Chapter 579: Precursor to Madness, Reverse Flow of Cause and Effect (Part 1)
Yanggu County, Dongping Prefecture, Shandong Province.
Black smoke pillars rose into the sky with the burning flames. What was crackling and burning were golden rice ears. The air was filled with the smell of burnt rice grains. Then, there were the sounds of footsteps and shouts, mixed together. In the field of vision, the road
It was full of people running back and forth, with hurried footsteps and all kinds of shouts.
"...We have to leave. The Jurchen cavalry has already arrived. Go to the city quickly. Several big cities in the north have been massacred. Do you know that all the people in Dizhou have been killed?
The dog does not stay..."
The shouts of the officials at the front merged with the crowd and became intermittent. A woman rushed down to the rice field carrying a basket and a sickle, crying and working hard to harvest. An old woman in ragged clothes screamed and rushed to the soap box on the roadside.
Li: "You beat me to death, you beat me to death, I won't leave! Let the Jurchens come and eat my old bones... You are committing evil..."
Someone stopped the old woman. The old woman struggled, and finally fell to the ground, hitting her head on a stone, and then her head was covered with blood. Amidst the chaos and noise of people, on one side of the road, a fight broke out between the villagers and the soldiers.
There was a small conflict, and the county magistrate came running, shouting: "Don't fight, don't fight." Suddenly, his forehead was hit by a flying stone, and blood flowed from his head.
This moment of conflict triggered greater chaos. The autumn wind howled by, and the fire assisted the wind, pushing the fire on the field far away. It was like a long red and black carpet, spreading along with the rice ears and grass.
Towards the distant woods...
Everyone in the chaos looked at it from a distance and were stunned by the huge flames.
From Yanggu County to the west, most of Hexi Road and Hebei Road are covered in a gloomy autumn rain. The rain is falling in the hazy sky, and the roads from north to south are covered with raincoats.
Pedestrians carrying baggage, packhorses carrying luggage, and carts crowded southward. The old man couldn't bear the cold rain and fell to the ground. The child in the woman's arms was soaked by the rain and cried loudly. The inns and restaurants along the way were moved.
crowded with pedestrians.
On the bank of the Yellow River in the autumn rain, all the ferries are full, and all the boats are constantly passing back and forth in the undulating waves.
In mid-August of the thirteenth year of Jinghan's reign, a huge campaign to clear the country began.
"Huh, it's great to be young..."
To the south of Dongping Mansion, in a busy and noisy courtyard with crowds of people coming and going, Ning Yi, who had just slept for more than an hour, came out of the room. After washing his face, he gave the above feeling. In the distance was the fiery clouds.
From time to time, galloping horses came running outside the courtyard, delivering all kinds of news. From west to east, Hedongdong, Hedongdong, Jingdongdong, Jingdongdong and Hebei, there were nearly 20 states and nearly a hundred counties on the current situation.
Summarizing it here, members of Zhuji's staff came in and out to summarize the information and formulate countermeasures, while also waiting for approval from Ning Yi or Wenren Buer.
Qin Shaoqian strode in from outside the hospital. The military camp of Wu Ruijun was nearby. In the past few days, there have been various actions. Qin Shaoqian occasionally came to visit. Ning Yi laughed: "I just got up, I should have said good morning, but
Look, it’s getting dark already. Second Young Master is here, maybe there’s something good going on..."
"Zong Han's attack on Taiyuan started yesterday." Qin Shaoqian held a piece of information in his hand.
Ning Yi's expression was slightly stunned, and then he reached out to take the information. The staff member who passed by handed over a piece of paper and whispered: "We also received it just now."
Ning Yi took two pieces of paper and looked there. In fact, this had been expected, and for Ning Yi, the meaning of sending the information was just to take a look. But the confirmation of the news meant that Taiyuan
The siege situation has been decided, and Qin Shaohe, Li Pin, Cheng Zhouhai and others are already trapped inside. Because they have acquaintances, the news is more or less heavy.
"Things that are far away are far away. We started attacking yesterday, and they might have been broken by this time. I just brought them over to show you. It's not your business, Liheng, so why worry about it." Seeing Ning Yi frowning slightly, Qin Shaoqian's
The smile turned open-minded, and he reached out and took back the information.
Ning Yi glanced at him: "Taiyuan is a fortified city, so it shouldn't be as fast as you say."
"My eldest brother usually seems more pedantic than my father. In fact, he has read more military books than me. He knows how to defend the city and won't give blind orders. There are people in the city like your Zhu Ji, and Cheng Zhou.
Hai, I understand him best. He is a poisonous man. He cooperates with your people and is really unstoppable. He can drive the whole city to the city wall. I don’t think it will be broken. If it is still broken, it will be broken.
, That's what fate dictates." Qin Shaoqian, with a big beard on his face, smiled simply, "The most important thing is that water from afar can't quench the thirst of nearby people. It's useless for you and me to worry about Taiyuan."
"It's good if you can think clearly." Ning Yi smiled, "What about your side."
"I just came to tell you about this." Qin Shaoqian said, "We are ready to send troops."
Ning Yi looked at him, then at the sunset in the distance, and sighed again.
This day is August 15th.
*************
In mid-August, the north of the Yellow River was already in great chaos.
Following Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Lou's family, they went to Xinzhou and Daizhou, and after some adjustments, the Jurchen West Route Army drove tens of thousands of civilians and prisoners and pushed their troops towards the Dragon City of Taiyuan.
To the east, with Guo Yaoshi's Victory Army as the vanguard, Wanyan Zongwang's nearly 100,000-strong army on the west route, after intimidating Jinan, did not attack the city. Instead, under the leadership of Guo Yaoshi, it penetrated straight to the southwest. The army quickly
Enter the central area between Jinan, Daming, and Dongping.
The Jurchen soldiers came rolling in, destroying everything along the way. After the East Route Army broke through Yanjing and three towns in Hebei Province, they hardly stopped along the way. The Wu Dynasty troops along the way were either quickly defeated, or were still standing at the defense line.
Before it was formed, it was left behind by the army. At this time, it had entered a delicate situation.
At present, around here, there are more than 200,000 troops guarding Jinan, Daiming, and Dongping areas, as well as the three armies of Wuwei, Wusheng, and Wurui. They have all been mobilized as the war situation begins.
They were surrounding the Jurchens' Eastern Route Army like horns. The atmosphere was chilly, and the war was about to break out. It had only been three days since Ning Yi arrived in Dongping with the Wurui Camp, and the situation of solid walls and clear fields had just begun to work. The war was already imminent.
.
The rhythm of this battle was not determined by the Wu Dynasty, but came from the Jurchens. Once the more than 200,000 troops hesitated for a moment, Wanyan Zongwang's Eastern Route Army would break through the Daimyo area, Dongping area, and enter the hinterland of the Central Plains.
But the so-called imminent eruption is nothing more than self-deception and official talk for insiders. Wanyan Zongwang's Eastern Route Army, with Guo Yaoshi as the vanguard, started from the time when his forward troops threatened Jinan and stopped taking action, and the entire situation within a radius of several hundred miles became
It has been completely controlled by the Jurchens. It is said that there are more than 200,000 troops of the Wu Dynasty hoarded in three directions. In fact, it is difficult to say who dares to send out a fight. Most of the troops in the three directions are wrangling. Dizhou
After the massacre of the city, no one was mentally prepared for a hard-fought battle, but the Jurchens were about to rush through the encirclement in a bold manner.
Everything happened too fast, even for Ning Yi.
"Fifty thousand people are going to guard Shou Zhang County. Opposite you are 100,000 people from Zong Wang and Guo Yaoshi. No matter what, Er Shao, I can't buy you to win this time."
The sunset was red. Ning Yi put down what he was doing and walked out of the yard with Qin Shaoqian with wine and meat. They looked at the military camp in the distance on the nearby grass slope and talked. Qin Shaoqian took a sip of wine: "There are at least more than 200,000.
"
"My name is Liang Taishu. I can't say what kind of virtues Zhang Youqing and his gang in Jinan have, and I don't understand how to fight. But if you really believe it, I will give you four words."
"Oh? What do you think Li Heng has to say?"
"Furinkazan."
"Sun Tzu's Art of War..."
"Retreat and turn into the enemy as fast as the wind, outflank the enemy as Xu Rulin. Loot money and invade like fire. Friendly troops are in trouble and move like mountains..."
Qin Shaoqian was stunned for a while on the grassy slope, and then he burst into laughter. After laughing for a while, he said: "Then how should I fight?"
"...Yes." Ning Yi took a sip of wine and murmured.
Qin Shaoqian said: "But no matter what, I have to go. No matter what, I also want to compete with Wanyan Zongwang, Guo Yaoshi and other famous generals in the world."
The two brothers of the Qin family, one civilized and one military, used to work as officials in other places. However, because Qin Siyuan valued Ning Yi, they still had contact with each other when they came back occasionally. Qin Shao and Qin Shaoqian regarded Ning Yi as their father's comrade and even his mantle.
One of the descendants, in a sense, can be regarded as a friend or even a family member, and the relationship is really good. But this time, the Jurchens arrived quickly, Ning Yi had just gone north, Qin Shaohe was trapped in Taiyuan, and Qin Shaoqian had already gone to Shouzhang to face him.
Wanyan Zongwang, no matter what, this feeling is a bit complicated after all.
Although Qin Shaoqian said it in an understatement, he had the courage to fight against the world's famous generals, and Ning Yi also knew that he had the ability, but the Wu Dynasty had already had deep constraints on generals. As the commander of Wu Rui Camp, he could lead the army to fight, but for the highest authority of the army,
Management instead belongs to the civil servant above him, who is now the Dongping Prefecture's Economic and Strategic Envoy.
For example, although Qin Shaohe was a civil servant, he guarded Taiyuan and had the highest command authority over Taiyuan's army. Qin Shaoqian not only had civil servants who could speak up, but he had only been in charge of Wurui Camp for only one year. He didn't know the generals and the soldiers.
, as for the management of the army, there is no way to go deep into all aspects of this army. Even if Qin Siyuan, a powerful father, takes care of him, and the civilian officials have slightly less checks and balances on him, he can lead the Wu Ruiying army to stop the Jurchen Ten
Wan Dajun, that is something that no one can believe.
Qin Shaoqian himself, of course, did not necessarily have confidence. It was just that when the matter came to pass, as a soldier, he no longer thought about it. Ning Yi naturally understood. After saying the previous words, the two drank for a while before Qin Shaoqian spoke.
Asked: "Li Heng, what do you think the outcome of this war will be? If we lose, how much money will we have to pay to settle the matter?"
"Do you think the Second Young Master is just losing money?"
"The Blackwater Alliance is also losing money. With 200,000 Jurchens, they can't take over our country."
"The Liao Kingdom of the Black Water Alliance is already in its twilight years, and they are satisfied with just taking the coins. The Jurchens have just established their country and are on the way to make progress, so it is difficult to say." Ning Yi hesitated, "And in the past few years, they have done too many desperate things.
Already."
Qin Shaoqian was silent for a long time and looked at Ning Yi: "I am a warrior and only fight wars. Li Heng, you are a scholar. Like my father, you understand the overall situation. Do you really think you have reached this point?"
It was getting late in Yuanshan. Although the two had a close friendship in the past, they had just met for a few days this time. Things were so busy that they didn't have much time to chat. But at this time, drinking helped them talk about sex. When the autumn wind blew over, they became more
Talked for a while.
"I'm not sure." Ning Yi handed the jug to Qin Shaoqian and said, "But there are some things that belong to the family, so we can chat about it. In the past few days, there have been all kinds of news here, not only where the Jin man has been.
, it’s not just a matter of strengthening the walls and clearing the country. Since the Jurchens went south, resistance in various places has never stopped. First, Grandmaster Zhou Dong led more than 70 people to assassinate Wanyan Zonghan, and then in three towns in Hebei, there was a small county called Shuanghe
In order to cover the evacuation of more than 5,000 people, the county magistrate Du Yongnian brought more than 300 people with him to attract the attention of the Jurchens. They used the terrain to fight with more than 500 Jurchen cavalry for two hours. After the entire army was wiped out, Du Yongnian
After being captured, when he was in front of Wanyan Zongwang, the other party saw that he was brave and said a few words to him. Du Yongnian cursed Zongwang from the beginning to the end, and finally his head was shown to the public."
Ning Yi said while taking a sip of wine: "Then there is the ancient village in Hebei... It was originally a bandit village, but you know, many people's families are still in the village at the foot of the mountain. When the Jurchens passed by, they massacred the village. The village
There were more than a hundred people inside. Under the leadership of the village leader Wang Cheng, they ambush the Jurchen army and charged directly into the formation. In one charge, they all died. After Wang Cheng, Yang Xiao, the head of the Yang Wei Escort Bureau, dismissed the escort officers and their families.
, assassinated Wanyan Zongwang alone, he was one of Zhou Tong's disciples. At the same time, the green forest tycoon He Wang led more than a dozen masters to also assassinate Zongwang... In the past few days, there has been zero or zero news of this kind.
It has not been broken, so I asked my subordinates to make it into a story and tell it. What did the Second Young Master think after hearing it?"
"Okay, they are all heroes." Qin Shaoqian looked slightly solemn and patted his thigh to show respect, "There is still hope that our Wu Dynasty can have these people!"
"No, the appearance of these people means that most people in this country have not done what they should do." Ning Yi was also drunk and waved his fingers in the air, "The appearance of these heroes,
This means that the dividends accumulated in the positive direction since the founding of the Wu Dynasty have been completely squandered by the predecessors."