March 11, early morning, Fuzhou.

The courtyard that was used as a temporary palace was lit up, and Zhou Junwu woke up from his desk and found that he had just fallen asleep.

A tall pile of ledgers was stacked on the table, and the paper that had been pressed under his head made a noise as he got up. The maid who stayed up late with her outside was also awakened and hurried over.

"Your Majesty."

"What time is it? Why didn't you wake me up? ”

"It's almost three quarters of the hour." The maid knelt on the ground, "Your Majesty...... I haven't had a good rest lately......"

"When did I go to sleep?"

"About ...... After the sub-hour. Your Majesty is so tired. ”

"It's fine." Jun Wu stretched out his hand and rubbed his forehead and cheeks, "It's okay, bring a basin of water." Also, pour me a cup of ginseng tea, I'll have to read it again. ”

The maid went down, Jun Wu was still rubbing his forehead, he had been staying up late a few days ago, he had slept very little in the past few days, and finally couldn't stay up last night, at this time, he slept for about two hours, but for young people, he still had energy.

At this time, what was on the table was the record of the entry and exit of various materials after taking over Fuzhou, as well as the income and expenditure of various military funds in the army and the court. Originally, these things did not need the emperor to personally inquire - for example, when he was engaged in the research and development of Gewu in Jiangning, all kinds of revenues and expenditures were managed by Wen Renfu, Lu Agui and others, but with the army stationed in Fuzhou now, Junwu, who was already able to breathe a sigh of relief, did not stop, but began to understand the entry and exit of various materials under his command and the use of them.

He is now a member of the family, and it is conceivable that he will be surrounded by a large mansion in the near future, and it will be difficult to know the specific problems of the people, so he must quickly understand the details of various affairs. It is easiest to pass through the account book, how much money a soldier needs per month, how much he needs to eat and wear, what is the price of knives and guns, how much is the sacrifice of soldiers, how much is the pension...... and even what the price of goods in the market is. After reading through the account books in this area, he was able to have a clear framework in his mind about these things.

If you really want to eat through a set of account books, it is actually very troublesome. Jun Wu asked Cheng Zhouhai to find a reliable accounting teacher for him, not only to teach him to keep accounts on the surface, but also to teach him various accounting methods and tricks inside. During this time, Junwu dealt with government affairs during the day, met with people from all walks of life, studied and studied the account book at night, recorded his understanding and opinions, and then found time to discuss and compare with the account teacher after summing it up.

In March, the situation in Fuzhou seemed to be initially stable, but in fact it was only a corner of partial peace. After Jun Wu became emperor, he fled all the way, and only in February did he go to Fuzhou to meet his sister Zhou Pei, and after having a preliminary base, Jun Wu must try to restore the Wu Dynasty in the name of orthodoxy. At this time, the Jurchen Eastern Route Army had already drawn its camp to the north, and only more than 10,000 troops were left in Lin'an to support the small court, but even so, it was not easy to get everyone to stand back to the orthodox position of the Wu Dynasty without hesitation.

In the past year, the destruction of the Jurchens touched all aspects of the entire Wu Dynasty. With the cooperation and promotion of the small imperial court, the system between the civil and military has been chaotic, and from Lin'an to all parts of the Wu Dynasty, it has gradually begun to form a situation of separation by various big clans and squires to support, push military generals, and pull the army.

This is the inevitable means for the gentry everywhere to protect themselves after the Jurchen defeated the Lin'an court like a withering and decaying victory. After the death of Zhou Yong, Jun Wu fled all the way in a dangerous situation, and the inheritance of political power did not actually clearly pass over to him, after the decoupling of power in this half a year, the big clans around the country have basically begun to grasp the power at hand, although there are many people who claim to be loyal to the Wu Dynasty, but in essence, the control that Jun Wu can exert over the Wu Dynasty is less than half of what it was a year ago.

These clans, gentry, and generals who claim to be loyal to the Wu Dynasty are divided into various places, and their loyalty still needs to be distinguished, and many people still have their own demands, and there is even the possibility of collapse in the future. At present, Junwu's power has not even recovered from Fujian, and it is not very realistic to ask for the help or refuge of these people.

Consolidating itself, setting rules, and gaining a firm foothold have become the first steps of the Junwu regime that need to be solved. Now the most stable thing in his hands is the army of nearly 100,000 led by Yue Fei and Han Shizhong, these armies have been freed from the interference and clamping of the big clans in the past, but if you want to move forward, how to give benefits to those big clans and gentry, and make wishes for officials, is also a charter that must be had, including how to maintain the combat power of the army, and it is also a balance that must be had.

These new rules need to be established step by step, and in order to establish them, Jun Wu, the newly ascended emperor, must also clearly understand everyone under his command, what kind of people they are, and what kind of demands they have.

This is the obvious reason why Jun Wu has been rotating day and night for half a month, and he has stated his thoughts to Zhou Pei, to his courtiers and others like this. But only a few people around him understand that in addition to this next year's thoughts, Junwu's overloaded work these days has a more profound and dark reason.

As the weight of the king, it has really fallen on Jun Wu's back.

And the process of pressing it down is definitely not easy at all.

Last year, Jun Wu was outside the city of Jiangning, and after a wave of inverted bead curtain victories with the momentum of breaking the cauldron and sinking the boat, he became emperor, but then, the new emperor who could not trap Jiangning could only lead a large army to break through. Some of the people of Jiangning managed to flee under the protection of the army, but a large number of people also died in the massacre that followed. This is the first round of pressure in Jun Wu's heart.

After Jiangning was killed in the white ground, the army was chased by Zong Fu and Zong Bi all the way, and in January, they arrived near Haiyan County, south of Jiaxing. At that time, Zhou Pei had already captured Fuzhou, and her fleet came north to help, asking Junwu to transfer first, but Junwu, who had a shadow in his heart, refused to do so - at that time, the army built a defense line around Haiyan, and a large number of people were still protected within the defense line.

He wanted to escort the people first. But such a choice is naturally naïve, not to mention that the ministers will refuse, even Yue Fei, Han Shizhong and others have spoken one after another, asking Jun Wu to go first, the biggest reason for this is that the Jin State has almost defeated the Wu Dynasty, and now the reason for chasing his gang is that the new emperor, once Jun Wu enters the sea, chasing the untraceable Zong Fu and Zong Bi is actually not in the mood to stay in Jiangnan for a long time.

But although such a reason is reasonable, how different is the whole act from Zhou Yong's original choice? In the eyes of others, will it be the same thing? Jun Wu was tormented in his heart, hesitated for a day, and finally got on the boat under the persuasion of others, he led the dragon boat fleet straight to kill back to the Qiantang River, and went straight to Lin'an. The situation in Lin'an City suddenly became tense, and the people in the small court were uneasy, and Zong Fu led the army back, but on the side of Haiyan County, Zong Bi, who was angry with Han Shizhong, refused to give up, and attacked for several days, and finally caused a large number of people to disperse and die.

After this war, the Jurchens returned to the north, and the pressure on Haiyan County has been greatly reduced, but the matter of Junwu abandoning the people and fleeing to the sea was still widely publicized by the people of Jin and Lin'an, and there were even many people in Jiaxing and other places who went up the mountain and fell into the grass after escaping the massacre, in order to protect themselves.

The power of several rebel armies and exiles also rose and expanded at this time, among them, the people who were scattered when they were slaughtered by Zongbi in the north of Haiyan County gathered into a rebel army under the name of the black flag, and successively gathered tens of thousands of people, but they no longer submitted to the Wu Dynasty. The duty of these scattered and slaughtered people to Junwu is also a scar and a round of pressure in the heart of the new emperor.

Unlike his father Zhou Yong, once an emperor wants to be responsible, such pressure will appear tenfold and hundredfold.

He squeezed his life in his busy work, but the people around him did not explain and persuade him excessively about this matter. In a sense, young people in their twenties want to carry a country, such an overdraft is not necessarily a bad thing, and the darkness and torment in their hearts are also the fastest way for a person to grow up.

It was only when the situation in Defu calmed down a little, Zhou Pei counted the supplies in the city, took out part of the stored grain and loaded two boats, and asked Wen Renfu to escort them to the north and hand them over to the displaced people in Haiyan County who were still struggling with famine. Previously, for these displaced people and the rebels, Cheng Zhouhai had gone to lobby, Chen said that the benefits and harms, some teams put down their views on Junwu, but the rebels under the name of the black flag were not willing to accept the orders of the Wu Dynasty again, and this time, Zhou Pei asked Wenren to carry the materials over, even if he did not respect the order, he also let him provide some food for free. After Jun Wu heard about this, although he didn't say anything on the surface, the anxiety in his heart was slightly reduced.

Of course, there are other relaxing messages coming in the past few days: for example, the results of the battle of Changsha have now reached Fuzhou. After hearing this, Jun Wu was extremely pleased.

On this day, he looked through the account books until early in the morning, and only after going to the courtyard for a round of boxing did he wash and eat. After breakfast, I heard that someone had returned, and I hurriedly summoned him in.

This time the delivery of supplies in the past, although it was to save people, but the reason for letting Wen Ren accompany him was more to negotiate with the leader of the righteous army named He Wen, Chen said that Junwu had to leave in January. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that Jun Wu still had a lot of things to deal with and coordinate, he might be more willing to go over lightly, meet this "former Huaxia Army member" who saved a large number of people in the massacre, and talk to him about things about the southwest.

By Jun Wu and Zhou Pei's side, the strongest ability to do things now is probably the resolute and vicious Cheng Zhouhai, he had not persuaded He Wen before, but this time he heard that people had passed, and more of them released kindness. When Wen Ren came in and played a little right, Jun Wu knew that He Wen was resolute and hated the Wu Dynasty, and he had never changed it, and he was not angry, and was about to inquire in detail, and someone hurriedly reported that Her Royal Highness the eldest princess had something urgent.

After only a moment, Zhou Pei appeared at the door, she was dressed in a plain long dress, her grace was light, she held a letter in her hand, and her pace was fast. I have summoned General Yue to enter the palace immediately, and Mr. Wenren happens to be here, so I can see it earlier. ”

"Oh? Is there a follow-up to the Battle of Tanzhou? A few days ago, he received the news of the initial decision of the Changsha War, which was the happiest moment for Junwu in recent times, he took the letter, guessed a sentence, and then pulled the letter out of the envelope, there was a lot of news in the envelope, and there were several articles sprinkled with joy. Jun Wu didn't hold it steady for a while, the paper fell to the ground, and when he picked it up, he saw that the top one was written "On the Death of Qin II": "What is it?" ”

Zhou Pei glanced at it and seemed to be smiling: "Mei Gongyu's newly written Xiongwen in Lin'an, I heard that in Lin'an in recent days, it has spread very well, Your Majesty might as well take a look." ”

"Oh?" Jun Wu calmed down, read it word by word, and after only looking at it for a moment, he frowned, "There are still deficiencies in the tooth wisdom of "On the Passage of Qin"...... However, why did Wu Qimei write such a thing? Full-fed ...... Do you mock me for being reckless? ”

"Naturally, there is a reason, he wrote this thing for the Jiangnan clan. If you are impatient, turn it back. ”

Jun Wu turned the page.

He looked at it for a moment, pulled out the page that had been placed on the top, took a step back and sat down in his chair, looking solemnly and back and forth twice. The courtyard outside the room was shining in the early morning sun and the sound of birdsong was heard in the air. Jun Wu looked at Zhou Pei and looked at the message again: "Yes......"

His voice was a little hoarse, and he paused before saying, "Is it true?" ”

At this moment, Zhou Pei was also silent for a moment: "The news first came to Lin'an, and we were short of manpower, and we couldn't be sure, just like Wu Qimei, we waited for a few days, and when Lin'an released these articles, we could confirm the truth of this matter." So I sent the message along with the article...... As soon as I saw it, I came over right away. ”

In the letter sent, it contained the situation of the southwest war report, Jun Wu nodded, and stood up involuntarily: "February 28...... I don't know what the situation is like in the southwest now......"

He paused, flipped through some information in the back at random, and then handed it to the curious Wen Renji. The man walked back and forth in the hall and said, "This is called war!" That's what wars are called! The teacher actually cut the oblique protection! He cut down the diagonal guard in front of Zong Han! Haha, if you can fight side by side with the teacher......"

"Your Majesty." Zhou Pei smiled a little weakly, "You are the emperor of the Wu Dynasty, Your Majesty." ”

"What emperor is not an emperor, what is the use of a name! What is the right way to do? Jun Wu waved his hand in the room, at this moment he was dressed in a dragon robe, his face was thin, and he had a beard under his chin, at first glance he was already a very dignified superior, but at this moment he rarely showed his childishness that he hadn't seen for a long time, he pointed to the second-hand information that Wen Ren was not handy, pointed twice, his eyes were red, and he couldn't speak.

“…… He...... Defeated...... Jurchens. Sister, have you thought about it...... It's been more than 10 years...... For more than 30 years, all I heard was defeat, the Jurchens came over, and the emperor of the Wu Dynasty was scared to run around...... The southwest resisted, he actually resisted Yan Zonghan and killed his son...... I don't dare to think about it, even if I heard the news of Tanzhou a few days ago and killed Yinshuke, I don't dare to think about the southwest. Sister Huang...... He, tens of thousands of people against hundreds of thousands, carried it head-on...... Well, this news isn't fake, is it? ”

Jun Wu's eyes were red, he spoke with difficulty, sometimes laughing nervously, and in the end, he felt a little illusory. Zhou Pei didn't quarrel with him this time: "...... I'm not sure either. ”

Wen Ren Fuji looked at the information, and was silent for a long time, without speaking. They had previously killed Jiangning, traveled all the way, and fell into danger several times under the pursuit of the Jurchens. Although the man is as dead as iron, in fact, the shadow of the Jurchen is indeed like a boundless sky, like a long night that cannot see the dawn at all, the entire Wu Dynasty falls apart in such a nightmare, and this kind of suffering seems to last for a long time, but at this moment, some people say that thousands of miles away, Ning Yi has blatantly overturned Zong Han's military formation.

Everything seems a little unrealistic.

The three people in the room were silent for a long time, and then Jun Wu opened his mouth, and he said with some wistfulness: "...... The southwest will be in flames of war. ”

In the words, the heart yearns for it.

At this time, someone from outside also came to report that General Yue had arrived.

……

In the morning, the sun was shining clearly and warmly outside the courtyard, and after Yue Fei arrived, in response to the information that came, everyone moved the map and carried out rounds of deduction and review of the battle thousands of miles away. During this period, Cheng Zhouhai, Han Shizhong and a group of ministers also arrived one after another, and everyone also showed complicated expressions about the news that came.

People chattered and talked. In fact, the people who had old friends with Ning Yi seemed a little silent, and Jun Wu only lost his temper a little in front of a few people who knew him well, and when the ministers came in, he stopped saying those inappropriate words. Zhou Pei walked to the side, looking at the water pavilion and scenery outside the window on one side, she also remembered Ning Yi.

In fact, the figure she had been thinking about for a long time had become very vague in her impression. At the beginning, Ning Yi was just a relatively elegant scholar, since the parting of the capital, the two have never seen each other again, and what he has done since then, whether it is slaughtering Liangshan or fighting against the green forest, has always seemed a little illusory.

When it came to the rebellion, Ning Yi became more of a dark outline, which sometimes did extreme things, but he had to admit that he was the embodiment of real power. This is the strength that her position cannot define, even today, more than ten years after taking over the Chengguo Princess Mansion and seeing all kinds of things, thinking of the man who used to be her teacher, she can't fully define the strength of the other party.

It is not the first time that the defeat of the Jin Army, which seems like a dream in the eyes of the people of the Wu Dynasty, has appeared on the other side. When he was in Bianliang more than ten years ago, he gathered a group of rabble, defeated Guo Yaoshi, who could break his wrists with the Jurchens, in Xia Village, and finally cooperated with Grandpa Qin to relieve the siege of Bianliang. After that, in Xiaocanghe, he successively killed Lou Room and resigned, causing the Dejin Kingdom to suffer a huge setback in the northwest.

All this can only be regarded as a partial war with the Jin State, but in the Battle of the Southwest, the Huaxia Army really faced half of the Jin State. Everyone was surprised by the victory in Tanzhou, but it was not incomprehensible, this was at most an unexpected joy, but for the war in the southwest, even the most optimistic and confident people in Ning Yi probably couldn't guess the results of today's battle.

At most, people believe that the Huaxia Army will take advantage of the geographical advantage to drag the Jurchen Western Route Army in the southwest, and finally gain a glimmer of life under the Jurchen annihilation offensive through the maneuvering of time. No one could have imagined that the Huaxia army only had a strength of tens of thousands of people and a draw with the most elite army of nearly 200,000 in the Jin State, and then Ning Yi led 7,000 people to attack, and only the first blow defeated the 30,000 Yanshan guards led by Xianbao, and killed Wanyan Xianbao in front of Sticky Han.

In his life, in the face of anyone, he has almost never fallen into a real disadvantage. Even if a demon like Jurchen, who came out of the white mountains and black waters and killed the entire world, after ten years of tempering, he actually gave the other party such a heavy punch?

What does Wanyan Zonghan think of him?

Southwest...... It's really in the midst of a continuous war......

That's what she had in mind. This was the first time in several years that she had thought of Ning Yi so seriously, although the figure could no longer be seen clearly, and when faced with the nightmare of the Jurchens going south, he greeted him and walked too far...... She was still recalling these things in vain at this time, and she was also thinking: If the beasts in the court, including Zhou Zhe, after the Battle of Xia Village that year, would not be so stupid, everything now should have a different trajectory......

On the trees outside the window, the peach blossoms have fallen. She closed her eyes and sighed softly, softly.

None of this will come true again......

……

Not far away, Jun Wu, who had been silent for a long time, also summoned Wen Ren to the side and asked about the things that had been interrupted before:

“…… Mr. Wenren, you went over this time, the leader of the rebel army called He Wen, really...... Is it someone who has been in the Southwest? ”

……

Outside the window, the sun was falling. In Fuzhou, a remote corner of the country, people were overjoyed by the news, but under this bright sky, all the way north, the clouds did not disperse in sight, hundreds of thousands of troops, millions of Han slaves, are forming a bloated group, crossing the Yangtze River.

Victory and crushing defeat converge here, triumph and desolation mingle, and the victors from above drive millions of their own kind to the north. One side is the way back, and the other side is never back. Every day, corpses are swept up by the waters of the Yangtze River, floating and sinking to the far reaches of hell.

The message then interrupted the sheer joy and sorrow.