South of Guyuan Prefecture.
On the east and west banks of the Qingshui River, troops and horses traveling southward were flowing for twenty miles.
People shout and horses neigh, the sea boils and the mountains are destroyed, dust rises up, covering the sky and the sun, the rivers become chaotic, and the day becomes dark.
Liu Chengzong sent his troops southward, but before the troops arrived, the generals guarding Wating Pass retreated. The patrol officers fled in a hurry, and the postmen opened the city to surrender.
After crossing Longshan Mountain for a few days, people from all over Guyuan Prefecture watched the wind and descended. Liu Shizi's troops plundered Qingping Garden, Heishui Garden, Kaicheng Garden and even Han Fan's herding station. There was no place where they could rob war horses, donkeys and mules. Let it go.
Not only did they acquire over 10,000 war horses, donkeys and mules, they even absorbed thousands of surrendered soldiers.
Recruiting and surrendering is easier than fighting. After all, once they reach their territory, they can't fight again and again. The defenders are hungry and just take away all the family members and soldiers.
It's not troublesome at all. Anyway, the number of hungry and destitute soldiers who still have families at this time is already very rare, and most of them are singles.
Immediately we turned to Longde County, Pingliang Prefecture. Fangcheng, a small county in Longde, seemed insignificant.
However, despite Yang Dingrui's strong dissuasion, the Lion Battalion did not besiege Longde County. They only stationed troops after plundering horses from pastures in the suburbs to purchase winter supplies from the people.
It's August now, and the weather will get colder in the blink of an eye. The team is getting bigger and bigger, and no matter how hard we collect winter supplies, we can't get enough.
There was no other reason why Yang Dingrui did not let Liu Chengzong attack the city. This small town was named Deshun four hundred years ago and belonged to the Xixia Kingdom. The guard, Ma Jianlong, was not afraid when the Mongolian army invaded the country.
Although the city eventually fell and people died, in the general environment of that year when the city was defeated and the wind was coming, he took the initiative to attack and won a victory on the first day when the Mongolian army arrived in Deshun.
Yang Dingrui did not advise Liu Chengzong to waste his time and morale on attacking the city. They had more important things to do - saving the King of Han.
To save King Han, we must first put him in an unsafe situation.
The men and horses of the Lion Camp headquarters could not move, and Sunday Qiang was nearby, so he could only send a message to his eldest brother in Zhenyuan County. Liu Chengzu quickly sent back news, informing him that the team had entered Pingliang Mansion via mountain roads in light equipment.
When Liu Chengzong learned about the composition of this team, he laughed happily. He can always trust his eldest brother.
Liu Chengzu knew the importance of this mission and could not make any mistakes in the show, so he sent Luo Rucai to lead the team, mobilized some people from the Zai Department and Li Laojiu Department of Han Dynasty, reorganized them, and handed them over to the Guyuan soldiers from Wang Wenxiu's Department.
In particular, Luo Rucai's group of Hua Sisters, including himself, were stripped clean and put into Guyuan Army uniforms as much as possible, and these Yan'an people were not allowed to speak.
All the matters that required opening one's mouth were done by Wang Wenxiu's Guyuan soldiers.
This team of nearly 2,000 people sneaked across Liupan Mountain and arrived at Kongtong Mountain to the west of Pingliang Prefecture on the third day of departure.
“Grandma’s is suffocating me to death!”
Luo Rucai rested in the mountains while holding on to the iron lock road donated by Prince Han's Palace. He took off his helmet and was sweating profusely from exhaustion.
He looked down at the vast plains of the Jinghe River Valley to the east, with fertile fields reaching as far as the eye could see. It wasn't until his eyesight was exhausted that he could see the outline of Pingliang Prefecture in the haze at the end of the fields.
Luo Rucai raised her finger and pointed: "Did you see it? You can see it from so far away. There are high walls everywhere in the city."
Kongtong Mountain is like a Hanwang Mountain. The temples and Taoist temples on the mountain are all repaired by the Hanwang Palace. Either Zhu Zhenren built it or the Han Fanzong Wang Madam donated money to build it.
Yang Chengzu was also exhausted and sweating profusely. He regretted it and said: "If I had known that I should imitate Uncle Luo, I would have rested at the foot of the mountain. I didn't understand. The handsome man's family are all talented people, and they like to visit famous mountains to pay homage." A monument."
"Why do you, Cao Cao, love climbing mountains so much? You haven't seen enough of the mountains in Yan'an Prefecture?"
Luo Rucai rolled her eyes at him: "You think I want to go up the mountain? Before setting off, the boss specifically told me that I had to climb the mountain to overlook the terrain. He also said that there is a Taoist Palace on Kongtong Mountain, where the Yellow Emperor met Guangchengzi and worshiped. The Zhenwu Emperor must have an expert."
The boss he was talking about was not Liu Shishi, but his general Liu Chengzu.
Yang Chengzu rolled his eyes and said: "It's none of your business to be a Taoist master. I'll bow to you when you ask the handsome master to call me in the palace."
Luo Rucai smiled and said: "You call me Handsome Master, you are more affectionate than me calling you Marshal. I didn't realize it. You Yang Chengzu, a tough guy, also learned that. What is flattery?"
"Flattery."
Yang Chengzu made up for him, then waved his hand and said: "This is not flattery. If it weren't for Handsome Master, I would have been eaten by wolves in the ravine. I can't be called my savior."
"Master Yang is right!"
As Luo Rucai said this, he knelt down on the ground with a playful smile and kowtowed to Yang Chengzu three times. Yang Chengzu was almost frightened and fell to the bottom of the mountain. He hurriedly dodged: "You, you, you, what are you doing?"
Luo Ru just stood up and wiped the mud on his head from the sweat and dust. He still looked like a playful smile: "If Mr. Yang hadn't cut off the queen, Xiao Luo would have died in that ravine. It's not an exaggeration to kowtow to my savior."
Yang Chengzu laughed and cursed: "You still do this to me, we are better than anything else alive... We have finished overlooking the bird's eye view, let's go down the mountain and attack the city?"
Luo Rucai waved his hand, glanced towards the mountain, and said: "The work is not done yet. The boss wants to kidnap a master and go back. It's best to kidnap a few more apprentices."
With that said, he directed the soldiers behind who were still climbing the mountain and gave them the order to kidnap the Taoist priests on the mountain.
"Why are you kidnapping a Taoist priest?" Yang Chengzu was stunned: "Who is the boss planning to save?"
"Excellent asshole."
Luo Rucai pointed to the west: "The commander-in-chief wants to go to Qinghai, which is a place for pirates, you know, right?"
Yang Chengzu nodded.
They, the officers of the two battalions, had heard about this, but it didn't matter where he went. He had been running back and forth for more than a year, experiencing life and death several times.
"To the south and the north, where can we tolerate crazy visitors?" Yang Chengzu read a poem by Song Jiang and clenched his fist: "Let's fight. The northern pirates can dominate that country, but the western pirates can't? Let's make a move in the past. Please do it.”
"That's right. But in the past, if you were unfamiliar with the place, you would definitely have to attack them. Others believe in Fan religion, but you still believe in Fan religion after being surrendered. How can you trust them, and how can you distinguish yourself from the enemy?"
Luo Rucai repeated what Liu Chengzu said to him, and raised his hand very relaxedly and proudly: "Taoist, it's a pity that Wang Ziyong is a high official, otherwise he would be better than the old Taoist."
Speaking of this, Luo Rucai sighed and said with envy: "What the boss wants is to build a Taoist temple on a high mountain and make a true martial statue in the shape of the commander."
Yang Chengzu swallowed his saliva, polished his chin beard with one hand, and pinched his knuckles with the other hand to calculate secretly, muttering something in his mouth: "Two battalions of fifteen sentry commanders, captain...can we cast thirty-six divine generals?"
He made some calculations and realized that he was now in charge of Luo Rucai's team in the Yuzi camp. There were too many people competing for the thirty-six generals under Emperor Zhenwu, but there was still a chance.
He just asked, knowing that Luo Rucai’s words didn’t count. Yang Chengzu’s whole person became murderous: “For meritorious service, let the handsome man cast a bronze statue for me!”
Luo Rucai was also stunned.
This is an illusory and meaningless thing at the moment, but... becoming a god?
He can also be admired by people from generation to generation like Guan Yu.
Like Mu Ying, who has died two hundred years ago and is still guarding his land and fighting for him?
Just thinking about this, Luo Rucai's body felt like an electric current was flowing through his body, numbing him from his Tianling Cap to his tail bone.
Making him smile with joy: "You, you mean, I can also make a bronze statue and stand it on the mountain? Damn it, Lao Luo's family is going to be in trouble!"
After a while, the subordinates who went up the mountain tied up seven or eight Taoist priests and came down.
It's strange to say that the same military uniforms and armor look majestic when worn by others, but look like a group of defeated soldiers when worn by people like Luo Rucai, so there is no need to act.
The Taoist priests were frightened and frightened at first, and their livers trembled with fright when they saw this group of prostitutes. They thought they were the guards of Prince Han's Mansion. The middle-aged Taoist priest who led them said as they walked: "General, I want to see Han. king!"
The soldiers reported: "Boss, this is Zhenren Ha from the Dao Palace. His ancestor is Ha Zhao, the commander of Pingliang Guards in Tianshun year."
Luo Rucai was reminded by Yang Chengzu and felt that she also had the opportunity to be worshiped by the statue, and she felt that the Taoist priest especially liked it.
When I heard this last name again, I felt even happier.
My ancestry is Mongolian, this is not only a professional match, but also a match of blood!
"Release the old gentleman quickly."
Luo Rucai was overjoyed and immediately untied the Taoist priests and said, "Come with us, you will be in great need!"
Master Ha and his disciples didn't know what was going on, so they asked a group of stragglers from the Luo tribe to escort them down the mountain.
The ambitious Yang Chengzu was determined to make meritorious deeds, so he asked Luo Rucai to personally lead two groups of people into Pingliang City.
Now they have broken two cities with Liu Chengzong, once by infiltration and once by storm, and have gained some experience in sinking the city.
Pingliang Fucheng is obviously not an easy city to conquer. There is a martial arts arena in the west of the city and an Wengcheng in the west gate. If you want to conquer it, you can only sneak in, but it is difficult to conquer the palace.
But as the saying goes, a Han Dynasty is half the city of Pingliang. Yang Chengzu took off his armor, changed into civilian clothes, and pretended to be a pawn and a trafficker when he approached the city. Only then did he know what this meant.
The city is wide in the west and narrow in the east, long and short horizontally, and lies across the Jing River Valley.
It is not just a city, but connected cities. Standing on the hills in the south of the city, you can overlook it. Between the mountains and rivers outside the west gate are the gardens, terraces and pavilions of dignitaries. The water-milled bamboo forest is rich in fruits and vegetables.
The West City is a complete city with four gates, an urn city, a high-walled courtyard, the residences of princes and princes, academy military guards, government offices, Shaanxi Taipu Temple and Pingliang Yuanma Temple, all occupying the city.
Among them, there is an inner city with a wall two feet high, which occupies a quarter of Pingliang. Yang Chengzu estimates that it is the palace of Prince Han.
In addition to the Beimen Wengcheng north of Liuhu Lake, a small city was built with the north city wall as the south wall, enclosing the pavilions, terraces and waterside pavilions of the dignitaries' courtyard.
Outside the urn in the east of the city, the east wall was also used as the west wall, and a folder city was expanded to the east. To the east of the folder city, there was another city, called Dongguan City.
Looking from west to east, within twenty miles of the three inner and outer cities, there are all red walls and tiles, and they are all the residences of dignitaries.
Within Dongguan, there are many heavy buildings, which is a prosperous place for industry and commerce. To the east of Dongguan, there is another small town. To the east of the city is the pagoda Yan'en Temple.
This is truly a prosperous scene that Yang Chengzu has never seen before in his lifetime. There are many palaces, mansions, general villas, and shops, with red walls and green tiles everywhere, and noble costumes walking through it.
However, the elegance, splendor and beauty of the pavilions and terraces are not conspicuous in this city.
On the contrary, at the feet of Yang Chengzu, at the corner between Dongguan City and Dongwai City, there are thatched houses and brick-walled houses in disrepair, spreading all the way to the east valley along the roots of the city wall and the willow trees on the river bank.
In the distance, there are a series of barren graves and grassy hills, and the naked people are mixed in among them, which makes it look very dazzling.
Yang Chengzu stood on the hilltop and spat into the ground: "Pingliang Prefecture has built five connected cities, but why are none of them for ordinary people to live in? They are all mansions for dignitaries?"
This city is difficult to break. The most difficult part is the martial arts field and the garrison outside the city. Therefore, he sent someone to report to Luo Rucai. If he could seize the Xicheng Pass, he must not loot the bustling city outside. He first captured the Xicheng Pass.
He rubbed his sweaty palms and raised his arms to point to the bustling Dongguan City: "Go there first to find out the news. If it doesn't work, then climb up from the south wall of the West City tonight. These cowards who are afraid of death have built the city into a state of ruins." It’s so solid, it’s hard to mess with.”
There are clear distinctions between the poor and the rich, so how can they sneak into the city?
After that, Yang Chengzu carried the iron chain and the stick, and led the cart towards the slums at the corner of Dongguan.
It was difficult for his team of mules to move outside the city. There was no obstruction by the government or army, but there were too many beggars along the street.
A walk outside this city brings more emotion to Yang Chengzu than the two years he spent fighting for the invaders in Yan'an Prefecture.
The men who had been slaves to the prince for half their lives in the fields, their backs bent by the wooden plow and their trousers clinging to their skinny legs, rushed to beg for work from the foreigners who came to do business.
A little girl of thirteen or fourteen, an aunt in her late teens, standing in a piece under the thatch edge with a dirty tattered cotton-padded jacket in the white open air where the heat was receding.
The Yiwei in Feiyu uniform covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief and stood in the distance with a frown, disgusted with everything around him. His servants picked through the crowd and led three or five women back.
The ones who were chosen happily kowtowed in thanks, while the ones who were not chosen hugged their legs and pulled their clothes and cried all over the place. Even if they were beaten to death and their appearance was broken, they would not cry.
He just huddled on the muddy street corner, aggrieved and confused, and continued to secretly look at the passers-by with eyes full of hope.
Yang Chengzu leaned on the stable railing outside the car shop and watched the whole process coldly. He didn't see any payment from beginning to end, or in other words, he didn't need to pay.
The clerk at the car shop was pouring out the sewage. When he saw Yang Chengzu in a daze, he smiled and said, "Guests, please stop standing in the stables. This is not always the case in Pingliang City. It's just that there is no other way in the year of disaster. It is also a good thing to be bought by the palace to train music and dance." "
Yang Chengzu turned around and smiled at the waiter: "Do they always come out to buy people?"
"There are many palaces in Pingliang city, and there are always noble people going out of the city. Sometimes they are not the buyers. They just take them back if they like them. Our car shop is good at this. We can always see the noble people. Without their money, Pingliang It’s already been a mess.”
Yang Chengzu smiled with satisfaction, went back to the car shop, found out ten taels of silver, let the clerk look at it, and said: "That's a good thing. I have a lot of good treasures. I want to meet a general and lieutenant. The store can help me bring him back. This is How about yours?"
The little boy smiled happily when he saw the money: "If the guest can give half of it first, the matter will be taken care of by the villain."
"Isn't that easy to say?"
Yang Chengzu gave the money and looked at the boy's back as he happily ran to the city gate. He smiled and shook his head.
“These are such nice looking trees.”
Yang Chengzu raised his neck and looked at the ancient trees that had taken root in the mountains for hundreds of years, thinking: There should be not one too many, not too few. Each tree should have its own clan.
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Note: For the layout of Pingliang Prefecture, please refer to "Pingliang Prefecture Chronicles" written by Zhao Shichun during the Jiajing Period.
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