Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

In mid-summer, the temperature is pleasant.

The fleet with sails inflated sailed along the canal through the Tongji Canal to Bianliang. This would have taken several months in the past, but the convenient river channel greatly shortened the time. This fleet, flying a large flag with the word Song on it and full of military flags, made all the ships it met give way immediately as they sailed.

The morning light passed above the clouds, and the fleet arrived in Bianliang. Soldiers in scarlet military uniforms kept carrying strange rocks and piles of wooden boxes off the ships. The imperial guards lined up on both sides of the dock. Their shiny armor gleamed in the sunlight from the sky, and their upright spears made a group of soldiers in slightly faded uniforms look envious.

Several eunuchs who were ordered to return, under the escort of a team of fierce soldiers of the Western Army, hurried to the palace with the items that the old prime minister asked them to hand over. They did not care about the fatigue of the long journey and brought the tired eunuchs to meet the emperor Zhao Ji who was writing with a brush.

"Tong Daofu asked you to come back, but has there been any progress?" Putting the pen next to the inkstone, Zhao Ji, with a ruddy face, stretched out his hands to pinch the two sides of the paper and lifted it up, and a scene of "Ancient Style: The King of Qin Sweeps the World" written in Slender Gold script appeared on the paper.

The Song emperor tilted his head back slightly to look at it, then called the eunuch who was serving beside him to hand it to him: "Frame it and hang it in the imperial study."

The eunuch waiting to report saw his colleagues in front of him retreating in response, so he dared to speak: "Reporting to the emperor, the Grand Tutor has led the army to break through the bandit chief's lair. The bandit leader Fang La and more than 50 accomplices have been captured, but there are still remnants roaming in the southeast, and the army needs to continue to encircle and suppress them. The Grand Tutor is afraid that the emperor is waiting anxiously, so he asked me to escort Fang back."

"Oh?" Zhao Ji's expression lit up, and he walked out from behind the desk and took a few steps forward: "So the unrest in the southeast has been basically settled? How is my Yingfeng Bureau going?"

"The Suzhou and Hangzhou Yingfeng Bureau is already operating again. The first batch of rare treasures has been shipped here and will be delivered to the palace later."

"Good..." Zhao Ji clapped his hands and laughed: "Tong Daofu is indeed a famous general of our dynasty. He has completed most of the tasks I asked him to do so quickly."

The eunuch laughed flatteringly upon hearing this: "The Grand Tutor has always said that 90% of his achievements are due to the Emperor. If it weren't for the Emperor, who would dare to use such incomplete people like us to lead the army? Therefore, the credit he got is only 1% of the 100%."

"Oh? Hahaha——" Zhao Ji was delighted when he heard that. He walked back to his desk and sat down. He crossed his legs and trembled on his toes: "This guy wants to flatter me wherever he goes. What do I need his contributions for?"

Then, without lowering his legs, he used one leg to push forward and said, "Doufu asked you to come back. Do you have anything else to do besides escorting the Flower and Stone Gang?"

The leading eunuch looked back and then bowed: "Your Majesty, although the battle between the Grand Master and the enemy army went smoothly, he discovered something strange..."

The eunuchs in the back quickly took out a few pieces of damaged armor and weapons and placed them on the ground. The eunuch in the front continued, "These are the armor and weapons of the Liao army. Now many people in the enemy army are wearing them. The Grand Tutor thinks that the events in the southeast may have traces of the north."

Zhao Ji's face suddenly turned cold, and he nodded to the eunuch beside him: "Show it to me."

Someone quickly brought the armor to him. The emperor, who was well versed in calligraphy, painting, poetry, and Cuju, stood up and carefully examined the style of the armor. He then extended his well-maintained white and smooth hand to touch it, and then raised his head: "Ha... Are you planning to attack my territory?"

Slightly narrowing his eyes, he looked at the person who sent the soldiers back: "Did Tong Daofu say anything?"

"The Grand Tutor said that there are now two countries in the north, both of which have Liao troops, but the Khitans are still the most suspicious."

"That's right. I think so too." Zhao Ji patted his armor with his palm, with a thoughtful look on his face: "Those bandits in Qi are trying to seize the land of Liao. There is no reason for them to cross the sea to the south to transport weapons to the rebels. But why do the Khitans want to stir up trouble in the southeast of our country..."

Snapped--

His eyes suddenly widened, and Zhao Ji clapped his hands heavily: "Damn it, the court has not yet decided whether to ally with Qi to retake Yan, how dare these people do this!"

He walked back and forth a few steps with his hands behind his back, and pointed outside: "Come here, King Xuan Fu enters the palace."

A eunuch ran out immediately, and soon the person who received the emperor's order came running in.

At the end of the same month, an envoy delegation to the Liao Kingdom headed north with weapons and a letter of accusation from Zhao Ji.

……

The setting sun in the west burned the clouds red.

The beacon smoke rose with the wind, and the Song army began to leave Muzhou. The surrounding people were almost wiped out, and some villages were burned down, looking even more desolate and dilapidated under the red sky.

From time to time along the way, villagers carrying their elderly and children fled to other surrounding military states. The Western Army soldiers who came from behind entered the village, rushed into the houses, and took away the few valuables. Those who left slowly were found by the army, and then they were killed by swords and guns, leaving their bodies lying in the wild, and all the gold, silver and other valuables were swept away.

Thick black smoke obscured the setting sun in Muzhou. Everywhere was filled with the smell of blood, rust, and smoke from burning wooden houses, and occasionally the smell of burnt flesh that made people want to vomit.

On both sides of the road where the army was marching, large groups of flies were startled and flew around from time to time. When you glanced over, you could see the skin of women occasionally exposed in the grass, but their bodies were covered with flies and it seemed that they had been dead for who knows how long. There were children standing alone in the woods, with their headless bodies not far away, crying helplessly and shouting for hunger, but no one could respond.

Various images and sounds come together.

This is just a small corner where the troops passed after the war. There are many more identical and similar scenes happening in different places.

On the official road, footsteps stepped over a ground covered with dried blood. The marching crimson team entered Wuzhou against the setting sun. On the ridge of the field, Wang Yuan saw a noise and motioned for people to go over. A child's scream was heard, followed by a short scream. The Western Army soldiers who came back were wiping the blood off their swords.

Wang Yuan stopped his horse for a while, watched in silence for a while, then kicked the horse's belly again. The wind blew over, seemingly mixed with the woman's crying.

Wang Yuan finally couldn't help but raise his hand after gripping the reins. The guards beside him stepped forward, and his slightly hoarse voice rang out: "Go and have a look around to see if there are any rebels causing trouble. If there are any, kill them."

"But... Commander, the Prime Minister has ordered that we cannot stay here..." The personal soldier spoke hesitantly, looking a little hesitant.

Staring at him fiercely, Wang Yuan bent down and grabbed his shoulders, lowering his voice: "If no one is watching, you are a traitor. If someone sees you... Do you need me to teach you?"

After a hard push, the soldier staggered two steps, responded with a sound, and then dispersed with hundreds of soldiers.

On this official road, the general of the Western Army led the remaining soldiers and marched quickly to a place twenty miles away from the border of Wuzhou. After settling the troops, they set up visible and secret sentries and sent out scouts to investigate.

His goal was to capture Pujiang County within five days.

Compared with Qi and Liao, the third year of Xuanhe was a busy year for Zhao Song.

The Song army, mainly composed of the Western Army, mixed with the Hedong Imperial Army and the local soldiers and militia in the southeast, began to encircle and suppress the remnants of Fang La. Fang Tianding of Wuzhou was still injured, so he organized resistance while sending cavalry to Yuezhou and Taizhou to get reinforcements. Qiu Daoren and Bao Daoyi, who stayed behind in Yuezhou, were very anxious after receiving the letter, but at this time half of Yuezhou's troops were in Mingzhou and had not returned, so Yuezhou could not send large-scale reinforcements for a while.

As a last resort, after the two men discussed, Bao Daoyi led 20,000 volunteers to meet up. However, just like before, these volunteers did not have much armor, and they were just full of enthusiasm to fight with the Song army in the south.

This was also the fault of the Song army themselves. The Western Army had suffered so much at the border, and now they suddenly entered the land of fish and rice in the southeast, just like a poor man entering a rich family. Only a few of them could resist looting. The imperial guards from Hedong and the soldiers from all over the southeast were even more ruthless, killing people, seizing goods, and raping people's wives and daughters. Wherever they passed, there was smoke of war.

In addition, the Southeast Yingfeng Bureau was reopened and the father and son of the Zhu family were reinstated. The people of Liangzhe Road were in an uproar and cursed the court for not keeping its word. Many people who had lost their families and had no hope took up arms and joined the rebel armies in Yue, Tai, Chu and other places, determined to fight those evildoers to the death.

In late summer, the high-spirited Song army fought several battles with the rebel army in Wuzhou. The Hedong Imperial Army and the soldiers from the southeast, who were anxious to grab the credit, were ambushed several times in Jinhua by Fang Tianding and Bao Daoyi. They suffered heavy casualties and had to retreat in a hurry, leaving the Western Army generals in the rear, who were angry about the friendly army's attempt to steal the credit, dumbfounded and exclaimed that they were a hopeless case.

They had to mobilize the army to attack the two men. Fang Tianding and Bao Daoyi did not dare to fight with the Western Army in the wild. They relied on the morale boosted by the consecutive victories of the soldiers to hold the city. For a time, they relied on the city walls and sufficient city defense equipment to resist the offensive of the Western Army. The two sides were in a stalemate.

At the end of summer, the warships of Qi State docked at the coast of Yuyao, Yuezhou again. Qiu Daoren breathed a sigh of relief when he received the replenishment of weapons and armor. He immediately sent a letter to Lu Shinang and Fang Qifo. He also learned that the generals of Qi State had come to help train the soldiers. He was delighted and ashamed at the same time. With mixed feelings, he invited them to the city.

Lou Minzhong, the former left prime minister of the Yongle Dynasty, was overjoyed when he heard the news. He praised Li Zu for being a righteous man who kept his promise and warmly entertained the people who came from the north.

Only Liu Yun learned that Fang La had been captured and had been sent to the capital by water. He stood there for a while with mixed feelings, then he sighed deeply and murmured something to the sky. His expression was inexplicably much more relaxed, and he then joined in the training of the soldiers.

Early autumn.

Fang and Lu, who occupied Mingzhou, left Du Wei and Bai Yanshou to defend the land. Fang Qifo led his troops from the south of Zhuji City in Yuezhou to attack Pujiang, and Lu Shinang went to Shan County to attack Dongyang. After several days of failure, Fang Tianding and Bao Daoyi, who were in Jinhua, were under doubled pressure.

In the early morning, Ruan Xiaoqi, a naval officer of the Qi army, left two ships here as a retreat for Liu Yun and Xie Ning, and led the fleet heading south back to Qi.

At the end of the month, Pujiang and Dongyang cities were finally captured by Fang and Lu. In Jinhua, Wu Jie and Zhe Kecun of the Western Army climbed the city first. Fang Tianding was killed by Liu Yanqing and Liu Guangshi, father and son. Bao Daoyi was a step slower in escaping and was hacked to death by the Western Army soldiers. All 30,000 volunteers in the city were killed.

Upon hearing the increasing pressure on the front line, Yuezhou and Taizhou in the rear had no choice but to send forward reinforcements again. Liu Yun and Xie Ning, who stayed there to train the soldiers, looked to the north, wondering if there was still any point in training troops, but since this was something they had wanted to do, they had no choice but to continue.

On the other side, Liao Kingdom, Nanjing Road.

bang——

bang-

The iron helmet spun and fell on the table, then bounced up and fell to the ground.

"How can this be absurd? How can a commander not like the hot weather and go hunting for more than ten days without returning? Training troops like this is simply child's play!"

The figure who threw away his iron helmet had a bald head and a very majestic appearance. He was complaining angrily to Yelu Zongyun behind him.

"Da Shilin Ya calm down." The young man from the royal family behind him smiled helplessly: "Your Majesty is the emperor after all, so naturally he can't be like an ordinary general."

"I know!" The burly figure who walked into the general's tent had his chest heaving. A personal guard brought some cold water, and the middle-aged man, also known as Dashi Linya, whose real name was Yelu Dashi, walked over and splashed some clean water on his face.

The cool liquid took away the high temperature on his face. The man straightened up while panting and snorted twice: "These soldiers who came with me are used to being sneaky and cunning. I had a hard time correcting them. Now that Your Majesty is behaving like this, I'm afraid they will return to their old ways. I'll have to spend more time to deal with them."

He glanced at the young man who walked in and sighed, "I finally know why the prince is not coming."

Yelu Zongyun shrugged, walked over and sat down. His personal guard handed him a cold drink, and he raised his head and took a big sip: "My father didn't come for many reasons, but it's not because of Your Majesty. Dashi Lin Ya, don't say anything nonsense."

The Liaoxing Army Jiedushi glanced at him and patted the table with his hand: "Okay, don't I know you? These are my people. Don't worry about them gossiping."

Yelu Zongyun chuckled and said nothing.

Yelu Dashi looked up at the top of the tent and said, "It's not going to work this way. Tomorrow you take half of the army back and give it to your father. Ask him to train the soldiers quickly and train as many soldiers as possible for Nanjing Road."

Yelu Zongyun was not stupid either. He frowned and said, "You think Qi will move south soon."

Yelu Dashi didn't even look at him: "Do you think Qi will be satisfied with the status quo?"

"..." Yelu Zongyun was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "If that were the case, we wouldn't be losing battles so often."

The wind at the foot of the mountain gradually picked up in the sunset. Yelu Dashi stood up and walked to the door of the big tent to feel the cool air. He exhaled, "Anyway, we should hurry up and do things. Qi has not taken any action so far. It is like this this year. Next year's offensive will certainly be fierce, and Your Majesty is still..."

Pursing his lips, he turned around, walked in and sat down: "Does your father have any ideas?"

Yelu Zongyun looked at him seriously and shook his head. There was disappointment on the face opposite him. The two sat opposite each other in silence.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of horse hooves was suddenly heard outside. Yelu Dashi raised his eyebrows, turned to look outside the tent, then stood up and walked out. Yelu Zongyun thought for a moment and followed him out.

The dust was blown away by the breeze from the mountain. In the distance, cheers came one after another. The two Khitans who walked out of the tent looked at each other. Yelu Dashi looked at the guards beside him and said, "Go and ask what happened."

The guard ran out quickly, and soon came back, clasping his fists towards the two men and saying, "Reporting to the governor, your majesty has returned from hunting, and has killed a tiger and a bear. The soldiers accompanying the army are cheering for this."

"……cheer?"

The tone of his voice slightly raised, Yelu Dashi took a long breath and slowly exhaled: "They are just two dead things, what's there to cheer about?"

Yelu Zongyun smiled bitterly and said, "Don't be too optimistic. At least they are two ferocious beasts. On ordinary days, this is something worth boasting about."

"This is not an ordinary day..." Yelu Dashi said, looked into the distance a few more times, turned around and walked back: "This is not an ordinary day!" (End of this chapter)