In the ninth year of Jinghan in the Wu dynasty, various rebellions took place in Jiangnan, including the subsequent capture of Hangzhou and the threat of Yongle in Jiaxing, which shook the entire land of Tiannan. It might be an exaggeration to say that this uprising shook the foundation of the entire Wu dynasty. But because of this uprising, it did set off a series of thought-provoking chain reactions in some key places. The fall of this series of dominoes led to the destruction of the entire Wu dynasty. Whether it was the main cause or the secondary cause, whether it was accidental or inevitable, whether it was necessary or not, or whether it was necessary or not, became a topic often studied by historians of later generations.
In fact, some people had considered these things at that time. But because they were involved in the situation, no one thought as far ahead as they did. Fang Qizhi decided to delay the time when Tong Guan's army went north. In the end, he hoped to wear down the bottom line of the Wu dynasty's tolerance and obtain a slim chance of survival. He had clearly seen the awkward situation in the north and south of the Wu dynasty at that time. But to what extent he could achieve in the end, Fang Qizhi probably could not see it clearly.
At least at the beginning of the uprising, it seemed that the general trend of the world was surging and sweeping. Especially after a big city like Hangzhou was taken, it really gave people a feeling that they had come with the mandate of heaven and that the Wu dynasty was already weak and on the verge of danger. However, when the Wu dynasty really took this rebellion seriously and wanted to wipe it out with all its might before the Battle of Pingliao, what they felt at that time was the real direct pressure of the Wu dynasty. A country that had been accumulating for two hundred years really counterattacked. Whether Fang La or Fang Qizhi could survive, they were just fighting with the mentality of a fluke.
And in Bianjing, the political center where the powerful gathered, Fang La's disaster was not really regarded as a crisis that could destroy the country. Even in the eyes of people like Qin Siyuan, Li Gang, and even Emperor Jinghan and Zhou Zhe, Fang La's rebellion was not really regarded as a crisis that could destroy the country. It was just that his occupation of Hangzhou had already interfered with the most prosperous area of the country. Under the circumstances where the interests of many rich gentry and nobles were damaged, they had to order Tong Guan to wipe out this trouble first. Of course, it took quite a long time to do so.
The biggest trouble and opportunity was naturally in Liao. In the eyes of many, the opportunities were greater than the troubles. Just as they were about to march north, Tong Guan went south. The Sixteen Prefectures of Yan Yun were like a piece of fat meat placed in front of them, but because of a small stalk in their throats, they couldn't eat it. This was an extremely worrying matter. At this time, the crowd couldn't see the bad things that might happen if they didn't eat this piece of fat meat. At the very most, if the Sixteen Prefectures of Swallow Cloud could not be taken back, their country would not suffer too great a loss. Many people could not help but think this way in the face of this obstacle.
Only a small number of people vaguely felt their scalps go numb. Li Gang was one of them. But even Qin Siyuan didn't consider it as a real crisis, although he had thought about the hidden dangers that might be caused by the failure of this operation. After all, the future was too far away. It could not be seen or touched.
This northern expedition could not be carried out because of the constraints. Li Gang's anxiety, Qin Siyuan's anxiety, the Emperor's anxiety, and the officials' anxiety were all mixed in. Under such circumstances, to be able to cut a bloody path through the cobwebs of interests and push forward the progress of the northern expedition, Qin Siyuan and the others were really very powerful. Unfortunately, they didn't expect that in such a complicated situation, the country itself would be so powerless.
More than a hundred thousand people were defeated by the tens of thousands of Liao soldiers. Wang Ling and Yang Keshi had already sensed that something was wrong. They gathered the defeated soldiers again and regrouped. But after that, they were defeated again and again. The soldiers were scared out of their wits and feared the Liao people like tigers. Whenever there was a slight fierce battle, more people ran away than stayed. Only some small-scale battles involving less than a hundred people were occasionally won, and the news of victory was sent back to Bianjing. But Qin Siyuan and the others had their own intelligence system. The overall collapse and the quality of the army's morale made Qin Siyuan and the others dumbfounded.
It was like a boxer who persisted in his dream, worked hard, and overcame all difficulties to get into the boxing ring. He was full of confidence when he threw his first punch, only to find that the strength of his fist was less than that of a five-year-old child. In this way, fighting for anything became empty talk.
Of course, everyone knew that there was not much difference between people. The victories in small-scale battles with less than a hundred people could prove this. There were still people with courage. But when the scope expanded to the entire Northern Expedition Army, as soon as something went wrong, the fear snowballed. Everyone was thinking, "We can't win anyway. No matter how hard we try, we'll still die if we don't do our best." Then the entire army would be swept under the rug and crushed.
What kind of atmosphere produces what kind of people. While Qin Siyuan was trying in vain to put an end to the various schemes in the northern expedition army, he had actually chosen another path. At this moment, the envoy from the north and some of the people he had arranged were constantly in contact with Guo Yaoshi, the commander of the "resentful army" in Liao, trying to recruit him. Guo Yaoshi was originally a Han. When he saw the change in the situation in Liao, he had the idea of returning to Liao. But the defeat of Yang Keshi temporarily delayed his consideration.
Although it was later proven that every move Qin Siyuan made was ruthless, unfortunately, the resistance around him was too great. In theory, a good chess player should be able to consider everything around him, but this kind of resistance was very reasonable. Whether it was Li Gang, Qin Siyuan, or the famous ministers and elders in the court, they had studied Confucianism for decades, but in the end, they could only be stuck in this giant spider web of Confucianism. Sometimes, when they tried to use force, they only became mutual resistance. Every move of these chess pieces was made at the right time with foresight, but when they were in place, they were completely lagging behind …
Apart from looking forward to Yang Keshi's great victory, looking forward to the surrender of people like Guo Yaoshi, the only thing they could look forward to was the ice breaking of the war in the south. It was during such a delay that something began to ferment in the north without anyone noticing.
At the beginning of the war, the Jurchens were actually quite fond of the Han people.
Although they had already beaten the Liao like a dog, in the end, the Jurchens were still country people who had just come out of the white mountains and black waters. Before this, they didn't even have their own language. Under the constant oppression of the Khitans, they occasionally heard some news from the south and saw all kinds of treasures and artifacts from the south. Their imagination of the south, which was made up of Han people, was really like a heavenly country.
Civil officials in important positions like Wanyan Xiyin were all influenced by Han culture. After all, at this time, in terms of civilization, the Wu dynasty was still the strongest. Two years ago, Wanyan Xiyin had created the Jurchens' language based on Chinese and Khitan characters. At the start of the war, they did not have enough soldiers to begin with. They had to fight a battle of 20,000 against 800,000, so they were actually quite respectful to their ally in the south. However, in the first half of the year, there was no movement from the south at all. When winter came, the Wu Dynasty's Northern Expedition Army finally had their first battle. More than 100,000 people lost to 10,000. After that, everything really took a turn for the worse.
The Jin Kingdom had been fighting for nearly a year and had conquered nearly half of Liao's territory. They had a lot of people and their horizons had broadened. But when they saw the Wu dynasty's movements, they were still dumbfounded. Of course, the Jurchens had a limited number of people. It was impossible for them to think that they could take down the Wu dynasty. Their enemy was still Liao. It would be good if they could defeat Liao. But at this time, some feelings finally began to germinate and brew …
The Wu dynasty in the south was probably not a heavenly country …
It was just a bunch of trash.
Tong Guan went to Hangzhou in the second month of the Sixth Year.
It was already the spring of the tenth year of the Wu dynasty. The army officially started to attack the city on the eighth of the second month. On the sixteenth of the second month, Leng Gong, one of the guards at the north gate, was killed by a stray arrow. A deputy general named Dong Fangyue took his place. Fang La's army didn't know that Dong Fangyue had been arranged to be in this position for nearly half a year by the spy organization led by Wenren Bu 'er and others in the city. By the time Bao Daoyi arrived in November, the city was already in a state of siege. Fang La and the others were extremely concerned about the internal power transition. Dong Fangyue was merely pushed to the "possible" position, and it had already cost Wenren Bu Er a great deal of effort. Ning Yi had also given some advice in the process. At this time, this chess piece finally played its role.
On the seventeenth of the second month, Dong Fangyue opened the north gate of Hangzhou. Tong Guan's imperial army swarmed in like a tide. Although the city wall had been breached several times before and the foreign soldiers had broken in, there was no room for luck this time. The elites of the Seven Buddhas of Fang fought in the streets inside the city while Fang La and the others led the army out of the city in chaos. But at this time, the 150,000 imperial soldiers led by Tong Guan had surrounded them. After a fierce battle, the remnants of the Yongle Dynasty were defeated from the west and the south.
Although Fang La claimed the throne because of Hangzhou, the uprising this time had also swept across a large area. After Hangzhou was besieged, the territories outside would be suppressed. However, Shi Sheng, Lu Xinger, Lü Shibo, and the others were still participating in the resistance. Secondly, Tong Guan did not have the time to care about these trivial matters. After they rushed out of the city, Fang La still had some space to maneuver. Of course, Tong Guan would not let him go. He wanted to go north immediately. First, he had to completely defeat Fang La. After Hangzhou, he would immediately lead the army to pursue and kill Fang La.
Fang La's base was still in Qingxi County. There were tens of thousands of corpses along the way from Hangzhou to Qingxi County. Then, the soldiers of the imperial court came from all over and confronted the remnants of Fang La's troops again.
Under such circumstances, on the 24th of February, the Qingming Festival. A defeated army mainly led by the Tyrant's Blade Camp was crossing the mountains in front of them hundreds of miles northwest of Qingxi County.
When the city was breached, the Tyrant's Blade Camp that left the city from the south was originally a team that brought up the rear. They had indeed completed their mission and delayed a large number of pursuers, allowing many remnants of the Euphoria Empire to escape. However, when the war stopped and they wanted to catch up with Tong Guan's main force in the west, that was the direction where Tong Guan was the fiercest. If the Tyrant's Blade Camp chased after them, they would face the rear of the imperial court's army.
At this time, there were many troops chasing after the remnants of the Yongle Dynasty. When the Tyrant's Blade Camp fought their way out of the city, they even had to drag their families with them. If they rushed to Qingxi County at this time, they would be courting death. They took a detour and turned northwest near Hangzhou. Their route was roughly the same as Fang La's escape route. It would be best if they could return to Qingxi County from the rear. If that was not possible, they would have to consider other options. Of course, most people were still considering the former option.
"If they return to Qingxi County, they're dead meat …"
Ning Yi sighed as he gazed at the setting sun in the distance. He was speaking to Lu Hongti, who was riding beside him.
It was raining heavily during the Qingming Festival. The spring rain that had been falling since yesterday had stopped this afternoon. Spring rain was like this. Although it was not heavy, it was cold and sticky. After being drenched for a long time, the coldness seemed to seep into one's bones. Although the sun had risen, the ground was still muddy. The troops next to them were trudging forward.
They were fleeing again.
Su Tan 'er and the others did not follow this group of people who were fleeing. She was already eight months pregnant. During the time when the city was breached, at least in the eyes of the Tyrant's Blade Camp, Ning Yi had spent a lot of effort to find connections to send his wife and family away so that they could stay in the city. During that chaotic time, Ning Yi might have been able to escape. However, in the end, he still followed the Tyrant's Blade Camp. In a sense, this should be a move that made Liu Watermelon and the others feel quite warm.
Only Lu Hongti, who was still dressed like a thirty-year-old woman, followed them.
"What can they do?" The long journey was not a problem for Lu Hongti. She glanced at Ning Yi and said.
"What else can they do besides becoming bandits?" Ning Yi smiled. "Fang La is finished."
In the chaos that followed Fang La's rebellion, the Tyrant's Saber Camp had paid a huge price. At the time of the rebellion, the Tyrant's Saber Camp had about three thousand or even more than four thousand elite soldiers. Many of them were disciples, hangers-on, and others who had no family. After the battle of Jiaxing, there were only about one thousand five hundred soldiers who could serve as soldiers. By the time the city was breached, there were only about eight hundred soldiers who could fight. As for the family members that needed to be protected along the way, there were about two thousand people who needed to escape. Including the family members and remnants of the Yongle Dynasty, this fleeing group had about five thousand people.
Of course, compared to the other rebel forces that had been completely annihilated, this was already a very good situation. When Hangzhou was founded, not all of the family members who were in the Tyrant's Blade Village had come. Since Hangzhou was breached, they should have started to move according to the previous plan. Fortunately, for the time being, many areas around Hangzhou were still under the control of Fang La's remnants. Since most of the firepower was attracted by Fang La, the Tyrant's Blade Camp still had one last chance and capital to move.
Chen Fan rode a horse and galloped over from behind. "Feather Blade" Qian Luoning was with him. "Liheng." The two of them greeted Ning Yi. Ning Yi smiled and asked, "How's the situation at the back?"
"There's no movement. It looks like they don't dare to fight. They're just following us. Let's go and tell your wife about it. "
Even though he was in a defeated state, Chen Fan still maintained a rather optimistic and cheerful state. Not far in front of the team, Liu Watermelon was looking at a wounded person on a stretcher. She was wearing a veil, and her clothes were already in a travel-worn state, but her pair of big eyes were extremely lively, and sometimes she would laugh, but most of the time it was a cold and arrogant powerful aura. When she saw everyone looking in her direction, she tilted her head and waved her hand. As the master of the Tyrant Saber Manor, this young lady who would let her imagination run wild and go berserk during her fake marriage was constantly encouraging the people around her with a mature attitude. She made people feel like they were "here" when they saw her. Even though Ning Yi knew that she was also injured and very tired during the journey, she was still very calm.
Ning Yi, Chen Fan, and the others rode over.
After Hangzhou was breached, even though the main force of Tong Guan's army rushed to Qingxi County, the rest of the army still scattered in all directions to hunt down the remnants of Fang La's remnants. However, due to the valiance and brutality of the Tyrant's Blade Camp, apart from the battle at the beginning, there were not many troops who actually dared to fight the Tyrant's Blade Camp during their escape. Over the past two days, a troop had secretly followed them. However, it seemed that they didn't dare to fight and only followed them timidly. Chen Fan and Qian Luoning, the youngest of the "Murder for Life", had gone over to scout out the situation.
"There's about a thousand and two hundred of them. They're not imperial guards from Dongjing. They probably know our name and don't dare to fight us. However, they're afraid of being surrounded. Should we make a move first to drive them away and then leave?"
"There's no need to make a move. Don't get carried away. The imperial court doesn't have many troops in this area. This time, it's time for everyone to take credit. They definitely don't want to fall behind, but they can't fight with their lives. I think they'll leave after following us for a while. If we fight too fiercely, the imperial court troops nearby will have to chase after us. We'll be in real trouble then. "
The one who spoke was a strategist named Lu Jiang. He was originally one of the orthodox strategists under Fang La's command. However, when the city was breached, he was dragged into the Tyrant's Blade Camp. He was quite capable. After listening to him, Watermelon nodded and mounted his horse. He rode beside Ning Yi and said, "Strategist Lu is right. Let's not make a move for now. Lin Kunwu's territory is two mountains away. Although Lin Kunwu only has a few hundred men, he's with us now. The troops behind us probably won't dare to follow us. "
Since they didn't need to fight, they chatted and laughed. They also expressed that their eight hundred men were a complete massacre against the twelve hundred men behind them. If they dared to come, they would kill them all. Qian Luoning said, "Actually, our Tyrant's Blade Camp is quite famous. I'm afraid that the imperial court will really want to kill us. Villa Master, I think we should leave as soon as possible in the next few days. "
"With so many people following us, we won't be able to leave quickly."
"Let them come …" Chen Fan also laughed. "Why don't we change our name to … Big Tiger Alliance? With a new flag, they won't be able to recognize us. Haha." He was obviously joking. Then, he leaned over and whispered to Ning Yi, "Watermelon Alliance is fine too …"
Liu Watermelon's eyes had already started to flash with a dangerous light. Ning Yi smiled and quickly smoothed things over. "Actually, I think it's better to call it Eight Hundred Tigers."
After hearing his words, Qian Luoning, who was beside him, thought for a moment and said, "That's a good name."
Liu Watermelon glanced at Ning Yi angrily. "I won't change it."
Although her tone toward Ning Yi sounded cold, her attitude was obviously different.
Ever since they got married more than three months ago, their relationship had progressed a lot. Of course, it wasn't quite right to say that it was the kind of progress between lovers. Except for the embarrassing accident of Qi Deviation on the first night of their marriage, Liu Watermelon had a good sense of propriety in other aspects. When Su Tan 'er was in the Tyrant's Blade Camp, she would often visit and talk to her, but it wasn't like they were family.
After all, Liu Watermelon was a very open-minded woman in many matters. Occasionally, she would make some embarrassing mistakes. Usually, she would discuss with Ning Yi about the management of the Tyrant's Blade Camp, and sometimes she would ask Su Tan 'er to intervene. At night, in the small courtyard where Ning Yi lived, they argued incessantly. Ning Yi could be considered to have revisited the process of enterprise structure and restructuring. By the time the city was breached, Ning Yi was involved in half of the internal operations of the Tyrant's Saber Camp. The relationship between the two of them became more and more like comrades fighting for the same ideals. Of course, only the two of them knew whether there was any extra ambiguity during this period of time.
When the city was breached, they had to make arrangements for Su Tan 'er first. Su Tan' er even mentioned to Ning Yi, "Miss Liu is actually a very lonely girl. You … try not to hurt her …"
At this time, looking at the state of Ning Yi and Liu Watermelon, Lv Jiang looked a little unhappy. He was actually in his early thirties and was a handsome man. After traveling with the Tyrant's Blade Camp, he often gave advice to Liu Watermelon. Liu Watermelon also somewhat agreed with his advice. After talking and laughing for a while, he put on a smile and said, "I heard that Young Master Ning used to be a famous scholar. Do you have any new works recently?"
"Now?" Ning Yi frowned, and the others also frowned slightly. They had been fleeing for their lives and were in a sorry state. Everyone's happiness was just seeking joy in the midst of hardship. How could they have the time to talk about romance? In fact, Lv Jiang's understanding of Ning Yi was not enough. He probably wanted everyone to think that Ning Yi was actually a useless scholar. Ning Yi sighed and said, "In the current situation, there is actually a sentence."
Liu Watermelon turned her head and looked at him curiously. "What is it? Say it."
"The mighty pass is like iron, and today we stride over it from the top. Over it from the top, the mountains are like the sea … the setting sun is like blood. "
Ning Yi happened to think of this sentence. He did not add much emotion when he said it, but the momentum of this sentence could not be suppressed in front of those who could understand it. Among the crowd, perhaps Lv Jiang could not help but murmur "The mighty pass is like iron, and today we stride over it from the top. An advisor from the Tyrant's Saber Camp went over and said, "The mighty pass is like iron, and today we stride over it from the top. Young Master Ning's sentence is really, really … "
A crowd of people spread through the mountains. The setting sun shone from there. The advisor said "really" a few times, but he could not find the right words to describe it. It was clearly a crowd of people fleeing for their lives, but at this moment, it seemed to be dyed with a layer of majestic blood red.
Chen Fan and the others were already clamoring to write down the sentence. Lv Jiang said, "There is only one paragraph. What else?" Ning Yi only shook his head and did not pay attention to him.
No one was moved by Lv Jiang's little trick. After a while, everyone rode their horses and split up. When Ning Yi rode up the mountain, Chen Fan sat on the grass and looked down at the crowd below. The wind was strong and cold. Only the setting sun in front of them cast a magnificent and warm illusion. Ning Yi dismounted from his horse. The grass was wet. Chen Fan picked up a blade of grass and stood up, looking forward.
"The mighty pass is like iron, and today we stride over it from the top … Liheng, when we started the war, the sun was like this too. I thought that was the beginning, but do we still have to start over …" He clenched his fists and stood there, looking up and down again, closing his eyes. "Liheng, why were we defeated …"
His murmur disappeared in the wind in the blink of an eye.
Ning Yi did not speak.
He remembered the day the city fell. Chen Fan went out to kill the enemy. When he saw him again, he was in a blaze. He was holding a guandao, riding slowly like a demon god. Both he and his horse were covered in blood. The edge of the guandao had been curled up, and he was exhausted. When he came over, only his eyes were clear and bright on his bright red face. Ning Yi did not know if he had been crying.
"Liheng, why were we defeated …"
As soon as he said this, he fell off his horse and fainted.
In the past few days, through the bright illusion, Ning Yi could see this demon god's powerful but weak figure.
He did not speak, but reached out and patted Chen Fan's shoulder.
*****
The sun set, and the moon gradually rose. The escaping troops set up camp, and the fire lit up the tents.
At some point, Lv Jiang stopped Liu Watermelon, who was patrolling the area, and said something to her. After a while, the two entered the tent. Lv Jiang took out a small book and told the girl about it. Suddenly, the girl reached out and grabbed Lv Jiang's neck. Lv Jiang struggled with all his might, but it was useless. After a long while, when he was about to suffocate to death, the girl finally let go.
Inside the tent, Lv Jiang fell to the ground, gasping for air. "What I said … is true … I said it is true …"
As he spoke, he passed the book to Liu Watermelon. Liu Watermelon took it and read a few pages.
Lv Jiang's voice trembled as he struggled to get up. "What happened on the day the city was breached … Dong Fangyue's promotion. I've been investigating, I've been investigating … I've asked the people in the team … Some of them know … Before Bao Daoyi died, Ning Liheng was involved in his transfer once. That's because the timber business of your Tyrant's Saber Camp has some connections with Leng Gong's side. The operation was very clever … Later, because of Bao Daoyi's death, Dong Fangyue was further pushed to replace Leng Gong's position. I've investigated everything. If Ning Liheng hadn't killed Bao Daoyi …
Liu Watermelon slammed the table next to her, and the whole book turned to dust. "Nonsense! It was an accident that Liheng killed Bao Daoyi. Aren't the spies in the city also using our power to do things? You still want to rely on others even after going through eighteen twists and turns. Do you know that Ning Liheng is my husband?! A villain like you will be killed in my Tyrant's Saber Camp. There's no room for negotiation! "
With a swoosh, she pulled out a steel knife and grabbed Lv Jiang's collar. Lv Jiang shouted, "He sent his wife away! He sent his wife away! Why did he send his wife away at this time …"
"Because his wife is eight months pregnant!"
After Liu Watermelon finished speaking, she was about to slash him with the knife. Lv Jiang took out something from his pocket. "I have evidence, I have conclusive evidence, I have conclusive evidence …"
The knife slowly stopped on his neck. Lv Jiang probably didn't expect the woman in front of him to be so ruthless. His teeth were chattering, and he felt a warmth in his pants. "I have conclusive evidence … I only dare to take it out if you believe me a little …"
In the silhouette in the tent, Lv Jiang staggered backward and fell to the ground. The woman, who looked a little thin, stood there and looked at the things with her head lowered. She was silent for a long time before she slowly put down the knife …
*****
Ning Yi's tent was set up on the west side of the camp. The girl called Watermelon walked over with a stupefied expression. She stretched out her hand and was about to lift the curtain of the tent when she paused for a moment. Then, she lifted the curtain and went in.
The tent wasn't big, but it wasn't too small either. Ning Yi used a few boards to hastily make a table and a few benches. They were probably taken from other people's cars. In the few days that they had been on the run, Watermelon would come over almost every night to discuss the future plans with Ning Yi. Sometimes, she would go out to patrol the camp while discussing. But today, Ning Yi was writing something in a notebook. He was very focused. When Watermelon came in, he only said, "Sit."
Watermelon sat down and watched him write. After about a quarter of an hour, Ning Yi raised his head slightly and rotated his wrist a few times to relax. "There's still a little more and I'll finish writing. Wait for a while. How about I go find you later?"
Watermelon looked at him. "I'll wait."
Ning Yi nodded and continued to write. After a while, Watermelon wanted to say something but stopped. Finally, she took out a small bag from her bosom. She looked at a small stove at the side and stood up. She rummaged through Ning Yi's bag and took out a small pot.
"I, I have some tea leaves. I'll help you make a cup of tea."
Her voice trembled slightly. Slowly, she said …
*****
He didn't expect that this chapter of 7,800 words had already been written for two chapters since last night.
I'm very kind. I'll send him off once I finish writing!
So, he could confidently shout, "Two chapters! Asking for monthly votes!
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