In the eleventh year of Wu Jianshuo, since the beginning of the Lunar New Year, Lin'an has been under martial law.

The people inside couldn't get out, and the people outside couldn't get in, and for several days in a row, all kinds of rumors were flying in the city: it was said that the Wushu had killed an unknown number of people at the moment; It is said that millions of people outside Lin'an City wanted to enter the city, but they were blocked outside the city gate; It is said that the forbidden army shot the people outside the city with arrows a few days ago; There are also people who talk about the tragic situation of Jingping's shame back then, and now everyone is blocked in the city, I am afraid that there will be more and less evil in the future...... And so on and so forth.

People talk about it in the restaurants and tea shops in the city, and in the courtyards of private houses, and the big city, where nearly 1.5 million people live, is unlikely to last forever even if martial law is occasionally ordinary. People need to eat, supplies need to be transported, and the once prosperous business activities have come to a halt for a while, but they still have to maintain the operation of minimum needs. The large and small temples and Taoist temples in Lin'an City are doing thriving business these days, just like the scene before and after every major war in the past.

Although Li Pin and the propaganda forces of the princess's mansion had hyped up the harm of the "Heavenly Master Guo Jing" back then, people's sense of powerlessness in the face of such a major disaster was difficult to dispel after all. For a while, there were many rumors in the market about the defeat of "Guo Tianshi", similar to Guo Jing Guo Tianshi, although he had great magical powers, but the Jurchens rose rapidly, but they also had the protection of demons and evils, such as the "God of Ceres" Wanyan Xiyin, if it was not for the gods and demons, how could it be called "God of Ceres"? There is also a small book in the market that describes the story of the heavenly master Guo Jing who was seduced by the enchanting female demon and polluted the great magic power of the Liujia divine soldiers, so that the head of Bianliang City was defeated, the content is tortuous and fragrant, and there are spring palace illustrations sold with the book, in these days of martial law in Lin'an City, the supply exceeded demand for a while, and Luoyang paper was expensive.

There is nothing new in the world, and the fools and fools spend the money they have accumulated, ask for the protection of the gods, the symbol of peace, and then bring them to the family members who care most about them, hoping that this catastrophe can be passed safely. This kind of humility makes people sigh, but it also makes people feel compassion.

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 rise above the city. She pursed her lips and frowned, tilting her head and staring at the huge object rising into the sky without saying a word, wondering if it would fall.

When Ning Yi killed the king, he once flew over the palace with a small number of people in a hot air balloon, and the Wu Dynasty court was quite taboo about such a big thing that could cross the emperor's residence. Therefore, since the Wu Dynasty moved the capital and Junwu made a hot air balloon, this is the first time it has risen in the sky of Lin'an.

Lin'an, southeast and northwest, at this time, a total of eight hot air balloons swing in the cold wind in winter, the city is in an uproar, everyone walks out of the courtyard gate, gathers everywhere, looks up at the novelty like a miracle, pointing, discussing, for a while, the crowd seems to fill every vacant space in Lin'an.

Zhou Pei's eyes took all this in his eyes.

In order to promote this matter, Zhou Pei put a lot of effort into it. The Jurchens are coming, the people in the city are panicked and demoralized, and among the officials, all kinds of thoughts are even more complicated and weird. Fifty thousand people rode south, wanting to attack the heart, theoretically speaking, if everyone in the court is united, there is no problem in sticking to Lin'an, but the situation in the Wu Dynasty is complicated in the front, Zhou Yongzuo died in the back, and all kinds of complicated situations are piled up together, whether anyone will sway, whether anyone will defect, but no one is sure.

To a certain extent, the Wu Dynasty at this time was also like Liangshan after being attacked by Ning Yi. Before the test came, no one knew if they could hold on.

Zhou Pei lobbied the officers for a few days, and everyone hesitated about the idea of raising a hot air balloon to boost morale, and Lu Yihao said: "The ministers feel that this matter may have little effect, and it is easy to cause unnecessary incidents, of course, if His Royal Highness thinks it is useful, the ministers think that it is not impossible to try." Most of the rest are in this way.

In this case, Zhou Pei ordered the official to make a suggestion in the court, and forced Chen Xiangji, who took over the Ministry of Rites after Hou Shao's death, to come forward to endorse, and only proposed that the hot air balloon rise in the air, and the emperor on it was not allowed to watch in the direction of the palace, so as not to be suspected of spying on the palace, and the matter was finalized under the silence of everyone. However, when discussing in the court, Qin Hui came out to reconsider, saying that the enemy was doing extraordinary things, and he vigorously supported Zhou Pei's proposal, which made Zhou Pei feel a little more good about him.

Removing the resistance from the court, there are still weather factors that hinder the rise of the hot air balloon, at this time the weather in Lin'an City is still cold, the wind in the air is not small, and the possibility of failure after the hot air balloon lifts off is also correspondingly increased. On the sixth day of the first lunar month, the Wushu cavalry had bypassed the defense line and approached Lin'an, and the technicians of the Gewu Academy finally decided to choose a moment when the wind was slightly less powerful to take the risk into the air, and the eight hot air balloon operators who put life and death aside raised the balloon in a few moments.

It has been more than ten years since the first hot air balloon in Lin'an, but there are still not many people who have really seen it, and there is an uproar in the streets and alleys of Lin'an, and some old people shouting "Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals" kneeling down and kowtowing. Zhou Pei watched all this and prayed in his heart that nothing would go wrong.

This time, the Mandate of Heaven was finally on the side of the Wu Dynasty, and the eight hot air balloons hung in the sky for a quarter of an hour before they slowly fell again, and there were no possible failures along the way. The propaganda forces of the Princess Mansion and Li Pin have also begun to act at this time, and a famous speaker has gone to the streets and alleys to reassure the people, and by tomorrow, more newspapers will follow.

On the other hand, with the first hot air balloon launch in Lin'an, the influence of Gewu will always expand even more in the future. Zhou Pei's psychology in this regard is not as persistent as her younger brother, but she can imagine how happy Jun Wu would be when he heard that if he had done this before the war began.

After arranging the next various things, and encouraging and rewarding the hot air balloon technicians who lifted off today, Zhou Pei returned to the princess's mansion and began to write a letter to Junwu.

At this time, Jiangning was under the onslaught of Zongfu's army, Zhenjiang had sent troops to rescue again and again, Junwu and Han Shizhong went over in person, in order to boost the morale of Jiangning's army, she told her younger brother in the letter to pay attention to his health, take care of himself, and do not have to be too anxious about the capital, he and Cheng Zhouhai and others will guard all this. He also mentioned to him about today's hot air balloon, and wrote that the foolish men and women in the city thought that the hot air balloon was a soldier from heaven, and they couldn't help but ridicule a few words, but in terms of the purpose of inspiring the people, the effect was not small. Although the impact of this matter should be calculated in the long run, Junwu, who is far away in danger, can also be gratified.

The letter was sent out that night, and in the early morning of the next day, Cheng Zhouhai came over and put a greater message in front of her. The Huaxia Army Chinese New Year's Eve passed a resolution, the first day of the new year passed a peaceful Spring Festival, and on the second day of the new year, the murderous declaration of war has been issued through the surface: Now the Jurchen is carrying out an unjust war, the people of the Central Plains are not living, and the war in the south of the Yangtze River is raging, and all the Chinese people in the world should unite to the outside world, but there are people who are greedy for life and afraid of death, afraid of the Jurchen obscenity, and raise their knives to their compatriots......

In this inscription, the Huaxia Army made a list of many "war criminals", most of whom were separatist generals who had served in the puppet Qi regime and now led the Jin State to the south, and there were also several Wu Dynasty forces that had fornicated with the Jin State...... In response to these people, the Huaxia Army has sent tens of thousands of elite troops out of Sichuan to behead them. While calling on the righteous people of the world to participate in the grand event, he also called on all the people of the Wu Dynasty to be vigilant and guard against all shameless traitors who tried to defect to the enemy in the war.

Zhou Pei quietly finished reading this essay in the early morning light, she looked at Chengzhouhai, but she couldn't see the expression on her face: "...... It's true...... Or is it fake? ”

"There is indeed an abnormality in the Huaxia army, when the news was issued, it has been determined that several elite teams have gathered out of Sichuan from different directions, and the teams range from dozens to one or two hundred......

Zhou Pei blinked: "When he was in Bianliang, he was often assassinated......"

"Well, he cared about the green forest back then, and he also offended many people, and the teacher said that he was not doing his job...... The people around him were originally trained for this matter, and later formed the Black Flag Army, this kind of exercise is called special operations, beheading the enemy chief in the war, very powerful, as early as two years near Xiangyang, the Jurchen side of more than 100 masters of the team, robbed a pair of children of General Yue, but happened to meet Ning Yi who turned back from the Jin Dynasty, these Jurchen masters were almost killed, and the murderer Lu Tuo was called the great master on the rivers and lakes, and he was also killed by him when he met Ning Yi. ”

Zhou Pei listened quietly, over the years, the princess and the prince have a good reputation among the people, Zhou Pei's subordinates, naturally there are a large number of masters and heroes who have learned literary and martial arts and sold them to the emperor's family, Zhou Pei occasionally uses thunder methods, and the dead soldiers used are often among these people, but relatively speaking, the "professionals" on Ning Yi's side are more like legends in this industry, just like the Huaxia Army that wins more with less, it can always create a frightening record, in fact, Zhou Yong's fear of the Huaxia Army is not because of this.

After Cheng Zhouhai finished saying the previous words, he paused slightly: "It seems that Ning Yi has really made a bloody investment this time." ”

"How?" Zhou Peidao.

Cheng Zhouhai smiled slightly: "Such a bloody hardline, it is clear that he wants to kill people, which is not in line with the situation of the Huaxia Army at this time." No matter how hard our side fights, the Huaxia army is in the southwest after all, Ning Yi sent this article and sent people to assassinate him, although it will make some wavering people dare not act rashly, but it will also make those who have already fallen to the Jurchen side more resolute, and the first thing these people are worried about is no longer the Wu Dynasty, but ...... This Ning Ren Tu who spoke out had some weight in the world. He's pulling the burden over to him......"

Zhou Pei smiled slightly, at this time, Ning Rentu is mostly notoriety among the people, this is the result of the joint suppression of the Jin State and the Wu Dynasty for many years, but in the eyes of the high-level of various forces, Ning Yi's name is just "some" weight? He killed Zhou Zhe first; Later, he directly overthrew the Tian Hu regime in Jindi, causing the heroic Tiger King to die in a black prison; Later, he drove Liu Yu, who was nominally the "king of a country", and arrested him from the palace in Bianliang, and his whereabouts are still unknown, and the black cauldron was also easily buckled on the head of Wu Chao......

Isn't that a bit of weight? In fact, if he was really targeted by this Ning Ren Tu and said the words "never die", there would be a few people in the whole world who could really sleep peacefully.

The smile on Zhou Pei's face flashed: "He was afraid that we wouldn't be able to hold it early and affect him hiding in the southwest." ”

Cheng Zhouhai nodded: "It's also weird...... Well, it was also His Majesty's previous practice, so that his side had no choice. The text said that sending 10,000 people must be a bluff, but even if there are thousands of people, it is also the elite force that the Huaxia Army has cultivated with great difficulty, and since it is killed, there will definitely be losses, which is also a good thing...... In any case, the situation on His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's side, and the situation on our side, may be eased a little because of this. ”

Zhou Pei nodded, his eyes swirling on the big map in front of the house, and his mind was thinking: "He sent so many people to make 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 thorn in their side...... It's okay, this time, the whole world is going to fight, and no one will be left behind...... Well, Mr. Cheng, I'm thinking, we should arrange a group of people......"

Cheng Zhouhai laughed: "That's what I think too......"

Zhou Pei walked to the front of the map: "Over the years, many people in Sichuan and Shu have business dealings with the Huaxia Army, I guess that if the Huaxia Army dares to go out of Sichuan, it must first use these forces to gradually kill out." He is under the banner of hoeing and raping, and in the current situation, ordinary people should turn a blind eye and will not deliberately embarrass him, but there will be no shortage of fights from all walks of life. We have to send our men to order all the officials not to hinder the actions of the Huaxia Army, and when necessary, we can cooperate with these people of the Huaxia Army, we can help, and first try to clean up the scum of those who have fornicated with the Jurchens, including those we counted before, if it is inconvenient to move, then throw it on the head of the Ning Demon Head. ”

When she said this, she had already laughed, and Cheng Zhouhai nodded and said, "Ren Shangfei...... Lao Ren is thoughtful, he can be responsible for this matter, and cooperate with the Huaxia Army at the same time......"

"Find them out and write them down." Zhou Pei took over 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 lowered: "We also have the bottom in our hearts......"

"......" Cheng Zhouhai stood behind and looked at her for a while, his eyes were complicated, and then he smiled slightly, "I'll arrange someone." ”

"Mr. Lao is tired of becoming ......"

After Zhou Pei said this, he looked at the map and was silent for a long time, and when he turned around, Cheng Zhouhai had already left the room. Zhou Pei sat on the chair and looked at the text and the information that followed, the text seemed to be in order, but the content was terrifying and fierce.

For a long time, in the face of the complex situation in the world, Zhou Pei often felt powerless. She is proud by nature, but not strong on the inside. In the face of the situation in the world where everything is extremely fierce and there is no room for luck, especially in front of the Jurchens who are fierce and decisive in the fight and Ning Liheng, who was once called a teacher by her, Zhou Pei can only feel her distance and insignificance, even if she has the strength of half of the Wu Dynasty as support, she has never felt that she has the qualifications to compete with these people at the level of the world.

In this regard, his younger brother, who is desperate to rush forward, may have more power.

When Huaxia Jun did not hesitate to deduct the black cauldron of the puppet Qi Emperor Liu Yu to the head of the Wu Dynasty, Zhou Pei felt the coldness of the world. Last year, Zhou Pei's cowardice and fear made Zhou Pei realize the cold reality, and she sent Cheng Zhouhai to the southwest to strengthen herself by any means in the form of compromise. Now, at the moment before Lin'an was about to face vultures, internal and external troubles, Huaxia Jun's actions made her feel warm more or less.

Even if the demon in the southwest was based on cold realistic considerations, even if she knew in her heart that there would be a battle between the two sides in the end, at this moment, he finally "had to" lend a hand, it is conceivable that the younger brother who heard this message soon after, as well as those soldiers around him, would also feel relieved and encouraged by it.

On the other hand, in the deepest part of her heart, she wanted to laugh badly. Although this is a bad thing, from beginning to end, she never thought that her father's wrong move would make Ning Yi, who was far away in the southwest, "have to" make such a decision, she can almost imagine what kind of mood the other party was in when she made the decision, and maybe she had scolded her father.

In any case, this must be a strange deflated thing for Ning Demon Tou. What no one in the world can do, my father did it in this way, thinking about it, Zhou Pei felt happy.

This joy lasted for a long time, and the next day was the eighth day of the first lunar month, and the Wushu cavalry arrived in Lin'an, and they drove away some of the people who had not had time to leave, and launched a small-scale attack on Lin'an. Zhou Pei sat in the princess's mansion, combined with the staff officers of various staffs, while keeping an eye on the situation in Lin'an City and even in the court, and on the other hand, issued orders outside the city in an orderly manner, ordering the rescue teams of Xu Liejun, Shen Cheng and others not to be anxious, stabilize their positions, and slowly complete the coercion and encirclement of Wushu.

Even if someone in the house was apprehensive and showed it in front of Zhou Pei, Zhou Pei just told them calmly and confidently:

"I'm going to hold it."

In her heart, the intellectual side was still complicated and apprehensive, but after so many years, after she had experienced such a long period of depression and despair, this was the first time she saw a little hope.

After so many years, since that midnight many years ago, after saying goodbye in Bianliang City, Zhou Pei has never seen Ning Yi again. She went back to become a relative and stayed in Jiangning, while he went to Liangshan, exterminated the bandits in Liangshan, followed Grandpa Qin to do things, and later killed the emperor, and later defeated the Western Xia, against the Jurchens and even against the whole world, he became more and more strange, standing opposite the Wu Dynasty, which made Zhou Pei feel frightened.

But at the same time, in her heart, there is always an image of the girl and the teacher when she waved goodbye.

At that time, Ning Yi turned to leave, she looked at the back, and always understood in her heart: no matter how difficult things are, as long as he appears, there will always be a glimmer of warm hope.

That night, she dreamed about the events of that night.

In the early morning of the next day, all kinds of new information were delivered, and Zhou Pei stayed for a moment when he saw a message. The information is very simple, it was yesterday afternoon, the father summoned Lord Qin Hui Qin into the palace to summon the right thing.

Since falling out with the ministers, Zhou Yong hid in the palace and didn't bother to pay attention to people, yesterday Wushu launched a painless attack on Lin'an, Zhou Yong summoned Qin Hui - of course, there is a lot of information in the middle, so the intelligence officers below handed over the news, but in general, it is not a big deal, and he knows it.

Zhou Pei left an impression in his mind, and then put it aside......