The world was too big. From the Central Plains to Jiangnan, one power after another was separated by hundreds or even thousands of li. There was always a lag in the spread of news. While the people in Lin 'an were still anxiously waiting for the development of the world to begin with, the negotiations in Xicheng City and the reform in Fuzhou were advancing without a moment's pause.
The negotiations in Xicheng City were initially seen by the people as a strategy of the Huaxia army to advance by retreating. The people who harbored bone-deep hatred and wanted to kill Dai Mengwei imagined that the Huaxia army would reveal their true intentions after guiding the public's opinion. They would kill their way into Xicheng City and kill Dai Mengwei. But as time went on, this kind of expectation was gradually shattered.
This might be a development that even Dai Mengwei himself had never thought of. But with a fluke in his heart, his hands never stopped moving. On one hand, he had people spread the news that tens of thousands of people in Xicheng City had righteously forced back the Black Flag Army. On the other hand, he had incited more public opinion and made more people gather in Xicheng City.
The people were blind. The people who had just escaped the shadow of death naturally did not dare to make an enemy of the Black Flag Army who had defeated the Jurchen army. But when they heard the story of the public opinion outside Xicheng City and how even the fierce Black Flag Army couldn't help but retreat, a heroic feeling inevitably arose in the people's hearts. We are standing on the side of justice, how can we be so invincible?
The people enjoyed this kind of feeling, so more people came to Xicheng City and confronted the Black Flag Army. When they realized that the Black Flag Army was indeed reasonable, the "justice" in the people's hearts was even more aroused. This moment of confrontation might become the light of their lives.
These scenes then became Dai Mengwei's political influence. In the alliance with Liu Guangshi, he would be able to gain more initiative. And at this time, he also received Wanyan Xiyin's promise to Bianliang and other places.
The world's affairs were the most bizarre. Just like the impression in the hearts of Wu Qimei and the others, the Dai Mengwei of the past was nothing more than a rotten scholar. In terms of influence and connections, he was probably much inferior to anyone who ascended to the political center of Lin 'an and Fuzhou. But who could have thought that by relying on a series of repeated operations to offer Buddha with borrowed flowers, he could actually climb to the center of the entire world like this. Even the Jurchen and Huaxia army had to give way in front of him? From a certain point of view, this really gave people the impression that heaven and earth were working together at the same time.
Later, there were also people who lamented that in the past, the Wu dynasty's military power was weak, so they played tricks and sowed discord between the Jin and the Liao, thinking that by relying on some strategies, they could close the gap between their strengths. In the end, they set themselves on fire and their country was destroyed. But now it seemed that those people's strategies were too clumsy. If they had seventy percent of Dai Mengwei's current skill, perhaps the magnificent Wu dynasty would not have fallen into such a situation.
The Huaxia army's concession gave Dai Mengwei enough face. Under the impression that a just cause enjoys abundant support, most people did not understand the Huaxia army's persuasion and suggestions when they agreed to negotiate. After more than a decade of being invaded, the people had gotten used to the principle of showing one's true abilities in a battle of swords and spears. They regarded the seemingly peaceful persuasion as guilty and incompetent words. As a result, some people adjusted their evaluation of the Huaxia Army, and some people went to Hanzhong and directly protested to Ning Yi and Qin Shaoqian.
Jin Chenghu, the scar-faced man, and the others who joined the protest under Fu Lu's initiative were among the representatives of the protest.
After arriving in Hanzhong, they saw that the Huaxia army's camp in Hanzhong did not have much of a festive atmosphere because of the victory. Many Huaxia soldiers were in Hanzhong helping the people clean up the mess. On the seventh day of the New Year, Ning Yi received them and conveyed to them the Huaxia army's view that it was willing to follow the people's wishes. Then, he invited them to Chengdu in June to discuss the future direction of the Huaxia army. Such an invitation moved some people, but the previous view could not convince people of the martial arts world like Jin Chenghu and the scar-faced man, so they continued to protest.
Ning Yi listened quietly from above and was silent for a long time.
"I am also an old friend of Senior Fu Lu. Before the war, I invited him to come out and appeal to the people of the martial arts world to participate in the fight against the Jin. He came gladly. Now that the battle of Hanzhong has been won, I am very sad that I can't see him. " He said, "I know that many of you can't understand what happened in Xi City. You don't know why we didn't kill Dai Mengwei, who could have been killed so easily. You don't know how to comfort the dead heroes by indulging him like this. But there are millions of people living south of the Han River. They don't know why the Huaxia army came, and they don't know what the Huaxia army is. They want to live a good life. Today, we killed Dai Mengwei, and they will always feel that they can live a better life by following Dai Mengwei. "
"… Of course, the real reason is more than that. The Huaxia army is named after Huaxia. We hope that every Huaxia person can have their own will, mature will, and live according to their own will. To these millions of people, of course, we can choose to kill Dai Mengwei and then explain things clearly. But the problem now is that we don't have so many teachers who can explain things clearly. We can only let Old Dai govern one place, and we govern the other. In the future, we can compare the two sides and understand this truth. At that time … we have to pay back the debt. "
"… I know that you may not necessarily understand or agree with what I said, but this is the decision made by the Huaxia army, and it can't be changed."
He paused for a moment before continuing, "Everyone, there is a principle in this world that is hard to make everyone happy. Each of us has our own ideas. When the idea of the Huaxia army is implemented, we hope that more people will have more ideas. However, these ideas must be united in one direction. Just like the Huaxia army that you have seen, they can be united as a rope when they are united. Even if they are separated, they can still fight against the enemy. The 20,000 soldiers can defeat the 100,000 soldiers of the Jin Kingdom."
"… In the future, we hope that the whole of Huaxia can be like this. Everyone knows why they live, and everyone can live for themselves. Then, when the enemy attacks, they can stand up and know what they should do. It won't be like Bianliang in the past, where millions of people trembled in front of the 100,000 people of the Jin Kingdom. They didn't even dare to move when the butcher's knife was chopped down. When the butcher left, they went to the streets and splashed shit on their own people who couldn't fight back."
"… How did it become like this? How do we weigh the pros and cons when there are conflicting ideas? How do the future regime or imperial court do these things? We have some ideas over the years. We will prepare in May, and in June, we will announce them in Chengdu. All of you are heroes who participated in this war, so I hope that when you go to Chengdu, you can understand and discuss. If you have any ideas, you can say them. Even the matter about Dai Mengwei, we can talk about it again. "
After he finished speaking, there were whispers in the room. Some people understood a little, but more than half of them still didn't understand. After a while, Ning Yi saw a man with a scar on his face stand out among the people sitting below.
"Mister Ning, I am a rough man. I don't understand anything about the country, the imperial court, and so on. I … I have something I want to tell you today."
Du Sha leaned over slightly and whispered something in Ning Yi's ear. Ning Yi nodded: "Master Ba, please speak."
"I don't deserve the title of Master Ba. Mister Ning can call me Old Ba … Some people here know me. Old Ba is not a hero. What I do in the underworld is collecting money and helping people write off their debts. I have done evil for half of my life, so it won't be a pity if I die. But Jin Gou came to kill me. Old Ba still has a bit of blood in his chest. He and several brothers and sisters around him got the letter from Old Master Fulu. Since last year, they have been killing Daoist women!"
Half of the people present were people of Jianghu. At this time, someone shouted:
"He is a man."
"A hero and a warrior!"
Ning Yi listened quietly. Old Ba cupped his hands: "At the beginning of this year, Dai Mengwei, that old dog, pretended to resist the gold and summoned everyone to Xicheng City. Everyone knows what happened, but there was a period of time when his name was exposed. Jin Gou said that he wanted to kill the pair of children that the old dog had secretly hidden. We got the news and several brothers and sisters risked our lives to protect his son and daughter to meet with Senior Fulu and other heroes. At that time, we fell into the trap. The old dog's son colluded with Daoist women and summoned the army to surround us. Senior Fulu … he fell behind to cover us at that time …"
When he said this, it became difficult for him to speak. Many people present knew about this matter, and their expressions became solemn. The scar-faced man gritted his teeth: "But there are some small things in the middle that you don't know."
He said: "Dai Mengwei's son colluded with Jin Gou, but whether his daughter did or not, we don't know. On the way to escort the pair of siblings, we were intercepted several times. On the way, his sister was kidnapped. One of my little brothers went to rescue her, but he was left alone on the way. They wandered for a few days before they found us and met up with the main group. My little brother doesn't like to talk, but he is a really good person. He has an irreconcilable hatred with Jin Gou, and he saved my life in the past … "
When he said this, his tone was slightly choked.
"… At that time, Dai Mengwei's son colluded with the enemy. The Daoist army had already surrounded them. He wanted to bewitch people to surrender, but Senior Fulu slapped him to death. I don't know whether his sister knew about it or not, but in that situation … My little brother, at that time, stood in front of the woman. Jin Gou was about to kill them, and there was no room for soft-heartedness! But just by looking at my little brother's eyes, I know … my little brother, he really, really has fallen in love … "
The scar-faced man had lived his life on the edge of a knife and had killed countless people. At this time, his face was ferocious, but his eyes were red, and tears fell.
He gritted his teeth and said, "… my little brother, he really was moved …"
The hall was silent, and some people wiped their eyes. The scar-faced man did not tell the rest of the story, but at this point, everyone could guess what would happen next. The Jin soldiers surrounded a group of people from the Greenwood Forest, and the blade was right in front of them. It was too late to determine whether the woman from the Dai family was an enemy or a friend — in fact, it was useless to do so. Even if the woman was really innocent, there would naturally be people with weak wills who would see her as a way out. Under such circumstances, there was only one choice.
And in the more than ten years since the Daoist army went south, they had heard more than one or two similar stories.
The scar-faced man looked up at Ning Yi, his eyes wide open, and tears flowed down his face.
"Mister Ning, back then you killed the emperor because the incompetent emperor wrongly accused a good person! You said that you couldn't calm down, so you raised your sword and killed that old emperor! Today, you have given many reasons, but I am a boorish man. I don't know what you are talking about in Chengdu, but it has nothing to do with me! If I don't kill Dai Mengwei, I won't be able to calm down for the rest of my life! "
The scar-faced man's fist pounded on his chest. Ning Yi looked at him quietly without saying anything. After a while, the scar-faced man cupped his hands slightly.
"If you don't kill him, I will! I swear I will kill Dai Mengwei's entire clan with my own hands. Go to Chengdu and talk about Huaxia! "
He turned and left, followed by more people. Someone spat in Ning Yi's direction.
*****
The meeting with Jin Chenghu, the scar-faced man, and the others on the 7th of May was just a small interlude in the past few days. Some things were certainly moving, but in this vast world, it was difficult to change the trajectory of the world.
At the end of April, after defeating Zong Han, there was still a lot of optimism in the Seventh Corps of Huaxia stationed in Hanzhong. This optimism was something they had won with their own hands, and they were more qualified than anyone else in the world to enjoy this moment of optimism and relaxation. But on the 30th of April, after meeting a large number of war heroes and chatting with them for half a day, on the 1st of May, a serious meeting had already begun under the chairmanship of Ning Yi.
The problem of Zou Xu's corruption and betrayal was placed in front of the senior officers, and Ning Yi then began to tell the surviving senior officers of the Seventh Corps about the upcoming troubles of the Huaxia army. The place was too big, and the reserve of personnel was too small. Once there was even a little slack, the problem of corruption similar to Zou Xu's would appear on a large scale. Once they immersed themselves in an atmosphere of enjoyment and relaxation, the Huaxia army might completely lose its future.
The real test would only come after each stage of victory. This kind of test was even more difficult to overcome than what people encountered on the battlefield.
As the meeting to unify ideas was carried out, the surviving troops of the Seventh Corps of Huaxia also began to enter Hanzhong in large numbers to help the people carry out systematic reconstruction work. This was combat practice after defeating a strong enemy on the battlefield, and then to overcome the emotions of self-enjoyment and laziness.
On one hand, Ning Yi took advantage of this practice, and on the other hand, he began to instruct the southwest to prepare for the conference in Chengdu in June. At the same time, the proposal for the future of Jindi and the handling of the situation in Liangshan had also reached an urgent level.
Zong Han and Xi Yin were already defeated, and it might be easier to deal with them returning from Jindi to Yunzhong, but Zong Fu and Zong Bi's Eastern Army had already passed the Yangtze River, and would soon cross the Yellow River and pass through Shandong. It was only summer, and the two armies in Liangshan had not even really gotten a breather from the large-scale famine, while the Eastern Army was strong and well-trained.
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