lady, please calm down

Zhou State took advantage of the crisis and did the Northern Expedition very covertly.

As a result, after the east and west armies entered Huaibei, news gradually spread in Lin'an City.

When Zhou people first heard about this, they felt mixed.

Although the two countries of Qi and Zhou are enemies, there is no big hatred. Even because of the prosperity of Huaibei in recent years, the two countries have frequent private exchanges and created many "stakeholder" people in the business community.

But for the Kingdom of Zhou and the Kingdom of Jin, they were enemies of the country and the family!

Lin'an is now a large city with a population of more than 700,000, of which nearly 60% are officials and wealthy families who fled from Tokyo and the Central Plains during Ding Wei.

How many people's relatives died at the hands of the Jin people.

Furthermore, the Emperor and many of his concubines and heirs were kidnapped by the Jin people, which has always been regarded as a great shame and humiliation by many aspiring civil and military officials.

After the rise of the Qi State, it was a threat to the Zhou State, but the Jin State was even more an enemy that many Zhou people wanted to plow their way out of!
Therefore, during the melee between Qi, Jin and Xia, the mainstream opinion in the court hoped that the three countries would weaken each other, but the people hoped that Qi could withstand the Jinxia siege in a desperate situation.

If Qi State can make Jin Xia feel defeated, it will help them get out of their bad temper.

But neither the court nor the people imagined that Zhou Guo would take the initiative to attack Qi from behind.

From a perceptual point of view, this matter was an attempt by the Han family to suppress foreign affairs and help other people to deal with the Qi State, who were also descendants of the Han family.

From a rational point of view, Zhou helped Jin Xia destroy Qi. In the future, there will be no buffer zone between Zhou and Jin, which will undoubtedly attract wolves into the house.

But on the second day of the twelfth lunar month, after the news of the Zhou army's Northern Expedition came, the Zhou Dynasty court remained strangely silent.

After all, the matter has come to this, and nothing can be done to pull back the army. Furthermore, the Northern Expedition can be kept so secret, which is absolutely inseparable from the plans and implementation of Emperor Zhou, Prime Minister Qin and others.

Since the Emperor and Prime Minister Qin want to launch the Northern Expedition, who dares to disobey this will?
In addition, there is another reason that no one has mentioned. The troops have already been sent out anyway. Huaibei has huge interests. If everyone stands in line now, it will be easier to share some of the interests in the future.

But in such a situation, there are still many people who are 'blind'.

Zhao Ding, the censor Zhongcheng, met with Wang Shu, the minister of the Ministry of War, and Wan Qixi, the minister of Dali Temple, on the third day of the lunar month to "privately transfer" soldiers, and was good at starting border provocations; on the second day, Dali Temple detained Chen Bokang, a planner of Huainan strategy, for no reason.
These two incidents were openly aimed at impeaching Wang Shu and Wan Qixi. In fact, they were directed at Qin Huizhi, the mastermind behind the scenes. They were also secretly blaming the imperial court for its plan to destroy Qi.

As the decision maker, Emperor Zhou naturally could not take the blame. After Qin Huizhi scolded Zhao Ding in court, he was imprisoned for "disrespect".

Zhao Ding was dragged out of the Chui Gong Hall by the Jinwu Guards, and he cried and admonished, "Hulu is a wolf with ambition, and Zhou Qi's lips and teeth, if the Qi Dynasty is destroyed, the Zhou Dynasty will be hurt, but the Qi Dynasty cannot be destroyed."

But such outcry did not change Zhou Ting's attitude.

However, compared to the calm court, the response from the people was much greater.

On the fourth day of the lunar month, Mei Yao, a music master from Qi State who was traveling in Lin'an, organized a poetry meeting at his residence. Because Master Mei was from Qi State, and Zhou's attack on Qi had been very popular in recent days, far more scholars came than usual that day.

As soon as Mei Yao appeared, everyone noticed that she looked much more haggard than before.

Thinking of the disgraceful role played by Da Zhou in recent events, everyone couldn't help but sigh secretly.

During the banquet, Gu Yuntang, a scholar who had lived in Huaibei, once said: "Master Mei, I heard that you have a close relationship with the King of Chu of Qi State. From what we can see, can the King of Chu solve the crisis in Qi State this time?"

Hearing this, Mei Yao lost her mind for a moment, and a sad look appeared on her pretty face, and she said in a low voice: "Little girl, I only enjoy the beauty of the scenery here, and don't talk about state affairs. But when I was traveling through Huaibei, I occasionally saw the word "King of Chu" .”

"Oh? What's the word? Mei, can you guys sing it?"

Someone immediately asked, Mei Yao pondered for a moment, squeezed out a forced smile, and said: "That's fine."

After saying that, Mei Yao lightly swept the Yao Qin, and the sound of gurgling was like clear spring water, which immediately silenced the room. Then she lightly opened her sandalwood mouth and sang: "The anger is soaring, leaning against the railing, the misty rain is resting."

The fact that Mei Yao is now famous in the Qi Zhou Dynasty is indispensable because of the pursuit of the King of Chu of Qi State and the great scholars. However, her own conditions and extremely high attainments in music are also reasons that cannot be ignored.

However, when Mei Yao spoke today, her voice changed from the soft and weak voice of the past. Regardless of the sound of the piano or the melody, it clearly contained grief and indignation, and there was also a hint of the sound of an iron horse!
"Ding Wei is ashamed, but it is still snow. Han's hatred, when will it be destroyed? Driving a long chariot, trampling through the gap in the Helan Mountains, ambitious to eat the meat of Huns, laughing and talking about drinking the blood of Huns. Start over, clean up the old mountains and rivers, and shoot towards the sky!"

After singing a song, the lingering sound lingers
But the audience had mixed expressions.

This river is full of red, expressing ambition with words!
Even the King of Chu, who was repeatedly called a false king by Dazhou, had not forgotten the shame of Ding Wei more than ten years ago, but what about the court of Dazhou? Already drunk in the Jiangnan water town
Today, the King of Chu is ashamed of the Xue Han family and uses the power of his country to resist the attack of the two countries of Jin and Xia.

Instead of asking for help, we Dazhou actually took the opportunity to sneak attack on someone's rear!
Order Bilian!
Many people are ashamed of their status as Zhou people.

In the evening of that day, the poetry meeting ended early. It wasn't that Mei's music was not good, but everyone suddenly lost their mood to have fun.

After walking out of Mei Yao's residence, Gu Yuntang, who felt unspeakably aggrieved, suddenly turned around and headed east.

A companion was surprised and said: "Brother Gu, your home is in the west, why is it facing the east?"

Gu Yuntang stopped and turned back, but said: "The shame of my Great Zhou is due to the Kingdom of Jin. Now that Great Zhou and Jin Xia have joined forces, it is like seeking the skin of a tiger! My Great Zhou is in danger. I want to go to the Ancestral Temple to inform Emperor Taizu!"

When he said this, all the scholars who needed to vent their emotions seemed to have found an outlet, and followed him with a huff and aah.

The Great Zhou Ancestral Temple is also the ancestral temple of the Chai family, which enshrines the previous emperors of the Zhou Kingdom.

The Imperial Ancestral Temple is located on the left side outside the palace gate, so Gu Yuntang and others naturally could not enter, so they bought incense, candles and fruits and set up a table to worship on the long street opposite the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Such a strange scene attracted many people to watch the excitement.

Although Emperor Gaozu of the Great Zhou Dynasty failed to take back Yanyun, he finally occupied a serious dynasty in the Central Plains.

Now, they can only live in peace for a while. None of the emperor and his ministers have any ambition to make progress. The return of the emperor and the royal family members who were kidnapped by the Jin people is far away.
Gu Yuntang couldn't help but feel sad when he thought of this, and fell to the ground crying.

He kept saying: "The Supreme Emperor has no time to return. Who will take pity on the nobles of the Heavenly Family? When will the hatred of the subjects be extinguished?"

Even though his brain was swayed by blood, Gu Yuntang did not dare to complain for the Qi State. After all, it would be suspected of collaborating with the enemy.

But he felt sorry for the Supreme Emperor, and no one could argue with it. Even if Emperor Zhou came in person, he would still shed a few tears.

Two quarters of an hour later, the "Crying Temple" drama had already caused a sensation in Lin'an.

The long street was congested, and the people who came to watch were packed with people.

At this point, both Emperor Zhou and Qin Huizhi could not sit still.

This group of scholars was obviously crying for the temple, but in fact, like Zhao Ding, they were questioning Zhou's decision to attack Huaibei!
At Youshi, a group of Lin'an government officials broke up the crowd, took Gu Yuntang and others away and imprisoned them in the name of "disturbing order."

Although the troublemaker was taken away, the entire Lin'an city was full of discussions about the matter that night.

Before the turmoil subsided, the next day, someone poured oil on the matter again.

On the fifth day of the lunar month, the Mei family, which had many fans, personally brought food and went to the Lin'an government office to visit the son who was imprisoned yesterday.

This time, he immediately gained more favor from the scholars.

Chai Su, the prefect of Lin'an and a clan member of the royal family, knew about this matter, which did not seem to be a big deal, but was actually deeply involved, so he did not allow Mei Yao to meet with the imprisoned soldier.

Mei Yao obediently knelt in front of Lin'an Yamen.

In recent months, too much has happened, too intensively.

First, Jin Xia attacked Qi. Just when the Zhou people were paying attention to the situation in Qi every day, they suddenly heard that Zhou Dynasty had also joined the war, forming a siege by the three kingdoms.

Last night, first the impassioned song "Man Jiang Hong" quickly spread in Lin'an, and then, Gu Yuntang and others cried in the temple.

Today, Mr. Mei came to Lin'an government office in person again.
Therefore, on the morning of the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, more and more people came from all directions outside the Lin'an government office.

The difference from last night is that most of the people here today are scholars.

Since the founding of the country, the Zhou Dynasty has treated scholars well. The imprisonment of Gu Yuntang and others last night has made many people dissatisfied.

Today, everyone from Mei came to Anfu Yamen just to express their support for the imprisoned soldiers!
A woman who has left her hometown dares to come forward, how can we be a coward?

Seeing that more and more people gathered together, Chai Su became angry and ordered the government officials to take Mei Yao into custody.

When the government officials took away the scholar last night, they were quite polite and did not use shackles or torture devices, but they were not so polite to a prostitute and directly tied the iron rope around Mei Yao's neck.

When many onlookers saw this, they couldn't help but become furious. Mei Yao came for the sake of the scholars, and now she represented the reputation of the scholars!
You scoundrels who dare to be rude to the Mei family are despising us scholars!
Everyone rushed forward, trying to snatch Mei Yao back from the Yamen servants.

At the critical moment, Mei Yao, who had followed the yamen servants up the steps of the yamen office, turned around and bowed in chains, saying: "Thank you for your kindness, please don't make things difficult for the lords. My little girl will go with the lords. It doesn't matter." "The policemen almost shed tears when they said this. It's just that whatever we do for the big soldiers is all because of the orders from the superiors!
At the same time, these words also remind the anxious scholars that those who are causing trouble for us scholars are the prefects in the government offices and the big bosses in the court. These cheap officials are nothing but scoundrels under the orders of others!

"You and others need to be more polite to everyone Mei! If you dare to lynch everyone on Mei, we will fight to the death with your third team of government officials!"

"That's right! If everyone, Mei, is missing a hair, I'll just ask you!"

When Mei Yao heard this, she bowed again and said, "Thank you again for your love. However, the life of a little girl is not worth mentioning. However, morality cannot be destroyed!"

What 'morality' means here is different in everyone's mind.

Some people think that when Gu Yuntang cried in the temple, he was crying for morality. If you arrest them in Lin'an Prefecture, you will violate morality.

Some people also felt that Zhou betrayed his alliance and attacked Qi, which also violated morality.

In short, hundreds of scholars went to the Imperial Ancestral Temple in great numbers that day. Just like Gu Yuntang and others yesterday, they cried till the end of the night outside the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

In the midst of crying and cursing, the imperial court of the Great Zhou Dynasty was simply run rampant with traitors and sycophants, and the country was in ruins.
Since ancient times, the law has not punished everyone.

Yesterday, Gu Yuntang could arrest twenty or thirty people, but not hundreds of people.

Emperor Zhou urgently summoned the Qin Council to discuss matters.
However, the rapid development of the situation far exceeded the speed of Zhou Guochatang's response.

By late afternoon, with the help of some well-intentioned people, businesses in half of Lin'an gradually closed their doors.
When customers ask, the answer is 'temporarily out of stock'.

When it comes to which industry Huaibei has penetrated the most, it is undoubtedly 'merchants'.

Lin'an is prosperous, and the city's consumption power is the highest in the world. Therefore, many good products produced in Huaibei occupy the shelves of half of the city's merchants.

It is impossible to count how many of these merchants have been to Huaibei.

It can be said that the safety of Huaibei is closely related to their livelihood.

If Zhou Guoru occupied Huaibei, the big men in the court would eat meat and drink soup, but it would certainly not be their turn for businessmen like them.

Therefore, when the news of Zhou's march into Huaibei came, the merchants were the most shocked and disgusted.

But more than a month ago, Miao Kui, the largest Huaibei goods agent in Lin'an, was detained on charges of "suspected collaboration with the enemy", which was a shock to the majority of businessmen.

If they were allowed to start trouble, they wouldn't have the guts.

But it's different now. The scholars started the trouble first, and the merchants' strike can be justifiably explained as 'to support the scholars'!
In short, by the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, before the weeping temple scholars could be appeased, 60% of the merchants in Lin'an City began to go on strike.
In this big city with a population of 700,000, daily commodity consumption depends on thousands of merchants.

Merchants went on strike, directly affecting the operation of the entire city.

Public dissatisfaction gradually arose.
On the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, it seems that the situation may expand.

Qin Huizhi personally went to persuade outside the Ancestral Temple, and secretly ordered the prefect Chai Su to arrest people at night, so that normal order in Lin'an could be restored tomorrow.

Chai Su couldn't help but scold his mother secretly. Prime Minister Qin went to the Ancestral Temple to persuade and pretend to be a good person, but he was asked to arrest people by Chai Su. This meant that he was going to take the blame.

However, Chai Su's troubles only lasted for half a day. The entire Zhou Dynasty was shocked by the news and no longer cared about the chaos in the city.

The seventh day of the lunar month, noon.

After the fleet that originally departed from Quanzhou Port retreated from Sizhou, part of it docked at Yanmen Port in the east of Lin'an.

After Wan Qixi landed ashore, he entered the city without stopping and went to the Prime Minister's Mansion.
"The Jin Xia army was defeated in the east of Tokyo, and the 200,000-strong army was scattered for hundreds of miles."

When Qin Huizhi repeatedly confirmed that the matter was true, even though he had been through the storm for a long time, the hand holding the tea couldn't help shaking.

The next moment, Qin Huizhi's cloudy eyes lingered on Wan Qixi for a few breaths.
Wan Qixi felt the hairs on his body stand up.

Having been a lackey under Prime Minister Qin for a long time, he knew very well Qin Huizhi's style of doing things. The latter was already looking for a scapegoat!

It is completely foreseeable that after Qi's victory over Jin Xia, the anger will find a target to pour out. Zhou, with the weakest combat power and long border, is undoubtedly the most suitable one.

At that time, if the Qi State invades the south, and if the war in the Great Zhou Dynasty is unfavorable, it will inevitably be necessary to find a few heads who "privately mobilize troops and damage the friendship between the two countries" and hand them over to the Qi State to calm the other party's anger.

Fortunately, perhaps Qin Huizhi felt that Wan Qixi was using it smoothly, and finally gave up the idea of ​​Wan Qixi to top the tank, and only said in a low voice: "Wu Weizheng has to give it, but he knows too much, and he can only give it to death." . Yuan Zhong, you also need to find someone."

On the seventh day of the lunar month, at night.

A lone boat slowly docked at the shore. This was Laiyuan Shui Village in the south of Huai River, Huoqiu County, Huainan Road, Zhou State.

Standing on the shore, Zhang Duofu, the commander of the Zhou Dynasty Navy, had been waiting for a long time, but when he saw the man jumping off the boat, he smiled in embarrassment.

"Boss Shi, you are doing well lately."

"Haha, thanks to you Dazhou, I'm still alive."

The two of them seemed to be affectionate, but their hidden secrets were really embarrassing. Just a few days ago, Zhou Guoxi's army was still besieging Caizhou City.

Caizhou is the most prosperous and prosperous place in the north and south of the Huai River, and it has a special status in the hearts of the soldiers and civilians in Huaibei.

But after listening to Shi Dalang's ridicule, Zhang Duofu also made a bitter face and explained in a low voice: "Brother Shi, you still don't know what I, Old Zhang, am like? We have worked together for many years, have I ever done anything to harm our Huaibei? This time the imperial court committed a crime. Attack Huaibei and guard against our Huainan brothers. We really haven’t heard anything about it. Hey, Chen Jinglue returned to Lin’an to report on his duties a month ago and has not returned yet. Even during the crisis in Huaibei a few days ago, Commander Xu and I did not take advantage of it. ”

Indeed, Zhang Duofu had no intention of attacking Huaibei. Over the years, he and his brothers had made a lot of money just by escorting the caravans traveling between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

If Huaibei was really occupied by the Zhou Kingdom, he would have to cut off his livelihood.

Regarding Zhang Duofu's explanation, Shi Dalang did not comment, but said: "The King of Chu knows this, otherwise, I would not have come alone."

"The prince is back?"

Zhang Duofu was shocked. After dealing with Huaibei for a long time, he had already become accustomed to calling the 'fake king' the prince as the other party did.

But no matter how provocative he is, he will not naively think that the King of Chu will treat him as one of his own. The return of the King of Chu means that Huaibei's revenge is coming soon.

"Yes." Shi Dalang responded lightly.

Zhang Duofu felt anxious and hurriedly whispered: "Brother Shi, you have to explain it to me in front of the prince. Our admiration for the prince is like the rolling Huai River running eastward, like the endless towering Tongshan Mountain."

"Hey, hahaha." Shi Dalang couldn't help being amused by this flatterer, but then he said: "Don't worry, not only will the prince not upset you, but he will also give you a fortune!"

"Wealthy?"

Zhang Duofu didn't show any joy after hearing this. The so-called gift of wealth was most likely to ask him to give in all.

But he knows his own trade. Like Xu Lu, commander of the Bujiawan navy, he has been able to make a fortune in recent years entirely because of this unique geographical advantage.

If the two of them join forces, they will not even be able to count in Huaibei where there are so many fierce generals.

Seeing the hesitation on Zhang Duofu's face, Shi Dalang knew what he was thinking, so he couldn't help but said: "Don't worry, I'm not asking you to surrender, but I'm asking you to continue to be an officer in the Zhou Dynasty. My prince even promoted you, haha."

"what?"

The King of Chu of the State of Qi promoted an officer of the State of Zhou, which is not reliable at all.

Shi Dalang didn't bother to beat around the bush anymore. He pulled out a Minghuang scroll from his back and slowly unfolded it.

Zhang Duofu is literate, so he naturally recognizes the word "imperial edict" written in large numbers behind the yellow silk.

But I am even more confused. Could it be that Shi Dalang is suffering from hysteria and wants to read the imperial edict of Qi to me?

In the midst of doubts, I just heard Shi Dalang singing: "I have been summoned by the emperor to carry out the mission. I will soon lead the imperial army to the southern expedition. I heard that Zhang Duofu, the commander of Yuanshuizhai on the Huainan Road, was unparalleled in his loyalty and bravery. He was specially named the fourth-grade Zhongwu General and the vanguard of the southern expedition. Crack down on the disobedient traitors in the court."

The more Zhang Duofu listened, the more confused he became, until he finally heard the title of "Daojun Taishang Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty".

Zhang Duofu was confused for a moment and then suddenly remembered who this was.

Lord, isn’t this the Supreme Emperor who was kidnapped to the Kingdom of Jin? (End of chapter)