Thirty-eight, the horn of war sounded in the East (Part 2)

Thirty-eight, the horn of war sounded in the East (Part 2)

The ancient capital of Jinling in August is the hottest time of the year.

Although the lotus in Xuanwu Lake is gorgeous, the cicadas in front of and behind the house are upsetting. The waves of anxiety that swept the whole city make people sleep drowsy all day long and have no trouble - who said that Nanjing has been known as the "fire stove" since ancient times?

Compared with the hot climate every year, the dynamic situation that is worse than the year, and the increasingly unbearable declining people's livelihood make the citizens of this Nanjing city feel infinite worry and panic.

The Great Jin court, which ruled this remnant mountain and water, was originally a colonial regime established by foreign races who entered the Central Plains. It had inherent shortcomings in winning the hearts of the people, and basically could only rely on various cruel policies to fool the people to barely maintain it. Although it has been in power for three hundred years, its foundation has been not very stable, especially in various parts of Jiangnan, various anti-political associations have been on the rise and fall, and never end.

With the fall of the north over the years, the capital was lost, the vassal states were divided, and the levies were imposed and bribed, and the last bit of prestige and reputation left by the Jin court among the people was also lost one after another. Basically everyone knew that the general trend of the world was destined to be turned upside down!

The so-called world trend actually refers to the people's hearts. The people's hearts seem to be empty, but in fact they have very regular rules - first of all, you have to be able to win battles, and the losers on the battlefield are not qualified to talk about people's hearts; secondly, you have to let the people have a good life, at least you can't plunder everyone to rebel together; then you have to have enough reputation, and it's best to be able to get a relationship with God or gods; finally, you should find a way to win a good background, whether it's fabricated or impostored, in short, you can't be regarded as a vulgar and ignorant barbarian.

It is very regrettable that the current Great Jin Dynasty court has nothing to do with any of the above!

Needless to say, the military achievements have been made. Over the past 20 years, the Great Jin Dynasty has been defeated by the Tukan Khanate in the north and fell apart. Not only has the old capital of Yanjing and the Longxing land in Liaodong been lost, but the remaining mountains and rivers in the south were also divided into vassal states and many princes, and they are not obeying the control of the court. The place where the royal family can speak is only these southeastern provinces, and it is shrinking day by day!

The situation of people's livelihood and economy is also bad. After a long period of three hundred years, the entire financial system of the Jin court was completely ruined. Not to mention that there were two million Eight Banners who moved to Jiangnan and continued to eat the iron-core crops of the court without shame. In order to support these useless borer waste, the court had to disperse the last few troops who could fight and plunder the remaining Jiangnan territory... As a result, the court's finances were deficit year after year, and they were so poor that they were quarrels. The following was that the people were driven to heaven and had no way to go, and they resisted taxes and rebelled every few days.

As for reputation and background... the barbarian origin of the Great Jin Dynasty could not be changed. Moreover, even the dragon vein in Liaodong has been broken by the Tukan Khanate. It is justified that it has been destroyed and destroyed after so long. It is an abnormal and strange thing.

So, almost everyone knows that the Central Plains world has reached a point where it is bound to change!

Especially the common people in Nanjing City, since the court moved south, not only did they not enjoy the honor of the emperor, but instead endured the suffering of land grabbing. In order to make a place for the Eight Banners who moved south, the Great Jin Dynasty issued the most fierce demolition policy in history: all Han people in Nanjing City, except for the families of the court officials, will be moved away for three days! All the manors and fields around Nanjing, forty miles, will be circled into the Internal Affairs Office and assigned to the Eight Banners nobles. Those who fail to leave after the deadline will be deposed as slaves!

Now, if you want to demolish a house, you have to talk to the residents and bargain. Often, you can’t finish it within a year or two. If you encounter another "nail household", it is normal to delay it for three or five years.

However, the court did not have such patience and was unwilling to pay money. In fact, without paying demolition fees, not building temporary resettlement houses, and not preparing to compensate for land, all the millions of residents inside and outside the ancient capital of Jinling were solved with an iron mouth and an imperial edict. The high efficiency and ruthless demolition intensity were really amazing.

The court naturally has a perfect countermeasure for nail households who refuse to move away - kill them without any hesitation!

So, the ground in the south of the Yangtze River was instantly huge. Many ordinary people didn't know what was going on, so they were pulled out of the bed by the officers and soldiers who were like tigers and wolves and bombed them into monks. Since everyone had no time to pack their luggage, the property they left behind was naturally divided up by the officers and soldiers.

For a time, millions of people were forced to wander, complain and crying with tremendous tragedy. Various human tragedies of abandoning husbands and abandoning their sons, losing their father and wife can be seen everywhere. The old and weak died of cold and starvation, and finally exposed the tragedy of corpses in the wilderness, so that the old and weak filled the trenches and were covered with white bones in the wilderness. And those who were suffering and deeply hatred were countless...

In this way, by the time the court moved south, the people in the capital would naturally be completely lost.

As long as the Eight Banners Manchus left the Nanjing city wall, they could see bandits and anti-political guerrillas everywhere. Officials and postmen were intercepted on the road every few days, and the suburban imperial villages were constantly looted and burned. The court was unable to withstand the disturbances, and many troops went into the mountains to attack and encircle and suppress them, but they were ineffective. The local officials were even more bandit-ridden, so that the security of the capital was always extremely bad.

In the end, the Dajin court, who had been tortured to the point of being ineffective in the fight, had to admit defeat, turn off attack and defensive, and recruit a large number of manpower and material resources. Forty miles away from the outskirts of Nanjing, a trench more than two meters deep and more than two meters wide was dug, and a city wall of more than four feet thick and more than eight feet high was built on the trench, and a fort was set up every five miles, making it as if it was about to build a Great Wall.

——The Central Plains Celestial Empire was built on the northern border along the mountains and ridges to protect the grasslands. But the court is unique and built the Great Wall outside the capital... This is really "powerful"!

Despite the protection of the "Great Wall of the Gyeonggi", the public security situation around Nanjing City has not improved much. Even the previous old emperor went out of the palace to parade, and was killed by the revolutionary party with bombs on the military field. It is naturally conceivable how rampant the party inside and outside the city is.

In the city of Nanjing in August 3rd year of Kant, there was a scene of apocalyptic world full of luàn and undercurrents.

After the court issued a ridiculous will to support the Demon Sect, believers and charlatans from all directions, all kinds of senior sisters and brothers rushed into the capital in batches, making a splash. They nailed yellow paper books and listed first, second and third grades, and at the bottom, they kept 10th grades, and broke into the emperor to smash, loot and burn, and soon the emperor's heart was in a mess!

In the past two months, there have been at least dozens of murders in Nanjing, such as robbery, murder, and riots every day. The 5,000 patrol soldiers of the infantry commander, shoulder the duties of maintaining the security of the capital. Even though they have been running all day long, they still cannot suppress them. Some of the officers and soldiers have been poisoned by the Demon Cult and are secretly participating in robbery and killing.

In this completely out of control, it seems that everyone is in a state of hysteria and mania. All the most ridiculous things and phenomena have all floated to the surface and rolled in the era. Every discerning person is watching open his eyes and watching. What kind of scene will be at the end of this storm? Will it be reborn from Nirvana? Or will everything be blown away?!

Faced with this unbearable turbidity, the last group of important officials of the court with clear minds was obviously the most painful person in his heart.

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Outside the palace, the Six Ministry of the Military Affairs Office

Since the rise of the Demon Cult, the six departments of the court received countless urgent memorials flying from southeast, west and northeast like snowflakes every day, and the chimes and bells in the Transmission Hall were also ding-dong sounds endlessly. The officials of various departments were forced to work overtime like ants, tirelessly dealing with the rapid increase in various official documents.

Those official documents that are not important, the lower-level officials can handle them by themselves, and then ask their superiors to approve them. More important documents need to be visited to the Military Affairs Office and let the Military Affairs Ministers review them together. If the most important documents are, they must be handled by His Holiness in person.

Of course, His Majesty the Emperor is generally limited in his power, and most important state affairs must be formulated by the Military Affairs Office.

Since the former head of the Military Affairs Office, the old Zhongtang Wanyan Mifan, was deposed for angering the emperor, the current head of the Military Affairs Office is the emperor's younger brother, Prince Qing Wanyan Natong, who is only seventeen years old this year.

But this youngest foreman of the Military Affairs Office in history was a young royal relative who was unruly and had no experience in official affairs. In addition, he was busy winning over the demon sect, worshiping gods and burning incense, and had no extra effort to deal with daily affairs. Therefore, in the Military Affairs Office, Fei Liguo, the only Han minister among the four military affairs ministers, was usually the only Han minister, the oldest Wenhua Hall Grand Secretary, to preside over the daily operations.

However, although the Grand Secretary Fei Liguo has experienced the ups and downs of officialdom and is quite experienced in the art of power planning, he is helpless in the face of such a strange situation of smoke from all directions and a group of demons dancing without getting the support from above.

"...Suzhou Prefecture Taiya Mén reported that thousands of thugs of the Demon Cult gathered in the city and robbed the official treasury. This year, more than half of the summer tax losses were lost, so I also asked the court for instructions."

“…Uh, just give me one: I understand.”

Grand Secretary Fei Liguo reached out and twisted his beard, thought for a while, and finally said in a deep voice.

"... The Zhenjiang Yangjiu Team leader Anerle Duwei reported that the former eunuch party remnants and the commander of the Jing army under the rebel thief Yayi'an, Guo Bo, incited nearly 10,000 madmen in the palace to attack the military camp the day before yesterday. Bei Yi led his troops to fight bloody battles overnight, killed 600 enemies, and finally repelled him. The enemy chief Guo Bo and his remaining troops fled to the north of Jiangbei, and asked the court to reward merits according to the rules and instructed our troops to cross the river to pursue..."

"...I understand." Grand Secretary Fei Liguo took a sip of fragrant tea and continued.

"...Pang Shifeng, the director of the Yangzhou Weaving Industry, urgently reported that several demon sects and gods incited the weaver in charge of the weaver in charge, looted, damaged more than 7,000 tribute silk, and burned more than 400 looms. The green camp in Yangzhou dared not suppress it. How to deal with this matter? Please inform the court as soon as possible."

"...I understand." Grand Secretary Fei Liguo rolled his eyes and said helplessly.

"...Kong Zhang, the eunuch guarding the Yanchang in Nantong, urgently reported that tens of thousands of demon sects rushed to the city, and the guards of the green camp were defeated without fighting. The slaves led the salt dying for half a day, and the ammunition was gone, the support was gone, and the city was destroyed. So he led his personal soldiers to guard a room, make the final resistance, and swear to die. He also asked the court to send troops to avenge the army quickly..."

"...I understand." Grand Secretary Fei Liguo lamented and replied as if it were.

"...Oh, I said Senior Fei, Grand Secretary Fei, you can't just ignore anything, just say one thing!"

A young official who had been reading the memorial just now could not help but raise his head and shouted to the Grand Secretary Fei Liguo of Gao Dexun, "... Seeing these damn demon cults ruining all parts of Jiangnan into this way, as a dignified minister of the Military Affairs Department, can't you come up with an idea to take care of it? Could it be that you really want to be a fool who is in charge of the corpse position?"

"...Oh? I want me to take care of it? How to take care of it?! Who dares to take care of it?!!"

At this time, the Grand Secretary Fei Liguo was also full of evil spirits and didn't know how to vent, "... As the saying goes, beating a dog depends on the owner's face! This demon sect that spreads to the south of the Yangtze River was lifted up by His Highness King Qing. If you want to suppress it, you can only let him take action! I am a half-filled old man, why should I offend the prince for nothing and meddle in other people's business?"

"...I can't say that! As the saying goes, eating the king's salary will help you relieve your worries. As a first-rank official, you have been deeply grateful to the emperor. How can you just care about your own sensibility and act deaf and dumb in this big issue?"

"...Hehe, you really speak better than singing! Even if you want to relieve your worries, you can't just fill in all your old bones? Humph! If you want to give advice, just go and get into trouble, don't drag us into the water!"

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Just as the military ministers were busy sarcastically sarcastically at a pile of difficult-to-solve emergency memorials, they suddenly heard the sharp voice of Kong Lingqi, the general manager of the military department, outside the room of the military department.

"... Dear adults, the priests and eunuchs on duty in the Transmission Hall have just sent an urgent report from Dinghai County, saying that Western reinforcements have gone to Shanghai and occupied Shengsi Island to rest. After the emperor has read it, he asked our family to forward it and ask you to discuss a charter countermeasure as soon as possible."

The reinforcements from the Westerners have finally arrived?!!

As soon as he heard this news, Grand Secretary Fei Liguo immediately became a spirited person. He quickly put on his glasses and took the urgent report to read it.

Through some information collected during this period, he already knew that the strength of the Western powers was strong and revenge was terrifying. Even though he was separated by the ocean, the other side had the ability to organize a huge fleet to attack the east. As early as twenty or thirty years ago, a large Western fleet conquered the Japanese islands, and in just a short time, it turned the hometown of the Japanese pirates into their vassal state.

And if the remaining remaining mountains and rivers of the Great Jin court are not included in the vassal states, in terms of territory and population, they may not be much stronger than Japan... So, if Westerners are trying their best to attack, there may be a danger of subversion of the country.

However, after Grand Secretary Fei read this brief message, he put his heart back in his stomach.

"...Tsk tsk, a Western giant ship occupied Shengsi Island? Is Dinghai County so nervous?"

He curled his lips disapprovingly, handed the urgent report to other officials to read, and sighed repeatedly, "...it's only one boat, and Dinghai County is really shocked! By the way, are there any imperial garrisons or forts on Shengsi Island?"

Hearing the inquiry from the Grand Secretary Fei Liguo, several officials of the Ministry of War quickly searched the books and replied, "... Report to the Lord, there are no Green Camp soldiers garrisons on Shengsi Island, only one inspection department is set up, with only five permanent personnel..."

"...That's right. Only five inspectors are naturally no match for a large Western ship."

Fei Liguo casually speculated, and looked at the other colleagues in the hall at the same time, "...What do you guys think?"

"…Mr. Fei said that Dinghai County is really over-tight. It's okay if dozens of ships fall down, but what does a ship count?"

A young Manchu nobleman also smiled and said, "...even the NV pirate Li Huamei has at least six or seven Western sailboats under his command! There is only one Western warship on Shengsi Island, which is indeed insignificant to my Dajin."

Among the officials in the Military Affairs Office, there are also a few who have seen Western sailing ships, but the "Western giant ships" they remember are at most three-masted sailing ships. If dozens or hundreds of such warships come across the sky, perhaps the court will be unable to resist. But now that there is only one lonely ship, why bother to belittle yourself and worry about the world?

——Unfortunately, due to the word limit of such urgent voice transmission, Dinghai County cannot describe it clearly. What a majestic and huge super ship...

Of course, even if only one Western warship came in, since it had attracted the attention of the emperor, the Military Affairs Office still had to show an attitude.

"... Then, let the Transmission Hall send an urgent report to Shanghai County to strengthen their guard against coastal defense... Oh, no, a few days ago, in order to cooperate with the Demon Cult to set a trap for the foreign governor, the county magistrate seemed to have blown up all the yamen in Shanghai County, and the post station where the yu stone musical instruments was naturally not spared... Well, I'd better send a postman to send Shanghai County a document reminding them to pay attention to coastal defense!"

Grand Secretary Fei Liguo shrugged indifferently and quickly made a decision, while the other ministers had no objection. But someone asked again, "... Then, should we continue to discuss how to recover Shengsi Island?"

"...Recover Shengsi? How to recover? Dinghai County has no navy available, and the Fujian navy is too far away. When they come from Fuzhou thousands of miles away, the Western ship may have gone long ago. Why should I do this forever? Let it go!"
Chapter completed!