Chapter 782: Just a dead country

The vassal kings were ashamed of their feelings as a roller coaster. They were shocked at first, but when they saw the bright red blood, they were even more shocked. The gentle retribution for Prince Nunu finally calmed them down, but the death penalty could not be escaped, which made them feel nervous and warned them to take it as a warning to this Nunu.

When Chen Ao announced the return of the territory occupied by the Yue Kingdom, many vassal states felt grateful. After all, these lands were occupied by the Yue people. The Song Dynasty did not say it, so who dared to ask? Later, when King Pingxi ordered the Gao family to return to the Duan family in Dali, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

For the vassal kings, power involves the issue of capital and life, and the emergence of powerful ministers is inevitable. In order to ensure that the royal power will not fall behind, the royal family of various countries has used many methods, but... no method can eliminate this possibility.

Now, the words of King Pingxi have completely solved this problem. The country has appeared with rioters. It turns out that there is another way, which is to ask the Song Dynasty for help and deal with it. The rioters can bully the royal family. Do they dare to fight against the Supreme Kingdom of the Celestial Kingdom? The Song Dynasty has three naval troops, and the power of the Nanyang naval troops is enough to smash the most powerful country in Nanyang to pieces and fight against this behemoth, which is really no different from the mantis blocking the chariot.

Zhao Ji sat lazily on the chair and couldn't help but yawn. In this play, Prince Nunu knelt down and begged for mercy, he lost much interest. Yang Jian, who was begging for him, saw that he was a little tired, and whispered: "Are you tired? Do you want to take a break?"

Zhao Ji whispered: "It's time to use the pill."

Yang Jian understood, Zhao Ji had already ordered Chen Ao not to know about using the pill, so he said it carefully. Yang Jian nodded slightly: "Yes, it's almost time."

Zhao Ji got up, supported by Yang Jian, and said majesticly: "Chen Aiqing."

Chen Ao bowed to Zhao Ji and bowed and said, "I am here."

Zhao Ji said, "I will entrust you with the matter here. I want to take a break." After that, he quickly led Yang Jian out.

Chen Ao hurriedly said, "Greatly send Your Majesty." The other vassal kings also said, "Greatly send Your Majesty the Emperor of the Song Dynasty."

As soon as Zhao Ji left, Chen Ao's face calmed down again. He sat on the chair, looked around slowly, and said, "I asked you to come today, so that everyone can do their destiny. Since they are vassal kings, they should abide by the rules of vassal kings. If you can touch anything and cannot touch anything, you must have a clear mind." After that, he winked at Wu Wencai.

Wu Wencai understood and stood up and said, "The King of Pingxi is sympathetic to His Highness. He has specially compiled the Trade Law. Tomorrow, he will declare the world that in the future, what the vassal kings should do and what they should not do, they must follow the terms of the decree."

After hearing this, the vassal kings dared not say anything at this time. Who dared to say no, and they said one after another: "Natural, natural."

Chen Ao was also a little tired and retreated, allowing Wu Wencai and these vassal kings to Xuanming the law. His blood was already dry, making his clothes wrinkled. He had to change into a regular dress in this yamen before he prepared a horse and returned home.

Chen Ao had a gloomy face, as if it had become a habit. When he arrived at the residence of the prefect's office, Zhao Ziheng came out to him, bit his lip and looked at him, saying, "Why does it smell bloody on you?"

Chen Ao had no choice but to take another shower and accompanied Zhao Ziheng to the hall to sit. Zhao Ziheng said, "Your face is different from usual?"

Chen Ao was confused: "What's the face?"

Zhao Ziheng bit her lip: "It's so fierce, as if no one can disobey you, everyone should obey your orders."

Chen Ao smiled and said, "This is an occupational disease, just be used to it."

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A fast ship sailed into the bay at a rapid speed. When the water digger led the ship to a pier, an official got off the boat and said, "Where is Your Majesty, I'm urgently reported!"

The usual urgent reports were sent by postmen, but today, it was an official from the Ministry of War. The official asked where the palace was located and asked someone to bring a horse and rushed to the Haizheng Yamen. As soon as he was about to enter the palace, he was stopped by the palace vanguard outside. He looked fierce and said seriously: "Eight hundred miles are urgent, no delay is allowed. Please report to the emperor immediately."

Such a situation is rarely seen by the palace vanguards. Although they are mainly responsible for the emperor's safety and will report it urgently from time to time, there are very few who are so impatient.

After a while, someone inside invited the official in. After a stick of incense, an eunuch came out quickly and shouted outside the palace: "Prepare the horse, Your Majesty has the will. King Pingxi will come in immediately, and there is no delay!"

Chen Ao had just used lunch and calmed down, and heard the order coming, asking him to enter the palace immediately, and said suspiciously: "What happened? I was so anxious."

He did not dare to delay, so he immediately asked people to prepare horses and quickly arrived at the palace. When he arrived at the bedroom where Zhao Ji was and walked in quickly, he saw an official from the Ministry of War kneeling on His Highness, while Zhao Ji had a gloomy face and drank tea.

"The news reached the three provinces. Lord Yang did not dare to delay it. He also felt that the matter was urgent, so he ordered the minister to come and spread the news. Even the empress dowager said that this matter is related to the safety of our Song Dynasty and cannot be rash. Please ask Your Majesty to return to the capital quickly to appease the people's hearts."

The official of the Ministry of War continued to chatter: "There has been a mess in Bianjing, and rumors are everywhere, and many wealthy families are running south..."

Chen Ao heard this, frowned, interrupted the official of the Ministry of War, saluted Zhao Ji, and said, "Your Majesty, I am here."

Zhao Ji smiled bitterly, cheered up and said, "Come on, sit down and talk."

Chen Ao sat down.

Zhao Ji said, "The Jurchens are here."

The Jurchens... Chen Ao was quite surprised. Although the Jurchens were very anxious to attack the Liao Kingdom, they were so powerful that Chen Ao thought the Khitans could hold on for a while no matter what. Who knew that what should come finally came.

Zhao Ji told the story, and Chen Ao understood about it. It turned out that the Jurchens sent 200,000 troops to capture the Khitan Zhongjing Dading Prefecture, and headed south all the way to the Liao Kingdom's current capital Qijin Prefecture. The Liao Kingdom's Zhongjing Road was completely destroyed, and there was only half of the Nanjing Road. There was also a Xijing Road intact, but it was not a strategic buffer. The situation had reached an urgent point. The entire Liao Kingdom had fallen into complete chaos. A large number of defeated troops crossed the border and fled towards the Song Dynasty. The Jurchens had cleared all obstacles. As long as the Liao Kingdom capital was captured, the once prominent Khitan Liao general would completely perish.

More importantly, for the people of Liao, the emperor was their last barrier, but for the Song Dynasty, wasn't it the same? Once the Jurchens completely destroyed the Liao Kingdom, the entire hinterland of the Song Dynasty could become a racetrack for the Jurchen cavalry in an instant. From the border of the Liao Kingdom to Bianjing, there was no barrier. As long as the Jurchens were willing, they could arrive in Bianjing within three days.

This was completely unacceptable to the Song Dynasty. There were no passes, no rushing rivers, and the powerful Jurchen cavalry, so there was no need to worry about it.

Chen Ao frowned. The matter was much more serious than he thought. Rescuing the Khitan was meaningless. God knew when the Jurchens would break the city. The most urgent task at the moment was that the Song Dynasty immediately organized defense. But it was not easy to defend. From the former land of the Liao Kingdom to Bianjing, what did the Song Dynasty use to resist hundreds of thousands of cavalry in the vast wilderness? Even if there was a way, it was too late now.

What is even more worrying is that once the Khitan is destroyed, the Song Dynasty will also cause an uproar. Under such circumstances, how should the morale in the army and the rumors that can never be stopped be calmed?

Zhao Ji's face turned pale, he looked at Chen Ao and said, "Chen Ao, what should you do?"

Chen Ao pondered for a moment and said, "Fight the whole country!"

Zhao Ji seemed a little swaying and suddenly said, "If you give up on the Liao people, can you ask for peace from the Jurchens?"

This sentence completely exposed Zhao Ji's character. He is indeed the kind of person who is irresponsible. Once something happens, the first thing that comes to mind is to escape, but he doesn't know that escaping will only make trouble more troublesome.

Chen Ao took a deep breath. He knew that if Zhao Ji's confidence was not firm at this time, the situation would be irreversible. He was silent for a moment and said sternly: "Your Majesty, the Song Dynasty has no choice but to retreat. The Jurchens are unsuccessful. The Liao Kingdom is destroyed. The next one is the Song Dynasty. There is no reason to be lucky. If you seek peace, you will have to cede land and pay tribute. I will use my Song Dynasty to worship the Jurchens to make their war horses more fierce and their swords sharper. By then, can the ancestral temples of the Song Dynasty be preserved? Everyone in the world can seek peace, but Your Majesty cannot seek peace. Everyone in the world can be Anle Gong and Donghunhou. Only Your Majesty will always be Your Majesty. My Song Dynasty has millions of people who can fight, with abundant food and grass, and weapons piled up like a mountain. What else can Your Majesty be afraid of?"

Chen Ao stood up and said, "Please issue an order to fight the Jurchens to the death, and never stop until death!"

Zhao Ji's face was gloomy and he said, "What if he loses?"

Chen Ao said loudly: "If you win, the country will continue and the world will be peaceful. If you lose..." Chen Ao's eyes flashed with determination: "It's just that I am accompanying Your Majesty to die in the country."

"It's just a country that dies..." Chen Ao's words finally ignited Zhao Ji's courage, and Zhao Ji bit his lip: "Then fight to the death!"

Chen Ao saluted Zhao Ji solemnly: "I obey the order!"

Zhao Ji made up his mind, but calmed down. He couldn't help but look at Chen Ao deeply and said, "What should the Jurchens do if they are hundreds of thousands of iron cavalry and take Bian Jing directly?"

Chen Ao said without hesitation: "So Your Majesty should immediately return to Bianjing to strengthen defense, and order all troops and horses to draw fierce and decisive men to station in the capital to wait for labor."

When Zhao Ji heard that he was still driving in the capital, he became hesitant again and said, "It's good that I'm here to issue an order...hehe..."

Chen Ao couldn't help but smile bitterly. Zhao Ji was a good person, but definitely not a good emperor. If Chen Ao used Chen Ao's standards, this guy was really a complete bag of wine. But when things got to this point, Chen Ao no longer had to worry about the issue of resoluteness. Bian Jing was indeed a very dangerous place. Who could persuade Zhao Ji to stay in Quanzhou?

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Chapter completed!