When the news of the Ming army preparing to attack the city came, the ministers were shocked. They all came to the palace and begged Zhao Xing to stop the unnecessary struggle and accept the Ming army's request to prevent Lin'an City from repeating the mistakes of Kaifeng back then.

They complained about the tragic experiences of the people in the city after Kaifeng was captured, and asked Zhao Xing to treat this matter rationally and not fight the Ming army to the end.

They deeply remembered what happened in Kaifeng City that year, and remembered that apart from the royal family's disaster, these ministers were not much better.

Most of the ministers were plundered all their property, and some unlucky guys were too close to the royal family, so they went north to the bitter and cold land of Liaodong with a large number of royal families, suffered humiliation, died in the local area, and never returned to their hometown.

This is related to their vital interests. If the Ming army really attacks the city and the Song army really can't stand it, they will repeat the same mistakes and become eternal laughing stock.

Because the Ming Kingdom had replaced the Jin Kingdom, owned all the territory of the Jin Kingdom, and also controlled the bitter and cold land of Liaodong, it was not difficult to exile them to the legendary Five Kingdoms City.

Their interests are damaged and they cannot bear it.

They cannot and dare to place their own destiny and family destiny on an emperor who has just ascended the throne.

Who can believe that this emperor can turn the tide and support the building to collapse?

So not only were the civil and military officials of the dynasty, but also the existing royal relatives, the concubines in the harem that Zhao Gou did not take away, and the Northern Song royal families who were sent back by the Ming Dynasty, all cried and shouted to the palace and asked Zhao Xing to protect Lin'an and not let Lin'an be injured by the war.

They cried and shouted, with a very miserable voice and a huge momentum, blocking the palace where Zhao Xing was doing business.

The inner part is the prime ministers who ask Zhao Sheng to judge the situation.

Outside there was a ruling group crying and begging him to surrender.

Shi Hao stood alone on the other side without saying a word.

Zhao Xing felt unprecedented despair.

Including those who once insisted on fighting, most of the pro-war factions who had written a letter to Zhao Xing and asked him to fight were extinguished and stopped talking.

When things came to an end, these "hard-bonded war sects" were still very cautious and shut up at the same time. Some even mixed up with the group of officials who requested Zhao Sheng to surrender, putting huge political pressure on Zhao Sheng.

This huge political pressure almost destroyed Zhao Xing and made Zhao Xing extremely painful.

When he knew that the relatives of civil and military officials and royal families were begging him not to continue to resist, he deeply felt the pain of what is [the king is not a king who destroyed the country, but the ministers are all ministers who destroyed the country].

The officials who were broken by the Jin and Qin Hui party were unable to stand up again and knelt down under the intimidation of the Ming army.

All the civil and military officials in the court, only three people still wrote a letter to express their desire to survive and die with Lin'an City, and even requested to climb the city wall to fight the enemy and protect the dignity of the Song Dynasty.

These last three remarks of persistence in resistance seem ridiculous and meaningless to many people, but in Zhao Sheng's view, this is the last comfort in his heart.

Han Wonji, chief clerk of Sinong Temple.

The official Lu You was deleted by the imperial decree.

Yu Yunwen, a clerk of the Secretariat.

These three names were remembered by Zhao Xing. These three people made Zhao Xing understand that although many civil and military officials in the dynasty were afraid of death, there were still officials who were willing to stand up straight and behave.

However, just three people could not support Zhao Xing to continue to resist.

He could even imagine that this was the ultimatum of the ministers.

As an emperor who has just ascended the throne and has not yet supported the stable power, he has no other die-hard supporters except Shi Hao. His throne is actually unstable at this stage.

Especially at this time, Zhao Gou was not here and no one supported him. If he insisted on his own, it was really a critical moment, which was very likely to trigger a palace coup and lose the throne.

Zhao Xing, who was extremely tired, finally couldn't hold on.

In fact, this is the ultimatum of the ministers.

Although Yang Cunzhong, the military force represented by him, did not make any statement, and was still guarding the city, and he was posing as if he wanted to fight the Ming army to the death, if all the ministers wanted to surrender and did not want to resist, then how could Yang Cunzhong turn the tide alone?

And at this moment, some ministers really have the intention of being unjust.

They planned to take advantage of Zhao Gou's absence and Zhao Xing's unstable and shaky status to elect Zhao Ji's son Zhao Tiezeng or Zhao Waneneng as emperor, and lead them to surrender to overcome difficulties.

They did not want to die with Zhao Xing, nor did they want to be captured with Zhao Xing to the north and lose their freedom, luxury and glory life.

Originally, the ministers did not have any choice, and it was difficult to immediately recommend the next suitable emperor except Zhao Xing. However, after the Ming Dynasty sent a group of royal families back, they had a choice.

They had Zhao Ji's son who could be the candidate for backup emperors and could also become emperors smoothly. If Zhao Xing was really "stubborn", they decided to fight against the name of great rebellion and also to drive Zhao Xing off the throne.

Even if Zhao Gou gets angry after he comes back, it doesn’t matter. Who made you not be there when the most important time?

You ran away by yourself and left us to suffer. Is there such a reason?

Fortunately, Zhao Xing did not persist until they decided to move.

The ugly behavior of the ministers made Zhao Xing completely desperate and made him lose his final resistance. He asked Shi Hao to help him out of the palace. Facing the miserable scenes of civil and military officials and royal relatives, he made a declaration in grief and anger.

"I am not willing to surrender even if I die in battle. The mere Ming army cannot do anything to me, but you stabbed me hard in the chest, leaving me helpless! I am not surrendering for myself, but I am waiting for you! You are greedy for life and fearful of death, but you want me to bear the eternal infamy and become the surrendering emperor. How can you wait for your feelings? How can you bear the feelings!"

After saying that, Zhao Xing cried and shouted, saying "I'm sorry for my ancestors, all the ministers of the country that were destroyed," and so on. He left the palace of the meeting and returned to his bedroom.

Then Zhao Xing authorized Shi Hao to sign a peace agreement with the Ming army outside the city on his behalf. All conditions were acceptable. Only the issue of reducing annual monies mentioned earlier could be more fought for, which could reduce some of the burden on the Song Dynasty.

A very likely palace coup came to an end, and Zhao Ji's son did not have the luck to ascend the throne again.

In the early morning of the ninth day of the fifth month, Shi Hao arrived at the Ming army camp with a heavy heart, passed through the Ming army attacking formation that was closely guarded and ready to go, and met Zhou Zhi and Zhou Zhixue three times.

This time, Shi Hao did not engage in any more entanglement, but agreed to the Ming army's request, whether it was compensation, annual monies, cede land, or surrender, they all agreed.

This agreement, known as the Lin'an Treaty, was officially signed.

Neither side had any more entanglement, but the annual monies were only in terms of annual monies. Because they agreed to the third and fourth terms, the Ming army also made some concessions, adjusting the annual monies price to the level of 250,000 taels of silver and 250,000 taels of silk cloth, just like the Jin Kingdom back then.

The annual monies stipulate that other materials can be used to calculate the annual monies supply, but the annual monies must be provided at least 100,000 taels of silver and 100,000 pieces of silk cloth, which means that the discount range is 150,000 taels of silver and 150,000 pieces of silk cloth.

The scope of discounted materials is also strictly stipulated. Gold is fine, grain is fine, general cloth is fine, and building materials required for renovation of the Yellow River are fine, including the labor provided to Ming Dynasty to build the Yellow River, which can also be used for discounts.

Those that can be discounted are basically market hard currency with wide uses, including human resources, which can be used to do business without the existence of luxury goods.

Although Shi Hao was heartbroken when he signed the treaty, he also realized the difference between the Ming government and the Southern Song government and realized that this failure was not without reason.

They seem to have really started a war just for practical things, not for face, status or other reasons. The war has extremely clear directions and goals. They will not give up until the goal is achieved, and they will stop taking action immediately and prohibit orders.

Perhaps, even if the army is stronger than it is now, the Southern Song Dynasty is not an opponent of the Ming Dynasty.

For some reason, Shi Hao suddenly had this idea.
Chapter completed!