Water Margin begins as a captain in Yanggu County

Chapter 403 Fire, fire, fire is coming!
On the first day of the tenth lunar month, Yanyun officially began large-scale millet harvesting.

The Jurchen cavalry did indeed gather outside the city of Linhuang, numbering over 20,000.

How difficult it is for 20,000 people to attack a city!

But this is how the Jurchens originally pushed their way from north to south...

Timber was being felled, ladders were being built, and Wanyan Zongwang personally circled the city, inspecting it again and again…

Wu Jie, the military commander of Linhuang Prefecture, the baron of Longgan County of the Great Yan Dynasty, and the garrison commander of Linhuang Prefecture, stood on the city wall and looked out into the distance. He would not go out of the city to fight, because he did not have many cavalrymen to fight.

His only task, which was also a military order personally given by the former King of Yan, now the Emperor of Great Yan, was to defend the city for ten to fifteen days.

Wu Jie would also occasionally look in the northwest direction.

There, a troop of cavalry, numbering in the tens of thousands, also arrived. Yue Fei, the Protector-General of Beiting, also arrived and was stationed far away, at least fifteen miles from the city.

At this moment, Yue Fei personally led a troop of knights, no more than a hundred men, to approach the city.

Just as Yue Fei was about to look, a Jurchen cavalry force of four or five hundred men emerged from the camp to pursue and drive Yue Fei away...

Yue Fei immediately turned and left...

He also had an imperial edict in hand, which stated that the Jurchen army would undergo a major change in about ten to fifteen days, at which point he would act accordingly...

He had to wait. Regarding the matter of fighting, Yue Fei placed absolute trust in the former Prince of Yan, now the Emperor…

For some reason, Yue Fei always seemed to be frowning these days. Perhaps it wasn't because of military matters, but rather because there was always a knot in his heart.

He would even take out the imperial edict from time to time to look at it. The seal of the Emperor of Great Yan actually read, "By the mandate of Heaven, may your reign be long and prosperous."

This seal is the so-called Imperial Seal of the State, but it had already disappeared by the Song Dynasty...

Clearly, this was something Su Wu had temporarily commissioned craftsmen to carve when he ascended the throne. For some reason, Su Wu simply liked these eight characters.

Yue Fei would stare intently at these eight characters...

The military order was read aloud again...

Before he came, he met many people and asked the people of the various tribes on the grasslands, who said that the Song Dynasty in the Central Plains had become the Great Yan...

It is said that the King of Yan, who once allied with them, is now the emperor…

What do people think?
On the grasslands, everyone was overjoyed, some even saying that it was only right, for the ruler of the world should be the most heroic and valiant figure.

Some people say that now that the King of Yan has become the ruler of the land, the alliance of the past is all the more significant. In this way, the people of the Central Plains will be less likely to break the alliance, which is very good...

Each one of them had a beaming smile on their face...

When Yue Fei saw those smiling faces, his heart was filled with even more complex emotions!

He also overheard Tie Lali saying that in the past, when the emperor wanted to bestow the title "Heavenly Khan" upon the Prince of Yan, the prince was furious and refused...

Now, it is clearly appropriate to bestow the title of Heavenly Khan upon the ruler of the world!

When Yue Fei heard these words with his own ears, he was speechless for a moment.

In the future, the imperial edict in his hand will be stamped with an official seal, which will read "Heavenly Khan".

At this moment, Yue Fei was in the southeasternmost part of the territory of the Shiwei tribe in Heichezi. The Jurchen cavalry had long since stopped chasing him, obviously because they dared not.

Now, Yue Fei's reputation was extraordinary in the hearts of the Jurchens. Wanyan Zongwang did not underestimate or disrespect Yue Fei in the slightest. Therefore, the Jurchen cavalry only drove him away a little and did not dare to pursue him further.

Yue Fei sat on his horse, slowly closed the imperial edict in his hand, looked around, and then looked at his comrades...

He saw it ahead of him; his comrades were overjoyed to hear that the Prince of Yan had ascended the throne and become the Emperor, and that the Great Song Dynasty had become the Great Yan Dynasty…

Some people said to their faces that they were somewhat unwilling to be stationed in Beiting, such a remote place, but now that they were guarding the border for their own emperor, they felt inexplicably much happier...

These words stunned Yue Fei...

Some people say that after returning from guarding the border, he will definitely be rewarded with more favors!

This was just the talk of ordinary soldiers. Many generals had already received imperial edicts of grace, granting them titles such as barons and viscounts.

Yue Fei was surrounded by young men, all around eighteen or nineteen years old, and some even held baronial titles.

Starting next year, for the rest of my life, even if I do nothing, the imperial court will give me several hundred strings of cash every year until the day I die...

Of course, having already obtained a title, one naturally wants to rise even higher. A baron is nothing special; if one could obtain a viscount, a thousand or two strings of cash a year would be a trivial matter, and one wouldn't even need to acknowledge a county magistrate or prefect, let alone bow to them...

What an honor!
There are even many other advantages, such as the ability to use four strong horses to pull a carriage...

Barons could only ride in two carriages, viscounts in four, earls and marquises in four, dukes in five, and the emperor in six.

This is a regulation of the new dynasty.

Therefore, the title of viscount is just a stepping stone; once you reach it, it seems there's not much difference between you and an earl or marquis.

Many of the young soldiers under Yue Fei didn't ask for much; they just wanted to be granted the title of viscount!
There are other benefits to being a baron, such as children in the family, regardless of gender, being able to enter county and state schools without taking exams and having their tuition waived.

The only pity is that the titles of nobility in the new dynasty are reduced with each generation. The next generation of barons will not have the title, while viscounts can still pass on the title of baron for one generation. That's the principle...

Therefore, what everyone desires is for their son to be born with a title to inherit...

Inevitably, some people also have some complaints in private.

Such is human nature; the complaints stem from the fact that their new emperor is somewhat... well... anyway, a bit stingy...

However, Yue Fei himself said, "Why are you still not satisfied? If it were up to you, a soldier, what great merit would you have to earn a title? Even for someone from a noble family like the Zhong, getting a title would be as difficult as climbing to heaven. How could we peasants have ever been associated with titles in the past?"

When Yue Fei said these words, he had heard some rumors and spoke out of anger in the army's main tent where they were being discussed...

For some reason, Yue Fei would be enraged when he heard these rumors...

A complex feeling welled up in Yue Fei's heart, one that was difficult to express...

At this moment, he received the imperial edict, glanced at his comrades, and heard the soldiers around him laughing and joking.

"This time, we'll at least earn a viscount title to take back to our hometown. Damn it... one day we'll ride in a four-horse carriage and look down on the county magistrate!"

"That's right! We'll earn a viscountship and go home, have many sons and send them to school, then we'll be a prominent and wealthy family!"

"Let's do it! If we don't do it now, we might never have another chance. Once the Jurchens are wiped out, the world will be at peace. This is the last time!"

"Yes, yes, if we don't do it now, we'll really miss our chance!"

"Protector, you've earned the title of Marquis too! Haha..."

“Yes, if the Protector-General earns a marquisate, we’ll have someone to protect us in the future, right? Look at the official document from His Majesty. There aren’t many marquises in the whole country. Let’s get one for the Protector-General this time. The Protector-General is young and has several decades to live. We brothers are also young. If we can spend several decades together, wouldn’t that be wonderful and endless?”

As they spoke, everyone looked at Yue Fei.

Yue Fei's face darkened. He knew the army's morale was good, but this matter didn't align with his thoughts, so he retorted, "What nonsense are you spouting? You're all loyal to your country and its people. If these words were to spread, would you be saying we're forming cliques for personal gain? Huh?"

The crowd quickly changed their expressions, and someone immediately replied, "That's not what we meant. What do you mean by forming cliques for personal gain? We just want to do more good for His Majesty, earn more titles, and protect our descendants for generations to come!"

"What do you mean by 'all in one place'? Don't say such things again!" Yue Fei rebuked angrily.

Everyone lowered their heads and remained silent.

The atmosphere was a little weird for a moment.

But one of them spoke up: "Protector, how should we fight this time?"

Yue Fei glanced around and said succinctly, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty has a brilliant plan, just wait and see!"

"So it was Your Majesty's plan, that's perfect. Then just wait and see, when the time comes to serve, we'll go and win another great victory!"

"That is that is!"

"His Majesty has devised a plan, so we can rest assured!"

Yue Fei continued to look around, drawing smiles from everyone present, showing no concern whatsoever for the bloody battle that was about to unfold...

It's as if merit and titles are waiting ahead, within easy reach; it's just a matter of who can seize them...

Yue Fei was actually quite certain in his heart; how could he not share the same thought?
Your Majesty... Your Majesty...

Yue Fei silently recited it twice in his heart; in truth, he wasn't used to calling it that...

Far to the southeast, a distance of eight or nine hundred miles, in the Yanshan Mountains, soldiers were carrying food and other supplies, traversing mountains and valleys...

There weren't many people, only seven or eight hundred, but they were divided into dozens of teams.

Further southeast, on the shore of the sea, Su Wu was boarding a ship. The vast Bohai Sea, it seemed both large and small...

The group consisted of over a thousand people, and they brought horses.

……

Outside Linhuang Prefecture, Wanyan Zongwang, accompanied by Wanyan Zongbi, headed southeast to Shanggaoqiu...

Upon reaching the top and looking around, one couldn't help but frown.

Wanyan Zongbi said, "Brother, we have sent out many scouts, venturing two or three hundred miles south. It seems that Su Wu is not coming."

Wanyan Zongwang did not answer, but simply stood still and looked south.

Wanyan Zongbi continued, "Brother, perhaps the military situation in Linhuang Prefecture isn't urgent. Tomorrow, we should really climb the city walls. That way, Wu Jie, who's guarding the city, can ride south at full speed to report and request reinforcements..."

"Hmm!" Wanyan Zongwang nodded, agreeing with Zongbi's words.

"I will personally lead the vanguard tomorrow!" Wanyan Zongbi gritted his teeth.

Wanyan Zongwang turned to look at his younger brother and nodded: "Yes!"

“If the city is breached, Su Wu will definitely come… Brother, right?” Wanyan Zongbi asked.

“Yes, if the city falls tomorrow, Su Wu will not be able to sit still no matter what. No matter how many troops he has, he will rush north, otherwise he will not be able to retain a single heart of the grassland people who were at the alliance meeting earlier…”

Wanyan Zongwang answered.

"Then tomorrow, I will fight to the death, and so be it!" Wanyan Zongbi's words were not those of excitement and elation, but rather of sorrow.

Wanyan Zongbi once said the same thing, back when he was fighting the Liao people, but the tone he used then was one of extreme excitement.

Today, however, I am truly filled with sorrow.

"Alright!" Wanyan Zongwang's words were concise and to the point. It wasn't that he lacked feelings, but now that things had come to this, who else could he rely on? Only his own brothers.

"Then I'll go prepare!" Wanyan Zongbi turned to go back first, but after taking two steps, he stopped and turned back to say, "Brother, if I really die under this city wall, you must transport my body back to the mountains..."

“Alright!” Wanyan Zongwang nodded earnestly, but added, “If I die someday, I want to be buried with you…”

"Before you die, you must move your father's tomb to the mountains!" Wanyan Zongbi seemed to be thinking about the worst possible outcome.

The two brothers were actually the same; they had both considered the worst possible outcome.

Wanyan Zongwang replied, "I know everything..."

"Okay, then I'll go!" Wanyan Zongbi continued walking, his steps firm and resolute.

Just like the morning of the second day, he shouted at the front of the battle: "Brothers, we Jurchens have no way to survive. Only by breaking through Linhuang Prefecture can we survive. We came from the mountains and forests and have come all the way here. Last time, we broke through Linhuang Prefecture. This time, we can do it again. I will be the first to climb the ladder. You all follow me. The worst that can happen is that we die!"

"Kill them! Slaughter all the Khitans, slaughter all the Han people!"

"kill!"

"Your Highness, there's no need for further words. We'll either die here, or we'll have everything we need: money, grain, servants, and land. As for the mountains and forests, we'll never go back. We'll never be oppressed again!"

What he meant might not be that he doesn't want to go back to his hometown, but rather that he never wants to return to that kind of living condition, a place where there wasn't even iron...

……

Inside the city of Linhuang Prefecture, Wu Jie was already standing on the city wall. He had encouraged them time and time again, and this time he would encourage them once more.

Wu Jie shouted, "I am a Han Chinese, a citizen of the Great Yan, and I stand here to live and die with this city. You are Khitans, and this is your ancestral land. If you do not fight to the death, and this city falls, I will die without consequence, and my brothers and descendants will be honored. But from now on, the name of the Khitan people will never be heard of again!" As he shouted, Wu Jie looked around and saw many Khitans who understood Han Chinese relaying his words to those who did not…

Just look at the many Khitans, all clad in armor, their faces contorted with rage!
A loud drumbeat could be heard outside the city.

Atop the city walls, countless shouts echoed, some Wu Jie could understand, others he couldn't; the shouts were everywhere...

"Kill the Jurchens!"

"Kill the Jurchens!"

"Revenge! Revenge!"

"kill!"

They're here! The Jurchens are here! Armor, weapons, ladders, arrows...

All at once...

The Jurchen people climbing the city walls had ferocious expressions, like wild beasts from the forest, scaling the long ladders with incredible speed and agility, using both hands and feet...

Logs and stones rolled, hot oil also burned...

The Jurchens roared, and the Khitans roared in response.

The hatred between them had become so intense that it was impossible to distinguish right from wrong; the only solution was to kill, eat flesh, and drink blood.

Wu Jie entered the city gate!

But Wanyan Zongbi was climbing, with a large wooden shield on his head, and no matter how much logs and stones were thrown at him, he desperately tried to climb to the top of the city wall.

The person beneath him struggled to push and lift, propelling Wanyan Zongbi even higher!
In fact, Wanyan Zongbi had climbed the city walls countless times. He had climbed the walls of Liaoyang Prefecture, Dading Prefecture, and this was the second time he had climbed the walls of Linhuang Prefecture. He had even climbed the walls of Datong...

It's no big deal...

He went up, and before he could even peek out from behind the large shield, the mace in his hand had already smashed into the edge of the crenellation, leaving a Khitan man unrecognizable.

Once the large shield was moved aside and his eyes were exposed, he could see that there was a gap in the crenellations, and he was just waiting to jump forward...

But then a long wooden fork appeared before Wanyan Zongbi. This fork was originally used to push a long ladder, but at this moment the ladder was full of people and could not be pushed. So the big wooden fork was pushed towards Wanyan Zongbi, who was about to jump over the rampart.

Behind the wooden fork, four strong men, holding it together, were pushing forward with all their might when they suddenly shoved it into the chest of Wanyan Zongbi, who was standing upright and about to leap in.

Wanyan Zongbi immediately reached out and grabbed a brick on the city wall, digging his fingernails into the gaps between the bricks to steady himself.

On the city wall, four burly men wielding long forks suddenly shouted and marched forward in unison...

Wanyan Zongbi's fingers left the crack in the brickwork, and he could no longer maintain his balance, falling backward...

In an instant, Wanyan Zongbi was suspended in mid-air, his body plummeting downwards, his gaze still fixed on the Jurchen warrior behind him as he ascended once more...

As Wanyan Zongbi fell, he tumbled through the air, striking one Jurchen warrior after another on the long ladder, rolling continuously...

In truth, it was very fast, but at this moment, Wanyan Zongbi felt it was very slow. His gaze swept around several times, even looking to the left and then to the right. On the city wall, Jurchen warriors were climbing, densely packed and stretching as far as the eye could see...

With a muffled thud, Wanyan Zongbi rolled a few times before finally landing on the ground...

Suddenly, the sky darkened, and the earth darkened...

Wanyan Zongbi could no longer see anything clearly; only images floated through his mind…

Father, the father who was not yet old, the father whose eyes were always bright and piercing.

He stood under a large tree at the entrance of the village. The tree was extremely tall, and its thick roots had emerged from the soil, firmly gripping the earth.

My father stood atop the arched tree roots, so tall. He was truly imposing back then, while Zongbi was so short. Wuzhu stood at the very front of the group, gazing up at my father's face...

The father said excitedly, "If this continues, we Wanyan people will not survive. Our population will only dwindle. We must fight the Khitans!"

At that moment, Uju looked up and shouted along with the others, "Let's fight the Khitans!"

Two years later, Wuzhu had grown taller and looked like a young man, and he could wield weapons without much effort.

More and more people gathered around my father, and more than a dozen Jurchen tribes came...

The Liao people at that time were the most afraid of death, the most timid, and the most cowardly...

Later, many, many Liao people came...

Father wasn't afraid, elder brother wasn't afraid, and Wuzhu wasn't afraid...

The Liao people were still afraid of death, cowardly, and weak...

It's time to deal with those lackeys of the Liao people. Go find them in the mountains and forests, one group at a time, turn them all into slaves, and take all their women!

Once, in the freezing cold, outside a village entrance, I encountered a strange man who said he came from across the sea…

That person was very good, very interesting, and very brave...

that person……

Later, even more Liao people came...

That person was also an enemy of the Liao people...

That person... his name is Su Wu...

Is he... going to kill Su Wu this time?

Suddenly, Wanyan Zongbi's vision seemed to clear. He stood up from the ground, and in a daze, looked around and then looked up...

The long ladder isn't far away... Oh... I just fell off the long ladder...

He continued walking, heading towards the long ladder once more, and climbing it once more...

……

To the southeast, several hundred miles away...

It's not yet the coldest season, far from freezing weather, but the wind still makes you shiver when it blows. North of the Yanshan Mountains, the wind here is so strong...

A desolate scene unfolds, withered yellow plants swaying in the wind. A person's life is but a fleeting season for plants. In this early winter, most of these withered plants are not actually dead; their roots are still in the black soil, waiting for next year...

But a person only has one life; once they die, they are truly dead.

The flint kept striking and colliding with each other, sparks fell, and the cashmere mixed with the fine grass fibers, but it still wouldn't ignite!
The man striking the flint, enraged, cursed, "Make sure you gather around a bit tighter, the wind is really strong here!"

Several men huddled together, and one of them answered, "Is it the wind blowing from the other side of the sea?"

"This direction shouldn't be it; this wind is coming from the north..."

"Quickly, start a fire..."

"I'm doing this, aren't I? Is your cashmere bag wet?"

"No, I've kept it safe and sound..."

"Hey, it's on fire!"

"Blow it! Blow it!"

"blow……"

It's on fire! It's really on fire! As soon as the flames appeared, quickly stuff it under the pile of dry wood nearby...

"Blow, blow quickly!"

"Isn't this just bragging?"

"It's on fire! It's on fire!"

A dozen or so soldiers were laughing around the campfire!

There were also soldiers directing: "On both the east and west sides, one person every hundred paces, take some firewood and go around lighting them, make sure they're all lit!"

"This north wind is bad; it'll be blowing right towards us soon..."

"It's alright, the north wind will blow it northwards. There's more dry land up north, so it'll just be a little slower. This whole area, as far as the eye can see, will all be burning..."

"The millet field is still three or four miles away. I don't know if we can burn it through today..."

"We can burn it through!"

"Grab the firewood, run! The Jurchens will definitely come after us soon, run faster..."

Fire, it's started, a huge fire, it's spreading like wildfire.

In countless places, flames are burning. Some burn until they slowly stop, while others spread like wildfire, reaching who knows how far...

To the east, across the sea, at night, large ships anchored and lowered their sails in the distance, while small boats rowed back and forth to the shore many times.

More than a thousand people, along with a considerable number of horses, slowly made their way ashore.

Here, however, there was an abundance of supplies, including oils, gunpowder, pine resin, and various torches that had already been made...

Mount your horse and head west. It's still quite a distance. The Jurchen people's territory is all around Dading Prefecture. You have to keep going towards Dading Prefecture...

There are two options for retreat: one is the small boat waiting on the shore...

Another option is the Yanshan Mountains; we'll still head into the mountains then...

Horses, though very valuable, numbering three or four thousand, were simply thrown away when the time came.

This cost is negligible compared to the impending victory.

Su Wu personally rode his horse on a narrow path, only wide enough for one horse to run; two horses could not run side by side.

Ahead, several former Liao people served as guides; this place was originally Liao territory.

A day later, the more than a thousand people split into more than a hundred teams and scattered in all directions.

Two days later, flint ignited gunpowder, gunpowder ignited tinder, tinder lit a campfire, and torches made of oiled cloth were lit. The horses galloped around and burned the torches.

The fire started in the east and spread to all sides...

In the field, a group of seven or eight Jurchen men were watching over hundreds of able-bodied slaves harvesting millet...

Suddenly, someone pointed east and shouted, "Look east! Fire! Fire! Fire is coming!"

"Run! Run! Run up the hillside..."

The slaves ran, and the Jurchen warriors ran too. Faced with the raging fire, there was no difference between the Jurchens' ferocity and the slaves' cowardice...

In the south, the fire has been burning for two days. Earlier, some people thought about trying to put it out, but they didn't know how many places were on fire, spreading like wildfire and merging into one place. How could they possibly put it out?

The millet in Liaodong is not yet fully ripe; it will take another ten days to half a month to reach its optimal ripeness. However, much of it has already been harvested because the front lines cannot wait any longer…

But the fire came suddenly, and the millet crackled and popped as it burned...

People watched from afar, helpless...

Only the Jurchen woman angrily exclaimed, "It's the Song people! It must be the Song people! They're the ones setting fires everywhere! Find them! Find them!"

A dozen or so riders merged into a hundred or so riders, and they went south to the place that had already been burned. These Song people were sure to capture them, torture them in every way, and then skin them, pull out their tendons, and boil them to eat!

All sorts of news kept reaching Dading Prefecture. The Jin emperor, Wanyan Wugumai, was furious and said, "Everyone, all Jurchens, all slaves, put on your armor, take up arms, and go out of the city to find the Song people and kill them all!"

Wanyan Wuqimai, who was already old, turned around and put on his armor!

However, the Song people are now called Yan people... Wanyan Wuqimai also knows this, but he is not used to calling those people from the Central Plains Yan people.

In the distance, to the east, Su Wu looked at the blackened earth scorched by the fire. He felt no excitement, no joy, no smile.

He stood there for a long time, then sighed, "Sigh... Let's go back... I'll come back next year..."

(End of this chapter)