"No need to invite or kneel, stand up. This is the headquarters of the army, so there must be drums. Find the biggest and loudest one, and beat it in front of the hall to invite Du Chong to come to see me." Zhao Jiu ordered, and then gestured to Wanqi Xie behind him. "Wanqi, please ask the soldiers to help hang my Jinwu banner in front of the hall."

After receiving the order, there was a natural panic inside and outside the hall, but Zhao Jiu went up to the hall, wiped the dusty seat with his sleeve, and then sat down. Hu Yin, Lan Gui, and Liu Yan also stood again. Among them, Hu Yin, wearing a purple robe, stood on the left side of Zhao Guanjia, Lan Gui stood behind Zhao Guanjia, and Liu Yan still stood in front of the door with his sword and axe... Ever since Wang De verified the effectiveness of hammers, axes and other armor-piercing weapons against the Jin people, almost everyone in the imperial guards hung hammers and axes.

No matter what, a moment later, as Guo Zhongxun personally took the hammer and struck hard, the drums suddenly sounded, and the hall became solemn. However, the originally quiet backyard of the county government office suddenly became chaotic... After all, Du Chong had a serious personality and was known for his bloodthirstiness. Now that he was in charge of the army, no one dared to disobey him.

Even when Yue Fei, Ma Gao and Wang Yan came together to remonstrate last time, they only cried, so why would they make such a fuss?

And sure enough, just a moment later, Du Chong, who had just got up, became furious. He didn't even wear his official robe, but just ordinary casual clothes. Then he came from the backyard barefoot in wooden clogs, tapping his feet non-stop.

However, as soon as he turned the corner and arrived at the front yard, this important official of the Song Dynasty who had already been a Jinshi during the reign of Emperor Zhezong noticed the flag flying high above the front yard.

Compared to this, the soldiers along the way are insignificant.

Unexpectedly, after standing there for a moment, Du Chong, who knew what was going on, did not run away or hide. Instead, he turned around and asked someone to bring him his purple robe. He put it on at the corner with an expressionless face to the urging drumbeats, and then walked towards the hall in wooden clogs and with his head bare.

He turned the corner, walked around the pillars, and under the gaze of everyone along the way, he walked proudly into the hall, bowed calmly, and greeted the emperor, calling him "Your Majesty."

Zhao Jiu saw the red-robed official who was beating the drum stop, and then an old man in a purple robe proudly came up to the hall and saluted him. He knew it was Du Chong, but he also responded calmly:

"Now that things have come to this, what else do you have to say, Mr. Du?"

"Yes!" Du Chong said with a bow in the hall.

"Tell me!"

"Your Majesty, the situation in the Song Dynasty has come to this point, and it is not my fault!"

"Who did that?"

"First, the king is unjust!" Du Chong said in a stern voice as the whole hall was watching. "The two emperors brought chaos upon themselves, some shirking responsibility for selfish reasons, some taking advantage of opportunities, none of them are appropriate. Even the emperor, who seems to be so brave today and rushing here, has the style of Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty who captured Han Xin, but in the past, he first abandoned his father and brother in Kaifeng and hurriedly established his capital in Nanjing; he also abandoned tens of millions of people in the two rivers and intended to live in peace in Henan. Is this a lie?"

Everyone in the hall changed color. Hu Yin instinctively wanted to step out, but for some reason he held himself back.

Seeing that Zhao Jiu and others were silent, Du Chong, wearing a purple robe and wooden clogs, continued to be indignant in the hall: "Look at the officials in the court, from Huang Wang to Li Zong, and now to the two Lu, they all advocate peace, war, defense, and attack, but who can escape the stubbornness and the theory of ganging up on the dissidents? For the matter of a secondary capital, they dragged on for a year and were indecisive. The advocates of peace first allowed the government to abandon Hebei, causing the overall situation to collapse, and then the advocates of war pushed the government to set such a harsh war strategy, which brought about today's disaster! Are these people ministers who can be relied on?!"

Zhao Jiu remained silent.

"There are also the generals of the various towns since Jianyan, Han, Zhang, Li, Qu, Wang, and Liu. Except for Yue Fei, who is neither good nor bad and has some style of ancient famous generals, the rest are either ruffians, greedy for money, seeking fame, self-reliant and rude, brave but not wise, or incompetent and despicable. Who can be relied on as an arm?" Du Chong saw this and became more imposing. "As for the so-called generals of the Tokyo Resident General Office and the so-called anti-Jin righteous army, they can't even tell whether they are bandits or soldiers. What use are they? Your Majesty, do you know that when these people were bandits in the past, they treated the people more cruelly than the Jin people? Where do they get hundreds of thousands of soldiers? Your Majesty, do you know?! Behind the millions of troops in the letters written to you by Zong Resident General, how many wives and children have been separated? Your Majesty, do you know?! The country has fallen to this point because there is no one to use from top to bottom! Your Majesty, do you know?!"

"I know." Zhao Jiu finally spoke. "I know everything that Du Qing said."

Du Chong was suddenly stunned.

"Mr. Du has said so much, and I am too lazy to discuss it one by one. I just want to ask Mr. Du two things. Is that okay?" Zhao Jiu continued to look at him expressionlessly.

Du Chong sneered, waved his sleeves and stood aside.

"I don't deny what you said, but is there no other reason for the current situation besides what you said?" Zhao Jiu sighed. "In the final analysis, isn't it because of the invasion of the Jin people? Are the Jin people innocent?"

Du Chong opened his mouth to speak, but could only continue to sneer.

"Secondly, everyone from the king to the rebels was useless and made mistakes. As an important official in the region, and a native of Hebei from the occupied area, what useful things did your family do for the overall situation?" Zhao Jiu finally shook his head and frowned. "Secretly making peace with the commander of the Jin army before the battle? Is that like a green lotus emerging from the mud without being stained?"

Du Chong continued to shake his head: "Your Majesty, your words are kind, but I have already said everything I wanted to say. I have nothing more to say at this time."

Zhao Jiu also continued to shake his head: "I know what Du Qing is thinking. Seeing the situation, he feels that it is unlikely to win, so he has completely lost faith... According to my selfishness, I should have discussed and refuted with you in public, and it would be better to talk about my feelings as an official these days, and talk about how I served as a king and a minister. But the current situation is like this, and I really can't care about you more... Du Qing, I'm sorry!"

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