The wind was blowing and the snowflakes were flying all over the sky.

In the camp of the Jin army in the north of Taiyuan City, it was a hot scene, and the Jurchen cavalry was training in the military camp, shouting and shouting the sky-shaking banner like a forest. This extremely cold weather and snowflakes in the sky are not only a harsh for the Jurchens who are accustomed to the extremely cold weather between the white mountains and black waters, but like a gift from heaven.

Because in the past, such a season was a good time for them to hunt in winter, train troops, and plunder. Winter, for the Jurchens, means wealth and harvest, symbolizing victory and glory.

There was a passionate cheer near the camp of the wolf lord of the Chinese army, which attracted the attention of many people.

Hundreds of people stood in a circle in a spacious snowy lawn, forming an open space that looked like a ring. There were seven people in the middle fighting with their bare hands.

Six sturdy Jurchen men with sticks in their hands are beating up a person!

In such a cold and snowy weather, the besieged man was actually naked, and his body was like a bronze cast, more like a pair of close-fitting armor growing directly on his body, and the eight-pack abdominal muscles between the lower abdomen were high and bulging as if they were spliced.

This big man fought six with his bare hands, and he didn't fall behind at all. The six men struck down with their sticks, and he let four of them hit his body with a thumping sound like a stone. The other two sticks were directly grabbed by him with one in each of his left and right hands, and after the armpit was clamped, he struggled to pick it up, and the person holding the stick at that end was actually picked up and flew up and fell a foot away, and fell heavily into the snowdrift.

The crowd applauded!

The other four were unwilling to fail, and they didn't have the slightest intention of backing down, and swung their sticks and hit again. The naked man roared like a dragon's roar, leaping into the air on the snow, his hair and thick beard flying wildly against the cold wind, and slashing at one of them with a single palm. The man was startled and instinctively raised his stick to carry it. Who knew that this palm was cut off, and the arm-thick stick was actually cut in two!

Seeing that this palm was about to cut into the man's face, the naked man who had just landed on his toes suddenly retracted his momentum, spun around with one foot as the axis and kicked sideways, and the other three people who attacked around him were hit together, and they were all kicked away by a sweeping kick.

In an instant, six big men and five people were knocked away, and the remaining one was stunned by the severing person with the court stick in his hand.

"Okay-" The Jurchen sergeants were so excited that they all raised their fists and cheered, and some shouted "The wolf lord is invincible" and "The wolf lord is Chitose"!

The naked man laughed in the cold wind with open arms, letting the snowflakes fall on his amazingly strong body.

At this time, a middle-aged man wearing a black thick coat and a snow-white fox-brimmed hat approached slowly through the snow. Compared to the wild Jurchens around him, this man seemed unusually suave. Starry eyes, thin lips, white face, three locks of fine hair under the chin, light but steady, relaxed and restrained.

"Mastermind!" When all the Jurchen sergeants saw this gentle middle-aged man, they all touched their chests very respectfully and bent down to salute, and scattered around with interest.

"The wolf lord is majestic, and his skills have not diminished back then." The middle-aged man approached the naked man and said with a smile on his face.

The naked man is the supreme commander of the Jurchen army outside Taiyuan today, one of the members of the Jin State, Wanyan Zonghan!

At this time, Yan Zonghan laughed loudly, beckoned his hand, and the two pawns stepped forward to put on a bearskin coat for him, tied a deer leather belt around his waist, hung a scimitar to tie a cloak and a mink brim hat, and the rugged and unrestrained wolf lord of the Jin Kingdom still stood in the cold wind with his chest open.

"The mastermind has come to me, but is there something important?" Wanyan Zonghan, who was still as fierce as a tiger and lion, was now smiling without a little arrogance, and he even took the initiative to give the middle-aged scribe a salute to the middle-aged scribe who stroked his chest and bent over, and his words were quite humble.

The middle-aged scribe hurriedly bowed back and said: "Your Majesty just received the battle report sent by General Yinshuke, the progress of the war on the side of Qingyun Fort in Xishan is relatively smooth, and more than 10,000 soldiers and horses of the enemy country have been annihilated by Yinshuke in the field battle, and now General Yinshuke is attacking Qingyun Fort with all his might." But what is interesting is that a cottage in Qingyunbao District is actually a strong and easy to defend and difficult to attack, and General Yinshuke has not captured it after three days. Therefore, he asked the wolf lord for assistance from soldiers and siege equipment. ”

"When did Silversmith become so incompetent, and did he and his men spend all their strength on a woman's belly?" Wanyan Zonghan was not angry, his tone was light, but there was a hidden momentum that was not angry but mighty, and he said, "Give him enough siege equipment, and there will be no soldiers and horses." If he can't defeat Qingyun Castle within three days, he won't have to come back. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty knows." The middle-aged scribe didn't dare to say a word, so he agreed.

"How's the situation on Ceres' side?" Wanyan Zonghan asked.

The middle-aged scribe Cheng Zhu arched his hand in his chest and said: "Wanyan Xiyin led more than 40,000 soldiers and horses to intercept those thieves in Taihang Mountain, which was very effective. ”

Wanyan Xiyin is the Chinese name of Wanyan Gushen. After the Jurchens occupied the Liao Kingdom, they came into contact with the culture of the Han people and admired Sinology very much. After a few years of studying, the Jurchen royal family and generals began to dislike that their names were too cheesy after being translated into Chinese names, so they took the initiative to give themselves Chinese names. The figurative Jurchen founding emperor Wanyan was beaten by the bones, so he named himself Wanyan Min; His successor, Wanyan Wu, begged for purchase and named Wanyan Sheng; Wanyan Zonghan is a Han name, and his original name is 斡利不.

It didn't take long for most of the Jurchens to have their own Chinese names. Moreover, calling each other by their Han names is also a symbol of respect. However, superiors generally still call their subordinates or elders to juniors, and they are still called by their real names, just like Wanyan Zonghan directly calls them "Ceres"; The middle-aged scribe could not call him by his first name, but could only call him by his Chinese name "Wanyan Xiyin".

In short, the Chinese name that the Jurchens gave themselves was somewhat similar to the "table characters" that the Han people gave themselves.

"Tell me about the battle over there, I only listen to the unfavorable." Wan Yan Zonghan asked.

"Yes." The middle-aged scribe said: "The thieves in Taihang Mountain are relatively scattered, and the coverage of winter snow makes the already very steep terrain there more difficult to defend and attack, so it is not easy to exterminate them in a short period of time." Moreover, among the Taihang mountains, there is a force of soldiers and horses whose actual combat ability is quite strong, at least stronger than the officers and troops in the south. Yesterday, General Yan Xiyin fought a battle with the force, and both sides lost men and horses, and they actually fought an equal battle. Moreover, Wanyan Xiyin's command also lost three thousand commanders and six centurions. ”

"Oh?" Wanyan Zonghan said with a slight surprise, "Just a bandit, have such ability?" ”

"General Wanyan Xiyin reported that this group of people and horses are all from the same cottage, Taihang Qixing Mountain." The middle-aged scribe replied, "Qixing Mountain is the most powerful and influential group of green forest bandits in the Taihang Nine Mountains, and it can also be said to be the most powerful and influential group of green forest bandits in the south of the country. Among them were seven great chieftains, all of whom were said to be of great skill. General Wanyan Xiyin specially said in the military report that the three commanders and six centurions were all killed in front of the battle when they faced off with the enemy's leader in the battle array! There were three leaders of the enemy who led the troops, one of them was a one-armed red-robed man, another black-robed man with a very powerful bow and arrow, and the other was a handsome young man in silver armor and white clothes. ”

"It's Guan Shan, the big leader of Seven Star Mountain, Jiao Wentong, the second leader, and Xue Yu, the third leader." Yan Zonghan was not surprised when he heard this, but smiled slightly and said, "These people are indeed not simple, they are much stronger than many of the pus-filled generals of the Southern Kingdom. Sent an order to the god of grains, telling him to hold the main road for the time being, and not to rush up the mountain to destroy the city. At this moment, the time and place are all over the place, and it is not appropriate for us to attack. ”

"Your Majesty takes orders." The middle-aged scribe agreed.

"Mastermind." Wanyan Zonghan called him and said with a smile, "Thanks to you being in charge of the army and helping me take care of so many things, I can lead the army in an orderly manner and calmly, and there is no disadvantage. Moreover, after the plan to use troops to the south was disrupted this time, it was you who made a plan for our Eastern Route Army to adapt to the situation and changed the rapid attack to a regular operation. I appreciate that you are able to make such a bold and correct suggestion. Facts have proved that it is a very wise decision for His Majesty, the Emperor of the Dajin Kingdom, to let you take charge of the Privy Council of the Eastern Imperial Court. ”

"The wolf lord has won the prize." The middle-aged scribe smiled slightly, and arched his hand, "Shi Liai actually doesn't have extraordinary abilities, but he is in his position and plotting his own affairs. The key to the strength of the Jin State and the invincibility of the Eastern Route Army lies in the wisdom and decisiveness of the Emperor and the wolf lords, and the heroic battles of the soldiers. ”

"Haha, the Privy Counsellor is too humble!" Wanyan Zonghan laughed, "My Dajin Kingdom has never lacked heroic soldiers, but there is too much shortage of strategists and scholars like you." To be honest, I've learned a lot from you. Take this battle of Taiyuan as an example, according to my usual practice, I must be attacking Taiyuan City with all my strength now, and I will not stop if I don't take it. It was you who built the city to besiege the city and send reinforcements to cut off its wings first, and then hand it over to the southern court to exert pressure in exchange for the benefits we wanted. I will put forward this strategy of 'conquering the country with peace and discussion' at a meeting where the national debate is fierce. I believe that it will not be long before it will become the national policy of our Jin country against the southern country! ”

"Although the imperial court in the south has decayed, after all, they have big roots and deep roots, and they cannot be completely destroyed in a short time." The middle-aged scribe, Shi Liai said, "Especially now that we are going south for the first time, the possibility of wanting to fight it is even more unlikely. Therefore, it is more cost-effective for us to cherish our army as much as possible, to reduce casualties and losses, and to hand over the victory to the rotten imperial court of the southern kingdom to exert pressure, and to win benefits through diplomacy. Having said that, what is unexpected is that so many changes have happened in Taiyuan, and our military plans have been leaked in advance. Otherwise, it may not be a big problem to take Taiyuan by means of a rush attack. In that case, it is not impossible for the armies of the East and West to fight together in the hinterland of the southern country or even besiege Tokyo. ”

"To this day, I still can't figure out why our military plans were leaked?" Wanyan Zonghan frowned, his hands on his waist and his hair fluttered unrestrainedly in the wind, and he said in a deep voice, "How can the southerners know about things that even Yelu Yu doesn't know?" In the end, Yelu Yu gambled inexplicably to kill Tong Guan, and then he himself was caught by the people of Qixing Mountain and handed over to Wang Yu, and then Wang Yu openly executed him! ”

"Yes, this brown piece by piece, all of them are weird." Shi Liai also looked confused, "According to the report of the spy, when Yelu Yu gambled to Taiyuan, he was very close to a Nanguo elementary school named Chu Tianya. Although there is not enough evidence, the spies reported that most of these strange things happened to the school. ”

"A small school?" Wanyan Zonghan's mouth grinned, full of incredulity and disbelief.

"This little school, maybe it's not as simple as he seems." Shi Liai said, "First of all, his identity is very complicated, on the surface he is a native of Taiyuan, but he is a righteous brother with Meng De, the leader of the bandits in Xishan, and he has become a student under Wang Yumen, and he has a close relationship with the bandit leaders of Qixing Mountain. Moreover, Ma Kuo, the general of the Shengjie Army who rebelled against Xishan, also had a good relationship with him; There is another person who is very close to him. The relationship between the two is extremely ambiguous. ”

"Who?"

Shi Liai smiled slightly, "It's the one who the wolf lord personally led the troops and chased her for three days and three nights, the last county lord who is known as the first beauty in Liao!" ”

"Xiao Feihu?!"

"It's her, that's right." The smile on Shi Liai's face was quite paradoxical.

Wanyan Zonghan just nodded, but his pair of amber eagle eyes had already narrowed into a slit.

"By the way, the wolf lord, today's patrol soldiers have caught a fine work. After the torture, he confessed that he was sent by Xishan to deliver a letter to Taiyuan. Shi Liai diverted the topic very interestingly and said, "The wolf wants to interrogate him personally?" ”

"Since the mastermind has already interrogated, why should I do anything more?" Wanyan Zonghan smiled and said, "If the mastermind thinks it should be handled, then go and handle it." ”

Shi Liai arched his hand with a grateful look on his face and said: "Your Majesty thinks that it is better to let him into Taiyuan City, it is okay." ”

"How?"

Shi Liai replied: "What Taiyuan relies on now is nothing more than a strong city and the assistance of the rebels outside the city. We let this meticulous work send the news of the imminent fall of Xishan to Taiyuan, which will be a great blow to the morale of the soldiers and civilians in Taiyuan City. Didn't we besiege the city and beat drums a few days ago just to make the frightened birds in the city panic and fall into chaos? Now there are such meticulous works sent to the door, isn't it a good helper that we can't invite? This is the untiring deception! ”

"Haha, the mastermind is really knowledgeable and wise!" Wanyan Zonghan laughed, "Not to mention, to deal with the cunning southerners, it is not enough to have Sheng Rui's soldiers, and it depends on the wisdom of the mastermind!" ”

"Is the wolf lord making fun of his subordinates?"

"Where, you know that our Jurchens have always been bad at words - I absolutely sincerely appreciate and appreciate the mastermind!"

In the evening of the same day, several Jurchen cavalrymen escorted a bound thin Han boy to the front of Taiyuan City. They sent an arrow into the city, and a letter was tied to the arrow, which said that they had specially sent Xishan Xiaozuo, named "Xiao Fei", whom they had captured.

The soldiers defending the city did not dare to make a decision lightly for fear of deception, so they invited Wang Yu. Wang Yu made a careful identification at the head of the city, but he had seen this Xiao Fei before, so he asked someone to put down the bamboo basket from the city tower and hang him up, and immediately sent someone to the military patrol camp to call Chu Tianya to go to the Dutong Mansion.

At night, Chu Tianya, who had returned from his inspection, arrived at the Dutong Mansion. As soon as Xiao Fei saw him, he almost cried, and he whimpered for a while.

"Xiaofei, how did you get into the city, how is Xishan?" Chu Tianya hurriedly asked.

"The Jurchens seized him and sent him in; Xishan is very critical. Wang Yu said briefly in one sentence, his brows furrowed tightly.

"Great official, you have to find a way to save Qingyun Castle!" Xiao Fei was flogged a lot, and his appearance was very pitiful, "Second Brother Ma took 10,000 brothers out to cut off the Jurchen return route, but the whole army was wiped out, leaving Second Brother Ma to flee back alone with serious injuries. Now Qingyun Fort is besieged by the Jurchen army, and it is in danger! ”

"Be quiet!" Wang Yu snorted, "This is a military secret, do you want to shout it so that everyone hears it?" ”

"The villain knew that he was wrong, and the villain stopped shouting...... But ......" Xiao Fei's words were interrupted by Chu Tianya's raised hand.

"I see." Chu Tianya nodded with a smile, patted Xiao Fei's shoulder, and said, "I asked the two brothers to send you to my house to rest and heal, Uncle He and they are here, you can take care of it." Let's go now! ”

"Okay......" Xiaofei didn't dare to say more, so he had to leave in a huff.

After a while, Wang Yu let out a long sigh.

"Why did the teacher sigh?" Chu Tianya asked.

"People are not as good as heaven, and the strategies and tactics we laid out in advance were all broken by Wanyan Zonghan." Wang Yu frowned and shook his head, "They sent Xiaofei into the city with a clear purpose and sinister intentions, that is, to tell us that Xishan is going to be finished, and we Taiyuan City will have one less arm." In this way, we will shake the morale and morale of our military. ”

"It's simple, it's all about it. We informed the soldiers and civilians in the city, saying that Xiao Fei had sent news of a great victory in Xishan, and that the Jurchen cavalry had suffered heavy losses in the battle of Qingyun Fort. Chu Tianya said lightly.

"Huh?" Wang Yu couldn't help but be stunned.

Chu Tianya smiled, "Soldiers don't get tired of cheating!" ”

Wang Yu suddenly shook his head and smiled bitterly, "I really convinced you!" …… But Xishan is indeed almost finished, so what can I do? ”

"Hold on." Chu Tianya said two words without hesitation.

"Then what if the next step, the Taihang Mountains also fail one after another?" Wang Yu said again.

"Hold on." Chu Tianya said, "Hold on, and we will have a chance to win." Now it is a confrontation between the two armies, and whoever makes the mistake first will lose. The Jurchens were alone in the deep division, the veterans were tired, the battle line was too long, and the logistical supply was difficult, and the difficulty of attacking the city was more than ten times greater than that of defending the city. It is they who should be anxious and troubled, and we only need to insist on one thing, that is, to hold on, never waver! ”