Water Margin begins as a captain in Yanggu County

Chapter 409 How can this matter be resolved?
On the city wall, Wanyan Zongwang asked, "Is that a gun?"

Wanyan Zongbi nodded in agreement: "It's a gun. With such a commotion, it must be a large gun!"

Why would such a gun exist? With a single shot, armored soldiers and horses would all fall.
It was fired again, and a whole area collapsed!
What kind of gun is this?

Guns are only about 60 or 70 years old now. The Song people used them, and the Liao people used them too. Needless to say, they weren't very effective...

That was completely useless; the gunpowder was of very poor quality.

How bad is it? When watching a demonstration, sometimes it makes a loud popping sound, sometimes it makes a sound like a fart, and sometimes it doesn't make a sound at all...

Therefore, these things are not valued very much. The less valued they are, the less rigorous the usage and storage environment becomes, making the already poor-quality gunpowder even less usable...

Even the armory of the Song people was like this.

Wanyan Zongwang and Wanyan Zongbi had clearly seen it before; it wasn't something the Liao people used on the battlefield, but rather a strange contraption they had found in Liao cities...

Therefore, they were certain that the thing that had been driving Wanyan Zongpan into a rout and preventing him from getting close was a musket.

The smoke, the sound...

Wanyan Zongwang suddenly felt a pang of anxiety, a flash of inspiration striking his mind. He quickly looked down at the city wall below and uttered, "No good, no good..."

"What's wrong with it?" Wanyan Zongbi asked.

"It's gunpowder, a powerful kind of gunpowder!" Wanyan Zongwang barely had time to analyze it before the answer just popped out of his mouth.

Wanyan Zongbi's mind suddenly went blank, and he blurted out, "They're going to use the gunpowder from the Dapuluhu bombing to blow up the city walls?"

After saying this, Wanyan Zongbi immediately turned around: "Brother, I'll go open the city gate and rush out!"

Wanyan Zongbi was clearly in a panic and rushed off.

But then Yan Zongwang called out from behind, "Come back!"

Wanyan Zongbi had just reached the steps leading down from the city wall when he suddenly stopped. His anxiety was still evident on his face. He turned around and asked, "Brother, is there anything else you need? Don't worry, I'll risk my life to smash all those chariots below the city!"

Wanyan Zongwang remained calm. The more urgent the situation, the more composed he became. Seeing Wanyan Zongbi's extremely anxious expression, he first turned to look outside before speaking, "Come back, come to my side..."

Wanyan Zongbi didn't think much of it and kept running, assuming that his brother really had some instructions or plans...

"Brother!"

Wanyan Zongwang nodded: "Go to the North City..."

"What?" Wanyan Zongbi didn't react.

“I’m telling you, go to the north city. If the city walls here are really going to collapse, then… try to break through the siege…”

For some reason, Wanyan Zongwang was unusually calm at this moment, unlike Wanyan Zongbi who was full of anxiety.

"Ah? Brother, I'm rushing out to kill the enemy!" Wanyan Zongbi was so anxious that he turned his feet around and then back.

"It's too late, it's too late. It's no use rushing out. There are tens of thousands of armored soldiers outside the city. How many of you can break through? It's too late... If his gunpowder can really blow down the city walls, what difference does it make whether you rush out or not? It's just a fight to the death both inside and outside the city. If his gunpowder can't blow down the city walls, then there's even less reason for you to rush out..."

Wanyan Zongbi was stunned by Wanyan Zongwang's words...

The "toot-toot-toot" sounds from below the city walls grew fainter and fainter. Countless carts remained parked beneath the walls, and no one emerged from them, clearly indicating that things were still bustling about inside...

They stuffed gunpowder in, packet after packet, and kept poking it with wooden sticks. Countless people were drenched in sweat in the cramped space inside the rickshaw...

Several feet above, Wanyan Zongwang was still speaking: "Wuzhu, go, go..."

As he spoke, Wanyan Zongwang, just as before, stretched out a hand and gently patted Wanyan Zongbi's shoulder...

Wanyan Zongbi was still pondering the logic his brother had just mentioned: if the building collapsed, rushing out or not would make no difference... it would all be a fight to the death...

If the building can't be destroyed by bombs, there's no need to rush out...

Why can't you refute that statement?
These words gave Wanyan Zongbi the feeling of having boundless strength, yet nowhere to use it...

Suddenly, Wanyan Zongbi understood the logic and said in one sentence: "Brother, regardless of whether the explosion will cause a collapse, I will rush out and prevent them from blowing it up..."

Wanyan Zongwang wore a wry smile, patting his younger brother's shoulder as he said, "You're very clever. Here's what we'll do: I'll rush out, and you watch. If I can stop them from blowing up the city wall, I'll go... If I can't, you can leave..."

"No!" Wanyan Zongbi didn't really think about it; the words just came out.

"If you don't listen to me, there's nothing I can do. The worst that can happen is death. You, me, all the Jurchens will die here in Dading Prefecture..."

Wanyan Zongwang did not scold him; his tone remained gentle.

“Brother, what’s wrong with you trying to break through?” Wanyan Zongbi was more anxious than anyone else.

“If you don’t listen to me, if you are swallowed up by countless armored soldiers outside the city, I will not attempt to break out. You choose… You are young and strong, while I am already over thirty… You choose…”

Wanyan Zongwang was not the kind of person with a fiery temper, and his way of solving problems was certainly not through outbursts of anger...

After speaking, Wanyan Zongwang said nothing more, turned his head to look at the arrow slit, and gazed into the distance...

In the distance, before the central command platform of the Yan army, a troop of Yan cavalry charged forward, instantly overwhelming and obscuring Wanyan Zongpan's troops.

Only after the Yan army cavalry charged and quickly circled around the field did their view become clear. There, where Wanyan Zongpan was, less than three out of ten people were still standing...

The horses are neighing and running around wildly; people are panicking, looking left and right; perhaps someone is calling out, but they are too far away to be heard...

I wonder how Wanyan Zongpan is doing...

unimportant……

Looking closer, outside the city, tens of thousands of Song soldiers remained orderly, with siege engines, ladders, simple ladders, shields, crossbows, and crossbows nearby...

There were also clear shouts from Yan army officers.

"Fire! Fire again!"

"Don't rush, don't hurry forward..."

"Raise the shield higher..."

Looking down, right at the foot of the city wall, the "dududu" sound had truly disappeared...

Looking left and right, one sees the Yan army clinging to the city walls, and the Jurchen men on the walls constantly fighting to the death against the Yan army trying to climb up...

What Wanyan Zongwang saw was not carnage or ferocity; he seemed genuinely calm...

Looking back at Wanyan Zongbi, he was still standing behind her...

"Wuzhu, are you really not going to listen to me?" Wanyan Zongwang asked with a sigh.

Suddenly, Wanyan Zongwang seemed less like a father and more like a kind mother.

Wanyan Wuzhu wept, saying, "Without my brother, what am I to do?"

“Go…” Wanyan Zongwang stopped patting Wanyan Zongbi’s shoulder and instead gave him a push, saying, “You know I won’t lie to you. If you insist on leaving the city, we will all die here, everyone…”

“Brother, I…” Wanyan Zongbi was actually a man of great stature, but at this moment he was truly like a child.

“Go on…” Wanyan Zongwang sighed again, then turned his head away, never looking at his younger brother again.

In the distance, Wanyan Zongpan's group was like fish on a chopping board. Their horses had long since stopped running, and countless men had dismounted. They were stuck there, unable to run, and their bravery was useless. They were being cut up and slashed by the Yan army's cavalry...

One slash, and countless fall to the ground; another slash, and countless more fall to the ground.

Actually, there weren't many left, maybe only seventy or eighty?

The cannon stopped firing...

But Wanyan Zongwang seemed to hear the Yan cavalrymen spurring their horses and circling around, along with their triumphant, mocking, and arrogant laughter...

Below, a few feet below, the people inside the carriage finally emerged and ran backwards at breakneck speed...

People kept shouting, "Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer..."

Wanyan Zongwang closed his eyes slightly; he was waiting…

He stopped urging Wanyan Zongbi, and Zongbi himself crouched down at the arrow slit to look down, standing on tiptoe...

On the distant platform, Su Wu had already stood up. As he saw the rear of the carriages being opened one after another, Su Wu walked to the front of the platform and seemed to subconsciously stand on tiptoe...

The fuse was long; Su Wu knew it would take a while longer…

To minimize the risk of accidentally harming friendly forces, the fuse is very long.

But in the brief moment of waiting, Fan Yun returned, dragging a person behind his horse...

As they approached the command platform, Fan Yun bowed respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, this must be the Jurchen commander who was leading the charge into the central army. Even at the very end, it was he who kept shouting and giving orders!"

Su Wu looked down and saw that Fan Yun had already dismounted, grabbed the hair of the dying man being dragged behind the horse, and showed his face to Su Wu.

Su Wu glanced at it and felt a slight sense of relief, but he was also surprised: "It's not Wu Zhu!"

If Su Wu had known it wasn't Wu Zhu, he wouldn't have let him rush close to be hit by the iron sand from over a hundred tiger-squatting cannons...

Su Wu was taken aback, unsure whether to feel joy or sorrow; his emotions were incredibly complex...

Fan Yun simply said, "Your Majesty, this humble general will rush into the city in a moment and capture that Wu Zhu for Your Majesty!"

Su Wu waved his hand: "Cut off this man's head and hoist it up..."

"Okay!" Fan Yun immediately did as instructed, drawing his sword. The man on the ground was dead or alive, but his body had long since rotted, his chest cavity was sunken, and his hands and feet were deformed, probably because he had been trampled by horses' hooves countless times.

Fan Yun was an expert at severing heads, and he did it in just a few strokes.

The words had barely left his mouth...

In the distance, a cloud of dust rose, and the city wall seemed to be bumped by something, causing it to tremble slightly upwards. Then, a loud noise came and reached Su Wu's ears...

There was no flying of rammed earth or bricks, nor was it a deafening sound; the noise was muffled, an amplified "dudududu" sound...

So neat and orderly, from a distance the city wall looked like one jump after another, jumping from one side to the other...

The vibrations didn't come much from the air, but I could feel them slightly under my feet.

Even when the city wall trembled, it collapsed, but not violently. How can one describe that kind of collapse?
Su Wu felt as if it were water slowly flowing on flat ground... only it didn't flow far, and stopped after flowing for a short while.

The towering, sturdy city wall became a ramp...

On the platform, countless people stared in disbelief; the pulsating city walls were indeed visually stunning.

Ling Zhen, as he ran towards the platform, said, "So that's what it looks like..."

Su Wu said little, then ordered, "Strike the second drumbeat, the grenadiers should go up!"

The battle plan was finalized long ago and needs no further explanation.

In the distance, ahead of the battle lines, a troop of armored soldiers, in groups of three—one carrying a large basket on his back, one holding a grenade, and the other a torch with grease—began to advance...

In the distance, the city gate tower remained standing, as it was built atop the gate opening. However, sections of the tower on both the left and right sides had collapsed nearby.

From the perspective of the city tower, this section of the city wall is truly riddled with holes.

Wanyan Zongwang remained calm, at least his expression was calm. He asked, "Aren't you leaving yet?"

"Brother!" Wanyan Zongbi called out loudly.

"Hmm?" Wanyan Zongwang turned his head to look.

"I'm leaving! Take care, brother!"

Then they saw Wanyan Zongbi kowtowing to Wanyan Zongwang behind him. After kowtowing, Wanyan Zongbi got up and walked away without looking back, as if he had an incomparably resolute attitude.

But Wanyan Zongwang could still see his younger brother's back as he raised his hand to wipe his eyes...

Wanyan Zongwang's calm expression vanished, his brows furrowed in a fierce rage, signaling a fight to the death!

No matter what, we must bite off a piece of flesh from Su Wu today, and make Su Wu feel the pain!
"Hammer!" Wanyan Zongwang stretched out his hand, and his most trusted soldier handed him the weapon.

With two large maces in hand, Wanyan Zongwang turned around, ready to descend the city wall and fight Su Wu to the death.

Command was no longer an option; a moment later, the Yan army swarmed in.

Inside the city, there are still about 30,000 Jurchen warriors.

Most of them were Jurchen family members, men and women, young and old, including the elderly, weak, women and children.

Wanyan Zongwang walked resolutely forward, but countless scenes flashed through his mind...

In the past, the Jurchens, after conquering a city, would kill men, abduct women, and seize children...

All the men who resisted were killed; those who dared not resist were tied up in strings...

They were tied up and forced to rape their women and beat their parents...

Sigh... We did this to the Liao people, and we did it to the Song people too...

What about today?
Sometimes, Su Wu also pondered a question: why did the Southern Song Dynasty insist on allying with the Mongols and trying to kill the Jurchens?
Have we forgotten the lesson of allying with the Jin to destroy the Liao so quickly?

Has no one really considered that once the Mongol Jin dynasty is destroyed, the next country to fall will be the Southern Song dynasty?
Why fall into the same trap twice...?

Perhaps there's no real reason, it's just that the memory is too painful, and there must be many people who have this thought.

No matter what happens in the future, no matter whether my Southern Song Dynasty lives or dies, these things can be discussed later, but the Jurchens must die!
There must have been many people in the Southern Song Dynasty who truly thought this way...

Su Wu was resolute!

Wanyan Zongwang had actually thought about this issue long ago; he was the first to strongly disagree with treating the Song people in such a bloody, cruel, and ruthless manner…

Unfortunately, he alone could not make these decisions. His people had just emerged from the wild forests where they ate raw meat and drank blood, and they could not shake off these most primitive habits...

Historically, the vast majority of these most profitable and ruthless Jurchen people actually had no descendants...

At the time of the fall of the Jin Dynasty!
Its devastation was even greater than that of the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty. The last emperor was split in two, one half given to the Mongols and the other half to the Song people.

Empress, concubines, princesses...

The Song soldiers and Mongol soldiers were immediately... rotated...

That's not all. Records from the Yuan and Ming dynasties show that painters were required to paint directly on the spot, and the finished work was called "The Empress's Tasting Picture"...

With such hatred, how could one not seek revenge?
In those last few cities of the Jin Dynasty, the plight of the Jurchen people was indescribable. The population of the entire north also plummeted once again. Of the Jin Dynasty's forty to fifty million people, only about ten million remained when it was destroyed...

The last two cities, Bianjing and Caizhou, were almost deserted...

At this time, Su Wu recruited countless men from Hebei into his army, especially the infantry, while he was blocking the Jurchens' retreat in Yanyun.

At this moment, the only question is: who is the bravest among the infantrymen to advance?
He's a man from Hebei!
Among the grenadiers, there were quite a few men from Hebei. They climbed the slope, throwing grenades one after another, their steps forward never stopping...

The fighting had already begun. Even though their pace was so fast that their allies couldn't keep up, the men of Hebei still didn't care and went wherever the enemy was most numerous!
The deep-seated hatred has been waiting to be vented today.

The bomb was thrown into the crowd, and the explosion was even louder than the one that had just blown up the city wall.

The blast sent limbs and torsos flying everywhere, the blood turning black...

One man from Hebei, in his excitement, leaned too close to throw the object more accurately, and was blown to his feet...

Wanyan Zongwang was already inside the city and witnessed this scene firsthand. He was actually extremely distressed. He knew what was going to happen in this city today...

What have those elderly, weak, women and children done to deserve this?
In the past, which wife wasn't hardworking and diligent? Which child wasn't surrounded by joy and happiness?
Of course, the wives and children of the Liao and Song people were the same!
In the past, they were too arrogant; today, the cycle of karma has come full circle.

Therefore, Wanyan Zongwang thought that he should take them back to the mountains as soon as possible, even if they eventually starved or burned to death, it would be better than today...

"Let's fight! No matter what, we must move forward!" Wanyan Zongwang, carrying his mace, pushed his way to the front of the crowd.

Outside the city, countless Yan soldiers swarmed in, and after crossing a small earthen slope, they reached the city...

Outside the city, the hooves of strong horses began to thunder.

The auxiliary soldiers continued to pave the way into the city...

Su Wu had already mounted his horse, but he was in no hurry to charge forward. He simply placed the towering dragon banner in a place where everyone could see it.

The three drums also sounded, as urgent as raindrops.

The northern gate was opened, and Wanyan Zongbi left the city, followed by only one or two thousand cavalrymen, sometimes riding, sometimes dismounting, sometimes crossing the moat, sometimes urging the horses on...

The Yan cavalry, galloping wildly around the city, hurriedly went to block Wanyan Zongbi's path.

For a time, countless battles broke out.

Within the city walls, in the imperial city, there seemed to be a sense of belated realization.

Wanyan Wuqimai felt the tremors, the explosions, and heard the sounds of fighting, but he was still anxiously waiting for someone to report.

What could the person who came to report possibly say?

In short: "The city walls have collapsed, the Yan army has entered the city and is fighting, and fierce battles are raging all around to the south..."

The first thing Wanyan Wuqimai did was not to fly into a rage or accuse him. Instead, he shouted, "Put on your armor! Put on your armor for me at once!"

There were also words: "All of you, put on your armor! Quickly, follow me to kill the enemy! Bring all your weapons, quick!"

Though they are old, this generation of Jurchens are still the same brave warriors who once overthrew the Liao Dynasty's million-strong army.

Perhaps he also knew what a terrible state the city would be in if he couldn't defeat the Yan army today...

Whether they were Liao or Song people, the hatred between them was irreconcilable!

Outside the city, Su Wu, clad in armor, sat on horseback. At this moment, he was accompanied by another person, Wanyan Xiyin…

All the troops, according to the plan and arrangements, went to the city one after another, wave after wave.

Su Wu followed slowly forward, avoiding the crowd, and asked, "Xi Yin, how should this matter be resolved?"

Su Wu wasn't being sarcastic; he was asking seriously. War always serves politics. Immediately afterward, Su Wu thought about political matters. That's what an emperor should do, not a military general or commander-in-chief.

The pain on Wanyan Xiyin's face was self-evident, and he could easily imagine what was about to happen...

He asked, "Your Majesty, is there any way to resolve this?"

"Solve what?" Su Wu asked back.

“Such a deep-seated blood feud…” Wanyan Xiyin replied.

Su Wu paused for a moment before saying, “We are all human beings. The Liao people are human beings, the Jurchens are human beings, and the people of Hebei are human beings! In the past, the Liao people did not treat the Jurchens as human beings, so the Jurchens wanted revenge. Later, the Jurchens also did not treat the Liao people as human beings, so the Liao people wanted revenge. The people of Hebei... why can't the people of Hebei take revenge?”

"What about what His Majesty said in the past? What about his words about wanting the Jurchens to serve His Majesty?" Wanyan Xiyin asked anxiously.

“There will always be survivors today; not all of them will die…” Su Wu replied.

"Then how can they still willingly serve His Majesty?" Wanyan Xiyin racked his brains, trying to persuade Su Wu to be merciful and give up...

"Our army includes Khitans, Liao people, Hebei people, and people from the Jingdong and Northwest regions who witnessed the horrors of Hebei in the past. You know all of these..."

Su Wu answered in this way and then turned to look at Wanyan Xiyin.

"His Majesty once told Wuzhu that he wished the people of this land, the people of this world, would never fight each other again. His Majesty also said... there is an even greater world..."

Wanyan Xiyin was already pleading.

Of all the Jurchen people at this time, probably only Wanyan Xiyin would make such a request.

“You know all this… but back then, there wasn’t so much deep-seated hatred.” Su Wu was somewhat surprised, but said, “After today, no one owes anyone anything, and only after today will the hatred be truly resolved. From now on, let’s delete these things from the history books… let’s not let people remember these events. And you shouldn’t secretly write them down either… Several generations will pass, and these events will be in the past. This land will be one family, just like in the past, when Qin killed Zhao, and Zhao killed Qin, Han wanted to kill Chu, and Chu wanted to kill Han… and it will all pass slowly…”

“Your Majesty… what’s wrong with having more Jurchen men to lead? What’s wrong with winning people’s hearts?” Wanyan Xiyin tried his best to think of some conditions that could move people’s hearts.

"A few more or fewer won't make a difference. As long as you live, the remaining Jurchens will be entrusted to you. You will handle these matters well; you are a sensible person. If, in the future, there is any discontent among the people as you mentioned, the Jurchens will truly be gone..."

Su Wu spoke slowly, and following the reins, he quickened his pace slightly, as more and more Yan soldiers were charging ahead.

But Su Wu turned around and said, "Come on, follow me, and you might just be able to save a few more lives!"

(End of this chapter)