Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

In mid-summer, the red clouds spread across the west.

The wheels rolled over the compacted dirt road and turned into the front of the imperial city where few people passed. The guards, who were dressed neatly and in bright armor, stood up straight as they looked at the approaching carriage. Their tall figures, matched with the armor set against the red glow, made them look full of energy.

Wang Fu stepped down from the carriage and hurriedly followed the eunuch to the imperial garden. Along the way, the eunuchs and palace maids moved aside and the palace guards bowed their heads to greet the most favored civil official of the Song Dynasty.

It was dark, but the imperial garden was brightly lit. Palace maids holding lanterns could be seen at regular intervals, shrouding the whole world in lights. Although it was not as bright as daytime, it had a hint of evening atmosphere.

"I pay my respects to the official."

"Get up and find a place to sit. I'm busy."

In the corridor and waterside pavilion, a familiar figure is waving a paintbrush at the koi in the water. The fish with vivid shapes and spirits are vividly depicted on the paper, with a few lotus leaves dotted on them. In the distance, a pavilion is painted small and seems to be far away.

Wang Fu was not surprised at all. He walked to a stone table and sat down. He looked at the fresh fruits on the table, picked up one and put it in his mouth. The sour and sweet taste made his eyes light up. He saw Emperor Zhao Ji was still busy over there, so he couldn't help but walk over to watch. Just then he saw him finish the last few strokes, and a picture of koi appeared on the paper.

Zhao Ji stood up straight, holding the pen, looking around with a satisfied expression.

"What a wonderful painting!" Wang Fu stroked his beard, shook his head and said, "The bend of the lotus stem hides the outline of crane knees, and the thin veins of the leaf suddenly appear when they are outlined in gold. This is not something that Huang Quan and his son can match, and Xu Xi's wildness is hard to surpass.

The distant building is hidden in the sky, which is in line with the image of "prosperity and prosperity"; the wave marks are like ice cracks, which is in line with the style of Genyue Shoushan. The official's painting today lets me know what the magic of sketching is, which is not about scales and armor, but about using the emperor's hand and eye to control the power of nature. "

"Flattery!" Zhao Ji turned around and tapped him with his hand, then laughed loudly, threw the brush to the eunuch standing beside him, reached out and took out a seal from his bosom, blew twice, pressed it down, and signed it, then turned and walked towards the stone table: "Take it with you when you go back later, this painting is given to you."

"Thank you, officials!"

Wang Fu's face showed surprise, the emperor's paintings and calligraphy were both excellent, not inferior to those famous painters. What's more, he was the emperor, and ordinary people could not ask for his calligraphy, so he would only reward others. And those who were rewarded were either rich or noble, so how could they be willing to let their calligraphy circulate? Therefore, his paintings and calligraphy were the rarest in the market.

"Sit down." Zhao Ji sat down, first drank a sip of wine, then ate a few fruits, and then looked at the seated figure and said: "Earlier today, there was news from the north. I have been thinking about it. I asked you to come because I want to make a plan together."

"Oh?" Wang Fu raised his eyebrows: "I don't know what the news is?"

Zhao Ji raised his right hand and gestured forward in the air with his index finger. Immediately, a eunuch came running over and handed him a document with both hands.

Wang Fu took it, looked at Zhao Ji's expression and said, "I am sorry for being rude." Then he opened it and read it carefully, frowning from time to time. Then he closed the document and pondered in silence.

The lit candle made a light sound. Zhao Ji waited for two breaths and asked impatiently, "How about it, do you have any ideas tomorrow?"

Wang Fu hesitated for a moment and spoke cautiously: "Your Majesty, Qi invaded Liao Zhongjing from the south, is this... true?"

"I have the same doubts." Zhao Ji spat out the seeds in the fresh fruit and said, "But Zhao Liangsi said that the messenger was an official from the Liao Dynasty who was loyal to the Song Dynasty. It must be true."

"Then it's somewhat believable." Wang Fu said excitedly, "Your Majesty, if Qi swallows Zhongjing, the Liao people will lose three of their five routes, leaving only Xijing and Nanjing. They really can't compete with our Song Dynasty."

He stood up and took two steps back and forth: "In my humble opinion, we should quickly summon Duke of Jing, Tong Guan, back to the court to prepare for the journey north."

Zhao Ji stroked his chin and said, "I think so too, but since we killed Fang La last summer, Tong Daofu said that the remnants of the family in the southeast are rampant, and it is difficult to escape and return in a hurry."

He hesitated for a moment and said, "That's why I didn't issue an order to call him back immediately."

"Could it be that the Duke of Jing is nurturing the enemy to protect himself?"

"It won't come to that." Zhao Ji shook his head. "If Tong Daofu wants to keep the invaders, he can just stay in the northwest and not return. The Xixia people are not much better at fighting than the Fang people."

A few weary birds chirped as they flew through the air, gliding past the palace to find their nests somewhere.

Wang Fu narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment, then suddenly spoke: "Your Majesty, I heard that Fang La's rebellion was due to the Tea and Salt Law, and the Duke of Jing actually issued an edict of guilt for you in the southeast, blaming the crime on Your Majesty. This is extremely treasonous."

"Huh? Really?!"

Zhao Ji was stunned. Not all the affairs of the world were delivered to his desk for his decision. Moreover, Tong Guan did not report what he did. This made him feel betrayed by his trusted person.

"Everyone in the world knows it." Wang Fu closed his eyes and spoke in a flat tone.

bang——

He slapped his palms on the stone table.

"Hiss..." Zhao Ji's face changed, and he quickly waved his hands and said, "Send an order, let Tong Guan come back quickly, and we can continue to suppress the bandits in the southeast."

"Yes!"

A eunuch responded and ran outside. Wang Fu twirled his beard complacently for a moment, then frowned and pinched himself hard.

I didn't control my mouth today, and I gave that damn eunuch some eye drops, tsk...

His eyes swept over the eunuchs around him. The powerful official Qiang snorted in his heart: He is just a eunuch who relied on the emperor's favor to wield power in the court. How can he be compared with scholars like us?

Then he looked back to normal and talked with Zhao Ji about the current situation for a while. After dark, Zhao Ji kept him in for dinner, and he did not leave the palace and go home until the moon rose above the branches.

It took more than one day to spread the news in Song.

At that time, the Qi army in the north nominally controlled the entire Zhongjing Road in early January of autumn. The armies that were fighting in various places turned back under the leadership of their respective generals, while the court officials, imperial concubines, and their families who had come to the capital prepared their carriages and guards and set off for Dading Prefecture.

In the east, the envoy from Goryeo ran into Linhuang Prefecture excitedly, and was then told that the entire Qi court was moving southward. He then hurriedly ran out of the place, mounted his horse again, and galloped all the way to Zhongjing.

In the middle of early autumn, the imperial edict from Bianliang was safely delivered to Tong Guan.

"Go back?" The tall and burly eunuch looked at the eunuch who came to deliver the order with a look of doubt and uncertainty: "Why would you let me put down all my affairs and go back to Tokyo? What happened?"

"Reply to Duke Jing." The eunuch was so excited when he saw the legendary figure among them that he wanted to show him his heart. He just said respectfully, "Minister Wang told Your Majesty that Fang La's rebellion was due to the Tea and Salt Law, but Duke Jing blamed the government for the crime, which is an act of usurpation. Moreover, there is a war between Qi and Liao in the north, and I heard that the Liao people are about to lose Zhongjing."

When the two things were reversed, Tong Guan's brows twisted into a knot and he snorted coldly: "Wang Jiangming... Good! Very good!"

He gritted his teeth and squeezed out the words: "I will definitely repay you for your kindness."

He cursed a few more times before calming down: "You just said... Qi and Liao were fighting?"

"Yes, when I came, I confirmed the news and said so." "Oh..."

Tong Guan's eyes kept roaming around, then he stopped and nodded gently: "It is true that we have to go back, and the title of king of our family still depends on these Liao people..."

After thinking for a while, he looked at him and asked, "Where has Qi conquered now?"

"Zhongjing Dading Prefecture has been conquered by them, but our spies returned very early, and now there are less than eleven of them left. I am afraid they are not aware of the latest situation."

"trouble."

Tong Guan flicked his sleeves and said irritably, "You can only fight a war if you know both yourself and the enemy. How can you accept orders if you don't know Qi's fighting strength, how much land it has conquered from Liao, and how many armored soldiers it has?"

"This……"

The two eunuchs looked at each other, unable to answer for a moment, and they didn't know what they said to anger the chief eunuch.

Tong Guan was anxious, pacing back and forth: "I said that when the war breaks out, we can't be ignorant of everything. Why is no one listening to us?"

The people who came from Tokyo all lowered their heads, not daring to respond, waiting for the Duke of Jing to make a decision.

"You guys go down first. If I want to go back, I need to make some arrangements."

The eunuchs who delivered the imperial edict naturally did not dare to urge him, so they bowed and hurriedly retreated.

Tong Guan was feeling agitated in the room, so he simply called his aide Dong Yun and told him that he was going back to Beijing.

The aide pinched his beard and thought for a while, then asked, "I understand what the emperor means, but I just want to ask you, do you want to go back or stay in the southeast?"

"Of course I have to go back." Tong Guan walked to the top with his tall and burly figure, sat down, and slapped the table.

bang——

"What's the point of staying in the southeast? There are only a few military states along the coast and stupid bandits who can't see the situation clearly. But if you fight against Liao in the north, you can be crowned king."

"That's easy." Dong Yun smiled, walked over and said softly: "Since the boss has decided to go back, why don't we let General Wang take charge here and clean up the ground? Even if the bandits have equipment and supplies from the Liao people, they will be destroyed in a moment. So what's there to worry about?"

"…This is not what bothers me."

Tong Guan hesitated and looked outside. The eunuch standing beside him understood and walked out of the room, closed the door, and stood guard outside.

Seeing that his men understood his meaning, he spoke again, "The matter of Liao has been settled and there is no need to talk about it. Just one more thing, you have been with me on the border for many years, so you naturally know how strong the Xia and Liao people are. Lü Bu has now devoured three of the Liao Kingdoms and is as swift as a tiger. If he clashes with our army, I don't know what to do."

"What the boss means is..." Dong Yun looked puzzled, a little confused.

"Your Majesty must remember that we conquered Liangshan that year, but you also know how we conquered Liangshan."

Dong Yun nodded.

"Although I am not afraid of that Lu guy, fighting on two fronts is still a lot of trouble. If he gets angry at our dynasty for intervening in Liaodong and attacks together with the Liao people, the Northern Expedition will cause a lot of trouble."

"So that's how it is." Dong Yun suddenly realized, thought for a moment and advised: "It's useless for you to sit here alone. It's better to deal with the southeast affairs as soon as possible and return to Tokyo. Many people in the court support the alliance with Qi to fight the Northern Expedition. You just need to stand on their side as before."

Tong Guan frowned: "But the emperor doesn't seem to want to unite with Qi."

"This is a different time. Last year, the emperor had no intention of launching a northern expedition. This year, he has sent several letters to inquire about the matter. Now, he has even issued an order to ask the master to return." Dong Yun stroked his goatee and said, "The emperor's mind must have changed."

Tong Guan's eyes lit up, and he stood up suddenly: "Yes, you are right. I was so worried about the war on two fronts that I ignored this. If you hadn't mentioned it, it would have ruined my plan."

Dong Yun did not dare to take credit for it, and said modestly: "You are the one who is in control of the situation."

"That's good. If Qi doesn't come to cause trouble, I will definitely be able to take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun." Tong Guan walked to the center of the room with a dragon-like stride and spread his arms: "By then, we will dominate Yanyun and may even be able to look north to the grassland."

"Maybe the boss can be Cao Cao again." Dong Yun smiled flatteringly from behind: "Hanging Lu Bu on the city gate tower, I think this achievement is worthy of calling himself the King of Wei."

Tong Guan's arrogant laughter rang out in the room.

In the late first lunar month, Tong Guan, who had been in the southeast for more than a year, decided to return north. He first ordered Wang Bing to take charge of the military power and be responsible for clearing out the remnants of Fang La, such as Chen Kutong and Lu Shinang. He also ordered Xin Xingzong, Zhe Kecun, Wu Jie, Liu Yanqing and others to stay and assist in the war, while he led 50,000 main forces of the Western Army and 80,000 Hedong Imperial Guards back north.

Along the way, soldiers from various armies looted everywhere and many civilians were robbed. By the time this group of people from the north returned, the southeast had already been devastated. Even though this place was a famous land of fish and rice, there was no way they could recover in a short time.

……

at the same time.

The sea breeze blew the dense treetops on the cliff, and seagulls cried from time to time amid the rustling sound.

"The eunuch Tong Guan has left."

The figure holding the intelligence ran over quickly. Pang Wanchun's originally fair and handsome face was tanned, and there were two arrow marks on the left side of his cheek. Those were the marks left on his face by the brothers Wu Jie and Wu Lin during the battle with the Western Army.

"really?"

Lü Shinang, who looked exhausted, stood up suddenly, walked over on the grass in the forest, snatched the letter, read it carefully, and said with joy: "As expected, the hermaphrodite has left the southeast, and we have a chance to catch our breath."

"General Lu, why don't we take this opportunity to fight back?" Pang Wanchun was eager to try.

After Fang La was captured and sent to the capital, the situation of these remnants was not easy. First, Qiu Daoren and Fang Qifo in the north were attacked fiercely by the Western Army. The two fought desperately to repel the Song Army, but they had no way to defend Yuezhou. They had to retreat from Shanyin City to the vicinity of Shangyu before they could gain a foothold.

As for the Chen Kutong army in Chuzhou, several important generals were killed in battle one after another. They fled to Taizhou this winter and are now resisting the attack of the Song army together with Lu Shinang.

For these people, they have suffered from the Song army for a long time.

"Don't rush in." Lu Shinang shook his head: "You and I both know that their troops are reduced, how could they not know? We need to think about this matter carefully, go and find Shi Bao and Li Tianrun." (End of this chapter)