Chapter 903 Boiling the Sea (3)
In the eleventh year of Wu Jianshuo, Lin'an has been under martial law since the first day of the Lunar New Year.
People inside could not get out, and people outside could not get in. For several days in a row, various rumors were flying in the city: some said Wu Shu had killed countless people; It is said that millions of people outside Lin'an City want to enter the city, but they are They were blocked outside the city gate; some said that the forbidden army shot arrows and killed the people outside the city a few days ago; others talked about the tragic situation of the Jingping humiliation. Now that everyone is blocked in the city, I am afraid that it will be terrible in the future. Too much luck... all of these things are not enough.
People are talking and talking in the city's restaurants, teahouses and courtyards. In this big city where nearly 1.5 million people live, even if martial law is occasionally enforced, it cannot last forever. People need to eat, supplies need to be transported, and the bustling commercial activities in the past have temporarily stopped, but the minimum demand must still be maintained. The large and small temples and Taoist temples in Lin'an City are doing a prosperous business these days, just like the scenes before and after every war in the past.
Although the propaganda power of Li Pin and the Princess Mansion once trumpeted the dangers of "Celestial Master Guo Jing" back then, people's sense of powerlessness in the face of such a major disaster was ultimately difficult to get rid of. Many rumors about the defeat of "Guo Celestial Master" were spread in the market for a while. Similar to Guo Jing, although Guo Celestial Master had great supernatural powers, the Jurchens rose rapidly, but they also had the protection of evil spirits, such as the "Grain God" Wanyan Xiyin, if not How can gods and demons be called "Gods of the Valley"? There is also a small book on the market that describes the story of the Celestial Master Guo Jing who was seduced by the charming female demon, who tainted the magical power of the Liujia Divine Soldiers, so that the city of Bianliang was completely defeated. During the days when Lin'an City was under martial law, demand exceeded supply for a while, and paper in Luoyang was expensive.
There is nothing new in the world. Foolish men and women spend their accumulated money to seek blessings from the gods and talismans of peace, and then bring them to their family members who care about them most, hoping that this catastrophe can be passed safely. Pass. This kind of humility makes people sigh, but it also makes people feel pity.
On the sixth day of the first lunar month, Zhou Pei stood on the wall of the imperial city, directing a huge hot air balloon to rise slowly over the city. She pursed her lips and frowned, raising her head and staring at the huge object rising into the sky without saying a word, worrying whether it would fall down.
When Ning Yi committed regicide, he used a hot air balloon to carry a few people over the palace city. The Wu Dynasty was quite taboo about such treacherous things that could cross the emperor's residence. Therefore, since the Wu Dynasty moved the capital and Junwu made the hot air balloon, this is the first time it has risen in the sky of Lin'an.
At this time, a total of eight hot air balloons were swinging in the cold winter wind in the southeast and northwest of Lin'an. There was an uproar in the city. People walked out of the courtyard and gathered everywhere, looking up at the miracle-like miracle. Things were pointed at and discussed, and for a while, the crowd seemed to fill every open space in Lin'an.
Zhou Pei's eyes took in all this.
In order to advance this matter, Zhou Pei spent a lot of effort on it. With the arrival of the Jurchens, people in the city are panicked and morale is low. Among the officials, all kinds of thoughts are even more complicated and strange. Wushu's 50,000 light cavalry went south in an attempt to attack the heart. Theoretically speaking, if everyone in the court was united, there would be no problem in holding on to Lin'an. However, the situation in Wu Dynasty was complicated first, and Zhou Yongzuo's death was behind him. All kinds of complicated things happened before and after. Situations are piling up. No one is sure whether anyone will sway or switch sides.
To a certain extent, the Wu Dynasty at this time was like Liangshan after Ning Yi used his scheming tactics. Before the test comes, no one knows whether they can survive it.
Zhou Pei lobbied the officials for several days. Everyone seemed hesitant about the idea of raising a hot air balloon to boost morale. Lu Yihao said: "I feel that this matter may have little effect, and It is easy to cause unnecessary trouble. Of course, if His Highness thinks it is useful, I think it is not a bad idea. " Most of the others have this attitude.
Under such circumstances, Zhou Pei Ling Yan Guan made suggestions in the court, and forced Chen Xiangji, who took over the Ministry of Rites after Hou Shao died to remonstrate, to come forward to endorse. He only proposed that the hot air balloon be raised in the sky, and the charioteer on it was not allowed to go to court. On the condition of watching from the direction of the palace to avoid being suspected of spying on the palace, the matter was finalized in everyone's silence. However, during the discussion in the court, Qin Hui came out to reconsider. He said that in the face of a formidable enemy, he should do something extraordinary and strongly supported Zhou Pei's proposal. This made Zhou Pei have a better impression of him.
After removing the resistance on the court, there are still weather factors that prevent the hot air balloon from rising. At this time, the weather in Lin'an City is still cold and the wind is strong in the air. The possibility of malfunction of the hot air balloon after it takes off is also corresponding. Increase. On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, Wushu's cavalry had already bypassed the defense line and approached Lin'an. The technicians of the Gewuyuan finally decided to choose a moment when the wind was less strong to take the risk of taking off. Eight hot air balloon operators who did not care about life and death took off at the next moment. The balloon rose.
It has been more than ten years since the first hot air balloon took off in Lin'an, but not many people have actually seen it. There was an uproar in the streets and alleys of Lin'an, and some old people knelt down and kowtowed, shouting "Heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals". Zhou Pei watched all this and prayed in his heart that nothing would go wrong.
This time, destiny finally sided with the Wu Dynasty. The eight hot air balloons hung in the sky for a quarter of an hour before slowly falling again, without any possible malfunction in the process. The propaganda forces of Princess Mansion and Li Pin have also begun to take action at this time. One preacher after another went to the streets and alleys to appease the people. Tomorrow, more newspapers will follow.
On the other hand, the first hot air balloon was launched in Lin'an, and the influence of Gewu will always be greater in the future. Zhou Pei was not as persistent as her brother in this regard, but she could imagine how happy Jun Wu would be if he had accomplished this before the war started.
After arranging all the following matters, and encouraging and rewarding the hot-air balloon technicians who launched today, Zhou Pei returned to the princess residence and began to write a letter to Jun Wu.
At this time, Jiangning was being attacked by Zongfu's army. Zhenjiang had sent troops to rescue them. Junwu and Han Shizhong went there in person to boost the morale of Jiangning's army. In the letter, she told her brother to take care of himself and take care of himself. , and there is no need to be too anxious about the time in the capital, as he, Cheng Zhouhai and others will take care of everything. He also mentioned today's hot-air balloon incident to him, and wrote about the foolish men and women in the city who thought that the hot-air balloons were soldiers from heaven. He couldn't help but make some jokes, but in terms of the purpose of inspiring people's hearts, the effect was not small. Although the impact of this matter will be long-term, I think Jun Wu, who is far away in a dangerous place, can also be relieved.
The letter was sent out that night, and in the early morning of the next day, Cheng Zhouhai came over and placed bigger information in front of her. The Chinese Army passed a resolution on the eve of the Lunar New Year, and spent a peaceful Spring Festival on the first day of the Lunar New Year. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, a murderous declaration of war was issued in plain language: Now the Jurchens are waging an unjust war, and the people of the Central Plains are in dire straits, and the war in the south of the Yangtze River is raging. Again and again, all the Chinese people in the world should unite and fight against the outside world. However, there are people who are greedy for life and afraid of death. Intimidated by the Jurchen's lust, they raise their swords towards their compatriots. For these people who have already Those who cross the bottom line, the Huaxia Army calls on all Han people in the world to attack them...
In this appeal, the Huaxia Army listed many lists of "war criminals", most of whom once served the puppet Qi regime and are now Among the separatist generals who led the Jin Kingdom's southern expedition, there were also several Wu Dynasty forces who had liaison with the Jin Kingdom... Targeting these people, the Chinese Army has sent an elite team of tens of thousands out of Sichuan to behead them. While calling on all the martyrs from all over the world to participate in this grand event, we also called on all the people of the Wu Dynasty to be vigilant and guard against any shameless traitors who tried to surrender to the enemy in the war.
Zhou Pei read this statement quietly in the early morning light. She looked at Cheng Zhouhai with no expression on her face: "...Really...or fake?"
“There is indeed something unusual in the Chinese army. When the news was sent out, it was confirmed that several elite teams had gathered out of Sichuan from different directions. Ranging from dozens to one or two hundred people, it is the 'special operations' lineup that Ning Yi has specially cultivated over the years. It is based on Zhou Tong's formation cooperation and is specially designed for green forest confrontations with a scale of a hundred or ten people..."< br>
Zhou Pei blinked: "When he was in Bianliang, he was often assassinated..."
"Well, he was concerned about Green Forest affairs and offended many people. The teacher said that he was not doing his job properly... The people around him were initially trained for this matter and later formed the Black Flag Army. This type of training was called Conducting special operations and beheading enemy chieftains during battles is very powerful. Two years ago, near Xiangyang, a team of more than a hundred Jurchen masters kidnapped General Yue's son and daughter. However, they happened to meet Ning Yi, who had returned from Jin. Most of these Jurchen masters were killed, and the murderer Lu Tuo was known as the great master in the world. It was also when he met Ning Yi that he He killed him with one palm."
Zhou Pei listened quietly. Over the years, the princess and the prince were quite famous among the people. Naturally, Zhou Pei's men also had a large number of people who had learned martial arts and sold them to the emperor's family. Masters and heroes, Zhou Pei occasionally used thunderous tactics, often using dead soldiers. They are also among these people, but relatively speaking, the "professionals" on Ning Yi's side are more like legends in this industry. Just like the Chinese army, which defeats more with less, it can always create frightening results. , In fact, Zhou Yong's fear of the Chinese army did not come from this.
After Cheng Zhouhai said what he said before, he paused briefly: "It seems that Ning Yi really spent a lot of money this time."
"How do you say it?" Zhou Peidao said.
Cheng Zhouhai smiled slightly: "Such a bloody hard-line, clear statement of killing people is not in line with the situation of the Chinese army at this time. No matter how hard we fight here, the Chinese army will always settle in the southwest. , Ning Yi issued this message and sent people to carry out the assassination. Of course, it would make some people Those who waver dare not act rashly, but it will also make those who have already turned to the Jurchen side more determined. Moreover, the first thing these people worry about is no longer the Wu Dynasty, but... this person's words have some weight in the world. Ning Rentu. He is pulling the burden towards him..."
Zhou Pei smiled slightly. At this time, Ning Rentu had a bad reputation among the people. This was the result of the joint suppression by the Jin Kingdom and the Wu Dynasty for many years. However, in the eyes of the top leaders of various forces, Ning Yi's name was not. Just "some" weight? He first killed Zhou Zhe; then he directly overthrew the Tian Hu regime in Jin, causing the heroic Tiger King to die in a dark prison; and then drove Liu Yu, who was nominally the "King of a Country", crazy and removed him from office. He was taken away from the palace in Bianliang and his whereabouts are still unknown. The blame was conveniently placed on the Wu Dynasty...
Does this have some weight? In fact, if this Ning Rentu was really targeted and said "I will fight until death," there would be a few people in the world who would be able to sleep peacefully.
The smile on Zhou Pei's face flashed: "He is just afraid that we will not be able to hold on early and will harm him who is hiding in the southwest."
Cheng Zhouhai nodded: "It's strange... well, it was also His Majesty's previous actions that made him There is no choice over there. The slogan says to send ten thousand people, which must be a bluff, but even thousands of people are an elite force that the Chinese army has cultivated with great difficulty. Since they are killed, there will definitely be losses. This is also Good thing... Anyway, Prince The situation on His Highness's side and ours may be slightly alleviated by this."
Zhou Pei nodded, his eyes rolling on the big map in front of the house, thinking: "He sent this. Many people came to cause trouble for the Jurchens. He will definitely not sit back and watch, and those who have already defected will definitely regard him as a thorn in his side... Anyway, now, the whole world will start fighting, and no one will be left behind... Well, Mr. Cheng, I was thinking, we It’s time to arrange a group of people..."
Cheng Zhouhai laughed: "That's what I was thinking..."
Zhou Pei walked to the front of the map: "In recent years, many people in Sichuan and Sichuan have done business with the Chinese Army. I He guessed that if the Chinese army dared to leave Sichuan, they would first use these forces to fight out gradually. Now, most people should turn a blind eye and not deliberately embarrass him, but there will be no shortage of fighting from all walks of life. We must send our manpower to order the various government agencies not to hinder the actions of the Chinese army. When necessary, you can cooperate with and help these people from the Chinese Army. First try to clear out those who are related to the Jurchens. If the scum fornicating, including those we counted earlier, is inconvenient to act, then throw it on Demon Tou Ning's head."
When she said this, she started laughing, and Cheng Zhouhai nodded. : "Ren Shangfei...Old Ren is very thoughtful. He can be responsible for this matter. While cooperating with the Chinese army... "
"Find them out and write them down." Zhou Pei took over with a smile. She looked at the big map, "In this way, even if one day in the future, the two sides will fight... "
Her words lowered: "We have confidence in our hearts..."
"..." Cheng Zhouhai stood behind and looked at her for a while, with complicated eyes, and then smiled slightly, "I will arrange the people."
"Excuse me, Mr. Cheng..."
Zhou After Pei said this, he looked at the map and was silent for a long time. When he turned around, Cheng Zhouhai had already left the room. Zhou Pei sat on the chair and looked at the appeal and the information that came with it. The appeal seemed to be in order, but the content in it was frighteningly iron-blooded and ferocious.
For a long time, Zhou Pei has often felt powerless in the face of the complex world situation. She is proud by nature, but not strong at heart. In the face of a world situation in which all-out fighting was carried out with no room for luck, especially in front of the Jurchens who fought with extreme ferocity and determination and Ning Liheng, whom she once called her teacher, Zhou Pei could only feel Due to her distance and insignificance, even with half the strength of the Wu Dynasty as support, she never felt that she had the qualifications to compete with these people on the world level.
In this regard, my younger brother who rushes forward desperately may have more powerful power.
When the Huaxia Army did not hesitate to blame the puppet Qi Emperor Liu Yu on the Wu Dynasty, Zhou Pei felt the coldness of the world. At the level of the world's game, has the teacher ever been emotional? Last year, her father's cowardice and fear made Zhou Pei realize the cold reality. She sent Cheng Zhouhai to the southwest to strengthen herself by any means through compromise. Now, just before Lin'an was about to face Wushu, internal and external troubles, the actions of the Chinese army made her feel more or less warm.
Even if the devil in the southwest was based on cold reality, even though she knew in her heart that the two sides would eventually fight, at this moment, he finally "had to" lend a helping hand. It is conceivable that You know, my brother who heard this news soon, and the soldiers around him, will also be gratified and inspired by it.
On the other hand, deep down in her heart, she wanted to laugh badly. Although this was a bad thing, from beginning to end, she never thought that her father's wrong move would force Ning Yi, who was far away in the southwest, to make such a decision. She could almost imagine it. It’s hard to tell what the other person’s mood was like when he made the decision, and he might even have yelled at his father.
In any case, this must be considered a strange frustration for Demon Ning. What everyone in the world couldn't do, his father did it in this way. Thinking about it, Zhou Pei felt happy.
This happy mood lasted for a long time. The next day was the eighth day of the first lunar month. Wushu's cavalry arrived in Lin'an. They drove away some of the people who had no time to leave and launched a small-scale raid on Lin'an. Zhou Pei sat in the princess's mansion, combined with the staff of various staffs, while keeping an eye on the situation in Lin'an City and even in the court, and at the same time issued orders in an orderly manner outside the city, ordering the rescue team of Xu Liejun, Shen Cheng and others not to be anxious, to stabilize their position, and slowly Complete the intimidation and encirclement of Wu Shu.
Even if some people in the house were worried and showed it in front of Zhou Pei, Zhou Pei just told them calmly and confidently:
"I will definitely keep it."
In her heart, reason She is still complicated and anxious, but after so many years, after she has experienced such a long period of depression and despair, this is the first time she has seen some hope.
After so many years, Zhou Pei has never seen Ning Yi again since that midnight farewell in Bianliang City many years ago. She went back to get married and stayed in Jiangning, while he went to Liangshan, wiped out the banditry in Liangshan, worked with Grandpa Qin, and later killed the emperor, and later defeated Xixia, fought against the Jurchens, and even against the entire world, he became more and more Zhou Pei became more and more unfamiliar, standing opposite Wu Chao, which frightened Zhou Pei.
But at the same time, in the bottom of her heart, there was always an image of the girl and the teacher when she said goodbye.
At that time, Ning Yi turned around and left. She looked at the back and always understood in her heart: no matter how difficult it was, as long as he appeared, there would always be a glimmer of warm hope.
That night, she dreamed about what happened that night.
Early the next morning, various new messages came over. When Zhou Pei saw a message, he paused for a moment. The information was very simple. It was yesterday afternoon that Emperor Father summoned Mr. Qin Hui and Qin to the palace to summon his wife.
After falling out with his ministers, Zhou Yong hid in the palace and was too lazy to deal with others. Yesterday Wu Shu launched a painless attack on Lin'an, and Zhou Yong summoned Qin Hui - of course there was something in between There was a lot of information, so the intelligence personnel below handed this information over, but in general, it was not a big deal, so I had an idea.
Zhou Pei left an impression in his mind, and then put it aside...
Well, I don’t have it.
(End of this chapter)