The weather was gloomy, and the shouting outside the house stopped at some point.
In a small room, Tang Minjie, who had a thin face and a full beard, was curled up by the stove in a daze, holding a tea cup. When he suddenly woke up, he raised his head, listened to the silence outside, took a sip of water, and stretched out his hand to wipe
After dropping some patterns on the ashes on the floor, he slowly stood up.
After struggling to open the door, the wind and snow outside the house had stopped, and the rustling sounds gradually began to appear in my ears, followed by the sounds of people on the street, and not many footsteps.
Seeing that it was afternoon, he didn't know what time it was. Tang Minjie closed the door, made some calculations in his mind, and turned around to start sorting out his coat.
When I put the hat on, my frostbitten ears hurt so much that I wanted to reach out and tear it off. This is the bad thing in the north. Every winter, fingers, feet, and ears will be frostbitten. After arriving in Beijing,
This situation is getting worse and worse, and I feel that my hands and feet are extremely itchy.
Lu Mingfang is much better in this regard. In fact, if he had considered this earlier, he should have allowed himself to go back to the south to enjoy a few days of happiness. With his alertness and talent, he would not have been overshadowed by Mandu Daru in the end.
His virtue.
With this thought in mind, he put on his gloves with some difficulty, and then put on a torn cloak with a scarf. His features were no longer distinguishable.
This is one of the benefits of the snowy day. People on the streets covered themselves up as much as possible, making it difficult to tell who was who. Of course, since Lu Mingfang's actions in Beijing were relatively restrained, he did not show any public concern.
He was causing trouble, and the interrogation of residents in this city was relatively relaxed. He had the household registration of Xi Ren, so he would not be made trouble for most of the time.
I left the door of my temporary home and walked southward along the snow-covered road. It was already October 21st. I had set out on August 15th and rushed all the way to Beijing. It was already this day.
In early October of 2010, I originally thought that it had been so long since Wu Qimai's death that the East and West governments should have fought to decide who the new emperor would be. However, the progress of the entire situation did not become so ideal.
For reasons he did not understand, Wu Qimai revised his previous edict before his death. In the final edict, he withdrew his appointment to the next emperor of the Jin Kingdom and left the choice of the new emperor to Wanyan.
The chiefs of each branch of the clan and Zhu Bo were elected by vote after intense discussion.
This kind of discussion was once a method used by the Jurchen tribe in the early years when they were still in the tribal alliance stage. Theoretically speaking, if Dajin, which is now a country, encounters such a change, it is very likely that it will lead to bloodshed and division. However, throughout October, Shangjing did
The atmosphere was chilly, and there were even emergency mobilizations of troops and small-scale fighting on several occasions, but the real bloodshed that affected the whole city was always contained at the most critical moment.
During the twenty days since arriving in Beijing, Tang Minjie had roughly figured out the outline of what was going on here through intermittent inquiries.
At the moment, Shangjing City is in the stalemate stage of the "Three Kingdoms". As he once introduced to Xu Xiaolin, on one side is Hu Lubo Jilie Wanyan Zongqian, who is standing behind Zongfu Zongbi, and on the other side is Wu Qigong.
The legitimate son Wanyan Zongpan, and those belonging to the third party are Zong Han and Xi Yin who arrived in Shangjing at the end of September.
Theoretically speaking, Zong Han has lost the possibility of becoming the next Jin Emperor. As soon as they arrived in Beijing, they first met with Wanyan Zongpan, who was at a disadvantage but still had a lot of momentum; then, they visited every house.
, began to exaggerate the progress and terror of the Chinese army in the southwest; verbally demanded that all branches of the Jin Kingdom must shelve today's disputes and elect an emperor who satisfies everyone to deal with the next big threat that may come from the south.
If such things had not been brought out by figures like Zong Han and Xi Yin, no one would have paid any attention to them among the Jin people who came to Beijing. But in any case, Zong Han's decades of fighting for the Jin Kingdom had indeed accumulated a lot of experience for him.
With his huge reputation and power, others may suspect other things, but at this moment when Aguda, Wu Qimai, Zong Wang, Lou Shi and others are gone, no one can really question the relationship between him and Xi Yin on the battlefield.
In addition, in the hearts of many senior people who still survived in the Jin Kingdom, Zong Han and Xi Yin's love for Da Jin still has some weight.
In this way, the delicate balance in Shangjing City was maintained, and throughout October, there was still no winner.
Of course, if we want to discuss the details, the whole situation can be summarized by far more than this little description. From September to October, countless negotiations and fighting occurred in Shangjing City. Due to the various conflicts of the Wanyan clan this time
All branch heads have the right to vote, and some highly respected elders have also been invited to lobby. If the lobbying fails, there will naturally be threats and even murder to solve the problem. This balance almost broke out of control twice, but Zong Han,
Xiyin ran among them, and often drew some key figures to his side at critical moments, suppressed the situation, and sold their "black flag threat theory" more widely.
If there was a team in Beijing that was good at action, or if the incident happened in Yunzhong City, Tang Minjie would take a risk at all costs. But the situation he faced was not ideal. Even though Lu Mingfang's position came here next,
But he and Lu Mingfang were not familiar with the intelligence network here. Under the policy of "entering dormancy", he actually did not want to awaken the comrades here on a large scale.
Having been in Shangjing for so long, there is only one trustworthy source of information, and out of caution, the two sides have intermittent contacts. It is extremely difficult to get first-hand information. Of course, if you get it, there will be no action team - think about it this way
I feel relieved.
When they left the small alley in the civilian area and entered the street, a car belonging to a certain prince was driving by, and soldiers were cleaning the road nearby. Tang Minjie and a group of people were kneeling by the roadside. When they looked up, they saw Wanyan Zongfu's big head.
The carriage hurried away under the guard of the soldiers, not knowing what was going to happen.
After this small interlude, he got up and continued walking, turned around a street, and came to the edge of a relatively secluded, snow-covered small square. He walked around for a while and strolled around slowly for a few times.
Checking for any suspicious signs, after about half an hour, the target person wearing bulky gray clothes came from the other side of the street, opened the door in front of a simple little courtyard, and entered the house inside.
Tang Minjie continued to wander around, and after half an hour, he went to the door of the small courtyard and knocked on the door. The door opened immediately - the man in gray stood at the door and peeked outside quietly - Tang Minjie
They ducked in and walked towards the house inside.
The person in gray clothes was a woman who seemed to be about thirty years old, with a fairly dignified appearance and a small mole at the corner of her mouth. After entering the room with a charcoal fire, she took off her coat, picked up the kettle and poured two cups
Water, after Tang Minjie, who was quite cold, picked up a glass, he took another glass and took a sip.
"How is the situation outside?" Tang Minjie's voice was slightly hoarse. The chilblains were itching so unbearably that he couldn't help but gently tear the scabs off his hands.
"There is no progress." The woman said, "What we can find out now is some insignificant gossip below. The two children of Ao Dai's family collected Zong Bi's things and joined Zong Qian. Wanyan Zongpan is here
To win over Wanyan Zongyi, Wanyan Ahuli, Sui Guogong and Mu Zong's family, I heard that they will arrive in Beijing in the next two days. By then, all the heads of Wanyan's clans will also be here, but I heard in private
, Zong Qian hasn’t received the most support yet, and some people may not want them to enter the city too quickly. Actually, that’s all... do you trust me? "
When she said the last sentence, Tang Minjie, who was subconsciously leaning against the fire, was slightly stunned. He looked over, and the woman's eyes were also looking at him quietly. This woman's name was Cheng Min, who had been raped by Lu Mingfang a few years ago.
She had saved her life, but she was engaged in the flesh business in Goulanli in Shangjing. She had collected a lot of intelligence for Lu Mingfang in the past, and was slowly developed into it. Although Lu Mingfang said she was trustworthy, he was dead after all.
Having only met a few times now, Tang Minjie is still wary after all.
After their eyes met for a moment, Tang Minjie tilted his head: "I believe in Lao Lu."
The woman nodded: "You can't warm yourself by the fire because you're frozen, stay away." Then she picked up the wooden basin in the house, scooped out the hot water, added some snow into it, and put a towel on it and brought it over.
"Sit down." She said, pushing Tang Minjie on the stool. "If you have these chilblains, don't worry about the fire. The more you bake them, the worse they will get. You can't use cold or hot water to wash them. You can only warm them slowly and slowly."
wipe……"
As she said this, she squatted there and gently wiped Tang Minjie's hands several times, and then stood up to wipe the chilblains and pus flowing out from his ears. The woman's movements were light and skillful, but she also seemed firm. At this time, there was no
Tang Minjie was a little uncomfortable with the feeling of flirting with a seductive woman. After the woman finished wiping her hands and ears, she took out a small cloth bag from the side and took out the small box inside, and then he asked:
"What's this?"
"It's for treating frostbite, smell it." She understood the other person's vigilance and handed the thing over directly. Tang Minjie smelled it, but naturally he couldn't distinguish it clearly. He only saw the other person saying: "You have come here so many times, if I
If you really voted for the Jin Man, if I wanted to catch you, I would have caught you long ago, right?"
Tang Minjie looked at her: "I have a backup plan. If something happens to me, you will die too."
"That's enough." The woman smiled calmly, took the medicine box, picked out the ointment inside, and started to apply the medicine to him, "This thing doesn't just happen once or twice. The main thing is to pay more attention to it."
After applying medicine to her hands and ears, she placed the basin on the ground, pulled up one of Tang Minjie's feet and started to take off her shoes. Tang Minjie struggled a bit and said, "My feet are fine."
"As soon as I walked in, I noticed that your feet were itchy, just like your hands and ears. There was no need to look outside."
"I'll go back by myself..."
Before Tang Minjie finished speaking, the other party had already pulled off his boots, and the room was suddenly filled with a stinky smell. It was inconvenient for people in a foreign land. Tang Minjie had not even taken a shower for nearly a month, and the smell on his feet was even worse.
It was hard to explain. But the other party just moved his face back slightly and slowly and carefully took off his socks.
Chilblains oozed from the shoes and often stuck with the socks. Tang Minjie felt a little embarrassed, but Cheng Min didn't care: "In the past few years in Beijing, all I have learned is to serve others. You stinky men are all like this."
.It's fine."
She took off Tang Minjie's shoes and socks, then soaked them in warm water for a while, then took out a piece of cloth and slowly scrubbed him. Tang Minjie remained vigilant in his heart: "You are very good at observation."
"If they hadn't learned how to read people's words and get information, they wouldn't always talk about many things." The woman sitting in front smiled slightly, "By the way, how did Lao Lu die?"
"I hurt him." Tang Minjie said, "He could have gone south alone, but I rescued a woman over there and asked him to take care of him on the way south. Unexpectedly, this woman has been targeted by the golden dog for several years...
…”
When Tang Minjie said this, there was silence in the room for a moment. The woman's hands did not stop moving, but after a while she asked: "Will you die happily?"
"Not caught." Cheng
"That's a good thing."
"You and Lao Lu..."
"We're fine." The woman wiped his feet, applied medicine, raised her head and smiled, "I can't taint a hero like him."
"..."
Tang Minjie was speechless for a moment. After the woman gave him the medicine, she picked up the wooden basin and stood up: "It can be seen that you are almost the same person. You are more vigilant than Lao Lu, and you are alert from beginning to end. This is a good thing, you are like this
Only those who are capable can do great things, and those who take it lightly will die. Don't put your socks on yet, I'll look for any rags and sew you a new one."
A pair of socks had been worn for so long and were almost dirty. However, Tang Minjie shook his head: "No, it's late. If there is no other important news, let's meet again in a few days."
The woman nodded: "There's no rush, at least let your feet dry."
The medicine was applied on his feet, which was very cool and comfortable. Tang Minjie didn't want to leave immediately. Of course, on the other hand, the physical comfort always made him feel a little uncomfortable and uneasy - in the enemy's place, he
Hate the feeling of comfort.
When the woman poured water in, Tang Minjie said: "Why...you...have to stay in that place..."
The woman put down the wooden basin and answered naturally: "I was kidnapped when I was more than ten years old, and I was dirty by those beasts. I was lucky enough to survive. By the time I met Lao Lu, I had already...lived that kind of life.
It’s been six or seven years, and to be honest, I’m used to it. You also said that I know how to watch people’s actions and can find out information from Lao Lu. I think it’s revenge. I hate it in my heart, do you know?”
When she said this, her words were frank and her smile was sweet, but Tang Minjie nodded slightly.
"...Later, Lao Lu tried to find a way to give me the identity of a Bohai girl, so that I wouldn't be bullied like a Han girl in Shangjing City. He also advised me to go back to the south.
But what will happen if I go back? Everything I have done here for half my life, if I really go back, I will only feel pain in my heart when I think about it. But when I stay here to inquire about the news, I know that I am cutting off the flesh of the Jurchens, so I feel better when I think about it."
She paused: "This courtyard is the original home of the Bohai family. They died unexpectedly. I took over the household registration, so I come here from time to time..."
At this point, a rapid gong sound suddenly came from the distance outside the house, and he didn't know what happened. Tang Minjie's expression was shocked, and he suddenly wanted to get up. Cheng Min opposite him pressed his hand: "I'm going out.
have a look."
She put on her coat and stepped out. Tang Minjie also quickly put on his shoes and socks, put on his hat, reached for a nearby hatchet, and walked out. The gongs sounded rapidly in the far street, but it was not...
In view of the ambush here, he hid behind the courtyard door and looked outside. The pedestrians on the road were walking back in a hurry. After a while, Cheng Min came back.
"Something happened." She whispered, but there was excitement in her eyes, "I heard that the troops outside were mobilized, and the Huben troops were on the city wall. Maybe they saw Duke Sui and his friends coming to Beijing soon, and someone wanted to attack!"
Not all the clan heads of the Wanyan clan live in Shangjing. After Wu Qimai's edict was officially announced, these people gathered in Shangjing. Once everyone arrived and the clan meeting was held, the ownership of the throne might be determined.
To get to the bottom of things, under this background, it is not surprising that some people hope that they will arrive soon, and some hope that they can arrive later. And it is in such a game that large-scale bloodshed may occur at any time, and then the entire Jin Kingdom will break out.
The Great Schism.
When Tang Minjie came here, he was expecting exactly this kind of waves. He thought for a moment: "Can we still walk outside?"
"The army is under martial law, and it may be very conspicuous when there are few people. If you live far away, or are interrogated..." Cheng Min frowned when he said this, and then said, "I think you should stay here for a while.
It’s hard for me to go back anyway, so let’s go together. If someone comes to your door, or if something really big happens, we’ll have someone to take care of you. What do you think?”
She looked at Tang Minjie, who hesitated for a moment. When he came to Shangjing, no one could believe him for a while, so he tried some tricks and found a house on the black market to stay temporarily. This was also to have a retreat when dealing with Cheng Min.
.Although there is no large-scale manhunt for black flag spies in Shangjing City at the moment, other rumors are very tight. They have been interrogated, and they don’t know what problems will arise.
After thinking about it like this, I finally said: "Okay, I'll excuse you."
Cheng Min looked at the shoes and socks he had put on again, and smiled helplessly: "I'll find you some rags to make socks first, and then find some food."
It was dusk now, with clouds gathering in the sky, and it looked like it might snow at any time. The two of them walked into the room, ready to wait patiently for the possible results of the night. In the dim city, some lights began to light up.
.
"...Nowadays, there is widespread news in the outside world. There is a saying that...the ownership of the next emperor of the Jin Kingdom was originally a matter between Zong Qian and Zong Han, but Wu Qimai's son Zong Pan was very ambitious and insisted on taking the throne.
Of course Wu Qimai disagreed at first..."
In the city outside, the army walked through the snow through the streets, and the atmosphere had become chilly. In the small courtyard here, the lights in the room were flickering. Cheng Min took out his needle and thread, mending socks with rags, and told Tang Minjie