East of Bianliang, near Qi County, a small village had recently become lively.
Most of the residents living nearby had already moved away. The reason for the liveliness was the arrival of troops from all over the country. With the Wu Rui Battalion at the head, over sixty thousand soldiers had gathered near Qi County.
Even for an army, over ten thousand soldiers was a complete ecosystem. When it reached tens of thousands of soldiers, the commander-in-chief's control over the army would be a great test.
Now that the Jurchen army was at the gates of the city and battle could break out at any moment, it was natural that the army would be much stricter than usual. However, several armies had gathered nearby. The Wuwei, Wusheng, and Wurui armies all had different high-ranking officers. In addition to these three armies, the thirty thousand soldiers of the Wujie Battalion had come from the west. Apart from a few independent units of the Imperial Army near the capital, such as the Sun Holding Battalion, Tianwu Battalion, and Longwu Battalion, which had all retreated to the capital, there were also some small-scale armed forces of the court from all over the country. Every day, who would listen to whose orders, who would ask for logistics, and where would they stay, all of this became a matter of constant confusion.
The military establishment of the Wu dynasty had always been a bit chaotic. This time, when the armies gathered, the commanders of each army were actually of the same rank. Now that they were gathered together, there was no way for the various armies to control each other. As the highest-ranking officers, such as He Chengzhong from Tong Guan's faction, Liang Zhongshu from Cai Jing's faction, and Huo Jue from Wu Rui Camp from Right Minister's faction, although they discussed how to fight the Jurchens every day, none of them dared to launch an attack on the Jurchens. After the several armies approached each other, there were countless conflicts over logistics.
In the capital, the one with the most prestige and ability to lead this war was actually Tong Guan. Even though he wasn't highly regarded in later generations, he was still the number one military officer of the Wu dynasty. But as the Jurchen army marched south, the situation in the capital was complicated. Tong Guan's escape from Taiyuan was a stain on his record. After returning to the capital, Zhou Zhe felt a bit of a grudge and also withdrew.
For this reason, when it came time to elect the highest-ranking officer in this defensive battle, only the upright Left Minister Li Gang stood out. The imperial court was dark and gloomy, and the generals were incompetent. Li Gang had many complaints about this, and it was said that no one dared to stand up for him. The old Prime Minister had no choice but to say, "If His Majesty is not afraid of having a civil official in charge of military affairs, I am willing to do so." To Tong Guan and the others, this was a slap in the face. However, the Wu dynasty has always been a system of civilian officials in charge of military affairs. Tong Guan lowered his head and did not say anything. Zhou Zhe had found an able-bodied man. Thereupon he happily tossed the hot potato out.
After Li Gang took over, he was probably a little resentful. In order to fill the river, he even tore down Cai Jing's garden. In fact, although he had been the Left Minister for a few years, many of his affairs had always been controlled by others. The ones with the most power in the imperial court had always been Cai Jing, Tong Guan, Wang Ci, Liang Shicheng, and the others. The old Prime Minister had a fiery temper and was not as flexible as the Right Chief Minister Qin Siyuan. But this time, the fate of the entire Imperial Court was tied to one person. He vented his anger and slapped Cai Jing in the face, so no one dared to criticize him.
Of course, these things were only known to the upper echelons of the capital. Although Li Gang was now the highest commander and had the capital tightly guarded, it was not easy for him to command the several armies outside the city as if they were his own arms and fingers. Under such circumstances, when the scattered troops outside the city, including some of the mountain bandits who had been recruited previously, gathered in three hundred to five hundred people, it became a troublesome matter to decide who to listen to and who to eat with.
It was also because of this that when the young general called Yue Fei arrived at Qi County with more than three hundred soldiers under his command and found Ning Yi in a small courtyard in a nearby village, the surrounding situation was in such a chaotic state.
Outside the camp of the large army, there were all kinds of messy little barracks. There was clamor and the occasional outburst of friction. For the sake of military supplies, there were all kinds of quarrels every day. In addition, there were all kinds of small battle reports and the gathering of the wounded. It wasn't that the several reorganized armies didn't want more people, but that the efficiency of organizing them was too low. The complicated system of the Wu dynasty still existed, and these matters had not yet reached the point where they could "obey authority". As a result, the entire scene became tense and chaotic.
The three hundred soldiers led by Yue Fei had originally been stationed near his hometown, Tangyin. Although Tangyin hadn't been attacked, the various command systems north of the Yellow River had been thrown into chaos when the Lady Zhenren went all the way south. When he learned of his shifu's death, he led more than three hundred soldiers in hot pursuit. When he arrived near Bianliang, he didn't know which army to join.
Fortunately, although he was loyal and straightforward, he wasn't a man without a plan. After forming an army, he had secretly inquired about it and found out that his reinstatement was an indirect order from Qin Shaoqian. He had never seen such a high-ranking official of the Imperial Court before, but when he arrived near Qi County and saw Takeshi's men, he came all the way to find Ning Yi.
There were about one or two hundred people gathered at the Bamboo Shop. They occupied a very large courtyard near the Wu Rui Camp. Yue Fei asked around and found that the scattered soldiers who had gathered around only knew that there were people coming and going in the courtyard every day and it was unusually lively. Sometimes, some officials would go in and out, but no one knew what was inside. Some people guessed that they were responsible for helping the Imperial Court transport supplies, but when Yue Fei entered the door to report, he only heard someone cursing loudly.
"... Ignorant child, you don't know the gravity of the situation. This is a matter of life and death for so many people. It's not a place where lowly people like you can take the opportunity to stir up trouble! How many people have died at Chenghuang Slope, and how many people have died in the Yuangang area! I won't let the people under my rule die! If they stay in the city and defend the city walls, at least they will have a chance to live — "
The scolding was sonorous and righteous. Yue Fei didn't know what it was about, but he heard a voice ring out.
"Official Yu, I've said before that you've misunderstood. Takeshi's men are just familiar with the surrounding roads and are coordinating the evacuation in the name of the Imperial Court. My men are coordinating the time and route for you. Whether you do it or not, I'm just a commoner, how can I force you …"
"You're quibbling!" That person interrupted the other person's words, "Ning Liheng, do you think that I don't know that although I, Yu Wenfeng, am a small county magistrate, I'm not a person without a background. You, Takeshi, have the support of the Right Minister's residence. This time, all the matters outside were coordinated by you and others. Although your people, Takeshi, put down the things and left, but as soon as I said I wouldn't agree, an official document came that afternoon. Do you think that I don't know what's going on? The war is imminent, and you guys are doing such ridiculous things. You're a well-read person, aren't you afraid that the dead in the underworld won't let you go — "
"Someone come, send Official Yu away. Official Yu, you're mistaken. If you don't want to withdraw, then don't withdraw. I still have a lot of things to do here, and they're all official affairs that have been delayed. When this matter is over, I will personally go to your residence to apologize … "
"A real man is indomitable. Ning Liheng, you dare to do it, but you don't dare to say it? You don't dare to confront me —"
Amidst the noise, the sound of a barbaric guest being sent away could be heard. An official was pushed out. At this time, there were people coming in and out of the courtyard. Ning Yi also came out from the door, with a few people beside him. Yue Fei was just about to go up when the sound of galloping horses stopped outside the courtyard. A person with qinggong flew in and whispered something in front of Ning Yi. Yue Fei's martial arts skills were high, and he could vaguely hear that there were around three thousand people. Ning Yi frowned and said in a low voice, "Which army is nearby? If it's not organized, let Brother Wenren go and get a warrant. Brother Yong, I'll have to trouble you with this matter. As long as there's food, you must leave …"
The person next to him, who was called Brother Yong, was Qi Xinyong of the Soul Extracting Spear. Yue Fei had met him once in Jiangning, but he only saw him cup his hands and leave. Ning Yi finally walked over to Yue Fei, "Brother Yue, long time no see. You're here too."
Yue Fei stood perfectly straight and cup his hands. His relationship with Ning Yi wasn't that deep. Back in Jiangning, he had helped to save the Su family. After that, they had met and chatted twice. Ning Yi saw him as a 'benefactor'. However, Yue Fei had been taught by Zhou Dong since he was young. At that time, he was only chasing bandits and didn't think it was a big deal. This time, he didn't want others to think that he was holding a debt of gratitude.
Moreover, back in Jiangning, although the two of them fought side by side for a short period of time, Yue Fei later found out that this scholar was a ruthless person. After the extermination of the family, he chased them all the way to Liangshan and slaughtered half of the people there. In the end, the evaluation of him in Jianghu was that he was neither good nor evil. Just now, he heard the county magistrate's curses, and at this time, he subconsciously kept some distance from Ning Yi.
Seeing that Yue Fei had come looking for him, Ning Yi naturally knew the reason. Not long after, he found Qin Shaoqian and introduced him to him. At this time, Yue Fei was a nobody, but Qin Shaoqian was a general in the army. In Shou Zhang, he had attacked the Jurchen army. One of his eyes had been blinded, but he was very domineering and murderous. Yue Fei only thought that Ning Yi was deliberately trying to build a relationship with him. When Ning Yi told Qin Shaoqian that this young general should be very skilled in war, Qin Shaoqian only thought that it was a compliment. Then, he ordered people to incorporate Yue Fei's three hundred subordinates into the army and provided them with rations and supplies. Then, he arranged these three hundred people to be with Takeshi and temporarily under Ning Yi's command.
In the beginning, Yue Fei had been promoted because Ning Yi looked for him, and this time, he was so enthusiastic. From Qin Shaoqian's point of view, he was either returning a favor to Jiangning, or he felt that this young general really had potential and wanted to form a good relationship with him so that he could take him in as a hired thug in the future. At this time, martial artists were often looked down upon. Although Qin Shaoqian himself was a general, he was only a small military official leading three hundred soldiers. In his view, it was not something that would lower his status to run errands for Ning Yi, an advisor of the Prime Minister's residence. Moreover, although at this time, no one was sure of the necessity of what Ning Yi was doing, it would indeed take a lot of manpower to mobilize the millions of civilians in the vicinity of the capital.
One of the biggest reasons why Yue Fei went south was because of his teacher Zhou Dong's sacrifice. Who knew that he would be arranged to be a bodyguard for a group of unknown merchants, so he was somewhat resentful. But he had been in the army for several years and understood some things in the army and officialdom. Naturally, he would not do anything out of line. Moreover, during this period of time, more than a hundred thousand people had gathered, but it was only a fierce small-scale conflict. Everyone was confronting each other and biding their time. The situation made a middle and lower level military officer like him feel somewhat confused.
Normally, the Female Zhenren had already fought to the bottom of the capital. More than a hundred thousand troops had gathered here, plus nearly a hundred thousand people in the city. Everyone would want to drive the Female Zhenren away as soon as possible. Why was everyone making a ruckus here?
Although he did not understand Ning Yi, Ning Yi did not want to neglect him. Although he was busy every day, he would still go over to greet him and chat for a while. When the other asked, Ning Yi knew that the capital was not peaceful during this period of time. But after thinking about it, he could only say, "They are busy negotiating."
Right now, both inside and outside the capital were indeed busy negotiating.
In Bianliang, after the initial round of fierce attacks, the Female Zhenren sent someone to deliver the conditions for the negotiation. There were four conditions for the negotiation:
First, the martial artists would compensate for the country's military expenses: five million taels of gold, fifty million taels of silver, ten thousand horses and cattle, and one million taels of silk.
Second, Zhou Zhe would respect Wu Qimai as his uncle.
Third, Zhongshan, Taiyuan, and Hejian would be ceded.
Fourth, with the prince and prime minister as hostages, the Female Zhenren army would be escorted north back to their country.
In theory, the war had not yet been fought. For a country, these four conditions added together were basically nothing. But at least according to Ning Yi's intelligence, at this time in the capital, on one hand, Zhou Zhe supported Li Gang with his great "courage", and on the other hand, everyone was really discussing the matter of seeking peace. It was said that he had already sent someone to the Female Zhenren army twice to discuss the peace.
"I heard that the capital is already in a mess." As the sun set, Ning Yi looked at the busy huge camp and sighed with Yue Fei. He couldn't say too much. In the capital, the Emperor had given Li Gang the responsibility of defending the city and leading the battle, and in the blink of an eye, they were talking about peace. Li Gang had already cursed several times in the throne room, saying things like "Our friends grieve and our enemies rejoice" and "How can we face those fighting on the frontlines". But everyone only talked about the country, and most of them didn't mention this forbidden area.
Zhou Zhe didn't mention it either, only comforting Li Gang. "We will fight. It is our fault that our country is in such a state. But Prime Minister, for the sake of the country, the soldiers only need to think about fighting, but we have to make other plans."
When his efforts failed, Li Gang had asked him to come forward and negotiate with the Female Zhenren. But Zhou Zhe was perceptive and didn't agree. In the end, he let Li Gang, who was more flexible, go.
Qin Siyuan didn't say anything during this.
Qin Shaohe had been guarding Taiyuan for as long as a month. Now that the two sides had been cut off, no one knew what was going on. Although Qin Siyuan definitely wouldn't bring up the reason that his son was fighting on the frontlines to the Imperial Court, that was a forbidden area that no one could bring up.
After all, the people who wanted to sell out were fighting on the frontlines to the point where their fate was unknown …
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