Water Margin begins as a captain in Yanggu County

Chapter 407 Killing Su Wu!

The war has begun again.

Outside the city of Dading Prefecture, many camps had already been set up, and there was an endless stream of people coming from all directions.

Fifty thousand, eighty thousand, one hundred thousand, or even more...

As he watched and counted, Wanyan Zongwang grew numb...

Cavalrymen were roaming freely outside the city, while infantry, auxiliary troops, and laborers had already begun digging trenches and setting up barricades—essential for besieging the city.

From afar to near, large-scale excavation and construction naturally followed.

The artisans accompanying the army were even busier than usual, but this time, unlike before, they were all covered in soot, their faces and hands blackened...

Even the large logs that had been scorched by the fire were still good timber, only their exteriors were blackened.

Orders have been issued that there is not much demand for ladder trucks or similar equipment, but this time, the demand for wheelbarrows is extremely high.

One of the carpenters remarked, "Why are we need so many siege engines this time? In the past... logically speaking, the ladder truck should have been the main equipment..."

The zig-zig carriage can be simply understood as an armored vehicle of this era, a vehicle that escorted people down to the city, with "armor" on all sides and top.

"Yes, this chariot is different; the front panel is removable. Why is that? I really don't understand..."

"Don't be confused. Just follow the military orders. The generals have their own plans, and His Majesty is a brilliant strategist. There are always ingenious uses that you wouldn't expect!"

"It's troublesome. The plank in front needs to be removable and also able to withstand rolling stones and the like. It's not easy to do..."

"What's so difficult about it? Just install a few bolts on the gate!"

"Dry, dry, dry, easy, easy..."

Inside the central command tent, Su Wu was also writing and drawing on paper, surrounded by countless people watching.

Then Su Wu said, "In this way, dig ditches diagonally, in a zigzag pattern, slowly approaching the city wall. When we get to about a hundred paces, here, here... we need to dig deeper. This will make it easier to dig tunnels. If we dig a tunnel a hundred paces away, it will reach the city wall. If we dig a tunnel a hundred paces away, day and night, how many days will it take?"

“At most, we can dig seven or eight steps a day, so it would take at least ten days... Digging forward in this zigzag pattern would probably take at least five or six days…” Zhu Wulai replied.

“A dozen days…” Su Wu nodded, not too long, and said, “Alright, let’s make it twenty days. Dig a hundred trenches around the city… The direction, location, and distance must be precisely calculated, and they must all reach exactly beneath the city wall…”

"Your Majesty, rest assured, this is not difficult. There must be foundation stones beneath the city walls; it's just that we haven't reached them yet, it's obvious at a glance..."

Zhu Wu simply nodded; this matter had fallen to him, and he was the person in charge.

"Start construction immediately." At this moment, Su Wu was not so anxious anymore, as long as the Jurchens were trapped here and did not head north.

If the problem can be solved within a month, we can return to normalcy before the real winter sets in, then there shouldn't be any major issues.

Just yesterday, Su Wu had a good night's sleep, sleeping for more than five hours.

He was in high spirits today and even asked, "Why hasn't Ling Zhen arrived yet?"

"Your Majesty, he has many carriages, so it will take him a day or two to arrive. At most, he will arrive the day after tomorrow, and perhaps by tomorrow afternoon," Wu Yong replied.

"Ok!"

Su Wu nodded and continued, "The various tribes must patrol diligently every day. The Jurchens could break out at any time. We also need to sweep through the surrounding smaller towns and fortresses. I've brought Erlang here, so let Erlang handle this..."

As Su Wu spoke, his eyes glanced at Xin Wenyu, who was standing to the side. Although Xin Wenyu had not received any formal orders, she had already been promoted to Su Wu's first secretary.

This relieved Zhu Wu, who had been on loan, from his predicament.

To be honest, the identity of the emperor's secretary could actually be a formal official position, such as... Zhongshu Sheren (a high-ranking official in the imperial secretariat).

However, the official position of Zhongshu Sheren is of a very high rank.

Xin Wenyu's luck has truly turned around this time, and he has seized the opportunity. In any case, he will surely get an official position after this, such as a registrar in the Secretariat, an eighth-rank official...

For Su Wu, promotion as a military officer was a matter of risking one's life; the greater the merit, the higher the rank one would be given, and Su Wu was willing to do so.

Promotion for civil officials is different; it has to be done step by step, in an orderly manner. Promotion can be done quickly, but it must be done in an orderly manner. In fact, one must have the experience of a local official and have made some achievements.

For Su Wu, advancing to the eighth level was absolutely impossible; he couldn't even advance two levels, let alone the eighth.

Even going back, there are still some things to do. Those old guys in the court who should be driven away should be driven away. If there are not enough people, Su Wu plans to use a new concept: low-grade, high-configuration.

It's acceptable to be a substitute official. For a long time to come, at least a decade or more, there will be a lot of substitute officials in the court. This is a job that you are not supposed to be in, but you can temporarily "fill in" for it.

Inside the central command tent, all matters, big and small, were discussed as they arose. When Cheng Hao was scolded, an imperial edict was issued to reprimand him!
The reason is not hard to guess. In any kind of grain transport, there will always be some problems. It's only natural that something like this would happen. Even Su Wu knew that some mistakes were inevitable...

But Su Wu showed no mercy when he rebuked him.

Meanwhile, Xin Wenyu was drafting an imperial edict that severely reprimanded Cheng Hao.

Over there, Su Wu clicked his tongue in thought and asked those around him, "Tell me, who is this... my brother-in-law? He's getting old and has been traveling back and forth with the army. Something important has been delayed. He used to be engaged, but the engagement was broken off. Now it's really been delayed..."

Wu Yong nodded, understanding. This matter... well... that's really a bit tricky...

If it had been a year or two earlier, this wouldn't have been difficult; there were plenty of people in the capital to choose from...

Now, the grand mansions of the capital are almost empty; those that remain are mostly small, humble households…

In the army, most of the soldiers are young men; there aren't many with grown children...

After much thought, Wu Yong remembered a family and said, "Your Majesty, given Cheng Cheng's noble family background, it would be unwise for him to marry into an ordinary family. After much consideration, what about the Rongguo Duke's family or the Wuyue King's family?"

Qian Chen... Qian Chen's clan is extremely large, with many brothers and cousins, he can always pick one out...

Su Wu frowned...

Wu Yong quickly tried to figure out where things went wrong. A marriage between equals, strengthening family ties—what could be wrong with that?

Su Wu thought that there were indeed shortcomings. Cheng Hao was going to be given important responsibilities in the future, and as long as Cheng Hao didn't make any mistakes, he would surely be promoted one after another...

Cheng Hao is destined to be a powerful figure in the imperial court, and he'll even be paired with a member of the Qian family...

Will that work?

The art of rulership lies in the balance of power.

Currently, in the imperial court, several factions exist; in the military, there are the Eastern Capital Army and the Northwest Army, these two being the most powerful...

Then there's the Hedong Army and the Jiangnan Liangzhe region, led by Wang Bing and his son Wang Xun. This is also a force to be reckoned with, though not as powerful as some others. But the future is uncertain, because Su Wu will openly or secretly support them...

In the future, it will inevitably be divided according to the military academy. The reasoning is the same. The military academy in Chang'an, the capital of the capital, will naturally be the Northwest Military Academy.

The martial arts academy in Yanyun is basically the same as Jingdong.

From Hangzhou, that's the southern part of Zhejiang...

This refers to where the teachers and students of the martial arts academy come from, and how they will stick together.

Thinking about this, this matter needs to be changed. How should it be changed? Should we start by changing the Military Academy? The students of the Military Academy should have their future destinations planned uniformly, instead of just going back to where they came from.

That's a story for later, but right now, there are definitely several factions within the military, and it will certainly be the case in the future...

In the imperial court, it goes without saying that the people of Jingdong seem to have the greatest influence.

Wu Yong's faction, including Wu Yong, Zhu Wu, Xu Guanzhong, and others, as well as the former military advisors under Su Wu... these people would naturally stick together...

In the past, Song Dynasty officials were represented by Zong Ze and Zhang Shuye, and Li Gang was also a representative...

How about adding Cheng Hao and Qian Chen? That's not impossible, but Cheng Hao has one problem: he's related to the maternal family.

These things have always been the way they are, and will likely remain so for the next thousand years, only the way they manifest themselves may be slightly different.

This is not something that Su Wu could change by himself; it is also human nature—as social animals, how can they not stick together?

All Su Wu could do was try to maintain a balance, and then try to maintain that balance again...

Seeing Su Wu's unpredictable expression, Wu Yong was about to tentatively suggest, "How about we see if there are any suitable men of marriageable age among the Zhong family in the Northwest?"

Su Wu suddenly said, "Then let's go with the Qian family. No need for a big fuss. Later, you..."

Su Wu abruptly stopped speaking, turning away from Wu Yong and looking at Zhu Wu: "Zhu Chengzhi, go and see the Duke of Rongguo, and ask him... also see what he thinks. This kind of thing can't be forced; it can be discussed and negotiated..."

Wu Yong's heart skipped a beat. How did his first suggestion end up with Zhu Wu?
Isn't this the perfect opportunity to get closer to the Duke of Rong? We weren't familiar with each other before, but this is just the right time...

"As you command!" Zhu Wu nodded.

Wu Yong looked up at Zhu Wu, his heart filled with doubt, but he was also very clever, and quickly said, "Hmm, it would be most appropriate for Lord Zhu Yu to go, neither too formal nor too disrespectful..."

Su Wu turned to look at Wu Yong, giving him a quick once-over. Wu Yong always seemed to have a few ulterior motives. Did Su Wu think Wu Yong's words meant nothing?
This was another way of showing everyone present that Wu Yong's status was higher than Zhu Wu's.

Therefore, if Wu Yong were to go, it would be too formal and could put pressure on Qian Chen. If Zhu Wu were to go, there would be no such pressure...

This guy seems to really have the idea of ​​being "second only to one person and above ten thousand people".

But then Xu Guanzhong pointed to the map and said, "Your Majesty, I've looked at it several times, and this place is still the best. When Ling Zhen arrives, he'll camp here. The terrain here is slightly higher and much drier... which is good for storing gunpowder..."

Xu Guanzhong was changing the subject because he knew that Wu Yong, at this moment, didn't want any power that made him "second only to the emperor"...

Rather, Wu Yong was born with this kind of social skill; he simply wanted to cultivate good relationships with everyone in the world…

He subconsciously considered many things, especially personnel matters, from this perspective: unite those who can be united, and strike back those who must be struck down...

In the past, this approach worked without any problems, because in the past, people always considered issues from Su Wu's perspective, united people for Su Wu's sake, and attacked people for Su Wu's sake.

Things are different now. The emperor no longer needs anyone to help him unite or suppress anything...

What was Wu Yong doing? Wasn't it just for personal gain?
Wu Yong was still a bit confused, so how could Xu Guanzhong not lend a hand?
Did Hsu Kuan-chung have ulterior motives? It's hard to say...

But one thing is certain: a peasant is a peasant, and a scholar who has passed the imperial examination is a scholar who has passed the imperial examination...

Xu Guanzhong had no ambition for power; he simply helped when he could, and if things didn't go his way in the future, he could always retire to the mountains...

Throughout history, there have always been one or two people who were so free-spirited, able to advance or retreat as they pleased...

Su Wu's gaze had already returned from Wu Yong to the spot Xu Guanzhong had marked on the map. He looked around and recalled the terrain, then nodded: "Yes, this is it. Send someone to help them build a camp."

"Understood!" Xu Guanzhong nodded.

Outside the city, preparations for war are in full swing.

Inside the city, preparations for war were also in full swing.

Wanyan Zongwang and Wanyan Zongbi traveled everywhere, personally attending to every matter and inquiring about everything.

After walking around the city wall, the two of them, almost coincidentally, met again at the south gate tower...

This time, with few words exchanged, the two simply stared blankly at the enemy camp outside the city. The camps stretched endlessly, becoming increasingly vast, and long since lost their end...

The speed at which the camp was set up was astonishing...

Both of them frowned and remained silent...

But someone came from behind to summon him; it was His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty.

Inside the imperial city, the crowd once again gathered.

What did the Emperor want to say?
The emperor asked, "This battle concerns the life and death of the Jurchens. Are you two prepared to fight to the death?"

That's a pointless question.

The two brothers exchanged a glance. Having to answer even the most trivial questions, Wanyan Zongwang replied, "We will certainly do our utmost..."

The Emperor nodded: "Hmm, I imagine you two have been working your hardest and must be very busy. In that case, let Puluhu take his trusted men to the city. There's no need for too many guards in the imperial city. Let Puluhu help you two. You are brothers, so you should be close."

Are you suggesting that Emperor Wanyan Wugumai had ulterior motives? Or was it simply a matter of unity in the face of life and death?
Wanyan Zongwang preferred to believe that Wu Qimai had the latter idea, and nodded in agreement: "The more manpower the better, that would be perfect."

Wanyan Zongbi, however, preferred to believe that the previous idea was that the emperor did not trust the two brothers and that the emperor wanted to flatter Wanyan Zongpan.

Wanyan Zongbi was naturally displeased. He glanced at his elder brother, but instead of retaliating, he glared at Wanyan Zongpan.

Wanyan Zongpan also said, "At this critical moment of life and death, we should fight to the death! We will make sure that Yan Gou never returns!"

Wanyan Xie also said from the side: "Good, very good. In the past, we brothers rose up with the late emperor in this way. Now you brothers are so united. Our Great Jin can prosper!"

Wu Qimai smiled slightly: "Go, you three brothers are the hope for the future of our Great Jin Jurchen!"

Wanyan Zongpan had already come down and stood side by side with Wanyan Zongwang and Zongbi. The three of them bowed and then turned to leave.

Zongwang and Zongbi went to the city wall again, while Wanyan Zongpan went to muster the imperial troops. Although there weren't many, there were still two or three thousand.

Before long, Wanyan Zongpan found the two men on the city wall and asked them with great interest, "Brother, which position should I guard?"

Zongwang only answered, "Where do you wish to guard?"

"This is the most dangerous place!" Wanyan Zongpan wasn't a truly despicable person; he was also willing to die...

What he lacked was the prestige of Wanyan Zongwang, and that was what he sought.

“Alright, then you’ll be in the section closest to the east of the city gate…” Wanyan Zongwang pointed.

But Wanyan Zongbi asked in a low voice, "Can you make a pledge to fulfill your military obligations?"

Wanyan Zongpan also had his own personality: "What are you saying? Didn't I fight to the death in the past? Did I think I was a coward? If the city walls are breached, I will die first."

Wanyan Zongbi nodded: "I will give the order to remove the men from this section and relieve them in your place!"

After saying this, Wanyan Zongbi turned around and went to do his work, feeling quite displeased.

Wanyan Zongwang also went to Wanyan Zongpan and said, "Zongbi is young, and his brothers have taken care of him since he was a child. He is a little ignorant of etiquette, so please don't take offense!"

What Wanyan Zongpan was thinking is unknown, but he nodded: "Yes, I won't stoop to his level..."

Upon hearing this, Wanyan Zongwang frowned slightly, turned to look at Wanyan Zongpan, and said nothing more.

But then Yan Zongpan asked, "Brother, is Su Wu really that powerful?"

“You’ve seen it once before…” Wanyan Zongwang replied casually.

"That time in Yanyun, it was just that his scheme succeeded. He didn't dare to really fight us. He fled all the way from Zhangjiakou to Datong..."

"What do you want to say?" Wanyan Zongwang asked.

"I just wanted to say... well, I don't really want to say anything, I just wanted to boost morale and ease your worries. I know you're the kind of person who tends to overthink things. If you find an opportunity, and see the Yan army's elite troops arrayed to attack the city, and there aren't many elite troops in the Yan army, if there really is a chance, I'm willing to lead a small force to charge out and strike straight at the central army. I might even be able to kill Su Wu."

Wanyan Zongpan was not joking; his face truly showed a fierce and excited expression.

"Hmm?" Wanyan Zongwang turned his head and asked again, "Why do you have this thought?"

"Didn't the late Emperor do the same thing in the past? As the Han people say, 'Put yourself in a desperate situation and you will survive.' That's exactly what the late Emperor did. He had few soldiers, few horses, and few armor and weapons, but he just bravely charged forward, attacked the central army, killed the enemy general, and won a great victory!"

Wanyan Zongpan was also very excited when he spoke.

They also said, "If we kill Su Wu this time, it will surely shock the world, and no one in the world will be able to oppose us! Even the distant Yan will be at our disposal, so who would dare to fight us?"

Is my idea correct?
Right!

In the end, isn't it all about risking your life?

If this gamble succeeds, who else could be the next emperor of the Great Jin?

But Wanyan Zongwang spoke slowly and deliberately: "Times have changed..."

“Brother, you overthink things. In the art of war, sometimes you can’t think too much. How could the late emperor have imagined that he could destroy the Khitan? As the Han people say, when two armies meet on a narrow path, the brave will win. How can you not be brave…”

Wanyan Zongwang nodded, but then said, "If you're going to do this, shouldn't you go back and ask His Majesty first?"

"You can't ask. If you do, it won't be right. My brother is the commander-in-chief. Your brother's permission is all that matters." Wanyan Zongpan's face was truly fierce as he searched. Although the city was far away, the dragon banner was very conspicuous, and the target couldn't be clearer.

Wanyan Zongwang sighed, "If anything happens to you, how can I explain it? Wouldn't it be like I sent you to your death?"

"Brother, rest assured, I will make a pledge myself, I will write it by my own hand and leave it to you... If it fails, I will not blame anyone else, it is my own fault!"

How could Wanyan Zongpan not be brave?
“Let me give you one more piece of advice…” Wanyan Zongwang looked at Wanyan Zongpan.

"Brother, please speak..."

"You know... Zonghan fought to the death and was defeated at Wugu Mountain!" Wanyan Zongwang said, offering words of advice, but he didn't really care about the final outcome.

“I know, how could I not know? But I also know that Su Wu is the most elite. In his battle against Brother Zonghan, he relied on his superior numbers. Although Brother Zonghan was defeated, the number of casualties among the Southerners far exceeded the number of those under Brother Zonghan’s command! It is clear that the Southerners are not good at fighting! If I am brave and unstoppable, and take advantage of their unpreparedness and complacency to charge in, although it is not foolproof, I will most likely be able to kill Su Wu! Even if I fail, I should be able to calmly charge back.”

Wanyan Zongpan patted his chest as he spoke, his eyes fixed on the gleaming dragon banner in the distance.

Wanyan Zongwang remained silent... but nodded slightly.

Wanyan Zongpan was overjoyed: "Brother, just focus on my achievements. We don't need too many men, a thousand will suffice. Let's go with lightning speed!"

Wanyan Zongwang looked at the increasing number of moats and barricades outside the city and remained silent.

(Brothers, it's the last day of the month. If you haven't cast your monthly votes yet, take a look and don't waste them.)
(End of this chapter)