A group of riders walked from the bluestone road on Hengjie Street to the loess road on East Cross Street.

The hooves no longer hit the stone slabs, the crisp sound of horse hooves disappeared, and the noise of pedestrians, cars and horses on the streets immediately filled my ears.

It is early in summer, and before Mao's hour, the sky on the east is white. The ghost market is closed two quarters of an hour in the morning than in winter, and Pu Zongmeng's Yuansui doesn't have to set up lanterns to illuminate the road ahead.

The more you move along the street, the more officials there are on the street, and the speed of moving slows down. However, when they see Pu Zongmeng and his party's voice, most of them consciously empty the road in the middle.

Those who were qualified to participate in the morning dynasty were all court officials. Among the tens of thousands of bureaucrats in the Song Dynasty, they were the group of people on the treetops. However, Pu Zongmeng, who served as a Hanlin scholar, had the highest branches on the treetops. In addition to the priests in the two palaces, he was standing in front. Although he was not yet the prime minister and other ministers avoided the way, it made people dare not compete with him.

Pu Zong was proud of his breeze and the sound of horse hooves was loud. After passing several court officials who were less than his status, he saw a very eye-catching group of people appearing in front of him.

Both the riders and mounts were eye-catching. The horses were all fat and strong Hexi foals, and the riders' riding skills were also first-class. The sitting posture on the horse's back was completely different from the Yuansui of Pu Zongmeng's own family.

"But Han Long's picture?" Pu Zongmeng signaled Yuan Sui beside him to shout forward.

The team of riders in front of him turned around in purple robes, and the whole team, like other officials, made way to the roadside and gave way out the middle way.

Pu Zongmeng restrained the smile on his face, but he rushed forward with pride. The bachelor of Longtu Pavilion was not as good as the bachelor of Hanlin.

When he got closer, Pu Zongmeng gently lifted the reins of the horse, slowed down, bowed and greeted Han Gang, and then walked with his bridles.

"It's another day," Pu Zongmeng looked up at the blue sky, and smiled mockingly, "I heard Yukun's words yesterday, and I couldn't sleep well at night. I always dreamed that Lingzhou had changed and the government's military achievements failed."

He glanced at Han Gang, and saw that he was silent, and sighed, "The news from Lingzhou yesterday was said to be weapons, and all the tunnels were ready. We will attack the city with all our strength the next day. With the power of the official army, today and tomorrow, the news should be transmitted back... Although Yu Kun opposes this battle, I believe that like Zong Meng, I want to hear the good news of the victory of the official army, right?"

Pu Zongmeng spoke extremely sincerely, making people feel the malice in it.

Han Gang turned his head and looked at Pu Zongmeng deeply, and asked with a sigh: "Come on the way, can you tell that the emperor summoned the prime minister to the palace at night?"

Pu Zongmeng was stunned at first, and then his face changed drastically: "What happened?!"

Even though Han Gang did not explain the inside story, it is obvious that the reason was to summon important officials of the two governments in the middle of the night. Either they were defeated or trapped, there would be no other reason.

"There is also a Han Gang, so I know it." Han Gang did not hide anything from anyone. "You also know that Han Gang has a reputation in military affairs, so he was summoned together."

"Yu Kun, you were summoned to the palace at night?!"

As soon as Pu Zongmeng finished speaking, he knew that he had asked stupid things. Sure enough, Han Gang smiled and said, "Isn't Han Gang walking with Nehan? If he was summoned to the court in the middle of the night, there would be only two hours, so how could he leave the palace and enter the palace?"

Pu Zongmeng's expression changed a few times, and finally asked in a deep voice: "Why is it?"

"I didn't ask in detail last night, so I just pushed it. I really wanted to listen to the details and be summoned to the palace at night. I don't know how to spread the capital today? I believe that the couple of my husbands and rulers can be stable." Han Gang sighed again, "But the dream of last night was indeed a sign of dreams, and the northwest was indeed defeated."

Pu Zongmeng's face turned from blue to red. He took a deep breath and suppressed his anger. When he was about to ask in detail, Han Gang claimed that he didn't know the details and could not answer, which made Pu Zongmeng restless all the way.

When he arrived in front of Xuande Gate, Han Gang stepped forward to greet the familiar officials. Pu Zongmeng, who found the opportunity, hurriedly found a civil servant who was usually close to him and asked him about the matter.

"It's true that this is the case." The civil servant got one step earlier than Pu Zongmeng and had heard of it. There was no secret in the capital. What happened just two hours ago was already well known in front of Xuande Gate. "The emperor did summon the two palaces and Han Yukun into the palace at night."

"But because of the defeat of Lingzhou?" Pu Zongmeng asked anxiously.

"Nehan arrived with Han Yukun just now. Haven't you heard of this?" The civil servant asked in surprise and continued: "It seems that Gao Zunyu and Miao Suo were defeated in Lingzhou City, but they are still uncertain... But at night, the King of Kings was summoned to the palace, and no one else moved."

“…Won Houzhi didn’t go either?”

The civil servant shook his head and answered with certainty: "No!"

Pu Zongmeng remained silent and clenched his fist with his right hand.

………………………………………

Han Gang had no time to consider Pu Zongmeng's mental health issues.

In the Wende Hall, the emperor did not attend the meeting, but was only held by the prime minister. However, Wang Gui did not arrive, and the rulings were summoned to Chongzheng Hall before the meeting.

As the most knowledgeable military officer in the court and the only civil servant who has the experience of commanding the army, Han Gang was also summoned together with Lu Gongzhu, Lu Huiqing and Yuan Jiang.

Stepping into the hall, a strong smoke filled the hall.

The imperial giant candle with ambergris has always been known for its little fireworks. However, from midnight to now, dozens of candles in the hall in these hours are lit.

There were only the emperor Zhao Xu and the prime minister Wang Gui in the hall. Their eyes were smoky and red. It seemed that Wang Gui was summoned to the palace last night and discussed with the emperor in the middle of the night.

The prime ministers finally arrived. Zhao Xu hesitated for a while before he spoke out for Wang Gui to inform several other important officials of the war in Lingzhou.

Hearing the specific details of the defeat, the hall fell silent for a moment.

After waiting for a long time, no one was talking about this matter. Zhao Xu couldn't help it and lit up Yuan Jiang: "Yuanqing, what do you think about this matter?"

Yuan Jiang thought for a while and said, "I summoned the prime minister to the palace in the middle of the night. Although the military situation was urgent, the Sanchuankou, Haoshuichuan and Dingchuanzhai Kings lost one after another. Emperor Renzong did not open the palace gate in the middle of the night. The northwest was just a border problem, and the people in the capital were shaken by the hearts. I beg Your Majesty to think twice."

"I know." Zhao Xu responded coldly, his stern face pale with blood-deficient paleness.

Han Gang was at the bottom of the head, and Zhao Xu and Wang Gui's faces were all visible. Yuan Jiang refused to enter the palace last night. Do you still expect him to continue to support Wang Gui?

Seeing that the two of them had the same expression when they heard Yuan Jiang’s speech, Han Gang felt a little in his heart. Did the emperor and Wang Gui have reached a certain tacit understanding during the period when they were alone and hoped that someone would support him?

"Lu Qing." There are two people in the palace who are in power, and Zhao Xu called Lu Huiqing, "I don't know what Lu Qing has to do with his superiority."

"Jingyuan, Huanqing's casualties are unknown, and the movements of the Western thieves are unknown. I dare not make a conclusion." Lu Huiqing refuted for a moment and said, "But after the Western thieves' victory, the morale is in high spirits. At this time, it is difficult to resist their offensive, whether it is Wang Zhongzheng, Zhong Yan, or Li Xian. Moreover, without the second general of Gao Miao, the two groups are in danger of being defeated one by one. If you retreat temporarily, you can make a comeback in the future."

During this period, the New Party was suppressed by Wang Gui. In the case of the Taixue, it was to capture the foundation and future of the New Party in one place. Lu Huiqing would not be willing to let go of such a good opportunity at present.

There was no expression on Zhao Xu's face. He let Lu Huiqing go and asked Lu Gong, "Lu Qing's family, you are the Privy Councilor. In your opinion, what is the best way to do this?"

"I also have the same view as Lu Guanzheng. Huanqing and Jingyuan two routes suffered heavy losses under the city of Lingzhou, and their troops were defeated like mountains. The situation in the northwest was irreversible."

Lu Gongye supported Lu Huiqing with a rare support, and he finally found a chance to turn things around. Previously, because of the case of Chen Shiru's murder of his mother, the Lu family involved too much in it, and even used Dali Temple to interfere with the case in Kaifeng Prefecture. Although Lu Gongye was not driven out of the two prefectures, his weight of speaking was completely incompatible with his position. Now that the Northwest was defeated, his chance finally came.

"And there are also people from Liao who are eyeing each other. With Yelu Yixin's cunning, I heard that the official army was defeated, how could it be that they would not rob the fire?" Lu Huiqing agreed.

Zhao Xu looked ugly, but Lu Gong said indifferently: "Your Majesty launched an army to attack Xia this time because of the successive victory of the old king's army, and thought that the sharpness of the military force in the world was beyond the reach of Jiaozhi. However, the strength of the Western Xia is not comparable to that of Jiaozhi. I asked about the military strategy. If you compete for profit for a hundred miles, you will be the general. If you attack Lingzhou thousands of miles, you will be invincible? This time, the troops sent nearly one million people and the people will go far and wide. Not only are there complaints in the army, but the people are also in distress."

Han Gang wanted to laugh when he saw it, it was really rare... The new party and the old party have been standing in the same trench for more than ten years.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Wang Gui hurriedly spoke: "Although the king's army was frustrated, the main force still existed and still had more than 200,000 troops. The Western thieves could not be too strong. How could they retreat without fighting?"

"Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, he has been using military service and has been constantly engaged in military service every year, and his national strength is exhausted, but his victory is very small. Today's defeat is reasonable. Even if Xingling is captured for a while, it is difficult to preserve it for a long time. It should be noted that before Li Jiqian, Xingling was also a land of China. Within ten years, I would like to ask Your Majesty to stop talking about military service."

After all, Lu Gongzhu was an old party, and finally found out that Lu Huiqing could no longer unite the front with him. "Your Majesty has implemented the new law for many years, and the country has abundant resources, strong armor and powerful soldiers, and the generals can use it. Therefore, there are many victories in Hehuang, Jingnan, Hengshan, southwest and Jiaozhou. The defeat in Lingzhou was a cunning thief in the West, which caused a small setback from the king. Although it is not suitable to fight again, it is not difficult to rest for a year or two, and to select famous generals and raise troops to attack Xia."

"The elite soldiers from all four directions are still there, how can we retreat?!" Wang Gui shouted sternly.

Yuan Jiang was still sloppy and did not hold back. "The king's army was unfortunately defeated. Although there were minor losses to the state affairs, it was fortunately not serious. However, the situation in the country was worrying. I hope Your Majesty will pay attention to this to prevent rumors and traitors from causing trouble."
Chapter completed!