"Sixty thousand, the loss of troops will be 60,000!"
Zhao Yun murmured to himself, not knowing how he sat on the chair, as if he was lost.
Han Hong was so ashamed that he knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, this battle was planned by the Privy Council. As a Privy Council envoy, I deserve to be punished by death. Please punish me."
Zhao Yun seemed to have not heard Han Hong's words, and his eyes were very empty and lifeless. This was an expression he had never seen before.
"Everyone, please go down, I will be alone."
Han Hong, Gao Shi and others had no choice but to retreat, leaving Zhao Yun sitting there alone, lonely and lonely.
Zhao Yun sat there motionless and did not say a word. Time passed slowly and the sun gradually set. It was getting dark and the hall was pitch dark. However, the maids did not dare to come in and light the lamps without Zhao Yun's instructions.
Gao Shi had no choice but to wait quietly outside the palace with his chambermaids, while the guards Wang Wushi, Deng Ming and others were extremely nervous. The palace was pitch dark. If an assassin appeared, the consequences would be disastrous.
Therefore, all of them looked tense and their ears were perked up. As long as there was a slightly different sound inside, they would rush in to protect you without hesitation.
I don’t know how long it took, but Zhao Yun slowly stood up, and under the faint moonlight, he picked up his pen and wrote on the table: "Since the defeat of Qi State, who is to blame?"
Finally, Zhao Yun slowly wrote: "I am the only one guilty of this."
After seriously reflecting on the defeat of Qi State, Zhao Yun found that he had made too many mistakes.
First, Zhao Yun believed that he was too contemptuous of Ziqi State and did not make any preparations. He directly ordered 80,000 troops to be sent, and then ignored him without worrying about defeat.
On the other hand, when Zhao Fan sent troops to the Jin Kingdom, Zhao Yun was extremely serious. He sent the Imperial City Division to inquire about the news in advance, find internal agents, and ask questions at all times. It can be said that he did his best.
Comparing the two sides, Zhao Yun never did anything else except sending troops to Zi Qi State. This is an extreme contempt for Zi Qi State.
Zhao Yun, like everyone else, thought that Qi State was only 10% less than the Song Dynasty in terms of population and territory. When the Song Dynasty sent troops, it would be a complete crushing situation, so he never thought about defeat.
The second point is that Zhao Yun raised troops out of anger.
Since ancient times, it has been a taboo for military strategists to launch an army out of anger. The most direct reason for sending troops this time was that the messenger Liu Wenxing was killed. Zhao Yun was so angry that he sent troops without thinking.
Everyone in the Song Dynasty, from the king to the soldiers, was extremely angry. This anger can greatly stimulate the morale of the army. This is naturally a good thing, but it can also blind people's eyes.
With these two points in mind, the defeat of the Song Dynasty seems to be a matter of course.
The sun rose again, and Zhao Yun stayed alone in the hall without moving, reflecting on the gains and losses of the war. Unknowingly, the night passed.
"Highly practical."
With grief and anger in his tone, Zhao Yun summoned Gao Shi into the palace.
Gao Shi obeyed the order, hurriedly stepped in, walked up to Zhao Yun, and said: "Your Majesty, what are your orders?"
Zhao Yun handed him an edict and said: "Take it to the Political Affairs Hall and ask it to be issued as soon as possible to make it clear to the whole country."
Gao Shi took the edict and took a look at it. It turned out to be an edict to blame himself. Gao Shi's heart trembled and he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, how can this be like this? Since the defeat of the Qi Kingdom, your Majesty is not to blame."
Gao Shi said, already crying.
If Zhao Yun wanted to issue an imperial edict to blame himself, he would be taking the blame for the war on himself. However, as the emperor, how could he be wrong?
If the emperor admits that he has made mistakes, he will undoubtedly damage his authority and divinity. Therefore, since ancient times, it has been extremely rare for kings to issue edicts to sin against themselves. It is impossible for emperors to admit that they have made mistakes unless they have to.
Zhao Yundan waved his hand and said: "Go."
Gao Shi had no choice but to go to the Political Hall with the edict.
At this time, the atmosphere in the political hall was also depressing. All officials had already known the news of Qi's defeat. The desks of the two prime ministers, Qiao Xingjian and Yuan Shao, were also filled with impeachment memorials.
The memorials were all submitted by those officials, especially Yan Guan. Basically everyone submitted the memorials, and the target of impeachment was Bi Chongzhi.
They impeached Bichong for being complacent and underestimating the enemy, which led to his defeat, and asked Zhao Yun to deal with him severely.
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Even though Bi Chongzhi had already died fighting for the country, they still refused to let him go.
At this time, Gao Shi came with the edict. Qiao Xingjian took the edict and looked at it, and was shocked.
Yuan Shao was curious and glanced at it. When he saw that it was a sinner's edict, his eyes suddenly widened and his face was full of disbelief.
Qiao Xingjian said: "Why should the officials be like this? Although this defeat is a setback, it is not serious enough to require the officials to issue an edict to blame themselves. And what does the guilt of this war have to do with the officials?"
Yuan Shao also said: "Yes, we will go to the officials and ask them to take back the edict."
Gao Shi said with a heavy expression: "The official intention is for the two envoys to spread the country as soon as possible without delay."
After hearing this, both of them understood that Zhao Yun's will could no longer be changed. Although they were unwilling to do so, they had to send out the edict. At the same time, they felt even more awe towards Zhao Yun.
No matter when, a king who has the courage to take responsibility for his crimes is admirable.
Soon, this edict of culpability was spread throughout the country. In the edict of culpability, Zhao Yun wrote: "I came to the throne at a young age. I was young and ambitious. I lacked a calm and tempered heart. Suddenly I heard that I had killed my envoy from Qi State. I was angry.
He could not be exposed, and then he raised an army out of anger, and finally suffered a great defeat.
The sin of this war is all on my own body and has nothing to do with the soldiers who went out to fight. If God wants to punish me, please punish me alone. If the people of the world want to blame me for the defeat, please slander me and do not hurt me.
My loyal warrior died."
Once this edict of guilt was announced, the world was shocked. Everyone was impressed by Zhao Yun's courage and moved in their hearts.
And those officials who wrote letters to impeach Bi Chongzhi also went to the political hall one by one and asked for their own papers back.
Yongzhou, Jinxing County.
To the east of the county town, there is a military camp where Bi Nian, Zhang Biqing, Chen Batian, Jia Zhu and others are temporarily stationed for rest.
Ever since they returned to the Song Dynasty, their military morale has been low. Each of them has lost their energy and looks like they have aged by more than ten years.
On this day, they learned that Zhao Yun had issued a criminal edict for the war against Qi State, and every one of them was moved and cried bitterly.
Apart from being moved, they also felt a deep sense of guilt and self-blame, which also made it difficult for them to do it themselves.
In the midst of deep self-blame, Bi Nian once again felt heroic. He said to the generals: "This defeat is the greatest shame in our lives. One day, we will fight back and break through his army."
Capital, destroy his country, wash away our shame with their blood."