The lights were on in the courtyard of the temporary palace. Zhou Junwu woke up from his desk and found that he had just fallen asleep.
A pile of account books was piled high on the table. Because of his big movement of getting up, the paper that was originally pressed under his head made a sound. The maid who stayed up late with him outside was also awakened and hurried over.
"His Majesty."
"What time is it? Why didn't you wake me up?"
"It's almost three quarters of Yin time." The maid knelt on the ground, "Your Majesty... you haven't had a good rest recently..."
"When did I go to bed?"
"It's about... past midnight. Your Majesty is too tired."
"It's okay." Jun Wu stretched out his hand to rub his forehead and cheeks, "It's okay, bring me a basin of water. Also, pour me a cup of ginseng tea, I have to continue reading."
The maid went down, but Jun Wu was still rubbing his forehead. He had been staying up late the past few days and had slept very little in the past few days. He finally couldn't stay up until midnight last night. At this time, he probably fell asleep.
Two hours, but for young people, there is still energy.
What was placed on the table at this time was the record of the entry and exit of various materials after taking over Fuzhou, as well as the income and expenditure of various military resources in the army and the court. These things did not require the emperor to personally intervene - for example, in the
Jiangning engaged in the research and development of Gewu, and all the revenue and expenditure were managed by Wenren Buer, Lu Agui and others. But with the army now stationed in Fuzhou, Junwu, who could have breathed a sigh of relief, did not stop, but started
Understand the incoming and outgoing and expenditure status of various materials under your control.
When he was not a family member, he did not know how expensive firewood and rice were. Now that he has become a family member, it is conceivable that he will soon be surrounded by a big house. From now on, it will be difficult to know the specific sufferings of the people. Therefore, he must quickly understand the details of various affairs.
It is easiest to make an understanding through the account books. How much salary does a soldier need every month? How much does he need to eat and wear? What is the price of swords and guns? How much are the sacrifices of soldiers? How much are the pensions... and even what are the prices in the market?
.After thoroughly studying the account books in this area, he will be able to have a clear framework in mind for these things.
It is actually very troublesome to really understand a set of account books. Junwu asked Cheng Zhouhai to find a reliable accounting teacher for him, who not only taught him the superficial accounting, but also taught him various accounting methods and internal methods.
Mao Ni. During this period, Junwu dealt with government affairs during the day and met with people from all walks of life. At night, he studied and studied the account books, recorded his understanding and opinions, and then found time to discuss and compare with the accounting teacher after summarizing.
In March of Yangchun, the situation in Fuzhou seemed to be initially stable, but in fact it was just a corner of peace. After Junwu proclaimed himself emperor, he fled all the way. In February, he joined his sister Zhou Pei in Fuzhou. After establishing a preliminary base,
Jun Wu then had to try to regain the Wu Dynasty in the name of orthodoxy. At this time, the Jurchen East Route Army had already left camp and headed north, leaving only more than 10,000 troops in Lin'an to support the small court. But even so, he wanted everyone to stand without hesitation.
Returning to the orthodox position of the Wu Dynasty is also not easy.
In the past year, the destruction of the Jurchens has touched every aspect of the entire Wu Dynasty. With the cooperation and promotion of the small court, the civil and military system has been chaotic. From Lin'an to various parts of the Wu Dynasty, gradually began to form various
The rich clans and gentry support, push the military commanders, and promote the separatist situation of the army.
This was an inevitable means for the gentry everywhere to protect themselves in fear after the Jurchens defeated the Lin'an court. After Zhou Yong's death, Jun and Wu fled all the way in a dangerous situation. In fact, the inheritance of political power did not clearly transition to
In his case, after the decoupling of power in the past six months, the big families in various places have basically begun to tighten their grip on the power at hand. Although there are many people who claim to be loyal to the Wu Dynasty, in fact, the control power Junwu can exert over the Wu Dynasty has already
Less than half of what it was a year ago.
These wealthy families, gentry, and generals who claim to be loyal to the Wu Dynasty are divided into various places. Their loyalties still need to be distinguished. Many people still have their own demands, and there is even a possibility that the talks will collapse in the future. From now on, Jun Wu's
Even Fujian has not yet regained its strength, so it is not very realistic to ask for help or refuge from these people.
Consolidating oneself, establishing rules, and gaining a firm foothold have become the first problems that Junwu's regime needs to solve. Right now, what he has the most stable grip on is the nearly 100,000 troops led by Yue Fei and Han Shizhong. These troops have already broken away.
In the past, there was interference and suppression from the big clans, but if you want to move forward, how to provide benefits to those big clans and gentry, appoint officials and make wishes, are also regulations that must be followed, including how to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army, which is also a balance that must be maintained.
These new rules need to be established step by step, and in order to establish them, Jun Wu, the newly ascended emperor, must also clearly understand everyone under his command, what kind of people they are, and what kind of demands they have.
This is the apparent reason why Junwu has been spinning day and night for half a month. He stated his thoughts to Zhou Pei, ministers and others in this way. But only a few people around him understand what he is thinking in this next year.
In addition, Junwu's overloaded work these days has a more profound and dark reason.
The heavy pressure of being a king has truly fallen on Jun Wu's back.
And the process of suppressing it is definitely not easy at all.
Last year, Junwu proclaimed himself emperor after a massive victory outside Jiangning City with a desperate momentum. However, the new emperor, who was unable to defend Jiangning, could only lead a large army to break through. Some Jiangning people were in the army.
He managed to escape under the protection of the police, but a large number of people died in the subsequent massacre. This was the first round of heavy pressure in Jun Wu's heart.
After Jiang Ning was killed, the army was chased all the way by Zong Fu and Zong Bi. In January, it arrived near Haiyan County, south of Jiaxing. At that time, Zhou Pei had already captured Fuzhou, and her fleet came north for reinforcements.
Jun Wu moved first, but Jun Wu, who had a shadow in his heart, refused to do so. At that time, the army built a defense line around Haiyan, and a large number of people were still protected within the defense line.
He hoped to escort the people to move first. But such a choice was naturally naive. Not to mention that the civil servants would refuse. Even Yue Fei, Han Shizhong and others also made suggestions one after another, asking Jun and Wu to leave first. The biggest reason for this was that the Jin Kingdom
The Wu Dynasty has almost been defeated, and the reason why they are now chasing his group is because of the new emperor. Once Junwu enters the sea, Zongfu, who has no way to pursue him, Zongbi is actually in no mood to stay in Jiangnan for a long time.
But such a reason is reasonable, but how different is the whole behavior from Zhou Yong's original choice? In the eyes of others, will they think it is the same thing? Junwu was suffering in his heart, hesitating for a day, and finally
After being persuaded by Wenrenbuer to board the ship, he led the dragon boat fleet back to the Qiantang River and headed straight for Lin'an. The situation in Lin'an City suddenly became tense, and everyone in the small court was uneasy. Zongfu led his army back,
However, in Haiyan County, Zong Bi, who had a heated argument with Han Shizhong, refused to give up and attacked for several days, eventually causing a large number of people to be separated and killed.
After this battle, the Jurchens left camp and returned north, and the pressure on Haiyan County was greatly relieved. However, the fact that Jun Wu abandoned the people and fled to the sea was still widely publicized by people in the Jin Kingdom and Lin'an. There were even many people in Jiaxing and other places.
After escaping the massacre, he went up the mountain to shed grass in order to protect himself.
The power of several rebel armies and refugees also rose and expanded at this time. Among them, the people who were dispersed when Zongbi massacred in the north of Haiyan County gathered into a rebel army under the name of black flag, and gradually gathered tens of thousands.
The size of the people, but no longer submitted to the Wu Dynasty. The responsibility of these scattered and massacred people to Jun Wu was also a scar and a heavy pressure on the new emperor's heart.
Unlike his father Zhou Yong, once an emperor wants to take responsibility, such pressure will appear tenfold and hundreds of times.
He was squeezing his life out of his busy work, but the people around him did not provide excessive explanations or persuasion about this matter. In a sense, a young man in his twenties wanted to shoulder the next responsibility.
Country, such overdraft is not necessarily a bad thing. The darkness and suffering in the heart are precisely the fastest way for a person to grow up.
Only when the situation in Fuzhou calmed down a little, Zhou Pei took stock of the supplies in the city, took out part of the stored grain and loaded it into two ships, and asked Wen Renbuer to escort them to the north and hand them over to the refugees in Haiyan County who were still struggling with the famine. Before that,
For these refugees, the rebels, Cheng Zhouhai once went to lobby and stated their interests. Some troops put down their opinions on Jun Wu, but the rebel army under the name of black flag was no longer willing to accept the orders of the Wu Dynasty.
Once, Zhou Pei asked Wenren Buer to escort the supplies, and even if he did not respect the order, he also asked him to provide some food for free. After Junwu heard about this, although he said nothing on the surface, his anxiety was slightly relieved.
Of course, there have been other relaxing messages coming in the past few days: for example, the results of the Battle of Changsha have now reached Fuzhou. After hearing this, Jun Wu was extremely happy.
On this day, he looked through the account books until early in the morning, went to the yard for a round of boxing, and then washed up and had a meal. After breakfast, he heard someone reported that he had returned, and he quickly called him in.
Although the purpose of transporting supplies this time was to save people, the reason for Wenren Buer to accompany him was more to negotiate with the leader of the rebel army named He Wen, and to tell Junwu that he had no choice but to leave in January. Facts
Above, if Jun Wu didn't have a lot of things to deal with and coordinate now, he might have been more willing to take it easy and meet this "former member of the Chinese Army" who saved a large number of people during the massacre, and have a chat with him.
Something about the Southwest.
Next to Jun Wu and Zhou Pei, the person with the strongest ability to do things now is probably Cheng Zhouhai, who is determined and cruel. He had never persuaded He Wen before, but this time he was able to show his kindness.
.When Wenren Buer came in and gave a brief explanation, Junwu knew that He Wen was determined and hated the Wu Dynasty and had not changed it. He was not angry either. When he was about to ask in detail, someone else reported in a hurry.
Her Royal Highness the Princess is here in an emergency.
Only a moment later, Zhou Pei appeared at the door. She was dressed in a plain long dress, graceful yet light. She held a letter in her hand and walked quickly. After entering, she first greeted Wenren Buer and asked him to avoid it.
Afterwards, he handed over the letter that seemed to have some weight: "The spies from Lin'an have arrived with a message. There is something of concern to Your Majesty. I have summoned General Yue to enter the palace immediately. Mr. Wenren happens to be here, so he can get it early."
Something to see.”
"Oh? Is there a follow-up to the Battle of Tanzhou?" A few days ago, he received the news of the preliminary decision of the Battle of Changsha. It was Junwu's happiest moment recently. He took the letter, made a guess, and then removed the letter from the envelope.
He pulled it out, and there was a lot of information in the envelope, including numerous articles. Jun Wu was not sure for a moment, and the paper fell to the ground. When he picked it up, he saw that the top page read "On the Death of Qin II": "
what?"
Zhou Pei glanced at it and half-smiled: "I heard that Mei Gong's new heroic essay in Lin'an has been very popular in Lin'an in recent days. Your Majesty may wish to take a look."
"Oh?" Jun Wu calmed down and read word by word. After only reading for a moment, he already frowned, "The wisdom of "Guo Qin Lun" is still not enough... But why did Wu Qimei write such a thing?
?I’m so full that I’m full...Are you trying to insinuate that I’m going to be militaristic?”
"Of course there is a reason. He wrote this article for the wealthy people in Jiangnan. If you are impatient, just read it later."
Junwu turned the page.
He looked at it for a while, pulled out the page that was originally on the top, took a step back and sat on the chair, with a solemn expression, and read back and forth twice. There was early morning sunlight in the yard outside the room.
Coming in, the sound of birds chirping could be heard in the air. Jun Wu looked at Zhou Pei and then looked at the message: "Yes..."
His voice was a little hoarse, and he paused before saying, "Is it true?"
At this moment, Zhou Pei was also silent for a moment: "The news first reached Lin'an. We were short of manpower and could not confirm it. Like Wu Qimei, we waited for a few days until Lin'an released these articles before we could confirm the truth of the matter.
.So I sent the news and the article together... After I read it, I came over immediately."
The letter sent contained the situation of the Southwest War. Jun Wu nodded and stood up involuntarily: "February 28... I don't know what the situation is in the Southwest now..."
He paused, casually flipping through some information at the back, and then handed it over to the curious Wenren Fujie. He walked back and forth in the hall and said: "This is called fighting! This is called fighting! The teacher actually chopped
Xie Bao! He killed Xie Bao in front of Zong Han! Haha, if I could fight side by side with the teacher..."
"Your Majesty." Zhou Pei smiled weakly, "You are the emperor of the Wu Dynasty, Your Majesty."
"What's the point of being an emperor? What's the use of a name! Whatever you do is the right way!" Jun Wu waved his hands in the room. At this moment, he was wearing a dragon robe, with a thin face and a beard under his chin. At first glance, he was already
The rather majestic superior, but at this moment, he showed a rare childishness that he had not seen for a long time. He pointed at the information in his hands twice, his eyes were red, and he was speechless.
"...He...defeated...the Jurchens. Sister, have you ever thought about it...for more than ten years...for more than thirty years, all I hear is that the Jurchens fought over, and the emperor of the Wu Dynasty,
He was so scared that he ran around... Nannan resisted, and he actually resisted Wanyan Zonghan and killed his son... I can't even think about it, even if I heard the news about Tanzhou a few days ago, he killed Yin Shu
But, I don’t even dare to think about what’s going on in the southwest. Sister Huang... He, tens of thousands of people faced hundreds of thousands, faced it head-on... Well, this news is not false, right?"
Jun Wu's eyes were red and he struggled to speak. Sometimes he laughed nervously. In the end, he felt a little unreal again. Zhou Pei did not argue with him this time: "...I'm not sure either."
Wenren Buer looked at the information and remained silent for a long time without speaking. They had previously fought their way out of Jiangning, wandering all the way, and were in danger several times while being chased by the Jurchens. Although the men were determined to die, in fact,
The shadow of the Jurchens is indeed like the boundless sky, like a long night with no dawn at all. The entire Wu Dynasty fell apart in such a nightmare. This kind of suffering seems to last for a long time, but until this moment, some people say, thousands of miles away
In addition, Ning Yi has brazenly overturned Zong Han's military formation.
Everything seems a little unrealistic.
The three people in the room were silent for a long time, and then Jun Wu spoke up. He said with some wistfulness: "...There must be a continuous war in the southwest."
In the words, the heart longs for it.
At this time, someone from outside also came to report that General Yue had arrived.
…
In the morning, the sun was shining clearly and warmly outside the courtyard. After Yue Fei arrived, everyone moved in maps based on the intelligence coming in, and conducted rounds of deductions and reviews of the war thousands of miles away. During this period
, Cheng Zhouhai, Han Shizhong and a group of civil servants also arrived one after another, and everyone showed complicated expressions regarding the news.
People were chattering and talking. In fact, people who were old to Ning Yi seemed a little silent. Jun Wu only lost his temper slightly in front of a few people he knew well. When the civil servants came in, they stopped saying those inappropriate words.
Zhou Pei walked aside and looked at the waterside pavilion and scenery outside the window. She also thought of Ning Yi.
In fact, the figure she had been thinking about for a long time has become very vague in her memory. Ning Yi was just a relatively elegant scholar at the time. Since the separation in the capital, the two have never seen each other again.
The things he did after that, whether he slaughtered Liangshan or fought against Lu Lin, always seemed a bit illusory.
After the regicide rebellion, Ning Yi became more of a dark silhouette. This silhouette sometimes did extreme things, but she had to admit that he was the embodiment of true power. This was a power that could not be defined in her position.
, even today, more than ten years after taking over the Chengguo Princess Mansion and experiencing various things, when she thinks of the man who once was her teacher, she cannot fully define how powerful he is.
This was not the first time that the defeat of the Jin Army, which seemed like a dream to the people of the Wu Dynasty, had happened to the opponent. When he was in Bianliang more than ten years ago, he gathered a bunch of rabble and went to Xiacun.
Defeated Yaoshi Guo, who was able to compete with the Jurchens, and finally cooperated with Grandpa Qin to solve the siege of Bianliang. After that, in Xiaocang River, he killed Lou Shi successively without missing a beat, causing the Jin Kingdom to suffer a huge setback in the northwest.
.
All of this can only be regarded as a local war with the Jin Kingdom, but in the Southwest Battle, the Chinese army really faced half of the Jin Kingdom. Everyone was surprised by the victory of Tanzhou, but it was not incomprehensible.
This is an unexpected surprise at best, but regarding the war in the southwest, even the most optimistic and confident people about Ning Yi may not be able to predict the outcome of today's battle.
At most, people thought that the Chinese Army would use the geographical advantage to drag the Jurchen West Route Army in the southwest, and through time and maneuver, finally gain a chance of survival under the Jurchen's annihilation offensive. No one could have imagined that the Chinese Army, with only tens of thousands of people, could
After a draw with nearly 200,000 Jin Kingdom's most elite troops, Ning Yi led 7,000 troops to attack. In just the first blow, he defeated the 30,000 Yanshan Guards led by Xie Bao and killed Wanyan Xie Bao.
In front of Nianhan.
In his entire life, he has almost never been at a real disadvantage against anyone. Even a demon like the Jurchen who came out of the white mountains and black waters to kill the entire world, after ten years of hard work, he actually gave him this
A punch?
How does Wanyan Zonghan view him?
Southwest... is really in the flames of war...
She was thinking about this. This was the first time in several years that she thought of Ning Yi so seriously and forcefully. Although the figure could no longer be seen clearly, when faced with the nightmare of the Jurchens going south, he went too far to meet her.
Too far... She was still recalling these things in vain at this time, and she was also thinking: If after the Battle of Xia Village, those beasts in the court, including Zhou Zhe, would not be so stupid, now
Everything should have a very different trajectory...
On the tree outside the window, all the peach blossoms had fallen. She closed her eyes and sighed softly.
None of this will ever come true again...
…
Not far away, Jun Wu, who had been silent for a long time, also called Wenren Buer aside and asked about what had been interrupted before:
"...Mr. Wenren, when you go over this time, is the rebel leader named He Wen really... someone who has been in the southwest?"
…
Outside the window, the sun was setting. In the quiet corner of Fuzhou, people were delighted by the news. However, under this bright sky, all the way north, the clouds never dispersed from the field of vision. Hundreds of thousands of troops,
Millions of Han slaves are forming a bloated group to cross the Yangtze River.
Victory and defeat come together here, triumph and desolation are intertwined. The superior victors drive millions of animals of their kind to the north. On one side, there is a way home, and on the other side there is no way back. Every day, corpses are swept away by the water of the Yangtze River.
Roll up and float to the far side of hell.
The message that came later also interrupted this pure joy and sadness.