It was raining, and when the carriage left the nearby streets, I opened the curtain and looked back at the Su family mansion in the rainy night. All I could see were the two lanterns that were still lit under the eaves of the side door. On the outline of the dark courtyard wall, there will occasionally be a glimmer of light rising from the outline, Xi Junyu sighed.
"I knew you wouldn't listen, but..." he murmured, with a smile on his face, "then don't take it for granted..."
Regarding the matter of the Imperial Merchant, after Ning Yi appeared, he still said a few words. Of course, since he didn't know if Ning Yi knew the whole thing, his last words felt a little bit of side-scrolling. In any case, the meaning should have been passed on. In short, that's all he can and should do in front of Su Tan'er.
The carriage left here, and in the courtyard over there, Ning Yi, Su Tan'er and Juan'er had also gone to the small courtyard not far away where they were waiting for dinner. Ning Yi had already been aware of Gong Yin's matter, but he was not very clear about the joints. At this time, he hadn't heard the first half of the conversation between the two. It was only after listening to Su Tan'er talking about the situation in the country that he made some jokes. At this time, Su Tan'er smiled and said angrily: "Most of what the concubine said just now was obviously talked about by Xianggong last time. At this time, it is said that the concubine is not patriotic... Xianggong is not a good person either."
"The context is different, so you can't generalize." Ning Yi laughed in the heavy rain, and Juan'er followed behind.
After going out for a few days, after coming back, the feeling is not much changed from before. Although the feeling between Xiaochan and Xiaochan seems to be a little different, but everyone still eats and talks together at night, talking about going to Nanting Village these days. thing. After Geng Huwei and Dong Zhu left, Ning Yi, Su Tan'er and others returned to their small courtyard with umbrellas. Chan'er Juan'er was busy burning hot water for rinsing, Xing'er was cleaning in and out, Su Tan'er returned to the room and continued to deal with the accounts that Xi Junyu was still dealing with before he came.
The rainstorm almost merged into a surging water stream in the yard. Ning Yi watched for a while under the eaves, and when he looked up at the opposite side, the window of Su Tan'er's room was open, and the woman's figure was writing on the table in front of the window. After writing the calculations, it was indeed the same scene as usual. When I was about to go back to the room, I saw Juan'er standing in the back, holding a small pot of hot water.
On weekdays, Juan'er feels relatively quiet, but she has a good relationship with Ning Yi. At this time, she smiled and said, "Uncle, go to bed earlier tonight."
Ning Yi thought for a while: "Huh?"
"When my uncle didn't come back for a few days, the young lady always slept very late. In fact, she was just clearing the account, but I couldn't persuade Sister Xing'er or me."
After she finished speaking, she lowered her head slightly, and walked away with the water basin.
"Tsk." Ning Yi turned to look at the figure in the window and shrugged, "Then I can't persuade me either."
I read a book in the room for a while at night, probably counting the time until midnight, and the lights on the opposite side were still on. Ning Yi thought for a while, put down the scroll, blew out the lights, and went to sleep. In the room over there, Su Tan'er raised her head and glanced over. She was still flipping the account book in her hand and frowned slightly.
She held her chin and glanced again, her eyes couldn't help looking over to the dark room. After a while, she turned the page again, and then reached out and closed the entire account book.
Almost there, turn off the lights and go to sleep. she thought so.
In the maid's room on the side, Juan'er, who was wearing a single coat, leaned out of the window, looked at Ning Yi's window on the opposite side, then turned her head to look at Su Tan'er's window, and sighed while lying on the window sill: "Young master is really good. sharp… "
After the last whistle, the yard was quiet, only the sound of the rainstorm continued...
It was also on this night that Tokyo, the capital of the Wu Dynasty, thousands of miles away, had no dark clouds. The city is still lively in the dark, and the lights in the market, brothel, and large and small houses are still bright. The most lively imperial street in the city leads all the way to Xuandemen, the main entrance of the palace. Looking from here, the broad streets, the lights of the city, and the towering imperial city over there are also shrouded in lights.
Although the door of the imperial city has been closed, the scenery over there is like this every night. Few people know that there is an extremely secret major event that is quietly happening in the imperial city this evening.
Under the door of Zhongshu, some of the most popular ministers in the court are gathering here at this time, Li Gang, Tong Guan, Wu Min, Tang Ke, Geng Nanzhong, Zhang Bangchang, Qin Hui, Gao Qiu, Zhou Zhi... Of course, these people are now There are also large and small official positions, as well as their own small groups. At this time, it is a break time for secret and important discussions. The three of them gathered together and discussed some things while drinking tea and taking a break. Small, in fact, the excitement in my heart cannot be suppressed.
"Not long ago, the Liao people handed over the national letter, asking to discuss the issue of the annual currency again, and even willing to give up the annual currency, and the Wu Dynasty sent troops to cut the gold together. In this matter, they must have gone your way, right?"
"This is indeed the case. When the envoy of the Liao Dynasty, I helped to say some good words and sent many gifts. One of the incense burners was very valuable.
"The Liao people are in a hurry. It's not easy to wait until they are in a hurry..."
"My lips are dead and my teeth are cold. I still think that this time I sent troops inappropriately. Jurchen has the upper hand now. Once the Liao Dynasty is destroyed, how can I know that the next one will not be my Wu Dynasty?"
"This matter is too alarmist, and there are too few Jurchens. Once the Liao Dynasty is destroyed, the entire country will have no more than 100,000 soldiers available, and the situation has to be maintained. How can they attack my Wu Dynasty?"
"Zhong Shidao is also of the same opinion now. He told people that he should not join the Jin and attack the Liao. This time, he should join the Liao and attack the Jin. It is only because the Liao kingdom and my Wu dynasty brothers have been together for a hundred years, and now the Jin kingdom is the tiger wolf. The state, and Deng Xunwu…”
"Nonsense, long-distance friends and close attacks have been like this since ancient times. How can there be a reason for far-reaching and close friends? The recovery of Yanyun this time is just around the corner. Hundreds of them. If it can happen, I'll wait for it to go down in history..."
"Zhong Shidao is really confused..."
"Liao's arrogance is exhausted, and I should act in accordance with the mandate of heaven... The Wu Dynasty will flourish."
"Unfortunately, Mr. Tong is going to leave Beijing to deal with Fang La's affairs..."
"A eunuch..."
"Shut up! Be quiet!"
Buzzing voices, each talking. But in any case, the proposal of Lian Jin to fight Liao, which was promoted by Tong Guan on the bright side, has already passed the initial stage and entered the stage of detailed negotiation.
The real foreshadowing may have been set in the Black Water Alliance seven years ago. Especially four years ago, Emperor Tianzuo of the Liao Kingdom personally led a 700,000-strong army to cut gold, but Wanyan Agu beat 20,000 soldiers and almost wiped them out. After Yu Hubu Dagang, the call for Lian Jin to fight against the Liao Dynasty has been rising in China. Although there are some people who think that the Wu Dynasty should not participate in this war, or that the Liao Dynasty should be fought against the Jin Dynasty, such as the famous Northwest general Zhong Shidao.
Or Deng Xunwu, the governor of the Privy Council, also made a statement about this, to the effect: "What's 'concurrently attacking the weak', I think we should help the weak and suppress the strong. Now the country's military strength is weak, financial resources are scarce, and people's strength is weak. Everyone knows this situation. But no one dared to say it. I don't understand: is it better to be neighbors with the strong Jin than to be neighbors with the weak Liao?" The King of *** then secretly said: "Liao is a country of brothers, and it can be saved in peace; Jin is The land of tigers and wolves is unacceptable!"
Of course, these days, it is only a small minority who maintain this concept. It has been more than 200 years since Shi Jingtang lost the sixteen states of Yanyun, and he was able to take back Yanyun. No emperor could resist such a temptation.
Although now aware of the crisis, the Liao people have also begun to ask the Wu Dynasty for help, and they are even willing to ask the Wu Dynasty to join forces with them to fight against gold on the condition of canceling the old coins. But since a few years ago, the Wu Dynasty has been sending people from the sea to contact the Jinren, going back and forth several times. This time the Jinren sent a few envoys, and finally got a relatively accurate answer, and the next step is to discuss here. Good negotiation conditions, and then send someone over, and it has probably entered the stage of formal negotiation.
The envoy of the Jin Kingdom who came over this time only expressed his intention to nod, and he did not have the power to negotiate one by one. After the negotiation here, he still had to send someone to the Jin Kingdom to have an interview with Wanyan Dagu in person. At this time, everyone was still negotiating in the imperial city. In a restaurant near Royal Street, two members of the Jin Guo envoy were drinking at this time. One of them was a middle-aged man who seemed to be in his early forties. The other was only in his twenties, and he had the agility of a Jurchen, but the eyes of the middle-aged man looking at the lively streets outside were a bit complicated. The two of them seemed to be just accompanying people in the envoy, with no status, and they did not follow into the palace at this time, but the meaning of the conversation at this time was quite unusual.
"Master Gushen is here this time, why didn't he just show up and sign the agreement as soon as possible. In this way, when the Wu Dynasty marches north, those Khitan dogs will inevitably be left and right, so we can reduce the burden on our side. "
If someone who is really familiar with the situation in Jin Guo came over and heard this name, they would probably be frightened by the word "Gu God". Gushen, the son of Huandu, also known as Wanyan Xiyin, is the most important advisor to Wanyan Aguda. Since Agu fights against Liaoning, he has participated in many major events. Also a famous scribe. A few years ago, when Aguda became emperor, he thought that Jurchen did not have his own script, so he asked him to create a set of Jurchen script. the lights, but shook his head.
"Although I thought about the help of the Wu Dynasty at the beginning of the army, this was the first thing Wu Dynasty put forward. Since the Wu Dynasty asked us, we can't be too urgent. I came to the Central Plains, Just to see the prosperity of the Wu Dynasty and the style of Tokyo... What I saw at this time is already a worthwhile trip. When you look at the scene in Tokyo, compared with the five capitals of the Liao Kingdom, it is still far inferior."
"Mari Ye thinks it's too extravagant, and it's soft and doesn't have the slightest bit of agility. Lord Gushen, in fact, some people in the team that followed this time said that this Wu Dynasty, except for extravagance, the rest is really nothing. They have been oppressed by the Liao people for hundreds of years, and they have not achieved anything. Even if we form an alliance with them, I am afraid that it will not be of great benefit. Although it can attract some attention, it is really unnecessary. Without them, my Jurchen soldiers can also win. The Liao Kingdom, at this time, they were just going to get a piece of the pie for nothing..."
"Don't be arrogant." That Wanyan Xiyin frowned, "The Wu Dynasty lived in the Central Plains, with vast land and rich resources. Before my Jurchen appeared, the Han people lived here for thousands of years. Although they seem to have been oppressed by the Liao people these years, they can If they are really weak to that level, wouldn't the Liao people have annexed them earlier? How could they have grown to such a level?"
He shook his head, but in fact, there was some uncertainty in his eyes: "I have made characters in the past few years, and I have specialized in the study of Han culture. The more I study, the more I admire its unfathomable heritage. Your Majesty and Lord Erguozheng, when you talk about the Wu Dynasty, you are also in awe. The country of the Central Plains should not be underestimated. Once we join forces to conquer the Liao Kingdom and border each other, we may become enemies. How can you be contemptuous of your enemies? ?"
After he said this, his eyes turned to the bustling night scene outside again. The young man named Murino lowered his head and pondered. If others were afraid of what he said, he would not be able to change his cognition. However, the Lord Gushen in front of him was different. What you say must be reasonable.
Thinking like this, Marino also turned his eyes to the outside, and began to think about how powerful these Han people are.
Maybe one day... on the battlefield.
He thought so.
This night belonging to Kaifeng, many years later, may be remembered and occupy a place in the history books. Of course, this is just a small interlude of many things that have happened over the next many years, and people are doing what they think is right at this time.
The influence of Fang La and some rebels in the southeast of the Wu Dynasty began to spread widely. While advocating the alliance of Jin and Liao, the famous general Tong Guan considered to use the thunder force to pacify these mud-legged soldiers and then march north. The emperor was waiting to recover Yan. Cloud, return the rivers and mountains to me, and then slowly work hard to manage it. At this time, Wanyan Xiyin, who is in Bianliang, and Wanyan Aguda, who is in the front line of the anti-Liao Dynasty, are all thinking about the help that the Northern Expedition of the Wu Dynasty will produce and the future situation. , The Jurchen population and army are too small. If they take the Liao Kingdom, how can they maintain the balance with the Wu Dynasty, so that they will not be swallowed by the Wu Dynasty...
Of course, Ning Yi didn't know any of these things.
He was sleeping, and when he woke up in the morning, seeing that the rainstorm had stopped, he ran as usual. During the run, I practiced the inner strength according to the breathing method taught by Lu Hongti, and went all the way to Nie Yunzhu's small building to have a cup of tea and talk. After all, they hadn't seen each other for a few days. After a little chat, the two sat quietly for a while. Nie Yunzhu thought about how to tell him about the fact that he had met with Mr. Qin, who might become his adoptive father. Ning Yi picked it up. When the teapot was pouring water for himself, a hand holding a teacup was also handed over from behind.
"Hey, give me a drink too."
The woman's hand was fair and small, Ning Yi was stunned for a moment, poured it into the cup, and then looked back, the woman in a dress that seemed to belong to Nie Yunzhu was sitting on the steps two steps behind, raising the The teacup blew a few times and drank it slowly.
The two should have known each other. Nie Yunzhu turned around and spoke in surprise, but for a while he didn't know if it was necessary to introduce. After a while, Yuan Jin'er put down the teacup and smacked his lips, only to find that Ning Yi was still looking at her. Nu, staring, leaning back: "Why keep looking at me!"
"Oh." Ning Yi blinked and nodded, then turned to drink tea, stopped looking at her, and shrugged again after a while, "I saw a woman climb up from the river yesterday, and it was raining heavily. The whole body is soaked, cough, the kind that is very soaked... It shouldn't be you."
The tone was calm. Yuan Jin'er's eyes widened for a moment, Nie Yunzhu gave a slight "Huh?" and turned to look at her. She still remembered the scene when Yuan Jin'er entered the door. Later, she took her to take a bath and she was already asleep. To prevent her from contracting the cold, she took off Jin'er's clothes and wiped her body.
Yuan Jin'er blinked at this moment and glanced at Nie Yunzhu: "Of course it's not me!" Then she pulled up her skirt, got up and ran away. Nie Yunzhu was a little taller than her, and her skirt was a little longer. Ahhh, I almost fell.
Nie Yunzhu smiled angrily, turned his head to look at Ning Yi again, Ning Yi was still drinking tea indifferently, then glanced at her... and then at her...
"Why are you looking at me like that? She said it wasn't her anymore!"
"… Dengzizi."
Nie Yunzhu picked up the teacup and turned his face away...