son-in-law

Chapter 754 I won't speak first when spring comes

On February 27, the weather has begun to warm up, and the fields near Zhending are full of flowers of various colors.

The earth seemed quiet, and the crows flew down, pecking at the corpses among the wildflowers.The blood that has spread has begun to congeal. In Zhendingfu, it has been a day since the end of a war. The iron cavalry spreads, stepped over this land, and within a radius of dozens of miles to the south, more than [-] troops are being defeated. escape.

In mid-February of the second year of Wu Jianshuo, the Jurchens swore to send troops, which opened the prelude to the third war.On February 23, led by Nianhan, the Jurchen Middle Route Army, which had crossed the Yanmen Pass not long after, was intercepted by an army of 15 led by Wu Dynasty general Hou Xin.

Since the Jurchen army broke Bianliang and returned to the north last year, the number of troops nominally affiliated to the Wu Dynasty has been expanding in the areas north of the Yellow River and south of Yanmen Pass. On the one hand, several armies previously stationed here have been expanding their armies in an expedient manner in order to cope with future wars and stabilize their own territory.

After King Kang ascended the throne and changed the Yuan Dynasty to Jianshuo, Zong Ze, who was in charge of the northern garrison, worked tirelessly to run back and forth, and successively incorporated several tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of civilian forces north of the Yellow River into the regular army system of the Wu Dynasty. At this time, On the land north of the Yellow River, the mountain bandits and the army formed the first line of defense to unite the outside world and resist the Jurchens.

Hou Xinhou Wen Jingben was the commander-in-chief of the Wu Sheng Army. This time when the Jurchen went south, he did not choose to retreat. He said to his subordinates: "The family and the country are in danger, and a man has to face the difficulties." Seeing that the morale of this army was high, they did not fight against it. The two sides tried back and forth for two days. In the early morning of February 26, they launched an attack against the waiting letter army with iron cavalry.

At this time, the Wu Sheng army had already been defeated by the Jurchens during the first two southern expeditions. At this time, it hastily expanded its army to 15, which itself was also mixed.Zong Han came to attack at night, Hou Xin was somewhat prepared, but after meeting the enemy, more than 26 people still mutinied.The Jurchen cavalry penetrated the defense line of the Wu Sheng army like a torrent. That night, the corpses of the soldiers killed by the Jurchen piled up like mountains and blood flowed like a river. On the [-]th, Yinshu took advantage of the opportunity to capture the Zhending Mansion.

On the morning of the 27th, the scattered soldiers crowded the roads and mountains south of Zhending.These good and bad soldiers fled south frantically. Some of them were originally bandits and bandits. It finally disappeared.

Yuanchang County, [-] miles away from Zhending, was crowded with the first wave of soldiers who had fled. The order had begun to become chaotic. A group of hundreds of people drove the people in the county town, telling them that the Jurchen would be killed. The news that came, urged everyone to flee here.During such expulsion, they also began to loot the limited wealth, grain and rice in the county town, and raped women. The county magistrate Liu Dongxiu tried to stop the chaos. This afternoon, he was killed in the conflict. , The corpse was placed in the hall of the county government office, and the soldiers who plundered were scattered as birds and beasts soon after.

Yuanchang County is not the only place where this phenomenon occurs.Zhending, Taiyuan and other places have suffered from war in the previous war, and in a sense, they are almost abandoned places.On the way to dispersal, the soldiers knew that the situation in the vicinity was over.There are still warm-blooded and caring people who run to the south to join other armies and rebels. More than half of them start thinking about themselves, or flee into the mountains or disperse in the distance.During this period, there were not a few people who found the nearby villagers and villagers to loot and enjoy it.

At the time of the pacification, the bandits in Zhao'an became soldiers, and after the defeat, the soldiers turned into mountain bandits again.

During the defeat and escape of 10 people, more people fled, and the scouts and spies from all over the place fled in different directions at a faster speed.In this way, the menacing news of the Jurchens was pushed to the whole world like a tide.

More troops gathered north of the Yellow River, but after seeing the strength of the Jurchen War God Wanyan Zonghan again, everyone began to take a cautious attitude and dared not take any more rash moves.

On the Yellow River defense line, Zong Ze quickly gathered the limited forces on hand to reinforce the defenses along Bianliang and the Yellow River. While writing a letter to stabilize the hearts of several rebels north of the Yellow River, he also sent a note to Yingtian, hoping this His Majesty can resolutely resist to improve the morale of the army.

In Yingtian, more information and arguments filled the Golden Palace, and Emperor Zhou Yong was completely stunned. He had only been on the throne for half a year, and the invincible Jurchen army had already moved south.This time, Wanyan Zonghan led the Central Route Army and rushed towards Taiyuan. There was no danger in Taiyuan, while the East Route Army led by Jurchen Prince Wanyan Zongfu, Wanyan Zongbi and others rushed towards Shandong, with the slogans of destroying the Wu Dynasty and capturing them alive. Zhou Yong, although the number of troops in the northern area was at its peak at this time, it was too large to be worth it. As for whether they could stop the Jurchen, no one really had a clue whether they could stop the Jurchen.

During this period, the left minister Li Gang still advocated strict adherence to the Jurchen line in the Yellow River, waiting for the division of the King of Qin to break the Jurchen army.In Yingtiancheng, in order to resist the Jurchen, the crowd was furious, and the students Chen Dong, Ouyang Che and others ran every day, calling for resistance.

But there were two failures in resisting the Jurchen before. At this time, the voice of the Lord and the faction in the court had also risen, which was different from the situation when Tang Ke and others were reprimanded for fear of war.At this time, the voices of the right minister Huang Qianshan, the privy envoy Wang Boyan and others in favor of fleeing to the south already have a market. Many people think that if the Jurchen is really difficult to control, maybe they have to go south first and exchange space for space. Time, with the vertical and horizontal terrain of the southern waterway, restrains the Jurchen's horse-fighting benefits.

After all, it has only been a year since Emperor Jingping was taken captive to the north, and it is still the greatest humiliation of the entire Wu Dynasty. If the newly ascended Emperor Jianshuo is also taken away, the Wu Dynasty may really be over.

Rationally, in the next few years, this Jurchen army, which has risen rapidly and has not yet declined at this time, seems to be invincible and unstoppable - although it seems that there was once one, But for the princes of the court at this time, they are a little less able to think about it. After all, the leader of the army once said to them in the Golden Palace: "A bunch of trash."

If that person just killed Tong Guan and Zhou Zhe, or that's all.However, such a sentence actually shows that in the eyes of the other party, other people are no different from the corrupt officials and traitors they call them.This is something that Li Gang and others cannot bear.

Today, the situation in the northwest where that person is located is completely unpredictable.

Xiao Canghe also suddenly became nervous.

The training of soldiers is carried out every day.A large number of materials that can be scavenged from the outside world are also constantly in and out of this mountain - this also includes exchanges with Qingmu Village.

By the river beach, just after a training session, Luo Ye left the soldiers who were almost paralyzed, washed his face in the river, and walked quickly to the barracks. When they were in a group of houses, they encountered two soldiers who were rushing in a hurry and looked serious.Both of them are members of the Secret Investigation Department of the Zhuji System. Luo Ye also knew them and grabbed one of them: "What's the matter?"

When the news of the Jurchen invasion came, the atmosphere in the entire Xiaocang River Valley also became tense and chilling. I am afraid that these intelligence managers will be asked many times every day, and I hope to inquire about the specific information outside.That person is also very familiar with Luo Ye, and is a member of the Huayan Association. Looking around, he is a little embarrassed: "It's not an external matter, this time may be punished."

"What's the matter?" Luo Ye frowned, "Have you committed a crime?"

"In the north, you know about the shopkeeper Lu. Someone told his family. Today, Mingfang's mother went to Mr. Ning to cry, hoping for a letter."

He spoke quickly. When he mentioned this, Luo Ye nodded. He also knew the news.Originally in the Wu Dynasty, there was a Secret Investigation Division under the name of the Right Prime Minister’s Mansion, and part of it had been integrated into Zhuji. After Ning Yi’s rebellion, the intelligence system in Zhuji was still named Secret Investigation. One of the three responsible persons, There is Lu Yannian, shopkeeper Lu. Last year, shopkeeper Lu was the first to go through the trade route of Jin Kingdom in the north, and redeemed some craftsmen who were captured by the Jurchens. His son Lu Mingfang liked to talk and laugh, and he also had some friendship with Luo Ye. Now that he is not yet 20, he has always worked with Lu Yannian.

This time, before the Jurchen went south, the north suddenly began to purge the spies of the southerners. After a few days of silence, the members of Zhuji who fled back from the north brought back the message. The intelligence team led by Lu Yannian bore the brunt. I am afraid that he is dead, and the rest of the people are also more fortunate.This time, the Jurchen high-level actions were very sharp. In order to cooperate with the army's southward movement, a terrible bloody storm was set off in the sixteen states of Yanyun, and any suspected Han people were massacred.

Although everyone in Zhuji had a plan for this kind of thing, in this slaughter atmosphere where the Han people were not regarded as human beings, they also suffered heavy losses.After that, the news of the Jurchen army going south on a large scale came.

Luo Ye thought for a while: "Aunt Huo is actually a sensible person, so she shouldn't cause too much trouble to Mr. Ning."

"It's not for this..." The man sighed, and saw another companion beckoning and urging him from a distance, and waved his hand, "Oh, you'll find out after a while. Don't spread it out, tell others about it. Don't mention it again."

He walked away, and Luo Ye responded, "I see."

In the courtyard halfway up the mountain, Su Tan'er accompanied the weeping wife of the Lu family, comforting her. In fact, for any woman, when her husband and son may have died, she would be comforted. are powerless.

In another room where the affairs are being discussed, the middle and high-level officials of the Zhuji intelligence department have already gathered, and Ning Yi looked at them coldly: "...you think the people in the valley are all right. You think the friends around you are all right. They are all loyal and reliable. What you think is a big thing and a small thing, so you can take it lightly. Do you know that you are engaged in intelligence!"

"You may not yet see your own importance, even if I have told you repeatedly! You are the most important part of the life and death of the war! Predict the enemy's opportunities! Predict the enemy's opportunities! What is the concept! What an enemy!"

"Jurchen, they have already started to go south, no one can stop them! We can't either! Qingmu Village in Xiaocang River has less than 5 people, and they are not even worthy of stuffing their teeth. You think the people around you are reliable , maybe at some point people who are greedy for life and fear of death will turn to them! Your trust is meaningless, your assumptions are meaningless, but discipline is meaningful! If you have one less negligence and one more achievement, your companions will be able to Hundreds of thousands of people survived, since you think they can be trusted and relied on, you should have the strictest discipline to be responsible for them.”

"Aunt Huo is a reasonable woman, but whether she is reasonable or not, Shopkeeper Lu may not be able to come back. If you are more powerful, you may be able to detect their actions before the Jurchen starts. Is there any room for improvement? I think we can start from our own weaknesses. This time, anyone who has discussed unpublished information with the people around us will be punished! Do you think there is a problem?"

After he finished saying these words, there was a sound in the room: "No."

Ning Yi knocked on the table a few times: "Jurchen is coming, will we be affected? It's hard to say, but it's very likely that how much preparation there is may not be enough. Defeating Xixia is not a good thing, we have already passed Into the sight of others early, this is actually the worst case, you..."

Before he finished speaking, someone outside the door reported it, but it was Xiao Hei who was in charge of the communication for him. He walked over and said a few words, Ning Yi paused, and then looked at everyone in the room:

The worst is yet to come.

On this day, not many people in the room heard the content of the sentence, and even if they did, it was never rumored. However, that night, most of the people in the valley still understood what happened.The messenger sent by the Jurchen army has arrived in the valley to deliver an ultimatum to Xiao Canghe.

Hearing this news, some people in the river valley are indignant, some are excited, and some are worried.Without going through the above organization, Luo Ye and others spontaneously summoned the soldiers, held a meeting to cheer up, and strengthened their fighting spirit, but of course, the real decision was still made by Ning Yi.

Few people knew what Ning Yi talked about with the messenger that night.The next day, Luo Ye and others went to class according to the scheduled arrangement after the training, and gathered together to discuss the situation of the Jurchen army going south this time.

At this time, the message valley of the mobilization of the Jurchen army was already clear.Zonghan of the Middle Route Army, Zongfu and Zong Bi of the East Route Army all rushed towards Yingtian, so there was no need to think about it.The real threat to the northwest is the Jurchen West Road Army. In this army, there are only [-] Jin people, but the leader must not be ignored. He is one of the most outstanding generals in the Jurchen army. The Wanyan Lou Room.

This person was in the Jurchen army and had great military exploits. At the beginning, he was the one who captured Emperor Tianzuo of the Liao Kingdom and Yelu Dashi alive.During Jurchen's two campaigns against martial arts, he had numerous victories in Taiyuan, Guanshan and other places. He was best at focusing on Jinbing, supplemented by subduing soldiers and puppets, and expanding his own style of play. Often, his subordinates fought more and more. , strategic and tactical are extremely skillful.Even among the Jurchens who will be star-studded at this time, he is probably the one with the strongest tactical level.

As Ning Yi said, while defeating Xixia, Xiao Canghe had already fallen into the eyes of the Jurchens ahead of time. If the arrival of the Jurchen envoys meant that the Jin Kingdom's high-level officials had plans for this side, Xiao Canghe's army would be extremely vulnerable. Maybe you have to face this invincible Jurchen warrior.Although the Black Banner Army has 7000 men and broke the record of the [-] Xixia Army, on the other side, the number of enemies that have been defeated one after another is probably in the millions, and there are many battles where the ratio of troops is more than one to ten.

A group of people were discussing in the room, and voices gradually came from outside the door. Among them were Ning Yi and a few strange Chinese words.Everyone stopped discussing, and at the door, Ning Yi and the figure in the official uniform of the Jin State appeared.

With a sound of "whoosh", everyone looked at the door and stood up together. The envoy of the Jin Kingdom was obviously stunned for a moment. Ning Yi looked around at the people inside: "This is the messenger from the Jin Kingdom, Fan Hongji, the envoy Fan, and Fan Hongji. Sir, this is a son of our army." He spread his hands, "Let's go."

Then Fan Hongji looked around and laughed: "As expected of a hero, it's no wonder that he can achieve such a record, oh, yes, Fan remembered something."

"Oh?"

"When leaving the cloud, Lord Gushen and the head of the court, Tuo Fan, brought two things to show to Mr. Ning. There are so many people at this time, so you might as well take a look together."

Then Fan Hongji said, the two guards who followed behind had come over, took out the two big boxes that had been hanging around him, and walked into the room, Chen Fan came over here with a smile, and Ning Yi also spread his hands , smiled: "Is it a gift? Let's go to the side to see."

"It's okay, it's okay."

The two were tall, and they were also warriors in the Jurchen army. They were immediately held down by Chen Fan. With a simple push, one of the boxes was crushed. Fan Hongji opened the box, and a little lime swayed. When he came out, Fan Hongji copied the contents in his hand, Ning Yi's eyes narrowed slightly, and his smile did not change, but many people inside had seen it.

It was a human head.

There was silence inside and outside the room for a moment. It seemed that someone's fist was squeezed slightly, and Ning Yi's voice sounded: "Bring this kind of thing, what do you mean?" Blocking the other party, the messenger named Fan Hongji smiled, took the pickled human head, walked into the door, and put the human head on the table.The other guard also went in with the wooden box, put it down, and opened the box.

In the room, everyone looked at this side calmly, Fan Hongji's eyes met with them and swept over with a smile.

"It's nothing, not long ago, some people made trouble in Yunzhongfu, these are two of them. They want to buy Han slaves in Yunzhong and send them back to the Central Plains. This kind of thing is not allowed in Jin Kingdom, but these two They were warriors. After they were arrested, they refused to tell their origins no matter how they tortured them, and finally committed suicide. Lord Gushen was impressed by his courage and admiration. He said, this may be yours. I'll admit it to you, if it's true, so that they can be buried in peace."

Fan Hongji smiled, his eyes were calm, Ning Yi's eyes were also calm, with a smile, the eyes of a group of people in the room were also calm, and some people's mouths drew a smile slightly.It was an extremely eerie quiet, and murderous aura seemed to be brewing and scattered.However, Fan Hongji is not afraid of anyone. He is the messenger of the strongest army in the world. He doesn't have to fear anyone or anything.

On the table, Lu Yannian opened his eyes and stared silently ahead, empty and dead.

Just as the Jurchen army was rushing towards the whole world, in this corner of the northwest, time froze for a while.

A little interlude...

(End of this chapter)