Fan Zheng Guo's words finished, and the entire court fell silent again.
"This minister believes that Prime Minister Fan's words are reasonable! As long as we can hold the line at Taiyuan and Xiongzhou, these Jin people will be defeated without a fight!"
After a brief silence, Yu Shen spoke again.
"Reporting to His Majesty, urgent dispatch from Xiongzhou, Guo Yaoshi defected to the enemy on the battlefield, and Xiongzhou has fallen!"
Whether it was the emperor's bad luck or Yu Shen hadn't checked the almanac before leaving home today, Yu Shen had barely finished speaking when a dust-covered messenger, supported by two eunuchs, burst in...
"What did you say? How could Xiongzhou fall? What was Tong Guan doing!"
As soon as the messenger finished speaking, the hot-tempered Zhao Zhen rushed forward, fiercely grabbed the messenger's collar, and lifted him off the ground.
"Replying to Your Highness, Commander Tong is not in Xiongzhou. Guo Yaoshi, relying on Commander Tong's backing, refused to obey Lord Tan's orders and refused to send troops to rescue the central army, leading to the Jin cavalry breaking through the central army's defenses. Seeing Xiongzhou in peril, he and his Changsheng Army defected directly to the Jin! The 150,000 troops in Hebei were thus brutally slaughtered by the Jin!"
After the messenger finished speaking, Zhao Ji, who was in a wheelchair, went black in the eyes and collapsed to the ground with a bang.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
"Quickly summon the imperial physician!"
With such a major event occurring at this critical juncture, and the emperor suddenly fainting, even those present, who had been through many battles, felt a sense of panic.
"Why isn't Tong Guan in Hebei? Why did he leave his post as the commander of the four routes!"
Although the emperor had fainted, Zhao Zhen felt more fear about the situation at the front line, which was more important than the emperor's life.
Without Xiongzhou and Yizhou, the entire Eastern and Western Hebei circuits had become flat land.
Coupled with the fact that over a hundred thousand troops had just been wiped out by the Jin, Hebei's military strength had been largely hollowed out.
If the Jin were to push south, Zhao Zhen dared not imagine the consequences!
"Commander Tong said he was going to Hedong to mobilize troops. He withdrew 50,000 troops from Xiongzhou and headed straight for Taiyuan City, leaving the entire Xiongzhou line to be managed by Lord Tan and Guo Yaoshi respectively!"
This messenger was just a small officer in the army. Although he had followed Tan Zhen for many years, he had never seen such a scene!
Seeing that the emperor had collapsed on the dragon throne, his voice began to tremble as he spoke.
"Useless! A bunch of useless people!"
After hearing his words, Zhao Zhen became even more enraged.
"Prime Minister Yu, what should we do about this matter? You must quickly come up with a plan! Tan Zhen has been defeated, and the entire Hebei is wide open. If we don't think of a solution quickly, I'm afraid the Jin will be at the city gates in a few days!"
After a hasty check of the emperor's condition and finding that he had only fainted, Fan Zheng Guo turned to Yu Shen again.
"This, this situation is so dire, I, I..."
Yu Shen was already mediocre in military and political affairs. If it were a peaceful era, he would have been a peaceful prime minister. But now, with the Jin invading and their own army so vulnerable, he was at a loss for words...
"Prime Minister Yu, this is a critical moment for the survival of our nation. You must come up with a plan no matter what!"
Seeing the beads of sweat on Yu Shen's forehead, Wang Xiang also sneered and spoke again.
"Prime Minister Wang, Prime Minister Zhong, you two are the deputy minister and a signatory of the Bureau of Military Affairs respectively. Do you have any opinions on military matters?"
Although he himself couldn't come up with a good idea, he suddenly remembered when he looked at Zhong Shidao, who was hesitant to speak beside him.
Seeing everyone's gaze shift to him, Zhong Shidao let out a wry smile.
He certainly understood why Wang Xiang said what he did at this moment. It was clearly an attempt to force Yu Shen to step down. However, with the situation reaching such a critical point, he could no longer afford to care about such petty schemes.
"The only thing we can do now is to see if Xu Churen, the governor of Daming, can hold the Yellow River's natural defenses! If he also fails, I'm afraid the Jin will truly be at the city gates..."
"That's right, that's right, we still have the Yellow River's natural defenses! In less than half a year after Xu Churen took office, he wiped out all the bandits in the territory. He is also knowledgeable about military affairs! I think we should do this: immediately send a fast horse to order Xu Churen to hold the Yellow River to the death! We will then mobilize troops from other places to rush to his aid!"
With Zhong Shidao's words, Yu Shen finally regained his composure.
"The war between Song and Liao has been going on for so long, and Hebei has long been completely depleted. The 200,000 troops mobilized by the court have all been killed by the Jin. Are you expecting the old and weak in his hands to stop the wolf-like Jin?"
If anyone knew the situation in Hebei best among those present, it would probably be Zhao Zhen, besides Zhong Shidao...
Xu Churen had an unusual relationship with him, and they had been in constant correspondence. Besides daily greetings, the most frequently discussed topic was the situation in Hebei.
Seeing Yu Shen place his hope on Xu Churen, Zhao Zhen instantly felt a surge of anger.
Tong Guan's unauthorized departure from his post had led to this defeat, but Yu Shen, from beginning to end, did not mention Tong Guan's matter, and instead prepared to let Xu Churen take the blame. Wasn't this clearly bullying an honest person?
If it were someone else being bullied, he might have endured it. But Xu Churen's relationship with him was one of mutual prosperity and shared misfortune. Under such circumstances, how could Zhao Zhen tolerate this injustice!
While everyone was arguing, the imperial physician, who had arrived late, finally appeared.
"Imperial Physician Wang, how is His Majesty's health?"
After the bailiff checked Zhao Ji's pulse, everyone fell silent again.
Being stared at by so many important figures, even the experienced imperial physician felt a chill down his spine.
"His Majesty has been overworked recently, coupled with anger and anxiety, which is why..."
Upon hearing Yu Shen's question, the imperial physician hurriedly replied.
"Then when will His Majesty wake up?"
As soon as the imperial physician finished speaking, Fan Zheng Guo frowned and spoke again.
"I will first give His Majesty acupuncture and then administer two doses of medicine for recuperation, and he should be fine..."
With so many influential figures present, even by thinking with his heels, Wang Jieru, a mere imperial physician, could guess that something major had happened here. He dared not linger any longer...
"Then why are you still standing there?"