All kinds of news spread across the mountains and mountains to the north.
Yunzhong Mansion, also known as Datong at this time, was the time when the sky was at its best in May, and the wind passing through the city carried a refreshing and pleasant atmosphere. As the core of the "Western Court" of the Jin Kingdom governed by Zong Han,
There are many heroes and nobles gathered in Yunzhong Mansion. Although with the departure of the Southern Expeditionary Army, the internal purge of the lower classes in the Jin Kingdom has become more stringent, but for the upper class of society, it is now the season for socializing and banquets.
In the many mansions and villas around the city, large and small banquets are held every day. You sing and I come on stage. This year, most of the ambitious nobles of the Jin Kingdom have set off with the army, leaving behind
With all kinds of outbreaks in the country, dandies have also encountered the best time. Entertaining guests and friends and spending huge sums of money are the means for many young people to show their strength.
In the south of Yunzhong Mansion, there is a luxurious and simple old house, which has recently become an upstart in the upper class social circle. This is a family that has just arrived in Yunzhong Mansion, but it has as deep a connotation and savings as the sea.
, although he is an outsider, he has attracted the attention of many people in Yunzhong Mansion in a short period of time.
This family is from the Central Plains.
The Qi family, headed by the great scholar Qi Yan, once occupied a truly prominent family in Hedong during the Wu Dynasty. Last year they moved from Zhending to Yunzhong. As the saying goes, for aristocratic families, the three generations can see the food, the fourth generation can see through the five generations, and the general
The family has only been rich for three generations, but the Qi family has been rich for six or seven generations.
Although for the nobles of the Jin Kingdom who had accumulated military exploits, some people subconsciously did not take the prominent families of the Wu Dynasty seriously, but the top brass of the Jin Kingdom still gave the Qi family sufficient courtesy. For the former Jin Kingdom
For high-level officials, conquering the world immediately has become a problem. Nowadays, ruling the world immediately has become a problem. The second generation of Jin Kingdom was corrupt and unproductive. The problem was also placed in front of the founding fathers. Even if they conquer the world on horseback,
There are many people with reckless personalities, but those who are truly knowledgeable have begun to see these things.
As a result, Qi Yan received great courtesy. Some of the elders who were in charge of Yunzhong often called him to ask for advice, and they talked and laughed happily. For the second-generation young people of the Jin Kingdom who have a fiery personality and like to compare, although they can't stand the Qi family being treated.
It's high praise, but the research on pleasure among the young people of the Qi family far exceeds that of these stupid sons of the nouveau riche.
Over time, although everyone said no, the high-quality banquets held by the scholars in these days quickly conquered and led the trend of enjoyment in the city, and became the focus of everyone's eyes for a while. By May
, many noble children of the Jin Kingdom and the young people of the Qi family have begun to call themselves brothers.
Since the beginning of this month, as some good news came from the south, the visits and banquets between the Qi family and the Jin Kingdom's senior officials have become more and more grand, and several grand memorials and celebrations were even held. The reason is because what happened in Zhenzhou last year
Dingfu, the assassination that forced the Qi family to go north.
In that assassination instigated by the Chinese army, Qi Yan's two sons, one grandson, and some relatives were killed. Due to the fierce anti-Jin movement, the elderly Qi Yan had no choice but to move his family north. However, when Liangshan massacred the Su family
, then the Ning people massacred the entire Liangshan Mountains, and now the Black Flag massacred the Qi family. How could Qi Yan, who had accumulated prestige for many years, be willing to give up?
On the one hand, he went north, and on the other hand, he used his influence to cooperate with the Jin Kingdom and oppose the Chinese army. By the end of March and early April, Daming Mansion was finally broken, and the Chinese army was involved. In the end, the entire army was annihilated, and Wanyanchang captured the bandits.
There were more than 4,000 people, and they began to behead them one by one. When Qi Yan heard the news, he was overjoyed and burst into tears. His two biological sons and one grandson were killed by the assassins of the Black Flag Army. The old man wanted to kill the entire army.
The Chinese army even killed Ning Yi and threw all the women in his family into prostitutes.
At this time, the great revenge was a little bit avenged, but it was still worth celebrating. While celebrating, Qi Yan also sent someone to Wan Yanchang's home in Liaoyang to express his gratitude by sending 100,000 taels of silver to his family.
A letter was sent to Wan Yanchang, asking the other party to release some of the prisoners of the Chinese Army and send them back to Yunnan. He killed them to comfort the souls of his descendants in heaven. In May, Wan Yanchang happily agreed to the letter and came over, explaining how to kill these batches of prisoners.
The Qi family has also thought about the enemy's thoughts many times.
In such an atmosphere, the old man did not know that a shadow more vicious than Yan Qing, who led the assassination in Zhending Mansion, or even Ning Yi, the inner demon who destroyed Liangshan, had already cast its shadow over the Qi family.
Directing several carts of fruits and vegetables into Qi's backyard, the vendor escorting the cart came down to negotiate with the steward of Qi's house and settled the money. Soon after, the convoy went out from the backyard again, and the vendor sat in the cart with a smile on his face.
A little bit cold.
The convoy drove to the market, and the merchant came down and walked through the streets and alleys until he reached a quiet courtyard. He took off the hat on his head and pulled off the beard at the corner of his mouth. At this time, his face became gloomy.
This was Tang Minjie, and his gloomy face was his usual color in the days after hearing the battle report from Daming Mansion in the south.
When he walked into the room, the gloom on his face faded slightly, and Lu Mingfang was already waiting in the room: "How are you? You don't look good lately."
"What happened in Daming Mansion is too tragic." Tang Minjie said frankly.
Lu Mingfang was silent for a moment: "There are some things that it is not you or I who can turn the tide. As I said, you are too anxious. Pay attention to your health. In addition, pay attention to hiding. I know that your previous actions were a bit drastic. Some of them
People have noticed you."
Since the Jurchens were preparing for the southern expedition, Tang Minjie used radical methods to do several major things. First, he incited the Han slaves to revolt and asked Shi Jin to send a list of traitors south. Later, he secretly pulled strings and threatened Jin officials to prepare for the southward expedition.
of military supplies, and then connected with the dandies within the Jin Kingdom to resell military supplies using their power...
The big and small things he did alone could not shake the entire southern war situation, but because of the radical methods, clues of the code name "Joker" were revealed several times. If Shi Jin went north, "Joker" was just a cloud.
It was an ordinary code name in Zhongfu, but now, this code name has really been listed at the top of the high-level wanted list. Fortunately, in the past few months, Tang Minjie has restrained himself, and the noise outside has subsided a little.
receive.
"Well, I know how to hide." The dual identity of friend and comrade-in-arms persuaded Tang Minjie to smile slightly, "Is there anything going on today?"
"A happy event."
"Huh?" It was rare for Lu Mingfang to speak like this. Tang Minjie moved his brows slightly. Lu Mingfang's eyes were complicated, but he actually smiled sincerely. He said two words: "Zhan Mei."
"Found it!?" Tang Minjie suddenly raised his head, and Lu Mingfang nodded with a smile.
"Found it, found it... She's not dead yet. She still has a child who's not dead yet. She's in Liaoyang now. I'm going to go there..."
Lu Mingfang's tone was restrained, but the excitement was still evident in his smile. Tang Minjie laughed and hit the table with his fist: "This news is great, is it true?"
"It's probably true. Once confirmed, I will immediately arrange for them to go south..."
The two of them were laughing like children in the room as they talked about this. Zhan Mei, whose full name is Wang Zhanmei, was the name of the concubine who last stayed by Qin Shaohe's side when the city of Taiyuan was destroyed.
It has always been at the top of the search list.
Talking about this incident, the two were delighted for a while. Regarding how the mother and son had survived for more than ten years, Lu Mingfang did not say anything, and Tang Minjie never mentioned it.
After a while, Lu Mingfang said: "This matter is a major matter that cannot be missed. I went to Liaoyang, and I will leave all the matters here to you. By the way, as you said last time, the Qi family
The matter of forcing several Chinese Army brothers here..."
"I will make arrangements, don't worry." Tang Minjie replied, and then said, "The Qi family and I will celebrate well."
"..." Hearing the ominous atmosphere in Tang Minjie's words and looking at his smiling face, Lu Mingfang was slightly stunned, but then he didn't say anything. Tang Minjie acted radically and used many methods to gain Ning Yi's true inheritance.
, Lu Mingfang is no match for him when it comes to manipulating people's hearts and using evil schemes. For this kind of subordinates, he can only keep an eye on the overall situation and not make too many decisions about the rest.
"I won't talk about the rest." After a brief pause, Lu Mingfang patted him on the shoulder, "You know everything you should do. As I said before, be cautious and take care. Major events in the world are important to everyone in the world.
We can only finish it together if we are together, so don’t be too anxious.”
"I understand." Tang Minjie smiled, "It's a big deal for you. Being able to preserve the bones and blood of the eldest son of the Qin family must have been difficult for them all these years. Please pay tribute to the lady for me."
"Will do."
After saying this, Tang Minjie said goodbye to Lu Mingfang. When he walked out of the yard, he raised his head with a smile and took a deep breath. The sun was warm. With such good news coming, today is really a good day.
.
He thought of the Qi family again.
so happy.
…
It's time to kill.
***************
When Lu Mingfang received the message from Wang Zhanmei in the north, the flood in the southwest was still roaring.
In Dujiangyan, the rain started and stopped, stopped and started raining again.
In the evening, Ning Yi and Cheng Zhouhai, who had been traveling together for the past few days, were waiting for the rain to subside in a thatched hut on the edge of the Minjiang River. When they were bored, Ning Yi handed him a handful of fried broad beans.
Cheng Zhouhai did not come to break the dyke, he came to discuss business. Although he might do it if the dyke could be broken, the main purpose was to discuss practical matters with Ning Yi on behalf of Zhou Pei.
In many years, this was the first contact between the Princess's Palace and the Chinese Army. The men brought by Cheng Zhouhai and the staff of the General Staff of the Chinese Army were responsible for specific negotiations, and between Ning Yi and Cheng Zhouhai, the conversation
It would be much easier to talk about it. Of course, most of what the two of them talked about these days was trivial matters.
In the southwest, Ning Yi's family situation, worries about the future of his children, the defeat in Daming Mansion in the north, and the situation of Wang Shanyue and Zhu Biao. In Cheng Zhouhai's mouth, most of them talked about Ning Yi
In the more than ten years since he left, the situation of everyone in the prime minister's house, the situation of the princess's house, the situation between the princess and the consort...
"...Well, the world is like this. Children grow up, adults grow old, and old people die. Things change and people change..."
"Lin'an City is more prosperous than Bianliang before. It would be a pity if you don't go and see..."
"Lin'an, Lin'an, please be safe for the time being. The names are all unlucky. You will suffer the consequences next... I have been working on water control these days, otherwise I will take you to Jishan to have a look and let you feel what industrial prosperity is... Paper factory
The water outside is no longer drinkable.”
"In the early days, I felt that you always had new names coming out of your mouth, and you couldn't understand them. It was difficult for you to get along with others."
"If you have an extreme personality, I can't help you."
"After you killed Emperor Jing Han, I don't think it's strange anymore. Like you said, you're not crazy, and you can't do such a bad thing."
The rainwater fell like a curtain from the edge of the hut, and the two of them knocked on the broad beans, making a clicking sound. Speaking of this, Ning Yi couldn't help laughing, and his whole body was shaking with laughter: "That bastard,
Lao Cheng, do you know what he was saying when I went to court... I didn't tell anyone, I'll learn from you..."
He learned what Zhou Zhe said in the Jinluan Palace that day. Cheng Zhouhai stopped knocking broad beans and raised his head and sighed. After all, it was difficult for him to accept such words without a king or a father. He just remained silent for a moment and said, "Don't you remember?"
Remember, I went to see you a few days before you took action."
"Well... Zong Feixiao discovered something. My people killed him. At that time, you thought I was going to take action." Ning Yi nodded, "I am indeed going to take action."
"I thought you were going to deal with Cai Jing or Tong Guan, or bring along Li Gang and someone else... I could stand it and wanted to work with you." Cheng Zhouhai smiled, "I didn't expect what you did later.
That kind of thing."
"I told you at that time, I probably wouldn't survive today."
"Yes." Cheng Zhouhai nodded and put a broad bean into his mouth, "If I had known about it back then, I would have definitely tried to kill you."
"What now?"
"Now... what's the use of killing you?" Cheng Zhouhai said, "As you said, there is a problem in this Confucian world. Li Pin wants to kill you, and he has his reasons, but I don't want to, since you have already started
, making such a big deal again, I want to see how you look like in the end. If you win, as you said, it is also a good thing for everyone to wake up and be equal. If you lose, we will also
I can have some good experiences.”
"Brother Cheng is open-minded."
"I'm just a little discouraged." Cheng Zhouhai paused, "If the teacher were still here, I would be the first one to kill you. However, the teacher is no longer here, and those statements he made are in trouble. Even now, even if
If we try to push it, I'm afraid it won't be convincing. Since I don't teach, I have done some pragmatic things in these years. Naturally, I can see that everyone in the court... is helpless, and those who come to the front have imitated you.
Junwu."
He put a broad bean in his mouth: "It's just that Junwu's way is too strong. Once the external troubles are eliminated, it will never last long. You... I don't understand it very well, and I don't need to understand it too much..."
When Cheng Zhouhai said this, there was actually deep fatigue in his lowered eyebrows. Although he was evaluated by Qin Siyuan in his early years as being ruthless and unscrupulous, the biggest backbone of Cheng Zhouhai was Qin Siyuan as a teacher.
Qin Siyuan was murdered and imprisoned, and was eventually exiled and died on the road. It is impossible to say that Cheng Zhouhai had no hatred in his heart.
However, supporting the Wu Dynasty is the core thing in Qin Siyuan's thinking. As he said, if Ning Yi confessed to him before rebelling, Cheng Zhouhai would kill Ning Yi immediately even if he had hatred in his heart. This is Qin Siyuan's
However, due to his excessive lack of scruples, Cheng Zhouhai himself did not have his own orthodoxy in his heart.
After Qin Siyuan's death, it was no longer clear to him how to take the road. After Yao Zu's death, Jueming, Kang Xian and others also went. Wenren Buer followed Junwu and took a relatively radical path, and Cheng Zhou
Hai assists Zhou Pei. Although his methods are clever, his goal in his heart has gradually changed from protecting Wu Chao to protecting the siblings - although in some sense, these are two in one.
Things are a little different after all.
Zhou Yong's fooling around at the beginning of the year made Zhou Pei confused, but after calming down, Zhou Pei had to admit the weakness of the Wu Dynasty in the Jurchen southern expedition. Finally, he sent Cheng Zhouhai and decided to secretly fight with the Chinese army.
The forces carried out a certain degree of exchange of interests. This was also the greatest effort made by Zhou Pei to let go of his worries under the premise of the attack of foreign enemies.
Cheng Zhouhai knew a little bit about the background of Zhou Yong's coming at the beginning of the year, but naturally he would not mention it in front of Ning Yi. He only briefly mentioned the feud between Zhou Pei and his consort Qu Zonghui over the years, and mentioned that Qu Zonghui killed someone.
, when Zhou Pei dealt with it, Ning Yi nodded: "The little girl has grown up too."
Cheng Zhouhai looked at Ning Yi: "Her Highness the Princess is no longer a little girl... Speaking of which, I know the last time you met Her Highness."
"Um?"
"That was what happened before you went to Liangshan. In Bianliang, His Highness was almost raped by that... Gao Mu'en was frivolous, but it was actually my fault. Later that night, she said goodbye to you and went back to get married..."
The broad beans crackled loudly, and Ning Yi nodded: "Well, it's been many years to put it this way."
"Your Highness Princess..." Cheng Zhouhai wanted to say something, but finally shook his head, "Forget it, let's not talk about this..."
"Of course I know about her." Not aware of what Cheng Zhouhai wanted to say, Ning Yi just said casually, "I won't say anything hurtful. She has been a widow for so many years, so she can't find a suitable one."
A man? You elders are not treating you right."
Cheng Zhouhai laughed out loud: "With His Highness's identity, how can you find someone? Who dares to come? Who dares His Highness find? And you also said that you know everything about His Highness. When the two sides fight, you let the news out.
what to do."
Ning Yi laughed: "You look down on people, right? I promise I will never do such a thing."
"Aren't there still Jurchens?"
"……That's true."
Speaking of the Jurchens, both of them were silent for a moment, and then changed the subject again.
The sky was gloomy, and in the heavy rain, the river in front was roaring. In the seemingly casual chat, each other under the thatched shed actually understood that Cheng Zhouhai's step to the southwest was extremely difficult, although all the business was still
It was carried out in secret, but this was already the greatest sacrifice and effort Zhou Pei could make after letting go of his heart. The premise of sacrifice and effort was because the overturn of the world was already approaching.
While they were chatting, Lou Shuwan of Jin State burned down the entire Weisheng City. She and Yu Yulin led the army into the mountains. Looking back, they saw fireworks all over the city. Thousands of Chinese troops from Xuzhou together with tens of thousands
After resisting the offensive of Wu Shu and others for several months, the city's defenders also began to actively evacuate to the surrounding areas. The imminent Battle of Liangshan in the north was just a small episode in this situation.
Next, the Wu Dynasty's Xiangyang and Zhenjiang defense lines, with Jun Wu in charge and Yue Fei, Han Shizhong and others leading the troops, were about to come into contact with the 300,000-strong Jurchen East Road army.
There are nearly two million troops crowded in this defense line that stretches thousands of miles. They are here to block the two Jurchen armies. However, at the moment when the test is about to come, everyone has a question about the combat effectiveness of the Wu Dynasty army.
But they were all sweating.
In May, the water of the Minjiang River roared down. Even in the heavy rain all over the mountain, while chatting leisurely over broad beans, what the two of them smelled every day was actually the smell of gunpowder smoke coming from the wind and rain.