Chapter 56: The Harvest of Seto's Horse

  Wanyan Zhadanuo was extremely furious.

  This young man, the eldest son of Wanyan Zonghan, the first minister of the Jin Dynasty and the Pearl King, was still very young at this time. He had just turned twenty, but he already had a thick beard under his chin, compared to his father's generation, there were fewer scars on his face, only a few faint marks left from the "Blood Tears Festival", basically no battle scars.

  However, this does not mean that he did not go to the battlefield or had never been to the battlefield. Although due to his age, he did not participate in the war against Liao 17 years ago initiated by Taizu with 2,700 soldiers. In the subsequent war process where the Jurchen people became stronger and stronger, he also did not have the opportunity to experience it, but five years ago, in the war that destroyed Liao, he finally had the opportunity to go on stage. Moreover, in that battle, he made a considerable contribution - in fact, at that time, Liao was already weak and struggling to survive. With the military strength of the Jin army, no matter who took part in the battle, as long as they did not make major mistakes, they could make contributions.

  Wanyan Zonghan at this time put his eldest son, who was in his early teens, on the battlefield, just to let his son gain some military achievements and accumulate some capital in the army. His plan was perfectly achieved.

  Later, the Jin State attacked Song twice with a thunderous momentum and destroyed Song in a year and a half. If Yue Fei had participated in the war all along, his merits would have risen rapidly. In addition, the Jin army surrendered a large number of new troops from the Song Dynasty, and the number of troops increased sharply. Before that, the Jin State's national army was only around 100,000 to 200,000, with only a few Tumens (commanders of 10,000 soldiers), but now it suddenly expanded to 300,000 to 400,000, and the Tumen titles were granted to more than twenty people.

  Like Wanyan Zeyu, a member of the royal family of the Jin Dynasty, with a strong background and military achievements, the Jin army generals who had good battle records in the past would naturally be on the list and squeeze into the ranks of high-ranking Jin army generals.

  This time, the war to destroy Song was the most satisfactory battle for Xie Ma. Not only was the battle easy, but also gained a lot of wealth. This Great Song is really too rich. So many beautiful silk fabrics, luxurious gold and jade utensils, fine military equipment, endless rice and grains, and even salt and tea bricks that are scarce on the grasslands... These things used to be exchanged for horses, the closest companions of the grassland warriors. Now, they can be obtained with just a knife and an arrow. Is there anything more wonderful than this in the world?

  Oh, or there's something even better - the women of the Song Dynasty!

  Their fair skin, sparkling eyes, and slender figures, how can they be compared to those coarse women on the grasslands who reek of cattle and sheep? Especially those palace maids, the emperor's concubines, and the princesses of the Song Dynasty... The flavor of Princess Zhao Fugui is truly unmatched. Unfortunately, the most enchanting one, Rong Fu Gong Zhu, is to be given to the Emperor...

  Just thinking of Rong Fu Emperor's daughter, and then thinking of those few water-like princesses and county ladies, as well as that group of concubines and palace maids who were going to be sent to the high-ranking officials in the capital after returning to the upper capital. Suddenly his heart was on fire - all these women were virgins, he hadn't touched any of them! As a result, they disappeared mysteriously overnight.

  It wasn't that mysterious, but someone outside the village killed his deputy, Meng An Guolü. Then, disguised as Guolü, he sneaked into the village at night and rescued all the imperial women. For this, he also played a trick of diversion, sacrificing dozens of lives (due to the coincidence in time, Setiema naturally thought that Guo Zhongyong's raid was Di Lie's arrangement).

  After the incident, Shi Ye Ma immediately took action and mobilized two groups of people. One group surrounded and killed the thieves who attacked the north gate of the camp; the other group pursued the unknown person who dared to snatch food from the tiger's mouth and Zhao Zongzhu's daughters.

  Because it was only in the second half of the night that the disappearance of the women and the body of Guoluo were discovered, the second batch of pursuers set out relatively late, so there was no news until dawn. However, Shi Yema was not worried at all. Those women would never ride horses and could not run fast. Moreover, this team of pursuers he sent out had two hundred Jurchen elite scouts, most of whom were tracking experts, with each person riding two horses. Unless something unexpected happened, they would definitely be able to capture those thieves by noon the next day. Shi Yema had already ordered them to try their best to take them alive, as he wanted to personally deal with them and make them regret being born.

  But who would have thought that something unexpected really happened, and it was extremely terrifying.

  An evil spirit has appeared!

  This evil spirit suddenly appeared, causing the hundred gold soldiers who surrounded and killed the bandits to suffer heavy casualties. Not only were nearly half of them killed or injured, but almost all of their officers were also lost. The collapse of this heavily damaged gold soldier also directly caused the confusion of another late-arriving pursuing soldier. As a result, under the evil name of this invisible and intangible evil spirit, the second route of 200 Jurchen elite soldiers had zero morale, abandoned the pursuit, and returned without success.

  A majestic son of the divine eagle, when has a Jurchen Hanzi ever been so cowardly? Not even seeing the shadow of an enemy and being scared back!

  Xie Youma was furious on the spot, severely whipping the Meng Ke who led the pursuit of the army, and even wanted to order him to be tied to a horse tail and dragged to death. At this moment, the Shaman Da Wu Shi who followed the army appeared.

  The great shaman suggested that Na Muge lead a team of golden soldiers to rush to the scene, so that he could investigate the scene. The Shaman was equivalent to a priest in the Western army, with a revered and transcendent status, and even if Seti Ma disagreed, he had to agree.

  It's already late in the day, shouldn't there be some results by now?

  At this time, the curtain was lifted and two people entered from the front and back. The person in front was short and fat, with rough black skin, a shiny forehead, and a snake-like braid that fell over his shoulders; his features were ordinary and unremarkable, but the scars on his round face made him look ferocious, especially the thick and heavy eyebrows that seemed to be full of evil energy. This person was none other than Jin Jun's powerful general, Ha Su Ge Lu Du Tong, commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army, Tie Mu Ba Jian, known as the "Great King Who Covers the Sky", Wanyan Sai Li.

  Whether in terms of generation or military experience, Gai Tian Da Wang Sai Li was far superior to Shi Ye Ma. He was the grandson of Ambagyan Habudai, a veteran who followed Taizu when he rose up in arms and participated in one of the decisive battles of the Liao-Jin War - the Battle of Ruyang River. In this battle, he was ordered to launch a surprise attack on the Liao Emperor and almost succeeded in beheading him, making his military achievements brilliant.

  After the death of Xie Li, he destroyed Liao and attacked Song. He experienced a hundred battles, from a nameless clerk to the position of Daren of the Imperial Guard, one of the six Tumens of the Khitan people during this southern expedition.

  Although Sai Li is also a veteran, Shi Ye Ma can't be compared. However, considering that Wanyan Zonghan's current momentum is too strong, even the Jin Dynasty Emperor Wu Qimai doesn't take him seriously. This Grand Chancellor of the Great Jin had once performed a legendary drama of slapping the emperor for misusing national treasury funds to build an imperial palace.

  Such a powerful person, even if it's the same royal family as Sari, has to be cautious. So after the three armies merged, Sari willingly became the deputy and let Jiemahar handle things. Anyway, they were just marching, there wouldn't be any more battles, so let him take charge.

  After Sai Li Luo sat down, a person followed closely behind him. He looked similar to Sai Li Luo, but was slightly thinner, with an eight-character mustache at the corner of his mouth, making him look younger. His face had almost no scars, and his fine eyes showed a hint of cunning. This man was Wanyan Zonghan's second son, Sai Li Luo's brother, known as the Great King Baoshan, Wanyan Xiebao, who was currently the commander-in-chief of the seventh route of the Jin army returning north, Meng An Moujin.

  Now in this small military account, the three main marshals of the three routes of the Golden Army have gathered together. They all gather here just to wait for a message.

  Xie also raised an eyebrow and said that these two people had come to say that the news they were waiting for would arrive soon.

  As expected, as soon as they sat down, a report came from the guards outside: "The three kings, the great wizard has returned."

  "Welcome!"

  Before long, the curtain was lifted, and the great shaman, with a bird's feather crown on his head, red, black and white powder on his face, and wearing a wizard robe, appeared inside the tent. Behind him followed that unlucky scout, Mu Ke. Both of them were covered in mud and dust, especially Mu Ke, whose face still had the scars from the whip, mixed with dirt, which had turned into a dark purple color, making his whole face swollen and deformed.

  At that time, the Jurchen people had not been sinicized yet, so they wouldn't have the courtesy of the Song people. They were straightforward and to the point. So, Shi Yema opened his mouth and asked: "Master, how's the investigation going?"

  "Indeed, there is a gain." The Shaman Grandmaster replied, "According to the soldiers who witnessed the explosion at that time, and the explosive residues collected by this master, identified by skilled craftsmen of gunpowder, there are indeed sulfurous powder and other substances, which seem to be similar to the Song army's 'Thunderfire Ball', only with a much larger quantity, and... it seems to have been improved, with extremely great power. It is not what was rumored as some kind of 'Heavenly Punishment'."

  "Thunder fireball? That thing we've seen before, light it up and throw it out to hear a loud noise, just hoping the messy poisonous smoke inside can hurt people..."

  The person sitting opposite him said with a slanted mouth: "Shen Shi said that it was a collection of many thunder fireballs..."

  Sai Li sneered: "Even if you collect a whole car full of that stuff, at most it can only injure a few people, and they have to be very close by. If you really want to kill someone, I'd rather believe it's from inhaling toxic fumes."

  She also Ma pressed down with both hands, indicating that the two should not quarrel. Then he sank and said: "Regardless of whether it is a thunder fireball, at least it proves what Shenshi said, it is just a kind of powerful explosive, rather than some 'heavenly punishment'. Just this point can help our military soldiers eliminate their fear of this weapon and restore their morale. However, there is still one doubt, why did the generals die one after another without any reason? And on their bodies, there were blood holes and even explosions? What is this thing?"

  The great shaman shook his head: "This matter is also difficult for the master to understand, but at the scene, I found this..." As he spoke, he opened his palm, and in it were two deformed spent shell casings.

  Jin Jun's three senior officials took turns examining them, but none of them could say what these two strange little copper grains were.

  In the end, Laozi tossed the spent shell back to the Shaman and said disdainfully: "It must be one of those clever tricks from the Song people. What's so special about it? If you say this thing can kill someone without a trace, I wouldn't believe it even if you cut open my skull. A small stone picked up by me is more powerful than this."

  The shaman stared at the spent shell in his hand, speechless for a moment. Although he was also unclear what these two things were, he didn't believe they were deadly weapons either. But as a shaman's intuition, he always felt that this thing appeared on the battlefield was not accidental. If only one was found, it would not be surprising, but two identical things with blood and brains stuck to them could not help but raise questions.

  At this time, Mu Ge, who was standing at the entrance of the tent, asked anxiously: "Then... is this 'evil spirit' human or ghost?"

  Three big kings looked at the Shaman together. Unfortunately, this most authoritative person just shook his head with a bitter smile and had nothing to say.

  At this time, a loud voice suddenly came from outside the account: "This 'evil spirit' is human rather than ghost!"