If you threaten Jin Wuzhu with millions of allied troops right now, he might go berserk. After all, he's the marshal of 800,000 men; if he loses face, he'll be finished. I promise that keeping it quiet is better than threatening him. As long as our own people don't know about this, we can fight. The lives of 800,000 people are more important than getting angry over a woman.
Jin Wuzhu snorted and turned away. I quickly pulled Baozi and Li Shishi out. 300 soldiers were already harnessed and waiting outside. I pushed them onto the driveway: "You two go first."
Baozi stammered, "Did I almost cause trouble just now? Actually, those two slaps were for Shishi and our child. I was just so angry!"
I comforted her, saying, "It's okay."
When Baozi heard me say that, he leaned against the carriage window and whispered, "If I had known nothing would happen, I should have slapped him a few more times."
I:"……"
The Jin soldiers had already received their orders, so no one stopped us. Because of our arrival, the Allied forces had ceased fire, and these people were quickly seizing the opportunity to scavenge for food. They ignored us as they went, heads down, busy with their tasks. Their skill was evident in their movements; some were too afraid of being outscrambled, frantically digging around, but finding very little of value. The experienced ones, on the other hand, strolled leisurely through the garbage heaps, hands behind their backs, occasionally using small wire claws to gather up the remaining scraps, revealing the more intact pieces of food and noodles—those little claws were remarkably lifelike, their craftsmanship and concept almost indistinguishable from modern ones. This is what they mean by "a skilled craftsman must first sharpen his tools." Through the encirclement by the allied forces, we have taught Jin Wuzhu's soldiers a good lesson in the method of "cultivating oneself with tranquility and nurturing virtue with frugality." Afterwards, many of them would walk around the streets with their little paws, and would flatten anything that looked bulging before putting it in, in order to save space—except for livestock bladders.
Reaching the entrance to the Jin camp, Baozi glanced at the allied forces' camp opposite and said with relief, "Finally, I can go home."
Xu Delong, however, seemed to be deep in thought and said, "If Jin Wuzhu leaves like this, what will happen to our Marshal Yue?"
After hearing his words, I slapped my forehead and exclaimed, "Oh no! I forgot something important!" I turned my horse and rode back. The crowd called after me, "Where are you going?"
I shouted, "You all hurry up and protect my wife and Shishi and get back. I still need to find that brat surnamed Wan (Yan)!"
Chapter 170 The Last Jurchen
I ran ahead, and the others tried to follow, but I shouted, "Go back!"
Xu Delong said, "Let them go back first. What do you want to do? I'll go with you."
Ersha and the others chimed in, "Me too."
I said, "There's no need. I'll go talk to Jin Wuzhu about something he's interested in; there's definitely no danger."
Tong Yuan said, "Since there's no danger, let's all go together."
Seeing their resolute determination, I had no choice but to let Li Jingshui and the others escort Baozi and Li Shishi away first, while the rest of us turned around and ran back towards the Jin army's command tent. Baozi poked his head out of the carriage and shouted, "You better watch out, you old hag! If anything happens to you, don't expect me to protect you..." Before he could finish the word "widow," Li Shishi pulled him back down. Fatty and the others knew that Baozi was just a big talker, but the Jin soldiers were astonished, exchanging bewildered glances, speechless with shock...
We rode swiftly to Jin Wuzhu's tent and strolled inside. Jin Wuzhu was directing several soldiers to pack up their belongings in preparation for retreat. Seeing me, he asked in surprise, "Why are you back again?"
I said awkwardly, "There's something else I forgot to tell you."
Seeing my complicated expression, Jin Wuzhu waved for his men to leave and said, "Speak quickly if you have something to say. I don't want to stay here for another second."
I rubbed my hands together and said, "Well... it's about this. You can't leave yet."
Jin Wuzhu was stunned for a moment, then said dejectedly, "Are you afraid I'll make a comeback? Don't worry, we'll go back to Liaodong to hunt now, and we'll never go south again in this lifetime."
I hurriedly said, "No, no, no, you have to stay and continue attacking the Song Dynasty. The country will be yours to rule for the next few decades."
Jin Wuzhu asked, "What do you mean?"
I said, "We are the ones who should leave; you stay. Doesn't your Jin Dynasty want the Song Dynasty's rule?"
Jin Wuzhu angrily retorted, "Are you toying with me? Even if our Great Jin is outnumbered, we will not allow you to treat us like this. If you clear the way before nightfall, all will be well; otherwise, our 800,000 warriors swear to fight you to the death!"
I understand why Jin Wuzhu is furious. To anyone, the request I'm making right now is an insult. The Northern Song Dynasty was utterly defeated by his 800,000 Jin soldiers. Now that we have a powerful allied army of 3 million, there's no reason for us to hand over this prize so easily.
I waved my hands back and forth and said, "Don't be angry, maybe I didn't explain myself clearly. Besides, if I really just wanted to disgust you, would you have come here yourself?"
Jin Wuzhu was about to tear us to pieces with his blades, but after hearing what I said, he calmed down temporarily and asked with a livid face, "What exactly is your conspiracy?"
"Come on, it's a long story. Let's sit down and talk it out calmly."
Jin Wuzhu reluctantly sat down, glaring at me intently.
I chuckled, gathered my thoughts, and then said leisurely, "How should I put it? Let me ask you first, if it weren't for us, would your Jin army have already conquered Emperor Huizong's empire?"
Jin Wuzhu snorted and said, "That's about 80% likely."
I clapped my hands and said, "That's right, let's start from this point. Logically speaking, we shouldn't exist. Your Jin Dynasty is destined to occupy half of the Song Dynasty's territory—General Wan, do you believe in fate?"
Jin Wuzhu: "..."
I continued, "If you're an atheist, then let's look at it from another angle. Have you ever heard of our millions of people before?"
Jin Wuzhu said thoughtfully, "That's true. I only know that you are the 109th bandit leader on Liangshan, but I didn't expect that a bunch of bandits could have such great abilities. We Jurchens speak frankly, so please forgive any offense."
I laughed and said, "It's alright, you're right. Besides, our Liangshan is actually only a small part. Don't you think a mountain can house more than 3 million people?"
Jin Wuzhu said, "I know you people are a coalition, but I don't understand how you're allied."
"Then let me tell you, our allied forces are composed of troops from the Qin, Chu, Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties—you've heard of the others, except for the Yuan and Ming, right?"
Jin Wuzhu looked confused: "Is Qin the same Qin that unified the seven kingdoms?"
I pointed at Fatty Ying: "To be honest, this is His Majesty Qin Shi Huang."
Jin Wuzhu coughed violently, then covered his neck, his face flushed, and said, "Are you playing me again?"
I could tell that he was already somewhat convinced, so I said earnestly, "Whether he is Qin Shi Huang or not is not important. But if he is not, which other countries in the world today can unite so many elite troops?"
Jin Wuzhu glanced at Ying Pangzi, then asked me somewhat timidly, "He... he's still alive?"
I took the opportunity to carefully introduce myself and then told him about the origins of the allied forces. Finally, I pulled a Qin crossbow sticking out from the tattered tent roof and said, "Well, this is Terracotta Warrior No. 2. It's a new type of weapon fired by the Qin army and manufactured by the Tang army. Now you should believe me, right?"
Jin Wuzhu stood up, nodded to Qin Shi Huang, and said, "My apologies, but to be honest, I admire you very much."
The fat man reached out and pressed his hand on his, saying, "Okay, have a seat."