Suddenly, he saw Yuchi Jiming who was out hunting carrying two huge pheasants in one hand and three plump hares in the other. He happily climbed up the mountain. The soldiers behind him also carried their own harvests on their shoulders.
So Qiu Yizhi ordered Zhao Chengxiao to light a bonfire, set up a grill, slaughter and wash the prey, and put it on the shelf to slowly roast it.
After a while, these beasts were roasted until they were charred on the outside and tender on the inside. The fat under the skin dripped into the fire, and the flames immediately "crackled" and jumped, exuding a refreshing and delicious burnt aroma.
It was already past Unity Hour, and half of the sun was embedded in the distant horizon, emitting weak and dim light, barely spreading the last ray of light to the world.
After today's encounter, all the troops were exhausted and hungry. When Qiu Yi saw this, he asked Zhao Chengxiao to pass on the order. In addition to the cooked dry food, the roasted wild animals were also distributed equally among the soldiers and honor guards. The taste of these wild animals is extremely delicious, and the hungry soldiers' stomachs are full of gluttons. As soon as they are given the food, they gobble it up like a wolf.
Pity the Lingnan Road sergeants who led the way and accompanied them. They could only look at the boring rice noodles in their hands. They tasted like chewing wax and swallowed them. It was better than nothing.
By the time all the troops finished their meal, it was completely dark.
While camping in the wild, Qiu Yizhi not only had to guard against sneak attacks by barbarians outside, but also against the invasion of poisonous insects and wild beasts, as well as the Lingnan sergeants around him. After discussing with Zheng Miao, Zhao Chengxiao and others, he called All the pine trees and torches carried by the army were lit up, illuminating a small hill as if it were daytime, so that people inside and outside could give up their evil intentions.
Zhao Chengxiao still felt uneasy, so he divided his sergeants into four teams and took turns to patrol. The other troops also slept close to each other and had to get up to fight immediately if something happened.
In this atmosphere, everyone spent a difficult night in the endless mountains of Lingnan.
Everyone woke up very early the next day. After a hasty breakfast, Qiu Yizhi rallied the troops and urged Zheng Yu to lead the way. Then he protected Zheng Miao and continued to move forward along the mountain path.
In this way, everyone walked through the high mountains for two full days, sometimes encountering sneak attacks by small groups of barbarians, sometimes encountering attacks from poisonous snakes and beasts, and finally bypassed the last hill and arrived on a plain between the mountains.
At this time, Zheng Yu ran from the front, pointed to the house in front and said to Zheng Miao: "Your Highness, look over there, that is where my father is."
Zheng Miao looked in the direction of his finger, and sure enough he saw a large-scale mountain stronghold built at the foot of an isolated peak. One of the palace-style houses was very eye-catching. I saw this house looming in the mist in the mountains, but only the green glazed tiles on the roof that reflected the sunlight were particularly conspicuous - these green glazed tiles were used by the feudal lord.
So Zheng Miao became energetic and said, "Then Prince Lingnan must be recovering from his illness inside, right? I've been delayed a lot of time along the way, so I'd better hurry over and convey my condolences."
Zheng Yu did not dare to object, nodded twice in agreement, and then led the army to lead the way.
Qiu Yizhi followed Zheng Miao's chariot on horseback. After walking a few steps, he realized that this place was more like a basin than a plain.
As far as the eye can see, there is only flat land with a radius of more than ten miles. The flat land is surrounded by steep mountains, leaving only a few faint gaps in the mountains to communicate with the outside world - Zheng Miao and Qiu Yizhi came from the northeast. Entering through a mountain pass that can only accommodate one car and one horse.
And on the flat land were acres and acres of neatly cultivated farmland, but there was not a single family in the fields. Instead, there were groups of soldiers lining up in the fields, patrolling and practicing, and occasionally shouting a few slogans. The sound of killing was loud and terrifying.
"Juntun!" Qiu Yizhi said these words softly.
After hearing this, Zheng Miao, who was sitting in the car, looked back at Qiu Yizhi, motioning his sworn brother to come closer with his eyes, and said: "I didn't expect that the King of Lingnan would follow what his father did in Youyan Road and build a Come from a base."
Qiu Yizhi also nodded and agreed: "The prince of Lingnan is really patient and capable. He actually found this geomantic treasure land in this remote mountain. You can attack here and defend it by retreating. Even if you use ten times, A hundred times more troops are surrounding this place, and the fertile fields, woods, and water sources here alone are enough to last for ten or twenty years..."
After hearing this, Zheng Miao's face became more serious: "This is not the country villa of King Lingnan, it is clearly one of his bases. Brother Xian, please go down quickly and ask your men to deal with it carefully, so as not to fall into the opponent's trap."
Qiu Yizhi agreed and asked Zhao Chengxiao to send a message to all the troops to be careful and not to say a word or take a step carelessly.
The troops walked like this between the field camps for more than half an hour, and finally stopped in the center of the basin. What appeared in front of everyone was a large stone wall nearly two feet high.
Qiu Yi saw that this stone wall was made of uniform stones, and each stone was as long as an adult. She thought that the road into the mountain was so rugged, and it would be difficult to transport these stones into the mountain from outside. How much time was wasted and how much money was spent, yet the court had no idea that the King of Lingnan had organized such a large project!
Just as he was sighing, he saw Zheng Yu twisting his fat body, walking from the front, cupping his hands to Zheng Miao who was sitting on the royal chariot, and said: "My father is recuperating in there, so please hurry in, Your Highness. "
Zheng Miao nodded when he heard this, then turned to look at Qiu Yizhi, his eyes flickered imperceptibly, bit his lower lip and said, "Okay, let's go in first to deliver the order."
Qiu Yizhi caught Zheng Miao's gaze and looked at the iron curtain-like city wall in front of him, thinking: Now that we are in this mountain basin, we have already jumped into the palm of the King of Lingnan. If you enter Shicheng again, wouldn't you be throwing yourself into a trap
However, since he was ordered to deliver the message, he naturally could not hold back. He gritted his teeth secretly, reached out to Zhao Chengxiao and said: "Brothers, please be more careful. I'm afraid things may change at any time after entering the city, so be prepared to fight."
Zhao Chengxiao nodded vigorously, turned around and went to make arrangements.
Zheng Miao ordered the accompanying honor guard team to take out the flags, rituals and music, arrange the team according to the regulations, muster up their spirits, and go into the city to deliver the decree to the King of Lingnan.
Unexpectedly, the large group of troops had not yet set out, but they heard Zheng Yu say: "Your Highness, this stone city is very small. I am afraid that so many soldiers and horses cannot enter. Please forgive me."
Although Zheng Yu did not say this clearly, the meaning behind his words was very clear - he wanted Zheng Miao to go to the city alone or with only a dozen followers to announce the decree.
Zheng Miao was not the kind of man who did not hesitate to risk his life. Of course he would not bother to do such a dangerous thing. He said: "This is difficult to handle. It's not me. I am an imperial envoy and a prince. There can be neither less nor more ceremonial guards around me, and they cannot be replaced at will. I am announcing the decree and doing it in a glamorous way. Wouldn’t it be even more glamorous on the face of Uncle Lingnan? That’s also disrespectful to Prince Lingnan, isn’t it?”
Zheng Miao's words were polite and reasonable, leaving Zheng Yu, who was slightly slow and dull in thinking, speechless. However, he still refused to let go, determined not to let Qiu Yi's men go to the countryside to train with the brave regiment and enter the city.
Suddenly, Qiu Yizhi had an idea and said, "It's not a good idea for us to waste time like this. Otherwise, the soldiers here should not go into the city to disturb the prince's peace."
Zheng Yu was startled when he heard Qiu Yizhi's words and actually stood on his side. Then he smiled and said: "That's good, that's good. Then please invite His Highness the Third Highness and His Highness Yi to come in too!"
Qiu Yizhi waved his hand and said: "I didn't say that the third brother was going into the city. What I meant was that I would trouble the Prince of Lingnan to walk a few more steps and go out of the city to meet the imperial edict. This did not violate the rules of the court, but also prevented this group of people. If a rough man goes to the city to cause trouble, isn't it the best of both worlds?"
of course not!
Along the way, Zheng Yu had already seen the fighting power of these "imperial troops" over and over again - not to mention the extremely solid defense of the "Dangya Camp", which was like a moving city wall; not to mention the superb martial arts of the sword and shield soldiers. , full of morale; even the powerful crossbow in the hands of these dozens of crossbowmen has the power to kill a person with one shot from a hundred steps away - once his father is exposed within the range of the powerful crossbow, it is equivalent to his life being pinched. It's in the opponent's hands.
Thinking of this, he was about to refuse, but Qiu Yizhi just brought up the "court rules", and Zheng Yu couldn't think of a single reason to refute. After racking his brains for a long time, he finally said: "This is not the case. I can do it on my own. How about I come back and reply after I ask my father for instructions?" After saying that, Zheng Yu bowed his hand to Zheng Miao again and went into the city to ask for instructions.
Qiu Yizhi watched Zheng Yu leave and hurriedly said in Zheng Miao's ear: "The situation here is extremely dangerous. The third brother must not leave the army easily. Otherwise, if it falls into the hands of the enemy, the younger brother will lose the opportunity. It’s difficult!”
"What if Prince Lingnan doesn't agree and wants me to go in alone?" Zheng Miao asked.
Qiu Yizhi replied: "Then it is better not to pass on this decree, but to leave this place immediately. Since entering Lingnan Road, I have sent people to record the route and terrain in detail. These elite soldiers under my command, including myself Even if we risk our lives, we must let Third Brother leave here safely."
Zheng Miao heard the murderous intent in his words and forced a smile: "Brother, are you exaggerating? It sounds like the Lingnan King's side is like a dragon's pond and a tiger's den."
"Yes!" Qiu Yizhi said resolutely, "This is the Dragon Pond and Tiger's Den. The emperor sent the third brother here mostly to explore the truth and falsehood of Prince Lingnan. But third brother, look at the base of King Lingnan, look at this stone city, see Looking at the soldiers nearby, they don’t look like they are the actions of a vassal who is keeping his peace.”
Zheng Miao's heart sank after hearing this: Back then, his father, his emperor, had relied on Youyan Dao's military strength to seize the capital Luoyang in one go, forcing Zheng Yao, the emperor who had only been emperor for a few months, to burn himself on fire, and then ascend to the throne. Of
While I was thinking, I heard the sound of a cannon in the stone city ahead, and the city gate opened. Countless soldiers filed out of the city - all wearing armors, helmets, holding swords, guns, swords and halberds - lining up in front of Zheng Miao's honor guard. He made a sound, but he was watching the "Forest Guards" waiting eagerly in front of him. Then I saw that the top of the city was suddenly filled with sergeants, all of them holding crossbows. Their eyes were staring at the people in the city, as if they were about to launch a rain of arrows at the command, turning all the enemy soldiers into hedgehogs.
Qiu Yizhi visually estimated that there were more than a thousand enemy troops above and below the city. He hurriedly helped Zheng Miao get down from the imperial chariot and hid among the crowd of rural warriors he had recruited. At the same time, he ordered Zhao Chengxiao to quickly form a formation. Prepare for the fight that is right in front of you. (To be continued)