The night wind in the capital city in February is still chilly, but this doesn't stop the lively night market.
During the day, the restaurants and teahouses are closed to thank customers, but at night, the restaurants are brightly lit. With the night lights, the whole street is filled with the fragrance of wine, fragrance, and powder, and even the charming smiles of women are faintly visible.
There are many vendors on the street, the hot fire, bright and flickering lanterns, even if it is near midnight, many people linger in it.
The drunken people who ate in the restaurant sat under the mutton soup shed on the side of the street, drinking hot mutton soup while letting the night wind blow sober up.
"Brother Zhao, Brother Zhao." Someone passed by him, stopped and asked when he thought of something, "How is the battle going in the north?"
The war in the Northland that started in the first month, after more than a month, is no longer the most concerned thing of the people in the capital. Sometimes they even forget that they are still fighting. It seemed that he thought about it seriously.
"It's nothing, it's a stalemate with the Jin people at the border." He said, with a bit of indifference to see through the world, "I think this is the case for Dajin and Dazhou. No one can do anything to each other. Every year at the border Just make a fuss."
A diner next to him came over with mutton soup and nodded.
"That's not true." He said, "Although it is said that the Jin people once broke through the Central Plains, our Dazhou is different from Daqi after all. Daqi's wild and small land is comparable to Dajin, and it is not surprising that it was wiped out. Our Dazhou is such a big world, even if we are caught off guard for a while, it is not that we are powerless to fight back."
"That's right, the soldiers who have been raised for more than ten years are not in vain." Many people also nodded, with relaxed expressions, "When Cheng Guogong brought them to the capital, we saw with our own eyes that they really are good soldiers."
Cheng Guogong was mentioned in the words, making the atmosphere stagnate.
Cheng Guogong is said to have defected to the land of the Jinren, and may lead the Jinren to fight.
Then this praise of Cheng Guogong is great, isn't it the praise of the gold man
This is really disconcerting.
"A soldier is a soldier, and a general is a general." The little official surnamed Zhao said slowly with a smile that you don't understand anything, "Mr. Cheng is so famous because of his bravery. He ran away. The soldier didn’t run away, without the soldier, he’s nothing.”
That's right, everyone nodded hurriedly.
"Besides, there is still Uncle Qinghe." The owner of the sheep soup seller said while stirring the cauldron with a spoon, "You are young and only know Cheng Guogong, don't forget that Uncle Qinghe was also very famous back then, It's just that they are stationed in the south, and everyone doesn't care much about it."
This made everyone feel more at ease.
"Don't worry about those things, we don't need to worry about them." Someone said with a smile, grabbing the mutton soup bowl drunkenly, "With adults here, the emperor doesn't worry about us, we are at the feet of the emperor, this is the safest place."
As for other places, they can't control it.
Everyone laughed, and suddenly there was a noise from the side.
"Come on, sister Xiao is swimming in the river at night."
Sister Xiao is now the most popular girl in the newly promoted Jiaofang Division. She has attracted countless young masters and young masters who have spent a lot of money and smiled. It is difficult for ordinary people like them to meet each other.
I heard that she took a night cruise on a flower boat, and suddenly the streets boiled like boiling water, crowding to both sides of the river.
But seeing the colorful boats flourishing in the river, during which the women are beaded and jade piled, singing and dancing on bamboo strings is like a fairy mountain, the riverside is full of people, some people are squeezed to fall into the river from time to time, causing a lot of laughter, and some even throw silk flowers and fragrant fruits on the colored boats. .
In the end, a rich man from an unknown family simply threw a dustpan of money into the river, causing countless people to jump into the river to fight for it, and almost blocked the flower boat from swimming. Tonight and Hexi.
Compared with the night market in the outer city, the inner city where the imperial palace is located has fallen into the silence of the night, like two heavens and earth.
But at this time, the Qinzheng Hall was still brightly lit.
"Your Majesty."
An official trotted in.
In the hall, Huang Cheng and other five important cabinet ministers couldn't help walking over a few steps, and the emperor on the throne also stood up.
"How? Any news?" He asked eagerly.
The official was sweating profusely in this cold night, and he didn't know whether he ran too fast or was impatient.
"Yes, yes." He panted, "The five-way reinforcements have arrived in Puyin, with nearly 100,000 troops."
Huang Cheng and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's good."
"It's very timely."
"Enough to fight, enough to fight."
Everyone said one after another, and the emperor sat back on his chair with a sigh of relief.
"Where's Uncle Qing He?" He asked again when he thought of something.
The official hesitated.
"Uncle Qinghe has no news for now," he said.
The previous old news is that there is no news, that is, life and death.
No news? Does that mean you still don't know whether you are dead or alive
The faces of the people present were a little ugly.
"But your Majesty, don't worry." The official said in a hurry, "Qing He Bo also arranged for everyone to help the attack when he issued the order to dispatch troops. At this time, all the troops are already in place."
That's good, that's good, even if Qing Hebo can't be rescued by then, this battle is enough for a golden man to deal with.
The Jin Tartars were greedy for money and cowardly. They were scared by beating them with one hand, and then they could be dismissed by giving them some benefits.
The emperor looked at Huang Cheng.
"Has the envoy of the Jin Ren been in contact?" he asked.
Huang Cheng leaned over and answered yes.
"I've already contacted you, and I'm waiting for a reply." He said without hesitation.
The emperor nodded.
"No matter what they say, answer first and talk later," he said.
Come down no matter what the conditions are? This is too disrespectful to the country's prestige, and an official beside him frowned.
"Your Majesty." He couldn't help but speak.
The emperor interrupted him impatiently.
"It's not like everyone agrees. The little Jinren will coax you first, so as not to save the common people from suffering." He said.
Probably because of the nervousness and anxiety frightened by the sudden war, the emperor became more arbitrary than before, and he was very rude to officials who raised objections, saying that he would be punished if he punished him.
Forget it, let's see how the siege of Uncle Qinghe is going, the official leaned over and said yes.
The emperor looked at several important officials in the hall.
"Also, everyone must keep the matter of Uncle Qinghe's siege a secret." He said, "Only a few of you know about it, so don't spread it."
The officials looked at each other.
Do you want to hide such a big thing
"This kind of news should not be spread now, so as not to affect morale and disturb the hearts of the people, and it will be easier for the Jin people to take advantage of it if it causes riots." The emperor said.
What's more important is that Qing Hebo was appointed by him, so such a trash would be trapped in the first battle, and he would be scolded as a trash as well.
"Yes." He sighed, "I feel ashamed for letting the common people suffer such fright during the first month of the new year."
There is some truth in saying this, but sometimes being frightened is also a kind of vigilance.
Several court officials had complex expressions, and Huang Cheng had already bowed down respectfully.
"Your Majesty is holy." He said, and subconsciously glanced at the young man standing beside him after speaking.
The person who shouldn't be present on such an important occasion is still there, but this time he didn't say His Majesty's wisdom first, but just stood aside and listened carefully and attentively to the recording.
But the emperor is not in the mood to care about whether he is holy or not, and it is not a glorious thing. No one is stupid, so where is the sage at this time.
He gave Huang Cheng a slightly annoyed look.
"There is no way to make a stopgap." He said.
The other officials couldn't say anything else, so they bent down and said yes.
Ning Yunzhao stopped writing and lowered his head slightly, hiding the ridicule and hesitation in his eyes.
…
The land near the capital boundary is much warmer than the northern land. There are small grasses on the ground that are tentatively emerging in the misty morning light, and the God cautiously unfolds his green body.
The thick horse's hoof stepped over, leaving a hole, dust was raised, and the green grass was trampled to pieces.
The man on the horse reined in sharply and stopped amidst the neighing sound, and the armor on his body collided with a clattering sound.
These are two soldiers dressed as sentries, looking forward in surprise.
This is a small road in the countryside. At this time, there is a person lying on the ground in the morning mist, with a basket on his back.
They are very familiar with this place, not far away is Luojia Village, although the people on the ground curled up and couldn't see their faces, they already recognized the basket and the broken fork that fell aside.
"Isn't this Luo Cripple?" A sentry said, with a bit of a joke, "Why are you lying on the ground? Could it be that what you picked up this time was not cow dung, but gold?"
He raised his voice when he said this, but the people on the ground remained motionless as if they were asleep.
Something was wrong, and the two sentries hurried forward.
"Cripple Luo, are you sick?" They asked as they approached, and they reined in their horses again and let out a low cry.
The person lying on the ground is not curled up, but has no head at all.
what happened
Two sentries jumped off their horses, looking horrified.
"Head." A sentry shouted, pointing to a nearby tree.
There is a head on the dry branch, it looks like it was thrown up casually.
This method is too cruel.
Who would have such a feud with a disabled villager picking cow dung
"Sickle cut." A sentry half-kneeled on the ground and looked at Luo's crippled neck and said in a low voice. He swallowed again and raised his head, "Slash with a single knife, such a sharp sickle with such force is not common..."
Yes, even they don't use this kind of sickle in the army, but they have seen this kind of scythe.
The faces of the two sentries turned pale.
Golden cavalry.
…
The village ahead was sleeping in the mist, extremely quiet.
The sound of dede's hooves was particularly loud.
"Slow down." A sentry stopped his horse, "The situation is not right."
He jumped off the horse, took off various weapons from the horse's back and hung them on his body.
Yes, villages are different from cities and towns. Villagers get up early to work, and it is impossible to sleep until the sun is high.
The two sentries swallowed, threw off their horses, clenched the spears in their hands, and walked slowly towards the village.
The village was dead silent.
The door of the nearest house was thrown wide open, and two sentinels entered.
"Luo Laoqi." They shouted, subconsciously lowering their voices.
Even if you lower your voice, you can still hear it in the house.
But no one responded. Two sentries winked and touched the door. One stood by the door, and the other kicked towards the door.
As soon as he touched the door, the door opened, and the sentry almost fell, but fortunately he stabilized his body immediately, stood in the room and saw the person lying on the ground at a glance.
Bloodstained.
Not only on the bed but also, a woman was holding two children stacked on top of each other, the blood stained the mattress.
problem occurs!
Footsteps sounded in the village, doors were opened one after another, and all the dead people were seen without exception.
Some in the yard, some in the house, everywhere.
The whole village was slaughtered overnight.
Two sentries stood in the village, their legs trembling slightly, their faces pale.
It's not that they haven't seen dead people before, but this is the first time they have seen such a terrible scene.
How is this going
"Is it bandits and horse bandits?" a sentinel murmured.
The other turned around.
"No matter what, go and report to the adults." He said.
This kind of massacre of an entire village can no longer just be reported to the government, and the local garrison must also intervene.
As soon as he turned around, a person appeared in his sight.
The sentinel couldn't help screaming.
Anyone who has just seen half of the dead in the village will be frightened by the sudden appearance of the living.
This is the man who came out of an alley.
Are there any survivors
The sentinel breathed a sigh of relief.
"My fellow, what's the matter..." he shouted hastily.
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he was grabbed by the arm by the sentry beside him, and the sound of his partner's teeth colliding could be heard next to his ears.
"Gold...gold..."
Gold what
The sentinel also saw the person standing in front of him clearly.
This man was short and stocky, wearing a cotton armor with copper nails, holding a refined iron sickle in his hand, and a strange smile was showing on his face covered by Tie Kui.
Golden soldiers!
Is he dreaming
Why did Jin Bing appear here
The sentinel stared wide-eyed, subconsciously going to pull out the bow and arrow behind him, but it was still a step too late, a cold light flashed in front of his eyes, and the golden soldier had already rushed over, slashing straight at him with his long sickle.
Blood splattered everywhere.