In the spring of the fourteenth year of Jinghan, in the middle of March, a gloomy spring rain fell on Taiyuan, the dragon city.
When lightning flashed occasionally, it revealed the crumbling and jagged body of this ruined city under the darkness of the night. Even in the rain, its entire body still looked charred black. Before that, the traces of the Jurchen arson and slaughter in the city were so strong that they could not fade away. In order to ensure that everyone in the city was found, the Jurchen still set fire to the whole street after the looting and looting. In the city, there are many corpses in the ruins, the moat, the square, the market, the wellheads of every place, and the houses are all in a tragic state of death. Dead bodies gathered, and the water near Taiyuan was dark.
A huge corpse stench filled the sky near Taiyuan.
If you are a sentimental poet and singer, you may say that at this time, the falling of the spring rain, as if God can't see it, is washing away the sins of this world.
But in fact it is not.
At Yanmen Pass, a large number of ragged slaves who were driven like pigs and dogs were passing through the pass. Occasionally, some people fell down, and they were beaten, beaten, or beaten by the Jurchen soldiers who were approaching.
After the ten-day unsealed robbery in Taiyuan, the number of prisoners that could be captured from the ruined city was not as many as expected. But it doesn't matter, since the order to not seal the sword for ten days was issued, for Zong Han Zongwang, Taiyuan was just a tool to ease the military's heart. The details of the Wu Dynasty have been proven, Taiyuan has been destroyed, and when he comes again in the future, why should there be not many slaves.
After the ten-day massacre, not one in ten residents of Taiyuan City survived, but there are still tens of thousands of people who were driven to the north after experiencing brutal torture and abuse. Most of these people are women. The young and beautiful ones had already suffered a lot of insults while they were in the city, and those with poor health had already died, and those who survived were either driven away by soldiers, or tied to cattle, sheep, carts and horses returning from the north, all the way. After being brutally tortured by Jurchen soldiers, every day, corpses that have been abused are thrown on the road by the team.
Even if they were lucky enough to survive Yanmen Pass, what awaited them was only endless torture and humiliation. Most of them died within a year after that. After leaving Yanmen Pass, there were almost no people who could return to the land of the Wu Dynasty in this lifetime.
Rain is still falling.
South, more than a hundred miles away from Taiyuan. In a small town called Tongfu, the sky was dark in the light rain.
The arrival of the Jurchen looted a large number of towns near Taiyuan, and when they reached Tongfu Town, the intensity decreased slightly. When the snow closed the mountains, the residents of the town hid in the city and shivered through the winter. At this time, the weather had turned warm, but there were still no business trips from the south to the north. Because the residents of the city also have to go out to farm and chop wood, and harvest some spring fruits to feed their hunger, the town is still carefully opened in half. The soldiers guarded the few entrances and exits nervously.
The women really slaughtered in Taiyuan, the fear is that they will not be reconciled after slaughtering Taiyuan, and then kill the carbine again, it will really be a waste of life.
In the light rain, the soldiers guarding the city saw several townspeople from outside the city hurriedly approaching, covering their mouths and noses as if they were avoiding something. The soldier was startled, and was about to close the city. When the townspeople were close, they heard them say, "There... there is a strange person..."
"I don't know who it is, I'm afraid it's a green forest hero..."
"It stinks... carrying a corpse..."
Carrying a dead body on a rainy day? This is crazy. The soldier's heart trembled. But since only one person came here, he was a little relieved, picked up the spear and waited there. After a while, a figure came from the rain.
The figure was riding on a horse, with a slow pace. The man on the horse was wearing a black cloak, and his clothes were ragged. He was obviously injured. Sniff carefully, in the light rain, there is also a faint smell in the air. He couldn't see the man's face clearly, he only felt faintly like a ghost. After being brave enough, he spoke.
"Who are you and where do you come from!"
"Lvlin people, since Taiyuan." The figure swayed slightly right away, and just saw him hand over his hands and say these words.
"Tai, Taiyuan?" The soldier was shocked, "Taiyuan has already fallen, you, you are a Jurchen spy, what is behind you?"
"I'm not a spy... Taiyuan City, the Jurchen army has retreated, I-I escorted things over..."
"What... you wait, don't go forward!"
"Human head." The man replied weakly. Hearing the soldiers shout, he stopped the footsteps of the thin horse, and then got off the horse. He stood there with a black bag on his back. His body was a head taller than the soldiers. He was quite burly, but his clothes were ragged. The ragged clothes were injured by sharp objects. bandage.
At this time, in the city, many people stuck their heads out to look at him, and they were all shocked when they heard the word "head". They were on the edge of where the Jurchen could come at any time, and they were already frightened. Then, they saw the man slowly putting down the package.
"When the Jurchen slaughtered Taiyuan, it hung on the head of the city gate. The Jurchen army retreated north, and I went to fetch it and went all the way to the south. It's just that although there were few Jurchen left near Taiyuan, I was still discovered by a few people, and I was killed along the way. come over… "
He was weak, just to explain his injury, but when he said this, everyone was in an uproar, everyone was looking from a distance, the soldier's spear was also clenched a bit, forcing the man in black to retreat one step. He paused slightly, and put the package down gently.
"The Jurchen scouts have been killed by me long ago. If you are afraid, I will not enter the city, but these people..."
He put down the stick, knelt on the ground, opened the package in front of him, stretched out his hand, and picked up a mass that looked not only covered with mucus, but also filthy and indistinguishable, slowly placed it in front of the city gate, and then picked up again One, put it down gently.
These people have been killed long ago, their heads are hanging on the gate of Taiyuan City, and the wind and the sun have already begun to rot. His black package was slightly isolated, and when it was opened at this time, the stench was unspeakable, but the hideous heads were placed there, as if they had intimidating magic. The soldier took a step back, looking at the scene in bewilderment.
"... These people are all loyal ministers and righteous men who died defending Taiyuan. I'm not seriously injured, so I can't send them back, so I'll trouble you all. The loyal ministers are bloody. But please don't let them turn into... wild ghosts and lonely souls."
After the man finished speaking slowly, he finally stood up, clasped his fists, and after a few steps, he mounted his horse and left.
In front of Tongfu Town, the light of Chunlei lit up. There were a total of seven human heads there. The long-term decay made the flesh on their faces rotten, and many of their eyes had disappeared. No one could recognize who they were, only one empty terrifying eye socket remained. , facing the city gate, only to the south.
After a long time, someone took Shangguan's order and went out of the city to find the righteous man who sent the head.
****************
The military camp outside Bianliang City. cloudy day.
In a place in the camp, hundreds of soldiers were performing martial arts, and the sword light was splitting out neatly. Accompanied by this fierce sword light, they listened to a rather unusual song.
"...The wolf smoke rises, and the mountains and rivers look north! The dragon flag rolls, the horse grows hiss. The sword is like frost! The heart is like the water of the Yellow River! In twenty years, who can resist..."
"... maddened by hatred. Where the long sword goes... "
In this alternative singing, Ning Yi stood in front of the wooden platform and watched the exercise calmly. Around the exercise venue, many soldiers also gathered around, and everyone responded along with the singing. Ning Yi has not come for a long time. The guys are all excited.
He never thought that such a song would be spread in the barracks. Moreover, at this time, the mood is also quite complicated.
When they were in Xia Village, they had considered finding some generous military songs, which was Ning Yi's proposal. I chose this one later. But of course, this kind of casual singing is really a bit of a niche right now. He only heard it to some people around him, and later spread to high-level officers, but he didn't expect it, and then this relatively popular singing was spread in the military camp. opened.
Everyone sang and danced the knife. When the song was over, all teams stopped in unison and looked at Ning Yi. Ning Yi also looked at them quietly. After a while, there was a small school in the queue standing next to him who couldn't help but raised his hand and said, "Report! Mr. Ning, I have something to ask!"
Ning Yi glanced at him and thought for a while: "Ask."
"Sir, has General Qin been framed by a traitor and can't come back!?"
As soon as he asked this question, the soldiers were buzzing. Seeing that Ning Yi didn't answer, someone dared to say: "Mr. Ning, we couldn't go to Taiyuan, is there someone in Beijing who is making trouble!"
Then someone said: "It must be Cai Jing's servant..."
No one dared to answer these words, everyone just looked at the man, and then said: "Mr. Ning, if there is any difficulty, just speak up!"
"Yeah, although I have a low status, I also want to know."
"I will swear to death not to be among the traitors"
The mood in the barracks was surging. During this time, although Wu Rui Camp was required to practice daily in the barracks and were not allowed to go out, most of the high-level, middle-level and even lower-level officers held private meetings to discuss the news in Beijing. At this time, although the high-level officers felt inappropriate, they all stood proudly and did not care about it. Ning Yi stood there silent for a long time, everyone stopped asking, and the atmosphere was suppressed. It was only at this moment that Ning Yi waved and called a person and gave him a piece of paper.
"This is... the news of Taiyuan City, go read it and read it to everyone."
The news that Taiyuan City was occupied and then massacred was already known to the people in Beijing, and of course to the military camp.
"On the twenty-fifth of the second month, the city of Taiyuan was broken. Zonghan ordered that no swords be sealed in Taiyuan for ten days. After that, a brutal massacre began. The Jurchen closed the city gates in all directions.
The information from the Secret Investigation Division is more detailed than ordinary reports. The sequence of massacres in Taiyuan City and various murders can be recorded, and more or less records are given. What happened to the people who died in it? What happened to the women, what happened to the slaves who were generally driven to the north by pigs, dogs, cattle and sheep, and what happened after the slaughter were all recorded as calmly and indifferently as possible. Everyone stood there, their scalps tingling, and some people had their teeth gritted.
"How did you sing the song?" Ning Yi suddenly inserted a sentence, "The wolf smoke rises, the mountains and rivers look north! The dragon flag rolls, the horse neighs, the sword qi is like frost! The heart is like the water of the Yellow River! Hey, in twenty years, Who can sing against it!"
Everyone was stunned for a while, but Ning Yi suddenly shouted: "Sing" here are all soldiers who have been trained, and then sang: "Langyan Qi", but the tone is obviously much lower, and it will be sung for twenty years. As time goes by, the sound becomes more pronounced. Ning Yi pressed his palm: "Stop."
He took a breath, turned and walked to the wooden stage at the back waiting for the generals to inspect. He reached out and wiped his nose and mouth: "This song is not formal. When it was first said to be used, I actually didn't like it, but I didn't expect you to like it. That's also a good thing. But military songs need to have military spirit and reason. Who can resist in 20 years... Hey, now there is only hatred and lust, worthy of you. But I hope you remember this feeling, I hope that twenty years from now, you will all be able to sing this song with dignity."
Ning Yi paused: "As for General Qin, he won't be back for the time being. Someone else will take over for you. I'll go back too. I'm not happy when I read the news from Taiyuan recently, but I'm very relieved to see you today. "
He glanced at the people in front of him, then walked away. There was an uproar among the crowd. An officer next to Ning Yi shouted: "All stand at attention" and those soldiers stood up in horror. It was just that as Ning Yi walked forward, more people gathered again and seemed to be blocking the way.
Some people shouted: "A traitorous official has appeared in the court!" Someone shouted: "The traitorous minister is in power, Your Majesty will not know! Mr. Ning, you can't leave us! Tell General Qin to come back and whoever will stalk and kill whoever" This voice came loudly, Ning Yi He stopped and suddenly shouted, "Enough!"
The voice came out with the internal force, and the Quartet gradually calmed down.
"I have my business, you have your business. Now I will do my business, and you will do yours." Step aside!"
In the barracks, everyone slowly moved away. When he walked to the edge of the camp and saw the still neat team and the woman on the side not far away, he nodded slightly to the other side.
Red Ti also nodded.
Cloudy and rainy.
As the news of the Jurchen evacuating from Taiyuan and returning to the north finally came to fruition, a lot of changes finally began in Bianliang City.
The next day, Luo Shengzhou, the champion of Wu under Tan Zhen's command, officially took over Qin Siyuan's seat and was transferred to Wu Shengjun. On the same day, Emperor Zhou Zhe committed his own decree to the world, and at the same time ordered a strict investigation and purge of the official system at this time.
Knowing mistakes can be corrected, this is the beginning of cheering up… (… )