This winter was particularly cold in the north, and the snow was particularly heavy. Maybe it's because the sky no longer favors the fat and weak Great Song Dynasty, which created such a convenient time for the Jurchens who invaded the south.

Zhao Ji, the emperor of poetry and painting who had done a lifetime of artistic work, took the initiative to lay off, fled to the south with his love Ji and Mobao, and threw the mess to the new monarch Zhao Huan.

History did not deviate too much from the original trajectory because of Chu Tianya's "birth", and when the new monarch Zhao Huan ascended the throne, he changed the name of the year to - Jingkang!

At this time, Wanyan Zongwang had already approached the city of Tokyo, a huge city with a population of one million, trapped and killed by less than 100,000 soldiers and horses of the Jurchens!

Previously, when Wanyan Zongwang hit the Yellow River, tens of thousands of Song soldiers guarding the Yellow River, under the leadership of their eunuch commanders, fled as birds and beasts. There was no one to defend this natural danger, and Wanyan Zongwang was able to cross the river easily. Without this force, Tokyo's forces were stretched thin. But fortunately, Cai Jing and a group of stubborn traitors from the surrender faction also fled with Zhao Ji. After wiping away his tears, the new monarch Zhao Huan found that he had no way to retreat, so he had to recruit civil ministers and military generals and call on the people in the city to resist the Jin soldiers.

Facts have proved that the Great Song Dynasty is not without capable people, and the army is not incapable of fighting. The young Zhao Ji used Li Gang, the previously inconspicuous squire of the military department, to command the defensive battle in Tokyo. As a result, Wanyan Zongwang didn't get any good fruit, and Tokyo was saved for a while.

At this time, the main force of the 100,000 Western Army stationed in Shaanxi by the Great Song Dynasty urgently drove to Tokyo to participate in the defense of Tokyo in the famous general's plantation road, and various other people and horses rescued by King Qin also drove forward one after another; Wanyan Zongwang's lone army went deep into the siege of Tokyo with a small number of soldiers and horses, and Wanyan Zonghan's department, which was originally going to join forces in Tokyo, was tripped in Taiyuan again. Now, Wanyan Zongwang can also be in a military desperate situation, and the situation is developing in a direction that is extremely favorable to the Great Song Dynasty.

But under such a favorable situation, the officials and generals of the Great Song Dynasty once again relapsed into old illnesses -- civil and military forces fought for power and profit, suppressed dissidents and poured each other down, completely forgetting that the national disaster was at the head!

Here's the thing.

Li Gang was originally a scholar and civil official, and the official was not too small, but now that he was in charge of all the soldiers and horses in Tokyo, his former bosses were not happy in their hearts, and they pondered day and night how to stumble him, embarrass him, and drive him out of office. The seed master Dao who led the western army to come to the rescue is a famous handsome who has been guarding one side all the year round, and he was born in a military with a very high reputation, where is he willing to sit on an equal footing with Li Gang?

As a result, great contradictions broke out between the stubborn civil servants and the main battle faction, and even within the main battle faction. Where can the new monarch Zhao Huan, who has just ascended the throne, be able to suppress it? When it was originally very critical, everyone was able to abandon their selfish thoughts and fight the enemy together; Now that the situation has just improved a little, these people under him have begun to intrigue again!

Zhao Huan was already very bottomless, otherwise how could he cry and refuse to ascend the throne as emperor? - The strong cavalry of the Jurchens not only frightened off the 100,000 Song soldiers stationed in the Yellow River, but also frightened many people in the Great Song court, including Zhao Huan. In addition, the officials of Zhao and Song never believed in military generals, and they were always afraid that the generals would rebel with bad intentions if their merits and military power were high. Now Zhao Huan is also guilty of "occupational disease", seeing that the two generals who are in charge of the army, Master Dao and Li Gang, have completely mastered all the soldiers and horses in Tokyo, and there are two white-fronted tigers sleeping on the side of the couch.

He forgot that these two big tigers actually came to save his life and help him resist the hungry wolves of Liaodong outside Tokyo!

It was at this time that a very famous and ironic event happened in history. Yao Pingzhong, the general of the Western Army, invited him to sneak attack and rob the Jin Bing military camp before the battle, but the military plan was leaked in advance, and the director was defeated. Yao Pingzhong, who was also a fierce general in the Western Army and was born in a family of generals, was afraid of being punished when he returned, so he rode a horse and donkey and galloped wildly, and ran to the land of Sichuan and Shu in one breath before stopping and hiding in the deep mountains and old forests.

Historically, there are many legends about Yao Pingzhong, saying that he only came out of the mountains after a few decades, as if he was already a god who had attained the Tao.

These don't stop for a while, just talking about his ability to flee after defeat, I'm afraid no one can match it throughout the ages, it can be said to be a pioneering feat.

After this defeat, Li Bangyan and some other main surrender factions finally caught the most powerful handle and "helped" Zhao Huan to remove the two military commanders who had saved the master and Li Gang, who had meritorious service in saving and defending the city!

The military power was recaptured, and Zhao Huan's heart was also at ease. Although he has been the emperor for a few days, he is full of black belly, but he has learned to be skillful and skillful. Perhaps he understood that although this Jurchen army was strong, it was unlikely that they would want to take Tokyo in one go. Therefore, it should be the most cost-effective and reasonable policy to give some sweetness to send Wanyan Zongwang away, and then take advantage of the situation to consolidate his position as the new king!

So, Zhao Huan did not hesitate to do so. Not long after he dismissed Li Gang and the Seed Master, he immediately sent someone to find Wanyan Zongwang to "negotiate peace", no matter what conditions Wanyan Zongwang proposed, he could agree, as long as the two families made peace, as long as Wanyan Zongwang withdrew and left.

Originally, Wanyan Zongwang had already overfulfilled his military plan, and the reason why he dared to besiege Tokyo with a small number of men and horses was because he saw the political corruption and military incompetence of the Southern Dynasty. But he waited for a few days to see Yan Zonghan's passives come to answer, but the main force of the Western Army of the Southern Dynasty came to the rescue, and he began to feel uncertain, anyway, he had already reaped the benefits, and he was ready to smear the soles of his feet at any time.

However, Zhao Huan and the new darlings of the new generation of the surrender faction of the Great Song Dynasty under him are now only hoping that Yan Zongwang will get out of the way as soon as possible, so as not to make people panic like this and disturb their sweet life. As long as Wanyan Zong is willing to make peace and withdraw his troops, he can agree to any request he wants, including land cutting, compensation, and vassalization!

The corruption and depravity of the Great Song Dynasty and the incompetence of the government once again shocked Wanyan Zongwang. He was afraid that he would not understand it until he died, and just when they were in a desperate situation and were about to withdraw their troops and leave, suddenly a cake fell from the sky, and he almost dizzy.

pinched such a soft persimmon, where would Wanyan Zongwang be polite. He opened his mouth to ask for a large number of gold and silver treasures, and also proposed to divide the Yellow River with the Southern Dynasty to rule, let the Song Dynasty permanently cede the three important military towns of Hebei and Taiyuan, and hand over the Southern Dynasty's private collection of the remnants of the Liao State - the Flying Fox County Lord!

Zhao Huan agreed without hesitation. He opened the treasury and turned it upside down, and almost used everything to send Yan Zongwang away. And immediately issued a holy decree and sent envoys to the three towns of Hebei and Taiyuan and other places to read out the "Divine Decree of the Son of Heaven", so that these places gave up their resistance to the Jin soldiers and obediently lived with the Jin people from then on.

Not only that, Zhao Ji was also afraid that Wanyan Zongwang would not be at ease and not prosperous, so he sent an army of 100,000 to escort him all the way across the Yellow River; He also issued a strict order that no one should provoke and seek revenge against the Jurchens, otherwise there would be no forgiveness!

Wanyan Zongwang finally experienced the warmth and hospitality of his friends in the Southern Dynasty, he walked swaggeringly, walked decently, and at the same time was unwilling-if such a decadent dynasty was not replaced by my Jurchen, wouldn't it be a tyrannical thing?!

Zhao Huan turned over the belongings that were moved out of the bottom of the box, and did not hesitate to cede the ancestral territory with blood, but instead of filling the desires and ambitions of the Jurchens, they made them swell more and more!

The Jurchens withdrew from the army, the alliance and the peace treaty was signed, and Zhao Huan and the Manchu Dynasty finally felt a little relieved, and they could sit down to drink wine and talk about poetry and prostitutes.

At this time, Taiyuan City was in dire straits!

The Jurchens have been besieging the city for more than a month, and the 150,000 soldiers and civilians in Taiyuan City have spent the Chinese New Year's Eve in tension and confusion. On the first day of the Chinese New Year's Eve and the New Year, Yan Zonghan specially sent troops to attack the city twice to show New Year's greetings to the Southern Dynasty.

Although Wanyan Zonghan did not attack the city with all his might, he has been fighting and stopping these days, never asking about the battle and harassment, and everyone in Taiyuan City has never relaxed their nerves even for a moment. Moreover, the equipment used to defend the city was consumed quite strictly, and in less than a month, most of the various "killing weapons" had been consumed. In addition, as long as there is a battle, there will be casualties, the defenders in the city are constantly decreasing, and the number of wounded is increasing, medicine has become a big problem, food is also decreasing day by day, but the reinforcements of the imperial court are far away.

The soldiers and people in the city experienced more than a month of mental and physical torture, and they were all exhausted and depressed. All kinds of crises and undercurrents are surging.

In this regard, Chu Tianya, who is in charge of public security in the city, feels the most obvious. In recent days, the crime rate in the city has increased markedly many times, and vicious incidents such as fights, robberies, robberies and murders have occurred almost every day. There is too much pressure in everyone's heart, and the spirit is tense at the same time, and often a disagreement can lead to conflict.

This situation had happened when the Jurchens had just besieged the city, but it was perfectly resolved at that time, so it was calm for a month. Now that this situation has happened again, there is no way to solve it completely.

The only solution is for the siege to be lifted and the war to stop!

In the afternoon of this day, Chu Tianya had just led an army patrol and helped Wang Yu successfully repel a Jurchen siege together, and both the master and apprentice were exhausted, so they finally took a moment to spare and sit in the castle carving tower and drink a sip of hot tea.

Now that the materials in the city are very scarce, it is a very luxurious pleasure to have tea to drink.

The sergeants are cleaning up the mess on the battlefield, and there are quite a few losses today. After more than a dozen harassments and battles, the Jurchens became much smarter. They no longer climbed the city wall and attacked with their heads so desperately, but more adopted the method of combining cavalry and siege equipment, not to capture the city as the purpose, but to attack the defenders on the city head and cause casualties as the main motive.

When Chu Tianya led people to treat the wounded, he was hit by a stray arrow. Fortunately, the strength of the arrows in thick armor was not too strong, and he was not injured. But the arrow was still stuck in the iron armor behind his back, and it took a lot of effort to pull it down.

"Tianya, you have also experienced a few battles in the past few days, how do you feel?" Wang Yu asked.

"It's okay, it's adaptable." Chu Tianya replied, "Although I have experienced a hand-to-hand combat before, it was only a small scene, far less tragic than the current battle to defend the city. The Jurchens' riding and archery skills are really amazing, such a high city wall, such a long distance, their arrows can pierce the iron armor on my body! ”

"Now Wanyan Zonghan's intentions are obvious, he just wants to use the method of a protracted war of attrition to devour Taiyuan." Wang Yu said, "Although we are now trapped in the city and unable to learn from the outside world, it can be inferred from Wanyan Zonghan's expression that our imperial court may have encountered a great crisis. Otherwise, how could he completely ignore Taiyuan and let Wanyan Zonghan play this kind of cat trick here? ”

Chu Tianya shook his head with a wry smile, "The analogy of the teacher hurts my self-esteem, but it is indeed appropriate. That's right, Wanyan Zonghan is now playing with a mouse, he doesn't want to or can't take Taiyuan in one go, so he uses this method to consume our supplies, reduce our troops, and destroy our fighting spirit. ”

"Hey......" There was no one around, and Wang Yu dared to sigh quietly, "Although the old man never really expected the imperial court to send soldiers and horses to rescue Taiyuan, in fact, there is still a trace of fantasy in his heart. Now, it can only be shattered! ”

At this moment, a person walked outside the gate of the castle, holding a blood-stained Taining pen gun, the red robe and red armor were particularly dazzling, and he was wearing a hideous yaksha mask on his face.

Chu Tianya saw the fresh blood stained on the golden silk red robe at a glance, so he had to shake his head helplessly and smile.

This is the fourth time that Xiao Linglong has participated in the defense of the city. A woman like her pays attention to having no relationship with needlework, and she is good at killing people and bloodletting, so naturally she will not be at ease to be "hidden by the golden house".

Wang Yu beckoned, "The county lord comes in and sits down and takes a sip of hot tea!" ”

Xiao Linglong put the Taining pen gun against the wall, took off her mask and walked to the two of them. You're welcome, picked up the big tea bowl used by Chu Tianya, and drank the remaining half bowl of tea inside.

"My tea." Chu Tianya protested.

"I don't see many bowls." Xiao Linglong glanced at Chu Tianya, wiped the remaining vegetable stains at the corner of her mouth, but wiped the blood stains on the back of her hand on her face.

"Hey, do you really want to be a bloodthirsty yaksha?" Chu Tianya got up, dipped the corner of his battle robe in some hot water, and wiped his face.

Xiao Linglong stood still and let him wipe it, her eyes revealing a lot of tiredness and a rare warmth.

Another battle was over, and it seemed like something to be thankful that both of them survived and were unharmed.

Wang Yu sat on the side and watched quietly, and the many small details in front of him made him, a veteran who had been on the battlefield for a long time, feel full of emotion in his heart.

"When are you going to get married?" Wang Yu said suddenly.

Both of them were stunned, and then they both laughed.

"What, did the old man ask abruptly?" Wang Yu smiled, "Tianya, Ling Zun and Ling Tang have passed away, and I am not only your teacher, but also an elder." When it comes to marriage, I can make decisions for you. ”

"Wang Dutong, I don't think it's appropriate to mention such a thing now." Xiao Linglong immediately interrupted Wang Yu's words, her tone was not cold or enthusiastic, she just said very flatly, "Moreover, I never thought about marrying this guy at all!" ”

Chu Tianya immediately smiled, "It's as if I'm looking forward to marrying you." ”

"That's it. You're not rare, and I'm not happy either. There is no such thing in the sky. Xiao Linglong said as if smiling and gossiping, "So Wang Dutong should not mention this matter in the future." ”

"Hehe, now you young people, my old man really can't understand it. Well, the old man will never have much to do in the future. Wang Yu smiled, "The Jurchens should not call again today." Tianya, you haven't been down to the city for a few days, so go back to rest with the county lord, just have me here. ”

"Or the students stay behind, and the teacher goes to rest, right?" Chu Tianya said.

Wang Yu waved his hand with a smile, "The old man takes the army as his home, and it's the same everywhere." You're different—stop talking nonsense, let's go! ”

"Then the student will be grateful to the teacher!"

Chu Tianya sighed.

Eight out of ten days these days, he spent time in the city or in the barracks, and two meals a day were not at a margin, and sometimes they were settled on horseback. Coupled with the busy running around day and night, and even personally participated in several battles, it would be a lie to say that he was not tired.

Xiao Linglong was a woman, and she also accompanied him like this for more than ten days, doing the same thing as him, and even playing harder than him in battle. She must have been exhausted a long time ago.

The two men went down to the city, and found their horses, and did not ride, but led them on foot.

These days, the horses have lost a lot of weight.

"County Lord, when you get home, ask Uncle He to stew a pot of meat for you to make up." Chu Tianya said.

"I guess it's long gone." Xiao Linglong subconsciously smacked her lips. After all, she is the county lord who has been clothed and fed since she was a child, and after eating the shoddy military food for so many days, she is indeed a little greedy.

"Then I'll kill the horse." Chu Tianya said.

Xiao Linglong was stunned, turned her head and glared at him fiercely, "You're crazy!" How can a soldier kill a horse and eat meat if he takes a horse as a companion and a relative? ”

"In contrast, I think people are a little bit more important than horses." Chu Tianya patted the horse he was holding, sighed, and said, "After getting along for so many days, don't say it, I do have a little relationship with it." But if there is really no food one day, I will slaughter it and cook meat for you to eat. ”

"What do you mean by that I'm a little more important than this horse?"

"Perhaps."

"I'm the opposite of you." Xiao Linglong smiled slightly, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, and the arc was so beautiful that it was intoxicating, "If one day we are so hungry that we have nothing to eat, I will kill the BMW you fed me." ”

"Okay, as long as you are willing." Chu Tianya laughed.

"Phew, don't be ashamed!"