Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The midsummer daylight faded, lead-gray rain clouds filled the sky, and birds flapped their wings as fast as they could to return to their nests.

On the field below the sky, several riders were galloping on fast horses, shouting "Gee!" one after another, and the dust raised by the horses' hooves was flying and rolling behind them.

The figure who was overtaken by the horse covered his mouth and nose, and fanned away the dust with his hands and sleeves. He dared to curse fluently only after the knight ran far away, then patted his body clean and continued on his way into the distance.

As raindrops fell from the sky, the knights finally managed to enter the city gate of Miyun before they were soaked.

Ever since the newly formed Han army entered Danzhou, this military state near Zhongjing Road has suddenly become an important frontline location. The young and strong men in the state were mobilized to repair the city walls and dig deep trenches.

As the commander of the army, Ji Anbang went outside every day to observe the terrain. The waterway connecting the Heihe River and the Chaoli River was also lined with defensive fortifications. There were even more horse traps dug for cavalry and trenches several miles long. In the direction of Zhongjing Road, a large number of scouts were running, drawing a detailed topographic map of this area.

Everyone was amazed at Ji Anbang's attentiveness and calmness, but they didn't know that he was actually in trouble.

Ji Anbang took off his armor and put on a single piece of clothing. He exhaled a breath and looked at the geomancy map of Tanzhou drawn by the scout and patted it with his hands. The mountains, rivers, villages and towns were marked in detail, and places suitable for ambush and places with dense forests and high peaks were also circled.

However, the commander who was watching just frowned, folded it in half, threw it on the table, closed his eyes and dozed off.

Two heavy footsteps sounded outside, and then two strong men blocked the already dim light. The figure with closed eyes seemed to feel the change in light and shadow, and opened his eyes: "How did you two get here?"

The two men who came in were both sturdy and dressed in casual clothes. One had thick eyebrows, narrow eyes, and two mustaches on his lips. The other had a square face, a resolute look, and a protruding pot belly. He walked over and saluted Ji Anbang: "Hello, Marshal."

"Okay, you and I are brothers, why bother being so polite?"

He reached out and pushed the kettle on the table: "Brother, I don't have much food and drink here, so just drink some water."

"I knew there was nothing in your house." The square-faced man named Ru Tingqi patted the shoulder of the man next to him and said, "Brother Zan and I have decided to take you out to eat and drink today." He naturally put his big hand down and patted his belly again: "Sacrifice this five internal organs."

"Brother Ru is right." The thick-browed man named Zan Tongmei came over, pulled out a chair and sat down, letting out a sigh of relief: "I have been busy outside in recent days. I finally came back. Brother Ji, please reward us."

"This is a trivial matter." Ji Anbang laughed, stood up and walked to the side, took a look outside, took out the money and asked his personal soldiers to order a table of banquet: "Our salary is more than enough to eat something good."

"Then I'll eat Brother Ji's food today."

The two big men laughed and clapped their hands. They looked down at the folded geomancy map. Zan Tongmei reached out and picked it up: "Oh, this geomancy map is finally finished."

"Let me take a look." Ru Tingqi said as he walked over and stretched his head to look together.

Ji Anbang reached out and poured some water for the two of them, and said softly, "It's not very useful."

"Ok?"

The two men looked up at him in confusion.

Ji Anbang put down the kettle and glanced at the two of them: "We are brothers who have shared weal and woe. I won't lie to you two. Even if Miyun is made into an iron barrel, it will be of little use."

The two looked at each other, looking at the commander in front of them, and listening to his voice: "The area from Miyun to Lulong is too long, and the Great Wall has collapsed due to years of disrepair. I am afraid that when the Qi army goes south, the enemy will just bypass a distance, and our efforts here will be in vain."

"This……"

“Besides…” Ji Anbang didn’t finish his words, looking at the two brothers opposite him waiting for him to speak: “I heard that the Qi army’s navy is very powerful, and they made a lot of achievements when they captured Tokyo and Shangjing. If they take the sea route to the hinterland of Nanjing Road…”

"Don't say it." Zan Tongmei's thick eyebrows came together: "Brother Ji, what you said made my heart beat fast. So, what we have been doing here these days is useless?"

Ru Tingqi also smiled bitterly: "Then why have we been working so hard these days?"

"It's not completely useless." Ji Anbang said with a hint of self-mockery: "At least the ministers in the court can't say anything."

"what?"

"What do you mean?"

Ji Anbang drank a sip of water in silence: "You and I were just small soldiers in Xijin Mansion that no one cared about."

The two people opposite each other had bitter expressions on their faces.

"It was His Majesty who ordered us to join the new army and even make us generals." Ji Anbang's voice was a little low. "If you and I were generals, it would be fine, but we are just three floating duckweeds. Even if we have the title of martial arts champion, who would take us seriously? They are all waiting for you and me to make mistakes."

"...So Brother Ji is doing this just to shut up the ministers in the court?" The two men opposite were not stupid either, and Zan Tongmei spoke with a bit of bitterness.

Ji Anbang was silent for a moment, then nodded: "But it's not completely useless. At least in the eyes of His Majesty, we are capable people. Besides, I have already written a memorial to His Majesty on the pros and cons of this place."

Ru Tingqi couldn't help but raise his eyebrows: "I'm afraid that His Majesty is still hunting."

The room was quiet for a while. Ji Anbang's face looked even more bitter under the cloudy sky outside: "You and I are both His Majesty's men, so let's not say any more."

"Hey--"

Sighs came out from the two big men's mouths, and they immediately lost the will to continue talking. After a while, the sound of rain could be heard outside. The two men who turned around to look at the situation barely pulled themselves together and changed the subject, saying, "I never thought that your guards were so quick to buy the wine and food so quickly."

As they were talking, a figure outside appeared in the rain. When the three people in the room frowned at the same time, the person came in and saluted: "I am a spy from Zhongjing Road, and I am honored to meet General Ji."

"Get up." Ji Anbang couldn't help but stand up: "What's the matter? Where did Qi fight?"

The spy who brought the news hesitated for a moment, then gave a bitter smile: "When I left, officials in Bei'an Prefecture had already expressed their willingness to surrender."

creak-

"Beianzhou?"

"How could this be?"

The sounds of tables and chairs being moved were heard twice, and Zan and Ru, who were sitting, stood up involuntarily.

The spy reached out and took out a bamboo tube and handed it over: "I have recorded the military information here, please take a look."

Ji Anbang took it quickly, poured out the paper full of information, took a look at it, and sat down again, his face full of disbelief: "Dading Prefecture was actually captured in one day? Are the defenders all useless?"

"Brother Ji, let me see?"

The two people behind him spoke up immediately, and Ji Anbang handed them the military intelligence in his hand, and then looked at the spy: "This happened at the beginning of last month, why did you report it so late?"

The spy lowered his head and said, "I also wanted to pass the information back as soon as possible, but with the continuous actions of the Qi army, many brothers lost confidence and lost contact one after another. I had no choice but to personally carry this letter south. I was afraid of encountering Qi army scouts on the way, so I took a remote path and returned a little late."

bang——

There was a sound of hands hitting the table behind him. Ji Anbang turned around and saw that both generals had angry expressions on their faces: "The one who stayed behind in Zhongjing should be killed!"

The commander in the middle sighed and said, "You two should calm down and stop getting angry." Then he looked at the spy and asked, "Do you have the latest military intelligence?"

"All the information I and others have discovered is included in it."

"Okay!" Ji Anbang nodded, then turned around and said, "I will write another memorial to Your Majesty."

The two men nodded, moved the big hand that was pressing on Junqing away, and stood up straight.

Zooming in, the rectangular piece of paper reads: In early January of summer, the garrison commander of Zhongjing abandoned the city and fled, Xia Mo led his army north but was defeated, and Dading Prefecture surrendered without even a fight.

In the middle of the month, the Qi bandits invaded Zezhou. The Zezhou troops fought with them in the wild, and the commander was killed in the battle by the Qi bandit Wanyan Zongbing.

Lizhou, Tanzhou and Andezhou were conquered by the Qi bandits Xiao Haili, Mi Xian and Yuan Lang.

In the second half of the month, officials of Bei'an Prefecture discussed surrender.

……

The climate in the north gradually warmed up, and elk and bison could be seen running everywhere on the vast grassland. The capture of Zhongjing Road was in full swing, and every day villages and towns replaced the Liao flag with the black and red flag of the Qi army.

The knights running back and forth kept passing on battle reports from the front to the rear, which aroused excitement among the government and the people. Many smart people took the opportunity to donate money and food, and then obtained the right to go to Zhongjing to do business.

The Xi and Jurchen tribes in the east were also preparing gifts, ready to pay homage to the emperor and present them when the entire Zhongjing area was captured by the army.

On the barren land near the sea, something big was also happening. Wang Ya, the king of Goryeo who had been in power for seventeen years—

died.

There was no lightning or thunder, nor were there any dark clouds. It was a very peaceful day, and the sun was even shining brightly. Yet, this king, who was described by the Koreans as "profound and tolerant, and fond of Confucianism," died on his sickbed.

A pair of light grey sheepskin boots quickly ran across the dirt road and hunched over into a small room, where Li Ziqian, wearing dark red brocade clothes, was writing with a brush on the desk.

"The king has passed away."

These three simple words made the person holding the pen stop his hand, and the ink flowed along the tip of the pen to leave a dot of ink on the rice paper. Li Ziqian had a strange expression on his face, and a mixture of joy and sadness surged in his chest for a few breaths before he took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Is there a will?" He placed the pen on the pen holder, then crumpled up the half-written calligraphy and threw it on the ground beside him.

"Yes, Imperial Physician Cui Siquan said it's in the study."

"Okay!" Li Ziqian walked out and said, "Go and have someone ask General Tuo Junjing, Li Shou, Jin Rencun, and Li Zide to come to the palace immediately. Also, have my sons Zhimei, Gongyi, Zhifu, and Zhiyuan visit the homes of the ministers on my behalf and inform Zhiyun to come back and stay at home."

"Yes."

The man responded and left immediately. The powerful official walked out of the study and shouted, "Come here, prepare the carriage and horses, and enter the palace!"

The servants around him started moving, and the four-horse carriage was ready the moment he walked out of the mansion. Someone came over and knelt beside the carriage. The man stepped on the other person's back and got into the carriage. The moment he sat down, his hands trembled slightly with excitement, and he took several deep breaths to suppress the throbbing heartbeat.

The carriage left a series of ruts on the dirt road. The slight shaking made him close his eyes and think about his own thoughts silently. The moment he arrived outside the palace gate, he opened his eyes at the reminder of the servants, walked out of the carriage, stepped on the back of the person, and then saw a strong man standing outside the palace gate waiting for him.

"General Taku."

"Meet the Duke."

The two men bowed to each other and smiled. They were in-laws, one a scholar and the other a military man, and natural political allies. Therefore, the former did not put on airs and the latter was not humble either.

"Have you heard the news about the king?"

"Just found out."

"Well, the imperial edict is in the study, you and I should get it."

While walking, he shared the news with him in a few words. Tuo Junjing's eyes lit up: "Great! Congratulations to Duke Li."

"Happy together."

Li Ziqian walked with his eyes narrowed and smiling like the wind, as if he had returned to his youth.

Along the way, the guards and eunuchs in the palace did not dare to stop them. In the distance, there were cries coming from the king's bedroom. The princes, princesses and even court officials who got the news went there to mourn. Therefore, no one was bold enough to become a stumbling block for them.

The moment he entered the study, the powerful official glanced over, picked up a box on the table, opened it, and then threw it away. Seeing this, Tuo Junjing, who came in with him, hurried over to help search. One by one, wooden boxes and paper boxes were opened and flew into the air with the movement of four arms.

Snapped--

Snapped--

Snapped--

"No, no, no!"

Snapped--

Li Ziqian threw the last brocade box in his hand against the wall, smashing it into pieces. His originally elegant face twisted, "Damn it, where did he hide the thing?"

"Duke, is your information accurate?" Tuo Junjing's face was also uncertain. If he didn't find anything after all this busy work, then...

"What that bastard Cui Siquan said is that he has been treating the dead man, so he shouldn't be wrong." Li Ziqian had a gloomy face. It was obvious that the current situation was not what he expected.

Tuo Junjing frowned and said, "That's strange. Could it be possible that the imperial edict could reach the sky?"

Li Ziqian's ears moved: "Hmm? What did you say?"

"I say, is it possible that the imperial edict can still be submitted..." Tuo Junjing repeated casually while pinching his waist, and suddenly turned back to look at his in-laws over there: "Oh my God?!"

The two civil and military officials raised their heads and looked upward at the same time. On the beam of the house, a brocade box wrapped in yellow cloth was placed. The sunlight shone into the room, and it seemed as if there was a golden glow flashing.

"found it!"

The same words came out from different mouths. Li Ziqian lifted his robe and looked left and right, trying to find a place to climb up. However, Tuo Junjing was decisive. He turned around, picked up the paperweight on the table, and threw it away with a wave of his hand.

pop-

The box fell to the ground, and the two of them quickly picked it up, opened it and took a look, and snorted coldly: "I knew it, it's a good thing I came here today."

He took the imperial edict to the table, added a few words to it, and then threw the pen to the ground: "I wonder who else can compete with my grandson."

Tuo Junjing came over and said, "Duke, if Renbiao succeeds to the throne, he should make friends with the neighboring countries. Otherwise, if the ruler is young, he will inevitably be bullied, especially..."

He pointed his finger toward the east.

Li Ziqian pondered for a moment, then nodded: "It's okay, Qi is attacking Liao, the war is intense right now, they probably won't focus on us..."

He hesitated for a moment and said, "But what you said is true. We should send someone to inform them. Yang Pu from the Ministry of Rites of their country has come to make friendly relations with them before. I don't think he will reject our kindness."

"Good." The general standing beside nodded: "Qi is a brave country, and it is not likely to be in turmoil at this time. It is a good thing to make friends with it."

The two of them had made up their minds, put their worries aside, and hurriedly left the study.

Soon, Wang Kai succeeded to the throne and was crowned king. Then some officials turned to Qi and Song. (End of this chapter)