Chapter 27: Qilin Mountain Meeting
Last time, Yue Fei found a bound military officer in a small thatched cottage behind the mountain.
Yue Fei turned his head and asked Wan Tingyu: "Fourth brother, who is this?"
"He is your fifth senior brother, Sun Li." Ruan Tingyu said coldly, and seeing Yue Fei at a loss for what to do, he threw out another sentence: "Master told me to leave him on the mountain, waiting for his return." After finishing speaking, he turned around and left.
Yue Fei hastily came forward and helped Sun Li untie his bonds.
Breaking free from the rope, Sun Li tried to get up, but "ouch" and fell back down, apparently seriously injured.
Yue Fei hastily helped Sun Li up.
Sun Li stood up, let out a long sigh, and asked: "Are you Yue Fei, the closed-door disciple of our teacher?"
Yue Fei nodded in agreement. Sun Li asked Yue Fei to help him back to his room, and the two of them slowly made their way back to the barracks.
Sun Li entered Yue Fei's room and went straight to bed, falling asleep without even acknowledging Yue Fei.
Yue Fei had no choice but to put some medicinal wine on the desk and let Sun Li use it himself.
Three days later, Zhou Tong returned to the mountain and saw several disciples gathered together. It was a mixture of emotions.
Several disciples returned to the room and asked about Sun Li. It turned out that Liangshan had returned from his southern expedition, and Sun Li and his brother Sun Xin had escaped unscathed and were rewarded with the title of Wu Yelang upon their return to Dengzhou. Dengzhou was far from the capital city, so Sun Li and his brothers had a relatively stable and comfortable life. Recently, Dengzhou was supposed to send the Flower Stone Gang to the capital. This Flower Stone Gang was a purely golden statue of the East Sea Dragon God, worth 120,000 yuan, extremely valuable. The prefect of Dengzhou ordered Sun Li's son Sun Ping to escort it, and Sun Li, to be on the safe side, also had Sun Xin go along, but an accident still occurred. As a result, Sun Xin and Sun Ping were taken to the capital for dereliction of duty.
Sun Li personally came to investigate, arrived at the mansion of the famous name, and was not received. He only heard that the bandits were on Qilin Mountain, and later was scared away by Zhou Dang, so he personally went up Qilin Mountain to see what happened.
Up the mountain, met Yuan Tingyu, Sun Li suddenly understood. The two men fought, and Sun Li, who was used to a comfortable life, was lax in his martial arts, resulting in a defeat...
Sun Li knelt down in front of Zhou Tong, crying bitterly and begging his teacher for forgiveness.
Zhou Tong's face was dark and gloomy, and he didn't say a word.
Sun Li turned to beg Wan Tingyu for forgiveness.
Yuan Tingyu was not a bloodthirsty person, but previously he had been unable to kill Sun Li because of Zhou Tong's face. Now, however, he had changed his mind and even helped plead for mercy on behalf of Zhou Tong. Zhou Tong let out a sigh of relief and ordered Sun Li to go down the mountain and wait in Qilin Village.
Sun Li returned the pair of gauntlets to Luan Tingyu and left the mountain.
Zhou Tong saw that the Qilin Mountain had changed greatly, and he praised Wan Tingyu. Then, he asked Yue Fei to call up Zhi Ming Dashi and Chun Jiao Shitai, together they went to the newly repaired front hall to discuss matters.
Everyone arrived, and Zhou Dang told everyone about the news he had learned from visiting the mansion of the great noble.
Originally, the Jin master Wanyan Aguda attacked the Jin country and won victory after victory, so he had the heart to destroy the Jin. He wrote a letter to Song Emperor Huizong, proposing a joint attack on Liao from both north and south, and dividing the territory of Liao between them. However, many officials in the court advocated for waiting and observing the changes, while Grand Tutor Cai Jing and the Chief of the Imperial Secretariat Tong Guan strongly advocated for sending troops to attack Liao and recovering the 16 prefectures of Yan and Yun. Emperor Huizong listened to Cai's words and sent troops to Liao.
Cai Jing and Tong Guan assembled most of the imperial court's elite troops, numbering around two million, to march north.
At the beginning of the war, the Song army advanced smoothly and captured several states and counties. However, when they reached Yanjing, they were blocked and unable to move forward.
"Zhiming Shidi, what's your view?" Zhou Dong asked Master Zhiming after briefly explaining the situation.
"Amitabha!" Master Zhi Ming chanted a Buddhist mantra, then said: "As far as I know, the imperial court is suppressing the military to maintain long-term stability. Not only are civilians forbidden from carrying weapons, but also the military generals are being constantly suppressed. All major and minor matters are dominated by civil officials, even in warfare. Military generals fight on the front lines, if they win, the credit goes to the civil officials who supervised them; if they lose, the blame falls on the military generals themselves. This has led to a sharp decline in military strength. The weakness of our combat power is truly pitiful. Since the founding of our dynasty, we have never had any victories in foreign wars, which is unprecedented in the history of our Han people. Even when it came to eliminating the bandits in the south, the imperial court had to rely on the heroes of Liangshan to complete the task. This time, if we're not careful, the Jin state will take advantage of the situation and invade from the north, and our Song dynasty's subjects will be doomed!"
Zhou Tong and Wan Tingyu exchanged a glance, saying: "Zhiming Shidi's words are not wrong. Tingyu returned from the north not long ago, and the situation is even worse than what Zhiming Shidi had imagined."
After finishing speaking, he spread out the thirteen paintings drawn by Lian Tingyu on the desk and explained them again.
Yue Fei felt extremely depressed in his heart although it was the second time he saw these pictures.
"Our Great Song Dynasty is going to deal with the Jurchen people, it's even more difficult than when the Han Dynasty did. Master Zhi Ming sighed: "In those days, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing fought against the Xiongnu, relying on strong crossbows and fine horses. They shot the Xiongnu army into dispersal and defeat. But now, although we still have strong crossbows, we no longer have fine horses. Unless the imperial court can reform itself, give freedom to the people, and unshackle the military commanders, otherwise my Han people will become subjects of an alien tribe, to be slaughtered at will..."
Although that's the case, Heaven will always leave a thread of life for people. Our Taoist teachings emphasize going against Heaven, no matter what, we must first seek self-preservation and see if we can find a way out.
Ladies and gentlemen, the history of Central Plains for over a hundred years later is basically following the path of conversation between Master Zhi Ming and Zhou Tong. Although Yue Fei re-created the Jin State, giving Southern Song a 150-year breathing space, it was eventually swallowed up by the Yuan Dynasty. This is another story.
After the discussion, they decided to form their own army for self-protection. Luan Tingyu was in charge of purchasing supplies, Zhi Ming Dashi and Chun Jiao Shitai were responsible for forging equipment and guarding the mountain stronghold, Yue Fei returned to Qilin Village to recruit soldiers and train them, and Zhou Tong was in charge of overall planning. Soon, Mount Qilin became bustling with activity.
A few days later, Zhou Tong and Yue Fei returned to Qilin Village, where Sun Li begged Zhou Tong for help in rescuing Sun Xin and Sun Ping. Zhou Tong had no choice but to bring another thousand taels of gold to the mansion of Grand Secretary Liang. Indeed, money can make a ghost grind grain, and with the chaos of the times, Zhou Tong's signboard as the number one person under heaven was becoming more useful by the day. Before two months were up, Sun Xin and Sun Ping had also returned to Qilin Village.
Zhou Tong thought that for most of his life he had a good reputation, but now for the sake of his disciples, he also had to use those corrupt officials' methods. He could only sigh in regret.
Half a year later, suddenly Zhi Ming Dashi, Chun Jiao Shitai and Nie Chunxiao returned to Qilin Village with several middle-aged Taoist priests. It turned out that Yue Fei had already cultivated to the point where water and fire were balanced, his aura was golden, and his wisdom shone like a bright moon in the sky, it was time to condense the Golden Elixir. Zhou Dang informed the Transmission Elder of Huashan to come to Qilin Village to transmit the teachings to Yue Fei. Zhi Ming Dashi and Chun Jiao Shitai were responsible for protecting the law, preventing anyone from disturbing him.
Zhou Tong, Yue Fei and the three transmission elders entered Ah Gong's house. Zhi Ming Dashi, Chun Jiao Shitai, Luan Tingyu and Sun Li stood outside, not allowing anyone to approach. Nie Gu Niang was anxious and pacing back and forth in the distance.
The Golden Elixir has always been the most important thing for Daoist practitioners, and the process is also the most perilous. If one is not careful, they may fall into madness or even die, making it a thousand times more difficult than childbirth. Especially for someone like Yue Fei who has never experienced worldly affairs and possesses a rare innate Great Elixir, it's even more extremely difficult. Although Yue Fei has the support of the Huashan sect from behind, he still needs to be extremely cautious.
Nie Gong's daughter had known Yue Fei for more than half a year, and the two were both martial artists with similar interests. Although they had not yet privately settled their lifelong commitment to each other, it was already clear that Nie Gong's daughter would not marry anyone else, nor would Yue Fei take another wife. With Yue Fei in such danger, Nie Gong's daughter was naturally extremely worried.
To know what happens next, look at the next episode.
