Seven-seven, the Double Seventh Festival.

This day, for the flourishing country of the Wu Dynasty, was one of the most important festivals. Young women threaded needles and set up banquets, praying to the Vega star for wisdom and skill, and for marriage in the future. Wealthy families and the imperial court often had lavish banquets with various lively programs, lasting all night.

On this morning alone, the festive atmosphere had already permeated Bianjing City. By dusk, the lanterns gradually lit up, and the brothel floats paraded along the main street amidst the deafening sound of gongs and drums, symbolizing the official start of the evening's festivities. Gorgeously dressed men and women, young masters, scholars, maids, and young ladies, adorned this reserved yet rich ancient festival with a strong scholarly and literary atmosphere.

In the imperial palace, decorations were put up as usual, but the festive atmosphere did not spread outside the palace walls. In the harem, princesses, consorts, and palace maids had also prepared the Double Seventh Festival banquet, which was usually hosted by the empress, and the emperor would always attend. But today, even after nightfall, the emperor had not yet arrived. Several young princesses and princesses from the royal family or princely houses were already competing in threading needles in the center of the banquet. The festive atmosphere was as intoxicating as ever. Only occasionally, some well-informed people would subconsciously look towards the silent main hall of the imperial palace, then withdraw their gaze, watch the activities in the center of the banquet, applaud with a smile, and say a few auspicious words.

The main hall of the imperial palace was not as silent as they imagined. Slightly to the west, in the Zichen Hall, where important matters were handled, there had been continuous noise, quarrels, and murderous intent throughout the day. By this time, the noise had gradually dissipated, and the participating officials should have already left the palace to go home, but the emperor's absence was enough to show the seriousness of the situation.

The fall of Hangzhou, in the eyes of many, perhaps meant that half of Jiangnan had already fallen.

Qin Siyuan was among the last group of people to leave the imperial palace, accompanied by Li Gang. Not long before, a decision had been made in the imperial court that three days later, Tong Guan would lead 150,000 elite troops of the Imperial Guard south to suppress the rebellion of Fang La, while Wang Bing and Yang Keshi would lead 100,000 troops north to attack the Liao. Tong Guan had already returned. Qin Siyuan, who always knew when to advance and retreat, stubbornly wanted to persuade the emperor once more. Li Gang accompanied him to stay. Emperor Jing Kang, Zhou Zhe, also respected these two prime ministers, kept them for a meal, but after the meal, there was actually no result.

Regardless of Zhou Zhe's own views, in this situation, even if the emperor regretted the decision already made, there was no way to reverse it.

In recent days, various news from the south flew in like paper, all of which were bad news. Hangzhou was besieged, and the Wu Zhou Army, which tried to go south for rescue, was blocked on the way. Shi Sheng in Suzhou, Lu Xing'er in Gui'an, Huzhou, Zhu Yan and Wu Bang in Lanxi, Wuzhou, Chen Shisi in Fangyan Mountain, Yongkang, Huo Chengfu and Chen Gutong in Jinyun, Chuzhou, Lu Shinang in Xianju, Taizhou, and Qiu Daoren in Shanxian, Yuezhou, Zheng Mowang in Quzhou raised their banners one after another... Some of these people had long been notorious rebels on the government's wanted list, while others were previously unknown, but judging from the situation in recent days, Fang La might have secretly contacted all parties and planned for the arrival of this day's situation long before officially attacking Hangzhou.

These reports of rebellion rose and fell one after another in the southeast. Although the scale varied, it effectively prevented the troops near Hangzhou from being sent to rescue Hangzhou. In the past few days when Hangzhou had become an isolated army, the situation in the imperial court changed every day. The Pacification faction, the Internal Security faction, the War faction, and the Peace faction all put forward their trump cards and launched offensives against each other and against the emperor.

Now in this imperial court, Tang Ke, Li Bangyan, Wu Min and others are regarded as representatives of the Internal Security faction. They don't care about attacking the Liao, but the interests of most people around them are in Jiangnan. What they care about is the order of the battles. Now that the south has become like this, and the rear is unstable, how can they attack? Naturally, they must quell the rebellion as soon as possible. These words, when spoken, are very reasonable.

Among these Internal Security faction members, there are some Peace faction members who were originally unwilling to start a war with the Liao, and they stood with the Internal Security faction, fully supporting the suppression of Fang La. For example, Zhong Shidao, the old marshal of the Northwest who is not in Bianjing at this time, gave advice on suppressing Fang La through urgent messages at this time, which also aroused the support of many officials.

Li Gang, as the left prime minister, adhered to the right path and was originally an extremely staunch war faction member, but this time, after the disaster in Hangzhou came, he actually wavered slightly, probably feeling that if Jiangnan was unstable, even if the Wu Dynasty successfully attacked the Liao, it would inevitably hurt its vitality, so his actions in the past few days have been somewhat conservative. In the past few days, the high-ranking official in the court who resolutely demanded to attack the Liao first was not necessarily Qin Siyuan. After all, he had been away from politics for too many years. Even if he had power at this time, it could not be said to be the greatest. At this time, the one who demanded the most resolute attitude to attack the Liao and used the most power was Tong Guan, the Privy Councilor in charge of military power, who was called "the number one general of the Wu Dynasty".

However, Tong Guan's toughness, until the arrival of the news of Hangzhou's fall today, finally realized that things were impossible to do, and finally could not resist the huge pressure and accepted the order to lead troops south. Only Qin Siyuan, even at the last moment, had always insisted on the strategy of going north unchanged, and when Tong Guan recommended Wang Bing and Yang Keshi to lead troops north to attack the Liao, several of Qin Siyuan's confidants also expressed some opposition, and in the end they also placed several generals in the army. After the meeting dispersed, Tong Guan and others immediately went home to prepare for the next strategy, while Qin Siyuan and Li Gang stayed a little longer before leaving the imperial city.

The evening breeze blew, and the imperial street outside the city was ablaze with lights. Two of the most powerful old men in the court at this time were walking on the road.

"A night of fish and dragon dance..." Qin Siyuan sighed slightly, "Marshal Zhong is a wise man..."

"Zhong Yishu?" Li Gang frowned. Although some people had taken out Zhong Shidao's ideas as bargaining chips throughout the day, Zhong Shidao's influence in Bianjing at this time was still not great. "Why does Siyuan suddenly mention him?"

"If we can't attack the Liao, we might as well negotiate peace. In this way, the Liao is better to deal with than the Jin."

"The Jiangnan area is too important. To be fair, I also think that we should go south first. Didn't Siyuan also say a few days ago that if Hangzhou is lost, our Wu Dynasty will be greatly damaged?"

Qin Siyuan smiled, "Does Ji Weng also think that I am robbing credit today and have lost my mind?" In the past few days, people have often attacked him with this. Qin Siyuan's return this time was mainly because of the situation in the north, and others said that he was disregarding the overall situation for his own affairs. Of course, after saying this, Li Gang also shook his head with a wry smile, "We have been friends for many years. I know that Siyuan has always been open and aboveboard. In terms of doing things, I am far inferior to you, but today's matter is really forced by the overall situation, and you and I have no way to..."

The two walked on the street, with carriages and servants following behind. Qin Siyuan was silent for a moment, and sighed, "How can I not know the importance of Jiangnan, but now the northern region is more dangerous. If we really want to divide our troops and go south, I would rather Tong Daofu lead troops north. As for who leads troops south, that's fine..."

"Now the only ones in the army who can really fight are Marshal Zhong of the Northwest and Tong Daofu..."

"It's not about being able to fight, it's about daring to fight... Ji Weng, do you know why I opposed Wang Bing and Yang Keshi as commanders today?"

Li Gang smiled, "After all... it's still because of Tong Daofu."

"Yes." Qin Siyuan nodded and lowered his voice, "You and I both know the reason why Daofu is so staunch in advocating war. To put it bluntly... he is a eunuch. He has taken enough money and wants to be famous in history... He is corrupt, which is nothing. Once he wants to be famous in history, he will definitely fight bravely. Attacking the Liao is the best opportunity for him to achieve fame, but once this opportunity is given to others, ha... Wang Bing and Yang Keshi are both from his Tong family army, and they have submitted their names..."

Li Gang nodded, "In this way, there will be 100,000 troops going north, and attacking the Liao will temporarily become a bubble."

"It's just wasting money and food."

Qin Siyuan added, and the two old men walked for a while. In front of them, fireworks and firecrackers were being set off in front of a mansion, which was very beautiful. That was the residence of Tang Ke, the Minister of Revenue. Obviously, a lively banquet was also being held inside, and with the victory of Tang Ke and others in the court today, it should be considered a double blessing.

"Qin Sou's second granddaughter is going to be betrothed to someone," Li Gang said.

"She is betrothed to Wu Min's nephew, right? The Wu family has climbed high."

"Ha..."

After saying these two sentences, the two walked past the residence. A young official who came over recognized them and came forward to greet them. Li Gang returned the greeting, and then waved his hand with a smile. After that person left, Qin Siyuan said, "Ji Weng also thinks that I am too firm about attacking the Liao, right? How does Ji Weng think our Wu Dynasty's song and dance are going?"

"Of course it is excellent. You and I are like this, aren't we just trying to preserve this song and dance?"

Qin Siyuan sighed, "But if we want to keep the song and dance, we will lose our claws and teeth... When I was in Jiangning, a young man discussed with me. There is no difference between people. Whether they are Wu people, Liao people, or Jin people, they are all the same. Our Wu Dynasty has been peaceful for many years, and there are fewer people who dare to fight. When the Liao people first rose, Yelu Abaoji had such great talent and bold strategy, but by this time, he had gradually lost his edge in the trend of peace, but we have lost more, and the Jurchens, they have fought their way out of the snowy and icy mountains of the White Mountains and Black Waters, and their edge is at its peak, like hungry tigers and wolves. The Jurchen are invincible when they are full of 10,000, and it will be the same if we let them pass."

Li Gang did not speak, so Qin Siyuan continued, "What do these people value most? Not negotiations or conspiracies, only the simplest and most direct strength can make them look at you equally. Ji Weng, the people in the court all say that the Jurchens are few and difficult to attack our Wu Dynasty, but if they occupy the large area of land of the Liao people, is it not easy to get an army? We were originally unable to defeat even the Khitans, let alone the Jurchens?"

"That's why I say that Zhong Shidao is a wise man. He was afraid early on that driving away the Liao people and letting the Jurchens take root beside our bed was unwise. Qin Sou and others don't think so. They use too many power struggles and only think that letting the Jurchens and Khitans kill each other will allow our Wu Dynasty to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight and pick up a big bargain. Power struggles, ah, power struggles, what is the use of using them on the battlefield?"

"Ji Weng, that young man is right. What we can get from inciting war between the two countries is not a bargain, but just an opportunity. The bargain still needs to be picked up by reaching out. In this opportunity, if our Wu Dynasty can take advantage of the Liao people's fatigue and win a few big battles, the Jurchens will naturally have awe of our Wu Dynasty. If our Wu people are incompetent and only make a little money on the side and still lose, once the Jurchens replace the Khitans, what we will face is just turning from an old wolf into a young tiger... Ji Weng, at that time I am afraid we will really become sinners for eternity, we, what should we think of a countermeasure..."

Fireworks rose, and silver flowers and fire trees bloomed. Li Gang was silent for a moment, "Who is that young man?"

"A chess friend I met by chance." Qin Siyuan smiled, "But... he is now trapped in Hangzhou..."

***********

Double monthly ticket period, please vote for the guaranteed monthly ticket!!! ^_^ (To be continued.) Vote for recommendations and monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation.)

Support (Perfect Book Station) to share this site with those little friends who need it! Please leave a message if you can't find the book!