In the mud, black houses burned to charcoal, corpses upon corpses. Search: \(¨Complete¨ Novel¨ Station¨) to read premium literature for free.

The rain had stopped not long ago. This was a village ravaged by war. The rain washed away the original flames and blood, but it gathered everything into an indescribable odor that made one want to vomit. On the small hillside nearby, three knights on horseback stood watching.

The leading knight had a beard and wore a scholar's robe, looking quite composed. He held a notebook in one hand and a thin writing brush in the other. He dipped the brush into a small ink pouch at his waist, then sketched the aftermath of the massacre in the notebook. After drawing for a while, he would lick the tip of the brush and spit out black saliva.

The two behind him were probably Wu Dynasty soldiers. Looking at the sky, one of them whispered, "Lord Cheng, we've lingered here for too long. If we don't leave, we might encounter Jurchen scouts..."

Lord Cheng added a few strokes, then shook the notebook gently and blew on it lightly. After a moment, when the ink was almost dry, he put it away and spoke slowly.

"Nianhan's main force slaughtered Xinzhou, Wanyan Loushi captured Daizhou. It's estimated that Taiyuan will be next soon." His tone was low, with a hint of detachment. He asked, "Where are you going?"

Lord Cheng's words made the two soldiers look troubled. Fortunately, he was just sighing casually. After a moment, he tightened the reins. "Let's go. Hurry back, lest we be chased by Jurchen scouts."

The three knights circled the woods and left quickly.

************

In Longcheng, Taiyuan, Qin Shaohe stood on a small earthen mound outside the city gate, watching large groups of people pouring into the city. In the distant fields, large swathes of harvested rice were also being transported into the city.

Soon after, a team of knights, trying to separate the crowd, came from afar, covered in dust. The man in the scholar's robe dismounted and bowed to Qin Shaohe. "Lord."

"Zhouhai, how is it?"

"Daizhou City has fallen, Xinzhou City has been completely slaughtered, and the surrounding areas have also been affected... It's incredibly tragic." Cheng Zhouhai looked at him with a stern gaze, then sighed and turned to look behind him. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have been able to imagine it."

"It's not hard to imagine. Taiyuan is close too." Qin Shaohe looked back at the towering walls of Taiyuan City. He was the newly appointed Prefect of Taiyuan this year. When Tong Guan was in power, he obeyed Tong Guan's command. Now that Tong Guan had fled south, he was left to defend this place together with Wang Bing, who was in charge of the army.

As the eldest son of Qin Siyuan, Qin Shaohe had always adhered to the way of the gentleman and was known for his humility. Only this time, when Tong Guan abandoned Taiyuan and left, Qin Shaohe almost had a falling-out with Tong Guan. Of course, after Duke Chu's intentions remained unchanged and he went south, Qin Shaohe could only shoulder the burden with Wang Bing.

This time, the Jurchens' southward advance and their rapid capture of cities and territories made the Wu Dynasty's defense seem like paper. Neither Qin Shaohe nor Cheng Zhouhai had any basis for estimating the strength of the army. Whether it was Shuozhou, Xinzhou, or Daizhou, one moment they were saying that the Jin soldiers were invading, and the next moment they seemed to be slaughtering the city. Taiyuan's city defenses were certainly more solid than those cities, but no one knew how long they could hold out.

In the distant fields, the wind moved the clouds. On the walls of Taiyuan, a large number of fortifications were also being built as the soldiers and civilians entered the city. Countless messages came from the west and north, including news of martial artists assassinating Wanyan Zonghan. Although it was said that some generals had been killed, Wanyan Zonghan was only injured, so the assessment of Taiyuan City was still not optimistic.

It seemed that perhaps in a few days, everyone would die.

Looking at the crowds fleeing to avoid disaster, Qin Shaohe, Cheng Zhouhai, and the others couldn't help but have such thoughts flash through their minds. But since they were here, they could only do their best to fight. After a moment, Cheng Zhouhai went into the city and summoned the person in charge of the Zhuji in Taiyuan City to begin the work they were good at: inciting all the soldiers and civilians in the city to participate in the defense of the city. After a moment of relaxation, Qin Shaohe also went to the city wall and began to direct the busy work.

Soon after, Li Pin, who had already secured the position of Deputy Envoy for the Transport of Water and Land in Hedong, also entered the city with a large number of transported military and civilian supplies.

Even though they were prepared to sacrifice themselves, they didn't know what a difficult and long battle awaited them...

************

In the capital, the rain stopped.

The weather was gloomy. Shishi woke up from her dream. It was still afternoon, and Fanlou was already lively.

Because of the war in the north, Fanlou's business had been particularly good these past few days. Large merchants coming and going from the capital, officials entering and leaving the court, gentry and celebrities from the countryside, and ambitious scholars all gathered here.

The shadow of war loomed. Merchants with businesses in the north wanted to transfer their profits and needed to come to the capital to smooth relations. Gentry who were worried about their family property being damaged wanted to inquire about the changes in the war situation from familiar officials. In the court, officials with various vested interests needed to collude in private. Impassioned scholars

came here to discuss state affairs and express their feelings. All of this was a scene of busy excitement.

There were also scholars who decided to abandon their pens and join the army to resist the enemy in the north. They were invited to Fanlou, bid farewell with poetry and wine, and agreed to meet in the north soon.

Whenever this happened, Shishi couldn't help but think of Ning Yi, who had already gone north for several days. He didn't say too much, and no one celebrated with poetry and wine. He simply settled his wife and children and left. Shishi still didn't know the specific purpose of his trip to the north. She thought it was something important, but he also told his family to move south.

"The matter could be big or small. If possible, it's best to go south recently."

These were the words he said to her on the afternoon of the day Ning Yi left. At that time, Ning Yi had only called her to his house to tell her that he was going north temporarily, but later he still said this to her. Shishi was so clever. She guessed that Ning Yi was going north to prevent the Jurchens from invading south, so the deeper meaning of this sentence became terrifying.

At that time, she stared at Ning Yi in astonishment for a long time, and then asked in a low voice, "Is it that bad?" Ning Yi just nodded solemnly. "It's possible. It's better to be prepared."

He was at home directing the packing of things for the north. His expression was too indifferent, and his words were too calm. Shishi was shocked at the time and didn't even tell him to be careful on his trip to the north.

Later, thinking about this matter, she had known him for so long. He had dealt with the Liangshan bandits, opened stores and did business in Bianjing, taken in orphans, recruited a large number of workers, let Zhuji tell stories about those Confucian moralists and martial artists serving the country, and tried his best to relieve disasters. He had also offended many people with backgrounds, resulting in assassinations every now and then. He had always dealt with them calmly. But showing that indifferent and casual expression that day probably meant that he was going to start working seriously again.

This time, it was to fight against the Jurchens. Even if she didn't understand what he was going to do, she could guess the danger involved.

After he left, what Shishi was worried about was that she had never said a word of caution to him. Sometimes she wondered if he had asked his family to move south and also told her to do so, did his feelings for her differ from his feelings for his family? Was she moved with the feelings of a man and a woman for Ning Yi when she thought like this?

Later, she thought that for such a person, no matter who it was, she would have to say a word of caution, let alone that he was her childhood friend. In this way, she felt relieved and no longer entangled herself in matters of love between men and women.

After that, the news in Fanlou was also complicated and varied. She listened carefully. Sometimes she heard that Guo Yaoshi's surrender was due to the persecution of so-and-so, sometimes she heard that Wanyan Zonghan had forced Taiyuan, sometimes she heard that Zongwang had suffered a major defeat in Hebei, and sometimes she heard that the Wu Cheng and Wu Feng armies were going to attack Zonghan from both sides, and so on...

In the court, there were also all kinds of news. Some advocated peace talks, some advocated attacking, and some advocated defending. It was said that Commander-in-Chief Zhong Shidao's Western Army would be departing soon. There were also pessimists who said that the Jin army would push to the city of Bianliang—this news came from Duke Tong Guan. Shishi noticed that it was somewhat similar to Ning Yi's thoughts. Afterwards, the area near Bianliang City seemed to have begun preparations for clearing the fields and strengthening the walls. The migration of millions or even millions of people was being cursed as tyranny...

With Shishi's information ability, she could usually sort out clues from the chaotic news, but this time it was not so easy. And in this, she couldn't see what Ning Yi, who had gone north, was doing now. The nearby Wu Dynasty armies seemed to be going north to prepare to meet the Jurchens. In this situation, why did Ning Yi still think that Bianliang would be in danger?

In this mood, she didn't want to think too much about Ning Yi's suggestion that she go south. This familiar city, she couldn't go north like him. She could always wait for the result and stay here.

Raindrops dripped from the eaves after the rain stopped. The wind blew from the courtyard, stroking the thin gauze dress on her body and bringing a chill. The noise in the building passed through the walls and into the courtyard. The maid also came and brought news that two groups of people were asking to see her at the same time. She pulled up her collar and looked at the gloomy sky still covered by dark clouds.

Alas, it's a fine cool autumn...

************

A vast operation of clearing the fields and strengthening the walls was unfolding on the northern land. Countless messages gathered southward like snowflakes. Located in the center of this message, on the forward-moving carriage, Ning Yi was sorting out a large amount of information and data, occasionally issuing niche opinions that Zhuji could react to for some useful things.

Many pieces of information related to and unrelated to the progress of clearing the fields and strengthening the walls were also gathering, because he knew it earlier than the capital because of the distance.

Zonghan broke Xinzhou, Wanyan Loushi of the Western Route Army broke Daizhou, on the east side, Wanyan Zongwang took Guo Yaoshi's Ever-Victorious Army as the vanguard to advance south, Peng Zihui led an army of 60,000 to meet Wanyan Zongwang north of Dizhou, and was defeated by Guo Yaoshi. Peng Zihui fled south with 8,000 defeated soldiers. Dizhou was slaughtered after being captured. The Jurchen Eastern Route Army was speeding towards Jinan, etc., etc...

The Jurchens advanced rapidly, and it was now the autumn harvest, and it was almost impossible for large-scale and resolute clearing of the fields and strengthening the walls to go smoothly. There were also a lot of questions and accusations in the court, arguing that clearing the fields and strengthening the walls in the north was meaningless to stop the Jurchen

people. Various problems almost rose to the peak the first time they were accessed. Ning Yi had very little time, especially in the beginning, constantly summarizing information and issuing various concise and clear instructions. Therefore, when Zhu Biao brought the information in, he simply glanced at it, put it down, and then picked it up and looked at it again. He made some modifications on it with a rustling sound.

"Give it to Dong Fangxian, add it to the publicity plan, top secret, push him to the altar."

Zhu Biao hesitated for a moment. In fact, he was not responsible for personally delivering messages to Ning Yi. He probably came over at this time because he thought the message was too important, but then he took it, lifted the curtain of the car, and went out.

The carriage continued to drive, and people knocked on the wall of the car from time to time. About half an hour later, another piece of thing came. The person who got into the car was Dong Fangxian, who was in charge of publicity in Zhuji. He gave a manuscript to Ning Yi. Ning Yi took it and looked at it.

"The background of the eight dead Jurchen generals may need to be investigated in detail, but these are the ones that are available. They will be gradually thickened later. What do you think of this?"

Ning Yi looked at it quickly, drew a few points with a brush, and then said quickly: "In addition to the eight people with names, the rest are Nianhan's elite to be emphasized. The numbers cannot be ambiguous. You say that more than a hundred deaths and injuries are not shocking, add to it, two hundred and sixty-eight people died, one hundred and twenty-seven died and the rest were injured, just write like that."

"If someone asks how we figured out the numbers..."

"Just say that Nianhan's army counted them themselves."

"Yes."

Dong Fangxian took the article down. Ning Yi continued to deal with things. Half an hour later, the second draft was handed over. Ning Yi looked at it and then waved impatiently for someone to take it away.

The carriage continued to move forward, and the accumulated things continued to be dealt with. When it came to an end, the vehicle stopped, and Ning Yi was going to get out of the car to stretch his muscles. When he got up, he remembered something, rummaged through the various messages on the table, and then softly called a follower to get something.

When he walked out of the carriage, there was a bleak sunset in the distance. The follower ran back and brought back the piece of paper that he had previously asked Zhu Biao to give to Dong Fangxian. On it was the original information. He sat on the shaft of the carriage and looked at the words on it.

"On the evening of the ninth day of the eighth month, Zhou Tong led the heroes of the Green Forest in Xinzhou City to assassinate Nianhan, killing Jurchen generals Chixian, Shumu Tu, Han Erguo... and other eight people. Jurchen generals Nianhan, Wanyan Xiyin, Yin Shuke, and Ba Lisou were all slightly and seriously injured... Known participants in the assassination include... Zhou Tong died..."

He saw many messages in a day, including tragic defeats and slaughters, but perhaps because there was a familiar name in this message, it made his mood low...

Zhu Biao also walked over from the side with a complex and low expression...

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