In the midst of the chattering, the two of them, one in front and one behind, headed towards the ancient site of the Spring and Autumn Period, the so-called Nine Dragon Well in Meteor Garden. When they arrived at the place, they saw a well-protected ancient well, a pavilion on top, and a plaque with the title of the No. 1 Pavilion in the World... But the old Taoist led the young man to the secondary well on the side.

It is called a secondary well, but it is just one of the eight new wells that were forcibly built to complete the story of the Nine Dragon Wells when Laozi was born. It is not a historical site, but simply made of cement with a cement bottom, two meters square and less than two meters deep... Rather than a well, it is more like a wide-mouthed cement pit.

The young man followed the Taoist priest to one of the wells. He stuck his head out and saw a little pug lying motionless at the bottom of the well, which was more than one person deep. It only kicked its legs occasionally to show that it was still alive. Around the puppy there were a pile of coins, copper coins and other objects of blessing.

Seeing this, the young man just frowned slightly and was about to put down his backpack and jump down. However, when he supported the edge of the well with both hands, he didn't know why he always felt unwilling to help with this small favor, as if someone would die if he went down the well this time.

Seeing that the young man was so ignorant, the old Taoist sighed, but suddenly his eyes turned angry:

"You don't want to save him, you don't want to leave, are you trying to fool everyone in the world?!"

"How can a mere dog be involved with the whole world?" The young man frowned instantly.

"No matter what, since you have promised me, you should be honest, right?" The old Taoist shouted vigorously, leaning on his broom. "Young man, you are hesitant and don't have integrity. How will you enter the society in the future?!"

The young man was just about to say that he had found a job and was a member of society, but the old Taoist suddenly raised the broom, pushed hard, and easily pushed the young man into the well.

After falling into the well, the young man suddenly heard a dog barking and then became dizzy.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

In the daze after the barking of the dog, Zhao Jiu vaguely heard human voices, and suddenly sat up from the cold tent, then sweated profusely, his heart pounding like rain. It took him a long time to realize that he had just dreamed. The first half of the dream seemed to recall the origin of all this, as if he had experienced it all over again, vividly; the second half was extremely absurd, but it seemed to be a self-expression in the dream.

"It's good that the emperor has woken up." Yang Yizhong was relieved to see this.

Zhao Jiu turned around to look at Yang Yizhong, who also looked extremely bad, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and then tried to comfort him: "Don't worry, Zhengfu (Yang Yizhong's name), I just had a nightmare."

Yang Yizhong was cautious and hesitated to speak.

"Is there something wrong?" Zhao Jiu asked instinctively.

"General Liu has crossed the river." Yang Yizhong spoke carefully in a low voice.

"What?" Zhao Guanjia was confused again. "Who?"

"General Liu, the governor of Fengguo Army, is leading his troops across the river." Yang Yizhong became more cautious.

"I told him to send the old, weak and redundant militiamen here, but I didn't let him come?" Zhao Jiu seemed to remember an order he issued yesterday or this afternoon, but he became more confused. "Is he afraid that I will punish him?"

Yang Yizhong looked extremely embarrassed.

"Tell me the truth!" Zhao Jiu was completely impatient. "What's going on?"

"Liu Taiwei led his elite troops to seize the ferry, but left the old, weak and local militia in Xiacai." Yang Yizhong was obviously in a very difficult situation. "The commotion in the evening was caused by Liu Taiwei personally leading his troops to seize the ferry crossing in Xiacai City."

"How do you distinguish between the elite and the old and weak under Liu Guangshi's command?" Zhao Jiu asked carefully in confusion. He knew that Yang Yizhong was a subordinate of Zhang Jun.

"His 3,000 Western Army headquarters, 2,000 Wang Yasha troops, and 3,000 Fu Qing troops who surrendered in Jingdong have all crossed the river intact." Yang Yizhong gritted his teeth and said, "That's fine, but just now, I don't know if it was because of the instructions of General Liu, the last group of Fu Qing troops actually set fire to Xiacai Ferry when they left. Now Xiacai City and General Zhang's troops in the city are nearly 20,000 people and have become an isolated army... I am a guard and should not ask about this matter. It was only when I saw the fire on the other side that I secretly went down to ask my acquaintances in the Western Army, and then I learned the inside story!"

Zhao Jiu was stunned for a long time, and it took him a lot of effort to figure out the specific situation of Yang Yizhong's report. When he suddenly came to his senses, he ignored the cold weather and ran out of the tent, rushing to the top of Linhuai Mountain where the view was excellent. He saw that the ferry at the foot of Bagua Mountain all the way to the camp at the pass was already bustling with people. He didn't know how many soldiers had arrived, and there was indeed a fire somewhere in Xiacai City on the opposite bank.

Emperor Zhao was completely bewildered at first, then he was furious, blood rushing to his head. He was about to turn around and call for help, but unexpectedly Yang Yizhong came out of the tent at a very fast speed, and kneeled down on the ground desperately, grabbing the emperor tightly:

"Your Majesty, please be patient! You must know that there are only a few thousand civilians near Bagong Mountain at this time, and the available troops are only Hu Yantong's troops and a few hundred squads. How can they be a match for the eight thousand elite troops of General Liu?!"

Before he finished speaking, someone came running over from afar. They were several eunuchs who shouted, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty! Commander Liu of the Fengguo Army, Commander Wang of the Imperial Camp, and Minister Wang of the Privy Council, all come to see you!"

After hearing this, Yang Yizhong didn't dare to say anything, but he couldn't help but use more force with his hands.

Zhao Jiu snorted coldly and tried to shake him off. Under the light of the campfire, his face looked ferocious but also smiling, as if he was mocking himself: "Let them come! All of them! Prime Minister, scholars, censors, and generals in the camp, all come!"

PS: We continue to dedicate our lives to Yu Ze, the guardian of "The Emperor's Uncle of the Ming Dynasty", and the "global escape" journey of Zhu Gaoxu, the King of Han of the Ming Dynasty!

By the way, continue to wish everyone a happy new year!