Cloud Palace, the setting sun is engulfing the sky.
The human voice was accompanied by the raging flames, which appeared chaotic and mournful under the night sky. The figures in the flames ran and cried, and the air was filled with the smell of scorched flesh.
Rewards Nanfang, a slum where the Han people gather in Yunzhongfu, a large number of shacks gather here. At this moment, a fire is raging and spreading, and the fire-fighting water dragon truck is coming from a distance, but the setting of the Nanfang Square is chaotic and has no rules. After the flames start, a little water dragon can do nothing about the fire.
The general arrest Mandu Daru stood on the nearby street and watched all this. He heard the voices of people from far and near. Someone rushed out of the fire, his whole body was charred black, and he threw himself into the sewage outside the market. , and finally the shrill shouts were incomparably infiltrating. Rewarding Nanfang is a place where some of the redeemed southerners live. Many golden people in the nearby market are watching the lively and talking about it.
Mandu Daru came to talk with the nearby gang. This is a gang dominated by Xi people. He watched for a while on the side of the road, and his deputy and several city arresters had already come over and asked in a low voice, "Head, what's going on? This is a big matter..."
Mandu Daru is one of the chief arresters in the city, and he manages matters that have a wide range of implications and ramifications. The raging fire in front of him does not know how many people will be burned to death - although they are all southerners - but after all, the impact is bad, if so To manage, to investigate, it is time to start now.
"Go and help, and ask along the way."
After Mandu Daru said this, several of his subordinates scattered around, but his deputy could see the wrong expression on his face. The two walked aside and said, "Head, this is..."
"The fire started from three courtyards at the same time, and many people were blocked at both ends before they could react. Not many people have noticed it yet. You should be careful, and you may have to arrange a confession in the future..."
The deputy turned his head to look at the flame: "This time it burned to death and burned at least a hundred. For such a big thing, we..."
"Don't worry, no one will care about it in two days."
"..." Mandu Daru's words had complex meanings, neither sadness nor joy, the deputy turned around in his mind for a moment, remembering the rumors he heard today, "He... The rumors from the south... can't be true. yes…”
Mandu Daru was silent for a while: "...It seems to be true."
"How is that possible!"
The deputy shouted, someone from the street next to him looked over, and the deputy glared back with his vicious eyes, and when the man turned his eyes, he hurriedly said to Mandu Daru: "Head, how could this and so on be true... , Nianhan is handsome, he…”
Mandu Daru's hand slammed on his shoulder: "Is it true, we will know in two days!"
"...How can you hide things like this?"
"Isn't this... not covering up."
Mandu Daru looked at the sea of fire, and the wooden archway in front of the Nanfang Fang had also been burned and dumped in the fire. He said: "If it is true, what will happen next, you should think about it."
"If it's true..." The deputy swallowed a mouthful of saliva, grinding his teeth in his mouth, "then none of these southerners... will survive."
The flames were raging, and the sparks that rose into the night sky were like countless flying butterflies. Mandu Daru remembered the figures he had seen before—these were some noble children in the city. - His heart is not without compassion for these southerners in the fire, but considering the recent rumors and the possibility that this situation is vaguely revealed, there is no time to put compassion on slaves.
Thinking back to the siege that happened last month and the ongoing war in the west, he sighed in his heart that the recent Daikin has been really troubled...
The raging fire has been burning since the beginning of the night, and when the fire is under control, the wooden shacks and houses that should have been burned have been burned, and most of the street has turned into embers in the flames. Cries and groans spread out.
His hair was burnt to the ground, and Tang Minjie, whose face was gray and black, slumped on the side of the street for a while, with the smell of burnt flesh all around him. Seeing that there were arresters approaching from the other side of the road, and the number of people in the yamen gradually increased, he got up from the ground and staggered away toward the distance.
He went to the nearby hospital to get scalding medicine, and he went to the hidden restaurant to wrap it up a little. At the 1st hour, Lu Mingfang came over and saw his injury, saying: "I heard... the fire in Nanfang Square. ,you… "
"I'm fine, there are two informants, burned to death."
"What's the matter, I heard that the fire is very big, and I saw it all over the city."
"What I said yesterday... On the Jurchen side, the wind is not right..."
"Maybe it's really in the south, completely defeating the Jurchen..."
"It's time to reckon..."
Tang Minjie sat down on the chair. Seeing that his injury was not serious, Lu Mingfang also sat down just now, guessing the possibility of something.
Since the beginning of April, the situation in Yunzhong Mansion has become tense, and the flow of information has been extremely unsmooth. After the Mongols broke the Yanmen Pass, the north-south news channel was temporarily cut off. After that, the Mongols besieged the city and put martial law in Yunzhongfu. This stalemate continued until early May, when the Mongol cavalry raged and retreated to the northwest. The curfew in Yunzhongfu has only been lifted in the past few days. Lu Mingfang, Tang Minjie and others are constantly piecing together information. If not, they would not have met today when they met yesterday.
"The news from the grassland people is confirmed." After thinking for a moment, Lu Mingfang said, "On the third day of May, 27,000 people in Takagi Lang were defeated in the southeast of Fengzhou (later Hohhot), and the goal of the grassland people was not in the clouds. Middle, in Toyosu. They robbed Toyosu's armory. There is still fighting there, Takagi is going crazy, and I heard that Shi Liai is also very anxious."
"...No wonder." Tang Minjie blinked.
The Jin people had friction with this group of grassland people a few years ago. At that time, the leader of the army was the speed. In the early stage of the battle, he even suffered a little loss in the attack of the grassland cavalry. back to the field. The prairie people did not dare to violate the border easily. Later, when the Xixia people were defeated in front of the black flag, these people took Yinchuan with extraordinary troops, and then destroyed the entire Xixia.
Before the fourth southern expedition of the Jin Kingdom, the national power was at its peak. Nianhan sent more than 200,000 troops to the south. In fact, the troops of the Western court still had enough to defend. At this time, the main force used to guard against the west was the general Takagi Lang Toyosu Army. This time, the steppe cavalry raided Yanmen and surrounded the cloud. All the troops came to relieve the siege, but they were defeated one by one. As for the end of April, Takagi Lang of Fengzhou finally couldn’t hold back and waved his army to rescue the cloud. middle.
When a group of grassland cavalry met, they lost more and won less, but they were always able to escape in time. Facing this constant temptation, Takagi Lang finally fell into the trap in early May. Seeing the opportunity to seize the city, his army hurried back, and was defeated by the main force of the Mongols on the way. At this time, he was still organizing his army and trying to retake the important town of Fengzhou.
"...If this is the case, these prairie people have a deep covetousness for the Jin Kingdom. They break through Yanmen, surround Yunzhong, and surrounding points to lure out Takagi Lang, capture Fengzhou, and then turn around and defeat him... Shit, I can't get it down without a few years of careful planning..."
After hearing Lu Mingfang finish the information, Tang Minjie frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "Such a hero can cooperate..."
"I'm also thinking about this." Lu Mingfang nodded, and then said, "I will ask the southwest for instructions on this matter, but the most important thing right now is the news from the southwest, tonight's fire in Nanfang. I don’t think it’s normal for it to be so big. Besides, I heard that in the Marquis of Zhongyong Mansion, three Han Chinese were killed for no reason today.”
"... Han slave?"
"... What else can it be, there is no such thing as a Han master in the north."
"...Then he has to lose a lot of money."
Tang Minjie murmured in a low voice, they had some guesses about some things, but at this moment, they didn't even dare to guess, and the atmosphere in the Yunzhong Mansion was even more complicated. Both were silent for a while.
Tang Minjie said: "If the Southwest really wins, the news in the next two days will be confirmed, and things like this can't be sealed... Then you have to go back, and the idea of forming an alliance with the grassland people doesn't need to be written. letter back."
He paused, then said: "...Actually, I think we can ask the lady of Gushen's family first, if such news is confirmed, the situation in Yunzhongfu, I don't know what it will be like, you If you want to go south, it may be safer to go earlier."
Lu Mingfang smiled: "This kind of thing can't be arranged in a day or two."
They didn't talk about it again after that.
At almost the same time, Chen Wenjun was meeting the old man at Shi Liai's house. Her face was haggard, and even though she was carefully dressed, she couldn't hide a trace of exhaustion on her brows. Despite this, she still took out an outdated list and put it in front of Shi Liai.
"I came here today because I really can't wait any longer. This group of people, when winter entered last year, the boss promised to give it to me. They were delayed on the way and arrived in the spring. There is no way to do it. Month, March, and April, and now it’s May, many of the people on the list have already… gone. Boss, you have to give me the two hundred people you promised.”
What she mentioned was the issue of Han prisoners escorted from the south before and after the winter last year. In order to demonstrate the achievements of the West Route Army on the southern expedition, these 500 people were either soldiers who resisted the army in Xiangfan and other places, or the families of officials and defeated generals in the south. The winter in the north was cold and the roads were difficult to travel. The escort of 500 people took a lot of time. The delivery was officially delivered in Yunzhong in the spring of this year. After that, there were demonstrations and torture. Among them, 200 people should have been handed over at the end of March. Chen Wenjun, but Shi Liai changed his mind temporarily and never said anything about the person. Now, Chen Wenjun finally couldn't help it and came to the door.
Shi Liai stretched out his hand and pressed it on the list. His eyes were low, as if he was thinking. After a while, he seemed to have fallen asleep because of his old age. The silence in the hall continued like this for a long time...