While he was talking, Brother Zhong had already assigned scouts. As an experienced general, his deployment was impeccable: he first sent dozens of cavalry to go around to the shallow water upstream to wade across the river, then occupied the surrounding high places to confirm that there was no enemy ambush, and then Only then did they pull six or seven thick ropes across the river dozens of meters downstream of the shallow water, let the cavalry parade along the thick ropes, and then let the large group of infantry cross the river. In this way, even if a few people are knocked down by the current when crossing the river, they can hold on to the thick rope and will not be carried away by the current. They will be rescued by the cavalry soon after. Everyone saw that there was no obstacle to crossing the river, and their morale was high. In just half a day, five or six thousand people crossed the river.
It was getting late. Brother Zhong finished inspecting the camp and came to the Shishang Shrine. Different from the Buddhist temples brought from the mainland, the Shishang Shrine still maintains the simple, gloomy, mysterious and primitive style unique to the primitive religion. The shrine is located in an ancient forest. For thousands of years, axes and saws have not entered it. Here, thick and thick black tree trunks are crowded with each other. The twisted branches weave a dense and towering tree top overhead, deformed. The intricate knots of roots are wrestling with each other underground. This is a place of deep silence and suffocating shadows. Every visitor who enters this place instinctively holds his breath and tiptoes.
Brother Zhong followed closely behind the priest. The priest was wrapped in a black robe, with only a pair of eyes exposed. He walked through the forest without making any sound. He seemed to be a ghost rather than a human being. The forest was covered with rotten fallen leaves, and as long as you stepped on them, you would fall into them. Brother Zhong tried his best to keep up with the pace of the sacrifice. Just when he thought he was about to be unable to keep up, the pace of the sacrifice stopped, and in front of him There is a clearing in front of him, and in the center of the clearing is an ancient oak tree, an old oak tree that blocks the sky and the sun.
"This is it!" The priest's voice was low and rich: "It was here that Emperor Jimmu defeated the Nagasuihiko Army (the indigenous leader who occupied the Yamato area at the time in myths and legends). After the victory, Emperor Jimmu set up a ceremony to thank The gods of heaven and earth took off their swords and enshrined them under this tree!"
Brother Zhong looked in the direction of the sacrificial finger and saw a small shrine at the root of the ancient oak tree. The stone statue in the shrine had a long and melancholy appearance, and its sunken eyes were strange and had nothing like the Buddha statues in Buddhist temples. Tranquility and grace. There is a long knife on the knee of the stone statue. It has almost no decoration and looks simple and majestic.
"Is that the stone statue of Emperor Jimmu?" Brother Naka asked in a low voice.
"I don't know!" The priest shook his head: "Some people say yes, and some people say this is the stone statue of Goose Mikoto. He was the eldest brother of Emperor Jimmu. He was shot by Nagasuihiko and later died of his injuries. The succession of the emperor After defeating Chang Suiyan, he left his sword with his brother to prevent him from being harassed by local ghosts and gods after his death."
Brother Zhong took a deep breath, took a step forward, knelt down, and bowed his head in salute.
"I want to borrow the Budu Soul Control Sword!" After a few minutes of silence, Brother Zhongda said. His eyes still stayed on the face of the stone statue and refused to leave, as if he wanted to carve the face of this strange stone statue into In his own mind: "Whether you are Emperor Jimmu or Goose Mikoto, you are all my ancestors and descendants of Amaterasu. My eldest brother wants to imitate you and turn the land under the sun into A part of the Yamato Kingdom, because I am not strong enough, would like to lend me the sword of the Budo Tamashii. When I fulfill my ambition, I will return the sword and build a larger shrine to enshrine you!"
After finishing speaking, he kowtowed twice, then picked up the long sword from the stone statue's knees with both hands, raised it above his head, bowed to the stone statue twice more, stood up, tied the long sword around his waist, and turned towards the outside of the forest. Go.
When the eldest brother walked out of the dim woods, the sun shone on his face, and he was a little dizzy for a moment. He looked in the direction of Asuka Kyo and saw several thick smoke rising into the sky. Brother Naka quickened his pace, came to his mount, got on his horse, pulled out his long sword, raised it high above his head, and said loudly: "This is the sword of Emperor Jimmu's Budo Tamashii. It is in my hand now. Look over there. The thick smoke, the rebels are escaping, speed up the pace, don't miss the opportunity to build meritorious deeds!" After that, he kicked the horse's belly, and the horse rushed down the mound with a splash. The accompanying guards hurriedly followed, and the army Like a giant worm, it slowly moved towards Asuka Kyo.
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"Saitama has left?"
Brother Zhong was not surprised at all by this answer. He knew very well how fast he could gather his troops. Even if he moved to another place, the only way was to quickly evacuate Asuka Jing to avoid its sharp edge.
"Yes, we boarded the boat last night!" The answerer was an old man over fifty years old. Brother Zhong could only think that he was a distant relative of Brother Sugachi, and he was probably a mediocre person with little ability. Otherwise, I won't have any impression.
"Get on the ship?" Brother Naka stroked the beard on his chin: "She must have fled to a certain county in the Western Kingdom. She has many manors there." He didn't care much about Saitama's escape. It seems that he has lost the reputation of the central government and has no outstanding generals around him. Saitama is already in danger. All he needs to do next is to give the local secretary of state a piece of paper to get Saitama back.
"What about the Tang envoy?" Brother Zhong asked, "Do you know his whereabouts?"
"I don't know!" The old man shook his head blankly: "But I heard that a few days ago, after Princess Saitama defeated the traitor Fuyu Fengzhang who set fire to the capital, she made the envoy of the Tang Kingdom an internal minister with a big purple crown. This is not blind. Are you kidding?"
Listening to the old man's indignant complaints, Brother Naka couldn't help but laugh. In his opinion, this was one of the few wise actions of Saitama. It was a great deal to be able to bring Datang here with the official position of an internal minister. It was a pretty good deal, but it was a pity that fortune was on his side. Thinking of this, he reached out and touched the handle of the knife at his waist. The attendants on the side saw it and hurriedly took the old man away, leaving only a series of complaints.
"Your Majesty!" The deputy general's voice broke Brother Zhong's good mood: "The granary and shipyard have been burned down. The general has sent people to make repairs, but it is said that the damage was very serious. I'm afraid not many can be saved! "
"I understand!" Brother Naka nodded: "This is indeed a big trouble. It seems Saitama has learned a lot. I will write to the surrounding counties and send some food as soon as possible!"
"I'm afraid it's too late!" the lieutenant whispered: "There are at least 30,000 people under your banner. It will take at least half a month to transport food from the surrounding counties to Asuka. At that time, there will be no food. I suggest you ask the residents of the capital Collect food!"
"No!" Brother Zhong rejected the subordinate's suggestion without hesitation: "Those who have food in the capital are either the royal family, nobles, or shrines and Buddhist temples. Confining food from them will definitely cause big trouble!"
"No! I heard that the rebels put grain out for a few days before burning the granary. As long as they are residents of the capital, they can take as much grain as they want! Now even ordinary people in the capital have a lot of grain in their hands. We are completely These grains can be collected!"
"Putting grain before burning the warehouse? This is not something Saitama would have come up with!" Brother Naka frowned: "Is it the envoy of the Tang Dynasty? Why did he do this? I understand -"
"What's wrong? Is there any mystery here?" the deputy general asked curiously.
"It's very simple. He wants to provoke a conflict between me and the people in the capital and force me to withdraw from the capital!"
"How is this possible?" the deputy general laughed: "You have been in power for more than twenty years, and the people in the capital have been deeply favored by you. How can they oppose your ascension to the throne?"
"You still don't understand!" Brother Naka shook his head: "You immediately send a detachment to occupy Nambazu. I have an ominous premonition that things may not be that simple!"
On the evening of the next day, Brother Naka's ominous premonition was confirmed. The detachment sent to occupy Nambazu encountered resistance. Two "giant ships" overturned the bamboo raft and sampan they were riding on, and rushed to the survivors on the water. Some people were shooting arrows, and according to the testimony of local residents, the defenders of Namba Tsugami had blocked the river not long ago, and drove all the ships transporting tribute grain from various countries to the dock of Namba Tsu to berth, or drove them back. There had been some time on the river. There are no ships going to Asuka Kyo on that day.
"Damn it, it really is like this! It must be the evil idea that the Tang envoy came up with!" Brother Zhong angrily swept the pen and ink on the table to the ground, as if a strong wind swept across the entire table. The officers looked at each other and held their breath. Breathe, no one dares to face the King's wrath.
"His Majesty!"
A few minutes later,
The deputy general finally confirmed that the eldest brother had vented a lot of his anger, and then asked cautiously: "You just said that this was the idea of the envoy from the Tang Dynasty. This is because-"
"Because Saitama is just a cunning little woman. She doesn't understand what real military matters are!" Brother Naka took a long breath, suppressed the anger in his chest, and decided to explain his current dangerous situation to his subordinates. : "We have now fallen into a big trap spun by the envoys of the Tang Dynasty. Our current situation is very dangerous! Very dangerous!"
"I still don't quite understand. Didn't we just capture the capital? This is obviously a great victory!" the deputy general asked doubtfully.
"Yes, this is the most dangerous part of this trap!" Brother Zhong showed a wry smile: "First of all, I have a large army under my command, and the larger the army, the more food it eats every day. And the granary in the capital has been burned down , and he controlled Nambajin, and controlled the most important channel for countries to transport food to the capital."
"We can collect grain! Didn't he release a lot of grain to the people in advance?" the deputy general asked.
"This is the viciousness of this trap! Do you think you would be willing to hand over the food at this time?"
The officers looked at each other, and one said: "Of course they are reluctant, but we have 30,000 troops, so they have to hand it over even if they don't want to!"
"We have 30,000 people, but most of these people have temporarily taken refuge with me. After arriving in the capital, I have lost most of my control over them!" Brother Zhongda said: "What do you think if we start to collect grain? If so, will they only collect food from ordinary people and let go of shrines, temples, and other nobles?"
The officers shook their heads. They all knew that the army in the hands of Brother Zhongda was a temporary defection. There was no roster, no military pay, or even an ordinary organization. The only thing that could maintain them under the banner of Brother Zhongda was to obtain official status and ensure that The desire for one’s own land. Brother Zhongda's control over such an army is very limited. If it is just a war, it is fine. If it is a collection of grain, they will not distinguish between ordinary people and wealthy families in shrines and temples. They are more likely to take advantage of the opportunity to grab a fortune. The result was naturally that the wealthy members of the shrines, temples, and royal families of Asukakyo put this account on Nakadai-nii's head, and went too far in secretly collaborating with Saitama, thus losing the support of these people. Nakadai-nii, let alone the emperor, was even linked to Nara. I can’t even stay in the basin.
"If we get to that point, we will become rebels!" Brother Zhong looked coldly: "Do you understand now? The Tang envoy is turning my army into a knife that stabs my chest. How vicious!"
"Your Majesty, is there no other way?"
"Other ways?" Brother Naka shook his head: "The only way is to capture Nambazu and open up the waterway from all countries to Asukakyo. The Nara Basin is surrounded by mountains on three sides and faces the sea on one side. The advantage is that it is easier to defend, but the disadvantage is that if The land route for transporting grain is very rugged! One stone of grain is transported from Omi, and when it reaches Asuka, only less than two bushels are left, and the rest are eaten by the peasants on the road!"
"Then let's start the attack tomorrow!" An officer said with a smile: "As long as we can win, everything will not be a problem!"
"Yes, as long as you can win!"
"That is, we have 30,000 people, and our morale is high. The rebels only have a few thousand people at most, right? And they have just escaped from the capital, so their morale must be low, and they are definitely no match for us!"
"Your Majesty, please give the order. We will definitely take down Namba Tsu!"
Facing the enthusiastic call for battle from his subordinates, there was no joy on Brother Zhong's face. He shook his head: "You don't understand. According to the art of war of the Tang people, you must not do what the enemy wants you to do. Attacking Namba Tsu is what the Tang people hope. What we are doing, this battle must be very, very difficult!”
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Namba Tsu.
"Here, and here, the wall doesn't need to be too high, seven feet is enough! Yes, seven feet is enough!" Wang Wenzuo was inspecting the fortifications while issuing orders to the interpreter on the side.
"Seven feet? Is this short enough?" Saitama asked nervously: "Why not be taller? If you are seven feet tall, a woman can turn over!"
"No matter how high the city is, as long as it is
Whatever is built by man can be turned over! Wang Wenzuo smiled and said: "And we have limited time now. The most important thing is to let the enemy bleed enough!"
