Dongping Mansion, Yanggu County, Shandong.

Black pillars of smoke rose into the sky with the burning flames, crackling and burning, golden ears of rice, and the smell of burnt rice grains filled the air, and then, the sound of footsteps and shouts mingled. As far as the eye can see, the road is full of people running around, hurried footsteps, and all kinds of shouts.

“…… You have to go, the Jurchen cavalry has already come, go to the city. Several big cities in the north have been slaughtered, do you know that all the people in Dizhou have been killed, and there are no chickens and dogs left......"

The shouts of the officials in front of the crowd became intermittent. A woman with a basket on her back and a sickle rushed down to the rice paddies, crying and reaping desperately. The ragged old woman screamed and rushed to the soap on the side of the road: "You kill me, you kill me, I won't leave!" Let the Jurchens come and eat my old bones...... You have done iniquity......"

Someone stopped the old woman, and the old woman struggled, and finally fell to the ground, and her head hit a stone, and then her head was covered with blood. In the chaos of human voices, on the side of the road, a small clash broke out between the villagers and the soldiers, and the county commander ran and shouted: "Don't fight, don't fight." Suddenly, a flying stone hit his forehead, and blood flowed down his head.

This moment of conflict caused even greater chaos, and the autumn wind whistled by, and the fire helped the wind, pushing the fire on the field far away, like a long red and black blanket, along with the ears of rice and grass, spreading out into the distant woods......

Everyone in the chaos looked from afar, and they were all stunned by the huge flames.

From Yanggu County to the west. Most of Hexi Road and Hebei Road are stretched in a gloomy autumn rain. The rain was falling in the hazy sky, and on the road from north to south, pedestrians dressed in robes and carrying burdens, pack horses with luggage, and carts crowded south, the old man was not tolerant of the cold rain and fell to the ground, and the child in the woman's arms was wet with the rain and cried. The post stations and restaurants along the way are crowded with migrating pedestrians.

On the banks of the Yellow River in the autumn rain, all the ferries. All full. In the undulating waves, all the ships are constantly moving back and forth.

In the middle of August of the thirteenth year of Jinghan, a huge wall clearings began.

"Whew, it's good to be young......"

South of Dongping Province. A crowd comes and goes. Busy noisy compound. Ning Yi, who had only slept for more than an hour, came out of the room, and after washing his face, he let out the above feeling. In the distance were fiery clouds.

From time to time, galloping horses came running outside the courtyard. Handed over all kinds of news, from west to east, Hedong Dong, Hedong Dongxi, Jingdong Jingdong, Hebei and other five roads of nearly 20 states, nearly 100 county status quo, all summarized here, Zhuji's staff members in and out, to make a summary of this information, formulate countermeasures, but also wait for Ning Yi or Wen Ren's approval.

Qin Shaoqian strode in from outside the courtyard, Wu Ruijun's military camp was near here at this time, and in the past few days, there have been various actions, and Qin Shaoqian would occasionally come over to visit the door. Ning Yi laughed: "I just got up, I was supposed to say good morning, but look at it is almost dark." Er Shao came over, is there something good......"

"Zong Han's attack on Taiyuan started yesterday." Qin Shaoqian held a piece of information in his hand.

Ning Yi's expression was slightly stunned, and then he reached out to take the information, and the staff member who walked by next to him handed over a piece of paper and said in a low voice: "We also received it." ”

Ning Yi took two pieces of paper and looked there. In fact, this was already expected, and for Ning Yi's part, the meaning of sending the information was just to see. But the confirmation of the news means that the siege of Taiyuan has been decided, and Qin Shaohe, Li Pin, Cheng Zhouhai and others have all been trapped in it. Because of acquaintances, this news is more or less heavy.

"Things that are far away in the sky, the attack began yesterday, and it may have been broken by this time. I'm just bringing it to you to see, and it's not your business, so why bother. Seeing that Ning Yi frowned slightly, Qin Shaoqian's smile was open-minded, and he reached out to get the information back.

Ning Yi glanced at him: "Taiyuan is a strong city, it shouldn't be as fast as you said." ”

"My eldest brother looks more pedantic than Daddy on weekdays, but in fact, he reads more military books than me, and he understands defending the city, and he won't command blindly. There are people in the city who are your Zhuji, and Chengzhouhai, I know him best, he is a poisoner, and with your people, he is really unable to hold on, he can drive the whole city to the city wall. I also don't think it will be broken, if it is still broken, it is due to fate. Qin Shaoqian had a big beard on his face and smiled simply, "The most important thing is that distant water can't quench your thirst, and the matter of Taiyuan, you and me, it's useless to worry." ”

"It's good to think clearly." Ning Yi smiled, "What about you here." ”

"That's what I'm here to tell you." Qin Shaoqian said, "I'm ready to send troops." ”

Ning Yi looked at him, then at the sunset in the distance, and then sighed again.

The day is August 15.

*************

In mid-August, north of the Yellow River, there was already a great chaos.

Following the completion of Yan Zonghan and Yan Lou's lower Xinzhou and Daizhou, after a slight adjustment, the Jurchen Western Route Army drove tens of thousands of people and prisoners, and pushed the troops to Longcheng Taiyuan.

To the east, with Guo Yaoshi's victorious army as the vanguard, the nearly 100,000 troops on the west road led by Wanyan Zongwang did not attack the city after deterring Jinan, but inserted it in a straight line to the southwest under the leadership of Guo Yaoshi. The army quickly entered the central area between Jinan, Daming, and Dongping.

The Jurchen soldiers rolled in, destroying all the way. After the Eastern Route Army broke through Yanjing and the three towns of Hebei, it hardly stopped along the way, and the Wu Dynasty troops along the way were either quickly routed or left behind by the army before the defense line was formed. At this time, the situation has entered a delicate situation.

At present, around here, the Xiang army defending Jinan, Daimyo, and Dongping, as well as the army composed of the three legions of Wuwei, Wusheng, and Wurui, totaling more than 200,000, have been mobilized with the beginning of the war, and are surrounding the Jurchen Eastern Route Army in a manner, and the atmosphere is solemn. The big war is on the verge of breaking out again. It has only been three days since Ning Yi came to Dongping with the Wurui Battalion, and the situation of the fortified wall and Qingye has just been operational, and the big war is already approaching.

The rhythm of this great battle was not decided by the Wu Dynasty, but originated from the Jurchens, once the more than 200,000 troops hesitated a little, Wanyan Zongwang's Eastern Route Army would break through the Daimyo and Dongping areas and go straight into the hinterland of the Central Plains.

But the so-called imminent trigger, for insiders, is just self-deception of official words. Wanyan Zongwang's Eastern Route Army, with Guo Yaoshi as the vanguard, began with his forward troops deterring Jinan but not attacking. The entire situation within a radius of hundreds of miles has been completely controlled by the Jurchens. Speaking of which, more than 200,000 troops of the Wu Dynasty were hoarded in three directions. In fact, it is really difficult to say who dares to go out in the fight, most of the troops in the three directions are arguing, and after the slaughter of the city in Dizhou, no one has done a good job of laying the psychological foundation for a hard war. But the Jurchens were about to swagger through the encirclement.

A qiē came too fast. Even for Ning Yi. It's all true.

"50,000 people went to Shoushou Zhang County. Opposite you are Zong Wang and Guo Yaoshi's 100,000 people, no matter what, two less. I can't even buy you to win this time. ”

The sunset was red, Ning Yi pressed down what he was doing, and walked out of the courtyard with Qin Shaoqian with wine and meat, looking at the military camp in the distance on the nearby grassy slope and talking. Qin Shaoqian took a sip of wine: "At least more than 200,000." ”

"The famous Liang Zhongshu, I can't say what kind of virtue Zhang Youqing and those people in Jinan are, and I don't understand the war, but if you really believe it, I will send you four words."

"Oh? What does Liheng have to say? ”

"Wind Forest Volcano."

"The Art of War, ......"

"The retreat turned into its swift wind, and the detour outflanked its Xu Rulin. Plundering money and aggression are like fire, and friendly troops are in trouble and immobile like mountains......"

On the grassy slope, Qin Shaoqian was stunned for a while, then laughed, laughed for a while, and then said, "Then how can I fight?" ”

“…… Oh, yes. Ning Yi took a sip of wine and muttered in a low voice.

Qin Shaoqian said: "But no matter what, you have to go." Anyway, I also want to compete with famous generals such as Wanyan Zongwang and Guo Yaoshi. ”

The two brothers of the Qin family are literate and martial, and they used to be officials outside, but because Qin Siyuan attaches great importance to Ning Yi, when they come back occasionally, there are still contacts between the two sides, Qin Shao and Qin Shaoqian regard Ning Yi as one of their father's fellow practitioners and even one of the heirs of the mantle, in a sense, they can be regarded as friends or even family members, and the relationship is really good. But this time, the Jurchens came quickly, Ning Yi had just gone north, Qin Shaohe was trapped in Taiyuan, and Qin Shaoqian was already going to Shouzhang to face Yan Zongwang, no matter what, this feeling was a little complicated after all.

Although Qin Shaoqian's mouth is an understatement, he has the heroism of fighting against the world's famous generals, Ning Yi also knows that he has the ability, but the Wu Dynasty's constraints on the generals are already deep, and he can lead the army to fight as the commander of the Wurui battalion, but for the highest management of the army, it belongs to the civil officials above him, that is, the current Dongping Mansion Economic and Slightly pacified envoy.

Like Qin Shaohe, although he is a civilian official, he guards Taiyuan, but has the highest command over Taiyuan's army. And Qin Shaoqian, not only does he have a civilian official who can speak, but he has only been in command of the Wurui Battalion for a year, and the soldiers do not know the generals and the soldiers, and there is no way to penetrate into all aspects of this army for the management of the army. Even if because of Qin Siyuan's strong father, the civilian officials have a little less checks and balances on him, if he can lead the army of Wurui Battalion to block the Jurchen army of 100,000, it is something that no one can believe.

Qin Shaoqian himself, of course, doesn't necessarily have confidence, but when the matter comes, as a soldier, he doesn't think about it anymore. Ning Yi naturally understood, and after saying the previous few words, the two drank for a while before Qin Shaoqian asked: "What does Liheng think about the outcome of this battle, if we lose, how much will we lose to settle the matter?" ”

"Does Er Shao think it's just a loss of money?"

"The Blackwater Alliance is also losing money, and the Jurchen has 200,000 people, so they can't occupy our country."

"The Liao State of the Black Water Alliance is in the twilight, and it will be satisfied with the New Year's coin, the Jurchens have just been founded and are on the road to progress, so it's hard to say." Ning Yi hesitated for a moment, "And I've done too many things to die in the past few years." ”

Qin Shaoqian was silent for a long time, and looked at Ning Yi: "I am a martial artist, I only fight, Liheng, you are a literati, like my father, you understand the overall situation, do you really think that it has come to this point?" ”

The distant mountains are twilight, although the two have a good relationship in the past, and they have only seen each other for a few days this time, things are busy, and there is not a lot of time to chat, but at this time, the wine helps talk about sex, and when the autumn wind blows, they talk for a while.

"I'm not sure." Ning Yi handed the wine jug to Qin Shaoqian and said, "But there are some things that are a family, so you can talk nonsense." In the past few days, there has been all kinds of news here, not only where the Jin people have hit, but also not only the matter of the strong wall and the clear field. Since the Jurchens went south, the resistance in various places has not stopped. First of all, Zhou Dong Zhou Grandmaster led more than 70 people to assassinate Yan Zonghan, and then the three towns of Hebei, there is a small county town called Shuanghe, the county ordered Du Yongnian to cover the evacuation of more than 5,000 people, with more than 300 people to attract the attention of the Jurchens, they took advantage of the terrain, and more than 500 Jurchen cavalry fought hard for two hours, after the whole army was annihilated, Du Yongnian was captured, and when he finished Yan Zong's throne, the other party saw his bravery, and said a few words to him, Du Yongnian scolded Zongwang from beginning to end, and was finally shown to the public. ”

Ning Yi said while taking a sip of wine: "Then there is the ancient cottage of Hebei...... Originally, it was a bandit village, but you know, many people's families were still in the village below the mountain, and when the Jurchens passed, they slaughtered the village. There were more than 100 people in the cottage, under the leadership of Wang Cheng, the owner of the village, who ambushed the Jurchen army and rushed straight to the main formation. After Wang Cheng, Yang Xiao, the head of the Yang Wei Dart Bureau, assassinated Yan Zongwang alone after dismissing the dart board men and his family, he was one of Zhou Dong's disciples, and at the same time, there was a green forest tycoon He Wang with more than ten masters, who also assassinated Zongwang...... In the past few days, this kind of news has not stopped, and I asked my subordinates to make it into stories and tell them. After listening to it, what do you think? ”

"Okay, they're all heroes." Qin Shaoqian was slightly solemn, patted his thigh, and expressed respect, "There is still hope that my Wu Dynasty can have these people!" ”

"No, it's these people who appear, who represent the vast majority of people in this country, who are not doing what they have to do." Ning Yi was also three points drunk, and waved his fingers in the air, "The appearance of these heroes means that after the founding of the Wu Dynasty, the dividends accumulated in the positive direction have been completely squandered by the predecessors. (To be continued......)

PS: Okay, let's start with a simple rhythm. This chapter has overturned at least six beginnings in a row, and the past eight days have been revolving around it, from incubation to writing to successive overturning and rewriting, and now the core of the next plot has finally been determined. The seven-day double monthly pass on New Year's Day was completely empty, and the sixth editor arranged for me to be pushed in the middle of the seal, and in the end I had to ask the editor to remove it. It's not good to have an empty window at the beginning of the year, but at least, I'm worthy of the book itself, and worthy of my goddess of literature...... Alas, it's going to be a hell of a long time to write like this...... But it's okay, in the new year, continue to follow the standards that must be written!