angry. Zhao Zhifu had long been scheming in his heart and must not be rude to him. Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, he has regarded himself as the righteous. Although the Xia Kingdom occupied Guanzhong, scholars still liked to compare themselves with the Han Dynasty and the Khitan and the Xiongnu. The Song Dynasty is weak today, scholars love to read historical events in the Han Dynasty to relieve the depression in their hearts. Even Zhao Zhifu cannot avoid the common ground. Zhao Zhifu especially likes to read the dynasty of Emperor Wu of Han, and there are other reasons. Emperor Wu of Han has been in power for decades, and many outstanding people in the court have emerged. The political struggles and party struggles are numerous, the ups and downs, and the cruel methods are even more powerful than those in recent times. Reading reliable history, you can learn from the wisdom and power of the predecessors, and use them in mixed ways. This is a secret that Zhao Zhifu is unknown to everyone.

After Zhao Zhifu stepped down, Zhao Ke was silent for a while and asked, "Taiwei Tong, are you sure about peace talks?"

Tong Guan served the emperors of the two dynasties in the imperial study room and immediately replied: "Your Majesty condescends and discusses peace, and only needs to treat the Diyi with sincerity, as Sima Wenzheng said, even animals, wood and stone will be moved, let alone the humans. The people in the market are ignorant and provoked by others. Just waiting for the Liao people to retreat and avoid a military disaster, you will naturally understand Your Majesty's painstaking efforts and are grateful."

............

A rising sun gradually rose in the horizon in the east. Because of the severe cold climate, the moat had already dried up. The Khitan cavalry began to drive the army to fill the city moat with earth and stones on their backs. The Song army guarding the outer city fired crossbows, arrows, cannons and stones to stop it. In the past ten days, the Liao army built artillery towers for iron barrel heavy artillery while driving the army to fill the trenches.

Bianliang City is 40 miles long and has 18 city gates, namely Nanxunmen, Chenzhou Gate, Caihe East Shuimen, Dailou Gate, Caihe West Shuimen, East Shuimen, Xinsong Gate, Xincao Gate, Northeast Shuimen, Xinzheng Gate, Lize Gate, Wansheng Gate, Guzi Gate, Northwest Shuimen, Chenqiao Gate, Fengqiu Gate, Xinshuo Gate, and Weizhou Gate. After hundreds of years of operation, each city gate has a three-level urn city. Only four main gates have only two-level urn city in order to facilitate entry and exit of the imperial road. There is also a Hulong River that is more than ten feet wide outside the city.

Because the city of Bianliang was too big, the Liao army vanguard came in a fierce momentum, but did not immediately attack the city from all directions. The Emperor of Liao was still in Chenqiaoyi, who was still fifty miles away. The commander of the left army, Yelu Bijie and the general of the North Court, led the side troops to the city of Bianliang first, stationed in the north and southeast of the city, and captured a large number of Song people who had not escaped nearby as signing troops.

"Mr. Li, it seems that the Liao army brigade is still crossing the river and has not yet arrived at the city of Bianliang." Feng Cheng whispered. Li Ruobing said in his throat without showing any expression and whispered in his throat: "The Lord of Liao is in Chenqiao Post." After indicating the identity of the envoy, dozens of followers were left at the city. Feng Cheng and Li Ruobing secretly checked the truth along the way, not knowing whether they were secretly or the escort Liao army was too careless, so they did not interfere. After walking along the post road for most of the hour, they actually headed towards Chenqiao Post fifty miles away.

The cavalry who could fight in the city of Bianliang were on duty in front of the imperial court. The duty of the guards in the palace was to guard the royal family and they would not go out of the city to fight without the imperial order. There were many cavalrymen in the Liao Kingdom outside the city, so they came to the wind. Since a large number of Liao cavalry crossed the river, the Song army had been like blind people touching elephants to the Liao army near Bianliang. As for the position of the Liao emperor, it was even more unclear.

Li Ruobing and Feng Cheng headed north. Along the way, they saw the Khitan camps with strict precautions and cavalry were everywhere, but they did not rob the grass valley as usual. Instead, they met a group of people from Song State transporting food and grass to the Liao army camps. The people were not escorted by Khitan cavalry. Li Ruobing was surprised and could not understand why these people supported the enemy. He did not know that the Liao army captured all the young and strong men from nearby villages as signing troops, and only the elderly, weak, women and children were left in the village. If the food and grass were not sent to the camp, these young men would be freezing to death.

The imperial camp of the Emperor of Liao was set up in Chenqiao Post in the north of the city, waiting for more than 100,000 troops to carry iron barrels and heavy artillery, siege cars, supplies and food to cross the river in sequence. This is because Yelu Dashi was very familiar with the terrain of this area. When he was on the Song Dynasty, he passed by Chenqiao Post, which was built in the yellow robe of Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, and used the name of nostalgia, and wrote several poems that sighed. It is rare that the Khitan envoy admired the Taizu of this dynasty so much. The officials of the Song Dynasty made an exception and allowed him to live in Chenqiao Post for two more days. Therefore, Yelu Dashi knew the terrain of Chenqiao Post. In addition, to attack the city of Bianliang, iron barrel cannons were crucial. In the Song Dynasty, only a well-built post road could carry 10,000 kilograms of iron barrel cannons. He stationed in Chenqiao Post and waited for the artillery battalion to come to meet. The infantry and cavalry army of the imperial camp could arrive at the city of Bianliang at the same time as the iron barrel cannon.

Before the arrival of the envoy of Song State, Yelu Dashi first received news from the city of Bianliang. Yelu Bijie and Tiemuge had reported each other that the city had been in trouble for a long time, with fire and drums making noise until midnight. Yelu Dashi was surprised in his heart. Even if the reinforcements of Song State were huge, there was no such bluff. It was not until dawn that he received Tong Guan's secret report that Yelu Dashi knew everything about Bianliang City.

Tong Guan secretly reported and offered suggestions. The scholars of the society were stubborn and specifically incited the people to be hostile to the Northern Dynasties. The secret report listed eleven officials in the city who were in charge of the war. In addition to the Privy Councilor Shao Wu, the Minister of Rites Deng Su, the Minister of Works Wu Angying, the Minister of War Xu Rubi, the Minister of War, the Censor of the Ministry of War, the Censor of Pan Yuanjie, the Censor of the Supervision Censor Huang Boyu, and other people were all capable talents who have emerged in the court in recent years and were the backbone of the society. Tong Guan suggested that Emperor Song beheading these people to show sincerity. If Emperor Song was concerned about the words of others, he would send these bone-headed officials as envoys. The Liao Kingdom was charged with disrespect for Yelu Dashi and disrupting peace talks and took action to remove him.

"Do you want to kill someone with a knife?" Yelu Dashi sneered slightly, "What a cruel eunuch. After the city of Bianliang is broken, you will tell you who is the master and who is the slave." Yelu Dashi also knew a little about the grudge between Tong Guan and Lishe.
Chapter completed!