The seventh day of the seventh month was the Qiao Qiao Festival.
For the prosperous country of the Wu dynasty, this day was one of the most important festivals. Girls wore needles and feasts, praying to the star Vega for wisdom and skillful hands, praying for marriage in the future. Large families and the royal palaces often had all kinds of luxurious feasts. There were all kinds of lively programs that lasted all night long.
Just this morning, all kinds of festive atmosphere had already filled the city of Bianjing. By evening, the lights were gradually lit, and brothel after brothel flower carts paraded along the main street amidst the clamor of gongs and drums, symbolizing the official beginning of the night's festivities. Men and women in gorgeous clothing, young masters, scholars, servant girls, and young ladies, decorated this reserved and mellow ancient festival with the fragrance of books and literature.
The Imperial Palace, as usual, was decorated with lanterns and streamers, but the festive atmosphere did not spread outside the palace. In the rear palace, the princesses, concubines, and palace maids had already prepared the Qiao Qiao wedding banquet. These kinds of banquets and gatherings were usually hosted by the empress, and the emperor would come every time. But today, after nightfall, the royal merchants had not yet arrived. Several little princesses and princesses from the royal family or the princes' families were already competing in needle threading in the center of the banquet. The festive atmosphere was as intoxicating as ever. Occasionally, some well-informed people would subconsciously look in the direction of the silent main hall of the Imperial Palace. Then, they would retract their gaze and look at the activities in the center of the banquet. They would laugh and applaud, saying a few auspicious words.
The main hall of the Imperial Palace was actually not as silent as they had imagined. A little to the west, in the Zichen Palace, where important matters were handled, it had actually been noisy, noisy, and somber for a whole day. At this time, the noise had gradually dispersed. The participating officials should have already left the palace and returned home, but the emperor had not come. This was enough to show the seriousness of the situation.
The fall of Hangzhou, in the eyes of many, perhaps meant that half of Jiangnan had fallen.
Qin Siyuan was the last group of people to leave the Imperial Palace. Accompanying him was Li Gang. Not long ago, the imperial court made a decision. Three days later, Tong Guan would lead a hundred and fifty thousand elite imperial guards to the south to suppress the threat of Fang La, while Wang Ling and Yang Keshi would lead a hundred thousand imperial guards to the north to attack Liao. Tong Guan had already left. Qin Siyuan, who always knew when to advance and when to retreat, stubbornly wanted to persuade the Emperor one more time. Li Gang stayed with him. Emperor Jing Han and Zhou Zhe also respected the Left and Right Prime Ministers and asked them to stay for dinner. But after dinner, there was no result.
Putting aside Zhou Zhe's personal opinion, under such circumstances, the decision had already been made. Even if the Emperor went back on his word, there was nothing he could do to reverse it.
Over the past few days, all kinds of news from the south flew in like pieces of paper. They were all bad news. Hangzhou was surrounded, and Wu Mo's army, which had tried to go south to help, was blocked on the way. Suzhou's Shi Sheng, Huzhou's Gui 'an Lu Xinger, Wuzhou's Lanxi Zhu Yan and Wu Bang, Yongkang's Fang Yanshan Chen Shisi, Chuzhou's Jinyun Huo Chengfu and Chen Goutong, Taizhou's Immortal Abode Lu Shibo, Yuezhou's Shan County Daoist Qiu, Qu Zhou's Demon King Zheng … Some of these people were already famous rebels on the official list. Some were previously unknown, but from the situation of the past few days, long before Hangzhou was officially attacked, Fang La had probably been secretly contacting people everywhere to plan for this day.
These rebel reports came one after another in the southeast. Even though the scale varied, they effectively stopped the armies near Hangzhou from sending reinforcements to Hangzhou. In the few days that Hangzhou had become an isolated army, the situation in the court changed every day. The anti-foreign faction, the anti-domestic faction, the pro-war faction, and the pro-peace faction all took out their trump cards and unceasingly launched attacks against each other and the Emperor.
In the court, Tang Ke, Li Bangyan, Wu Min, and the others were the representatives of the anti-domestic faction. They did not care about attacking Liao, but the interests of the majority of the people around them were in Jiangnan. They cared about the order of the war. Now that the south had become like this, and the rear was unstable, how could they attack? Naturally, they had to suppress the rebellion as soon as possible. These words were very reasonable.
Among the anti-domestic faction, there was a certain pro-peace faction. Those who originally did not want to provoke Liao also stood with the anti-domestic faction and fully supported suppressing Fang La. At this time, the old commander in the northwest, Zhong Shidao, who was not in Bianjing, sent an urgent message to give advice on suppressing Fang La. As a result, many officials agreed.
As the Left Prime Minister, Li Gang adhered to the right path and was originally an extremely tough pro-war faction. However, when the disaster in Hangzhou came, he was actually slightly shaken. He probably felt that if Jiangnan was not stable, even if the Wu dynasty succeeded in attacking Liao, it would inevitably hurt its strength. Thus, his actions these days were somewhat conservative. In the past few days, the important figures in the court who insisted on attacking Liao first were not necessarily led by Qin Siyuan. After all, he had left politics for too many years. Even if he had influence at this time, it could not be said to be the most powerful. At this time, the person who was the most determined in attacking Liao and used the most power was, on the contrary, Tong Guan, Tong Daofu, who was known at this time as "the number one general of the Wu dynasty" and was the Privy Envoy in charge of the military.
However, when the news of Hangzhou's fall came today, Tong Guan finally knew that things could not be done. In the end, he could not resist the enormous pressure and accepted the order to lead the army south. Only Qin Siyuan, even at the last moment, persisted in the strategy of going north. When Tong Guan recommended Wang Ling and Yang Keshi to lead the army north to attack Liao, a few of Qin Siyuan's trusted aides also expressed some opposition. In the end, a few generals were placed in the army. After the meeting was over, Tong Guan and the others immediately returned home to prepare for the next step of the strategy. Qin Siyuan and Li Gang stayed for a while and only now left the Imperial City.
The evening wind blew. On the royal street outside the city, there were fireworks and silver flowers. At this time, two old men with the highest power in the court walked on the road.
"A night of dancing fish and dragons …" Qin Siyuan sighed slightly. "Zhong Shidao is a sensible man …"
"Uncle Zhong Yi?" Li Gang frowned. Today, although there were people who used Zhong Shidao's idea as a bargaining chip, at this time in Bianjing, Zhong Shidao's influence was not big. "Why did Siyuan suddenly mention him?"
"If we can't attack Liao, we might as well negotiate peace. In this way, Liao is easier to deal with than Jin."
"Jiangnan is too important. In all fairness, I also think that we should go south first. Didn't Siyuan say a few days ago that if Hangzhou is lost, our Wu dynasty will suffer a great loss? "
Qin Siyuan smiled. "Could it be that Ji Weng also thinks that I am blinded today because I want to steal the credit?" In the past few days, people often used this to attack him. This time, Qin Siyuan's resurrection was mainly because of the situation in the north. Others said that he was doing it for his own sake and did not care about the overall situation. Of course, after saying this, Li Gang also smiled bitterly and shook his head. "We have known each other for many years. I know that Siyuan has always been open and aboveboard. In terms of doing things, I am far inferior to him. But today's matter is really forced by the overall situation. You and I also have no choice …"
The two walked on the street, followed by the carriage and servants. Qin Siyuan was silent for a moment, then sighed. "How can I not know that Jiangnan is important, but now the north is more dangerous. If we really have to divide the army to go south, I would rather it be Tong Daofu leading the army. As for who will lead the army south, it is fine … "
"Now, in the army, besides Zhong Shidao in the northwest, the only one who can really fight is Tong Daofu …"
"It's not that he can fight, it's just that he doesn't dare to fight … Ji Weng, why did I oppose Wang Lin and Yang Keshi as Marshal today? You know the reason, right?"
Li Gang smiled. "In the end … it is because of Tong Daofu."
"Yes." Qin Siyuan nodded and lowered his voice. "Daofu is a person who strongly advocates war. You and I both know the reason. To put it bluntly … he is a eunuch. He has enough money and wants to go down in history … He is greedy, but this is nothing. Once he wants to go down in history, he will fight bravely. The war against Liao is the best opportunity for him to make a name for himself. But if this opportunity is given to others … Wang Lin and Yang Keshi, they are both from the Tong Army and have sent invitations … "
Li Gang nodded. "In this way, there will be 100,000 troops going north, and the war against Liao will be a dream for the time being."
"It's just a waste of money and food."
Qin Siyuan added. The two old men walked for a while and in front of a mansion, fireworks and firecrackers were being set off. It was very beautiful. It was the mansion of the Minister of Revenue, Tang Ke. Obviously, there was a lively banquet going on inside. Coupled with the victory of Tang Ke and the others in the court today, it was a happy occasion.
"Old Qin's second granddaughter is going to be betrothed." Li Gang said.
"To Wu Min's nephew, right? The Wu family has climbed up the social ladder."
"Ha …"
After talking for a while, the two walked past the mansion. A young official recognized them and came to greet them. Li Gang returned the greeting and then smiled and waved his hand. After the man left, Qin Siyuan said, "Ji Weng, you also think I was too determined to fight against Liao. What do you think of the song and dance of the Wu dynasty?"
"Of course it's excellent. Don't you and I want to keep this song and dance of peace?"
Qin Siyuan sighed. "But if you want to sing and dance of peace, you will lose your claws and teeth … When I was in Jiangning, a young man talked to me about it. There is no difference between people, be it martial artists, Liao people, or Jin people, they are all the same. Our Wu dynasty has been at peace for many years, and there are fewer people who dare to risk their lives. When the Liao people first rose up, Yelu Abaoji was a man of great talent and bold vision. But now, he has gradually lost his spirit in the power of peace. It's just that we have lost more. As for the Female Zhenrens, they fought their way out of a world of ice and snow, white mountains and black waters. Their spirit is at its peak, like hungry tigers and wolves. The Female Zhenrens are invincible. It's the same if they let us go. "
Li Gang didn't say anything, so Qin Siyuan continued, "What do these people value the most? It's not negotiation or conspiracy. Only the simplest power can make them look at you as an equal. Ji Weng, the people in the court all say that the Female Zhenrens are few, so it's hard for them to attack our Wu dynasty. But if we let them occupy the Liao people's land, won't it be easy to get an army? We can't even beat the Khitans, so why would we need the Female Zhenrens? "
"That's why I said that Zhong Shidao is a sensible man. He was afraid early on that it would be unwise to drive away the Liao people and let the Female Zhenrens take root next to their bed. But Qin Sou and the others don't think this way. They have used too much trickery. They only think that if the Female Zhenrens and the Khitans fight to the death, our Wu dynasty can sit on the mountain and reap the spoils. Trickery, trickery, what use is it on the battlefield? "
"Ji Weng, that young man is right. If we provoke the two countries to fight, we won't get a spoil, but an opportunity. We have to stretch out our hands to pick up the spoils. If our Wu dynasty can take advantage of the exhaustion of the Liao people and win a few games, the Female Zhenrens will naturally revere our Wu dynasty. If our martial arts people are incompetent, we can only stand on the side and still lose. Once the Female Zhenrens replace the Khitans, what we face is only an old wolf turning into a young tiger … Ji Weng, at that time, I'm afraid that we'll really become the greatest sinners in history. We should think of a countermeasure … "
Fireworks rose, silver flowers and fiery trees. Li Gang was silent for a moment. "Who is that young man?"
"A chess friend I met by accident." Qin Siyuan smiled. "But … he's also trapped in Hangzhou now …"
*****
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