In April, countless people died of starvation in Bianliang City, and the stench of corpses filled the city.∈♀,

Tang Ke passed through Bianliang City in a sedan chair and returned home from the imperial city.

The sedan swayed slightly, and from outside the swaying curtain, a slight stench and crying sounds came in. On the roadside outside, there were dead bodies, and Bianliang people who were as skinny as corpses with only their last breath left.

There are not many pedestrians on the streets anymore.

The old man in the sedan was neatly dressed and his face was dull, but a little indifferent. He looked at the curtain in front of him, but there was no movement.

As one of the top officials maintaining the Wu Dynasty court today, he not only has domestic slaves who carry the sedan chair, but also guards accompanying him to protect him. This is to prevent him from being attacked by evildoers on his way up and down the court.

Assassination. However, in recent days, the number of criminals who want to assassinate him has gradually decreased. There have even begun to be exchanged for food in the capital. Those who are hungry to this extent and want to assassinate for the sake of morality, after all,

He was also starved to death.

This is a city that has been squeezed dry. A year ago, there were still millions of people living in this place. It is hard to imagine that it would be as desolate as it is today. But it is precisely because of the gathering of millions of people that it has become so desolate now.

Being reduced to the situation of being wantonly manipulated by foreign enemies, the scene that unfolds becomes increasingly bleak.

Half a year ago, the Jurchen troops came to the city. Faced with danger, the court recruited Tang Ke, Wu Min and other peace factions in the hope that they could minimize the losses after compromising. On the other hand, they also hoped that the generals could resist the Jurchens. Tang Ke

In this issue

Shi was the biggest pessimist. This time, before the Jurchens besieged the city, he came to remonstrate, hoping that the emperor would seek refuge in the south. However, this time, his opinion was still rejected. Emperor Jingping decided that the emperor should die in Sheji, and soon after, he re-appointed Tianshi.

Guo Jing.

The purpose of appointing Tang Ke and others in the court is that they can negotiate before the fight, and preferably after the fight. But the facts of the past few months have proved that compromise by those without power does not make any sense. Liujia Shenbing

After the farce of , Bianliang City no longer has the qualification to say no no matter how rude the request is.

For several months, the man who was once regarded as the emperor was now being treated like a pig or a dog for fun in the Jurchen camp outside the city. His wife and daughter, who were once the supreme emperor, were wantonly humiliated and killed in the camp.

At the same time, the Jurchen army continued to

After making various requests to the Wu Dynasty court, the only choice Tang Ke and others had was to agree to each request, or give away their wives and daughters, or give away their gold and silver, step by step

Help the other party drain this entire city.

Not long ago, the Jurchens, who had begun to prepare to leave, made another request. They were not prepared to bring back Emperor Jingping of the Wu Dynasty, but someone needed to take care of the foundation of the Wu Dynasty. So they ordered the Grand Prime Minister Zhang Bangchang to succeed him as emperor.

, changed to Dachu in the Yuan Dynasty, guarded Tiannan for the Jurchens, and remained a vassal forever.

At this time, almost all the royal family surnamed Zhou in Bianliang City had been kidnapped or killed by the Jurchens. Zhang Bangchang, Tang Ke and others tried to refuse the matter, but the Jurchens also issued a warning. If Zhang Bangchang did not

After he ascended the throne, he killed all the ministers in the court and sent troops to massacre Bianliang City.

This day is already the last day of the deadline.

In the court hall, Song Qiyu took the lead and elected Zhang Bangchang as emperor. Half an hour ago, Tang Ke, Wu Min, Geng Nanzhong and others signed their names on the edict.

Zhang Bangchang ascended the throne with an expression as if he had taken arsenic.

As the sedan chair left the court, Tang Ke sat inside and thought of many things over the years. The once high-spirited Wu Dynasty thought it had seized the opportunity and wanted to make the Northern Expedition. It was also like Qin Siyuan and other main war factions. The Black Water

Alliance, even though Qin Siyuan went down, he still looked full of confidence in the Northern Expedition.

After that, Bianliang enjoyed peace and prosperity through singing and dancing, and a prosperous world.

Merchants from the north and south gather here, confident men of letters gather here, and warriors seeking fame gather here. The officials of the court can decide the affairs of the world with one word. A word in the palace,

Every step involved the rise and fall of thousands of families. Senior officials kept arguing and infighting in the court, thinking that success or failure stemmed from this. He also argued with countless people, including Qin Siyuan, who had always been on good terms with him.

.

He is an out-and-out pessimist, but he is just cautious. Many times, he even thought that if people like Qin Siyuan were really given some opportunities, maybe the Wu Dynasty could also seize an opportunity. However,

In the end, he hated himself for seeing the obstacles on the road so clearly.

His pessimism has never played any role. People don't like pessimism. In most political ecology, radicals are always more popular. People can easily fight, but few people are sober.

Self-strengthening of the earth. People use the main battle to replace self-strengthening itself. They blindly believe that as long as they are willing to fight and as long as they are enthusiastic, they are not cowardly. However, few people are willing to believe that this world is not humane. The world only talks about reason, and strength and strength

Weakness, victory and defeat are the principles.

So he actually understood in his heart that he might not be able to stand on the high ground of the court in his life. If he stood up, he wouldn't be able to do anything. But in the end, he still tried his best.

He at least helped the Jurchens to destroy Bianliang City. Just like facing a too powerful opponent, he chopped off his own hands, chopped off his own feet, and bit off his own tongue, hoping that the opponent could at least give him strength.

He even gave away his own granddaughter to leave something behind. He couldn't beat him.

He can only surrender, but surrender is not enough. He can give his wealth, but wealth is not enough. He can also give his dignity. With dignity, he hopes that he can at least save the country of Wu Dynasty, but he cannot save the country.

He also hopes that he can at least save the lives of these people who have nothing left in the city...

He also knows clearly how future generations will evaluate him.

Over the past few days, he has been thinking about many things, some that can be said and some that cannot be said. He occasionally thinks of that scene, a few months ago, on the last day of the Jinghan Dynasty, the situation in the Jinluan Palace. Qin Siyuan was dead.

, just like the ending of every political dispute before, people went to court as usual, thankful that they were saved, and then the emperor was thrown into blood. The young man sat down on the golden steps with a knife, and slapped the emperor on the head with the back of the knife.

In this life of the old man, he has met many great figures, including Cai Jing, Tong Guan, Qin Siyuan, and even every powerful court official going back to the past. They may be domineering and high-spirited, or they may be steady and profound, with inner meanings as deep as the sea, but he has never

He has never seen such a scene. He has also met with the emperor countless times. Never once did he find that the emperor looked like an ordinary person like this.

Everyone in the court was shouting curses. At that time, Li Gang's beard and hair were spread out, Cai Jing was dumbfounded, Qin Hui yelled and cursed like thunder, and Yan Zheng screamed in horror. Countless people cursed, swore, or cited scriptures. They stated that the other party's behavior was so treasonous that heaven and earth could not tolerate it.

He also rushed forward. But the young man just held the emperor's head in pain with a steel knife indifferently. From the beginning to the end, he only said one sentence, and only some people in front heard that sentence.

Over the past few days, some people may have recalled that treasonous scene, but no one has ever mentioned this sentence. The moment he wrote his name today, Tang Ke suddenly wanted to say this sentence to the ministers of the dynasty: "...

…”

In the court that day, the young man did not react at all to the shouts and scolds from the court. He only glanced over everyone's heads and said: "...a bunch of trash."

For everyone, this may be a slap heavier than killing the emperor, and no one can talk about it.

Of course, the old man did not say these words. He left the palace, crossed the streets in his sedan chair, and returned to the mansion. The entire Tang mansion was also dead at this time. His wife had passed away long ago. Most of the daughters, granddaughters, and concubines in the family had been sent away.

, arrived at the Jurchen military camp. The remaining ones were frightened by Tang Ke

Recently, Wei Yi, who has not recognized his relatives, has been living a life of plenty and hunger in the Tang Mansion, and most of them dare not approach him. Only an old concubine who has been with him for many years came to take away his clothes and brought him a basin of water.

He washed his face, and Tang Ke washed his face meticulously as usual.

He returned to the study. He sorted out the messy bookshelf over the past few days and arranged the papers and pens on the desk. The coldness of winter had gradually passed away, and the sunshine lazily shone in from the window. It was already the sunshine of late spring and early summer. Bianliang

There is nothing left in the city, it’s time for the Jurchens to leave, he thought.

When the elderly concubine came over not long after, Tang Ke and Tang Qinsou had already taken poison, sat on a chair in the study, and died quietly.

******************

The overthrow of the dynasty was like fireworks that exploded and flew away. During the collision between the Jin Dynasty and the Wu Dynasty, the aftermath rushed to the surroundings. Since the Jurchens went south for half a year, the situation on the entire land has been violently turbulent and changing.

North of the Yellow River, the team of Jurchens escorting prisoners back north was like a long dragon, passing through the mountains and ridges, and no one dared to stop it. The former tiger king Tian Hu carefully expanded and consolidated his power in places where the Jurchens did not care. To the east, to the north

, a group that once arose in the name of King Qin’s fight against the Jin

The teams began to demarcate their own spheres of influence and waited eagerly for the development of the situation. The once scattered armies of the Wu Dynasty were either reorganized on the spot or meandering south to seek their own way out. Many large clans in the north were also like this.

In this situation, he was panicking for his way out.

In the northwest, this land with strong folk customs, the Xixia people have once again swept in, and the territory of the Zhong Family Army has been almost completely destroyed. Zhong Shidao's nephew Zhong Lie led the Zhong Family Army after a fierce battle with Wan Yanchang in the south, and then fled north.

, and after a battle with Guaizima, they were defeated in the northwest. At this time, the Zhong family army that could still be gathered was less than 5,000.

Zhe Keqiu of the Zhe family had already returned to the army, but he was also unable to rescue the Zhong family, so he had to retreat to Fuzhou and live in a corner. After Qingjian City, Yanzhou and other big cities were destroyed, countless refugees fled towards Fuzhou and other places.

The Zhe family gathered the remnants of the Zhong family, expanded their power, and intimidated Li Qianshun. Therefore, Fuzhou did not suffer much impact.

The rebellious team that once fell into the eyes of everyone, in such a vast tide of the times, temporarily calmed down and shrank. In this time when everyone was too busy to take care of themselves, very few people could take care of it.

As for their movements, some people even reported that they had been swept away by the Xixia army in the cold winter, and no trace of them remained.

In the south, the same fierce turmoil is brewing. The middle class of society who can receive the message are patriotic and excited. But for the army, the previous confrontation with the Jurchens proved the fact that the army cannot fight.

The last few troops lived there, Gong

The defense line south of the Yangtze River was solidified to inhibit the spread of news. Therefore, many people spent the winter and the spring when everything was recovering in the still prosperous atmosphere. Although they were worried about the safety of Bianliang City, the real atmosphere was the same as that of the Jurchens.

There was no difference between attacking Yanmen Pass and Taiyuan.

Jiangning, Prince Kang's Mansion.

The young prince hummed a little tune and trotted through the corridors of the mansion. When he rushed back to his room, the sun was shining brightly. In the young prince's study, half the room was filled with all kinds of weird drawings and books. He went to

At the table, he took out a book from his sleeve and read it excitedly. He also found a few drawings from the table and compared them with each other. From time to time, he clenched his fist and knocked on the tabletop of the desk.

I don't know when a figure appeared at the door. The young prince looked up and saw that it was his sister Zhou Pei. He was in a good mood. He smiled towards that side and said, "Sister, how are you? The old lady of the Wang family and those sisters,

Have you gone to see him? He really comes from a scholarly family. Mr. Wang Qisong was a loyal and loyal man, and his family members are all respectable and admirable."

Zhou Pei's eyes were a little cold, he narrowed his eyes slightly, and walked in: "I went to see them. Although the Wang family is a loyal family, and the Wang family's widow is also admirable, they were involved in that matter after all.

, you worked secretly and brought them here, do you want to put yourself on the fire? Do you know how unwise this move is!"

"They are treasures." Zhou Junwu was in a very good mood, and said something mysteriously in a low voice. Then he looked outside the door, and Zhou Pei tilted his head and asked the accompanying maids to go down. When only the siblings were left,

, Jun Wucai jumped up holding the book on the table, "Sister, I found the key point, I found it, do you know what it is?"

Zhou Pei frowned. She was already dissatisfied with the ingenious and obscene techniques Zhou Junwu had studied, and now she became even more disgusted. But Junwu said excitedly: "Old... that man is really a genius. I originally thought the key was there."

On the cloth, I searched for a long time and couldn’t find the right one.
To be continued...