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August 14th, cloudy.

Tang Minjie, leading Xu Xiaolin, passed through the city gate inspection as Khitans and headed towards the post station outside the city. The roadsides of the official road outside Yun City were gray and barren, not even a blade of grass remaining.

In the distance were manors, workshops, and crude slums. One could see the walking dead-like Han slaves moving about there. One could also see an old man carrying a small bundle of firewood, walking slowly with a hunched back – in this environment, it was hard to say whether he was really an "old man" or not.

Further away were mountains and trees, but Xu Xiaolin remembered what Tang Minjie had said. Due to the hatred for the Han people, even the trees in the mountains were forbidden for Han people to collect. The houses here were simple, and even if they could keep warm, many people would still die in the winter. Now with this restriction, when the heavy snow fell, this place would truly become a living hell.

He had seen these slums when he came up with the merchant caravan, but he had not felt this way as he did at this moment.

Tang Minjie walked beside him with his head down, saying, "... I couldn't write much about the affairs of the steppe people in the letters. After returning, please be sure to ask Mr. Ning about it in detail. Although the Wu Dynasty did a stupid thing by allying with the Jin against the Liao back then, it was because the Wu Dynasty itself was weak. Now that the southwest war is over, it will take some time to fight north. It is not impossible to try to drive away the tiger and swallow the wolf here. This year, the steppe people came, not to seize the city, but to seize the Jurchen military equipment. I think they are planning something big..."

"I will convey this matter in detail." The issue of the steppe people might become a major policy for future work in the north. Xu Xiaolin understood the key to this, but then he became somewhat puzzled, "But for the work here, there is originally the power to make temporary decisions. Why not make a judgment first and then convey it to the south?"

"Mr. Ning's attitude towards the steppe people is a bit strange. He didn't make it clear at the beginning, and I'm afraid I misunderstood him, or that there are some key points I don't know."

As Tang Minjie spoke, he gave Xu Xiaolin a general overview. Mr. Ning had once been to Western Xia, and after returning, he only said to treat the steppe people as enemies. However, at that time, these steppe people had not set foot in the Central Plains, and the siege of Yun in the first half of the year had not occurred. Mr. Ning's judgment might have seemed simpler. Now that there are more specific circumstances, there can naturally be new ways to respond.

"... Yun was originally a large city, but as Zong Han placed the 'Western Court' here and added hundreds of thousands of captured Han people, the city could not accommodate them in the early years. These villages and workshops were added outside. When the steppe people came in the first half of the year, a small portion of the Han slaves outside the city ran into the city. Most of the rest were captured and driven to surround the city. Most of the surrounding villages were burned once..."

Seeing Xu Xiaolin's gaze on the scenery, Tang Minjie then introduced the surrounding area.

"... The purpose of the steppe people was the military equipment stored in Fengzhou, so they did not carry out a large massacre here. After they left, many people still survived. But so what? The surrounding houses were not good in the first place. After being burned, these newly built ones are even more difficult to live in. Now even firewood is not allowed to be cut. Rather than this, it is better to let the steppe people come a few more times. Their cavalry comes and goes like the wind, and although they are not good at attacking cities, they are good at field battles and like to throw corpses that have been dead for several days into the city..."

"... At that time, Yun had Shili Ai in charge, and the plague did not break out. Most of the other cities could not defend against it. When more people die, the surviving Han people may be better off..."

Tang Minjie babbled, his words as calm as a southwest woman chatting on the road. In the past, Xu Xiaolin would have had many ideas about the consequences of attracting the steppe people, but seeing those hunched figures at this moment, he suddenly understood the other party's state of mind.

After chatting for a while, they joined up with the Khitan merchant caravan that had been arranged earlier not far from the post station. Tang Minjie communicated with the leader of the merchant caravan and then came back to give a few words of caution about the journey. The two separated under the hazy sky. When Xu Xiaolin looked back for the last time, the inconspicuous figure had already merged into the crowd of people going to Yun City and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

...

Passing through the city gate inspection, and then walking through the streets and alleys back to the place of residence. It looked like it was about to rain, and the pedestrians on the road were walking in a hurry, but due to the north wind, the muddy smell on the road was less pungent.

As he approached the dilapidated street where he was temporarily residing, Tang Minjie slowed down as usual, and then circled around to check for signs of trackers.

The sky was gloomy and about to rain, and there were not many people on the road, so it was easier to judge. But as he approached the dilapidated courtyard where he lived, Tang Minjie's pace slowed slightly. A tattered black figure staggered forward, leaning against the wall, and slumped down under the eaves outside the courtyard gate, seemingly wanting to take shelter from the rain, curling up into a ball.

A thought flashed through Tang Minjie's mind. He walked slowly, observed for a moment, and saw that the figure struggled to get up again and staggered forward. He breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards the courtyard gate. Looking to the side, the figure hesitated by the side of the road, and then walked back. Perhaps seeing that he was about to open the door, the figure took two quick steps and reached out to grab him.

"Help..."

Tang Minjie moved to avoid the other party's hand. It was a gaunt and weak Han woman, her face pale with a wound on her forehead, begging him for help.

"Help, benefactor, help... Please take me in for a while..."

In the past decade or so, the Jin Kingdom had successively captured millions of Han slaves. Very few of them had free status. At first, they were coolies and prostitutes like pigs and dogs, and not many of them survived to this day. In the past few years, Wu Qimai forbade the arbitrary killing of Han slaves, and some wealthy families also began to use them as maids and servants. The environment was slightly better, but in any case, too few would give Han slaves free status. Combined with the current environment of Yun Mansion, it could be deduced according to common sense that this woman should be a slave who could not bear it and ran away from someone's house.

Some people were coming towards this side of the street, and they did not seem to have noticed the situation here for a while. The woman's expression became more and more anxious, and her thin face was full of tears. She pulled open her clothes, revealing scars from her right shoulder to her chest. Large areas of flesh had begun to fester and emit a pungent odor.

She cried and said, "If they catch me back, I will die... Please, benefactor, take me in..."

Tang Minjie looked at her. He could not tell if this was a trap set by others.

The servants from some family were running towards this side of the road. Someone pushed Tang Minjie away, and then kicked the woman to the ground, starting to punch and kick her. The woman's body curled up into a ball on the ground, screamed a few times, and was then tied with chains and dragged back like a pig or dog.

Not a trap... This could be confirmed.

Tang Minjie looked at everything blankly. When the servants came over to question him, he took out his household registration certificate from his arms and said in a low voice, "I am not a Han." Only then did the other party leave.

Cold rain began to fall.

Open the door, go home, and close the door. Tang Minjie hurried to the room, found the two books containing some key information, wrapped them in cloth, put them in his arms, and then put on a raincoat and a bamboo hat and went out. When he closed the courtyard door, he could still see the traces left by the woman's beating in the corner of his eye. There were bloodstains on the ground, slowly mixing into the black mud on the road in the rain.

He glanced at it, and then without stopping, he walked through two streets in the rain and knocked on the back door of a house with an agreed-upon method. Then someone opened the door. This was a deputy who had been cooperating with him in Yun Mansion for a long time.

The order for the intelligence work to enter a dormant phase had now been passed down layer by layer. This was the meeting that Tang Minjie had agreed upon with him. After entering the room and doing a little inspection, Tang Minjie got straight to the point and stated his intention.

"From today onwards, you will temporarily take over all my work in Yun Mansion. There are a few key pieces of information. Let's do a handover..."

As Tang Minjie spoke, he took the two books out of his arms. The other party looked puzzled, but first he nodded and began to carefully record what Tang Minjie said.

The whole process lasted for a while. Then Tang Minjie solemnly handed the books over to the other party. After the matter was completed, the deputy asked, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to Shangjing," Tang Minjie said.

The deputy frowned, "Wasn't it said before that even if you go to Shangjing at this time, it will be difficult to intervene in the overall situation? You told everyone to save their lives, so what are you going there for?"

"Take a closer look at the first-hand intelligence. Although we can't intervene at that time, it will be easier to think of a way in the future. The Jurchens in the east and west mansions may fight, but the meaning of 'may fight' is that it is also possible that they will not fight."

The deputy frowned, "... Don't be reckless. Shopkeeper Lu's style is different from yours. He focuses on intelligence gathering and is weak in action. If you go to Shangjing and the situation is not ideal, if you want to force your way through, you will kill them."

"I won't force it, don't worry."

The other party looked over, and Tang Minjie also looked back. After a moment, the gaze was reluctantly withdrawn. Tang Minjie stood up.

"That's it, take care."

"You're traveling two thousand miles north, you need to take care."

The deputy said.

In the process of seeing him out, he couldn't help but urge him, "In this situation, they are sure to fight. You can just watch, don't do anything."

"I know, don't be such a busybody."

...

All the way back to the courtyard outside his residence, the rain seeped into the raincoat, and the weather in August was surprisingly cold. Thinking about it, tomorrow is August 15th, the autumn moon is full, but how many moons are really full?

Tang Minjie stood outside the courtyard for a moment. At his feet was the place where the woman had been beaten and bled earlier. At this moment, all traces had been mixed into the black mud and could no longer be seen. He knew that this was the color of the Han people on the land of the Jin Kingdom. Some of them – including himself – could still bleed red blood when they were beaten, but sooner or later, they would all become this color.

The next day, August 15th, Tang Minjie set off north.

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