After having breakfast with my family, it was already bright and sunny, and it was a good morning.
Su Tan'er's working hours are often tight, and after a comfortable morning, things that need to be dealt with come one after another. It takes about ten minutes to walk from home to the No. 1 General Staff Courtyard, which is the center of Hedeng County. On the way, Hongti followed all the way. Yunzhu and Jiner will walk with them for a while, and then go to the school on the other side. They are on the campus teacher, and sometimes also participate in the cultural and entertainment business of the Political Department.
Among Ning Yi's several wives and concubines, Hongti was relatively older and had a good temperament, and probably had the most difficult life in the past. Tan'er respected her and called her "Sister Hongti". Hongti had already passed by, so Tan'er was called "Sister" as usual.
This kind of title is a bit messy, but the relationship between the two has always been good. If there is no one else on the way to the General Staff Courtyard, they will chat all the way. But usually some people who want to hurry up and report today's work deputies often go to the door to wait at breakfast to save the next ten minutes. The woman who worked as a secretary, Wen Xianying, was responsible for summarizing the things that were passed on and reporting it to Su Tan'er.
It was Juan'er who followed him today.
After the two talked and communicated for a while, Juaner went to the other side of the mountain to deal with other things.
A few minutes later, Tan'er and Hongti arrived at the yard of the General Staff and began to deal with the day's work.
The three counties of Bly, Hedeng, and Jishan were originally small counties with a combined population of no more than 30,000. After the arrival of the Black Flag, the number of people in the army, administration, technology, and commerce, as well as their families, expanded to 16. Thousands. Although the general staff is the head of the staff, it is actually mainly composed of the heads of the various departments of the black flag. This determines the operation of the entire black flag system. Taner is responsible for the overall operation of administration, commerce, and technology. Although he mainly takes care of the overall situation, early Two years have been really busy. Later, Ning Yi presided over the reorganization remotely and trained some students. This is a little easier, but it cannot be relaxed.
When the routine report and complicated copywriting work started here in the morning, Juan'er arrived at the intelligence department at the other end. The Intelligence Department of Black Flag was originally a branch of Zhuji. It inherited the traces of the Secret Investigation Department earlier, and then cooperated with Zhuji's commercial and propaganda departments. At this time, it was completely independent and still closely linked with the Political Department and the Commerce Department.
On the one hand, a large amount of information about the outside world is gathered here: the situation of Jin Kingdom, the situation of Daqi, the situation of Wu Dynasty... After sorting, part of it will be handed over to the Political Department, and then made public to the army, and everyone will be informed through dissemination, deduction, and discussion. Understand the general trend of the world today, the dire situation in various places and what may happen next; the other part is handed over to the Ministry of Commerce for generalization and operation, looking for possible opportunities and negotiating chips.
In addition to this, the specific espionage work naturally also includes the internal black flag, the confrontation with the spies of the Wu Dynasty, Daqi, and the Jin Kingdom, and the clean-up of the internal black flag army. Now the person in charge of the General Intelligence Department is Chen Haiying, who was one of the three leaders of Zhuji. After Juaner met with him, the long-planned action began.
The person in charge of the Hedeng County operation is Chen Xing. He is one of Ning Yi's disciples. He was originally keen on Professor Ning Yi's knowledge of logic, reasoning, and cause and effect. Later, instead of embarking on the path of an inventor, he joined the operations department of the Ministry of Intelligence. Just after the hour, he received the order, and then assigned tasks to his subordinates.
When the team set off from the intelligence department as a routine training, the messengers who rushed to Jishan and Bui were already on the way. Luo Ye and others, who are serving as military judges, will receive orders, and the whole operation will start one after another between these three places...
At 9:30 in the morning, Su Tan'er walked to her office room after having an early meeting with the staff, when she looked up and saw a hot air balloon floating over her head.
************
A hot air balloon floats in the sky.
On the side of the road at the foot of Hedeng County, Chen Lao Er, who opened a porridge and cake shop, raised his head and saw two hot air balloons in the sky, one in the east and the other in the south, floating downwind.
Most of the people who eat at the porridge and cake shop are members of the nearby Heiqi administrative department. Chen Lao has good second-hand skills, so his porridge and cake shop has a lot of regular customers. Today is past breakfast time, and some people eat here. Eat and drink, talk and laugh. Chen Lao Er brought two bowls of porridge out, placed them in front of a table, then put on his hips and shook his neck vigorously: "Hey, that Kongming lantern..."
The black flag member who asked for the porridge looked back and said, "Old Chen, that's a hot air balloon. It's not the first time you've seen it, so you don't understand it yet."
"It's the Kongming lantern. I also made it when I was a child." Chen Lao Er grinned, "But this is really big, how did you let it out today?"
"Probably see that the weather is good today, let it out for the sun."
The administrator smiled, and Chen Lao Er also smiled. There were people coming and going in the surrounding market. After a while, another group of people came: "Second, do you still have anything to eat? Eight bowls of porridge and sixteen cakes, wrapped up, have a task."
The group of people in black military uniforms came fully armed, Chen Lao Er nodded: "There are not many cakes, why are you here at this time, and there are porridges, how do you take them away when you are on a mission?"
"Find something to put it on, what else do you have..." The eight people walked into the shop, and the one in the lead came to check.
"Otherwise I'll give you the pot, how far do you have to take it..."
"Pot... what else do you have... "
"You don't know what I have here..." Chen Lao Er was talking, still testing the other party's mission, the knife was already on his neck, and several people who walked around him also pulled out their knives. The sharp weapon beside Chen Lao Er was taken away.
"You...what are you doing...have you caught it wrong..." The middle-aged owner of the porridge and cake shop trembled.
"Close the net, accept it." The leader of the black flag member pointed to the sky and whispered.
Chen Lao Er's body was still trembling, just like the most common honest businessman, and then he jumped up with an "ah", he wanted to break free, his body just jumped up, and the three around him rushed up and killed him. Pressed on the ground, a man suddenly removed his jaw.
Several black flag government officials around looked at this scene: "Which side?"
"Brother, confidential."
"Oh, anyway, it's either Daqi or Wu Dynasty..."
“It’s a pity a bowl of good porridge…”
There was a lot of discussion, but some people whispered in private: "Tian Hu happened only a few days ago, two days ago, I heard that outside the city of Xiangyang, a group of Jurchen had been defeated. At this time, the dark guard closed the net, what do you think happened? ?"
"… That is not true, is it."
After staying in the center of the black flag for so long, many people have keen insight. Since the end of the bloody battle in the small Canghe, the black flag army has been dormant with a sense of grief and anger. The most important thing is that Mr. Ning’s disappear. The outside world said he was dead, and the black flag said he was not dead, but it was an indisputable fact that Su Taner and others were regarded as widows.
Regarding this matter, it is impossible not to discuss it internally, but although Mr. Ning has never been seen again, most people still have the same aspiration to the outside world: Mr. Ning is indeed alive. This can be regarded as a tacit understanding that the Black Flag actively maintains. In the past two years, the Black Flag has been firmly rooted in this lie, and has carried out a series of reforms, the transfer of the center, the decentralization of power, etc. It seems that the reform is completed. After that, everyone will continue to operate without Mr. Ning.
Until the power of Tian Hu was subverted, the external actions of the black flag inspired the internal, and the news about Mr. Ning's coming back was also vaguely circulated in the Huaxia army. This time, people of insight regarded it as a good wish, But at such a moment, the dark guard's closing of the net obviously revealed another intriguing message.
Hot air balloons floated across the sky, and the soldiers in the hanging baskets used binoculars to inspect the county town below, holding colorful flags in their hands, ready to signal the flag at any time.
Outside a courtyard halfway up the mountain, Chen Xing knocked on the courtyard door. After a while, someone came to open the courtyard door. It was a middle-aged man with a scar on his face. After a few minutes of politeness, a child around seven or eight years old stood not far away: "Father." The child saw Chen Xing and shouted.
Chen Xing smiled: "Chen Jing, how did you learn from Uncle He?"
"I'm practicing boxing." The child named Chen Jing clasped his fists and saluted, looking very sensible. Both Chen Xing and the man surnamed He laughed: "Brother Chen should be on duty at this time, why are you here?"
"Passing by, come and see him. In addition, there is something serious to tell Brother He."
The man surnamed He was named He Wen. He smiled, frowned, and then spread his hands: "Please come in."
Chen Xing walked in from the courtyard gate and walked straight to Chen Jing who was not far away: "You child..." He said in his mouth, and when he walked to the side, he grabbed his child and threw it suddenly, which suddenly became abrupt. With an "ah" sound, Chen Jing was thrown out of the surrounding wall by Chen Xing. The child fell outside and was obviously caught. He Wen's figure swayed slightly. His martial arts skills were very strong. At that moment, he seemed to be swept away with extremely high effort, but he finally didn't move. The courtyard door beside it was cracked. closed.
Chen Xing turned around, spread out his hands, and exhaled: "Look, I don't have any weapons."
He Wen still had a smile on his face. He stretched out his right hand and spread it out, with a thorny thorn on top of it: "I was able to hit Xiaojing just now." After a while, he sighed, "A few days earlier. I had doubts, I just saw the hot air balloon, and I was even more suspicious... You put Xiaojing here to numb me."
Chen Xing bowed his hands: "You and I have a life-threatening friendship, but the way is different. I can't indulge you, please understand."
Then He Wen smiled, put his hands on his back, and walked towards the courtyard: "In the early years, I felt that Ning Liheng's set was too whimsical and impossible to achieve. I still think so now, even if it can really change the productivity, it can make Everyone in the world has books and reading, and it is bound to be difficult to accomplish things in the future. Everyone can speak, and they must speak. The whole world is full of scholars. Who will farm? ."
"If you don't do it, you will go back to the original Wu Dynasty. Or, if you go to the Jin Dynasty, the Five Husbands will be chaotic, and the Han Dynasty will fall, isn't it good?"
"After a thousand years, it is not unreasonable that only Confucianism can become a great cause. In the three years of Hedeng, I saw that Mr. Ning defined 'human rights' with the 'four people', promoted the quality of things with business, contracts, and greed, and laid the foundation of people's wisdom with the help of materials. , looks beautiful, but in fact it only has a simple skeleton and has no flesh and blood. Moreover, to check things together requires wisdom, and requires people to have a lazy heart. When it develops, it will conflict with the so-called 'four people'. This road is difficult for you to walk. Pass." He shook his head, "No way."
Chen Xing was silent for a moment, then cupped his hands: "Brother He had such a thorough idea, why didn't you say it earlier? It's not that the Politburo can't accept this kind of discussion, what I did was originally a pioneering thing, there is a problem, You can work together to solve it.”
He Wen laughed loudly: "It's not that I can't accept this kind of discussion, it's a joke! It's just that people who have dissent are absorbed in, locked up, and only after finding a way to refute them will they be released..." He laughed for a while, then shook his head again "Frankly speaking, Ning Li has always been a talent in the sky, and I am ashamed. I only look at the matter. Now the efficiency of papermaking is ten times better than before, which is indeed a pioneering feat. The prospect of being a gentleman is also very desirable. If he is a Confucian teacher, I will be attached to the tail, as a pawn, and bring peace to the world. However... What he does is consistent with Confucianism, and there is a possibility of understanding. Killing the king is nothing..."
"Nowadays, the only way for wise people to destroy the black flag and absorb the ideas can revive the Wu Dynasty and create peace that has never been seen in a lifetime..."
He said, shaking his head absently for a moment, and then looking at Chen Xing, his eyes became solemn again: "Wait to close the net today, could it be that Ning Liheng... is really not dead?"
Chen Xing handed over his hands: "I also ask Brother He to hold back, so as not to cause unnecessary casualties. If Mr. He is not dead, with Brother He being able to learn, I think I will definitely be able to meet Mr. and explain what I think to him one by one."
He Wen put his hands on his back and looked at him, his eyes became cold, and he couldn't see too much emotion. However, Chen Xing knew that this man was both human and martial, and he admired him in terms of martial arts knowledge. The two had saved lives on the battlefield. Although he noticed that He Wen was inextricably linked with the Wu Dynasty, Chen Xing had Quite shocked, but at this time, he still hopes that this matter can be resolved relatively peacefully.
He didn't think that He Wen could escape, but if such a master of both civil and military, if he really went out, he and the people under his command would be difficult to keep his hands, and he could only kill him.
Outside the courtyard, a group of people, armed with weapons and crossbows, silently closed up...
At the same time, a short fight broke out on the trail on the other side of the foothills.
Hedeng's cleanup was still in progress, and it was nearly noon when Operation Jishan started under the leadership of Zhuo Xiaofeng. Large and small actions, some silent, some caused small-scale onlookers, and then disappeared in the crowd.
While Luo Ye led the soldiers to carry out the operation against the Bui Barracks, Su Tan'er and Lu Hongti had a simple lunch together. Although the weather had turned cold, there were still muffled cicadas in the yard. The rhythm is monotonous and slow.
After lunch, representatives of two caravans were led over to meet with Tan’er to discuss two business issues. The news of the black flag subverting Tian Hu's forces has made waves in various places, so that the intention of various businesses has been frequent recently.
At three quarters of the time of application, around 4:30 in the afternoon, while Su Tan'er was burying her head in reading the account book, Juan'er came in from outside and put a piece of information on the corner of the table.
Tan'er looked up at her, Juan'er nodded slightly, then turned and went out. Tan'er looked at the piece of information in the corner, put her hands on her lap, looked at it for a moment, and then sat up, lowered her head and continued to turn over the ledger.
The meeting was held at 5 o'clock. The officials and secretaries of various ministries came over to make a routine conclusion of today's affairs. This meant that things were going well today, otherwise the meeting would not be held until the night. After the meeting, before it was time to eat, Tan Er returned to the room, continued to read the ledger, kept records and plans, and wrote some more things. Tihui came in to ask her to eat, but not today. When it got dark, there were still cicadas chirping. Someone came in with an oil lamp and put it on the table.
Tan'er lowered her head and continued to write. The lights were like beans, quietly illuminating the square inch of the desk. She was writing and writing, but the brush in her hand suddenly paused, and then the brush was put down. Go, continued to write a few words, her hands began to tremble, tears fell on the paper, she raised her hand and propped her eyes.
On a chair not far away, someone was watching her.
"Hey, Su... Tan'er..." The man whispered, for some reason, it was like their first meeting in that house many years ago. At that time, they were very polite and strange to each other. Slightly different: "Hello..." He said something that wasn't common in these years.
Tan'er lowered her head and didn't look over there: "Ning Liheng... Master..." She said, "How are you..."
At this time, the starlight outside had already risen. At night in the small county town, the lights flickered, and people were still walking outside, talking and greeting each other, just like an ordinary night when nothing special happened...
Ning Xin, and quiet. (.)