The intersection of the Yangtze River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Zhenjiang.
Flying waterbirds circled the dots of white sails on the river, the busy port was reflected in the scorching sun, and people came and went. It was almost noon, and the city was still moving rapidly.
"Zhenjiang has been a prosperous and important town for hundreds of years. When I was a child, the teacher in the mansion said that it is the hub of east and west and connects the north and south. I am not convinced yet and asked if it is more powerful than Jiangning. The teacher said that it not only has the Yangtze River, but also
There is the Grand Canal, and the Wu Dynasty's trade was prosperous. This place is the most important. I came here when I was eight years old, and there is no big circle outside."
The scorching sun shines down, and the green beech forest on the hilltop in the west of the city reflects the cool shade of the trees. When the wind blows over the hilltop, the leaves rustle. Outside the beech forest, there are hillsides with various kinds of wild grasses. Looking down from this hillside, Zhenjiang is at the other end.
A busy scene, surrounded by towering city walls. Outside the city walls, there are residential areas that stretch for several miles. Low-rise houses are connected to the fishing villages on the canal. Roads pass between the houses and along the river bank to the distance.
radiation.
On the mountaintops higher in the forest and on the river bank further away, there are military camps and high observation platforms. At this time, by the beech forest, the leading man was sitting casually on a stone under the tree, beside him
There were young people following him, and there were also guards following him. In the distance, there was a carriage in which a group of people came up.
"In the two hundred years of the Wu Dynasty, Zhenjiang only looks the most prosperous now, although it was broken by the Jurchens a few years ago... In the second year of Jianshuo, the mountains and seas were searched, like Hua, remember. The skills were rapid and the troops were straight.
Take Yangzhou, I escaped from the other side of the river and met your sister here."
The man sitting on the stone still looks handsome and dignified, but he has a beard under his chin and is wearing casual clothes for ordinary officials. Although his eyes look gentle, he still has his majesty. This is Zhou Junwu, the prince of the Wu Dynasty, sitting on the grass on one side.
The young man above was pale. After hearing what he said, he trembled slightly and nodded.
The pale young man's name is Shen Ruhua. He is the brother-in-law of the current prince and the younger brother of Shen Ruxin, the third concubine married by Jun Wu. Compared with his sister Zhou Pei's entanglement in marriage, Jun Wu, who has been ambitious since childhood, got married.
Things seem very ordinary. Now there are one wife and five concubines in the mansion, but except for Shen Ruxin, the other five wives and concubines all belong to wealthy families. Shen Ruxin, the fourth wife of the Prince's Mansion, was a person in need whom Jun Wu met during his search for mountains and seas during his escape.
Not to mention that she is the most favored lady in daily life, it is not an exaggeration to say that she is the most special lady in the prince's house.
But today's Shen Ruhua is obviously not relaxed. It even looks like she is trembling slightly and is on the verge of collapse.
Jun Wu looked at Zhenjiang in front of him and was silent for a moment.
"In the second year of Jianshuo, that was eight years ago, I fled to Zhenjiang. Soon after, the Jurchens crossed the river and began to attack the city. I escaped first. After the Jurchens broke through the city, they did not seal the sword for ten days, and died for nearly five
Ten thousand people. Ru Hua and your family were sent outside by the Zhenjiang prefecture first, and they survived. Do you remember? Fifty thousand people..."
Jun Wu recalled the catastrophe in the past, raised his fingers slightly, his face was complicated for a long time, and finally he smiled strangely: "So... it's really strange. Fifty thousand people died, and half the city was burned down.
, in eight years, you see Zhenjiang has become so prosperous. The city walls can no longer contain it, and everyone lives outside. This year, the prefect of Zhenjiang has roughly ruled, and the population of this place is about 750,000... It's so strange.
Seventy-five thousand people. Before the Jurchens came, there were only one million people in Bianliang. Some people happily reported that it was difficult to build a country. Ruhua, do you know why?"
Shen Ruhua looked sad and almost cried. Jun Wu looked at him for a moment and stood up.
"Let me tell you, because people coming down from the north, the first place they arrive is this part of the south of the Yangtze River. Zhenjiang is the hub between the north and the south. Everyone gathers here... Of course, they can't all go to Zhenjiang. They start further south. It was still possible to go, but eventually too many people went south, and the big families in the south stopped allowing it, saying that people from the south should return to the south and people from the north return to the north. There were several problems and banditry, and many people died. There are 750,000 people in Zhenjiang, and 600,000 of them are refugees from the north who have lost their families or brought their families with them."
He pointed forward: "In the past eight years, I don't know how many people have died. The remaining 600,000 people live here like beggars. The densely packed houses outside were all built over the years. They have no land." No land, no property. Six or seven years ago, let alone hiring them and paying them, even if they just gave them some gruel to fill their stomachs and then used them as livestock, they were all good people. Until now, I can't survive. Those who survived died, and those who survived had houses outside the city, no land, and could do a hard job, or work as soldiers...many people were like this."
"...It's better than animals." Jun Wu smiled at Shen Ruhua, "I've secretly visited a lot of people, and if they're better than animals, they can live with it. I just hope it's better than animals." In a few years of peace, from Jiangning to Zhenjiang, from Zhenjiang to Lin'an, millions of people lived like this. Give them a way to survive. As for the rich, let them go to work. Those who have acres of land at home hire them to farm... "
He took a breath, clenched his right fist and shook it unconsciously at his side, and paused: "The Jurchens went south three times and kidnapped millions of Han people in the Central Plains. Those people became slaves in the Jin Kingdom. The Jin people really took them. They are used as livestock to feed the carnivorous people of the Jin Kingdom. But the Wu Dynasty lost ten years in the Central Plains. Millions of people were destroyed and their families were destroyed. There is nothing left. We use them as livestock and give them whatever we want. Food, work, farmland, business in various places suddenly prospered, Lin'an was prosperous, and it was like no other. Some people say that the Wu Dynasty lost the Central Plains and learned from it, so it is difficult to build a country. This is how difficult it is to build a country. The reason is Ru Hua. We have more livestock in the entire Central Plains."
Jun Wu stared at Shen Ruhua: "For so many years, these people were originally good, with their own homes, wives, children and parents. After the Central Plains were attacked by the Jurchens, they were lucky enough to move their families south. Some lost their property, a little more bumpy, no old parents, and what's even worse is that their parents, wife and children are dead... There are also some whose parents are dead, their wives and children were captured and taken to the Kingdom of Jin, leaving only one person. Ru Hua, do you know what it feels like for these people to survive? Only one person is still alive and well, and the others are dead, or they are suffering in the north, living a life as bad as a pig or a dog... There are also such families in Zhenjiang who have been destroyed. People like Hua, do you know how they feel?"
"Life is worse than death..." General Jun put his fist on his chest, with tears in his eyes, "The prosperity of the Wu Dynasty depends on the destruction of these people's families..."
"Brother-in-law..." Shen Ruhua also cried.
"But they are not satisfied yet. They are afraid that these beggars who do not have enough food and clothing will disturb the good life in the south, so people from the south return to the north and people from the south return to the north. In fact, this is nothing, Ru Hua, it sounds very annoying, but In fact, it is very common. These people work as beggars and animals. Don't disturb other people's good lives. They just hope that they can live peacefully for a few more years, or more than ten years, in places like Zhenjiang, and they can live... But there is no peace."
When he said this, he stopped for a moment.
"The hundreds of thousands of troops in Yangzhou and Zhenjiang are prepared for war. Zongfu and Zongbi have come over and are about to reach here. Ruhua, war has never been a child's play. You can't win it just by relying on luck. .The Jurchens' march south this time is bound to win against the Wu Dynasty. If they cannot defeat it, what happened before will happen again. It's just Zhenjiang. How many of these 600,000 people can survive until the next time the world is peaceful..."
"In order for the army to fight this battle, I have offended many people in the past few years... Don't think that the prince is immune to offending others. No one dares to offend. If the army wants to come up, those who are gesticulating in the court will go down. There are fewer civil servants. Things, the aristocratic families behind them are not happy either. If the aristocratic families are not happy, the officials will not be happy. When doing things, they will be a step slower, everyone will be a step slower, and everything will be slowed down... The army is not worried either, Children from rich families join the army because they want to bring some benefits to their families and take care of their family's influence. If I don't allow it, they will do it in disguise. No one in the world will do anything that is not beneficial..."
Junwu smiled at Shen Ruhua and sat down in the shade of a tree, counting the difficult tasks at hand. After a while, a bird flew over the top of the tree.
"In the past few years... the military law has dealt with many people. Those who deserved to be exiled and those who deserved to be killed were killed. My subordinates are all a bunch of lonely ministers and traitors. People say that the royal family likes lonely ministers and traitors. In fact, I don't like it. I like a bit of human touch. It's a pity that the Jurchens are not humane..." He paused, "Not to us."
Jun Wu clasped his hands, sat there, lowered his head. Shen Ruhua's body was trembling, and she had been crying for a long time: "Sister, brother-in-law... I want to go to the army..."
"Just pretend to be sent to the army, and then replace you after a while, and you'll still be alive."
"I, I won't..."
Jun Wu looked at him and interrupted him: "They think so, they will say so."
"I, I only took seven hundred taels, no more, they... they all..."
"Seven hundred taels is also a capital offense!" Jun Wu pointed in the direction of Zhenjiang, "Seven hundred taels can give a person a good life for a lifetime, seven hundred taels can kill tens of thousands of people, and seven hundred taels can give a salary to 70 soldiers. The annual salary... is, seven hundred taels is not much. If it was more than ten years ago, let alone seven hundred taels, your sister married the prince, and someone gave you 70,000 taels, and you could take it, but today, you have The seven hundred taels above are either worth your life or seven million taels... The evidence is conclusive. Someone is trying to get you. The reason why they are getting you is because they want to deal with me. Over the years, the Prince's Mansion has killed too many people. Someone is being imprisoned and is about to kill you. If I don’t kill you, others won’t be able to kill you either.”
"Shen Ruhua, fighting is not that simple. It's not even possible..." General Jun looked to the other side, "If I let you go today, my people will doubt me. I can let my brother-in-law go." , Yue Fei can also let go of his brother-in-law, and Han Shizhong has to let his children go to some extent. The people around me also have people who are close to me in this way. Those who oppose me in the army will tell these things, and I believe There will be more people. On the battlefield, there will be more people who want to escape, more wavers, more people who want to be greedy, and more slow in doing things. If you add up bit by bit, there will be a lot of people, so, I can't let you go."
There seemed to be tears falling in his eyes, but when he turned around, there were no traces: "I have a wife and five concubines, and I get along with your sister the most innocently. Your sister is not in good health. After this matter is over, I don't know how to see you again." She. Your sister once told me that you have been simple-minded since you were a child and are a good boy. She asked me to take more care of you. I feel sorry for her. Your family is a single generation. Fortunately, the girl you are in love with is already pregnant. When the child is born, I will take him over and raise him well as my own, so you can go with peace of mind."
When Jun Wu talked about the other party's sister at first, his words seemed hesitant, but then he gradually became more decisive. After he finished speaking, he no longer looked at Shen Ruhua, and stood up with his hands on his knees.
Although the things he has done over the years seem to be iron-blooded, in fact, Junwu is only twenty-seven years old at this year. He is not a dictatorial and iron-blooded character, but is more forced by the current situation. Having to take charge like this, Shen Ruxin asked him to help take care of her younger brother. In fact, Junwu was also a younger brother and had no idea how to teach his brother-in-law. Thinking about it now, I really felt sad.
As for Shen Ruhua, he is only eighteen years old this year. He originally had a good upbringing, and after becoming a relative of the emperor, he did not act in a public manner. After several contacts, Jun Wu had a good impression of him. However, when he was young and admired, Shen Ruhua Hua fell in love with a woman in Qin Mansion, and the money and goods at home were not too much. People around him opened a gap here, and after several exchanges, they encouraged Shen Ruhua to accept the money and goods worth seven hundred taels of silver, and prepared to give them to The woman redeemed herself. She was found out before the matter was completed. Although the matter did not spread among the lower class people for a while, it had already spread among the upper military and political circles.
No one expressed an opinion on this, and no one even wanted to spread unfavorable remarks to the prince among the people, but Jun Wu felt numb. This matter came at a critical time in preparing for war. In order to ensure the operation of the entire system, the Military Justice Department was working hard. Liao Jin is cleaning up the bad apples, the corrupt people in the rear transportation system, the profiteers who sell substandard goods, and the generals in the front military camps who deduct military pay and resell military supplies. At this time, a large number of them have been eliminated. Naturally, there are various big people and noble families among them. The descendants of the time.
If Shen Ruhua is let go, and others even help cover it up, then everyone will be more or less tied together in the future. There have been more than one similar incident over the years, but this incident alone made him feel most embarrassed.
Raising his hand, many things in this world would still seem to work as before. However, the eyes of the dead were looking at him, and he knew that when all the soldiers faced the enemy on the battlefield, something... It will be different.
He stood up and prepared to leave. Even if Shen Ruhua begged for mercy again, he ignored him. However, after taking a few steps, the young man behind him did not ask for mercy. What came from behind was crying, and then Shen Ruhua knelt on the ground and kowtowed. Jun Wu closed his eyes at the sound.
"The world has fallen..." he said with difficulty, "Speaking of which... it was originally my Zhou family's fault... The Zhou family was incompetent in running the country, and the world suffered... I was incompetent in running the army, so I blamed you... Of course, this In the world, there are people who corrupt hundreds of thousands taels without dying, there are people who take away 700 taels and kill them without mercy, and there are always people who have never seen 700 taels in their lives. It is hard to explain the truth. Today...I only promise you today …”
He paused for a long time: "I can only promise you that when the Jurchens come to kill me, and I go to the battlefield... I will shed the last drop of blood with the Jurchens. No matter what my identity is, I will never live in an ignoble way."
Jun Wu did not accentuate his tone and simply finished what he said. Shen Ruhua burst into tears, Jun Wu got on the carriage, and without looking out again, ordered the carriage to drive to the military camp.
This day is the seventh day of the sixth lunar month in the tenth year of Jian Shuo. The Jurchen East Route Army has completed its preparations in Xuzhou. In addition to the original main force of nearly 300,000 people, it has also mobilized nearly 350,000 puppet Qi and Han troops from all over the Central Plains. On the one hand, it is pursuing On the one hand, the troops marching westward to encircle and suppress Liu Chengzong began to gather in the direction of Yangzhou.
At this time, in Zhenjiang, Yangzhou and even the surrounding areas, Han Shizhong's main force had already made defense preparations for several years with the help of the water network in the south of the Yangtze River. Although Zongfu Zongbi had the confidence to search mountains and seas, he still had no idea after conquering Xuzhou. They advanced rashly, but tried to use the original navy of the puppet Qi army to assist the attack. Although the Han army in the Central Plains was uneven and slow in action, the official start of the war between Jin and Wu was already in sight, and it could take as little as three to five days. , in less than a month, the two sides will inevitably start a large-scale confrontation.
In these nights before the war started, Zhenjiang still had bright lights. Sometimes Jun Wu would stand by the dark river and look at the lonely city. Sometimes he could not sleep all night long.
There were many things during the day, mostly official matters, but of course there were also private matters like Shen Ruhua's. The day to execute Shen Ruhua was set on the tenth day of the sixth lunar month. On the night of the eighth day of the lunar month, Zhou Peicong, who was supposed to be in charge of Lin'an, Jingcheng rushed over.