. At present, the Great Song Dynasty has about 300,000 troops within the Lianghu and Jiangnan roads, and there are about 100,000 follow-up troops that can be mobilized. The Jin army invested nearly 400,000 troops, and the number of troops crossing the Yangtze River alone exceeded 250,000, plus the men and horses that contained Sichuan, the total number of men and horses mobilized by the Jin army in the southern invasion this time was not less than 500,000. Therefore, from the current point of view, it is obviously not advisable to fight hard with the Jin army, and it is more feasible to adopt the plan proposed by Yang Yan before, attacking the Jin army from the Yangtze River and the sea, and cutting off the north-south communication. Because the water army is the only advantage of the Song army over Jin at present.

Therefore, the Governor's Mansion formulated a three-way march plan, the main force of the Jin army is currently concentrated in the Jianghuai line, and the defenders in the western part of Beijing are only more than 60,000, so first of all, the Song army sent troops from Xiangyang Mansion to attack Nanyang and attract the strength of the Jin army. This route will send 70,000 to 80,000 troops, which will be led by Li Xianzhong.

Then send a force of men and horses to advance east along the Yangtze River by land and water, and capture the quarrying or Wujiang as strongholds, you can control the waterway of the entire Jiankang region, and this way will dispatch about 70,000 troops, of which 20,000 are naval forces, and 500 warships of various kinds. Because this road is advancing by land and water, and cooperating with each other, the main general must not only be able to conquer and habitually fight, but also be proficient in water warfare, so the main general of this road must use Li Bao, the envoy of the Jing Navy who is now stationed in Quang Nam.

The other route sent troops from Longxing Province to attack Lin'an, attracting the Jin army to the south of the Yangtze River, and at the same time attacking Pingjiang Province from the sea, controlling the sea route and the waterway from the Yangtze River estuary to Zhenjiang. Completely cut off the north-south connection of the Jin army, leaving the Jin army in a predicament of helplessness. Since the main force of the Jin army is currently stationed in the Lin'an area, it needs 150,000 troops along the way, at least 30,000 naval troops, and no less than 500 warships. The main general of this road is Yang Yan.

The offensive arrangements of the three roads were all controlled by the governor's office, and after they had complete control of the waterway, the three men and horses worked together to find an opportunity to defeat the Jin army in one fell swoop.

After receiving this plan, the Ministry of Books and the Privy Council finally got approval and preparation after some research. And now is just in time for the Emperor of the Jin State Wanyan Yong to be seriously ill, and it is a good opportunity to send troops, so Li Xianzhong also rushed back to Xiangyang overnight to prepare for the war.

But at this time, news came from Fujian that Zhao Kai, the king of Deng, refused to recognize Zhao Chen's throne, established himself as the emperor in Nanning Mansion, and named Shaoxi.

It turned out that Zong Tianxuan rushed to Tianlin Mansion with confidence, intending to persuade the ministers to support Zhao Kai as the king. As soon as Nazhi arrived outside the city of Tianlin Mansion, he learned that Zhao Chen, the king of letters, was supported by Yang Yan and other ministers, and was edicted by Emperor Zhao and inherited the throne.

After Zong Tianxuan heard the news, he knew that the matter was irreparable, and it would be useless for him to enter Tianlin Mansion again, so he immediately decided to return to Jianning Mansion and tell Zhao Kai what happened.

At this time, Zhao Kai was in Jianning Mansion, waiting for someone to welcome him to inherit the throne, imagining that after he inherited the throne, he would turn the tide and repel the Jin soldiers, and then make great efforts, repair the government, reorganize the armament, the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains, recover the lost land, rejuvenate the Great Song Dynasty, reign over the world, and all countries will come to the dynasty to become a generation of Ming monarchs. Even the servants who were waiting around were extremely flattering, and they all changed their words to call him an official in the past few days. As a result, after hearing Zong Tianxuan's return, it was as if he was drenched on the head by a bucket of cold water, and he was poured cold on his heart. I can't help but be ashamed and angry.

However, Zong Tianxuan didn't go completely in vain this time, and basically inquired about the story of this incident, knowing that Zhao Chen's ability to inherit the throne was almost entirely the result of Yang Yan's sole support.

After Zhao Kai patiently listened to Zong Tianxuan's words, he immediately said: "Here is Yang Yan's support for King Xin as the king, it is clear that Yang Yan himself has the heart of disobedience, but he is afraid that the people will not be convinced, so he set up a little child as the king, so as to control the government and arrange the party wings, and when he is full-fledged, he will definitely force the king of Xin to give way and seize the Great Song Dynasty." I see that the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty and the Emperor Taishang were either deceived by him, or they were afraid of his power, so they had to submit to him. No, this king must not recognize the throne of King Shin. ”

In fact, Zong Tianxuan's thoughts are similar to Zhao Kai's, and he doesn't believe that Yang Yan really supports Zhao Chen as the king, and said: "What the prince said is good, according to the bottom of it, Yang Yan's move is just to imitate Cao Cao back then, and coerce the Son of Heaven to order the candidates, and the real purpose is to plot against the Great Song Dynasty." Therefore, we must not admit it. ”

Zhao Kai saw that Zong Tianxuan also said this, and he didn't feel that his spirit was greatly lifted, and he immediately raised troops with Zong Tianxuan, and you will lead the army, and this king will personally conquer Yang Yan to defeat Yang Yan, and the Qing monarch will eliminate treachery and evil spirits to protect the Great Song Dynasty. What do you think? ”

Zong Tianxuan was taken aback, he didn't expect Zhao Kai to be so impulsive, now Zhao Kai only has five state capitals and thirty or forty thousand horses. Yang Yan has a land of four roads, no less than 150,000 people and horses, and now he still occupies a righteous name, no matter how self-righteous Zong Tianxuan is, he does not dare to attack Yang Yan. hurriedly said: "Lord Wang, you must not send troops. ”

Zhao Kai was displeased and said: "Why can't you send troops, if you are the emperor as soon as possible according to the king's proposal, the overall situation will be decided a long time ago, and it is because you persuade the king to be cautious, so that such a result will occur." A chaotic minister and thief like Yang Yan can be punished by everyone, and this king is a handsome man of benevolence and righteousness, and he is bound to be invincible and unfavorable. He stared at Zong Tianxuan with an anger he had never seen before: "Could it be that you are afraid of Yang Yan and dare not lead the troops to fight him." Since the two met, Zhao Kai has always treated Zong Tianxuan like a guest, and he has never asked Zong Tianxuan with such a temperament, which shows that he is now a little irrational.

When Zhao Kai said this, Zong Tianxuan's face was also a little unbearable, but he naturally knew that sending troops to recruit Yang Yan at this time was self-defeating, but he couldn't say in front of Zhao Kai that he couldn't send troops because Yang Yan had a lot of soldiers. What if we raise troops to recruit Yang Yan now, and the Jin soldiers take advantage of the situation to attack our Jianning Mansion? Or, if we force Yang Yan into a corner, and he leads his army to defect to the Jin State in a hurry, and resells the Great Song Dynasty to the hands of the Jin people, what will we do? At that time, will the prince still have the face to face the ancestors of the Great Song Dynasty? ”

Zhao Kai was stunned by what he said, and his angry mind finally began to calm down, he was too impulsive just now, and he also knew that the disparity between his and Yang Yan's strength was too great, and he definitely couldn't send troops to attack Yang Yan now. And only then did he feel that his attitude towards Zong Tianxuan just now was a little excessive. The two looked at each other for a while, Zhao Kai suddenly grabbed his hands, slammed his fists to the ground, and said: "Fang Cai Xiao Wang was angry, and he lost his words for a while, offending Mr., and I hope Mr. will forgive me." ”