lady, please calm down

The Mid-Autumn Festival in Jiangning in the 15th year of Shaoxing has no festive flavor at all.

On the day of Mid-Autumn, a tragedy occurred in Guiyi Lane. More than 200 people were injured or killed due to stampedes and conflicts.

After the incident, the whole city was in uproar.

Seeing the turmoil in the people's hearts in the city, in order to prevent backlash, Jiangning's judge Li Zhaolong encouraged the commander Jian Shao to arrest all the "rioters".

On the night of Mid-Autumn, the Jiangningxiang army conducted a large-scale search in the city. Anyone who worked on the docks or weavers in the textile fields, regardless of whether they participated in the events of that day, became suspects.

For a time, Jiangning Prison was overcrowded.

However, such tough measures not only failed to quickly quell the grievances of the people in the city, but also led to greater dissatisfaction among the families of the arrested people.

On the night of the 16th, there was even a situation where patrolling soldiers were surrounded by people in dark alleys and beaten up on street corners.

During the day on the 17th, the soldiers who had been ambushed the previous night brought more comrades with them and started to retaliate against the people living near where they had been attacked the previous night. They broke into every house and started smashing and looting without saying a word.

Therefore, a Confucian scholar surnamed Huang was accidentally injured. On that day, the Huang family gathered more than a hundred Jiangning gentry and went to the government office to ask the prefect Sang Yanting to severely punish the sergeants and restore peace to Jiangning.

During the meeting, Sang Yanting sighed repeatedly, but hinted that the matter was caused by Li Tongpan and Jian Tongzhi, and there was nothing he could do about it.

The gentry cursed loudly, "The general will not rule the country!" but they did not bother to go to the soldiers to argue.

As a result, the already discordant military-civilian relations became increasingly tense, and both sides regarded each other as enemies.

On the 18th, Huaibao flowed into Jiangning Mansion. The King of Jin, who was supposed to be in a hostile relationship, took the lead in speaking out for the people of Jiangning, and even directly characterized the matter as a 'military rebellion'!
This moment was like a shot in the arm for the hundreds of thousands of people in the city. Under the instigation of some thoughtful people, Jiangning City was like a powder keg that could explode at any time.

Seeing that the situation was not right, Commander Jian Shao bypassed the prefect and directly ordered the entire city to be under martial law.

On the 19th, Jiangning government office.

The entire city's civil and military forces gathered together. This morning, a warship from the Qi navy in the northern part of the Yangtze River appeared more than ten miles downstream from Jiangning. When talking about this, all the officials were as quiet as death.

Since the Yangzhou navy was completely wiped out by the Qi navy at the beginning of the year, the entire Jiangnan navy has huddled in the navy camp and dare not go out.

After all, the Zhou navy's combat method still relied on crossbows, bows and arrows, and swatting. No matter in terms of range or power, there was no way to compare with the thunder cannons on Qi's warships.

"There are more than thirty warships, large and small, with two flags on their flagships that read, 'Justice for the people and uphold the righteous way of heaven'."

Mentioning the power of the Qi navy, Jiangning regiment coach Zheng Huaihan couldn't help but sigh, but his eyes paused on Jian Shao and Li Zhaolong for a few seconds.

In the silence of the whole room, Sang Yanting, who looked like he had lost his parents, suddenly said, "There has been news from the court that the Lord Luo Ruji, the Secretary of the Privy Council, is on his way to Jiangning and is in charge of the investigation of the Zhongqiu Guiyi Lane incident."

Hearing that it was not reinforcements but imperial envoys, all the officials once again looked at Jian Shao and Li Zhaolong in unison. Qi State had taken up the banner of redressing the grievances of the people. The events that day were all caused by Jian and Li, and they were involved. Everyone was frightened.

It seems that the purpose of the imperial envoy coming here is to make a few scapegoats take the blame, so as to appease the people and prevent Qi from standing on a moral high ground.

At this time, I suddenly heard a report coming from my disciples, saying: A craftsman was captured outside the city, claiming to be the messenger of the King of Jin.
There was a lot of discussion in the hall, and messengers came. That was some talk!
Since the Qi army defeated the Jin-Xia coalition in a battle last year, occupied the entire territory of Huainan in thirty days, and the navy marched straight into Qiantang Bay for more than three months, the Huaibei army was no less than a heavenly soldier and a heavenly general in the eyes of the civil and military forces of the Lin'an Dynasty.

At this time, facing the enemy's large army, even if there was a chance of peace, the officials in Jiangning were unwilling to start a war.

"Please!"

Sang Yanting said subconsciously, and then he felt that the other party was an enemy rather than a friend after all, and the word 'please' was a bit too cheesy. He coughed quickly and changed his words: "Bring in!"

Shaoqing, a young scholar of 27 or 28 years old was brought into the hall with his hands tied. With a slight glance from Sang Yanting, a government official came forward and untied the scholar's rope.

Sang Yanting then said kindly: "Who is coming?"

The scholar rubbed his numb wrist, looked around, cupped his hands and said, "I'm Wang Shipeng, who is consulting for the Jin Palace to join the army."

"Are you Wang Shipeng?"

Sang Yanting was a little surprised, and there were whispers in the hall that Wang Shipeng was a leader among the children of the Wang family, a wealthy family in Yangzhou, and had long been famous for his talents.

After Yangzhou changed hands, it was Wang Shipeng who was the first to switch sides and voiced support for the King of Jin in the Yangzhou Business News.

A few days ago, Sang Yanting and others had privately mocked the Wang family for being disloyal and unjust, but they did not expect to meet in this situation today.

From Wang Shipeng's self-introduction, we learned that at this time he had served as a royal official such as "advising to join the army", which to some extent represented the King of Jin.

Whether he is jealous that the other party has found another high-level branch, or he is disdainful of him for taking advantage of the situation, in short, he cannot offend the other party at the moment.

"Your Majesty, our Lord Chen has reached a peace agreement with you in March. Why is the King of Jin raising troops to intimidate you again?"

It was supposed to be a question of asking for punishment, but Sang Yanting said it in an extremely gentle way, making him appear extremely weak.

Wang Shipeng smiled brightly and said: "It was my imperial court, Anfeng of Great Zhou Dynasty, that reached a peace agreement with the Lin'an puppet dynasty. Da Qi has never reached a peace agreement with your dynasty!"

Hearing Wang Shipeng call Lin'an a fake dynasty, many people present looked angry, but only Jiangning's governor Jian Shao dared to scold him, "You are a traitor and a traitor, and you are talking nonsense here. The dynasty has ruled the world for two hundred years, and the civil rule Martial arts! How dare you accuse our government of being a hypocrite!”

However, Wang Shipeng laughed and said sarcastically: "What a civilized and martial artist! Does martial arts mean the loss of half of the country north of the Huai River? Does Wenzhi mean the Zhongqiu Massacre in Jiangning City! My king is here not for military glory, not for wealth, but for The only thing I want to do is to give justice to the people of Jiangning! To prevent Xiaoxiao from ruining this great country and its gentle people!"

"."

They caught the Jiangning Xiang army and killed the people to make a fuss. Jiangning officials, who always like to stand on the moral high ground, were choked and speechless for a while.

Actually, it's not that Jiangning officials have nothing to say, but they are not afraid of Wang Shipeng's mouth, but they are afraid of the army of King Jin behind him!

Seeing that the atmosphere was tense, Sang Yanting quickly winked at Zheng Huaihan, the regimental envoy. The latter understood and hurriedly said to Wang Shipeng: "Wang Counselor, I will deal with this matter later. Please go back and persuade the King of Jin." I asked the King of Jin to withdraw his troops. Both the Qi and Zhou armies were Han children. If a war broke out, how many old mothers would lose their sons and young sons would lose their fathers. If Tianhe was injured, it would not be in line with the name of the King of Jin! "

Wang Shipeng glanced at Zheng Huaihan unexpectedly. This person probably knew the Prince of Jin in detail and knew that the Prince often talked about the "Han'er family in the world", so he made such remarks.

"That's fine. If the Lin'an Dynasty can meet a few conditions, King Jin will withdraw his troops!"

"Which ones?"

Li Zhaolong, who had been silent all this time, said hurriedly. Despite his calm appearance, in fact he was the most panicked one.

The King of Jin was under the pretext of redressing the grievances of the people. He, Li Zhaolong, would never be able to escape the Guiyi Lane incident. He didn't know how much money it would cost to prevent the imperial envoy from using him as a tool to eliminate people's grievances.

After all, he is different from Jian Shao, who is in charge of troops!

When I heard some talk at this time, I was naturally eager to know the other party's conditions. As long as the King of Jin withdraws his troops, Lifu and the weavers alone can cause a lot of trouble. In the future, it is not possible to let him slowly concoct it.

Wang Shipeng heard this and looked at Li Zhaolong for the first time, but saw him cupping his hands and smiling: "May I ask who this gentleman is?"

"I, Jiang Ning, will sentence Li Zhaolong."

"Oh"

Wang Shipeng suddenly understood, and responded in a long voice, and then turned to Sang Yanting and said: "My king has four conditions. As long as the Lin'an court agrees, our army can withdraw to the north of the Yangtze River!"

"Wang Counselor, please speak!" Sang Yanting said hurriedly.

"First, immediately release all detained workers and pay compensation to the dead and injured."

Sang Yanting nodded subconsciously. Although this condition greatly undermined the authority of the government, compared with the pressure from the army on the river, it was already an easy thing to achieve.

Unexpectedly, Wang Shipeng then added: "Second, behead the government officials and sergeants who participated in causing trouble for the people that day."

"Don't even think about it! Do you really think that Jiangning Mansion belongs to you, Prince Jin?"

Jian Shao immediately interrupted Wang Shipeng. As a general, you must protect your subordinates, otherwise no one will work for him in the future!
Those sergeants were brought there personally by Jian Shao that day. If they were allowed to take the blame and lose their lives, he would no longer have to be in charge.

Unexpectedly, Wang Shipeng said calmly: "I haven't finished the second condition yet. In addition to beheading the government servants and soldiers who rebelled, the chief culprits Li Zhaolong and Jian Shao will also be punished!"

'Buzz~'

There was an uproar in the hall.

Jian Shao is the military leader of Jiangning. If you ask him to submit to the law, aren't you forcing him to resist?

Wang Shipeng ignored the stunned officials and raised his voice to suppress the discussion and continued, "Third, the Lin'an court must quickly agree to all the conditions of Huaibei! Fourth, the Lin'an Emperor Zhou issued a self-blame edict and required a reply before noon tomorrow, otherwise the city will be attacked on time!"

If letting Jian Shao be killed is a bomb, then the last two are called nuclear bombs!
How come the things that failed to make peace between Lin'an and Qi were added to the conditions of this peace negotiation?

And let the emperor issue an edict to sin against himself?

Crazy you! "Bold! Thief, do you think I don't dare to kill you?"

Jian Shao takes action!

Even Sang Yanting couldn't help shouting: "You have no sincerity at all about this and this king's consultation!"

Wang Shipeng ignored Sang Yanting, but turned sideways and faced Jian Shao. After laughing, he said: "Before coming, I have arranged the family affairs. If Jian Zongzhi wants to kill him, he will kill him!"

After saying that, Wang Shipeng proudly looked around at the officials with different expressions and said arrogantly: "Anyway, if I die, you will be buried with me!"

One sentence awakened everyone present.

Yes, King Jin just wanted Jian Shao and Li Zhaolong to commit suicide, and he didn't mention that if we let Jian Shao kill them, King Jin would definitely attack the city, and wouldn't we all become King Jin's punching bag by then?

Jian Shao was forced into the corner. In anger, he pulled out his sword with a clang.

He actually wanted to kill Wang Shipeng on the spot.

"No!"

When Sang Yanting spoke out to stop him, Zheng Huaihan and other officials had already taken the lead and surrounded Wang Shipeng, who was still arrogant. At this time, they naturally would not say that they were protecting Wang Shipeng because they were afraid of being implicated and retaliated.

He just said: "The two armies are going to war, don't kill the envoy!"

Jian Shao's control over his soldiers was far less than that of the Huaibei military leader. No matter how angry he was, he would not dare to kill the officials standing in front of Wang Shipeng.

In anger, he pointed the tip of his knife at the officials in the hall and shouted: "The incident in Zhongqiu is just an excuse for the Chen family's son to lead the army to Jiangning! Even if we compromise again, it will be difficult to change his wolf ambition to conquer Jiangning! We have no hope of waiting for him." The only way out is to fight to the death!"

Nonsense, this is what happened, no one can see it!
But what you said about Jian Zongzhi is not necessarily true. You have no way out, but we do have a way out!

As long as you don't offend the King of Jin to death, even if the city is destroyed, you can always keep your family safe. Maybe you can continue to serve as an official in Jiangning!

Haven't you heard that after Huainan Pei Weishu returned to the throne and became the Supreme Emperor, he was promoted from the prefect of a prefecture to the minister.

Even Tao Chunlai and Xue Huiyan, who had resisted the Jin army, were able to enter the Anfeng Dynasty and be promoted.
We won't risk our lives following you!
Jian Shao made some sad, angry and generous words, but did not get any response. In the awkward silence, only Li Zhaolong echoed with lack of confidence: "What Jian Tongzhi said is absolutely true. This is the time when we need to work together!"

Not long after, Jian Shao left the government office angrily. Except for a few soldiers, there was only Li Zhaolong who was alone and followed suit.

"What a bastard!"

Outside the gate of the mansion, Jian Shao spat at the government office and whispered: "If you don't let me have a way to live, no one will live!"

Li Zhaolong, who was following him, was startled, and hurriedly pulled Jian Shao away from the government office before saying: "Jian Zongzhi, you must not act recklessly! The situation in the world is now here, if you really act recklessly, the two of us will There is really no way for a family of more than a hundred people to survive!”

After all, Jian Shao was the one in charge of the army, and Li Zhaolong heard some clues from his curse. The former was helpless against the Qi army outside the city, but he was extremely resentful towards these colleagues who abandoned them at the critical moment. It seemed that they were going to die. mean.

Jian Shao also understood what Li Zhaolong said. Now Qi and Zhou each occupy half of the world. In the past, they could kill officials and rebel on both sides.

But now the one who wants to sacrifice their flag is the King of Chu of Qi!
If Jian Shao really killed Sang Yanting and others in anger, he would suddenly become a must-kill person in Qi and Zhou countries. By then, the world would be so vast that it would be difficult for him to have a place.

"But what can we do now? Are we just stuck here waiting to die!"

Jian Shao said angrily, but Li Zhaolong thought for a moment and whispered: "Jian Tongzhi, listen to me, we are not in desperate situation yet."

"Oh? Brother Li, what's the magic trick to help us two get out of trouble?"

Hope suddenly appeared in despair. Jian Shao even changed his title, but Li Zhaolong analyzed it carefully: "For the current plan, the only way is to cut off the flesh to protect yourself?"

"Biblical to the Chen family's son?"

"." Li Zhaolong glanced at Jian Shao speechlessly, but said: "Then the King of Jin owns countless properties in Huaibei, how can he send us such a small amount of money! We only need to feed Luo Ruji, the imperial envoy and Privy Council member who will arrive tomorrow, and Save your life!”

Luo Ruji and Wan Qixi were both known as Prime Minister Qin's right-hand men, but they had some influence on the DPRK.

But when Jian Shao thought about it carefully, he felt that something was wrong, and couldn't help but said: "Even the Prime Minister of Qin can't convince the King of Jin to retreat, can he?"

"Hey! Governor Jian has made a mistake. As long as Mr. Luo doesn't cause trouble for us, you and I will each find a member of the clan as a scapegoat afterwards. Please ask Mr. Luo to persuade Prime Minister Qin to transfer you and me elsewhere. Although we have to give up. Jiangning is prosperous, but you can always keep one place!”

"How much does that cost? Mr. Luo is famous for his big appetite."

Jian Shao was gradually persuaded. At this time, in the entire Jiangning Mansion, he and Li Zhaolong were the only two grasshoppers on the same rope. If he didn't believe him, who else could he believe?

Li Zhaolong sighed helplessly and said: "At this time of life and death, brother Jian, don't worry about your wealth anymore, so that you can keep the green hills without worrying about having no firewood!"

"Okay!" Jian Shao felt a twinge of pain when he thought that the money he had saved during his half-life business was about to go to someone else.

"Brother Jian, you will go back to the house later, sort it out quickly, and send the property's belongings and belongings to Brother Yu's house. When Mr. Luo arrives tomorrow, Brother Yu will go to organize this matter! Don't be upset, brother, you and I will work together. Just by changing places, within ten years, I will be able to create a rich family fortune for my children and grandchildren!"

Luo Ruji is a civil servant, and Li Zhaolong is also a civil servant, so he can speak better than Jian Shao.

Now that things have happened, he can only give up his money to save his life. Jian Shao gritted his teeth, cupped his fists and said, "Okay! It's all down to big brother!"

In the government office, Wang Shipeng could not be said to be a guest, but he was definitely the center of attention.

Some people are talking about the difficulties in Jiangning Mansion, and some shallow-minded people have begun to have a relationship with Wang Shipeng.
After Wang Shipeng mentioned the four conditions today, Jiangning officials knew that the peace negotiation was difficult to achieve. Even if Jiangning wanted to meet all the conditions, he could not do it. Just imagine, Sang Yanting asked the Zhou Emperor to issue an edict to punish himself in exchange for the Jin King to withdraw his troops. What a man. What an outrageous picture?
In this case, it is better to form a good relationship with Wang Shipeng first.

Anyway, abandoning the city and escaping would inevitably result in being questioned by Lin'an, and the strict military discipline of the Jin army had already spread throughout the north and south of the Yangtze River.

Sang Yanting smiled and talked about his admiration for the father of the king's consultation. After a while, he quietly walked to Zheng Huaihan and whispered: "Zheng Tuanlian, please order the two armies to enter the city to defend the government office and the government." Library."

Zheng Huaihan, who was worried that Jian Shao would jump over the wall, immediately accepted the order, but before leaving, he couldn't help but asked in a low voice: "What if Commander Jian escapes?"

Sang Yanting subconsciously looked back at Wang Shipeng, who was surrounded by stars, and sighed: "If you run away, run away. The imperial envoy will be here tomorrow. Lord Ruoluo wants to guard, so let's organize a symbolic manpower. Lord Ruoluo feels that we can't Shou, all we need to do is seal the treasury and documents and hand them over smoothly, I can't take care of other things."

"Yes"

From the conversation between the two, it was clear that although the King of Jin had not yet attacked the city, they were sure that Jiangning could not hold on. This was the prestige accumulated by the Huaibei Army's excellent achievements.

If the change of dynasty does not require their bloodshed, it does not matter who they are loyal to.

The next day, it's time.

With only more than an hour left before the ultimatum given by the Qi army, the imperial envoy Luo Ruji entered the city.

A group of officials quickly gathered in the heavily guarded government office to discuss countermeasures. This time, everyone had a tacit understanding and did not notify Jian Shao, the nominal commander of the armed forces of Jiangning Prefecture.

Jian Shao was naturally aware of the situation outside at this moment, and a feeling of anger and fear of being betrayed and abandoned suddenly arose in his heart.

In the middle of the day, news came from his good brother Li Zhaolong who had not seen him for a long time, so Jian Shao had to send someone to the Li Mansion to inquire in person.

Two quarters of an hour later, the personal guard who went to inquire about the news came back sweating profusely.
"Sir, it's not good! There are only a few old servants left in the Li Mansion. According to neighbors, after nightfall yesterday, Li Zhaolong's family quietly left the city!"

"."

Jian Shao was stunned for a few breaths before he came to his senses. His vision went dark. Did this old man escape?

Needless to say, the goods sent to bribe Luo Ruji yesterday afternoon must have been taken away by this old man!
"Li Zhaolong, I fucked eighteen generations of my ancestors"

In the governor's house, Jian Shao's roar was sharp and pitiful.
Following this inhumane and unwilling roar, a dull thunder suddenly sounded on the river north of Jiangning Mansion.

The people in the city looked up in confusion, wondering why thunder suddenly struck on this sunny day.

Inside Jiangning Prison.

When Luo Hong, Zhang Yingshui and others heard the sound, they all turned to look at the bowl-sized window.

Su Shengye, who was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and concentrating, said leisurely: "The test firing has begun."

Zhang Xiaoyin, who still had a wound on his head, scratched in his pants like a monkey, then caught a flea, and said with a smile: "Listen to the sound, it is more muffled than the sound of a twelve-inch thunder cannon. Master Su, did the prince do it again?" Got something new?”

Su Shengye didn't open his eyes and just said: "Military secrets, no comment."

Zhang Xiaoyin stopped asking questions after hearing this and turned his attention back to the flea again.

He pinched his nails, and the plump flea suddenly died on his fingertips, and a small blood flower burst out.

"Hey, let you bunch of pickled things suck my blood!" (End of Chapter)