Little Canghe.
Night had already fallen. Halfway up the mountain, in the courtyard that was made up of half caves and half houses, dinner was still being prepared. The atmosphere in each room had already become lively.
The master of the house who had just returned from the mountains was now in the kitchen, causing trouble for his family. It was not the first time. In this era where a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen, a famous rebel (someone who did great things anyway) would occasionally come to the kitchen to give suggestions on how to cook the food. He even had to cook an egg by himself. It was indeed a matter that made both the family and the cook feel annoyed.
Ning Yi was cooking an egg. In the courtyard outside, there were all kinds of chatter. On the way back from outside the mountain, there was inevitably a group of people who came to visit. For example, Chen Fan, Du Sha, and Fang Shuchang were all here to eat and drink. Before killing Zhou Zhe, Takeshi's main business was to open a restaurant. Ning Yi was very particular about food. He was not like Cai Jing and the other rich people who would kill a hundred chickens for one dish and only stir-fry their tongues. He just did not like the eating habits of this era that were below the standard.
Therefore, when Ning Yi was in Jing City, he collected a lot of chefs. Chen Fan and the others were working in Jiangnan and did not meet up with Ning Yi, so they did not enjoy this kind of treatment. It was only after traveling around that they found out that there were such benefits. Although they had entered the mountain, there were not many chefs who came with them. Most of them had to be in charge of cooking, but Ning Yi always left one at home. The Ning family's chef was called Tang Shulie. He was actually a greenwood man. He was skilled in martial arts and was on the same side as Hunchback Chen and the others. However, he was also very good at cooking. Over time, he was nagged by Ning Yi to become a housekeeper and chef.
Tang Shulie only liked cooking and thought it was just a small skill. He used to be a guard for Ning Yi like Hunchback Chen and the others. Later, he also experienced the battle of Xia Village. When he had free time to practice martial arts, he would ask Chef Takeshi for a few recipes. It was only for leisure purposes. Now that he had really become a chef, he felt like a pearl in the dark. Hunchback Chen and the others advised him that this kind of thing should be taken over by everyone. It would be better to protect Mister Ning, but it was hard to say what he was thinking in private. At this time, Ning Yi actually came to his territory to scramble eggs. As a chef, he was quite displeased.
Chen Fan, Du Sha, and the others were watching from the doorway, trying to stir up trouble, "Put a few more eggs, put a few more eggs, there are so many people, how can this be enough? Boss Ning, it's already so late, you only know how to make trouble."
"What are you adding to the mess? The taste of the dishes in the pot will change. You guys came uninvited and still have opinions? Don't eat the food I cook!"
"Of course not! Old Tang, help me cook something similar … Look at Old Tang's expression … "
"Big Brother Tang, Big Brother Tang, I'm telling you, you know that I, Chen Fan, am not the kind of person to stir up trouble. I don't know what your temper is like, but if it were me, I would definitely not tolerate it!"
"Boss … you'd better go out …"
"Are you kidding me? Old Tang, who is your boss? Who gave you food? Don't bully the weak and be afraid of the strong. That Chen Fan, you go out and challenge him, I bet you will win! " Ning Yi waved the spatula and laughed. The people inside and outside the room also laughed. Tang Shulie looked helpless. Chen Fan sneered at the doorway, "I am not going to fight with Old Tang."
Fang Shuchang, who was watching from outside the door, came over and put his arm around Chen Fan's shoulder, "What duel? What duel? Our Chen Fan has never been afraid of a duel. Xiao Fan, I am not the kind of person to stir up trouble. I don't know what your temper is like, but if it were me, I would definitely not tolerate it … "
"Why wouldn't I tolerate it? A man knows when to yield and when to stand tall. If I were to fight with Old Tang, would I still be able to eat …"
For the past few months, everyone had been living together. At this time, the kitchen was very lively, and there were many people coming and going in the courtyard and the surrounding rooms. There were a few leaders of the Tyrant's Blade Camp, Su Wending and a few other relatives of the Su family, Zhu Biao, Hunchback Chen, He Zhicheng and Liu Chengzong who came to see Ning Yi, and some of the disciples from Hangzhou, such as Zhuo Xiaofeng, came to join in the fun. Su Tan 'er took Xiaochan, Juan' er, and other family members to take care of the table, chairs, bowls, and chopsticks. Four-year-old Ning Xi ran around in the crowd and went to the kitchen to get a bowl of water for her little brother.
Her little brother, Xiaochan's child, Ning Ji, who was one year and four months old, was walking slowly under the eaves on the other side. He said, "Daddy! Daddy! " He swayed like a penguin, and when he was about to fall, Watermelon, who was watching with a straight face, reached out to catch him. Ning Ji shook his head, and when he saw who it was, he opened his mouth to show his baby teeth. "Hehe, Aunt Melon!"
"My name is Liu Dabiao." Watermelon picked him up and corrected him seriously. "Come, call me Aunt Dabiao."
"Si — Melon!"
"I'm not playing with you anymore." She put the child back in his original place and sat back under the eaves with a straight face. Ning Ji swayed toward her and continued to open his mouth to laugh heartlessly. Xiaochan walked over from a distance. When she saw Watermelon's helplessness, she also covered her mouth and laughed, not intending to interfere.
Yunzhu was already pregnant, and her belly was just beginning to show, but it was not visible when she wore thick clothes. Jin 'er accompanied her to set up the bowls and chopsticks in the room. Their circle was not very compatible with the rebels, but they had their own things to do. After going north, Yunzhu was mainly responsible for organizing and managing some books that were shipped out of the capital city. She had the highest attainment in music, but when it came to the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, she had almost dabbled in them. When it came to the orthodox understanding of some ancient books and classics, she might be even better than Ning Yi.
It was also because of this that when she came to Green Wood Village, and then to Little Canghe, what she did was not only to slowly file the books, but also to teach the orthodox Four Books and Five Classics every afternoon for half an hour.
In order to stabilize the morale of the troops, there would be a lot of lectures in the entire Little Canghe. The lower level was mainly to explain the problems of the Wu dynasty and the future situation to increase the sense of urgency. The upper level was usually led by Ning Yi, who taught the people involved in the administration the importance of efficiency, management skills, and all kinds of arrangements. The lectures for the troops were mostly to stabilize the morale of the troops, and to analyze all kinds of principles. In between, there were also some provocative and caring methods similar to pyramid selling and preaching. However, these were basically short and medium-term courses based on "use", similar to the short-term classes in modern management, lectures by successful people, and so on.
There were not many people who really had the need to learn knowledge and advance in this aspect. When Ning Yi was in Hangzhou, he taught some orthodox Confucian knowledge to Zhuo Xiaofeng and the other children from the Euphoria Youth League and the Vital Energy Society. He also used all kinds of metaphors and modern teaching methods so that they could quickly understand some principles. Later on, when these people came to Miaojiang, most of their knowledge came from self-study. On this trip to the north, some of the children showed interest in orthodox knowledge and "principles," so Ning Yi assigned them to Yun Zhu to explain some of the orthodox words in the books.
Although Yun Zhu did not have a very broad view and vision in this aspect, her explanations were very accurate. In the eyes of Zhuo Xiaofeng and the others, such a delicate and weak mistress actually had such profound knowledge. She was no different from a great scholar, so they respected her even more. During this period, some of the children of Takeshi's core members joined them. Although the team was not big, Yun Zhu's life became more fulfilling.
The group chatted and laughed. Ning Yi cooked a few dishes and moved away from the stove so that he would not hinder Tang Shulie's work. He talked with Du Sha and Chen Fan in the yard on the side. Naturally, the topic would not deviate from the siege of Bianliang City or the many situations they encountered when they went out. Not long after, Qin Shaoqian, who was wearing an eye mask and a military uniform, also arrived. The men went to a room and sat at two big tables, while the women and children went to another room. Although Watermelon was considered one of the leaders, she also accompanied Su Tan'er to another room and sat down. Occasionally, she would tease Xiaoning Ji, who had just started talking to her. After a while, Ning Ji started crying, and she hugged him with a cold face and coaxed him embarrassedly.
They sat down, exchanged greetings, and served the dishes. When Qin Shaoqian asked about the situation of this trip, Ning Yi shook his head slightly.
The problem that Little Canghe faced was not small.
Of course, no matter who it was, killing an emperor and raising troops to rebel, the problem that they encountered would not be small …
*****
Since half a year ago, after Ning Yi and the others killed the emperor, the main problem that they encountered was actually not the pursuit from the outside. Although in the throne room, Cai Jing and the others shouted "His Majesty has been assassinated" and broke Ning Yi's delaying tactics, but after that, the cavalry of Lu Liang once rushed into the palace and had a round of battle with the imperial guards in the palace. Then, according to the previous plan, they launched several rounds of artillery attacks on the soldiers who came to rescue and quell the rebellion. In the environment of Bianliang City, the bombardment of the elm cannons once scared the defending troops.
After that, the thousands of soldiers of the Wu Rui Battalion that Qin Shaoqian had ordered to come to the city, and after the great chaos, they even confronted the imperial guards in the city for two days and two nights.
At this time, the emperor had passed away, and the ministers were like a group of dragons without a leader. Ning Yi and the others rushed to loot several important places in the city, such as the Hanlin Academy, the Imperial Library, the Military Armory of the Ministry of War, the Firearms Department, the Treasury of the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Works … They took away a large number of books, gunpowder, seeds, and medicinal herbs. At that time, Tong Guan, who was the commander of the army, had been beheaded by Ning Yi. Although Cai Jing was experienced and astute, and had also experienced a lot of trouble, he was able to make a decisive decision. But in order to survive, he ordered the imperial guards to shoot arrows in the palace, which gave Ning Yi something to use against him.
In the city, Ning Yi not only announced the scandal of buying the six states of Yan and Yun, but also arranged people to shout the truth of the emperor's murder eighty times a day in the city. Cai Jing's men were all over the world, and he also knew that this was the most important moment. If it was only Tong Guan's death, he could also use his power to resist Ning Yi. But Ning Yi's actions disrupted the legitimacy of his command of the army, so all parties could not help but hesitate and wait and see. Ning Yi and the others slowly packed up these things and used carriages to carry them on the road.
After leaving the capital, the troops did not move very fast, and along the way, more troops caught up. At this time, Ning Yi had six thousand and five hundred soldiers of the Wu Rui Battalion, one thousand and eight hundred soldiers of the Lu Liang Mountain Cavalry, and more than two thousand soldiers of the Tyrant's Blade Camp. Altogether, he had just over ten thousand soldiers. The troops chasing after them were usually forty to fifty thousand soldiers. Some generals realized the use of heavy cavalry and had already equipped the few cavalrymen under their command with armor, but this was all meaningless.
Ning Yi and the others consecutively scattered the troops chasing after them. They did not kill all the soldiers, but scattered them. Only the Lu Liang cavalry chased after the generals of these two troops. The commander of the Wu Huijun, He Ping, and his personal guards were chased to the bank of the Yellow River by Han Jing and beheaded. After that, the troops chasing after them did not do anything.
Successively, they defeated the resentful army, confronted the Lady Zhenren, and caused havoc in the city of Bianliang, killing the emperor's troops. Their combat power was at its peak. But at this peak, there was an air of hysteria. The real problem was the thinking and future of this army. Not many people dared to think about this. Once they did, they would inevitably fall into confusion. If this situation continued, in less than half a year, the army would also collapse.
The core of Ning Yi's response was also one sentence: "Within a year, the capital and the north of the Yellow River will fall, and within three years, all the north of the Yangtze River will fall. This is the general trend of the Lady Zhenren. The imperial court of the Wu dynasty will not be able to reverse the situation. When the time comes, we must try our best to save the people of Huaxia … "
In order to infiltrate every part of the army with this sentence, Ning Yi also did a lot of things. Apart from having people spread the dirt of the aristocratic families of the Wu dynasty to all the aristocratic families along the way to shake people's hearts and make them kill each other, the real brainwashing was still carried out in the army. The meetings from top to bottom broke down these things one by one and instilled them into people's minds. When these things infiltrated, the following conclusions and prophecies really had a foothold.
The prophecy about the fate of the Wu dynasty defined short-term and medium-term goals, and defined the program and correctness of action. At the same time, it also hinted that once the imperial court fell, the only thing they would face would be the enemy. In this way, the morale of the Wu Ruiying camp was temporarily stabilized by this prophecy. If this prophecy did not happen a year later, the mentality of the soldiers would probably only be able to hold on until then. However, in the end, the Jin army still went south again.
It was a little ironic that the morale of an army depended on the victory of their biggest enemy, but no matter what, this was the truth. The Jin army's southward movement allowed this troop's "rebellion" to gain a foothold. It was also because of this that when the news of the fall of Bianliang came, there was such a huge boost in morale in the valley. This was because the correctness of their side had once again improved, and the people's trust in Ning Yi had undoubtedly increased.
However, even though the initial foundation was so ironic, for Ning Yi and the other higher-ups, the difficult problems were just beginning to be solved. The first big problem they faced was that Green Wood Stronghold was about to lose its geographical advantage.
Before deciding to kill Zhou Zhe, Ning Yi had two years of planning and management of Green Wood Stronghold. As a business tycoon, his understanding and coordination of supply and demand were all too familiar. Although Green Wood Stronghold was engaged in smuggling, under Ning Yi's control, he would actively analyze and give suggestions on how to take care of the merchants coming and going, their strengths and weaknesses, what they could obtain and what they needed. In this era, not only did he do business with others, he also taught them how to do it. He actively coordinated the supply and demand of Wu and Jin. For merchants, this was a huge convenience, and of course, a huge profit.
Two years was not a long time. The first year could only be said to be the beginning. However, the Office of Secret Investigations had a large amount of information. Through disaster relief, Takeshi had also formed an alliance with many merchants. These merchants were in partnership with the Bamboo Ji Shop. If there were any who were not, Ning Yi would send Lu Liangshan's men to look for them. By the second year, the Jins had come south and trampled through the Yanmen Pass. By the time the border trade stopped, the Green Wood Stronghold had already expanded tremendously.
If Ning Yi did not rebel, and the Jin did not go south again. In the winter of Jinghan's 14th year, Green Wood Stronghold would probably take a large piece of the border trade revenue from Yanmen Pass, and then force the army to officially turn against them.
At present, there was no such worry. However, once the Jin moved south, seized the north of the Yellow River, and broke through Bianliang, once they officially began to digest this area, the business between the north and the south would no longer be smuggling. Green Wood Stronghold would also be completely taken over by Yanmen Pass.
In the past year or so, Greenwood Stronghold had plundered and gathered a massive amount of resources. But no matter how astonishing it was, there was still a limit. The two thousand cavalrymen that had come from Mount Lu Liang and nearly two hundred heavy armored cavalrymen were the core of these resources. Secondly, Green Wood Stronghold had also hoarded a large amount of food. This could not be considered premeditated, but the environment of Lu Liangshan was not good, and everyone had starved before. Once they had enough, the first choice was to stock up on food.
After Green Wood Stronghold established itself, it took in the nearby mountain people, refugees, and deserters from the north and south. At present, it had a scale of more than twenty thousand people. Another ten thousand people could support it for about a year. However, the afterglow had already begun to appear.
Of course, the ordinary soldiers did not know. But it was also because of these considerations that Ning Yi chose to move the new base to the west. He would rely on Green Wood Stronghold to first gain a foothold and infiltrate the territory of the western army. The people in this area were swift and fierce, but they did not have a very strong sense of belonging to the imperial court. Moreover, previously, Zhong Shidao and Qin Siyuan appreciated each other, so Ning Yi and the others thought that Zhong Shidao might give Qin Shaoqian some face and not kill them all. At least, before the western army could kill them all, they might not do so easily.
In these two or three months, Ning Yi used all the storytellers under Takeshi to go to several counties in the territory of the western army. They pretended to be survivors and told the story of how the imperial court killed the emperor, the truth of the six states of Yan and Yun, and so on. They also spread the story of Zhong Shidao's heroic sacrifice. During this time, the western army did not put up any fierce resistance. Because of the fierce customs of the people, sometimes people felt that the storytellers were speaking ill of the imperial court and would be beaten up and driven away. But there were also many people who, because of their admiration for Zhong Shidao, were filled with righteous indignation at the weakness of the imperial court.
On the other hand, Ning Yi had begun to set up a preliminary business network in the vicinity. He had a lot of information on merchants in his hands. Of course, those who were originally related to Takeshi and those who were not dared to have anything to do with Ning Yi. But it did not matter. As long as there was desire and demand, he could always play some tricks in the middle.
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