"Master, it seems that we are late. The road ahead is full of traces of large troops rushing past."
A servant said to Hu Yan.
"Where are those traces?"
Hu Yan narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Just three miles ahead."
The servant replied.
"Go over and have a look."
Hu Yan opened his mouth and rode past.
Not long after, I saw a mess on the road ahead.
"Sir, the Governor of the Ming Dynasty sent an order, and everyone immediately went to the front to intercept at Xiao Qiangkou."
At this time, the servant took a piece of news and ran over.
"Xiao Qiangkou."
Hu Yan raised his head slightly and followed the traces of the road from a distance. This road led to Xiao Qiangkou.
Presumably, another caravan escort team discovered it first and quickly sent a message to the governor.
"Set off."
Hu Yan glanced slightly and spoke calmly.
"My master has ordered us to set off for Xiaoqiangkou."
The servant suddenly shouted.
"Don't go to Xiaoqiangkou, go to Hungry Tigerkou."
Hu Yan said, pointing to the south direction.
"But sir, Lord Governor..."
The servant spoke in shock.
"The governor must not have seen these traces in person. Although it is messy, there are very few human footprints. People who don't often do business can't see it, but people who do business often can spot it at a glance."
"This is a blind trick behind thousands of mountains, leaving the hungry tiger's mouth."
Hu Yan said.
"Brother!"
"Brother!"
"Absolutely not!"
"Even if this is really a cover-up trick by Queen Wan Shan, the order from the Governor has already been issued."
"To go the other way is to disobey the order. The only way to capture the Queen of Wanshan is, but the Queen of Wanshan has a team of 3,000 escorts. We only have more than a hundred. Even if we guess the direction, we are definitely no match. .”
"Why don't you obey the governor's orders?"
"Even after leaving Wanshan, it has nothing to do with my Hu family."
Hu Yan's clan brother Hu Bin ran over and said.
"well!"
"You think I don't know this?"
"But these days, the conflict between us and the Li family has become more and more serious. Dai Viet has voted for the Ming Dynasty, and Li Ji Ya's power has become stronger and stronger."
"If we can't take the wrong approach and gamble on a way out, we will be harmed by Li Jiya."
"If it works out, my Hu family will be lucky enough to be spared. If it doesn't work out, the people present will just be beheaded. In that case, why not take a gamble?"
Hu Yan sighed.
"But brother..."
Hu Bin would like to say again, after all, it is better to live than to die, although now the Hu family is suppressed by the Li family to the point where they can hardly hold their heads up, their industry has been greatly damaged, and they have even been reduced to the point of being recruited as a small chamber of commerce.
But if we continue to linger, we can still survive for a few more years.
"Shut up!"
"I've made up my mind. If you don't want to go, you can run away now."
Hu Yan spoke coldly and headed towards the hungry tiger's mouth with his forbearance.
Hungry tiger's mouth.
It is the other end of the fork in the road that Wan Shanhou chose before.
This is also the reason why Hu Yan made such a judgment. After all, the Lancang Kingdom has many mountains and few fields, and the roads are very closed, not to mention extending in all directions.
There aren't many side roads along the way, so if you see through the deception, it's very easy to guess.
"Brother Wan, the front is the Hungry Tiger's Pass. After passing the Hungry Tiger's Pass and entering the territory of Ava, we can rest, right?"
Wang Zhi asked to Queen Wan Shan.
At this time, his face was pale and his lips were chapped. He had been fighting for a whole day and a night without losing any water, and he had been fighting continuously. The spirit of the entire team was almost reaching its limit.
If everyone hadn't been very aware that the Ming Dynasty merchants and bodyguards were constantly encircling and suppressing them all around, I'd be afraid that every one of them would have given up their choice and run away.
"Well, once we get out of the hungry tiger's mouth, we are completely out of their encirclement. From now on, the sea is wide enough for fish to leap, and the sky is high enough for birds to fly."
"Let me tell you, after passing the hungry tiger's mouth ahead, we will eat and rest where we are."
Wan Shanhou nodded slightly.
Everyone was running around all night, and his condition was not much better. At this time, his mouth was dry, his mind was in a daze, and his eyes were blurry.
If it weren't for the will to survive that kept him going all the way, he would have passed out directly at this time.
After all, although his physique is stronger than Xiao Han, there is a limit to how strong he can be.
Even in the past when caravans delivered goods, Queen Wan Shan would arrange for her confidants to take care of them while she read at home. How could she endure such hardship?
If he really wanted to continue running, the others walking would be able to persevere, but he, the leader on the horse, might not be able to persevere.
"That guy riding the horse is the Queen of Wanshan!"
Before everyone could get too far in excitement, suddenly, a low cry came from behind the mountain in front of them, and then a shell roared towards the back of Wanshan.
Most of the horses in the team had been taken away by the lone wolf before. Currently, only Wan Shanhou and Zhou Dexing are still riding horses. Even Wang Zhi and Cheng Jian had no choice but to hand over their horses.
Facing the roaring shells, Wan Shanhou felt his blood surge instantly.
But his body after a meal had left him no time to move the horse, so he could only let go of the reins and get off the horse.
boom!
When the cannonball fell, the horse under his crotch was hit hard, and his flesh and blood were all bloody. The blood splashed onto Wan Shanhou's body.
"waste!"
On the top of the hill, Hu Yan saw that the shot failed to kill the man on the horse, but instead attracted people including another man on horseback to surround him. Hu Yan knew that he had guessed correctly. After choosing one of the two, Queen Wan Shan was selected directly based on the slight difference in body shape.
boom!
"Fire the arrow!"
Hu Yan directly picked up a Ming-style crossbow and shouted loudly.
Whoosh whoosh!
Arrows poured directly in the direction behind Wanshan.
This is why Hu Yan dared to rely on more than a hundred people in his headquarters to intercept Wan Shanhou's capital.
Each merchant bodyguard team was assigned twenty Ming military crossbows, which could shoot hundreds of arrows in a short time.
If those previous escort teams acted steadily, they would still be able to stop Wan Shanhou and his party.
However, the proportion of Ming soldiers in the team was not average enough and their quality was not good enough. In addition, everyone was so panicked that they could not show their due combat effectiveness at all.
Facing the arrows whizzing towards him, all the blood drained from Wan Shanhou's already pale face.
Hu Yan didn't want to give him a chance to live at all, so he aimed at the area where Wan Shanhou was. When he came up, everyone emptied the magazines, not the crossbow arrows.
"Brother Wan!"
Just when Wan Shanhou was almost desperate, Wang Zhi suddenly rushed over and directly used his size advantage to pin Wan Shanhou underneath him.
Poof!
Poof!
Crossbow arrows pierced Wang Zhi's body fiercely, shooting out streams of blood.
"Wang...Brother Wang..."
Wan Shanhou felt the weight of Wang Zhi on her body, and her lips kept trembling.
"Wan... brother, take everyone... to survive. Only when you are here will... have the opportunity... to help me take care of my family..."
Wang Zhi said this intermittently, and died before he finished speaking.
"Tenai's!"
"If you can move, shoot me! Fire arrows! Counterattack!"
Wan Shanhou clenched his fists and roared.
Whoosh whoosh!
Bang bang bang!
Suddenly, the Wanshan rear escort team, who had been beaten at a loss, woke up from a dream and began to fight back.
"Damn it!"
"Let's go back and apologize to the governor."
Hu Yan waved his hand angrily and decisively ordered a retreat.
There is no way, there is only one cannon and twenty Ming military crossbows here. Such equipment cannot defeat three thousand people with perfect accuracy.
Going head-on is nothing more than sending someone to death. If you go back to plead guilty, you will be beheaded, but you won't be punished. You can count on living a little longer.
Hu Yan withdrew, and Wan Shanhou and others briefly counted the team, took the bodies of the dead and moved on, finally entering the territory of Ava.
British government.
"Build the stronghold road in the open, and spend time in Chencang secretly."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk!"
"This businessman actually knows the art of war. Although he is clumsy, he does have some skills."
"It's not surprising that they were able to deceive the merchants I sent there."
Xiao Han shook his head slightly.
"Actually, not all of them were deceived, right? Wasn't there a businessman who saw through Wan Shanhou's strategy and disobeyed orders and pursued him?"
"Speaking of Feng Xue, are you really planning to drag him away and kill him in accordance with military law?"
Zhu Biao said.
"Military law must be followed, but whether or not to chop him down depends on his performance."
"I have read the news about this person. He is a direct descendant of the Hu family of the Yue Kingdom and the rival family of the Li family of Li Ji and Mo. They have been suppressed quite miserably these days due to the strong incorporation of our Ming Dynasty."
"We have to show off even at the risk of disobeying military orders. It seems that we are planning to take risks."
The corners of Xiao Han's mouth raised slightly.
"oh?"
"If you don't kill him, how can you explain it using the Ming Dynasty's military law?"
Zhu Biao felt interesting.
"On the battlefield, adapt to circumstances, block the enemy, and inflict heavy damage to the enemy."
Xiao Han opened his mouth and came.
"What if it's cut?"
Zhu Biao asked again.
"That is a direct disobedience to military orders, and you will be killed according to the law."
"His kind is originally between the two. No matter how he is judged, he did stop Wan Shanhou, but he didn't stop her."
"Stopped, but not completely stopped."
Xiao Han chuckled.
"interesting."
"Then under what circumstances does he qualify to survive under your hands?"
Zhu Biao asked with a smile.
"Then it depends on his ability. He is not qualified to be a waste of my chess pieces, but he is not qualified to be punished lightly by me."
"Of course, if you, His Royal Highness, are interested in winning people's hearts, you can come over and sing a song about saving people under the sword."
Xiao Han spread his hands.
"Ha ha!"
"You have said so, then if you are a waste, you are naturally not qualified to be saved by my sword."
"By the way, in the past few days, we have started trading with Canyuan. Wang Baobao is very cautious and strictly instructs the chiefs of each tribe not to sell too many cattle, sheep and horses. They can only come to Daming to buy what they need. See how you can give them to us. The consumption enthusiasm of these Mongolian people has added fuel to the fire."
Zhu Biao smiled and spoke.
"Oh, I have a passion for consumption. You have learned well."
"It's simple. If they can be suppressed by Wang Baobao, they haven't seen enough advantages to offend Wang Baobao and Emperor Xuanguang."
"We just give them some obvious bargains and they will naturally become impulsive."
Xiao Han said to Zhu Biao.
(End of chapter)
