At the end of April, Wang Xiao arrived outside Kaifeng City.

At this time, Zongze stayed behind in Tokyo and led his troops to guard Kaifeng. A few days ago, I also talked about Kaifeng Mansion at this time with people, and everyone praised Zongze. According to legend, at this time, Kaifeng City was peacefully guarded inside and outside, with millions of troops

To defend the city, the Jin people should also avoid the enemy's attack. Wang Xiaolie had fought in the war himself and knew that these words were not true. The shipping on the Bianhe River had been cut off for several months. Can he really afford to support millions of soldiers?

Zongze is naturally great, and his glory is not only in this era, but also shines through the ages. But no matter how great Zongze is, he cannot change the helplessness of reality. After Kaifeng City was attacked by the Jin Army, it was already in ruins. How could it be done in just one or two years?

It can be restored. Due to disrepair, the Bianhe River, the lifeline of Kaifeng, has greatly reduced its transportation capacity and even stopped flowing for several months. Kaifeng is very miserable at this time. The army is suffering, and the people of Kaifeng are suffering even more.

There was still one mile away from Xinzheng Gate, and the roadside was crowded with people. There was an incense table in front, and people were holding wine there to stop Wang Xiao's hunting horses.

Wang Xiaolie dismounted, picked up the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp. Looking at the people on the roadside, they were excited from the bottom of their hearts. After many days, they finally had a clear victory and truly defended a city.

The people's life is hard, but it is still much better than when the Jin army attacked. It is better to be a peace dog than to live in chaos. This sentence can only be truly understood by those who have truly experienced the pain of displacement and seen the roads full of withered bones.

Understand. On the hundreds of miles journey from Gong County to Kaifeng Prefecture, Wang Xiaolie saw many corpses lying on the roadside and saw many uninhabited villages, and he knew it in his heart.

The people are lovely, and they respect from the bottom of their hearts the generals who truly defended their country and won the war.

As they arrived outside the city gate, they saw umbrellas gathered in front of them. There were civil and military officials and ceremonial guards waiting there early. This was the first time Wang Xiaolie had seen such a scene, and he couldn't help but pause.

As soon as Wang Xiao Xie stopped, Shao Ling, Xie Linong, Cao Zhiyan, Yu Huan and others beside him also stopped, and it was a bit chaotic for a while.

This is when Zongze came out of the city. When he arrived at Bajiao Town, someone from the city came to inform him. However, Wang Xiaolie didn’t know what he should do, and no one came to teach him. When he arrived outside the city gate, he hesitated for a moment.

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Seeing that the team was in chaos, Wang Xiaolie hurriedly adjusted his posture, dismounted and led his horse forward. When the others saw it, they also dismounted.

Under the umbrella, an old man with white beard and white hair saw Wang Xiaolie coming and walked forward quickly.

At this time, Wang Xiaolie could still tell the color of his official uniform, and he knew that it was Zongze who was coming. He hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "Wang Xiaolie of Ruzhou, greeting Liubei! Liubei came out to welcome you, I am not worthy of it!"

Zongze took Wang Xiaolie's hand and said with a smile: "You are the hero who won the battle, how could you not come out to welcome him? In the past few months, the Jin army's fierce flames spread all over the river, and the west of Beijing was restless. It all depends on your loyalty

You are so brave that you stopped the Jin people from Gong County and returned with a great victory. A young hero like you should be welcomed out by an old man and let the heroes of the world know about you. As long as you can defeat the Jin people, you will be a hero of the country!"

Wang Xiaolie didn't even dare. But Zongze held his hand tightly, preventing him from bowing down.

Zongze is in his seventies, with white beard and hair. He has not been in good health recently, and his complexion is a little gloomy. However, he makes people feel very comfortable when talking and laughing. His official uniform is neat and dignified.

In Wang Xiaolie's eyes, this was the first time he saw officials dressed neatly at this time, just like in movies and TV shows in his previous life, looking like gods. All of this seemed like a dream, somewhat unreal.

After the salute, Zongze said: "There are many troops stationed in the city. You are new here and are not familiar with everyone, so the troops and horses are stationed at Tielin camp in the southwest corner. There are no troops stationed there anymore, and there are few households around. Let the soldiers go first. Have a rest there, and wine and meat will be sent to the left-behind mansion later. You and a few generals should follow me back to the left-behind mansion. I have prepared wine and meat there to catch the wind for you."

Wang Xiaolie hurriedly thanked him and ordered Yang Shen and Wang Zhong to go to Tielin camp with their troops and horses. There was a ready-made camp there, and they could be stationed just by tidying it up. Wang Xiaolie had five to six hundred people, and such a large camp was enough. Stationed.

At this time, Wang Xiaolie was sure that Kaifeng Mansion definitely did not have a million-strong army. What is the size of a million people? It was more than the original garrison in Kaifeng, so how could there be free camps? Zongze had only two or three soldiers at most who could fight. Thousands of people.

When he arrived at Liushou Mansion, Zongze immediately ordered people to take gold and silver as Wang Xiaolie's reward for the battle. He also used the blank official notice in his hand to confer Wang Xiaolie as Xiu Wu Lang, and he announced his praise to others and the post of commander. .The remaining generals asked Wang Xiaolie to go back and write official documents to reward them based on their merits.

Wang Xiaolie accepted the official complaint, and for a moment he didn't know whether he should be happy or unhappy. This was a time of war, and these official positions were not worth much. If he made meritorious service in the future and continued to serve in the Song Dynasty court, the official complaint would naturally be Useful. Continue to perform meritorious service and continue to be promoted until the end. This is the case for Yue Fei and others, who have been promoted to Taiwei. If they were not in the Song Dynasty, these officials would naturally not be available.

At this time, there are probably dozens of people like Wang Xiaolie in Kaifeng City. From the memory of his previous life, Wang Xiaolie really doesn’t have a good impression of the Song Dynasty court at this time. Accepting the official complaint from the Song Dynasty seems to be nothing. Something to be happy about.

After all the busy work, Zongze ordered people to bring wine and went to the left-behind mansion to celebrate the success of the king's night hunt.

Wang Xiaolie looked at the people accompanying him and found that he only recognized one Han Shizhong, and Ding Jin, who had returned long ago, was not among them. He did not recognize any of the other generals and did not know their identities.

Zongze was guarding Bianjing alone. Apart from him, there were no other important officials here. Most of those who stayed behind to celebrate the victory were military generals, and there were only a few civil servants.

After three rounds of drinking, Zongze said to Wang Xiaoxing: "I saw your Majesty leading the rebel army to serve the King many years ago. He was indeed a very special person. Unfortunately, he lost his life in a war. He and I were ministers in the same palace. , because Ding You resigned from office and returned to his hometown. The Jin army invaded, so he took the order to gather the rebel army to serve the king. His loyalty is commendable."

"Alas -" At this point, Zongze sighed. It was probably because he was thinking of himself that he felt sad.

From last winter to this summer, the Jin army's attacks continued. Although there was no Jin army to attack Kaifeng, there were still many battles in the outer areas of Huazhou and Zhengzhou. The battle in Zhengzhou was unfavorable, and Huazhou was repeated several times, which exhausted Zongze. Mental strength. In the past two months, I feel that my body is not as good as before. This time Wang Xiaolie won a great victory, Zongze thought, and wrote to the court again to persuade Zhao Gou to return to the capital. But looking at the current situation in the court, Zhao Gou is afraid that he will do it again Words.

What else could be done? The emperor returned to the capital, and the army and the people united as one to fight to the death with the Jin army. Restoring the old land and reorganizing his homeland was Zongze's only wish now. But Zhao Gou refused to return to the capital and spent all his energy, so what else could he do? use?

After chatting for a while, Zongze said to Wang Xiaolie: "Now in April, the Jin army is returning north. They were born in a bitter cold land and cannot tolerate the heat. They will return north when summer comes. By May and June, the weather will When it is hot, you should reorganize your troops and horses, cross the Yellow River north, and take back the land between the two rivers. You will train your troops and horses diligently these days, and you will make great achievements when the time comes. This is the time to employ people, and the time for a good man to make contributions should not be wasted. "

Wang Xiaolie said yes. But he knew in his heart that Zongze's wish would be difficult to realize. There were only tens of thousands of troops in the capital. After crossing the river and reaching the plains of Hebei, how could they resist the Jin army from coming again? Things in the country were not in order. Well, where is the strength to restore Heshuo? But although Zongze has a high reputation, he only stays in Tokyo and has nothing to say about the affairs of the imperial court.

At this time, Li Gang had given up, and Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan were busy. Together with Zhao Gou, they only wanted to make peace with the Jin army, but they had no intention of fighting a decisive battle with the Jin army. No one supported Zongze's idea.

After drinking for a while, Zongze began to talk more. He said to Wang Xiaolian: "In May and June, Kaifeng Prefecture's soldiers and horses went on the northern expedition. Wang Yan and other troops crossed the Yellow River from Huazhou to capture, defend, and dredge. Ping Ting Prefecture. Wuma Shan Ma Kuo and others attack Ming Prefecture, Qingyuan and Zhending Prefecture from Daming Prefecture. The remaining armies of Kaifeng Prefecture advance separately to capture all the land in Hebei Province. Are there any generals you are familiar with in Kaifeng City? , let’s march together then.”
Chapter completed!