Chapter 29, Third New Tokyo
Above the head is the clear and sunny sky, and below the feet are small floating islands formed by condensed clouds.
Facing the howling and biting wind, the incredible dreamy floating castle "Third New Tokyo" is slowly moving forward in the vast sea of clouds.
——Since "New Tokyo" and "Second New Tokyo" were built in Bianliang at the request of Emperor Qinzong of the Song Dynasty Zhao Huan, Doraemon's newly built Cloud Castle was ranked according to the order. It gave Wang Qiu a name that made him want to complain: Third New Tokyo!
Compared with the "New Tokyo", a city in the clouds built above Bianliang, and the "Second New Tokyo", a special royal prison built underground, the "Third New Tokyo" Doraemon built for himself, Much smaller in scale. The entire floating island condensed by clouds only covers an area of more than ten acres. But when it comes to the majesty of the momentum, the grandeur of the architecture, and the majesty of the martial arts, it is still above it. Basically, it is just how to attract the wind. The various thickly painted walls and bright glazed tiles can make people dazzled. dizzy.
What's particularly impressive is that it can also replace transportation and have the ability to move long distances... The only thing that makes Wang Qiu want to complain is: Why didn't he build the European castle in the fairy tale on the cloud? A Japanese-style castle with a castle tower and cornices!
——Standing on the castle tower of "Third New Tokyo", looking at Doraemon who had just put on an exaggerated Japanese Warring States military commander's helmet, waving a baton called "Caipei" from time to time, and wearing Wang Qiu couldn't help but sneered at Nobita Nobita who was wearing a samurai wig.
Several soldiers wearing heavy thermal clothing were on the platform at the back door of the castle, taking turns shaking Doraemon's magical prop: the [Wind God Fan], which is comparable to Princess Iron Fan's banana fan, thereby creating a strong jet of air. Push this floating castle across the Yellow River and slowly move north.
——Well, I have to admit that the power system of "Third New Tokyo" is indeed a bit low-end, rustic and unstylish, and it doesn't look like science fiction.
In fact, most of Doraemon's magical props seem to be in such a non-embarrassing tone...
At this time, it was the ninth cold day when the sky was freezing and the dripping water turned into ice. It was already so cold that people were shivering all over on the ground. Now that we are high in the sky, although the sunshine is brighter, the temperature has plummeted all the way. Even the moat that Doraemon built as a decoration has been frozen into an ice rink. As for the howling cold wind on the castle tower, no one except Doraemon, the robot, could withstand it... So, after reluctantly accompanying Doraemon to blow the wind for a while, Wang Qiu came from all sides. I escaped from the drafty castle tower and retreated to the floor below to warm myself by the fire.
Speaking of which, although the entire "Third New Tokyo" castle looks spectacular, it is bare inside, with no decoration, furniture or furnishings at all, just like the cement castle in some third-rate children's paradise. The three hundred soldiers and their mounts could only find a place to sit on the ground, using the braziers they carried to keep warm while drinking and bragging. Qin Hui, Zong Ze and Guo Jing, the more responsible guys, gathered at the bottom of the castle. Through the huge circular observation window on the floor, they used telescopes to overlook the wilderness scenery below, barely reconnaissance of the enemy. .
——The North China Plain in winter is quiet and desolate. There are almost no pedestrians or smoke, which makes Wang Qiu couldn't help but frown.
He knew that the vast sedimentary plain beneath his feet had been one of the most developed and densely populated lands in China since ancient times. The villages face each other and are connected by roads...but at this moment, they are as deserted as a wilderness. Even if you occasionally see a few market towns, if you take a closer look, they have already become a hell on earth - the narrow streets are full of corpses, broken walls can be seen everywhere, and occasionally you can see a few wild dogs eating corpses on the roadside. Some houses were still smoking, adding to the desolation of the dilapidated ruins.
Especially outside a burning village, Wang Qiu also saw a looting scene taking place: blazing huts, corpses scattered everywhere, gurgling pools of blood, wailing women and children running away... thugs with big knives and ferocious faces. Carrying large and small bags, they killed and robbed wantonly in the burning village, kicked open the doors and hacked to death those who dared to resist. The man found the woman hiding inside, took off her clothes, pushed her down, and then hung the crying child from a tree outside the courtyard... Until a gangster accidentally discovered the "Third New Tokyo" in the sky. These bloodthirsty and cruel people The mob just made a commotion, and then quickly dispersed with a whistle, leaving only a few numb and stunned survivors, looking at their homes submerged in the flames in a daze.
"...Could this be...a small group of Jurchen cavalry 'tripping grass in the valley'?" Wang Qiu pointed to the crime scene below and asked doubtfully.
"...No, they are all wearing Song Dynasty clothes and have few horses. They should be rebels!" Zongze, who had just arrived from Hebei, sighed and replied.
"...Rebels? How is that possible? Looking at their behavior, they are clearly bandits, okay?!" Wang Qiu shouted.
"...Oh, what can we do? Military disasters, military disasters, whenever there are soldiers, there will be disasters. This is how these vulgar warriors commit crimes! Not to mention these so-called rebels who raise their own food and wages, even the regular imperial guards who receive the imperial salary, once they arrive On the battlefield, this is how robbers and bandits behave!”
The supervisor Qin Hui came over at some point and interrupted, "...In the past, Tong Guan led the Kansai Forbidden Army to the south of the Yangtze River to pacify Fangla. Those vicious Shaanxi red men had already killed the thieves before they even saw them. He was so angry that he killed every person he saw and burned every house he saw. Who could he have deceived? In the end, he reported to the court that he had killed a million thieves. I don’t know how many people died in vain!
Not to mention that they also raped and raped women along the way, and when they were tired of it, they hung them on trees on the roadside to kill them, so that the corpses of all kinds of bare-butt little wives were hanging on the official road from Hangzhou to Muzhou. Nearly a hundred miles away...even the Jin people are probably not as cruel as them! ”
After hearing Qin Hui's sigh, Wang Qiu suddenly felt that the Song Dynasty scholar-bureaucrats' approach of suppressing warriors in every possible way did not seem completely unreasonable.
——Since the Jin soldiers went south twice and destroyed the land north of the Yellow River in the Song Dynasty, the fleeing refugees, defeated troops and local wealthy families in Hebei have been recruiting troops in the name of "protecting the country". Under the banner of "Family and Country", various rebel armies have been formed - although there are loyal and loyal people like Wang Yan's "Eight-Character Army", there are also many villains and scum who have no good military discipline and harm the people.
In fact, many so-called "rebels" do not deserve the name "rebels" at all! After peeling off the seemingly upright and awe-inspiring brand of the "Patriotic Rebels", they turned out to be a group of thugs and bandits who bullied the weak and feared the strong! They often did not have the courage to provoke the Jin soldiers, but they swept through the place like locusts. They killed and robbed all the wealthy families, raped all the women, and robbed all the food and burned down the houses of the poor people. In the end, they still carried these losses with them. They act together with the poor people who have lost everything and act as coolies and cannon fodder. In normal times, the rebel soldiers used whips to order them to make cattle and horses, carry things, make fires and cook. When it came time to fight, they were driven like cattle and sheep to block the swords and guns of the official army and the Jin people, while the so-called backbone of the rebel army supervised the battle from behind. If the battle went unfavorably, they would immediately run away and take away the trapped civilians. They were left as scapegoats.
Of course, the officers and soldiers of the Song Dynasty were also a group of bandits in many cases, and their military discipline was very lax. Especially when supplies were scarce, they often did things like killing, robbing, and raping women... Therefore, in the Jin Army, Song Army, and " Under the repeated conquests and repeated ravages of the "Rebel Army", the once prosperous and prosperous land of Hebei has become a dilapidated ruins thousands of miles away, causing the people of Li to suffer miserably.
——Faced with such a tragic mess where it is difficult to distinguish between the enemy and the enemy, everyone in the "Third New Tokyo" can only express their helplessness. Then, the first stop of their journey north is about to arrive.