In January, while small groups of green forest people were heading north towards the Yangtze River, more people were heading west and south in panic, escaping from the fighting war zone.

The triangular area from Jiangning to Zhenjiang for more than 100 miles to the east and Lin'an for more than 450 miles to the south is gradually falling into the flames of war. This is the most prosperous place in the world since the Wu Dynasty moved south. It contains

It is the most prosperous Jiangnan town near Taihu Lake, radiating to Changzhou, Suzhou, Jiaxing and other large cities, with a total population of tens of millions.

After the Jurchens came, there were prosperous and important places everywhere that needed to be defended. However, even with the manpower of the Wu Dynasty, it was impossible to station heavy troops in every city to ensure that the city was not lost. In fact, the second year of Jian Shuo was called

In the battle of searching mountains and seas, Wu Shu led the army and actually marched through many towns in the south of the Yangtze River.

Fortunately, the situation this time was different from the past. The Jurchens did not have the capital to delay the fourth southern expedition with the purpose of defeating Nanwu for a long time. After Wushu's army arrived in Lin'an, the Wu Dynasty mobilized the troops previously stationed in Jiaxing

, about 170,000 troops from Suzhou and other places came to Lin'an King Qin, and together with the 200,000 forbidden troops stationed in Lin'an at this time, they became a core in this war.

The other core is naturally the Yangtze River battle circle with Jiangning and Zhenjiang as the center. After crossing the river, the main attack point of the East Route Army led by Zong Fu was in Jiangning, and then spread towards Zhenjiang and the large and small cities in the south. Liu Chengzong's troops in the north attacked the Xuzhou area

After taking away the attention of some Jurchen troops, the main force of Zongfu's army, excluding attrition, still numbered less than 200,000. In addition, hundreds of thousands of Han troops came from the Central Plains. On the one hand, they attacked Jiangning and on the other hand, they sent elite troops.

, push the front as far south as possible.

The distance between Jiangning and Lin'an is more than 400 miles. If we advance at full speed, it will only take more than ten days. For the Jurchens, there are two strategic directions at the moment. Either defeat the resistance group led by Prince Junwu along the Yangtze River.

, or gradually move south to seize the city, and join forces with Wu Shu's elite cavalry to threaten Lin'an and force the Wu Dynasty to surrender.

These two strategic directions can be carried out at the same time. In mid-January, the main force of the Zongfu was divided into more than 30,000 people, led by generals Tatang and Arubao respectively, and marched south and southeast, while the Central Plains warlord Lin Baoyue

, the more than 100,000 Han troops led by Li Yangzong have pushed the battle line to Taiping Prefecture (later Ma'anshan), Danyang, and Changning in the south. During this period, several small towns were knocked open, and a group of Han troops plundered them wantonly.

Burning and killing, the dead and injured will not be counted.

On the Wu Dynasty's side, it was naturally impossible to allow Zongfu and others' troops to continue southward at this time. In addition to the 100,000-strong military camp originally stationed in Jiangning, Han Shizhong also led the main force of 50,000 naval forces to station in Jiangning, and another 70,000 naval forces were promoted.

Chang Ning, together with nearly 300,000 Huaiyang troops and reinforcements, firmly blocked the way for Zongfu's troops to go south.

By mid-to-late January, Yue Fei's Beiwei army, Xi Yin and the Tushan Guards led by Yin Shuke arrived on the battlefield. Jurchen general Arubao, who had gone to Changning with more than 30,000 men, made a false shot and turned northeast towards Zhenjiang.

When Xi Yin's troops launched a surprise attack in the Zhenjiang area, the entire Jiangnan area was already intertwined and fell into a chaotic situation where you were surrounded by me and you were surrounded by others.

The situation in Lin'an is more complicated.

Wu Shu's cavalry stopped attacking the city after launching an attack on Lin'an in early January. The army wandered around Lin'an, burning and killing, and occasionally conflicts and frictions broke out with Xu Liejun's troops in Shencheng, where the Wu Dynasty came to Qinwang. From a rational perspective,

It is not easy for 50,000 troops to break through a big city garrisoned by 200,000 troops. Although the Jurchens have had more glorious achievements in the past, the complex surge of people in Lin'an City is more like the changes in the stock market in later generations. With the news from the outside world time after time,

There are strange fluctuations in the news trend in the city. In addition to the anti-gold voices and desperate slogans on the surface, various thoughts are intertwined in private, and the undercurrent is surging. With every victory or defeat,

The messages kept coming and going.

Of course, the Wu Dynasty had been raising scholars for more than two hundred years, and words about paying money or collaborating with the enemy would not be talked about by everyone. In the past month or so, the changes in Lin'an's news have become more complicated. It's just about Zhou Yong and a group of people.

There are several kinds of news about the falling out between officials. For example, the news that Zhou Yong wanted to reconcile with Heiqi and was then put under house arrest by hundreds of officials was particularly convincing because of its half truth and half falsehood.

In addition, since the Huaxia Army issued a warning and sent out anti-traitor teams, discussions in the capital also arose about who was a traitor and who had surrendered to the enemy. Students turned their attention to every suspicious minister in the court, some of whom were Li Pin.

In order to increase sales, the capital tabloids that were opened later began to secretly produce and sell pamphlets about the family backgrounds and personal relationships of the court and military officials for public reference. Among them, there were also literati who had repeatedly failed in their official positions.

Among them, it expresses high opinions and attracts people's attention.

As for the direction of the war situation in the world, the judgment of the possible future victory or defeat, and the discussion of many ways to turn defeat into victory, they have never stopped since the beginning of the war. Those who are worried about the country and the people are running in private, and there are books such as "Defending the Enemy Old Country Three"

Admonition posts such as "Policy" and "Ten Essays on Retreating Jurchenism and Reviving China" were flying around the court and even the princess palace every day.

On the fourth day of February, a scholar in his sixties who called himself "Old Man of Qiulu" went to a tabloid shop to print a large number of pages with his "good advice on governing the country". He followed the example of the previous Jurchens and distributed such leaflets in the city.

After the patrolling army captured him, the old man shouted that he wanted to see the governor of Lin'an, the prime minister, the privy envoy, and the eldest princess.

Luo Shuwen, Yin of Lin'an Prefecture, had no choice but to meet him and asked him for advice, but he only asked the emperor to reuse a great sage like him and immediately kill many court officials who he thought had problems. As for how he judged

When there are problems with high-ranking officials in the imperial court, most of the news comes from various gossips in Beijing. The old man has been working hard for fame all his life, but in fact he is just a scholar. In the end, his family's wealth is gone, and he only has an old wife who goes to the streets and markets every day to pick up some vegetables.

He even begged for a living, and when he printed leaflets, he even put some coffins on them. Prefect Luo Shuwen couldn't laugh or cry, so in the end he had to offer two taels of silver and let the old man go home.

More treacherous human hearts are hidden under this vast and chaotic public opinion.

On the eighth day of February, there was a poetry recital in the west of Lin'an City. The venue was an old courtyard called Baopu Garden. The trees were budding, the peach blossoms were in buds, and the breath of spring had just arrived. While they were drinking and drinking, a man in his thirties

, many people gathered around the middle-aged scholar with a goatee. This man brought a map of the entire Wu Dynasty and was pointing and drawing on it. His argument was clear and convincing, which shocked everyone.

"...Looking at the situation in our Wu Dynasty, everyone thinks that the center is trapped in the south of the Yangtze River. This naturally makes sense. If nothing happens in Lin'an and the Yangtze River line can finally be defended and hold back the two Jurchen armies, the Wu Dynasty's siege will be lifted. This is

Right argument. If you can do it, you don’t need to think too much about the rest... But if you just look at it, there is still a core of today’s world, in Xiangyang to the west..."

He tapped his finger on the location of Xiangyang on the map, and then headed further west.

"... You may not agree that Xiangyang is an important town, but it is more than 1,500 miles away from Lin'an. Whether Xiangyang is defended or defeated, it has nothing to do with the overall situation of Lin'an. But here, I have to talk about an old rule.

The discussion is the so-called dispute between the Jurchens and the Eastern and Western courts. In the past, when we talked about the Eastern and Western imperial courts and sow discord, it was just a scholar's argument on paper. But today, the Jurchens have come, and the discussion is different from the past.

…”

"...For you and me, if the entire Jin Kingdom is regarded as one, then their goal in this southern expedition is naturally to overthrow our Wu Dynasty, but after the overthrow, what will they do next?" The scholar pointed his finger.

Move to the west, further west, knock, "Destroy the black flag!"

"Everyone, to put it bluntly, for the Jurchens today, the real thorn in their side is probably not our Wu Dynasty, but the black people who rose from the southwest, killed the Lou family, and waited for the Jurchen generals without giving up.

The Banner Army. But now, the two Jurchen armies have different emphasis on the Black Flag... Judging from the previous situation, Zong Han and Xi Yin really regard the Black Flag Army as the enemy, and Zong Fu

, Wushu and his ilk have the primary goal of overthrowing our Wu Dynasty and defeating Lin'an... It is naturally best for the two armies to join forces and defeat the Wu Dynasty first, and then invade the world to destroy the southwest. But here, we should see that,

What if we settle for the next best thing?”

"... In the previous years, we said that there were conflicts between the Jurchen and Eastern courts and that they could be provoked. That was just talk but no reality. Zong Han and others were so tyrannical in conquering the world. How could they be so arrogant because of some private instigation?

Just start a series of internal strife with A Gu? But now, let's think about it, if there is such a choice before Zong Han and others: We in Lin'an can stay a lot longer, delay Wu Shu, and even let Jurchen Dong

The Route Army's southern expedition returned in vain, but they were able to take advantage of the West Route Army, and even went straight to the southwest to confront the Black Flag Army, destroy this army, and kill the Demon Leader Ning, Zong Hanxi

Is Yin Fang really not tempted?"

"...What I say next may be inappropriate, but it is just an idea. If so..."

The middle-aged man lowered his voice, and everyone listened. After a while, some people at the literary meeting were pondering, some were praising, and some were proposing refutations... The new buds of the trees in the courtyard were shaking, figures and various opinions,

Soon they were all submerged in this cool spring scenery.

The poetry meeting ended and it was already afternoon. The crowds of people dispersed in twos and threes. The middle-aged man who spoke earlier said goodbye to a group of scribes, and then turned to the streets of Lin'an City. A military disaster was imminent, and the atmosphere in the city was solemn. There were not many pedestrians.

The young man turned around several streets and realized something was wrong behind him. He quickened his pace in the next lane. When he turned into a deserted alley, he used his strength to climb up the wall of the courtyard next to him, and then

But he fell down because he was not strong enough.

When he got up from the muddy water, several figures were already approaching him.

The figure was covered with a sack, dragged out of the alleyway, and then thrown into a carriage. The carriage turned along several long streets and entered the prison of Lin'an Mansion. Soon, Tie Tianying came in from outside, and someone led him to the prison. The three

A middle-aged man in his teens has been tied up in a torture room.

The middle-aged man woke up leisurely and saw the old catcher who was burning a soldering iron. He struggled a few times on the shelf: "You, you, you, who are you!? Who are you? I am a Juren, Jing Han is thirteen years old.

You have the title of Juren! What are you doing!?"

Tie Tianying raised his head and looked at him: "If you don't know where you are, what is your identity? If you are kidnapped by bandits, can your identity save you?"

"I, I, I, I... I can guess that the country has a discipline and the punishment is not as good as the doctor. You are not allowed to kill those who speak out. You..."

"Who told you to speak these things? Who taught you to speak?"

"No one! No one! Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the country! I am a citizen of the Wu Dynasty, and I have the status of a civil servant. When the country encounters a disaster, I share the country's worries! I share the country's worries! And I just talked about it with everyone, and

Didn’t do anything else”

The middle-aged man struggled on the wooden frame and shouted in panic. Tie Tianying looked at him quietly. After a while, he untied his bloated robe and put it aside, and then picked up the torture instrument.

"I'm keeping an eye on you for more than a day or two. If you do your own thing and do your own thing, you'll be offended."

…

The early spring sun sets and day turns into night.

In the early morning of the ninth day of February, Zhou Pei got up dressed in his clothes, washed up, got into a carriage, and crossed the city.

It was only more than an hour after midnight, and the city still seemed quiet. However, the further north you went, the more you could hear a small buzzing sound in the air. As you approached Heningmen in the north, this small sound gradually became clearer. It was a large number of people.

The sound of crowd activity.

On the afternoon of the eighth day of the lunar month, Xu Liejun's 30,000 men were defeated by 20,000 fine cavalry sent by Wu Shu during the transfer. Thousands of people were killed and wounded. Later, Xu Liejun sent tens of thousands more to repel the invading Jurchen cavalry. Now a large number of wounded are heading to Lin'an City.

Send it here.

After the wounded were transported into the Wengcheng, they were screened. Some doctors went in to provide emergency treatment to the seriously injured. Zhou Pei climbed up the city wall and watched the moans and screams in the Wengcheng. Cheng Zhouhai was already there and came over to salute.

"Another defeat. I don't know how many people are going to spread the word in private." Zhou Pei said in a low voice.

"Being calm is like, no matter when there is a war, someone will be careful," Cheng Zhouhai said.

"More than ten years ago, the world did not know that the Wu Dynasty would really lose the Central Plains. Even if they thought about it privately, they could not help but feel that the Wu Dynasty could survive. Now everyone's discussions are inevitably making some 'worst case plans'

"In the 'worst case scenario', they all hope that they can live a better life..." Zhou Pei whispered, raising his head to look into the darkness at the outermost part of the city wall, "Mr. Cheng, Bianliang's city wall is also

Is it so high and so thick? Sometimes when I stand and look up, I feel that such a towering city wall should never be easy to build, but what I have experienced over the years tells me that it is not necessarily that difficult to break it open.

"

Cheng Zhouhai was silent for a moment: "...His Majesty called His Highness into the palace yesterday. What did he say?"
To be continued...