In the eleventh year of Wu Jianshuo's reign, Lin'an has been under martial law since the first day of the Lunar New Year.
People inside could not get out, and people outside could not get in. For several days in a row, various rumors were flying in the city: some said that Wu Shu had killed countless people; some said that millions of people were killed outside Lin'an City.
The people wanted to enter the city, but were blocked outside the city gate; some said that the imperial army shot arrows and killed the people outside the city a few days ago; others talked about the tragic situation of Jingping's humiliation, but now everyone is blocked
In the city, I am afraid that the future will be very bad and bad... all of these are just a few.
People are talking and talking in the city's restaurants and tea shops, and in the courtyards of private houses. In this big city where nearly 1.5 million people live, even if martial law is occasionally enforced, it cannot last forever. People need to eat, and materials need to be transported. In the past, the bustling city
Commercial activities have temporarily come to a halt, but they still have to maintain minimum demand. The large and small temples and Taoist temples in Lin'an City are doing a booming business these days, just like the scenes before and after every war in the past.
Although the propaganda power of Li Pin and the Princess Mansion once trumpeted the dangers of "Celestial Master Guo Jing" back then, people's sense of powerlessness in the face of such a major disaster was difficult to resolve. For a time, rumors about "Celestial Master Guo" were spread in the market.
There are many rumors about the defeat, similar to Guo Jing. Although Guo Celestial Master has great supernatural powers, the Jurchens have risen rapidly, but they are also protected by demons and evil spirits. For example, the "God of the Valley" Wanyan Xiyin, if not gods and demons, how can he be called the "God of the Valley"?
There is a small book in the market that describes the story of the Celestial Master Guo Jing who was seduced by the charming female demon, who corrupted the great magical power of the Liujia Divine Soldiers, so that the city of Bianliang was completely defeated.
During the days when the city was under martial law, demand exceeded supply for a while, and paper in Luoyang was expensive.
There is nothing new in the world. Foolish men and women spend their accumulated money to seek blessings from the gods and talismans of peace, and then bring them to the family members they care about most, hoping that this great disaster can be passed through safely.
However, this kind of humility makes people sigh, but it also makes people feel pity.
On the sixth day of the first lunar month, Zhou Pei stood on the wall of the Imperial City, directing a huge hot air balloon to slowly rise over the city. She pursed her lips and frowned, raising her head and staring at the huge object rising into the sky without saying a word.
, worried about whether it would fall off.
When Ning Yi committed regicide, he used a hot air balloon to carry a few people over the palace city. The Wu Dynasty was quite taboo about such treacherous things that could cross the emperor's residence. Therefore, since the Wu Dynasty moved the capital, Jun Wu
After making the hot air balloon, this was the first time it rose in the sky of Lin'an.
In the southeast, northwest and northwest of Lin'an, a total of eight hot air balloons were swinging in the cold winter wind. There was an uproar in the city. People walked out of the gate and gathered everywhere, looking up at the miraculous new things, pointing and pointing.
There was a lot of discussion, and for a while, the crowd seemed to fill every open space in Lin'an.
Zhou Pei's eyes took in all this.
In order to promote this matter, Zhou Pei spent a lot of effort on it. The Jurchens were approaching, and the people in the city were panicked and morale was low. Among the officials, all kinds of thoughts were even more complicated and strange. Wushu, 50,000 people, rode southward.
If you want to carry out a strategy to attack the heart, theoretically speaking, if everyone in the court is united, there should be no problem in holding on to Lin'an. However, the situation in Wu Dynasty is complicated at the front, and Zhou Yongzuo's death is at the back. All kinds of complicated situations are piled up together. Is there anyone?
It will waver, and no one is sure whether anyone will switch sides.
To a certain extent, the Wu Dynasty at this time was like Liangshan after being tricked by Ning Yi. Before the test came, no one knew whether it would be able to withstand it.
Zhou Pei lobbied all the officials for several days. Everyone seemed hesitant about the idea of raising a hot air balloon to boost morale. Lu Yihao said: "I feel that this matter may have little effect and may cause unnecessary trouble."
, Of course, if His Highness finds it useful, I think it is not impossible to give it a try." Most of the rest had this attitude.
Under such circumstances, Zhou Pei ordered Yan Guan to make suggestions in the court, and forced Chen Xiangji, who took over the Ministry of Rites after Hou Shao died to remonstrate, to come forward to endorse. He only proposed that the hot air balloon be raised in the sky, and the charioteers on it were not allowed to look in the direction of the palace to avoid accidents.
After spying on the conditions of the palace, the matter was finalized in everyone's silence. However, when they were discussing in the court, Qin Hui came out to reconsider. He said that the enemy was in front of him and he should do something extraordinary, so he strongly supported Zhou Pei's proposal, which made people feel uncomfortable.
Zhou Pei had a better impression of him.
After removing the resistance on the court, there are still weather factors that prevent the hot-air balloon from rising. At this time, the weather in Lin'an City is still cold and the wind is strong in the air. The possibility of the hot-air balloon malfunctioning after it takes off also increases accordingly. At the beginning of the flight,
On the sixth day, Wushu's cavalry had bypassed the defense line and approached Lin'an. The technicians of the Gewün Yuan finally decided to take the risk of taking off at a moment when the wind was less strong. Eight hot air balloon operators who did not care about life and death raised the balloon at the last moment.
stand up.
It has been more than ten years since the first hot air balloon took off in Lin'an, but not many people have actually seen it. There was an uproar in the streets and alleys of Lin'an, and some old people knelt down and kowtowed, shouting "Heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals". Zhou Peikan
With all this, I prayed in my heart that nothing would go wrong.
This time, destiny finally stood on the side of the Wu Dynasty. The eight hot air balloons hung in the sky for a quarter of an hour before slowly falling down again, without any possible malfunction in the process. The propaganda power of the Princess Mansion and Li Pin had also been
Action began, and preachers went to the streets one after another to appease the people. Tomorrow, more newspapers would follow.
On the other hand, the first hot air balloon was launched in Lin'an, and the influence of Gewu will always be greater in the future. Zhou Pei's psychology in this regard is not as persistent as her brother's, but she can imagine what would happen if it were
This was accomplished before the war started. Jun Wu would be so happy when he heard about it.
After arranging all the following matters, and encouraging and rewarding the hot-air balloon technicians who launched today, Zhou Pei returned to the princess's residence and began to write a letter to Jun Wu.
At this time, Jiangning was being attacked by Zongfu's army. Zhenjiang had sent troops to rescue one after another. Junwu and Han Shizhong went there in person to boost the morale of Jiangning's army. In the letter, she told her brother to pay attention to his health, take care of himself, and not to worry about the capital.
I was too anxious at the time, and I, Cheng Zhouhai and others would take care of everything. I also mentioned today’s hot air balloon incident to him, and wrote about the foolish men and women in the city who thought the hot air balloon was a soldier from heaven. They couldn’t help but make a few jokes, but
In terms of the purpose of inspiring people's hearts, the effect is not small. Although the impact of this matter must be considered in the long term, I think Jun Wu, who is far away in a dangerous place, can also be relieved.
The letter was sent out that night, and in the early morning of the next day, Cheng Zhouhai came over and put bigger information in front of her. The Chinese Army passed a resolution on New Year's Eve, and had a peaceful Spring Festival on the first day of the new year.
On the second day of the second lunar month, a murderous declaration of war was issued: Now the Jurchens are engaged in an unjust war, the people of the Central Plains are in dire straits, and wars are raging in the south of the Yangtze River. All Chinese people in the world should unite and fight against the outside world. However,
However, there are people who are greedy for life and afraid of death, and are frightened by the Jurchen's lustful power and raise their swords towards their compatriots. For these people who have crossed the bottom line, the Chinese Army calls on all Han people in the world to attack them...
In this statement, the Chinese Army listed a number of "war criminals", most of whom were separatist generals who had served for the puppet Qi regime and were now leading the Jin Kingdom's southern expedition. Among them were several Wu Dynasty forces who had liaison with the Jin Kingdom.
...In view of these people, the Chinese Army has sent an elite team of tens of thousands out of Sichuan to behead them. While calling on all the martyrs from all over the world to participate in the grand event, it also called on all the people of the Wu Dynasty to be vigilant and guard against any attempt to do so during the war.
A shameless traitor who surrendered to the enemy.
Zhou Pei read this statement quietly under the early morning light. She looked at Cheng Zhouhai with no expression on her face: "...is it true...or is it fake?"
"There is indeed something unusual in the Chinese army. When the news was sent out, it was confirmed that several elite teams had gathered out of Sichuan from different directions. The teams ranged from dozens to one or two hundred people. They were the 'special operations' lineup specially cultivated by Ning Yi over the years.
Based on Zhou Tong's formation cooperation back then, it was specially designed for a green forest confrontation with a scale of a hundred or ten people..."
Zhou Pei blinked: "When he was in Bianliang, he was often assassinated..."
"Well, he was concerned about Green Forest affairs and offended many people. The teacher said that he was not doing his job properly... The people around him were initially trained for this matter and later formed the Black Flag Army. This type of training was called
They carried out special operations and beheaded enemy chiefs during the battle, which was very powerful. As early as two years ago near Xiangyang, a team of more than a hundred masters from the Jurchen side robbed General Yue's son and daughter, but happened to meet Ning who had returned from Jin.
Yi, almost all of these Jurchen masters were killed. The murderous man Lu Tuo, who was known as the Grand Master in the world, was killed by one of his palms when he met Ning Yi."
Zhou Pei listened quietly. Over the years, the princess and the prince had become well-known among the people. Naturally, Zhou Pei's subordinates also had a large number of masters and heroes who had learned martial arts and sold them to the emperor's family. Zhou Pei occasionally used thunderous methods to kill people.
Scholars often come from these people, but relatively speaking, the "professionals" on Ning Yi's side are more like legends in this industry. Just like the Chinese army, which defeats more with less, it can always create terrifying things.
In fact, Zhou Yong's fear of the Chinese army came from this.
After Cheng Zhouhai said what he said before, he paused briefly: "It seems that Ning Yi really spent a lot of money this time."
"How do you say it?" Zhou Pei said.
Cheng Zhouhai smiled slightly: "Such a bloody and hard-core statement that clearly wants to kill people is not in line with the situation of the Chinese Army at this time. No matter how hard we fight here, the Chinese Army will eventually settle in the southwest. Ning Yi issued this
Proclaiming a message and sending people to carry out assassinations will certainly make some wavering people dare not act rashly, but it will also make those who have already turned to the Jurchen side more determined. Moreover, the first thing these people worry about is no longer the Wu Dynasty, but the Wu Dynasty.
It’s... this Ning Rentu, whose words carry some weight in the world, is pulling the burden towards him..."
Zhou Pei smiled slightly. At this time, Ning Rentu had a bad reputation among the people. This was the result of the joint suppression by the Jin Kingdom and the Wu Dynasty for many years. However, in the eyes of the top leaders of various forces, Ning Yi's name was not.
Is it just "some" weight? He first killed Zhou Zhe; then directly overturned the Tian Hu regime in Jin, causing the heroic Tiger King to die in a dark prison; and then drove him crazy and was nominally the "King of a Country"
Liu Yu took him away from the palace in Bianliang. His whereabouts are still unknown, and the blame was conveniently placed on Wu Chao...
Doesn't this have some weight? In fact, if this Ning Rentu were really targeted and said "I will fight until death", how many people in the world would really be able to sleep peacefully.
The smile on Zhou Pei's face flashed away: "He is just afraid that we will not be able to hold on long enough and will implicate him who is hiding in the southwest."
Cheng Zhouhai nodded: "It's strange... well, it was also His Majesty's previous actions that left him with no choice. The manifesto said that tens of thousands of people would be sent, which must be a bluff, but even if there are thousands of people, it's still the same as today's China
The elite forces that the army has cultivated with great difficulty will definitely suffer losses since they are killed, which is also a good thing... In any case, the situation on His Royal Highness's side and our situation may be slightly alleviated by this."
Zhou Pei nodded, his eyes moving on the big map in front of the house, thinking: "He sent so many people to cause trouble for the Jurchens, and the Jurchens will definitely not sit idly by, and those who have already defected will definitely regard him as a
The thorn in the side... well, now, the whole world is about to start a fight, and no one will be left behind... Well, Mr. Cheng, I'm thinking that we should arrange a group of people..."
Cheng Zhouhai laughed: "That's what I thought..."
Zhou Pei walked to the front of the map: "In recent years, many people in Sichuan and Sichuan have had business dealings with the Chinese Army. I guess the Chinese Army must first use these forces to fight out if they dare to leave Sichuan.
Under the current situation, most people should turn a blind eye and not deliberately embarrass him, but there will be no shortage of fighting from all walks of life. We have to send our manpower to send orders to various government officials
Do not hinder the actions of the Huaxia Army. If necessary, you can cooperate with these people in the Huaxia Army and provide help. First, try to clean up those scum who have fornicated with the Jurchens, including those we have previously counted. If it is inconvenient to act, then
Just throw it on Demon Ning’s head.”
When she said this, she started laughing. Cheng Zhouhai nodded and said: "Ren Shangfei...Old Ren is very thoughtful. He can take charge of this matter and cooperate with the Chinese army..."
"Find them out and write them down." Zhou Pei took over the words with a smile. She looked at the big map, "In this way, even if one day in the future, the two sides will fight..."
Her words were lowered: "We have confidence in our hearts..."
"..." Cheng Zhouhai stood behind and looked at her for a while, with complicated eyes, and then smiled slightly, "I'll arrange the arrangements."
"Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Cheng..."
After Zhou Pei said this, he looked at the map and was silent for a long time. When he turned around, Cheng Zhouhai had already left the room. Zhou Pei sat on the chair and looked at the slogan and the words that followed.
This piece of information appears to be in good order, but the content is frighteningly iron-blooded and ferocious.
For a long time, Zhou Pei has often felt powerless in the face of the complicated world situation. She is proud by nature, but she is not strong at heart. In the face of the world situation where she is fighting with all her might and cannot tolerate any luck, especially in the fight.
Faced with the fierce and decisive Jurchen and Ning Liheng, whom she once called her teacher, Zhou Pei could only feel the distance and insignificance of herself. Even with the support of half the Wu Dynasty, she never
I feel that I have the qualifications to compete with these people on the world level.
In this regard, his younger brother, who rushes forward desperately, may have more powerful strength.
When the Huaxia Army did not hesitate to blame the puppet Qi Emperor Liu Yu on the Wu Dynasty, Zhou Pei felt the coldness of the world. At the level of the world game, has the teacher ever been emotional? As late as last year
, her father's cowardice and fear made Zhou Pei realize the cold reality. She sent Cheng Zhouhai to the southwest to use compromise to strengthen herself by any means. Now, Lin'an has to face Wushu, internal and external troubles.
The actions of the Huaxia Army at the previous moment made her feel warm to a greater or lesser degree.
Even if the devil in the southwest was based on cold reality, even if she knew in her heart that the two sides would eventually fight, at this moment, he finally "had to" lend a helping hand. It is conceivable that soon after hearing
My brother and the soldiers around him will also feel gratified and encouraged by this message.
On the other hand, in the deepest part of her heart, she wanted to laugh badly. Although this was a bad thing, from beginning to end, she never thought that her father's wrong actions would make Ning Yi, who was far away in the southwest,
She "had" to make such a decision, and she could almost imagine how the other party felt when he made the decision. Maybe he even cursed his father.
In any case, this must be regarded as a strange defeat for Ning Motou. What no one in the world can do, his father has done it in this way. Thinking about it, Zhou Pei feels happy
.
This happy mood lasted for a long time. The next day was the eighth day of the first lunar month. Wushu's cavalry arrived in Lin'an. They drove away some of the people who had no time to leave and launched a small-scale harassment of Lin'an. Zhou Pei sat in the princess's mansion and combined with various staff
While keeping an eye on the situation in Lin'an City and even in the court hall, the staff officers issued orders in an orderly manner to the outside of the city, ordering the rescue team of Xu Liejun, Shen Cheng and others not to be anxious, to stabilize their position, and to slowly complete the intimidation and encirclement of Wu Shu.
Even if someone in the house was worried and expressed it in front of Zhou Pei, Zhou Pei would just tell them calmly and confidently:
"I will definitely keep it."
In her heart, the rational side was still complicated and uneasy, but after so many years, after she experienced such a long period of depression and despair, this was the first time she saw some hope.
So many years have passed. Zhou Pei has never seen Ning Yi again since that midnight farewell in Bianliang City many years ago. She went back to get married and stayed in Jiangning, while he went to Liangshan and destroyed Liangshan.
He started working with Grandpa Qin, later killed the emperor, later defeated Xixia, fought against the Jurchens, and even fought against the entire world. He became more and more unfamiliar, standing opposite the Wu Dynasty, which frightened Zhou Pei.
But at the same time, in the bottom of her heart, there was always an image of the girl and the teacher when she said goodbye.
At that time, Ning Yi turned around and left. She looked at the back and always understood in her heart: No matter how difficult things were, as long as he appeared, there would always be a glimmer of warm hope.
That night, she dreamed about what happened that night.
In the early morning of the next day, various new messages came over. When Zhou Pei saw a message, he paused for a moment. The message was very simple. It was about yesterday afternoon, when his father summoned Lord Qin Hui and Qin to the palace to summon his wife.
.
After falling out with his ministers, Zhou Yong hid in the palace and was too lazy to deal with people. Yesterday, Wu Shu launched a painless attack on Lin'an. Zhou Yong summoned Qin Hui - of course there was a lot of information in this, so the following
The intelligence officers handed over this information, but in general, it is not a big deal, so you have an idea.
Zhou Pei left an impression in his mind, and then put it aside...