The summer night was suffused with a leaden glow. Under the night sky, a fire was burning in the small county town. The sounds of people were chaotic, accompanied by the cries of women and children.
The black flag was fluttering, but in the darkness of the night, people could only see the flag in places illuminated by the fire.
On the shore of Lake Tai, there was a small county town to the north of Pingjiang Prefecture. After the disaster of last year's war, there weren't many people left. This time, it was a group of refugees known as the Fairness Party that attacked. After entering the county town, they didn't start a wanton massacre. Only the homes of several local gentry and nobles on the west side of the county town were destroyed.
At this moment, the flames and slaughter were still continuing. Another group of people came from the wilderness outside the county town, raising their banners high. In this darkness, both sides raised the same banners. The refugees who seized the county town's city gates exchanged a few words with the other party in the darkness of the night, and they knew that this group of people had very high statuses in the Fairness Party. They did not dare to stop him. Only when the other party came closer did someone recognize the identity of the seemingly thin middle-aged man in front of them. All the refugees near the city gate called him "King of Fairness" and knelt down.
The 'Prince of Fairness' was He Wen. After the exchange, he spurred his horse into the city. The soldiers under his direct command began to take over the defense of the county town. Another team of law enforcement entered the county town and began to shout, "Anyone who dares to harass the innocent will be killed! Those who take advantage of the chaos to steal wealth will be killed! Those who insult women will be killed … "
He Wen led his personal guards and headed towards the direction of the fire. That was the mansion of the great clan. In order to protect the house and the courtyard, it seemed that both sides had gone through a series of battles. At this moment, as He Wen stepped into the mansion, he could see corpses lying on the ground. Among the corpses, there were not only young men wielding weapons, but also women and children who were killed while fleeing.
He did not speak. Along the way, a deputy led a man over to pay his respects. This was a thirty-something year old leader of the Fairness Party with a black scarf tied around his forehead. His position was not high to begin with, but this time, he had spotted a loophole in the defense of this county city and had temporarily summoned nearby helpers to break into the city — after the Jins had left, the livelihoods of the various regions of Jiangnan had not been restored. Everywhere, there were refugees whose families had been destroyed. If they entered the city, they could beg. If they entered the mountains, they could become bandits. During this period of time, the Fairness Party's reputation had gradually risen. He Wen's core troops were still being built, and the factions on the periphery who had heard of the name of the Fairness Party also joined in the fight. As a result, there were also countless factions.
After briefly explaining what had happened, the leader began to talk about the stubborn resistance of the large clansmen during the attack, which resulted in the deaths of many of their brothers. He Wen asked about the treatment of the injured before asking, "What about the officials? Where's the chief? "
The leader hesitated for a moment before saying, "Those old bastards are stubbornly resisting and would rather die than surrender. I have no choice but to … kill them."
"Where is it? Take me there."
"… The, the ancestral hall." The leader led the way at the front, then said, "Those bastards, the people outside have no way to live. Everyone is starving to death. They have stockpiled gold, silver, and provisions in their homes, piled up like a small mountain. Just the gold and silver utensils alone are innumerable. I've sent people to carry them over to the ancestral hall as well. I don't dare to embezzle … That, San-er, come over and tell Mr. He. Tell him what it looked like when the granary was opened. Those bastards even wanted to set fire to the grain …"
The group talked as they walked. When they arrived at the ancestral hall, they could see the corpses inside. There were also wooden chests of various sizes filled with gold and silver piled up at the side of the ancestral hall. The leader immediately went over and opened the chests for He Wen to see. He Wen walked over to the pile of corpses and looked at them a few times. Then, he went over to the pile of gold and silver. He took out a few golden utensils and fiddled with them, then asked about the provisions.
"Call over all the brothers who participated at your invitation. I have something to say to them. I have to thank them."
At this moment, his expression and tone became gentle. The leader then ordered his deputy to go out and call for people. Not long after, the other leaders were summoned over to pay their respects to the "King of Justice", Mr. He. He Wen looked at them a few times before waving his hand.
"Take away the weapons. Detain them first. We'll deal with them later."
He had already given the order. His deputy, who was in charge of carrying it out, waved the flag. Some of the people in the courtyard cried out for their innocence, while others drew their swords. There was some commotion outside the courtyard, but because the elites had already been prepared beforehand, the commotion soon died down. The guards in the courtyard also surrounded the leaders. Some were bluffing, but the leader of the Party of Justice had already knelt down. He Wen looked at them.
"Killing and destroying homes, just to vent your anger, you killed everyone. There are even women's corpses outside. After you were humiliated, you didn't even have time to hide them. These are the actions of beasts! Who did and who didn't do these things will be investigated in the future. In a few days, you will be put on trial in front of all the commoners! You want to be the Party of Justice? This is the Party of Justice! "
Someone among them began to curse, "Hypocrites! We worked so hard for you. Our brothers died and our blood flowed, but this is how you treat us! We've been watching over our men, but the commoners outside haven't done anything! The houses of the people here are filled with gold and silver, and mountains of provisions. Look at how well they're dressed. It's all the blood and sweat of the commoners. They're the ones who should be killed. You're the Party of Justice, you hypocrites! You just want to steal these things without sharing the benefits — "
He Wen said, "Those who are dressed well are bad people? Then everyone in the world can just wear rags to kill people! You say they're evil people, but what evil have they done? What year, what month, and what day did they do it? Where are the victims? There are so many dead people. Which one of them did this evil thing? Was it this old man, or was it that ten-year-old girl lying outside? Killing people without making things clear, you're robbers! That's not fair! "
"They're so rich, and the people outside are starving to death. If you ask around, you'll definitely find out about the evil they've done. This is all laid out in front of you, Mr. He. Don't pretend to be ignorant —"
"Even the little girl outside did it?"
"In the chaos of war, how can you be so clear about it —"
"— Take them down!"
The chaos and commotion continued in the night, and the flames in the courtyards of the rich families gradually extinguished. He Wen went to take a look at the food stored in the homes of the rich families, and ordered the soldiers to collect the corpses. Then, he gathered with his assistants and personal attendants in the outer courtyard. Some people talked about the food, the refugees outside, and the famine. There were also people who said that the leader had done a good job in restraining the refugees and not disturbing the commoners. He Wen ate some dry rations, and slammed the bowl in his hand on the green bricks in the courtyard. For a moment, the courtyard was silent.
"Which village and street did you live in before? There were ruffians and scoundrels, right?"
He said, "They usually idled around and did not do any proper work. If they had the chance, they would go to this or that house to ask for money. As long as there's something good for nothing, there will be no lack of people like that. These people are not bandits who kill and rob, nor are they desperadoes who do not care about what others think of them. They live by your side, and as long as there's a bit of benefit, they will find excuses and excuses, one set after another … "
"These ruffians have a special characteristic. If you are bandits or desperadoes, perhaps one day you will be able to make a fortune. Ruffians will never make a fortune. They spend their entire lives just to take advantage of others. They have no sense of propriety at all …"
"Today, you destroyed this big courtyard. Look, it's all gold and silver, it's all food. Ordinary people will never see so much in their entire lives. Look again. Hey, these people are dressed so well. The blood and sweat of the people. We, the Party of Justice, do justice on behalf of the heavens. You're all bullsh * t — "
He Wen waved his hands and glared, shouting.
"These people were not killed wrongly? What if they killed wrongly? You've never thought about it! Because killing wrongly also has a reason! In the chaos of war, who doesn't want to kill a few old, weak, women, and children? Who can't find an excuse after doing something? But when you look for an excuse after doing something, you're just ruffians who rely on taking advantage of others! Once you rely on taking advantage of others, you won't be able to do anything great in the future. "
"If you want to do something great, do something real, in your hearts, there is! Must! Have! Rule! Propriety! "
He Wen stood in the middle of the courtyard, pausing between each word.
The flames flickered restlessly in the night. In May, the Party of Justice, which had been expanding for a period of time, began to show internal divisions. Moreover, it began to develop a more mature program and operational principles.
At the same time, in the ruins of the Daimyo Residence on the northern bank of the Yellow River, a black flag quietly fluttered. At this moment, the Jurchen Eastern Army, which was returning north, stationed at the southern bank of the Yellow River, was considering a suitable strategy to cross the river.
Starting from April, the Huaxia and Guangwu armies, which had been holed up in the Liangshan Marshes, began to come out of their base in batches. They had several conflicts with Wanyan Chang's troops, who were protecting the Eastern Army on their way back north. Although these few battles ended quickly, the troops led by Zhu Biao, Wang Shanyue, and Liu Chengzong had clearly demonstrated their future battle intentions. Once the Jurchen troops prepared to cross the river, they would not let go of the opportunity to attack these crossings.
In the past two years, these troops of Liangshan had already demonstrated a tenacious will to fight. Although the Jurchen Eastern Army was powerful, the hundreds of thousands of Han captives who followed them north were incomparably bloated. This was the weakness of the Eastern Army. Once they were opened, the chaotic situation they would encounter would inevitably give Zong Fu and Zong Bi a headache.
But at the level of contending for hegemony, a headache was not a serious problem.
Faced with the decisiveness of the Liangshan troops, Zong Fu and Zong Bi had already gathered their elite troops and made preparations to cross the Yellow River and start the war. At the same time, Wanyan Chang and Shu Liesu led tens of thousands of troops to press in from the north. In the middle of this period, Wanyan Chang's tactics were meticulous, and Shu Liesu's attacks were like fire. The styles of the two sides perfectly matched each other. Thus, in the middle of the fifth month, the hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Eastern Army were about to launch an inescapable net and pull out this last nail on the road back north.
The news of the defeat of the Jurchen Western Army and the crushing defeat of Zihan in the decisive battle at Hanzhong was like boiling oil splashed over the land on both sides of the Yellow River. On the north bank of the Yellow River, Zhu Biao, Wang Shanyue, Liu Chengzong, and the others were all motivated and determined to fight a beautiful battle. For this purpose, the General Staff Division had already made countless plans and deductions. Although they did not have many people on their side, they were all veterans who had experienced the cruelest of battles. In contrast, the enemy was bloated and anxious to return home. As long as they could find this weakness, it was not impossible for an ant to bite open a bitter wound on the body of an elephant.
And on the south bank of the Yellow River, Zong Fu and Zong Bi were looking forward to this battle and victory to prove that they were different from the Western Army's Zihan and Xi Yin. In the context of the crushing defeat in the southwest, as long as they could bury this Black Flag Army of Shandong, which had tested their strength in the past, on the banks of the Yellow River, the morale of the troops and the people of the country would be roused.
It was against this backdrop that on the fifteenth day of the fifth month, in a deserted village west of Daiming on the north bank of the Yellow River, Zhu Biao, Wang Shanyue, Liu Chengzong, and the others met for the time being. They welcomed the envoy from the southwest, the head shopkeeper of the Takeshi, Dong Fangxian. Zhu, Wang, and Liu Chengzong gave Dong Fangxian a rough account of their upcoming battle plan. Only in the afternoon did Dong Fangxian begin to relay the words that Ning Yi had asked him to bring.
"Mister Ning has asked me to bring an idea, just an idea. The specific decisions will be made by you. In addition, only after you have made sufficient preparations for battle will this idea have any practical meaning. "
As soon as Dong Fangxian finished speaking, Wang Shanyue began to laugh. "What evil idea does Old Ning have now? Speak. "
"Negotiate and make peace."
Dong Fangxian looked at Wang Shanyue and calmly said. The scar on Wang Shanyue's face immediately became unsightly. He spat on the ground.
"This is only a choice for consideration. As for the final decision, it will be made by you." Dong Fangxian repeated.
Wang Shanyue raised his head and waved his hand over Zhu Biao and Liu Chengzong. "There are many of you here. Decide … what to do?"
"We will listen to everyone's opinions as much as possible. Mister Ning said that we can even vote in the army." Dong Fangxian was a bit fat and there was already quite a bit of white hair on his head. Normally, he looked amiable, but when facing Wang Shanyue's burning gaze, he was calm, without the slightest bit of fear. "Before we came, Mister Ning said that there is at least one thing that Young Master Wang can rest assured of. There are no cowards in the Chinese army."
Wang Shanyue stared at him for a moment. "Speak. I'm listening."
Dong Fangxian nodded. "On the north bank of the Yellow River, the Chinese army and the Guangwu army add up to less than 30,000 people. Their advantage is that they have all been in battle and can use the terrain to move around and fight guerrilla warfare. Everything else is a disadvantage. The Jurchen Eastern Army has 200,000 soldiers, plus Wanyan Chang and Shu Lie Su. They are indeed wearing shoes. If you insist on fighting, the gains will not make up for the losses. But if you really go all out and fight, your chances of survival … are not high. This is a very polite way of saying it. "
Wang Shanyue said, "First, we are not afraid of death. Second, Zong Fu and Zong Bi are anxious to go back and fight for power. This is also our advantage."
Dong Fangxian said, "First, no one is afraid of others. We are talking about how to die. Second, given that the Western Army has already suffered a crushing defeat, if Zong Fu and Zong Bi really go all out, they can go back first and leave the 200,000 soldiers for Wanyan Chang to wipe you out in Shandong. They will not rest until you are dead. They will be very troublesome, but at least they will not be as ugly as Zhe Han."
Dong Fangxian turned his gaze to Zhu Biao and Liu Chengzong. "In the most troublesome scenario, your army will be completely wiped out, bringing great losses to the Jurchen Eastern Army. They will bring hundreds of thousands of Han people north, and tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands will die in this battle. As for the possibility of you killing Zong Fu and Zong Bi in a decisive battle, it is not impossible, but it is very small. In terms of combat power, you are lacking in resources and have been starving for so long. In a frontal battle, you will not be able to compare to the Mountain Guards. "
"War is not an armchair strategy." Liu Chengzong said, "But … please speak first."
"Mister Ning believes that the first problem in Shandong is that neither side believes the other side has the possibility of retreat. Young Master Wang has been guarding the Daimyo Residence for so long that he has long given up on life and death. Zhu Biao and Zhu Biao did not retreat when they faced Shu Lie Su two years ago. Faced with the danger of the Daimyo Residence, they still resolutely came to save them. Our past achievements have shown that the Chinese army is not afraid of anyone, not even death … "
"I am not the Chinese army." Wang Shanyue interrupted.
Dong Fangxian laughed. "Because of this, Zong Fu does not think it is possible for him to cross the river easily. He must fight, because he has no other choice. On our side, we also think that Zong Fu will not let Liangshan go. But Mister Ning believes that we have at least two options other than fighting. For example, we can give up Liangshan and go to Jin first. What do you think … "
"We have been operating here for a long time, and we have already made a name for ourselves …"
"If we want to fight, it will be difficult to continue these operations." Dong Fangxian said, "Then, there's another option. While all of you are prepared to fight, I'll cross the river and negotiate with Zong Fu and Zong Bi. Both of us will make way for each other in a certain way and in a certain way. Considering that Wu Qimai of the Jin Kingdom is about to die, and the Eastern Army is overstaffed, Zong Fu and Zong Bi are likely to agree to this condition. You will have the possibility to develop now, and one day, you will become the vanguard of the Jin Kingdom. "
Wang Shanyue was silent. Dong Fangxian said, "The Shandong area has already been destroyed. There aren't any wheat seedlings left for last year's winter wheat. The rations you have now are only enough to eat for one or two months. Mister Ning has borrowed grain and seedlings from the Jindi area. Once you pass this hurdle, you will slowly recover your strength. And in Shandong, you will really start to operate … "
"What about the hundreds of thousands of people that were captured by the Eastern Army?" Wang Shanyue looked up.
Dong Fangxian said, "Can we save them?"
"If we attack, some of them can escape in the chaos."
"… Some of them will escape, but most of them will die. After you die, the Eastern Army will capture all the people that can be captured and send them to the north."
"Because if we avoid them, what will the world think of us in the future?"
"There is no good choice here, and it is hard to judge which choice is worse. So, Mister Ning said that you can make your own decisions. If you decide to fight, I will do my best to cooperate with you. If you decide to talk, I will do my best to talk. We are all martial artists, and of course, we know that most of the time, we pull back our wrists so that we can punch our enemies with more power … "
He retracted his plump arm. When he struck out, there was quite a bit of strength in it. "Starting a battle here can inspire the hearts of the people. There is a possibility that we might really meet Zong Fu and Zong Bi on the battlefield. Killing them is the most straightforward and simple choice. But if you retreat today, you will have regrets in your hearts. In the future, you may be found out, and you may even be cursed. Five or ten years later, it is hard to say whether you will be able to use more power to fight into the Jin Kingdom … You have to judge carefully. "
Wang Shanyue looked at him. "It is also possible that you, fatty, crossed the river, and Zong Fu and Zong Bi are not willing to talk. Then you will become the sacrifice that we send to them, and they will burn you as a sacrifice."
Dong Fangxian laughed. "It is very possible. But this kind of thing can not be discussed by others, so I have to reluctantly make this trip."
His words were calm, and there was no fear of death in his voice. In fact, most of the four people present had known and dealt with each other for more than ten years. Although Wang Shanyue was quite unhappy with Ning Yi's idea, she also understood that it was not out of fear, but because the battles and losses that the Liangshan Army had experienced in the past two years were really too tragic. At this time, their vitality had indeed not recovered. If they fought fearlessly again, they might be able to tear a piece of flesh from the Lady Zhenren, but that was as far as they could go …
The Yellow River surged down, and the sun gradually fell to the west. On the riverbank, Zhu, Wang, Liu, and the others talked with each other and considered the next choice. In the barren mountains more than ten miles away from them, Luo Ye and the others, who looked a little thin, were doing weapon maintenance in the sun. Not far away, the troops led by Guan Sheng were resting, and Lu Junyi was active with the scouts in a farther place. They were already rubbing their palms together, ready to chop off some dog's head in the upcoming battle.
In the same background, more than a hundred miles south of the Yellow River, there was another team of envoys with a mission to negotiate. They were approaching the Jurchen Eastern Army camp on the riverbank. This was a negotiation envoy sent from the small court of Lin 'an. The leader was the minister of the Ministry of Rites, Huang Zhong. He was one of the most trusted right-hand men of Left Prime Minister Tie Yan. He was clear-headed and eloquent. The purpose of his trip was to move Zong Fu and Zong Bi, so that the two Jurchen princes would release some of the Lin' an people who had been captured by them in the north.
This was the inspiration the small court of Lin 'an got after learning about Dai Mengwei's deeds. After the defeat in the southwest, in order to maximize the balance of the Huaxia army, Xi Yin left a lot of benefits to Dai Mengwei, who opposed the Huaxia army. Now the small court of Lin' an was not having an easy time. In the foreseeable future, the Black Flag Army would become the most terrible force in the original Wu dynasty. Then, as one of the staunch forces against the Black Flag Army, they also hoped that Zong Fu and Zong Bi could give them as much support as possible before they left.
When the Eastern Army left, they took away hundreds of thousands of people in Jiangnan. In the current situation, if they could persuade the other side, at least ten thousand people who originally belonged to Lin 'an could be released, or even thousands of people. The people who participated in this lobbying would become famous, and Tie Yan and the others' rule of Lin 'an would be more solid.
They thought like this.
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