Chapter 604 Rebellion
Seeing Zhao Heng's attitude, and because they were unwilling to see Lin Hao continue to grow, Ke Zheng came to the center of the hall and said loudly:

"Your Majesty, Marquis Jing'an's victory in taking back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun for the Song Dynasty was indeed a great victory, but at this time, the Liao Kingdom's 300,000-strong army besieged Datong Prefecture and Xijin Prefecture."

"The war between the two countries has not yet ended, how can we talk about rewards? If we confer Jing'an Marquis the title of king now, what if these two places are taken back by the Liao Kingdom again!"

"Therefore, I believe that the matter of conferring the title of king should wait until Marquis Jing'an returns with a 'victory' before conferring the title of king."

Sure enough, after hearing what Ke Zheng said, Zhao Heng finally smiled. It was obvious that Ke Zheng's words touched his heart.

But Zhao Heng still had some concerns in his heart. For example, Lin Hao was leading an army of nearly 200,000 at this time. What if he also came with his army to put on the yellow robe~!

At this time, Xiao Qinyan narrowed his eyes slightly. He did not expect that everything before him was actually part of Marquis Jing'an's plan. These people tried to deprive him of his military power, which was simply nonsense.

At this time Liu Wan whispered to Zhao Heng:
"Your Majesty, there is actually no need for you to suppress Marquis Jing'an's military achievements. Not only should you not suppress them, but you should publicize them and fulfill your original promise in a timely manner!"

Zhao Heng looked at Liu Wan's increasingly younger face and always felt a sense of alienation in his heart, especially when Liu Wan actually spoke well of Lin Hao, which made Zhao Heng even more unhappy.

Just when Zhao Heng was about to lose his temper, Liu Wan seemed to see through his thoughts and continued:

"I know what you are thinking. Marquis Jing'an is indeed a huge threat. So in addition to fulfilling the reward, you should also let Marquis Jing'an continue to attack the Liao Kingdom, and at the same time continue to mobilize some troops to deal with unexpected events!"

"Given the current war situation between Song and Liao, if Marquis Jing'an conquers Liao, everyone will be happy. After all, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were recovered from you. At that time, we only need to find an opportunity to take back the military power from him."

"But if Marquis Jing'an is defeated, he will either die on the battlefield or be defeated and returned to the Song Dynasty to be punished. The threat from Marquis Jing'an will naturally be lifted!"

"Anyway, you won't suffer any loss on either side. What do you think of my idea, Your Majesty?" Liu Wan looked at Zhao Heng confidently.

When Zhao Heng heard this, his eyes lit up immediately. The Queen's words really touched his heart. This strategy of driving the tiger to devour the wolf was simply the best of both worlds solution.

Thinking of this, Zhao Heng said excitedly:

"What you said makes sense, but I am not a person who does not keep my word. Since I have promised to make you a king after conquering the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, I must fulfill my promise!"

"Draft an edict immediately, conferring upon Marquis Jing'an the title of King of Liao, with the fiefdoms from Yan territory to the north and the sea to the east, all of which will be the fiefdoms of the King of Liao!"

"Buzz buzz buzz~!" As soon as Zhao Heng finished speaking the imperial edict, the court was in an uproar. The emperor really wanted to make Lin Hao the king.

However, they were not stupid and soon figured out the trick from Zhao Heng's imperial edict. Marquis Jing'an conquered Yanyun, but his fief was the land of the Liao Kingdom.

In other words, if Marquis Jing'an wants to become a vassal, he must continue to lead his troops to attack the Liao Kingdom. Even if Marquis Jing'an successfully conquers the Liao Kingdom, he will only have a few soldiers left.

The imperial court had a large army at its disposal, so it was naturally not afraid of Marquis Jing'an. That was fine, but if Marquis Jing'an failed to conquer the Liao Kingdom, or was defeated by the Liao Kingdom, he would inevitably be punished for the crime of provoking border provocations.

Then everyone in the court looked at the queen. Her sinister intentions were obvious. It was true that the sting of a wasp is the most poisonous, and a woman's heart is the most poisonous.

Not only that, Zhao Heng thought of more, and even considered whether he should let Lin Hao conquer Xixia as well.

However, this will have to wait until the battle between Song and Liao is over and then decide based on the situation. But after the excitement, Zhao Heng couldn't help but yawn again.

Ke Xiang, who was below, stood up and was about to say something, but Zhao Heng said impatiently:
"Alright, this matter is settled. Draft an imperial edict immediately and send it to Lin Hao 800 miles away. Then adjourn the court!"

As he spoke, Zhao Heng hurried to the harem. At this time, his craving was almost uncontrollable. He didn't want to think about anything else and just wanted to have another bite to satisfy his craving.

The Queen and Xiao Qinyan looked at each other, nodded, smiled, and returned to the harem. Xiao Qinyan also took a few confidants back to discuss the matter.

At this time, Prime Minister Ke always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what the problem was. The emperor's method of driving the tiger to devour the wolf was naturally good, but the problem was that this method was proposed by the queen.

They didn't want Lin Hao to be crowned king in the first place, and since it was the Queen's idea, and Xiao Qinyan didn't object, then as people against the Queen's camp, they naturally had to oppose the Queen's idea!

However, the decree to confer the title of king had already been passed, and they were powerless to stop it. The key point was that they had no position to oppose it.

Therefore, the imperial edict appointing Lin Hao as King of Liao was sent to Lin Hao via an express route of 800 miles.

When Lin Hao received the edict of enthronement, he shook his head. Everything that happened in the court was within his expectations.

Mainly because of his mental marking and possession skills, he can remotely know everything the evidence wants to know, and even participate in it, which is much more reliable than the telegram.

Afterwards, Lin Hao immediately mobilized a large army to continue attacking the Liao Kingdom's real capital, Shangjing Linhuang Prefecture, preparing to take Linhuang Prefecture in one fell swoop, and then move eastward to capture Dongjing Liaoyang Prefecture.

As for the besieged Xijin Prefecture (Beijing) and Xijing Datong Prefecture, Lin Hao was naturally not worried. He only needed to defend these two places and delay the Liao army.

The key is that Lin Hao can also use the skill of descending and possessing to command the battle at any time, and there are countless supplies prepared in the space equipment, so defense is not a problem at all.

By then, as long as he could take down all the five capitals of Liao, the Liao army would become rootless and, if they did not surrender, they would be nothing more than bandits.

Even if there were hundreds of thousands of troops, Lin Hao would not have to fight. Without sufficient supplies, collapse was only a matter of time.

As for whether they will become a nomadic people again, there is a saying that goes "It is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality." After being used to a life of having no worries about food and clothing, how can they live an insecure life as before?

······
Two months passed.

During these two months, Lin Hao successfully captured Liao Shangjing Linhuang Prefecture and Dongjing Liaoyang Prefecture, and captured Liao Shengzong Yelu Longxu and a number of royal family members.

Afterwards, Lin Hao controlled Yelu Longxu, issued several imperial edicts, and directly took over the Liao Kingdom's army of more than 100,000.

He also wrote a personal letter to persuade the 300,000-strong army besieging Zhongjing Dading Prefecture, Nanjing Xijin Prefecture (Beijing), and Xijing Datong Prefecture to surrender.

Just when Lin Hao took over Liaoyang, undercurrents were surging in Bianliang, far away in the Song Dynasty.

Some civil officials, nobles and powerful generals are communicating privately, and it is unknown what they are planning.

Zhao Heng had no idea about this, because the Imperial City Bureau had long been controlled by Lin Hao, just like digging out the eyes and ears of the Song Dynasty.

However, Zhao Heng was feeling very high at the moment and these little things were not important to him. After all, the crown prince had already been confirmed to be Zhao Zhen, and the border threat Lin Hao was fighting a life-and-death battle with the Liao Kingdom.

After all, the Queen's idea of ​​driving the tiger to devour the wolf was too good. No matter whether Lin Hao won or lost, Zhao Heng would be invincible.

Then Zhao Heng took out the opium in his mouth and proudly blew out smoke rings, which looked very beautiful.

However, at this moment, a eunuch stumbled into the imperial study.

"Report!" the eunuch said in panic, "Something bad has happened to the emperor!"

"What's wrong?" Zhao Heng half opened his eyes and looked at the eunuch and scolded him unhappily:
"If you have something to say, just take your time. It's inappropriate to be so flustered!"

"Your Majesty, a rebellion broke out in the western suburbs camp. The commander, Duke Anguo, was killed, and the rebels have already entered the city." The eunuch said, trembling all over.

"What did you say?" Zhao Heng sat up suddenly after hearing this, and then asked loudly: "The Western Suburbs Camp is in rebellion?"

"This is impossible, absolutely impossible, I don't believe it~!" Zhao Heng suddenly lost his composure, his face full of disbelief.

In his opinion, under his rule, the Song Dynasty was a country of peace and prosperity, with the people living and working in peace and contentment. He even took back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. How could a rebellion possibly happen?
"Report~! At this time, the commander of the Imperial City Guards came to report:
"Your Majesty, a rebellion has occurred in the western suburbs camp. The rebels have already entered the city of Bianjing and are heading straight for the palace!" Then Prime Minister Ke brought a group of his confidants to the palace to report the rebellion.

Reports came one after another, and Zhao Heng had no choice but to believe them. He was completely panicked.

"My dear ministers, you have all heard that a rebellion has occurred in the Western Suburbs Camp. What should we do?"

However, the group of civil servants who usually spoke eloquently and fluently looked at each other and were unable to say a word.

At least Zhao Heng had been to the battlefield. Although he was forced to go to the battlefield by Ke Zheng, at least he had been to the battlefield.

But apart from fighting for power and scheming against each other, what else can this group of clean civil servants do at this critical moment?
"You useless idiots, aren't you guys very talkative on normal days? Why are you all so dumb at the critical moment?"

Looking at the group of people in front of him, all of whom lowered their heads and kept silent, Zhao Heng became very angry and slammed the dragon table.

However, it was useless for Zhao Heng to lose his temper. Who would dare to speak nonsense at this time?
On weekdays, they dare to speak eloquently, and even when they are in the capital, they can give various opinions on the battlefield thousands of miles away.

Especially when they suffered defeat on the battlefield, they would curse the generals for their incompetence and say what would happen if they were replaced by civilian officials.

It was as if each of them was a god of war, but it didn’t matter if they were wrong, because they were not the ones who died anyway.

But it’s different now. Let alone giving orders, even saying a few more words could result in someone’s death.

And it is directly related to the safety of their own lives and property, who dares to speak carelessly?
What they regretted most at this moment was following Qi Mu to the palace. If they had ignored everything,

After all, these rebels were heading for the palace. If they stayed at home, they would be fine.

Because in the end, no matter who wins or loses, these civil servants are needed to govern the country.

But it’s different in the palace, after all, swords have no eyes.

Of course, not all of the Qingliu were useless, at least Ke Zheng was not one of them, so Ke Zheng took the initiative to step forward, just like he had forced Zhao Heng to go to the battlefield.

"Sir, now is not the time to lose your temper. The most urgent task is to send a general to guard the palace and not let the rebels enter the palace!"

Ke Zheng said clearly: "Also send someone to the East Suburbs camp to ask for reinforcements!"

"Mr. Ke, this is a very good idea!" Zhao Heng immediately praised when he heard someone giving him advice:

"Yes, yes, yes, it is still Mr. Ke who is mature and considerate of the country!"

Then Zhao Heng immediately said:

"Eunuch Cui, take my handwritten edict and mobilize the Eastern Suburbs Camp to come to the capital to rescue me!"

As he spoke, Zhao Heng picked up a pen, wrote an imperial edict to mobilize troops and handed it to Eunuch Cui.

"Your Majesty, just in case, it would be safer to write a few more edicts and send more troops." Ke Zheng reminded.

"Yes, yes, Mr. Ke is right!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Heng wrote ten imperial edicts in succession and sent more than ten eunuchs out of the palace from different directions to the eastern suburbs camp to convey the order and call for reinforcements.

But he didn't know that even if he sent out a hundred imperial edicts, it would be useless, because the East Suburb Camp had already been occupied by Lin Hao's people. They were just a little farther away and had not yet reached the palace.

"Mr. Ke, who should I send to guard the palace gate and resist the rebels?" After arranging the troops to call for reinforcements, Zhao Heng asked Ke Zheng again.

At this moment, in Zhao Heng's mind, all the civil and military officials in the court were useless and just sitting there doing nothing. Only the old minister Ke Zheng was trustworthy.

"I think we should send General Gao Hu to guard the city gate, and have the emperor personally go to the imperial city gate to boost the morale of the troops!" Ke Zheng suggested.

Zhao Heng thought it made sense when he heard it. Although this old man forced him to go to the battlefield again, he was forced to go to the battlefield by Ke Zheng when he fought against the Liao Kingdom.

But when he thought of his encouragement, and the bravery of the soldiers in the great war with the Liao Kingdom and their successful victory over the Liao Kingdom, Zhao Heng immediately straightened his back, because this was his achievement.

Afterwards, Zhao Heng put on his armor. Sitting on the dragon chariot, he led a dozen civil servants and the guards from various palaces summoned by him, and walked towards the Xuande Gate in a heroic and high-spirited manner.

As a result, when we were halfway there, we heard shouts of killing.

"This~!" Zhao Heng was so frightened by the shouting and killing that he almost fell off the dragon chariot. He hurriedly ordered:
"Someone, go and see what's happening up ahead!"

A eunuch responded and left, and soon came back panting:
"It's bad, sir. The rebels have already entered the palace and are fighting with the imperial guards not far ahead."

"How is it possible?" Zhao Heng's face turned pale with fear when he heard this, and he asked in disbelief:

"How could it be possible that my 50,000 guards were breached by the rebels in such a short time?"

"Even if 50,000 pigs were blocking the city gate, it would be impossible to lose it in such a short time!"

In fact, it was not just Zhao Heng. Ke Zheng and others were also unwilling to believe it. But no matter whether they were willing to believe the result or not, the facts were before them and they had no choice but to believe it.

At this moment, Zhao Heng felt dizzy and kept muttering to himself as if he was stupid:

"How to do how to do?"

At this moment, Zhao Heng's mind was like a paste, and he spoke stupidly.

No, I must be dreaming. Yes, I am dreaming. My hysteria has struck again. I also dreamed about the Queen and Marquis Jing'an before!

So this must be fake. When I wake up from my dream, everything will return to the way it was before!
At this moment, Zhao Heng's mind suddenly flashed with inspiration, and he suddenly reacted, then muttered to himself:
"Yes, I am dreaming!"

It turned out that what Zhao Heng was thinking about in his heart was that every time he dreamed, he could only watch Lin Hao bully his beloved queen.

Every time he cried out to heaven and earth, but nothing helped. He felt very aggrieved, but this time it was different.

At this time, he was not only surrounded by the support of the civil servants, but also by thousands of guards who were willing to obey his command.

Since I was dreaming, what was there to be afraid of? How could I continue to be bullied in my dreams?

He wanted to lead these thousands of guards to fight their way out and create a clear and peaceful world.

It doesn't matter even if he is defeated and killed. It's just a dream after all. Everything will return to normal when he wakes up.

"Clang!" Zhao Heng drew a sword from the waist of a guard and shouted angrily at the thousands of guards:
"What are you still standing there for? Follow me to wipe out the rebels. Charge~!"

As the saying goes, a good general is the courage of his soldiers. When Zhao Heng picked up the sword and rushed forward, the people in the imperial guards were greatly encouraged, and then some of them followed Zhao Heng and rushed forward.

(End of this chapter)