Lin Jing remained silent, tore up the paper in front of him immediately, then sat back in his seat to write a new decree. At this time, Yang Yi Zhong also hurried back.
"Wait a quarter of an hour and call back Prime Minister Yuwen and Zhang Xian. If those who went out before come back, let them in directly without making any noise! Send a qualified officer to Lantian to find Hu Yantong, and have him take over all the documents from Guandong there and then forward them over." Zhao Jiu responded bluntly, shocking Yang Yi Zhong so much that he didn't even dare to respond and turned around and left.
Just like that, Zhao Jiu sat there for a while, but someone really came back in a hurry. It was Zhang Jun, the transport envoy of the five routes of Bashu, who had accidentally seen the contents of the letter before.
"Your Majesty, what shall we do?" Zhang Jun was still in a state of panic after re-entering the palace.
"You're just making people laugh." Zhao Jiu said sternly. "Old Su said that if Mount Tai collapses in front of you and you don't change your expression, or if a deer appears on your left and you don't blink, almost no one can do this. But since you are a minister of state, it's okay for you to be a little panicked when you first heard the news, but the matter is done, why are you still panicking now? If the generals below see this, they will be even more panicked."
Zhang Jun's face immediately turned red, but he tried to calm down. After taking a few deep breaths, he bowed again in the empty hall: "Your Majesty, may I ask how I should respond? I will not refuse even if I die!"
"I don't want you to die," Zhao Jiu shook his head. "As for how to deal with it, I have one more thing to confirm before I can tell you."
Zhang Jun was slightly startled and confused for a moment. Just as he was about to ask again, he heard a slight movement behind him. Turning back, he saw that it was Yang Yizhong who had returned with his good friend Liu Ziyu.
"Your Majesty!" Liu Ziyu bowed as soon as he returned. "I am acquainted with Deyuan. I saw him lose his composure just now and I had some suspicions. Please tell me frankly, what is the military situation?"
"Let's wait for Minister Yuwen and Zhang Xian." Zhao Jiu shook his head again.
Liu Ziyu had no choice but to look at Zhang Jun and pretend to be patient.
But just as the two were about to take their seats, Yang Yizhong brought in a third person, and this person really surprised Zhao Jiu.
"His Majesty!"
Liu Qi, the governor of Lizhou Road, knelt on one knee and paid homage. "I'm sorry... but if there is anything wrong with the situation, as a military official, I should die for the country and Your Majesty!"
After saying that, without waiting for Zhao Jiu to speak, the man stood up and walked back, then walked out of the hall... Obviously, he knew that he had no need and no qualifications to participate in the final decision.
Seeing this, Zhao Jiu sighed.
After waiting for a while, Yang Yi Zhong finally brought back Yuwen Xu Zhong and Zhang Xian.
"Zhang Xian." Zhao Jiu was very straightforward. "I only want to ask you one question, and you should try your best to answer it. Do you think Yue Pengju has crossed the river by now?"
Upon hearing this, everyone except Yang Yi Zhong, Xiao Lin, and Zhang Xian himself changed color.
"Good instructor, I know..." Zhang Xian took a deep breath and reluctantly replied, obviously a little unprepared by the suddenness of the question. "I roughly guess that they should have crossed the river!"
"What do you mean?" Zhao Jiu kept asking.
"I don't know the details, but he mentioned before we set out that we would cross the river in early May..."
"The note he gave me said early May."
"That means we have to cross the river to Xiangzhou in the first half of this month and launch an attack." Zhang Xian was suddenly excited when he heard this. "Because my brother... because General Yue never wastes time when deploying troops, never does unnecessary things, and never acts vaguely."
"But today is May 7th..." Zhao Jiu couldn't help but hold his forehead. "Tomorrow morning is May 8th."
"If you insist, I think he would cross the river more often on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the Dragon Boat Festival." Zhang Xian also seemed helpless. "But if the emperor really wants to ask, I can only make a rough guess."
"Go!" Zhao Jiu raised his hand. "Don't tell anyone about what happened today, and keep a low profile on the way back to the military camp."
Zhang Xian immediately understood and said goodbye.
"Your Majesty!" Liu Ziyu was extremely serious. "What happened? What happened to Yue Fei's troops crossing the river?"
Zhao Jiu, who did not get a definite answer, held his forehead with his hand and said nothing.
Zhang Jun, who had gradually calmed down, stood up reluctantly and said something to the puzzled Yuwen Xuzhong and the serious Liu Ziyu:
"The Jin army did not capture Pinglu, but succeeded in sneaking across Changquan!"
"Where is Changquan?" Liu Ziyu didn't react for a moment.
"Northwest of Luoyang, south of Wangwu Mountain, at the Yellow River ferry." Yuwen Xuzhong, who had been wandering between the two capitals for decades, turned pale and blurted out. "Luoyang is in danger!"
Liu Ziyu's figure swayed, his face pale, and he spoke in a lost voice after half a day: "No wonder hundreds of thousands of troops gathered in Hedong, but couldn't even take Pinglu in one go, and there was no large-scale reinforcement from Longmen. I'm afraid they have been lurking at the foot of Wangwu Mountain..."
"They saw the dragon banner and thought I was there." Zhao Jiu, who had not responded for a long time, suddenly spoke with his eyes closed. "Everyone in the world also thought I was there!"
"The key is how to respond?" Yu Wenxu suppressed his inner panic and looked at him seriously.
"There are only two options." Liu Ziyu calmed down. "One is to send a large army to rescue Luoyang; the other is to pretend to be ignorant and go to Baishui to find an opportunity for a decisive battle... Your Majesty!"
"What do you think?" Zhao Jiu responded simply.
"In fact, the Jin army may not be able to cross many soldiers." Liu Ziyu thought for a moment and then advised again. "Because they are short of ships! Why not send troops to rescue them! But Yue Pengju..."
"If the enemy has few soldiers, the Zhai brothers can resist. If the enemy has many soldiers, the Mianchi Pass is narrow. Once the Jin army blocks it, it will be impossible to send troops from Shanzhou in time. So we can only hope that the troops around Tokyo will come to rescue from Sishui Pass." Zhao Jiu looked up. "But the question is, has Yue Pengju crossed it at this time? How many soldiers are left?"
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