Volume 3 Chapter 28: Like Black and Yellow (Part 2)
As soon as he was forced to stop by the earth-shaking shout, Marshal Kong, who was extremely skilled in military skills, secretly cried out in dismay.
But there was no time to think about it, as dense drum beats rang out throughout the camp, and almost at the same time, the square fence of the entire Song army camp was pushed down from the inside. Then countless soldiers of the imperial camp, who had been prepared and waiting for the opportunity, poured out of the camp, shouting and charging towards the drums.
Kong Yanzhou was indeed the little Yue Fei. Seeing this situation, he knew that the surprise attack was a joke, so he changed his mind immediately. It was just a flash of thought in his mind, and before his own stunned front army could react, he gave up the attack and leaned over to ride his horse and flee to the right.
At this point, I can neither fight nor stay, so I have to leave.
Besides, it was getting dark and the rain was about to come. If he could take advantage of the situation and escape into the hilly area around Mount Tai in the east, he might even be able to save his life... And as the saying goes, as long as the mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood. Kong Yanzhou still had a long time to live.
Of course, after all, Marshal Kong himself probably didn't notice that at the critical moment of life and death, he still couldn't let go of his rich and comfortable home in Yanzhou, and couldn't let go of the plates that needed twenty or thirty young maids to carry for a meal, so he instinctively chose the direction of his old nest.
However, no matter whether it was Yanzhou or Diezi, or whether they reacted quickly, it was all in vain, because as soon as they turned around and walked less than a mile, not even out of the camp of Yue Fei's troops, on the battlefield where they could still see clearly, a cavalry of four or five hundred people came towards them and went straight for Kong Yanzhou.
Kong Yanzhou only realized at this time that it was meaningless for him to react one or two steps earlier, because if he were Yue Fei, he would definitely place his elite cavalry on both wings in an attempt to outflank and block the enemy.
The only difference is that there is a single character "Zhang" on the flag in front of him. It seems that he must be an old acquaintance of his, Zhang Xian. We don't know what Zhang Xian's name was after he changed it, but before that, he was also a recognized scoundrel in Xiangzhou. I wonder if he can be tricked into doing what the storyteller calls "Guan Yu releases Cao Mengde out of loyalty"?
"Kong Liuzi! How could you fall into my hands?" The two groups of cavalrymen were too obvious on the plain battlefield. Zhang Xian had a clear target. When he saw that it was Kong Yanzhou, he was almost overjoyed and shouted on his horse. "I will kill you today and use your head to sacrifice to Zhang Xianggong and Xu Qing!"
After he finished speaking, the commander gave a whistle, and the hundreds of riders behind him shouted and accelerated.
Marshal Kong was completely helpless, so he could only hold up his spear and shout: "Follow me to kill Zhang Si, and when we return to Yanzhou, everyone will be rewarded with four wives!"
But after he said this, no one responded... You have to know that this is not right even on a battlefield with tens of thousands of people, because as the main general and the Marshal of Qi supported by the Jin people, he always has hundreds of core cavalry soldiers behind him.
For no reason, Zhang Xian shouted with all his might, and his cavalrymen made a great noise, but no one responded when he shouted himself?
Therefore, even though he knew it was a life-and-death moment, Kong Yanzhou couldn't help but look back... and at first glance, he saw that Marshal Kong, who was a scoundrel and murderer when he was young, was completely panicked today, or even for the first time in his life in this battle.
It turned out that the more than one hundred armored cavalrymen behind him had fled with him before, but after running into Zhang Xian's cavalry team that had ambushed on the flank, they immediately lost their desire to fight, and each of them scattered and looked for a way out. No one paid any attention to Marshal Kong anymore.
In panic, Kong Yanzhou turned around and instinctively wanted to dismount and surrender, but unexpectedly Zhang Xian and his cavalry had already rushed to him.
When the first few riders charged forward and thrust their spears diagonally, Marshal Kong's horse neighed and fell over.
The Qi marshal fell awkwardly on the wet and hard ground which was still warm. As soon as he turned over, several riders swarmed over him, hacking at him with swords and stabbing him with spears.
In just a moment, this legendary figure who had traveled between Song, Jin and Qi for decades in another time and space, suppressed Zhong Xiang, massacred Hunan, married his own daughter, and later actually participated in controlling the main force of the Jin army, and was not killed by the Jin people until the Wanyan Liang period... In this life, he only had time to enjoy dozens of plates before he died in this battle in Dongping Prefecture.
After his death, no one shouted for revenge for Marshal Kong. Even for the Qi army, the war situation did not become worse because of his death, because it could not get any worse.
It must be understood that the Qi army was originally surrounded and was a desperate group, making a last-ditch struggle.
Therefore, when Zhang Rong did not seize the opportunity to attack, Yue Fei had already prepared the entire army early, so that after he shouted the words "Kill Kong" that shocked the world, the so-called dying struggle was just a joke.
The rain was getting heavier and the battlefield was becoming muddy, but fortunately it was a plain area and there was still a long time before sunset. The nearly 50,000 troops from Yue and Zhang's two armies won their respective victories and immediately advanced towards each other, completely plowing up the Qi army like plowing the land.
It is said that at this time, the sun was heading west and gradually setting. Its color was golden. The ground was dry in summer, and it suddenly rained, and the color was dark and deep. The sky and the earth were hazy with rain and dust. Although there was no sight of the soldiers rushing, one could hear the neighing of horses… Yue Fei, who was almost taking a walk, led the more than a thousand Beiwei troops, which had been established only a month ago and were so-called modeled after Han Shizhong, to advance westward calmly. They arrived at a high hill with slightly undulating terrain in the plain of the battlefield, and stopped their horses on the hill in the rain, gazing at the setting sun in the west and the battlefield. Everything he saw was hazy, yet colorful. It was a rare moment to sigh at the wonders of the world, and his body and mind were shaken for a moment.
After all, at this moment, although it cannot be said that dragons are fighting in the wild and their blood is dark yellow, it can also be said that the chariot is on the high hill and my horse is dark yellow.
While a battle destined to go down in history broke out in Dongping Prefecture, the weather in Bianliang was as dull as usual and people were calm.
However, Emperor Zhao rarely felt that life was boring today, because he was eating melons with several of his husbands in the sunset. Moreover, this time they were not eating the common crisp melons on the streets, but watermelons that made Emperor Zhao extremely happy.
We haven't seen each other for so many years, how could he not be happy?
You must know that watermelon was introduced to China hundreds or thousands of years ago, but perhaps because the variety has not been improved, it has always been a luxury grown in places with plenty of sunshine in the Western Regions.
However, it was during this era, when the Song and Jin dynasties coexisted, that large watermelons with green skin and red flesh, which were suitable for widespread cultivation in the Central Plains and Jiangnan, finally appeared, and were almost the same as those in later generations.
Moreover, it was after the situation between Song and Jin stabilized that this kind of watermelon began to become widely popular and became a necessity for Chinese people to cool off in the summer.
The exact origin of this breed improvement that is enough to merit sainthood is not clear at all, but it was most likely bred in the Yanyun area by the Liao people who controlled the Western Regions during the Liao Dynasty.
Of course, back to the present, this kind of watermelon is not yet popular enough for everyone to eat. It is still a luxury that only people in the north and the west can enjoy. The watermelon that Emperor Zhao ate today was brought from Hebei by Gao Jingshan, an envoy from the Jin Dynasty.
There were three in total. Perhaps in order to keep them fresh, one was not cooked yet. There were two left, one big and one small. The small one was given to Concubine Pan and the two little princesses, but Emperor Zhao did not give the big one to Madam Wu. Instead, he summoned several husbands and the Chief Censor to come to the palace to eat the melons.
Three ministers, a Chief Censor, the so-called ministers of the outer court, and then an attendant scholar Xiao Lin, a Liu Yan, a chief escort Lan Gui, the so-called confidants of the inner court, plus an official, eight grown men eating a melon, just to try something new.
"Has Gao Jingshan been sent away?"
In the pavilion beside the pond, which had been cleaned up relatively cleanly, Zhao Jiu took the lead in eating the melon, asked someone to carefully collect the seeds, and personally wrapped them with a small cloth, then stood up and took the lead in washing his hands in the copper basin beside him, which was quite comfortable. However, after sitting down, after all, several husbands were there, so they couldn't help but talk about some trivial matters of state affairs.
"Don't worry, your Majesty. I have already sent him away." Prime Minister Wang Boyan quickly replied. "According to your Majesty's request, I sent him two dead rabbits that I killed myself as a return gift."
Zhao Jiu nodded slightly.
Li Guang, the Imperial Censor, could not help but frown: "I don't know what these Jin people are thinking. They actually came from Daming Prefecture to mediate the war between the Song Dynasty and the Pseudo-Qi Dynasty... The Song Dynasty and the Pseudo-Qi Dynasty are irreconcilable. Don't they know that they set up the Pseudo-Qi Dynasty?"
"They are not really here to mediate." Zhao Jiu laughed. "They are not really here because of the order from Beijing. They must have seen Li Kui and Li Bao's large army crossing the river in Daming Prefecture, and they knew it was not good, so they took the initiative to come here to tell me that it would be fine if we won in Dongping this time, but if we march to Jinan, although they are unwilling, they have no choice but to lead the main force to fight in the summer."
Several people present nodded, but Li Guang was slightly embarrassed.
By the way, Yue Fei was not a bad person. When he sent out his troops that day, he calculated the time well, and he also asked Li Kui, Li Bao and others who took a detour from the west of Liangshanpo to send official notices to Tokyo, Nanjing and other places to report his plan.
In other words, the imperial court at least knew at this time that Yue Fei was about to encircle Dongping Prefecture.
It was just that due to the speed of information dissemination, we didn't know that the encirclement had been completed, nor the various incidents that followed quickly, let alone the decisive battle today.
In any case, since the military plan had been delivered and was already in the second half of the implementation period, it was somewhat embarrassing to point out that the front army of the imperial camp did not move at Wenshui that day, and then use this as an excuse to impeach Yue Fei for his incompetence.
Therefore, the debate among the officers, which Emperor Zhao had been looking forward to, just started and disappeared in half a day.
"Your Majesty," Lu Haowen saw that Li Guang was a little embarrassed, but he took the initiative to speak in the pavilion to ease the atmosphere. "Then what does your Majesty mean? Are you going to send troops to Jinan?"
"I don't think so!" Zhao Jiu said indifferently. "It's still the same as before. In everything, we should accumulate strength first. After all, no one knows what the new round of invasion by the Jin people will look like after the autumn. We should not waste too much energy on the Pseudo-Qi... So when Dongping Prefecture faces the Pseudo-Qi, we should still be fast, accurate and ruthless. It's like shooting an arrow. If you hit it, it's a hit. If you miss it, it's a miss. Don't fight too long, and don't get stuck in the quagmire."
"I think so too." Lu Haowen nodded quickly. "Our food, fodder and money are still very tight. There are complaints in the southeast and Jingxiang. The government has opened a special examination and sent people to reward Prime Minister Zhong. It's only now that we are somewhat relieved. We can't get involved in it and waste people's hearts in vain..."
"Not only that." Zhao Jiu took over the conversation and sneered. "Gao Jingshan hurriedly brought three watermelons this time. Although he anticipated the setback in the war in Dongping Prefecture and did not want to expand the dispute in the summer, he might have intended to provoke us. He secretly hoped that we could send troops to Jinan to fight Liu Yu, who would have to defend desperately."
"That's true." Xu Jingheng and Xu Xianggong also twirled their beards. "The government might as well send a gold medal to the front line to give Yue Pengju some reminders."
Zhao Jiu was stunned for a moment, and always felt that something was wrong, but after thinking about it, he nodded: "Okay."
“It’s more than that.”
Wang Boyan also continued to remind him. "The Privy Council has already discussed that after this battle, compared with Jinan, a more important thing is to recover Yanzhou, and the most critical thing is to deal with Zhang Rong of Dongping Prefecture... Why don't you first send a gold medal to Yue Fei to stop fighting, and then send another gold medal to ask him to bring Zhang Rong to Tokyo to see you after the battle? In my opinion , if Zhang Rong is willing to come to see you, he is a man who can be used and saved!"
Several gentlemen nodded, and Emperor Zhao also nodded in agreement after thinking for a moment.
Seeing the three ministers speak out and then easily decide these important frontline issues with the emperor, Li Guang, who was attending such an occasion for the first time, got rid of the embarrassment, but also realized that this was the so-called "monarch and ministers discussing politics", and it was also what a civil servant pursued and expected all his life.
Therefore, the Chief Censor thought about it and felt that no matter what, as the head of the Censorate, who was known as half-prime minister, he could not remain silent like the eunuchs such as Lin Jingmo and Liu Yan, and he had to make some suggestions no matter what.
At this point, Li Zhongcheng showed some seriousness and responded, "Your Majesty, although Yue Fei has a military report saying that he is preparing to encircle us, the Pseudo-Qi has a large number of troops in Dongping Prefecture. Moreover, the traitor Liu Yu and the Pseudo-Governor Li Cheng, the Pseudo-Prime Minister Hong Ya, and the Pseudo-Marshal Kong Yanzhou are all capable people. We should not underestimate them... Even the Pseudo-Crown Prince Liu Lin is said to be quite a hero. Why not issue another gold medal to let Yue Fei be careful and not be careless, so as to avoid military mistakes?"
Zhao Jiu was stunned, and was speechless for a moment facing Li Guang who was full of expectation. But at this moment, a clear cough from Prime Minister Lu next to him made Emperor Zhao realize that this was the first time that the newly appointed Chief Censor had made suggestions on military and national affairs, and even if it was nonsense, it should be taken seriously.
Therefore, Zhao Jiu immediately became serious and answered earnestly: "Zhongcheng said it well. I also heard that Liu Lin and others are all heroes and should not be underestimated. I will let Liu Yan send the Royal Red Heart Cavalry to deliver several gold medals in batches, so that Yue Fei on the front line will know the importance and make sure that nothing is lost!"
Li Guang was relieved immediately.
In the setting sun, the emperor and his ministers in the pavilion were all happy after eating the melons.
The rain was getting heavier, the setting sun was still there, in the northeast of Pingyin City, Dongping Prefecture, near the central military tent of Liu Lin's camp, Zhang Rong, the pacification envoy of Dongping Prefecture and the chief of Liangshanpo, had his arms open, revealing his dark chest, but he was looking at a cart of crisp melons in front of him with a frown on his face, while several men dressed in short clothes were kneeling on the ground beside him, waiting for him, regardless of the dirt.
"You said you were a local melon seller in Jinan, but two carts of melons were robbed by some pseudo-Qi soldiers right after they were picked, and they were brought here to feed the chief officers? And they only ate one cart of melons, and then we came here?" After a long pause, Zhang Rong finally asked.
"That's exactly what happened!" The leader raised his head and spoke with an unmistakable Jingdong accent. "Big leader, we are not soldiers, we are just ordinary melon sellers in Jinan... Big leader, please go around us, I don't want this cart of melons, I just ask that you allow us relatives to return to our farm in Jinan."
Zhang Rong listened to the explanation without any flaws, and nodded repeatedly, ready to agree. But at this moment, under the dim light, he suddenly noticed that behind the speaker, there was a young man crawling in the mud. Because he had been crawling for a long time, he was washed by the rain, revealing a strong but overly white arm.
It is also thought-provoking.
Therefore, after looking at this man for a while, Zhang Da, the leader, suddenly raised his knife, causing the people on the ground to panic for a moment. While they clenched their fists, they only knocked the melons on the cart in front of them with the back of the knife, and then faced each other seriously:
"You are innocent fellow villagers. How can you lose the melons you worked so hard to grow? I will buy them with money!"
Everyone below was relieved, and the leader kowtowed profusely, praising the leader for his loyalty and kindness.
Zhang Rong tapped the melon again with the back of his knife, but he was hesitant again:
"But I have always lived on the water. I only know how to fish, not how to grow melons. We fishmongers keep them fresh, but can your melons keep them sweet?"
The people below were stunned for a moment.
