In April of the first year of Jin Tianjuan, Yunzhong Mansion.

Summer has arrived in the south, and the snow and ice in the north are just beginning to melt. In the vicinity of this city of Jurchen Xijing, the number of people who began to walk in the wilderness began to increase.

Near the city gate to the east, the wide streets were close to martial law, and the slaughtering guards relied on the arch to guard the convoy from outside, and in the snow that had not disappeared far and near, the pedestrians and traders looked at the hunting flags and exchanged ears.

"Another prince......"

"It's been a month and a half, and the first few ......"

"This is amazing, King Lu is lazy......"

"It's really going to be a fight now......"

"What's the panic, Tu Shanwei is not a vegetarian, so let these people come to ......"

At this time, when it comes to the entry of these princes' cars into the city, there is no joy on their faces, some people are worried, but there are also people with anger in their eyes, waiting for Tu Shanwei to give these people a good look in the next time.

This round of wrestling between the eastern and western governments of the Jin Kingdom has already begun in mid-March.

Zong Han Xi Yin set off from Shangjing during the Spring Festival and returned to the clouds in late February. And Zong Bi's departure day was not too late, he arrived in Yunzhong on the tenth day of the first month of March, and with him, in addition to the two princes of the Jin Kingdom, there were also a large number of substitute officials with noble status and official documents, and before the competition, they began to try to take over some important positions near Yunzhong, so the two sides launched the first round of conflict.

In the past, Zong Han was centered in Yunzhong and was in charge of thousands of miles to the west of the Jin Kingdom, including the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. This essence of the "Western Imperial Court" is naturally impossible to establish in name, and the appointment of countless officials in the west is still an order from Shangjing, although in the past Zong Han held real power, that is also a fact caused by Wu Qimai's cooperation.

In the matter of the new emperor's ascension, Zong Han Xiyin used too much scheming, and at this time, he was hated by Zong Gan and Zong Pan, so a round of suppression of him was inevitable. Although Zong Bi said that he would see the truth in the competition, but in fact, he started to snatch it one step in advance, as long as it was a slightly weaker official, after the official position and power were handed over, even if Tu Shanwei won the competition, I am afraid it would be difficult to get it back in the future.

In response to such a state of affairs, the atmosphere in the clouds has been tragic since March. Many of these things in the middle came from the operations of Xi Yin, Gao Qingyi, Han Qixian and others, on the one hand, everyone exaggerated the tragedy of the Southwest War, and on the other hand, publicized the painstaking solitude of Zong Han Xiyin and even the former emperor Wu Qimai and others in this power alternation.

In order to cope with the future troubles in the south, the Great Marshal and the Ceres have decided to give up a lot of power and concentrate only on running the Western Mansion and stockpiling force for war, and the threat of the Black Flag has also been recognized by the various rulers in the upper echelons of the Jin Kingdom. At this time, Zong Bi and the others still wanted to provoke a struggle, so let them see the sharpness of Tu Shanwei!

The expeditionary force that returned from the southwest suffered many losses, and the atmosphere was already sad after returning to Yunzhong, many people's fathers, brothers, and husbands died in this battle, and some survived, and experienced nine deaths and lives. And after such a situation, the east side will be aggressive and killing, which is actually contempt for these sacrificed heroes - too much deception!

Although the bravery of the army in the Jin Kingdom declined every year, before the Southwest War, the Western Imperial Court army led by Zong Han was still the most capable army in the entire Jin Kingdom. Although they have experienced a defeat now, whether it is the survivors or the families of the victims, the breath in their hearts is still there, although they were defeated in the southwest, it does not mean that the Eastern Route Army can step on the heads of the people here.

In this way, starting in mid-March, with the arrival of Zong Bi first, several princes from some of the other major clans also led teams one after another, one of them was to supervise and witness the fairness of the competition in the future, and the other naturally pointed to the territory of the original Xifu to obtain some benefits. In the city of clouds, Zong Han and Xi Yin held a large-scale memorial activity, on the one hand, relying on the profound heritage to pay full compensation, on the other hand, inciting the momentum of the people in the territory, so that everyone held a breath in their hearts, waiting for Tu Shanwei's murderous performance in the competition in April and May.

On the eighth day of the first month of April, veterans such as Tart Lazy (Wan Yanchang), who can be called the pillar of the country, arrived in the clouds, which raised the serious confrontation atmosphere in the city again.

The convoy crossed the streets of the city, which had been cleared of snow, and headed for the palace of Zonghan, and the pedestrians along the way knew the identity of the visitor. Of course, there will be happy among these people, they are either officials who have followed Zong Bi, or people from Dongfu who have already been arranged here, and there are also many businessmen or nobles who are quite related, as long as the situation can change, there will always be opportunities to rise to the top or make profits, and they are also passing the news in private, waiting with great anticipation for the arrival of this conflict, although serious, but not hurting the country.

At the same moment, in a prison at the southern end of the city, Mandu Daru was in the torture room watching his men toss the hoarse and bloody prisoners in various ways. After one prisoner had been tortured to the core, another was brought in. He has become the inspector of the Yunzhong Mansion, and he does not end up, but just frowns, quietly watching and listening to the prisoner's confession.

Halfway through the torture, his patrol came to report that a Black Flag spy who had been held in prison could no longer hold on. Mandu Daru got up and went to the cell, glanced at a corpse, turned it over and examined it slightly.

The original torture has already gone too far, and the information has been squeezed dry, and it is inevitable that it will not be able to hold on. Mandu Daru's inspection, just didn't want the other party to find a channel to use the dead golden cicada to get out of the shell, after the inspection, he ordered the jailer to dispose of the body at will and leave the cell.

The prison is gloomy and solemn, and you can't see any flowers and plants when you walk through it. After leading a group of followers out, you can only see pedestrians on the nearby streets. Mandu Daru and his companions went to sit down in front of a stall selling cooking food on the corner of the street, and called for food, and he looked at the scene of the nearby street market, and his eyebrows stretched slightly.

Although he is a Jurchen, Mandu Daru's background is not good, his father once served as a deserter on the battlefield, because of such a stain, although he fought bravely later, but there were not many opportunities for promotion, retired to the clouds as a patrolman, and later rose to the chief catcher, which is the ceiling of ordinary officials, and he also knew that it was difficult to really cross the invisible hurdle and become an official.

However, Xi Yin has a good eye for people, and at the end of February, he was promoted to the capital inspector of Yunzhong Mansion, maybe he may be promoted to one or two levels in the future, and in March and April, it is the most proud period of his life. The old comrades-in-arms who had a good relationship with him in the past, he made a promotion, and suddenly more people in the family cared about him, which was really intoxicating.

Of course, in officialdom, it is impossible for everything to be smooth sailing. For example, there was originally a Bohai man Gao Fuhu among the four chief arresters of Yunzhong Mansion, he was a person planted by the Eastern Mansion, and he was originally not on good terms with Mandu Daru, but this time Mandu Daru was promoted, but the other party also put on a posture not to give face, and even secretly proclaimed: "After May, I don't know who is ...... to inspect the capital" This kind of small friction is also an inevitable thing in Vanity Fair.

In terms of level, Mandu Daru is the most critical layer higher than the other party, but in Yunzhong Mansion, the degree of freedom of total arrest is already high, and Mandu Daru does not want to directly engage in a power struggle after taking the position, so he concentrates on searching for the Chinese army spies who may commit crimes next in accordance with Xi Yin's orders. Of course, the situation is not cheerful at the moment.

In late February, Zong Han Xiyin returned to Yunzhong, and under the auspices of Xiyin, the Dashuaifu issued an order to treat Hannu well. But in fact, when the winter is coming to an end, it is also the time when the supplies are getting more and more bottomed out, although the Marshal's Mansion has issued "good governance", but the poor Han people hovering on the edge of life and death will not be reduced much. Mandu Daru took advantage of this wave of orders and exchanged the relief rice and grain for a lot of information that was difficult to obtain on a daily basis.

Throughout the month of March, he cast a net among the Han slaves, collated all kinds of news, and then arrested dozens of suspected Black Flag spies. However, after being tortured and filtered, only two people can be roughly identified in the end, and the status of these two people is not high, from their mouths, Mandu Daru did not know too much key information, but the other party said that the black flag has entered dormancy since the second half of last year, which made him a little depressed.

As a newcomer to the capital inspection position, he naturally hopes to catch some of the big leaders in the Black Flag spy as soon as possible, so that he can really be powerful among the rest of the headhunters. The dormant message is difficult to determine, and it is impossible for him to report this to Ceres, but if it is true, it means that his chances of catching an important person in the Black Flag Army during this tournament will become very small, and even Ceres's side will be disappointed in his ability.

Of course, he wasn't completely helpless.

It is one way to find out the news from the Hannu and cast a wide net to arrest suspicious characters; For the next contest that may start, it is a way to find a few key characters in Tushanwei to make bait and wait for the enemy to take the bait. In addition to these two methods, there is also a third way in Mandu Daru, which is slowly being rolled out.

As for the "clown" who has been identified in the black flag, his whereabouts have become more and more mysterious in the past two years, and it is difficult to capture, but before a few years ago, he carried out a lot of activities in Yunzhong Mansion, during which he had dealings or colluded with many underworld figures. At that time, there was not enough tracking in this area, and many people have died one after another in the past few years, but if you go back in time, you can always find a few survivors who have seen this character to a greater or lesser extent.

Mandu Daru is now the capital inspection, this time it was ordered by the god of grains to track down the black flag, in March and April, some of the underworld forces that he was unwilling to touch in the past have now come to the door to ask again, and many people died at his hands. Up to now, there are pictures of this "clown", and they are almost outlined. There is a relatively reliable understanding of his height, general appearance, and behavior.

"Is there anything going on in the city today?"

"I heard that King Lu has entered the city."

"The ones in the east really don't want to give us a way to live."

"Look at Tu Shanwei."

The crowd was eating and talking on the side of the road.

It was afternoon, the sun was shining brightly from the sky, the snowdrifts on the side of the road were mostly melting, the road was either muddy or wet, and in the small square around the corner, pedestrians came and went, and from time to time you could hear the clanging sound of the blacksmith and the shouting of this and that. When Mandu Daru and others on the side of the road talked about Tu Shanwei, they also had a hideous look on their faces and they were eager to go into battle to kill the enemy.

After Yan Chang's car drove into Zong Han's mansion, he came out again after a while, and Zong Bi and the others were already laughing beside him. In today's Yunzhong Mansion, there are more than ten people who are the identity of the prince alone, and this night, they will gather again at the banquet for Wan Yan Chang, Zong Han, Xi Yin, Gao Qingyi, Han Qixian and Zong Bi, Wan Yan Chang and others will unfold such and such verbal swords, waiting for the next moment to see the real chapter.

Wanyan Dezhong, Wanyan Youyi and others are also active in such an atmosphere, they either visit and visit the soldiers of Tushanwei, or participate in such and such banquets, cheering everyone up, and in some cases, young nobles will also fight because of the battle of will. Sometimes, when they walk in the market, they will also find that the trees in the city have new leaves, and in addition to the black, black, white and white colors in the city, there is also a breath of spring buds blooming and ready to bloom.

For the people of Yunzhong Mansion, the most desperate moment was when they learned of the defeat in the southwest, and the nobles in the city were even mentally prepared for the worst to lose power. Who knew that the decisive northward journey of the marshal and the god of Ceres, even if they were already in a weak position, still leveled Zonggan Zongpan and others in the chaotic Shangjing City, and helped the young new emperor to ascend to the throne, while the arrogant and arrogant Zongbi thought that Xifu had lost his sharpness and wanted to start a competition with Tu Shanwei.

What could be more wonderful than the blossoms of the willows and flowers after the mountains and rivers have been exhausted?

Looking back from back to the past, in those days of early April, everyone in Yunzhong Mansion was drumming up such energy in their hearts, although the challenge had come, they all believed that the most difficult time had passed, and with the strategy of Dashuai and Ceres, there would not be much problem in the future. And within the entire Jin country, although it is realized that small-scale friction will inevitably occur, many people have also breathed a sigh of relief, and all parties have put aside the idea of struggle, and it is great that both veterans and stalwarts can start to do things for the country, and Jin Guo can avoid the worst situation.

Outside the city in the clouds, a large number of soldiers have gathered, and they practice every day, waiting for the arrival of the "competition". Not far from them was the village where the Hannu lived, which still looked lifeless, and the slaves who had frozen and starved to death in the winter had not yet been transported out, but the survivors seemed to be a little better off than in the winter?

Passing through the wilderness, the ice on the river bay will make a thunderous roar from time to time. It was the sound of the ice cracking.

It seems to be a city full of vitality and waiting to be destroyed......

Tang Minjie stood on the street, watching all this......

Mandu Daru is looking for clues in the city, forming a huge net to try to catch him......

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

The ninth day of the fourth month is an ordinary sunny day, and many years later, Mandu Daru will think of it.

On the morning of that day, he followed the clues of others and caught a bandit who had been on the run for many years, and inquired from him about one or two incidents related to the "clown", which further enriched his assessment of this high-level of the Chinese army.

The torture of the bandit continued into the afternoon, and shortly after leaving the yamen, the chief of the north gate, who had always been suspicious of him, hurried out of the yamen with his men. Something happened in the area under his jurisdiction: Wanyan Linqi, the son of a Hou Ye who followed Zong Bi to Yunzhong from the east, was strangely kidnapped by bandits while wandering through an antique shop.

These noble sons and daughters who came to the west, although the purpose was also to fight for power, but they were tied up in the realm of the clouds, and the matter was not small. Of course, Mandu Daru was not in a hurry, after all, it was the jurisdiction of the High Servant Tiger, and he even hoped that the matter would be resolved as slowly as possible, and in private, Mandu Daru arranged for some of his subordinates to secretly investigate the crime. If Gao Fuhu is powerless, he surrenders to the top, and then solves the case on his side, the slap in the face of Gao Fuhu will be solid.

On this day, the sun was setting in the west, and then the lights were lit up in the streets, and there were cars and horses walking through the streets, and all kinds of small and small sounds gathered in the world, and nothing more happened until late at night.

Years later, he would think again and again of the day he had spent carelessly. On this day, it was sung as an elegy for Xifu.

Before the net was formed, a member of the Huaxia Army named Tang Minjie fell into a painful chess piece......