The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 267 The Eel's Debut
Although the thirty-second eunuch accepted the imperial decree, he did not set off immediately, as he was tired from the journey and needed to rest.

The eunuchs didn't need to find their own accommodations; they could simply stay in the backyard of the temporary residence.

Immediately, a eunuch in charge of daily life came to arrange accommodations for the thirty-second eunuch.

Taking the opportunity, the thirty-second eunuch asked the court eunuch, "We are from the north. We heard that Zhang Rong defeated the Jin army at Suotou Lake. What is the Emperor's plan for Zhang Rong now?"

The eunuch lowered his voice and said, "It's the same method as with Gong Yi. We sent someone to deliver an imperial edict, ordering Zhang Rong to come to Jiangnan to defend the emperor."

Thirty-two-year-old eunuch: "Has Zhang Rong arrived?"

"He's here!" the eunuch whispered. "Zhang Rong is currently the Right Martial Grand Master, the Defense Commissioner of Zhongzhou, and concurrently the Prefect of Taizhou. His 4,029 meritorious soldiers have also been rewarded."

The thirty-second-old eunuch said "Oh" and nodded: "That's not a bad ending."

The eunuch lowered his voice and said, "What's so good about it! Didn't you hear what the officials said?"

Thirty-two Grandpa: "?"

The eunuch lowered his voice and said, "The civil and military officials in the court all say that Zhang Rong is a thief... Few people give him a kind look. The Emperor plans to strip Zhang Rong of his military power, send him home to retire, and hand over his troops to another general to command."

Thirty-second uncle: "..."

Ugh!
What can be said except a sigh?

While the two eunuchs were having an awkward conversation...

The Manichaean uprising was in full swing. Zhong Xiang established the state of Chu, with the reign title Tianzai (Tianzhan). Zhong Xiang proclaimed himself King of Chu, appointed his son Zhong Zi'ang as crown prince, and established an official staff.

They openly rebelled.

The Southern Song court was alarmed and regarded it as a major threat, so it sent troops to attack it.

But as soon as the Song army clashed with the "Chu army," they immediately realized that something was wrong with their opponents.

As the Chu soldiers fought, they chanted: "Burn my broken body, blazing sacred fire! What joy is there in life, what sorrow in death? To do good and eliminate evil, for the sake of light alone. Joy and sorrow, all return to dust. Pity the people of this world, for they have so many worries! Pity the people of this world, for they have so many worries!"

As soon as the poem was recited, the Chu soldiers became fearless and undaunted, as if death were a happy thing for them, rather than a terrible one.

The Song army was already short-legged and lacked fighting spirit. How could they possibly withstand such a madman?
The Song army was pinned to the ground by the Chu soldiers, who relentlessly rubbed and rubbed it like the footsteps of a demon, causing them to collapse in a single, devastating defeat.

What should I do?
Cold!

Zhao Gou had no way to deal with it.

At that time, he did not know that he would be unable to deal with the State of Chu for several years to come. It was not until Yue Fei grew up and Manichaeism itself became corrupt and decadent that Yue Fei defeated the Manichaean madmen and wiped out the State of Chu in one fell swoop.
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After the Jin Dynasty withdrew its troops, the world entered a brief period of peace.

Apart from the Chu state near Dongting Lake, which was causing quite a stir, other places experienced a rare period of peace.

The people quickly seized this opportunity to resume production.

The people of Shandong are particularly concerned about this, because years of war have led to the tragic situation of cannibalism in Shandong. If production is not restored soon, there will be no one left to eat.

The people of Laizhou and Dengzhou were the happiest. Under the guidance of the "Agricultural Officials" and "Industrial Officials" appointed by the prince, both agriculture and handicrafts were making rapid progress. But the people in other places were not so fortunate.

Farming is impossible; the growth cycle of grain is too long. For up to half a year, any bandits, mountain bandits, or local thieves could easily cause a complete crop failure.

Farming is like writing a novel—a dead end.

So, the people started to turn their attention to the mountains and rivers!
Hunting and fishing!
In July of 1130 AD, the fourth year of the Jianyan era and the eighth year of the Tianhui era.

A fisherman from Jinan Prefecture was fishing in a shallow river when suddenly a huge creature flashed across the water, startling him so much that he trembled all over.

After a brief moment of shock, courage returned, and the fisherman bravely jumped into the water, charging towards the enormous creature. "I don't care what kind of monster you are, I'm hungry! I want to eat! I don't care what kind of monster you are, I'm going to fight you to the death today!"

After a fierce half-hour struggle in the water.

Fishermen dragged an enormous eel out of a small river.

This eel's size was beyond the normal range; it could only be described as a "miracle." Oh, no, in the Song Dynasty, things that defied common sense were usually called "auspicious omens."

The fishermen immediately knew they were going to make a fortune!

He couldn't bear to eat it, so he quickly sent it to Jinan City and handed it over to Liu Lin, who was stationed there.

Liu Lin rewarded the fisherman handsomely, and then immediately took the large eel as if it were a treasure and rushed to Daming Prefecture to hand it over to Liu Yu.

The fishermen carried such a large eel into the city, and countless people saw them along the way. The news spread like wildfire throughout the city in no time.

Liu Sanlang, who had been hiding in the city pretending to be a "monk," immediately took the news and ran towards Jiaoshui County as fast as he could.
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"Wu Jialiang, you will lead an army to Weizhou." Guan Erniangzi waved her hand and ordered, "Ji Menghan, you will go with the army and be responsible for pacifying the people."

Wu Jialiang chuckled and said, "Yes, sir!"

Ji Menghan was also quite pleased, as the Ji family's farmland was all located in Changyi County, Weizhou, and now they could finally reclaim it.

"Zhang Yong, you will lead an army to conquer Mizhou," Gong Erniangzi continued. "Old Master Qi will accompany you and be responsible for pacifying the people."

Qi Chongli is completely bewildered right now...

Ever since hearing the news from Liu Sanlang that fishermen in Jinan had caught a giant eel, Qi Chongli has been completely dumbfounded.

He now finally understood why Wu Jialiang had asked Young Master Yue instead of anyone else!
Young Master Yue's prediction was simply miraculous.

How did he know that someone from Jinan could catch a big eel?

This eel was predicted months in advance!
What kind of supernatural power is this?
No, that's not the point. The point is, what does this eel actually represent?
Why was it that the appearance of eels enabled the conquest of Weizhou and Mizhou?
I don't understand!
I still don't understand!
It wasn't until two months later that Qi Chongli finally understood what had happened.

After the enormous eel was delivered to Liu Yu, he glanced at it and laughed, "Heaven is on my side! This isn't an eel at all, it's a dragon! The fact that this thing was born on my territory means I'm going to be emperor! Son, immediately take a large sum of gold and silver to see General Talan. Tell him that the Jin Kingdom previously appointed Zhang Bangchang as emperor, but Zhang Bangchang was disobedient and useless. Why not choose someone else to be emperor? Like me! I will be very obedient to the Jin Kingdom and guarantee to help them govern the Central Plains and Shandong."

September of the same year!

With the approval of the Jin Dynasty, Liu Yu ascended the throne and declared himself emperor, establishing the Qi Dynasty, and assisted the Jin Dynasty in governing the Jiangbei region.

(End of this chapter)