Time had long passed the Awakening of Insects; this year's Lin'an City, both inside and out, showed a heavy and dilapidated appearance. Search: \(¨Complete¨Book¨God¨Station¨) for free access to quality literature.

The mansions that crisscrossed the city were, in some cases, already in disrepair. After the death of their owners, and after experiencing the ravages of war, the ruins of the mansions became gathering places for refugees and the down-and-out. Rebels occasionally came too, bringing with them government troops to hunt down rebels, and sometimes they would set fire to the city again.

Some of the bluestone slabs on Imperial Street were already old and broken, and no one came to repair them. After the spring rain, the drainage channels were blocked, and sewage surged out, flowing in the streets, and after the weather cleared, it turned into a stench, choking people's nostrils. The small court and yamen in charge of government affairs were always overwhelmed with countless matters, and they could not manage such things.

In fact, in these years, a little bit of stinky sewage could no longer disturb people's peace.

A year ago, Lin'an also had many magnificent and colorful places, but now, the colors had gradually faded, and the entire city was mostly occupied by gray and black. Walking in the streets, one could occasionally see trees that had not died, sprouting new greenery in the corner of the courtyard walls, which was a bright spot. The city, stripped of the embellishments of color, retained the heaviness of the earth and stone materials themselves, but it was unknown when this inherent heaviness would lose its dignity.

In February, the main force of the Jurchen Eastern Route Army had already withdrawn from Lin'an, but the continued turmoil had not left much room for survival in this city. When the Jurchens came, they slaughtered hundreds of thousands of people. During the six-month stay, the Han people living in the cracks depended on the Jurchens, gradually forming a new ecosystem, but with the withdrawal of the Jurchens, this ecosystem was broken again.

The gang fights and killings of underworld gangs and desperadoes were staged in the city every night, and every day at dawn, one could see the dead bodies lying in the streets.

Compared to Lin'an a year ago, the population of the city had sharply decreased, but the living space enjoyed by each person had not expanded accordingly, but had shrunk significantly. This was because the city's supplies had decreased even more. Skin-and-bone people killed their compatriots in dark alleys for trivial benefits that they would not even look at in the past. It was not too strange to have dozens of people die in firefights for a few pounds of rice or the interests of a butcher shop.

We cannot accuse the ferocity of these seekers of survival. When the survival resources in an ecosystem are drastically reduced, people killing each other to reduce the number is originally an inevitable part of the operation of each system. The rations of ten people cannot feed eleven people, the only question is how the eleventh person should die.

Only a few people still maintained a good life.

The rain fell for a while and then stopped again. The carriage of Li Shan, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, drove through the long street overflowing with dirty water. Beside the carriage, following along, was an entourage team composed of ten guards. These accompanying soldiers with swords blocked the pedestrians on the roadside who tried to come over to beg. From the carriage window, he watched as a woman holding a child who wanted to rush over was pushed to the ground by a guard. The baby in the swaddling clothes was actually fake.

"Poor schemes," he thought to himself, and lowered the curtain with annoyance.

At this moment, what really troubled him was not these troublesome things that could be seen every day, but the various strange news coming from the west.

Since last year, the original Wu Dynasty officials and forces, led by his teacher Wu Qimei and Tie Yan, had defected to the Jin Dynasty and elected a collateral member of the Zhou family who was said to be related by blood to ascend to the throne, establishing the small court of Lin'an. At the beginning, they were naturally cautious, and they would blush a little when scolded as traitors, but as time went by, some people gradually adapted to the self-created public opinion.

In fact, establishing this Wu Dynasty's small court may not be the worst choice in the current situation of the world. For more than two hundred years of the Wu Dynasty, the current emperors, whether Zhou Zhe or Zhou Yong, can be described as昏庸无道 (hūn yōng wú dào - fatuous and tyrannical) and倒行逆施 (dào xíng nì shī - acting against the natural order).

Even Emperor Jingping Zhou Ji, who reigned for less than a year in the middle, was a昏人 (hūn rén - muddle-headed person) who sought gods and fortune-tellers. He took the so-called "Heavenly Master" Guo Jing as a general to fight against the Jurchens, and as a result, he opened the city gate himself, allowing the Jurchens to enter Bianliang effortlessly during the second Southern Expedition. Perhaps no one dared to say it at the time, but now it seems that the shame of Jingping and the subsequent half-life of humiliation suffered by Zhou Ji can be regarded as self-inflicted.

The luck of the Wu Dynasty was, after all, gone. With the Central Plains and Jiangnan all fallen, some resistance may also be coming to an end—perhaps there will be a period of chaos, but as the Jurchens stabilize the entire Jin Dynasty, this chaos will gradually disappear.

After all, this is the process of one dynasty replacing another.

Whether to accept this reality or die in the foreseeable chaos. Comparing the two, some things are not so difficult to accept, and on the other hand, many people actually have not much choice.

The torrent of history is too large and too intense. Recently, Li Shan often felt that he was just an ordinary person who had fallen into the angry tide, either grabbing the only usable wooden board in his hand and trying to survive, or letting go and being swallowed by the tide. He was able to reach the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel in this small court, more perhaps not because of ability, but just because of luck:

He worshipped Wu Qimei as his teacher, and Wu Qimei became the Right Chancellor of the court, and he followed. If he didn't go this way, he actually didn't have many other choices.

In general, the development of the "Jun Society" led by Wu Qimei in recent months has been quite gratifying. In the small court, Wu Qimei originally ranked as Right Chancellor, and the most powerful person was the Left Chancellor Tie Yan, but many of Tie Yan's forces came from the Fujian army. After Princess Zhou Pei used a trick to take Fuzhou at the beginning of the year and killed Tie Yan's cousin Tie Sanwu, Tie Yan's momentum declined. And Wu Qimei, who was more stable in his steps, not only expanded his momentum, but also gained more appreciation from the Jurchens to a certain extent.

The current Lin'an court does not pay much attention to checks and balances. Wu Qimei's momentum is soaring, and the rest of the people are also rising with him. As Wu Qimei's disciple, Li Shan is still only the Vice Minister in the Ministry of Personnel, but even the Minister dares not to disrespect him. In the past two months, although the bottom-level situation in Lin'an City is still difficult, many things, including珍玩 (zhēn wán - rare treasures), land deeds, and beauties, have been sent to Li Shan like flowing water.

In this situation, Li Shan felt for the first time in his life what is called the general trend, what is called "when the time comes, heaven and earth will work together." He doesn't need to speak at all for these benefits, and even refusing them feels like hurting others. Especially in February, after the main force of the Jin army successively withdrew, the bottom-level situation in Lin'an was agitated again, and more benefits were sent to Li Shan.

In the foreseeable future, the "Jun Society" led by Wu Qimei will become the truly all-powerful ruling class in the entire Lin'an and the entire Wu Dynasty, and Li Shan only needs to follow and move forward to have everything.

After all, the dynasty is already changing, he is just following, only seeking self-preservation, and does not actively harm people. He asked himself, he had nothing to be sorry about in his conscience.

If it weren't for the information that had been coming over in recent days, everything he had experienced would have been a heavenly dream.

In the Battle of Changsha, Chen Fan defeated the Jurchen army and killed Yin Shuke in battle.

In the southwest, the Black Flag Army defeated the main force of the Jurchens and killed Wanyan Xiebao.

The first wave of big news arrived a few days earlier, and everyone was still confirming its authenticity. The second wave entered the city the day before yesterday. Now, only a few high-level officials really know, and various details are still being transmitted.

Separated by thousands of miles, even an urgent message of eight hundred *li* takes several days to arrive. The first round of news often has errors, and the confirmation period is extremely long. It is difficult to confirm whether there are other problems in the middle. Some people even think that it is the spies of the Black Flag Army taking advantage of the turmoil in Lin'an's situation and using false information to stir up trouble—this kind of questioning is reasonable.

Amid various speculations, in general, the news has not caused too much waves in this place thousands of miles away. People are suppressing their thoughts and trying not to express anything. And on a real level, it is that people still don't know how to deal with such news.

At the end of last year, the information that Eliri was killed in the Southwest War came, and people could still respond to it—and soon after, Huangming County was breached, and the Southwest Jin Army also achieved its own results, and some discussions subsided immediately. But today... the Black Flag can really defeat the Jurchens.

Isn't it said that the Jurchen army is the strongest in the Western Court? Is Wanyan Zonghan such a legendary figure exaggerating?

What exactly is going on?

What kind of person is Wanyan Zonghan? What is the situation in the Southwest? What kind of war is this?

Various questions swirled in Li Shan's mind, and his thoughts were agitated.

The carriage drove all the way into the Right Chancellor's mansion. The members of the "Jun Society" also arrived one after another. People greeted each other and talked about the situation in the city these days—almost on all levels of interests involved in the small court, the "Jun Society" got the lion's share. When people talked about it, they smiled at each other, and then they were all paying attention to the situation of training and recruiting soldiers.

Only in very private small circles, perhaps someone mentioned the intelligence that had been coming from the Southwest these days.

As Wu Qimei's disciple, Li Shan's status in the "Jun Society" is not low. Although he is not a pivotal figure among his fellow disciples, his relationship with others is still okay. When "Senior Brother" Gan Fenglin came over, Li Shan went up to talk to him. Gan Fenglin walked aside with Li Shan, exchanged a few greetings, and when Li Shan slightly mentioned the Southwest, Gan Fenglin whispered a question.

"Back then in Lin'an, Junior Brother Li knew a lot of people. He had dealings with that Li Pin Li Dexin, I heard. I wonder what the relationship is like?"

"When Li Dexin was in Lin'an, I did have dealings with him, and I also visited him several times to ask for advice..."

Li Shan frowned, not understanding Gan Fenglin's purpose in asking this question. In fact, Wu Qimei had been living in seclusion for many years to cultivate his reputation. Although he was a great scholar with many disciples, none of these disciples had become too outstanding in the past. It could be said that they were neither too high nor too low—of course, now it can be said that traitors are in power and talent is not appreciated.

The break between that Li Pin Li Dexin and Ning Yi was rumored far and wide for some reason back then. Since he started a newspaper in Lin'an City, his reputation has risen extremely fast, even enough to be compared with Wu Qimei and others. Li Shan didn't have much achievement in the past, and his attitude was low. He visited everywhere in Lin'an City to learn and build relationships. He and Li Pin had the same surname and could be said to be from the same family. He had the opportunity to speak several times when participating in gatherings, and later visited him for advice. He could be said to have a good relationship on the outside.

But within the Wu family's disciples, Li Shan usually clears himself of this matter. After all, Wu Qimei worked so hard to accumulate a great scholar's reputation that was recognized by others, and Li Pin, a young boy, relied on arguing with Ning Yi to vaguely become one of the leaders of Confucianism, which was really too much of a matter of沽名钓誉 (gū míng diào yù - angling for fame).

What's so great about arguing with Ning Yi? Duke Mei even wrote a dozen articles scolding that弑君魔头 (shì jūn mó tóu - monarch-slaying demon), which one wasn't full of lofty sentiments and brilliant arguments. But the world is ignorant and only likes to make a fuss about vulgar things.

"What did Junior Brother talk about with that Li Pin?"

"Uh..." Li Shan was a little embarrassed. "Most of it was... things about learning, I think. The first time I visited, I asked him about the sincerity and rectification of the mind in the Great Learning, and at that time I said..."

Li Shan briefly repeated the conversation between the two, and Gan Fenglin waved his hand: "Did he mention anything about the Southwest?"

"Southwest... what matter?" Li Shan was shocked. In the current situation, everything about the Southwest is very sensitive. He didn't know the purpose of his senior brother, and he was a little afraid of saying the wrong thing, but he saw the other party shaking his head.

"Teacher asked me to investigate the situation in the Southwest," Gan Fenglin said frankly. "The news from a few days ago has been verified by all parties. Now it seems that it is roughly true. We originally thought that there was no suspense in the Southwest War, but now it seems that there is no small suspense. In the past, everyone said that the Nuzhen army under Nianhan's leadership was invincible, and now I wonder if it was an exaggeration or if there were other reasons."

"On the other hand, for the past few years, we have known very little about the Southwest. Therefore, the teacher asked me to inquire about people who are involved with the Southwest. What kind of ferocious thing is this Black Flag Army? What kind of situation has it become after the弑君 (shì jūn -regicide)... To know yourself and your enemy is to win every battle. Now you must have a number in your heart... These two days, I have found some information, but more specific information, I think, few people know..."

Li Shan understood in his heart.

For a long time, when the people of Lin'an talked about the Southwest, they were actually just talking about a black curtain. People cursed, condemned, and cursed, but the people of Lin'an really knew too little about the specific situation of the Southwest. This is partly due to the huge pressure exerted by the Jurchens at all times, and on the other hand, because when facing the Jurchens as such "enemies," everyone can still treat them with a rational attitude. When talking about the "rebels" of regicide in the Southwest, people can only respond with a more extreme and intense attitude.

倒行逆施 (dào xíng nì shī - Acting against the natural order), the world will attack it together, in short, it will die—this is no doubt. As for treating the Southwest with the attitude of a national war, everyone will actually feel that it has no face. People are willing to understand the Jurchens, but in reality, they are unwilling to understand the Southwest.

The reasons for forming this situation are too complicated, and analyzing them is no longer meaningful. This time the Jurchens invaded the south, the Wu Dynasty people were actually a little difficult to measure and understand the power of the Jurchens. The entire Jiangnan was destroyed under the attack of the Eastern Route Army. As for the legendary more powerful Western Route Army, how powerful it is, people cannot rationally explain, and the battle that will happen in the Southwest actually exceeds the scope of understanding of the people thousands of miles away in the water.

There is no need for too much understanding. In short, after Nianhan's strongest army in the world killed them, the Southwest will be completely destroyed.

But at this time, everything developed out of the problem, and the people of Lin'an could not help but seriously understand and measure the situation in the Southwest.

What happened to the Jin Kingdom?

Is Nianhan really still the number one famous general in the world today?

The Jurchen Western Court, which is rumored to be more powerful than the master, is actually not so terrible? Are these rumors about the Jurchens all false? Is the Western Route Army actually weaker than the Eastern Route Army? Then, can it also be inferred that the rumors about the Jin Kingdom fighting internally are actually also false news?

These are all possible results under rational analysis, but if, in the most unlikely situation, there is another explanation...

If the Jurchen Western Route Army is really stronger than the Eastern Route Army.

If Nianhan is really the undefeated famous general who traversed the world and built half of the Jin Kingdom's territory.

If the Jurchen Wanyan Xiyin, Yin Shuke, Bali Su, Han Qixian, Gao Qingyi... and many other people really still have the strategy and martial courage of the past...

If there is a very small possibility that such a situation exists...

Then, in the past few years, in the Southwest Mountains that people have not paid too much attention to, what kind of army has that monarch-slaying demon established and created? How does it rule, how does it train soldiers, how does it operate... What kind of army is that that defeated the strongest force of the Jurchens with a small number of soldiers... How barbaric and brutal is it?

Cold sweat oozed out of Li Shan's back...

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