Thirty miles east of Zhenjiang, on the mist-filled river beach, orange firelight occasionally swayed. As dawn approached, there was movement on the water gradually, and boats one after another were on the simple and dilapidated pier beside the river beach.
It stopped, followed by the sound of water, people, and the sounds of carriages and horses. Carriages carrying goods came ashore along the waterside plank road that was in disrepair.
A middle-aged man who looked about forty and had only half of his left arm looked at the woods on the edge for a while, and then came over here with three confidants holding torches.
There were about a dozen carriages that came ashore, and there were more than a hundred people accompanying them. They got off the ship, tied up the carriages, and carried the goods. They moved quickly and methodically. These people had already noticed the movement by the forest, and they stayed until the end of their lives.
When I came over with my entourage, there were also people coming over here to greet me.
The leader here was an older middle-aged Confucian scholar. The two sides approached each other in the dark sky. When they could see clearly, the middle-aged Confucian scholar smiled and raised his fists. The middle-aged man opposite had his hand broken.
It was not easy to salute, and he knocked his right fist on his chest: "Mr. Zuo, you are well."
The person who came was Zuo Xiuquan, the world-famous Zuo patriarch. He clasped his fists and bowed his head: "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Duan. I'm really sorry to trouble you to take the risk again this time."
“How can one family speak two different languages? Mr. Zuo, don’t you think I’m an outsider?” The middle-aged man frowned.
“Yes, yes.” Zuo Xiuquan smiled and nodded, “Look who else is coming.”
After he said this, a figure accompanying him from behind slowly took a few steps forward and said, "Uncle Duan, do you still remember me?"
This figure was wearing green forest clothes that were easy to use, but the voice sounded like a woman's. The middle-aged man squinted his eyes, blinked, and finally recognized the woman in front of him, and said tremblingly: "Yes, it's a female... female young master.
?It’s Miss Yinping, why are you here?”
“I have been separated from Uncle Duan for a long time, and I am worried about him, so this is what happened.”
The woman was tall and tall, with a gentle and natural tone, but in the firelight, with her bright eyebrows and starry eyes, she had an intimidating heroic spirit. It was Yue Fei's nineteen-year-old adopted daughter Yue Yinping. She walked up to the middle-aged man with a broken arm,
He held the other person's hand and looked at the other person's broken arm with a slightly sad look in his eyes. The middle-aged man with the broken arm shook his head.
“You, you are a rich man, how can you...”
“Uncle Duan, don’t look down on me. When we went into battle together to kill the enemy, I never fell behind.”
"Yes, yes." After hearing her talk about killing the enemy, the middle-aged man with a broken hand burst into tears, "It's a pity...it was me who was left behind..."
“Uncle Duan fought hard to the end and is worthy of anyone. It’s a good thing he survived. My father was very happy when he heard about it... By the way, Uncle Duan, look, who else is coming?”
As soon as she said this, the other party looked towards the pier again and saw numerous figures of people over there. For a moment, he couldn't distinguish their specific appearance. He was excited and said: "They are all...all carrying Wei Jun's back."
Brother?"
Yue Yinping nodded. At this time, not far away, the wheels of a carriage were stuck in the sand beside the river beach, making it difficult to move. A figure was seen holding the shaft and wheels of the carriage on the side, and shouted in a low voice: "
One, two, three... get up—" The carriage carrying the goods was almost lifted out of the sand by his own strength.
The middle-aged man with a broken arm heard the voice and stretched out his finger: "This is, this is..."
The figure laughed "haha" and ran over: "Uncle Duan, do you still remember me?"
The man running over was tall and tall, but he looked quite young. The middle-aged man with a broken arm said: "Major General, you, you... this is a dangerous place, how can you come together."
“Mr. Zuo is here, and Uncle Duan is here. How can my in-laws’ family stay out of this matter?”
The "young general" the other party called was naturally Yue Fei's son Yue Yun. When he came closer, he reached out and hugged the other party. Regarding the severed hand, he was not as sentimental as his sister.
Yue Yinping on the side said: "This meeting in Jiangning is unusual. It may bring many changes to the future situation of the world. Our brothers and sisters came here with Mr. Zuo to gain experience. Uncle Duan, on the other hand, was involved in it this time. Things
I'm afraid I won't be able to stay any longer after it's over, and I'll have to go back to Fuzhou with us."
After she finished speaking, the middle-aged figure with a broken arm across from him was silent for a moment. Then, he solemnly took two steps back. In the flickering firelight, his arm suddenly came up and he performed a solemn military salute.
There was a sound by the river beach in the light night breeze.
“Carry the Wei army! Duan Siheng! Return to the army...”
Carrying the mountains on your back, your body has been pledged to the country, and this body has become a ghost.
means, beiwei!
…
The carriage convoy left the river bank and headed west along the early morning road.
Duan Siheng, a middle-aged man who was originally a member of the Beiwei Army and now has a broken arm, sat on the carriage at the front, guiding everyone, while pointing and talking about the surrounding situation.
At this time, the sky was unclear, and there were still large areas of fog around the road, but with Duan Siheng's instructions, everyone recalled many things in the past.
“There used to be a village over there…”
“Is Quanfengji still there...”
“A little further to the northwest, let’s beat Wanyan Xiyin over there!”
"We have walked this road before...it was the defeat..."
Yue Yun stood in the car and talked about these things.
Zhenjiang was originally the core of the Jiangnan defense line. The Beiwei army trained here, and Junwu killed his brother-in-law with tears on the hillside by the river. When the Jurchens came to kill him, that man was now
The emperor, who was still a prince at that time, was running around inside and outside the city, shouting and fighting non-stop. When he was shot by the Jurchens' arrows, many local people rushed to the battlefield and fought with the Jurchens.
Fight.
As for Yue Yun and others, they once directly tore apart the Jurchen formation in that battle, beheaded the Jurchen general Arubao, and then thrust their soldiers in front of Wanyan Xiyin's formation. At that time, all parties were defeated.
, it was difficult to turn the tide, but Yue Fei still placed his hope in that desperate blow. Unfortunately, in the end, he failed to kill Wanyan Xiyin, nor could he delay the subsequent collapse of Lin'an.
Duan Siheng participated in that battle, as did Yue Yinping and Yue Yun. Recalling the bloodshed of that battle, he still couldn't help but sing generously and with strong feelings.
Later, Junwu succeeded to the throne in Jiangning, and soon gave up Jiangning. He fought and fled all the way, and even fought back to Zhenjiang. The Jurchens drove millions of soldiers from Jiangnan to pursue them all the way, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians, including the Beiwei army,
After fleeing, they returned to a battlefield. Duan Siheng had his hand cut off during the escape, and fell behind after falling into a coma. When he woke up, he managed to survive, but because the journey was too far, it was difficult to follow him to Fuzhou.
Already.
Drawing on his experience as an officer in the Beiwei Army, he gathered some nearby refugees and formed a group to protect themselves. Later, he joined the Fairness Party and became a small leader in it. After the Fairness Party gained momentum, Fuzhou's
The imperial court sent Cheng Zhouhai and others to contact him again and again. Although the Fairness Party under the leadership of He Wen no longer recognized Zhou Junwu as emperor, the small imperial court always treated him with courtesy, and even sent him as a compensation gesture.
Some food and materials were provided to this side, so even though the forces of the two parties were not in contact with each other, the senior officials of the Fair Party and the Fuzhou side were not completely at odds with each other.
After several such exchanges, Duan Siheng also connected with the Fuzhou side again and became one of the internal resources available to the Fuzhou side here.
“...Where I am now is under the command of King Gaochang Gaotian, one of the five kings of the Fairness Party..."
The morning breeze was blowing in the morning mist. After recalling several battles in the past with Yue Yun and others, Duan Siheng wiped away his tears, collected his mood, and Xiuquan Zuo. Yue Yinping and others talked about the current situation of the Fair Party.
"The current situation of the Fairness Party is often known to outsiders. It has five great kings, who used to be called the 'Five Tigers'. The biggest one is, of course, the well-known 'King of Fairness' Mr. Ho Wen Ho. Now
This land south of the Yangtze River is nominally headed by him. It is said that he came from the southwest, and he sat down with Mr. Ning to discuss matters on equal terms. He is indeed a remarkable figure. In the past, it was said that he inherited the mantle of the Black Flag of the Southwest.
But now it seems that it doesn’t look like..."
"He is the boss and there is nothing to fight for, but under Mr. He, the situation is actually very chaotic. I'm not saying it, it's a mess." Duan Siheng said, "The Gao Tianwang I'm with is relatively simple. If you want
Talking about his personality, he likes to fight. He has the smallest number of soldiers among the five, but his military discipline is very strict, which is somewhat similar to our Beiwei Army. I voted for him for this reason. With these elite soldiers under his command, he can fight.
Therefore, no one dares to mess with him casually. Outsiders call him King Gaotian, which refers to Zhiguotian among the four heavenly kings. On the surface, he has no conflict with Mr. He, and he is most attentive to Mr. He's command. Of course, we don't see the details.
clear……"
"King Ping Ping, King Gaotian, Chu Zhaonan is known as the King of Wheels, but it does not mean the four heavenly kings. He is one of the ten palaces of Yama. This person came out with the foundation of the Maitreya Sect and the Great Light Sect.
Yes, most of those who followed him were believers from the Jiangnan area. At that time, the Great Guangming Sect said that there would be thirty-three catastrophes in the world. After the Jurchens came to kill them, the believers in Jiangnan had no idea. The group of religious soldiers under him went up.
On the battlefield, there are those who eat talisman water, and there are those who claim to be invulnerable. They are indeed brave and unafraid of death, just because the world is miserable. After they die, they can enter the vacuum home to enjoy the blessings. In the past few times when Lin'an soldiers were attacked, some of them dragged their intestines on the battlefield.
He ran away and scared people to tears. He had many people under his command, and many people truly believed that he was the reincarnation of the King of Wheels."
"Following Chu Zhaonan is Shi Baofeng. This man has a very mixed staff. He has dealings with all three religions and nine streams. It is said that he does not put on airs. Outsiders call him the King of Pingping. But his greatest ability is not only to collect money, but also to make money. The Fair Party is now doing
At this level, of course, at first, they just grabbed things from everywhere, including ordnance, and used it as soon as they could. But after Shi Baofeng rose up, he organized many people, so that the Fair Party could repair and rebuild the ordnance..."
"Today, the Fair Party has raised millions of troops, and he is in charge of more than 70% of the ordnance. He can make artillery, gunpowder, and all kinds of materials. He has people in most of the trade and transshipment channels.
I heard that he and Mr. He had a good relationship in the past, but now that they have such a large amount of power, frictions will arise from time to time. People on both sides are fighting overtly and covertly. Especially since he is called the 'King of Equality'
From now on, if you listen, the 'King of Equality' and the 'King of Fairness' don't sound like they are about to fight..."
"As for the current fifth person, Zhou Shang, outsiders call him King Yama, because this man is ruthless and murderous. All the landowners and squires, no one who falls into his hands will be easy to live with.
The people he gathered together were also the ones with the most vicious methods... Mr. He set the rules back then. Every time the Fair Party conquered a place, they would conduct statistics on the local tycoons and wealthy people. All their misdeeds would be punished without mercy, but if there were any
Those who have done good deeds can be spared as appropriate and cannot be exterminated. However, when Zhou and Shang were there, these people died cleanly every time. Some were even buried alive, skinned, and tortured to death. It is said that the relationship between the two parties was
I’m also very nervous…”
At this time, the morning breeze was blowing, and the horizon behind had already shown a trace of fish belly white. Duan Siheng had probably introduced these details of the Fair Party. Yue Yinping thought for a while: "These people have their own characteristics."
Duan Siheng smiled bitterly at the front: "It would be wrong to think that the Fair Party is just like these five people."
"These five people are just like the five leaders of the Fair Party today." He paused and said, "When Jiangnan was defeated and the Jurchens were raging, Your Majesty... took people to Fuzhou again. Mr. He used Fairness to
In the name of the uprising, some people gathered around him, but soon there were forces all over the south of the Yangtze River that competed with the rich for food under the banner of fairness. Later, these forces joined forces one by one, and they all said that they were following.
In the banner of fairness, they all say that they are following so-and-so, but in fact, the person above may not know that there is a group of such and such subordinates below him..."
"At that time, there were Fairness Party almost everywhere in Jiangnan, but the place was too big and it was difficult to gather them all. Mr. He issued the "Fairness Code", set many rules, and told outsiders that anyone who believed in my rules would be a Fairness Party.
People, so everyone works according to these rules, but it is up to them to decide who they want to serve. Some people worship the eldest brother of the Fairness Party at will, and there are eldest brothers above the eldest brother. If they go up a few rounds, they may fail.
Under the name of Mr. He or Chu Zhaonan or whoever..."
"In the past year or so, Mr. He and the other five kings have become the most famous, occupying a large area, and have recruited and trained many regular armies. But if you go to Jiangning, you will know that from top to bottom, one floor after another
Factions at different levels are also fighting for territory and benefits, and they are fighting fiercely. Among them, Mr. He has the "Seven Sages", King Gao Tian has the "Four Towns", Chu Zhaonan has the "Eight Leaders", and Shi Bao
Feng had the "Three Talents" under his command, and Zhou Shang had the "Seven Killers". Everyone would still fight for territory, and sometimes they would fight with open swords and guns in the streets, and the result would be blood all over the ground, and the bodies could not be collected...
"
After all, the Fuzhou imperial court's external spy arrangements and intelligence transfer were not as systematic as those in Southwest China. During this period, when Siheng talked about the internal situation of the Fair Party, Yue Yinping, Yue Yun and others were dumbfounded. Even the well-educated Zuo Xiuquan
At this time, they all frowned, struggling to understand everything he said.
"Also, don't think that the Fair Party is just these five kings. In fact, in addition to the military members who have officially joined these few subordinates, those heroes, nominal or not, actually want to make a name for themselves.
In addition to the five most famous people, in the past six months, there have been factions such as "Luanjiang", "Big Dragon Head" and "Shengsheng Wang" outside. They say that they are members of the Fair Party and follow the "Fairness Code".
, I want to show off my power..."
"After all, the four heavenly kings are not full, and there are only two Yamas in the ten palaces. Maybe they are more ruthless and ruthless. In the future, the heavenly soldiers and generals will be ranked, and their names will be listed. Alas, Zhenjiang is now the territory of Gaotian King. You guys
We can’t see so many things, so let’s take a detour and when we get to Jiangning, you will understand..."
As the morning light emerged and the clouds flew away, Duan Siheng drove the carriage, telling everyone about these strange things, while leading the team towards the west in the direction of Jiangning. On the way, he met a team wearing blue scarves and setting up checkpoints.
The guard, Duan Siheng, went over and made some incisions with the opponent, then slapped the opponent on the head and ordered the opponent to get out. Looking at the strong soldiers and horses here, Yue Yun was still gesticulating his muscles, and got out of the way dejectedly.
“We are now one of the ‘Four Towns’ under King Gaotian, the second general under ‘Zhenhai’ Lin Hongjin. My name is... uh, Broken Hand Dragon..."
Duan Siheng was a little embarrassed when he said it. Yue Yun wanted to laugh, but Yue Yinping asked: "Why the second general?"
"Below the general, there are the second generals. This is to make it easier for everyone to know where you are..."
Duan Siheng said, his voice getting smaller and smaller, which was very embarrassing. The surrounding Beiwei Army members all laughed.