Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Upon hearing this, Li Gang said, "Your Majesty, it's not too late to discuss rewards and punishments later. The war is urgent right now."

"Only by gathering all available forces can we turn the tide of the war. I humbly request Your Majesty to issue an edict to release the death row inmates and allow them to serve the country!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Fan immediately interjected, "Release death row inmates to fight the enemy? Minister Li, do you know what you're saying? What if the death row inmates turn against us in battle?"

"Shut up!"

Unexpectedly, Li Gang shouted a curse at Ye Fan.

"If you hadn't recommended a charlatan to His Majesty to deceive him, Bianjing wouldn't be in such a state. Your act of deceiving the emperor deserves to die ten times over!"

Ye Fan's eyes were bloodshot, and he immediately said to Zhao Huan, "Your Majesty, this matter was indeed caused by my oversight, but I was also deceived. No one would have thought that the Taoist priest's talisman contained a hallucinogenic incense."

Zhao Huan squinted and said, "Alright, let's not bring this up again. I believe the Right Chancellor was also deceived."

Ye Fan was moved to tears: "Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty."

Zhao Huan waved his hand, ignoring Ye Fan, and looked at Li Gang, saying, "Minister Li, the Prime Minister's concerns are not without merit. What if those death row inmates turn against us in the face of battle, or even go and harm the people?"

Li Gang: "Your Majesty, as long as they are pardoned from the death penalty, allowed to atone for their crimes through meritorious service, and then handed over to me for command, the condemned prisoners will be fined."

"I am willing to stake my life and fortune on this: if the condemned prisoner becomes unruly, I and my entire family will die before the Bianliang Palace to plead guilty."

"Minister Li is truly loyal and courageous. Very well, I grant your permission. Immediately pardon all the prisoners on death row in the prison. Minister Li will lead the troops to fight the Jin people to the death."

"Your Majesty, I thank you!"

Zhao Huan stood up and walked to Li Gang's side, grasped his hand tightly, and said in an almost pleading tone, "Minister Li, my entire fortune is in your hands."

With tears in his eyes, Li Gang nodded vigorously to the young emperor: "Your Majesty, please rest assured. As long as I am here, the Jurchens will not be able to harm a single hair on Your Majesty's head. Your Majesty, please take care. I will take my leave now."

After paying his respects to Zhao Huan, Li Gang stepped out of the main hall.

Seeing this scene, Ye Fan was filled with resentment that almost drove him mad.

"I'll let you enjoy yourselves for a few more days. You foolish and incompetent rulers will pay for this humiliation with your lives!"

……

At noon, Wulu was ordered to lead his 10,000 troops to begin eliminating the remaining resistance forces in Bianjing City.

Because the city of Bianjing was full of civilian houses, which severely hampered the cavalry's operations, the pacification operation was mainly carried out by infantry.

In Wulu's impression, the Song army was easily defeated, and even in foot battle, annihilating them would be a very easy task.

However, he underestimated the arrangements made in Bianjing City, as well as the determination of the soldiers and civilians in the city to fight to the death at this moment.

"General Zhong, a large Jurchen army has been spotted ahead, approaching the entrance to Nan'an Alley. Should we launch an attack?"

"No rush. Instruct the rest of the units to hold their positions and let their vanguard pass."

Zhong Lue, the younger brother of Zhong Shidao, a famous general of the Song Dynasty, was well-versed in military books from a young age and honed his skills in the army under Zhong Shidao's guidance for many years. He was also a martial artist at the half-step Xiantian realm.

After Zhong Shidao's death, Zhong Lue returned to the capital to report, but he was never given important positions by Emperor Huizong and Emperor Huan. He was only retained as Vice Minister of War.

It was thanks to the exceptional recommendation of Zhou Xianwu and Li Gang that he was able to return to the battlefield to serve his country after the Jin army breached the city.

Watching the Jin army vanguard slowly pass by in the distance, Zhong slightly narrowed the area to defend against the enemy, gathered his troops behind a pile of ruins, and encouraged a few restless soldiers with his eyes.

After the Jin army's vanguard had passed, Zhong Lue peeked out and saw several hundred Jin soldiers left behind. His pupils immediately turned cold.

"kill!"

At a command, more than a thousand Song soldiers who had been lying in ambush on both sides of the ruins of civilian houses suddenly rushed out and dealt a head-on blow to the Jurchens.

"Oh no, the enemy..."

飕～

puff~

Just as the leader was about to shout, a sharp sword pierced his throat.

Zhong Lue, wielding a Guan Dao (a type of halberd), leaped out of the ruins and into the chaotic Jin army ranks, aiming a slash at a terrified cavalryman directly in front of him.

puff-

With a single slash, the cavalryman and his horse were instantly cleaved in two.

Feeling the warmth of the blood flowing down his cheeks, Zhong Lue's eyes flashed with intense killing intent.

Faced with a row of spears thrusting towards him, he swung his Guan Dao and severed the entire row of spear shafts in two.

Pfft, pfft, pfft~

Then, the Guan Dao, like a soaring green dragon, swept across the waists of the five golden figures before him.

With a crisp metallic cracking sound, the upper bodies of the five Jin soldiers flew up simultaneously.

The brutal scene of being cut in half at the waist terrified the remaining Jin soldiers.

"Kill~"

After intimidating the enemy, the remaining Song soldiers also charged out from both flanks and immediately engaged in fierce fighting with the Jin troops...

"Report, General Wulu, our rear has been attacked by the Song army."

“These despicable and shameless Song people, order the vanguards on the left and right flanks to immediately go back to reinforce, the rest of you continue to follow me into the inner city.”

Wulu was also a veteran general of the Jin Dynasty. He rose from slavery to nobleman through military merit, which shows that he was quite capable.

Despite being ambushed by the Song army in the rear, he remained calm and, after ordering reinforcements, continued his advance into the inner city.

He knew very well that rashly seeking out the remaining resistance forces of the Song army without being familiar with the terrain would only lead to falling into a carefully woven trap.

Only when they reach the outer city walls will the hidden ambush troops reveal themselves, allowing them to be wiped out in one fell swoop.

However, this time he misjudged the situation drastically. From the moment Wulu led his troops into the outer city, he faced countless surprise attacks from all directions.

"General, there's a roadblock ahead!"

"Stay hidden. Swordsmen and shieldmen in front, spearmen behind. Clear the obstacles immediately."

"Yes."

Soon, a hastily assembled Jin infantry force, under the cover of swordsmen and shieldmen, began to clear roadblocks along the way.

"shooting!"

Just as they approached the roadblock, Guo Huang gave an order, and hundreds of divine crossbows in the houses on both sides simultaneously drew their bows and fired.

"Oh no, we've fallen into a trap! Retreat!"

Wulu roared and ordered a retreat.

But it was too late.

With a twang of a bowstring, hundreds of heavy crossbow bolts mercilessly pierced through the bodies of the Jin soldiers, and in the blink of an eye, a whole number of them fell.

"kill!"

Taking advantage of the chaos in Wulu's troops, Guo Huang gave another order, and hundreds of guards, armed with axes and clad in infantry armor, charged out.

For a time, the Song and Jin armies engaged in fierce fighting...

On the other side, the two vanguards on the left and right, who had received orders to rush to the rear, also encountered the resistance army led by Zhou Xianwu halfway there, and the two sides were engaged in fierce fighting.

During this period, many residents of the city also picked up tools from their homes that could cause injury and began to assist the Song army in defending the city.

In an instant, shouts of battle rose from all corners of Bianjing City, and the battlefield gradually expanded to every alley and corner.

Wanyan Zongbi, who was observing the battle through binoculars from the North Gate, couldn't help but frown when he saw the smoke of war filling the city and the sounds of fighting everywhere.

"Send another three thousand troops to reinforce Wulu. Make sure to wipe out all the Song troops resisting in the city before nightfall!"