"Your servant Li Gang obeys your order!"
Wang Zongchu led his men to the west gate of Bianjing with Li Gang. Li Bangde had just received a reply from the Jin soldiers, stating that since the rebels had been beheaded, the Jin would forgive the past. He also requested that the Song emperor quickly prepare a reward of silver.
When Li Bangde saw Li Gang approaching with the palace guards, he assumed the emperor was about to commend him. So he happily stepped forward and said, "Sir Li, look, the Jin army has replied. They say I have already executed the rebels, and we can let bygones be bygones."
"Kidnap him!" Li Gang said coldly.
Wang Zongchu's men immediately grabbed Li Bangde and tied him up.
Li Bangde was still confused: "Li, Lord Li, why is this happening?"
"The Jin thieves insulted our Great Song and our Emperor. The Thunderbolt artillerymen fired bravely, driving the enemy back. They deserve praise. Yet you executed them, a crime unforgivable. You have murdered loyal Song officials. Your Majesty has decreed that your head be chopped off and sent to the Jin camp as a warning to others!"
Li Bangde was shocked. "It's unfair, Lord Li. I just stopped a war. What crime have I committed? Lord Li!"
"Cut it off!" Li Gang waved his hand.
An executioner under Wang Zongchu walked towards Li Bangde with a big knife in hand. Li Bangde was so scared that he struggled desperately.
"Spare his life!" Li Bangyan. When Li Bangyan heard the soldiers at the city gate say that his brother was kidnapped, he rushed over in a hurry.
"Brother, save me, save me!" Li Bangde shouted desperately when he saw his brother coming.
"General Wang, please show mercy. Please wait a moment while I go to Your Majesty to plead for mercy." Li Bangyan begged.
Wang Zongchu didn't even look at him and chopped off Li Bangde's head with a knife.
The soldiers on the city walls cheered. Li Bangde usually bullied the soldiers. But when the Jin invaders came, he was a coward and afraid of death. The soldiers had long been dissatisfied with him, and now that the emperor had ordered his head to be chopped off, everyone was delighted.
"You..." Li Bangyan almost fainted as he watched his brother's head rolling down.
PS: The real historical incident of a Thunderbolt Hand Cannon being beheaded is true. Given the enemy's strength and our weakness, peace talks were indeed the right move. Emperor Qinzong's mistake was not listening to Zhong Shidao's advice and sending 100,000 troops to escort the Jin troops north instead of annihilating them on the south bank of the Yellow River. The peace advocates planted flags along the banks of the Yellow River and issued strict orders not to stop the Jin troops from returning north. This allowed the Jin troops to escape unscathed. The Jin troops were isolated and deep in their territory; had the Song army attacked, they would have been defeated.
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