After receiving Ma Kuai's assurance that "someone will have a solution tonight," the brothers gathered together temporarily.
In the following time, everyone became busy in their own way.
Not long after, bursts of deliberately suppressed laughter could be heard faintly in the courtyards where they were hiding.
It was a group of reinforcements who had long ignored their own life and death.
Before hearing that he was dying, he could still eat a bowl of 'Floating Garden'.
In fact, he is the ancestor of the modern glutinous rice dumpling. When eating this festive delicacy, he got an unexpected laugh.
But as time passed, it gradually became dark.
Then a bright moon began to rise, illuminating everything on the earth.
Unfortunately, as the scheduled time for the reinforcements to attack tonight was getting closer and closer, Ma Kuo still had no clue of how to solve the problem.
The water gate was locked, iron cables crossed the river, and a large number of archers and stone cannons prepared by the Jin soldiers on both sides of the river were added.
For reinforcements that were essentially mere traffickers and lackeys, these difficulties were almost insurmountable.
In the face of such a huge disparity in strength, all the clever strategies and action plans seemed to turn into ridiculous jokes.
So much so that during this period of time, one plan after another flashed through Ma Kuo's mind. After careful calculation, none of them seemed quite suitable.
Feeling upset for a while, he opened the originally closed window, intending to let the night breeze clear his messed up head.
At the same time, I made a decision in my heart:
If by midnight, he has not come up with some better way, then he would take the 317 reinforcements who originally left the city by boat tonight and rush into the Jinming Pond at night.
No matter what, the warships of the capital navy must be burned to ashes.
There is no way! As the so-called lesser of two evils is concerned, the Capital Navy is currently the biggest threat on Cubing Mountain.
The problem is, even if they risk their lives and burn down a battleship of the Capital Navy, allowing his unified brother to avoid land and water, they will still be under the pressure of the attack.
But without a steady stream of reinforcements, materials and other support, Hu Yitong and others could only hold on for a day or two.
Thinking of this, Ma Kuo felt extremely upset...
After opening the window, when the bright moonlight shone in, a cool night breeze blew into the room, which cheered up Ma Kuang's whole body.
He couldn't help but stick half of his body and his entire head out of the window.
It was precisely for this reason that he took a clear look at the situation among the bosses around him.
I saw a large number of houses around me, whether they were deep mansions and courtyards of big families or small shabby courtyards of small families.
All the doors were closed, and the lights in the rooms were extinguished.
In the streets and alleys, except for some soldiers and civilians patrolling the city occasionally, there was not even a single figure of the people at all, just like a huge ghost.
What if it were changed to previous years? Because of the Lantern Festival, the streets are full of people at this time.
Adult men and women with bright smiles on their faces, dressed in the most beautiful new clothes, helped the old and the young to play in the streets and alleys, and laughter echoed over the entire city.
The shops on both sides of the street were lit up with countless lights and lanterns, making it look like a city that never sleeps.
Perhaps only lost things are the most precious and cherished. After thinking of the grand scene that I had long been accustomed to in the past.
Ma Kuo's whole body couldn't help but become obsessed for a moment.
Unknowingly, Ma Kuo suddenly woke up after a sudden chill on his cheeks.
And on his face, a drop of water suddenly appeared. Not on this Lantern Festival night, it actually started to rain.
But Ma Kuo, a very old man, actually cried at such a moment.
All because he knew that he would never be able to see such a grand scene of lanterns all over the city in Kaifeng in his lifetime...
****
Ma Kuo soon discovered that he was wrong, and very wrong.
Because just when he was about to close the window, this man, one of the few outstanding foreign affairs officers in the Northern Song Dynasty, saw a scene that he would never forget for the rest of his life.
Amidst the sound of the door creaking, in a dilapidated courtyard that was leaking from all sides, he thought that no one had been there for a long time.
A disheveled woman led a boy who was only three or four years old, holding a small lotus-shaped lantern in her hand, and walked straight to the bank of Cai River.
As the two of them muttered words, they didn't know whether they were paying homage to their dead relatives, praying for the living, or both.
Finally, the lanterns were placed on the water and allowed to float downstream with the quietly flowing Cai River.
What is very amazing is that during such a process, the two of them, one large and one small, did not even make a single loud noise during the entire process, let alone shout or scream.
But just such a simple action triggered incredible consequences.
Amidst the sounds of "creak~", the doors that had been closed for a long time were opened, and figures of various sizes came out one after another.
Without exception, they all held a lantern in their hands and walked straight towards the bank of Cai River.
Again, no one spoke loudly, only slow but firm steps kept moving forward.
Gradually, these scattered people gathered together and formed a brilliant river of lights; the city that was like a ghost before finally came to life at this moment.
They were holding lanterns in their hands, each one obviously made hastily and shoddy in workmanship.
In previous years, the lanterns, which were elaborately produced by merchants, wealthy mansions, and even officials, were completely different concepts. The gap was astonishingly large.
But Ma Kuo could solemnly swear to the gods and Buddhas in the sky that this was the most beautiful and precious lantern he had ever seen in his life.
Mainly because at such a time, he already had a vague guess in his mind about why these people would do this and what changes would follow.
Of course, Ma Kuo is not the only person who can see behind the scenes.
The Colonel of the Song Dynasty who led hundreds of imperial city troops to guard the water gate in the northeast.
Originally, she was still laughing and laughing at the excitement in front of her. She was still pointing at a certain young lady in the crowd, saying that she was really graceful and graceful, and she didn't know which girl she was from.
Or maybe it was the young lady in that tile house or wine shop.
If you have some free time, go and visit one or two.
But gradually, he felt something different from those people, something he couldn't explain clearly, but he felt strong fear.
Something even made his body tremble.
After being trembling all over, the captain, who was said to be a noble in his family, suddenly pulled out an ancestral sword from his waist.
While waving his hands, he yelled viciously:
"Go back, everyone, please go back quickly. The court has issued an order that all idlers are not allowed to go out at night. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed on the spot in serious cases."
You, all of you, don’t want to die now~"
But in the midst of his fierce roar, the people in the street refused to even look at him and continued walking towards the river bank.
In a huge panic, the captain looked around.
Only then did he realize that he was not fighting alone, he had hundreds of soldiers and horses at his disposal.
Immediately, he shouted at some of the soldiers around him: "You guys who only know how to eat for free, hurry up and drive them home."
If anyone dares to resist the mob, I will kill them."
It's a pity that all his current performances are like a poor clown.
The soldiers in front of him turned their heads to the side, as if they had not heard his order.
At first, the captain, who was furious, immediately turned the back of his sword and started beating these disobedient men.
It turned out that he had only been beaten a few times. These soldiers were usually driven by him like slaves, helping his family with various chores, just like servants.
The look in his eyes was so unfamiliar.
To be more precise, it was because he saw murderous intent in the eyes of his men.
Instinctively, this noble man stopped beating him, and did not dare to continue to take action no matter what, because he believed that if he continued to take action, these men would definitely kill him.
However, due to his long-term superiority, he could not bear such humiliation.
After he climbed onto a war horse, he cursed loudly:
"You rioters and thieves, just wait for me. I will go and report to the officials and all the gentlemen right away. You will have an easy time in the future."
After saying such harsh words, he hurriedly patted his horse and left.
I'm afraid that if it gets a little later in the evening, I won't be able to leave at all.
But what he didn't expect was that after he turned a corner, a rope loop was thrown out of an alley next to it.
He put it around his neck accurately, and in one drag he was dragged off the horse and into the alley.
After his mouth was covered, there was an inaudible scream, and then there was no movement.
Soon after, a man rushed out and led the war horses outside. This honorable nobleman lost the last trace of his existence in this world...
Of course, the performance of this great nobleman of the Song Dynasty did not have the slightest impact on everything that happened by the Cai River.
Soon after, the people of the city were standing on both sides of the Cai River.
After praying murmuringly, they put the various lanterns in their hands into the river one by one, and let them float along the river.
They sent their blessings, expectations, advice, etc. to Grandpa Hu and others on Chubing Mountain in this way.
For a moment, it seemed that the entire Cai River was filled with lanterns of various styles; looking at it from a distance, it was as if the stars in the sky had fallen into the city of Kaifeng.
During such a process, no one spoke, including the hundreds of Imperial City soldiers who were stranded in front of the Northeast Water Gate.
But there was a calm smile on his face that he hadn't seen for a long time since Jin Bing's arrival.
Just watch silently as the mother and daughter appeared first, put down the lotus-shaped lantern, floated out of the iron fence along the river, and left the city.
Then, lanterns appeared on the river like a galaxy.
With the love, hate, blessings and other emotions of tens of thousands of people in Kaifeng City, more and more people floated out of the city one by one.
To be honest! At this moment, Mr. Ma Kuo's eyes became moist again.
However, this was just the beginning, and things that made him unable to hold back were still to come.
To put it bluntly, this thirty-year-old man has never cried so frequently since he became sensible.
Because soon after, bursts of shouts and gongs and drums reached his ears.
These are not the soldiers and horses of the Song Dynasty in the city, they have already come to suppress them.
Instead, there was a sound of "It's leaked" and "The ships of the capital navy have been set on fire~", it seemed that something was wrong with the serious problem in their hearts.
After reacting, Ma Kuo quickly came to the roof and looked in the direction of Jin Mingchi.
Although the Dongcheng area where they were located was still far away from Jin Mingchi, there were soaring flames burning in that direction, illuminating almost half of Kaifeng City.
Apart from the entire capital navy being set on fire, there are other possibilities.
As for the people who would take action, except for those men in the capital's navy whose blood has not yet run cold, we can say that they are not the second choice.
Thinking of the scene where a group of hot-blooded men risked their lives to set the capital navy on fire because they didn't want their brothers to fight against each other, Ma Kuo was so excited that his whole body trembled.
As a result, at this moment, the brother dressed as a government servant walked up behind him.
He clasped his hands and said: "Brother, take the lead, the hour of Zi Shi has come. It seems that even if you can sail out of the city, you will not be able to cross the Jinren's iron rope across the river.
But so what? Good men like me will never watch Grandpa Hu and others die in battle.
Even if we swim there, we have to swim to Chubing Mountain to fight side by side with Grandpa Hu and others; just like they sang, we don’t rely on the fairy emperor, we rely on ourselves~"
After saying that, he arched his hands behind his back and left decisively.
In the following time, Ma Kuo stood on the rooftop and watched under the eyes of tens of thousands of people on both sides of the Cai River.
There were more than 300 men in various costumes, carrying a large package behind their backs, holding wood, bathtubs, and even carved toilets in their left hands, and holding swords in their right hands and headed toward the Northeast Water Gate.
Fortunately, they didn't have to fight. Someone among the defenders shouted.
Not only did no one stop them, but they gave way to the passage, and many people worked together to twist the turntable, causing the iron gate to slowly rise.
After the officer rushed to the door, he jumped into the cold river with a piece of wood in his arms.
In the following time, the sound of "dong dong~" falling into the water was heard endlessly, and not only the more than 300 men who had been prepared jumped into the Cai River one after another.
More than thirty soldiers from the Imperial City Division and more than two hundred men on both sides of the river also jumped into the river one after another.
Following the lanterns that were like sparks, they floated out of the city along the river.
At the same time, a childish voice suddenly came from the shore, taking the lead in singing a strange song I learned from Chubing Mountain:
"Get up, slaves who are hungry and cold, get up and plant flowers and suffer all kinds of people... There has never been any great sage, nor does it rely on immortal emperors..."
Soon after, such singing became a chorus and resounded throughout the entire city of Kaifeng.
One second later, Song Huizong, who was still furious because of the fire in the navy in the capital, and the princes of the imperial court, the next second turned pale in fear.
They discovered that the singing contained a power that was extremely unfamiliar to them and extremely terrifying.
Everything that happened on the night of the Lantern Festival in the second year of Jingkang's reign was something that not only Ma Kuo would ever forget.
How could the many soldiers and civilians in the city, as well as the hundreds of thousands of golden soldiers outside the city, Hu Biao and others on Chubing Mountain forget what happened on this night when the moon seemed to be particularly round.
Wanyan Zongwang, the second prince of the Jin Kingdom, wanted to prove the effectiveness of his method.
That night, I personally sat in the upper reaches of the Cai River and saw countless Song people carrying logs coming out of the city amid the starry lanterns, drifting towards the doomed useless iron rope across the river.
In a fit of great fear, he shouted crazily: "Shoot arrows, throw stones, and kill these Song people!"
Even during this process, he personally held a gold-painted bow and arrow and fired it at the Song people in the river.
But for some unknown reason, he, who claimed to be able to hunt wild wolves at the age of nine, was so soft-handed at this moment that he didn't even know where the arrow he shot went.
Ten minutes later, college student Corn with red eyes jumped into the water amidst Hu Biao's roar.
After dragging a man dressed as a government servant who had been hit by many arrows from the water to the shore, he was ready to pick him up and rush to the tunnel on the reverse slope for treatment.
Unexpectedly, the man showed an ugly smile to him.
While stretching his hands into his arms, he said:
"I don't know how to call this grandpa. The villain is called Lin Ping'an. He is a government servant in Kaifeng City and a subordinate of Liu An and Liu Tou.
That day when you were robbing people, it was the villain escorting Liu Tou. We have seen him once.
It's a pity that I hesitated for a moment that day and couldn't follow you up the mountain; but it doesn't matter, I happened to be able to bring some "floating gardens" with me this time.
My mother has told me since she was a child, how can I not eat ‘Fuyuanzi’ during the Lantern Festival~”
Having said this, Lin Ping'an, who was holding his last breath, was not dead, but he couldn't even take out the things in his arms.
In the expectant eyes of the other party, Corn reached in and helped take out a small bag.
After opening it, you can find that there are a few raw glutinous rice balls that have been soaked in the river water and stained with a lot of blood, so that they have long been out of shape.
In the following time, when he put a piece of corn into his mouth with his hand and swallowed it with difficulty, Lin Ping'an closed his eyes with joy.
But Corn, a junior, was in tears...
PS: Today’s 11,000-word update, the chapter I owed last month has been paid off.
In addition, no matter whether the above plot is sensational or nonsense, what follows is the plot of escape and counterattack.
