汴梁 (Bianliang) to the east, near Qi County, a small village had recently become lively.

Most of the original residents in this area had already moved away. The reason for the bustling activity was the successive arrival of various King-Protecting armies, led by the Wu Rui Camp. More than 60,000 troops had amassed near Qi County.

Even an army of over 10,000 constituted a complete ecosystem. Reaching tens of thousands, the commander's mastery of troop management became a significant test.

With the Jurchen army at the city gates and war imminent, military discipline was naturally much stricter than usual. However, several armies were gathering in this area: the Wu Wei, Wu Sheng, and Wu Rui Camps, each belonging to different high-ranking military officials. Besides these three armies, the Wu Jie Camp's 30,000 soldiers were arriving from the west. Near the capital, except for a few Imperial Guard units with independent designations such as the Peng Ri, Tian Wu, and Long Wu, which had all withdrawn to the capital, there were also some small-scale court forces from various regions, as well as various King-Protecting armies coming from all directions. All were converging here, and every day, the questions of who took whose orders, who to request supplies from, and where to live, became matters of incessant commotion.

The military organization of the Wu Dynasty was already somewhat chaotic. With this gathering of armies, the Pacification Commissioners of each army were, in fact, of equal rank. Gathered together, the armies could not restrain each other. The highest-ranking officials, such as He Chengzong of the Wu Wei Camp (Tong Guan's faction), Liang Zhongshu of the Cai Jing faction, and Huo Jue of the Wu Rui Camp (Right Chancellor's faction), discussed how to fight the upcoming battle every day, but none dared to easily launch an offensive against the Jurchens. After the armies approached each other, countless frictions arose over logistics.

In the capital, the most prestigious and capable leader for this battle was actually Tong Guan—although his reputation in later generations was not high, he was indeed the first military officer of the Wu Dynasty at this time. However, with the Jurchens moving south and the situation in the capital complex and volatile, Tong Guan had a stain on his record for fleeing from Taiyuan, and Zhou Zhe harbored some resentment towards him. Tong Guan himself also shrank back.

Therefore, when selecting the supreme commander for this defense, only the upright Left Chancellor Li Gang stepped forward. Li Gang had long complained about the darkness of the dynasty and the incompetence of the generals. It was said that no one dared to come forward in the court, so the old Chancellor had to say, "If His Majesty does not fear using a civil official to command military affairs, I am willing to do so." For Tong Guan and others, this was tantamount to a slap in the face in court. However, the Wu Dynasty had always used civil officials to command military affairs. Tong Guan lowered his head and said nothing, and Zhou Zhe, seizing the opportunity, happily threw out the hot potato.

After taking over, Li Gang was probably also somewhat indignant. To fill the river, he even demolished Cai Jing's gardens. Although he had been in the position of Left Chancellor for several years, many affairs had been restricted and controlled by others. The truly powerful people in the court had always been Cai Jing, Tong Guan, Wang Fu, Liang Shicheng, and others. The old Chancellor was upright and fiery, not as flexible as the Right Chancellor Qin Siyuan, but this time, with the fate of the dynasty hanging on one person, he vented his anger and slapped Cai Jing in the face, and no one dared to say anything about it.

Of course, these matters were only known to the high-level officials in the capital. Although Li Gang was now the supreme commander and kept the capital well-defended, it was not easy to command the armies outside the city as easily as an arm directing its fingers. In this situation, when various scattered King-Protecting troops outside the city—including some bandits previously recruited—gathered in groups of three or five hundred, the question of who they should listen to and who they should eat with became a troublesome matter.

Therefore, when a young general named Yue Fei arrived in Qi County with his three hundred soldiers and found Ning Yi in a small courtyard in a nearby village, the surrounding situation was in such a state of chaos.

Outside the camp where the army was assembled, there were all sorts of chaotic small military camps, noisy voices, occasional frictions, and daily quarrels over military supplies and provisions, as well as various small war reports and the gathering of the wounded. The well-organized armies did not want to take on more people, but the efficiency of integrating them into the system was too low. The Wu Dynasty's cumbersome system was still in place, and things had not yet reached the point where "everything could be done with discretion." Thus, the whole scene became tense and chaotic.

Yue Fei and his three hundred men were originally stationed near his hometown of Tangyin. When the Jurchens moved south, although Tangyin was not attacked, the various command systems north of the Yellow River were in disarray. When he learned of his teacher's death, he led his three hundred men in pursuit, and when he arrived near Bianliang, he did not know which army to join.

Fortunately, although he was loyal, he was not reckless. After forming his army, he had secretly inquired and learned that his reinstatement was indirectly ordered by Qin Shaoqian. He had never met such a high-ranking court official before, but after arriving near Qi County, he saw the people from Zhuji and came all the way to find Ning Yi.

Zhuji had gathered as many as one or two hundred people here and occupied a large courtyard near the Wu Rui Camp. Yue Fei inquired and learned that the scattered soldiers who had gathered around only knew that people came and went from this courtyard every day, and it was very lively. Sometimes, some officials would come in and out, but no one knew what they were doing inside. Some guessed that they were responsible for transporting supplies for the court, but after Yue Fei reported his arrival at the gate, he only heard someone cursing loudly.

"...You young fools, don't know the importance of things. How many lives are at stake here? Is this a place for you petty people to seize power and stir up trouble! How many people died at Chenghuang Slope, and how many people died in the Yuangang area! I will not let the people under my jurisdiction go to their deaths! If they stay in the city and defend the city walls, they will at least have a chance to survive—"

The cursing was sonorous and righteous. Yue Fei did not know what it was about, but he heard a voice respond.

"Master Yu, I said you misunderstood. The people of Zhuji are only familiar with the surrounding roads and are coordinating the evacuation in the name of the court. My people are coordinating the timing and routes for you. Whether you do it or not, I am just a commoner, how can I force you..."

"You are quibbling!" The man interrupted the other person's words with a shout. "Ning Liheng, do you think I don't know? Although I, Yu Wenfeng, am a small county magistrate, I am not without connections. Zhuji is backed by the Right Chancellor's mansion, and all the matters outside are coordinated by you. Although the people of Zhuji leave after putting things down, a document arrived in the afternoon as soon as I said I didn't agree. Do you think Yu doesn't know what's going on! A great war is imminent, and you are doing such absurd things around here. You are also a well-read scholar, aren't you afraid that the dead under the Nine Springs will not let you go—"

"Someone, send Master Yu away. Master Yu, you are mistaken. If you don't want to evacuate, then don't evacuate. I still have many things to do here, all of which are official duties that have been held back. After this matter is over, I will personally visit and apologize..."

"A true man stands upright between heaven and earth. Ning Liheng, you dare to do it but dare not say it? You dare not confront me—"

Amidst the commotion, he heard the sound of a rude send-off. An official was being pushed out. At this time, people were coming and going in the courtyard. Ning Yi also came out from that door, followed by several people. Yue Fei was about to go up when the sound of a galloping horse stopped outside the courtyard. A person with light martial arts skills ran in and whispered something to Ning Yi. Yue Fei was highly skilled in martial arts and vaguely heard that there were more than three thousand people somewhere. Ning Yi frowned and said in a low voice, "Which army is nearby, the scattered organization? Let the Wenren brothers ask for a warrant. Yong Ge, please take the lead in this matter. As long as there is food, they must leave..."

The person he called Yong Ge was Qi Xinyong, the Soul-Reaping Spear. Yue Fei had met him once in Jiangning. He saw him cupping his fist and leaving. Only then did Ning Yi finally walk quickly towards Yue Fei. "Brother Yue, long time no see, you're here too."

Yue Fei stood straight and cupped his fist. His friendship with Ning Yi was not deep. He had helped save the Su family in Jiangning, and they had met and chatted twice later. Ning Yi regarded him as a "benefactor," but Yue Fei had been taught by Zhou Tong since childhood, and at that time, he was only pursuing bandits, so he did not think it was a big deal. This time, he came to the door, not wanting people to think that he was seeking repayment for a favor.

Moreover, although the two had briefly fought side by side in Jiangning, Yue Fei later learned that this scholar was ruthless. After the massacre, he chased and killed people to Liangshan, slaughtering half of the people on Liangshan. In the end, the evaluation of him in the martial world was both righteous and evil. He had also heard the county magistrate scolding him earlier, so he subconsciously kept some distance from Ning Yi at this time.

Seeing Yue Fei come to him at this time, Ning Yi naturally knew the reason. Soon, he brought Qin Shaoqian to introduce him. At this time, Yue Fei was unknown, but Qin Shaoqian was a great general in the army, who had ambushed the Jurchen army in Shouzhang and lost one eye. He had a lot of dominance and killing intent. Yue Fei only thought that Ning Yi was deliberately trying to build relationships for him. Ning Yi told Qin Shaoqian that this young general should be very good at fighting, but Qin Shaoqian only thought it was a compliment. Then, he asked people to incorporate Yue Fei's three hundred men into the army, provide them with supplies, and then arrange for these three hundred men to be with Zhuji, temporarily under Ning Yi's command and allocation.

Yue Fei's initial employment was through Ning Yi's connections, and this time he was so enthusiastic again. In Qin Shaoqian's view, either he was repaying the favor from Jiangning, or he felt that this young general really had potential and wanted to make a good connection so that he could use him as a thug in the future—at this time, martial men were often despised. Although Qin Shaoqian himself was a military general, only a small military officer leading three hundred auxiliary soldiers, in his view, running errands under Ning Yi's, a staff member of the Prime Minister’s mansion, was not a big deal. Moreover, although at this time, everyone was not sure about the necessity of what Ning Yi was doing, but mobilizing millions of civilians near the capital was indeed very labor-intensive.

One of the main reasons why Yue Fei went south was because of the sacrifice of his teacher, Zhou Tong. Who knew that he would be assigned to a group of merchants who didn't know what they were doing as guards, which was somewhat indignant. However, he had been in the army for several years and understood some things about the army and the officialdom, so he would naturally not do anything out of line. Moreover, during this time, more than 100,000 people gathered, but there were only intense small-scale frictions. Everyone was confronting each other and standing still, which made middle and lower-level officers like him quite confused.

Logically speaking, the Jurchens had already reached the capital, and more than 100,000 troops were gathered here, plus nearly 100,000 in the city, so everyone would want to drive the Jurchens away as soon as possible, but why was everyone living here in such a noisy manner?

Although he couldn't quite understand Ning Yi, Ning Yi didn't want to neglect him. After that, although he was busy every day, he would go over to greet him and chat for a while. When the other party inquired, Ning Yi knew about the unrest inside and outside the capital during this time, but after thinking about it, he could only say, "We are busy with negotiations."

Inside and outside the capital, they were indeed busy with negotiations.

In Bianliang, after the initial round of fierce attacks, the Jurchens sent people to offer peace terms. There were four peace terms:

1. The Wu Dynasty pays the Jin Dynasty's military expenses: 5 million taels of gold, 50 million taels of silver, 10,000 cattle and horses, and 1 million bolts of silk.

2. Zhou Zhe respects Wugumai as his uncle.

3. Cede the three regions of Zhongshan, Taiyuan, and Hejian.

4. Take a prince and a prime minister as hostages to escort the Jurchen army back to their country.

In theory, the war had not yet been fought. The four terms added together were basically non-negotiable for a country. But at least in Ning Yi's information, at this time in the capital, Zhou Zhe was supporting Li Gang's strict defense with great "courage" on the one hand, and on the other hand, everyone was really discussing the matter of seeking peace. It was said that people had been sent to the Jurchen camp twice to discuss the peace talks.

"Inside the capital, I heard that they are in an uproar." As the sun set, Ning Yi looked at the busy camp and sighed to Yue Fei. He couldn't say too much. In the capital, the emperor gave Li Gang the responsibility of defending the city and fighting the war, but in the blink of an eye, he was also discussing peace. Li Gang had already cursed several times in the Golden Luan Hall, saying things like "This makes our friends happy and our enemies happy" and "How can we face those who are fighting bravely in front?" But everyone only mentioned the country and the people, and mostly bypassed the taboo subject at hand.

Zhou Zhe also did not mention it, only appeasing Li Gang, "I want to fight, the country is like this, the fault lies with me, but Prime Minister, for the sake of the country, the soldiers only need to consider fighting bravely, but I have to make two preparations."

After failing to argue, Li Gang also requested that he be allowed to negotiate with the Jurchens. But Zhou Zhe was insightful and did not agree. Finally, he let Li Tui, who was more flexible, go.

Qin Siyuan did not speak during this.

Qin Shaohe had been defending Taiyuan for a month, and now the news on both sides was cut off, and the current situation was unknown. Although Qin Siyuan would never bring the reason of his son fighting on the front line to the court to reason—but that was the taboo subject that everyone could not mention.

After all, the person that the rear wanted to sell was fighting to the death on the front lines…

A few days later, with an imperial edict, Qin Siyuan was dismissed from his position as Prime Minister.