The trees turned from green to dark, the spring rain passed by, the red flowers lost their color, and spring passed in a blink of an eye. In late March, there were still catkins flying on the Qinhuai River, but summer had definitely arrived. Ning Yi and
Tan'er's family boarded a boat outside Jiangning City and took the waterway back to the capital.
After returning to Jiangning for a month, Ning Yi and Tan'er didn't have much to do. Apart from paying homage to their family members who died in the accident last year, the rest was just a matter of sending congratulatory gifts to Prince Kang's Mansion. They could do it right away.
.However, Xiaopei himself was not in Jiangning during the period before the wedding, so Ning Yi did not see the girl brother who was about to get married during this journey.
The little princess was about to get married, that is, she was already an adult. For Ning Yi, who seemed to be a guest teacher in name only, King Kang did not neglect him too much. He came out to receive Ning Yi himself and accepted Qin Siyuan's calligraphy and paintings as well as gifts from the Su family.
A large number of gifts. However, Zhou Pei's whereabouts were not given in too much detail. Only when Ning Yi went to visit Kang Xian did he understand the details.
At this time, the clan members of the Wu Dynasty had always had little freedom, with only a few exceptions. The royal family property under the name of Chengguo Princess Zhou Xuan was now spread all over the south of the world, which to some extent was enough to influence the political situation. Now
Both Zhou Xuan and Kang Xian are old, and it's time to start choosing their successors.
Although they have several children, when it comes to economics and numerical sensitivity, no one can compare with Zhou Pei. Therefore, after Zhou Pei showed some interest in this aspect, Zhou Xuan decided to transfer part of her
The matter was left in her hands. During this period of time, Zhou Xuan decided to go to various palaces and took Zhou Pei with her, first to let her understand the specific matters, and then to ask the stewards to come and identify the people.
Zhou Pei was very talented and interested in this matter, so Kang Xian casually told Ning Yi about it.
Regardless of whether it is a good thing or not, Zhou Pei has found his own position. On the other hand, although the young prince Zhou Junwu's Gewu Society is not favored by others, it has gained a certain scale - in the past, he found a group of his friends
After Ning Yi talked to him last year, he started to look for craftsmen everywhere, starting from the kite, gradually increasing the size and firmness of the kite, and choosing more ideal materials. This year, a kite that can carry loads
It has become bigger and bigger. On the other hand, the work on enlarging the Kongming Lantern is also in progress.
This kind of Gewu Society was just a small operation at the beginning, and Prince Kang's palace just turned a blind eye. But after it expanded, the issue of money inevitably came to the table. Zhou Junwu was a conscious person.
From the beginning of a few months, I began to understand the source of income of the Wangfu and tried to add some profitable shops to my name.
The young prince revealed that he wanted to make money and gain power, and he was more or less upholding the right path. He was not blackmailing a group of friends or like other royal brothers who only wanted money but no consequences. Kang Xian regarded this as a symbol of his progress.
After talking to Zhou Yong, Zhou Yong was also quite happy. The property of Prince Kang's Mansion was not comparable to that of Princess Chengguo's Mansion, but it was still up to him. So in recent times, Xiao Junwu has been handed over by several housekeepers of the Prince's Mansion.
He extorted several profitable shops and held them in his hands, using the income from the shops to subsidize the Gewu Society, living his small life in a stumbling and tight manner.
After Ning Yi came back, Jun Wu happily showed off his achievements to him and took Ning Yi over to see them. He remembered what Ning Yi said about giving craftsmen status, and he never treated the recruited craftsmen poorly.
, even the courtesy was a bit too much. Ning Yi also gave him some opinions, asking him to optimize the reward and punishment mechanism. To be efficient, he could not be nice to everyone. By the way, he could teach him some business experience.
.
As for the final results of the Gewu Society, Ning Yi is not willing to worry about it - a hot air balloon with low safety may be possible, but even if he is himself, it is unlikely to build an airplane - the important thing
Yes, Junwu will find future survival experience in these things. It is also because of this that Junwu calculates his income and expenditures a little tight. Ning Yi specifically warned that it is OK to save, but many normal social expenses,
It is still needed. Fortunately, Junwu also came from an excellent education. He understands this very well. He is not strict in his interactions with other royal nobles. He just gives them all his usual snacks, theaters and other items.
After deducting it, Ning Yi looked at it and felt that the young prince was a bit pitiful.
"I'll ask your sister for money later." Ning Yi patted his shoulder and said.
Jun Wu then nodded naturally: "Yeah, sure."
Except for this little walk after returning home, Ning Yi usually only gives lectures at Yushan Academy on weekdays and does not run around much. At this time, Jiangning is completely full of singing and dancing, without the fanaticism of Bianliang, but it always contains
Yongya in the south of the Yangtze River and the Qinhuai River are lit up every night, and people come out with wonderful works from time to time to celebrate the peace of the country and the success of the Northern Expedition. Some people came to look for Ning Yi to attend the meeting, but Ning Yi rejected them one by one.
Of course, sometimes when the heat is high, these people are not the only ones who come to the door. As the richest man in Jiangning, Puyang Yi, the father-in-law of the Puyang family, has visited the door several times, and sometimes he also brings one or two people. There are some officials in the Puyang family.
The salt tea business also accounts for a part of the relationship. Although it may not be well-known in Bianliang, in the south, it is probably a family that can be involved in the recent batch of accounts. He came to look for Ning Yi and Su Tan'er, so naturally he
This is a business matter, so I won’t go into detail here.
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When the royal girl named Zhou Pei returned to Jiangning, it was already May of this year.
After learning that the teacher had returned and Jiang Ningxuan had left, the girl went to the warehouse to look at the gifts sent by the Su family one by one, but she did not show any strange thoughts. The auspicious day for getting married was at the beginning of this year, so everything
Everything is proceeding step by step.
Not many people knew about the slight stirrings in the girl's heart, including her younger brother Jun Wu, who was close to her, but none of them knew about the small relationship she had in her youth. The girl finally decided to bury it all.
Next, she had a private talk with Jun Ma Qu Zonghui on the eve of the wedding. No one knew what they talked about specifically. They only knew that after this time, the wedding was held as scheduled, and the two equally outstanding people became a respectful pair.
The envious young couple.
The stars move and the sun changes. In the tide of time, the fate of one or two people cannot be the focus of everyone's attention. In the summer of this year, droughts and floods occurred frequently. The Huanghuai River flooded and heavy rains caused disasters. In some places in the south,
In the scorching heat, no rice grains were harvested.
At the same time, the situation in the Northern Expedition was still developing and changing.
In the past six months, although the Wu Dynasty had been singing and dancing to celebrate the success of the Northern Expedition, people and scholars were in high spirits and wrote praising this prosperity that had not been seen for hundreds of years. But north of Yanmen Pass, the situation was beginning to become tense.
Tension comes from several aspects.
In the original alliance between the Wu Dynasty and the Jin people, it was agreed that after joining forces to conquer the Liao Dynasty, the Wu Dynasty would divide the ten states of Yanyun that had originally fallen. Now that Yanjing has conquered, the ten states of Yanyun have also changed hands. Negotiations on the return of the ten states,
But since last year, it has become quite difficult.
For the officials of the Wu Dynasty who participated in the negotiations, the Jin people at this time were no longer the modest rebel group they had been. They had forgotten that the military people had always restrained the Liao people, and became arrogant due to a series of victories.
For the Jin people, the Wu Dynasty's slowness in the Northern Expedition, including its consistent defeats, has gradually turned from confusion to contempt. Although some of the core Jin people, such as Wanyan Xiyin and others, still hold on to the Wu Dynasty's heritage.
There is respect, but most people have begun not to take this southern imperial court seriously.
Of course, the number of Jurchens was not large. After quickly swallowing up most of the Liao Kingdom, they had slowed down a little and began to enjoy the income at hand - they had no need to fight against the Wu Dynasty. But the Wu Dynasty came over
When you ask for the ten states of Yanyun, you don't have to give it.
Such delays made most of the officials in the Wu Dynasty who supported the Northern Expedition anxious. At the end of last year, Tong Guan and others took the initiative to buy back Yanjing, as well as Zhuo, Yi, Tan, Shun, Jing,
Ji and other states, at this time, the court's flattery and rewards were still coming, but the subsequent negotiations had reached a deadlock.
The Jurchens are too lazy to give away the remaining states. The Jurchens even have a saying: If you can't defeat the Liao people, you will pay tribute to them later. Now we might as well start a fight on the border. If we
If you win, you can add more coins. If you can win, how about winning back the coins?
In order to maintain their victory, Tong Guan and others have raised more than 50 million yuan of property and began to gradually buy cities from the Jurchens. At the same time, they announced to the south: "We won this by ourselves." On the one hand, Tong Guan and others
On the other hand, the Jurchens' "victory" was due to the Jurchens' renegade. Emperor Zhou Zhe began to issue orders in the capital, saying unhappily that he had to be "tougher" with the Jurchens. This caused a dilemma for those working in the north.
.
But the ones who are really in trouble are not Tong Guan and other officials. They still have money, and they can continue to buy the empty city or the ruined city. Now Guo Yaoshi and others who are stationed in the north have real friction with the Jurchens. Friction.
The reason lies in the agreement before the state delivery.
In order to take back the credit first, the agreement signed by Tong Guan and others with the Jin people stipulated not only the million-year-old coins that the Wu Dynasty would give to the Jin people, but also Tong Guan promised that while delivering the state, the Jin people could
All the wealthy officials, gentry and wealthy households in the state were robbed of gold and silk - Tong Guan didn't care whether there were people in the place delivered to him, as long as he got the place, he would get the credit.
The Jurchens were short of men, but they had limited resources to mobilize. They began to sweep away the wealthy officials, gentry, and wealthy households in this area. Their first priority was money, and then they captured some strong men. On the other hand, before going to Beijing to receive the reward, Yaoshi Guo had already
Realizing the importance of his troops and the delivery process, he ordered his subordinates to start searching for civilians to serve as soldiers. So in the next few months, what happened on this fuzzy boundary line between Wu, Jin, and Liao became
The true portrayal of the proverb "Death can never reach Yanmen Pass".
The Jin people started from the rich, and the victorious army was mostly from the poor. In a sense, it can be regarded as a deliberate move by Guo Yaoshi to avoid friction. But no matter what, when the two sides begin to contact, friction is bound to happen.
There will be. The Jin people provoked several times - they are not really going to fight with the Wu Dynasty at this time - Guo Yaoshi also tolerated it several times. At this time, the negotiations were still going on, and Wu Dynasty officials continued to
The Jurchens did not bother to negotiate the matter of returning the ten states. When the Jurchens became angry because of the friction, the officials headed by Wang An had to go over to negotiate, mediate and apologize. As for the people, families were destroyed everywhere, and people were already in dire straits.
Many people in the south are aware of this situation, including Qin Siyuan and Ning Yi. In the end, the attitude of the Secret Investigation Department is also very simple: fully support Pharmacist Guo, and when Pharmacist Guo asks Wu Chao
They needed money, weapons, and logistics, and the Prime Minister's Office provided full support. However, Pharmacist Guo's continuous recruitment and expansion of the army gave some people who entered the army a way to survive.
On the official side, Wang An and others are also depressed. The Wu Dynasty has always been about officials restraining military attachés, but here, not only does everything depend on the face of Medical Master Guo, but also the Jin people have to apologize. A "parent official" like him is in chaos.
In the overall situation, it also seems extremely embarrassing.
As officials who can be sent here, they don't have any integrity or ability. As parents of a place, they naturally have to protect the environment and the people. But at this time, the resentment of the people under the rule is soaring, but they don't even have the ability to take care of it -
- Guo Yaoshi's ever-victorious army was also a factor that caused trouble for them. In Wang An's eyes, Guo Yaoshi was arbitrary and domineering, and had no humanity in seizing young men. He went around collecting money and supplies and gave them to various officials. Although he gave them
He had no choice but to accept it, but it also deepened his dislike of Yaoshi Guo: a villain who makes friends to drive others away!
Perhaps all this can only be attributed to the fact that he has no way to control the current popular man Guo Yaoshi, and he still has to keep a smile on his face. As an official, he originally went north to make contributions, but now... this official is too good.
It’s boring!
month, a tense atmosphere swept across this background.
Since the defeat of Yanjing, the Liao Kingdom has fallen into a state of survival. Emperor Tianzuo went into exile, and Yelu Dashi and other pillars of the Liao Kingdom were dispersed or fled westward. In the first month, when Guo Pharmacist came to Beijing to receive a reward, Xiao Qian, the king of the Beiyuan,
He established himself as emperor and gathered the tribesmen of the Liao Kingdom to establish the Great Xi Kingdom. Xiao Qian was a man of great talent and strategy, and he refused to let the Jin people stand in front of the battle several times. He was a general who could attack the Jin people, let alone the military people. Guo Yaoshi founded the Resentful Army at the time.
Originally under his control, he was able to fight back in time during the Battle of Yanjing. Guo Yaoshi and others almost died in his hands, which cast a shadow on him. In the month of Yue, due to lack of food, Xiao Qian finally attacked the Wu Dynasty again.
They started by sending troops to Lulongling. In a short time, they destroyed Jingzhou like a beast and came straight towards it.
The atmosphere is chilling.
At this time, the Wu Dynasty, although in the name of the Northern Expedition, did not necessarily have many troops that could fight. Especially in front of a general like Xiao Qian who could compete with the Jurchens, everyone was worried. At this time, Chang
The victorious army has expanded to 50,000 people, but it is still training. The rural soldiers under his command - that is, the militiamen who can be mobilized - are said to be 300,000 strong. Under the urging of all parties, in the first ten days of the month, they fought with Guo
Zhang Linghui, who was also a general of the Evervictorious Army, and Liu Shunren, the pharmacists, mobilized to attack Xiao Qian.
Then, Xiao Qian defeated Zhang Linghui and Liu Shunren in Shimen Town, and in a blink of an eye, Jizhou was captured.
This was a real war and danger. At this time, the general Tong Guan had returned to Beijing to receive the reward. He reprimanded Wang An and Guo Yaoshi several times. At the same time, they contacted the Jin people and began to lobby them to defeat Xiao Qian. By the way, Xiao Qian was
The Qian was handed over to the Wu Dynasty. This transaction content became a laughing stock among the Jin people.
It's the end of July, autumn has arrived, and the lingering heat seems to have not faded away. In the capital, many officials are busy with the disasters in the north and south, and in such gaps, many people can't help but chat.
Looking to the north, Qin Siyuan, Ning Yi, Yao Zunian and others did the same.
At the same moment, at a place called Yaopu on Yanyun Shizhou, the army under Guo Yaoshi finally arrived, and his front army began to confront Xiao Qian.
Pharmacist Guo was riding on his horse, looking at the flaming red flag belonging to Xiao Qian from a distance. His expression had become silent and resolute. He was reminded of his feelings when he first saw Xiao Qian more than two years ago.
The formation of the Resentment Army was actually seven years ago. At that time, Gao Yongchang of the Bohai State rebelled, and the Liao people were unsuccessful in their crusade and were defeated by the Jurchens who supported Gao Yongchang. Therefore, Emperor Tianzuo asked King Yelv Chun of Yan to recruit hungry people from Liaodong to join the army.
Taking the meaning of complaining against the Jurchens, we named it "Resentful Army".
At that time, these Liaodong people only served as soldiers to fight for a bite of food. However, the Liao Kingdom was already declining at this time, and the treatment of this army was extremely poor. In the end, the "Resentful Army" did not win many battles, but rebelled repeatedly.
Two years ago, the then leader of the Resentful Army, Dong Xiu Xiao, and others revolted because of the unfavorable outcome of the war. Yelu Yu saw that Xiao Qian and others came to quell the rebellion. Guo Yaoshi knew that the Resentful Army was no match for the opponent, so he killed Dong Xiuo and others and accepted the recruitment.
, that was the first time he saw Xiao Qian.
There were rumors in private at that time that Yelu Yujian discussed with Xiao Qian in order to solve the problem of the rebellion of the resentful army once and for all, and simply kill all the resentful troops this time, once and for all. However, Xiao Qian was upright and believed that "there may be loyal people for a while."
I am a coercion. How can I kill them all?" Xiao Qian's words saved the lives of Guo Yaoshi and others. When the news came out, everyone felt grateful to Xiao Qian. Guo Yaoshi felt like Xiao Qian when he saw him for the first time.
The graceful and noble aura on his body is the aura of a truly superior person, the aura of a hero who is not afraid of challenges and looks down on all directions.
But his heart did not feel surrender. Instead, he only felt fear and insignificance.
In the eyes of these people, the Resentful Army is not actually a human being. When the other party recruited hungry people like me as soldiers, they had the idea of giving away their lives. People like me originally just wanted a life. However, after joining the army,
Everyone is also having a hard time. In fact, how many thoughts can people who are about to starve to death have? If they are not always deducted military pay and rations, and their status in the army is worse than that of a dog, how many people who are about to starve to death can really think about it.
Are you naturally rebellious and want to rebel?
He understood the helplessness of Dong Zhuo and others. He also knew the helplessness of killing Dong Xiu and others with his own hands. When they knelt in front of Xiao Qian and others as heroes anyway, and when Xiao Qian and others praised their achievements, he felt,
Still scared.
The one above is a tiger, and they, not even dogs, may only be regarded as cockroaches. The other party can easily talk about whether to kill all tens of thousands of them. They can also easily kill tens of thousands of them.
He left a person's life behind to express his kindness. While others felt lucky, he only felt scared when he saw Xiao Qian's graceful figure.
The tiger stretched out his claws, flicked the cockroach in front of him lazily, yawned, and spared its life.
After seeing Xiao Qian several times after that, he only felt scared after having experienced many battles.
This idea was not very strong at first. After knowing that the Jin people and the military people joined forces to attack the Liao Dynasty, Xiao Qian and others began to distrust the non-Liao army. Due to the history of rebellion of the resentful army, they originally let it go.
Xiao Qian, who once resented the army, was really going to take action against himself and others. Only Yaoshi Guo was the most astute. He suddenly reacted and encouraged everyone to defect to the Wu Dynasty first. Later it was proved that this decision was indeed correct.
That day, Pharmacist Guo suddenly discovered that he could not be a cockroach or a dog, but more or less a human being.
He then planned the battle to capture Yanjing, but his colleagues in the Wu Dynasty were too stupid. Xiao Qian returned and crushed them like a nightmare. He also thought about fighting hard on the battlefield, but the Wu Dynasty army was defeated so quickly.
His thoughts were disrupted, and in the end he didn't even have a chance to fight. He could only escape in embarrassment with a handful of brothers.
Except for the initial curse in the camp, he did not complain about anything to the warriors. He only continued to expand the army and capture soldiers to accumulate strength. He took advantage of his position to collect a large amount of money. On the one hand, he settled his brothers, and on the other hand, he provided money to the Wu Dynasty.
The officials of the Wu Dynasty gave gifts because the officials of the Wu Dynasty liked this.
If everyone likes it, he can ask for support such as food, grass, weapons, etc., so that everyone can turn a blind eye to his arrest. He also knows that some dissatisfied officials have submitted offers of participation to him to the court.
, he sent more money to the other party. After the ever-victorious army expanded, some brothers began to become arrogant. In the friction with the Jin people, he was the first to come forward and suppress everyone's dissatisfaction: "There is no victory, you guys
It doesn’t matter, just bear it all!”
This time Xiao Qian went south, and he had endured it for a long time, under pressure from all sides. First, he let Zhang Linghui, Liu Shunren and others test each other's qualities, and then quietly waited for the opportunity, until now...
The clouds were turning and the sky was bright. Under this still-summer sunshine, the fiery red flag looked like the blazing flames condensed by the Liao Empire. Under that flag, there was the mountain-like hero.
Now on this battlefield where tens of thousands of people are facing each other, they must press this way.
Medicine Master Guo sat quietly on his horse, looking over there like a rock. Only the horse beneath him seemed to feel uneasy, and moved slightly. He reached out and patted its neck, and said something silently in his heart,
The expression on his face only became more indifferent and calm.
Murderous aura has spread.
In the Yellow River in the south, every spring, carp climb up Longmen Mountain upstream, and then fire from the sky burns its tail and turns into a dragon.