Five homecoming

When Yang Yan, Zhao Yueru and others returned to Jiankang from Mongolia, it was mid-April. Now Zhao Chen and several ruling ministers are also anxiously waiting for Yang Yan's return at this time.

The news of Jin Shizong's collapse had already reached Jiankang. Although the Great Song Dynasty also sent a delegation with Zhou Kui, the governor of the political affairs, as the main envoy, and Fan Chengda, the secretary of the ministry, as the deputy envoy, to envoy Jin Guo and pay tribute to Wanyan Yong. But after waiting for Yan Yong's death, there was a gap in the transfer of power in the Jin Kingdom, waiting for an opportunity, which was originally the opportunity that the Great Song Dynasty had been waiting for.

Although this situation has come much earlier than expected by the Great Song monarchs, it is obvious that Zhao Chen and several ruling ministers are unwilling to give up this opportunity. Moreover, some ministers suggested to the imperial court that they take this opportunity to ask the Jin State to allow the Great Song Dynasty to send envoys to Luoyang to visit the mausoleum of the first emperor of the Great Song Dynasty.

But no matter what kind of action is taken, it is inseparable from the support of force, whether the Song army has the ability to start the Northern Expedition immediately, to what extent the Great Song Dynasty can currently support the war, and at the same time, the Great Song Dynasty and Mongolia succeeded in the alliance, and the alliance signed by the two sides was also transferred to Jiankang Mansion through Lai Wenzheng and others who left Mongolia in advance.

In fact, Yang Yan and Zhao Yueru left Mongolia in early March, they also knew that the time was pressing, but they were in the territory of Western Xia, and they were impatient, and waited out of the border of Western Xia, thinking that it was April 3, the two immediately threw down the large group of people and horses, only brought a few personal entourage, and changed horses in the post stations along the road, and hurried all the way, fortunately, both of them were people with superb internal skills, and they could hold on, and finally arrived at Jiankang Mansion on the afternoon of April 17.

Before Zhao Yan could go home, Zhao Chen sent someone to invite Yang Yan and Zhao Yueru into the palace to talk. And Yang Yan also wanted to meet Zhao Chen in person and understand the current situation in the court, so he ordered the congregation to go back to the house to deliver the letter first, and then regardless of the dust and dust along the way, he immediately entered the palace with Zhao Yueru to see Zhao Chen.

After the monarchs and ministers met, they greeted each other first, and Yang Yan also told Zhao Chen about his experience in Mongolia, how he helped Temujin defeat Naiman, how Temujin broke off diplomatic relations with Jin State, and how he and Temujin preliminarily agreed with him before leaving Mongolia to destroy Western Xia first, and then attack Jin.

Zhao Chen listened to it with relish at first, especially when he heard that Yang Yan offered a plan to Temujin and that the defeat was the process of the barbarian army, he even heard that his eyebrows danced, but when he heard that in the end, Yang Yan and Temujin reached an agreement to send troops together and attack Western Xia first, Zhao Chen also fell into contemplation for a while. After a long while, he said: "Then brother-in-law thinks that now my Great Song should attack Western Xia instead of Jin?" ”

After the Song army defeated the Western Xia, Yang Yan also once said to Zhao Chen, although Zhao Chen also thought that this strategic plan was good, and he also knew that after the capture of Western Xia, the advantages of the development of the Great Song Dynasty were good, but Zhao Chen has always regarded this plan as another positive offensive plan when there was no good opportunity to send troops to the Jin State. And at that time, whether it was the destruction of gold or the attack on summer, it seemed that it should be a matter of several years later, and no one thought that the fighter would come so soon.

And now it is the collapse of the first emperor of the Jin State and the ascension of the new monarch to the throne, which is the great opportunity that the Great Song Dynasty is waiting for, and even what is being discussed in the court is the measures against the Jin State, and no one has thought of Western Xia. And judging from the news obtained by the spy personnel of the Great Song Dynasty in the Jin Kingdom, although it is not certain that the new monarch Wan Yan Yungong who succeeded to the throne is an incompetent person, it is obvious that in terms of ability, he is far from Wan Yan Yong. Therefore, even Zhao Chen felt that now was a good opportunity to use troops against the Jin State.

Of course, Zhao Chen also knew that if according to Yang Yan said, the Great Song Dynasty would indeed have a great chance of destroying the Western Xia in one fell swoop, but Zhao Chen still felt that it would be a pity if he had to put this opportunity on the Western Xia, and he knew that he didn't know how long he would have to wait for such an opportunity. And emotionally speaking, there is a grudge between Song and Jin, while Song and Xia are far less bitter. However, since this is Yang Yan's opinion, Zhao Chen does not dare to despise it. That's why I asked.

Yang Yan could naturally understand these thoughts in Zhao Chen's heart, but he still said, "Not bad." ”

Zhao Chen asked again: "If there is a change in the enemy country, then it is still in line with the art of war to attack it with troops, why does my brother-in-law think that we are now conquering Western Xia, instead of Jin?" ”

Yang Yan said: "Official, to destroy a strong country like Jin, it is far from enough to conform to the art of war, in the third year of Yongxi (986), Emperor Taizong also took advantage of the new monarch of Liao to raise troops to attack Liao, and the result was a big defeat, and even Yang Lao Linggong was also killed on the battlefield. And in the first year of Jingde (1004), the Liao State also took advantage of Emperor Zhenzong's accession to the throne and invaded the south on a large scale. What's more, although the Jin State has changed, it is a big country after all, its strength is still there, and the territory is vast, it is still above my Great Song Dynasty, with millions of armor in the country, and famous generals are like forests, if you rush to send troops, you may not have a chance of winning. Once the Northern Expedition is frustrated, it will hurt the morale of the army, so it is better to take this opportunity to take Western Xia first, expand the national strength of our Great Song Dynasty, and then try to win the Jin Kingdom. ”

After Zhao Chen listened, he was also silent, he was not a stubborn person, and Yang Yan's words also made him finally sober up, only to realize that the situation was not as favorable as he imagined. After a long time, Zhao Chen said: "It's still my brother-in-law who can see clearly, but I have thought things simpler, okay." Tomorrow I will gather the ruling ministers to discuss and discuss, and then I will invite my brother-in-law to participate. ”

Yang Yan nodded and said, "Everything is decided by Your Majesty." Please retire first. ”

Zhao Chen smiled again: "It's not early, in fact, I should leave my brother-in-law and Liuniang in the palace to have dinner before leaving, but as soon as my brother-in-law and Liuniang enter Jiankang, I will invite you into the palace. So I won't keep my brother-in-law and Liuniang, and you guys should go back to rest earlier, right? After a while, I will ask someone to send a table of imperial banquets to my brother-in-law's house, which can be regarded as my brother-in-law's reception. ”

Yang Yan and Zhao Yueru came out of the palace and immediately turned back to the mansion. At this time, the whole of the Hefu also knew that they had come back with the scriptures, and naturally they were very happy, and all the ladies gathered together to wait.

And Yang Quan took a group of housekeepers to greet him at the gate, and Tie Chenglin and Gu Xueping were also taken off early by Zhao Chen, and they also went home to wait for Yang Yan to come back. When they arrived at the gate of the house, fireworks were immediately set off, and it was very lively.

After coping with the congratulations of their families, the two went to the main hall to meet with several wives and children. Yang Yan left this time for nearly a year, and the five ladies who stayed at home naturally missed him abnormally, and they cried and laughed around Yang Yan, as if they had endless words in their hearts. Fortunately, Zhao Qianru and Yan Rui could still hold the scene, and after crying and laughing for a while, they persuaded the other sisters and hurriedly let the two of them go to bathe and change clothes. Originally, Yan Rui planned to arrange the kitchen to cook immediately, but when she heard Yang Yan say that the emperor had given the imperial banquet and would send it to her home immediately, she gave up.

After Yang Yan and Zhao Yueru finished bathing and changed their clothes, the family sat together and recounted their respective scenes in the past year. The lady who gave birth to children also brought her children, at this time Yang Yan's eldest daughter Yang Shunhua was more than three years old, and she was able to remember things with the scriptures, this little girl was very affectionate to Yang Yan, broke free from the tassels, jumped in front of Yang Yan, and asked Yang Yan to hug her with open hands.

When Yang Yan saw his daughter, he naturally liked it very much, and immediately picked up his daughter and kissed her on the red and simple little face more than a dozen times, and then handed her over to Zhao Yueru. But Zaichi, Zaiqi and Shun Ying are too young, less than two years old, and they have no impression of Yang Yan and Zhao Yueru, and they were persuaded for a long time before they called "Daddy" but they all cowered and hid beside their respective mothers, not daring to let Yang Yan and Zhao Yueru hug.

Zhao Qianru sent Shun Ying to Yang Yan, but as soon as she was hugged by Yang Yan, Shun Ying burst into tears, crying and saying: "I want my mother to hug, I want my mother to kiss." ”

Shun Hua on the side was so anxious that he couldn't do it, and said to his sister: "Shun Ying is good, Shun Ying doesn't cry, this is Daddy, let Daddy hug it?" "To make the family laugh. It also alleviated some of Yang Yan's embarrassment.

Zhao Qianru hugged Shun Ying from Yang Yan's hand, and said with a smile while coaxing her: "The children are too young, and I haven't seen you for a long time, so I am a little strange for a while, don't worry, we will become familiar with it after a while." ”

Yang Yan smiled bitterly, although he also wanted to spend more time with his wife and children, but I am afraid that he would not stay long when he came back this time, he was about to fight again, and he wanted to live a stable life with his wife and children, I don't know when it would take. Zhao Yueru hurriedly asked people to take out all the gifts brought to everyone and disperse them to everyone.

Before leaving, Temujin gave them a large number of gifts, and although Yang Yan scattered most of them to the soldiers accompanying him, he still left some to take home and distribute to several ladies. In fact, Mongolia is a rare thing with no special products, only animal skins are very rare in the Great Song Dynasty, each lady has been assigned a few high-grade animal skins, the hair is mild, the color is bright, and naturally it is also very pleasing to women, several ladies are happy, they have taken the animal skins carefully watched, compared with each other, the tastes are enough, and they discuss what clothes to make to look good, and those who have children are compared with their children, and naturally it is a lively scene.

At this time, the imperial banquet in the palace was also delivered, which was personally escorted by Cao An, and at the same time, Zhao Chen also brought some gifts from Zhao Chen to Yang Yan's wives and children. It caused a lot of joy among the ladies.

Yang Yan thanked Cao An on the one hand, and took out two fox skins, two deer skins, and one bear skin to give away. Cao An is also a person who knows the goods, and at a glance, he knows that such a stale fur can be said to have nowhere to buy it with money in the Great Song Dynasty, so he accepted the animal skin and happily went back to the palace to hand over the decree.

After sending Cao An away, the family sat down to eat together. The royal banquet in the palace is a common thing for Zhao Yueru and Zhao Qianru, and over the years, tassels have often entered the palace to congratulate the queen mother and queen, and they have eaten a few times. And Yan Rui, Lin Yinzi and Lin Yanhong sisters all ate it for the first time, and they couldn't help but praise it.

During the banquet, everyone talked about what had happened during this period of time, and Yang Yan and Zhao Yueru recounted their experiences in Mongolia, which caused the ladies to marvel again and again. And in the house for these days, they have also been safe and sound. Although all the ladies miss Yang Yan, now that there are four children in the house, all of whom can walk and run, it is not difficult to pass the time. talked about some interesting stories when raising children, and it also caused everyone to laugh. There was talk and laughter throughout the banquet, which was very lively.

Because the dinner party started late, and the time was longer than usual, after the banquet was over, it was late at night, so the ladies also went back to their rooms to rest.

Originally, Yang Yan planned to go to Zhao Qianru's room to rest tonight, but after dinner, Shun Ying vomited for some reason. Yang Yan was taken aback, and hurriedly asked his family to find a doctor, Zhao Qianru smiled and said: "The child doesn't have any minor illnesses and disasters, it's so late, and I went there to ask for a doctor, just let me take care of Shun Ying, you don't have to worry about it." It's just that I can't accompany you at night, so you might as well go to the tassel sister to rest. ”

Although Yang Yan was still a little worried, he thought that he couldn't help much if he stayed, so he had to leave Zhao Qianru and come to the tassel's room.

At this time, the tassel finished bathing Shunhua with the scriptures, and was about to coax her to sleep, when she saw Yang Yan coming, she also felt very surprised, and hurriedly asked about the fate of the government, after listening to Yang Yan, the tassel smiled: "You don't have to worry, this is a normal phenomenon of children, it's not a big deal, and it will be fine when you get up after sleeping." ”

When Yang Yan heard her say this, he put his mind at ease, hugged the tassel in one hand, and said, "Then shouldn't we also rest?" ”

The tassel had a pretty face, and he hurriedly broke free from Yang Yan's embrace, and said in a low voice: "No...... Don't be like this, Shunhua is still there!"

Yang Yan remembered that his daughter was still in bed, and he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Tassel came to the bedside, picked up Shunhua, and called her nickname: "Good girl, today Daddy wants... If you want to sleep here, you can sleep well with Aunt Caihong?" Caihong is the personal maid of the tassel, and she often helps the tassel take care of Shunhua.

Shunhua blinked his eyes and said, "Don't, don't sleep with Aunt Caihong, you want to sleep with your mother, let your father go and sleep with Aunt Caihong." ”

Yang Yan said excitedly: "It's really a father and a good daughter, let my father kiss one more." ”

Tassel glared at him, straightened his face and said, "You dare." Then he said all the good things to Shunhua, promising to buy her three big fuwa tomorrow, five strings of sugar gourds, six noodles, etc., and finally Shunhua was moved and asked Caihong to take her away and go to sleep.

Yang Yan couldn't help wiping a handful of sweat, it seems that having children is not all a good thing, and there are still many troubles?