The group left Dandong and meandered westward. The plan is to pass through Liaoyang, Jinzhou and then to Peiping first.
The journey in early summer is no longer as difficult as in spring. The ground is flat and the weather is pleasant. The team can move much faster. Nan Huo and Zhao Ke estimated that they could arrive in Peiping in June, and then go to Yingtian Mansion in the capital after resting. They would arrive in the capital in about September. It was almost "this autumn" when Kuai Ma reported to the court. Thinking that they would arrive on time, Nan Huo and Zhao Ke couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Along the way, there are lush trees and fragrant flowers and plants, but there are sparsely populated fields and barren fields. The houses along the road are often abandoned and uninhabited, and they are somewhat dilapidated after being neglected for many years.
Lianhua knew that this place had always been occupied by the Mongols, and together with part of Gangwon Province in Hamgyong Province in North Korea, they originally belonged to the Shuangcheng General Administration Office of the Yuan Dynasty. It was not until the 20th year of Hongwu that the Celestial Dynasty Liang Guogong Lan Yu's expedition defeated Nahachu, and the Mongols were driven out of Liaodong to Mobei. The Ming Dynasty established the Tieling Guards Command to control Liaodong.
It was precisely because of this matter that the Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty had a disagreement with the King of Goryeo Wang Jie. Wang Jie reported that "the states north of Tieling, Liwen, Gao, He, Ding, Xian, etc., as well as the town of Gongjie, are known to be the most important places in the country." "The land", but forgot that it was in the hands of the Mongols for the previous hundred years, and it was the Ming Dynasty that drove away the Mongols.
Of course Zhu Yuanzhang did not agree. King Wang Ju of Goryeo actually sent Li Chenggui, who was then the commander-in-chief of the capital, to send troops to Liaodong, hoping to use 40,000 soldiers and horses to confront the hundreds of thousands of troops in Tieling of the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, these hundreds of thousands of troops had just destroyed 200,000 Mongolian cavalry. Li Chenggui was not as arrogant and naive as the King of Goryeo. Although he had crossed the Yalu River after thinking about it, he decisively returned to Songjing, deposed the King of Goryeo and established North Korea.
Because Li Chenggui respectfully respected the Ming Dynasty as his suzerain state and regarded himself as a vassal state, he consulted the Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang on everything. Zhu Yuanzhang also considered that there were still a large number of remaining Mongolian forces in the Northeast, so he relocated the Tieling Guards to Fengji Fort in Liaodong. In the 16th year, it was moved to Yinzhou, and the northeastern part of the Korean Peninsula was assigned to North Korea, which has remained until now.
From this incident, it can also be seen that Zhu Yuanzhang has a submissive character that accepts soft things but not hard things. If you insist, it's useless to reason, argue, or even fight. On the contrary, it's more effective to be soft and ask for friendship.
At this time, less than ten years had passed since the Blue Jade Expedition, and the desolate scene after the war was seen everywhere. "There are no people returning on the desolate road, and ruins can be seen from time to time." Lianhua's team was so large that he couldn't find anyone anywhere, so he could only eat dry food or bury his own cooking pots along the way. I also pitched my tent and rested on the spot at night. Fortunately, there was no rain this time.
This day is approaching Liaoyang, where the Ming Dynasty established the Liaodong Dusi, and its seat was in Liaoyang, which was also called Liao Zhongwei at that time. Nanhuo and Zhao Ke came over and asked Lianhua if he was going to visit. Lianhua thought for a while and felt that it was more important to hurry, so he ordered Nanhuo to send a fast horse to inform him, and the brigade continued to move forward.
The road is still desolate and inhabited, with deep grass and lush forests. Thinking of the cruelty of the war and the displacement of the people, Lotus couldn't help but sigh, lowered his head and closed his eyes and chanted silently: "Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, walking in the deep Prajnaparamita for a long time, saw that the five aggregates are empty, and survived all the hardships..."
If we go to the capital and enter the East Palace, can we really move to the reinforcements? Can it fulfill the wishes of all living beings and relieve all living beings from suffering
Two months after leaving, the hardships of the journey were far beyond what I imagined when I was sitting at home looking at the sky. A heavy rain or even a strong wind can have dire and unpredictable consequences. Situations are often uncontrollable and cannot be achieved through hard work.
Are you still too naive? The road ahead is long, what kind of storms will there be
Thinking about the unknown future, Lotus began to feel less confident. Maybe Li Fangyuan is right. As a weak woman, how much can she accomplish here
Li Fangyuan, is he okay
It's spring already, maybe the Japanese pirates in Jeolla Province have started to move around? Will he lead his army to fight against Japanese pirates? Will the King and Princess allow him to go? And mother, is everything okay? She must miss herself very much, and she also misses her home...
Lian Hua's thoughts were confused, and she was a little hesitant for a moment.
As we walked, the car slowed down a bit, and I heard Hai Shou next to the car say, "Princess, we are going through the woods."
There are many trees in the east of Liaoyang. To the west of Liaoyang is a large plain with many woods. Shanxi raised the curtains of the car, and the sun was thickly shaded and the air was cool. There was only a narrow path in the forest. Nan Huo and Zhao Kezheng directed the carriages and horses to move slowly and pass slowly one by one. Lotus nodded and Shanxi lowered the curtain.
Suddenly, a piercing whistle sounded all around, and arrows flew out from the woods on both sides. Many of the people and horses that were walking slowly on the road immediately fell down screaming after being hit by arrows. There were even more arrows with flaming tips, which hit the cart and burned. Suddenly the horses panicked, neighing and jumping, and the grooms were holding them back, but many people and horses continued to scream and fall to the ground after being hit by arrows, and there was instant chaos.
Zhao Ke drew his sword and shouted: "There is an ambush! Get into position! Meet the enemy!"
The soldiers hurriedly found cover, hiding behind carts or beside fallen horses, shielding themselves from the rain of arrows while drawing their weapons and preparing to fight.
However, the robbers were obviously well-prepared and were ambushing on both sides of the woods. The attack was by firing arrows from the woods on both sides. The team was attacked from both sides in the middle of the road, making it extremely difficult to resist. There were also injured migrant workers and frightened horses that kept disturbing them. It didn't take long for most of the soldiers to fall to the ground. Nan Huo was also hit by an arrow, piercing his chest. He saw that it was difficult to survive. The dignified Minister of Secret Affairs of Korea died inexplicably in the forests of Tieling Mountain in Daming Dynasty.
Zhao Ke directed the soldiers to move forward bravely, but they were all shot back by layers of arrows.
Hai Shou danced his soft whip to protect the lotus carriage. The road was too narrow and he could only dance in a small circle, blocking the surroundings of the carriage. The falling arrows accumulated in a circle on the ground beside the carriage. The crack of whips, the sound of arrows, the sound of horses, the roar of soldiers, resounded through the deep forest into chaos.
Shanxi turned pale with fright and hid in a corner of the car, trembling all over. Lotus sat motionless, feeling very anxious in her heart.
More and more soldiers were hit by arrows, and shouts came from the woods, which were in blunt Chinese: "Kill them all!" "That woman is the one who caught you alive!"
There were constant shouts from both sides. The robbers were about to come out. There were a lot of footsteps and boots shaking the ground. There seemed to be dozens of them.
Zhao Ke fired arrows from behind the car to stop the enemy, and shouted to Hai Shou: "Quick! Take the princess and go first! Quick!" About twenty or thirty soldiers and migrant workers also shouted: "Take the princess and go first! Hurry!" Some soldiers rushed forward despite the rain of arrows.
Hai Shou no longer hesitated, urged his horse to approach the cart, danced his whip with his left hand, and pulled off the curtain with his right hand. He simply said: "Princess is offended!" He picked up the lotus and placed it in front of him. Lotus shouted repeatedly: "Shanxi, Shanxi!" Hai Shou had no choice but to grab Shanxi and put it behind him. He danced with his whip in his left hand and held the reins in his right hand, and patted the horse.
Hai Shou's horse was a good Goryeo horse given by the king. It could travel thousands of miles a day without any problem. However, the path was crowded with injured or dead horses, migrant workers and soldiers. Many vehicles also overturned in the middle, with various baggage loads. Various tributes were scattered on the ground, blocking the way. Hai Shou also danced his whip to block the flying arrows, and the good horse could not run fast. From a distance, I seemed to hear Zhao Ke's scream, and he was also killed by a robber.
The sound of killing behind him was loud and the sound of hoofbeats was heard. More than a dozen bandits mounted their horses and gave chase. Hai Shou's forehead was sweating, and he pressed the horse's belly to urge the horse to move forward, but the sound of banging behind him was getting closer and closer.
The robber shouted: "Stay here!" "You can't run away!" He fired arrows at him, the arrows were very fast, and some of them went straight through the trees. They were all powerful masters.
Shanxi was sitting behind Hai Shou, holding Hai Shou's belt with both hands. Then he turned around and saw the pursuers getting closer. He knew that the three of them would soon be overtaken. Suddenly, he loosened Hai Shou's belt and shouted, "Take the princess away!" He actually rolled off the horse.
Hai Shou was stunned, and without stopping, he urged his horse to run straight. Lian Hua felt great pain in her heart and shouted: "Shan Xi! Shan Xi!" He tried to get off his horse but was held down by Hai Shou, unable to move.
I heard Shanxi's cry from afar: "Princess, go quickly!" "Go quickly!"
"Ah!" screamed, obviously being caught up and killed by the robbers. Shanxi had followed Lianhua since he was a child and had never traveled far. Shanxi was lively, kind, talkative, and full of longing and curiosity for the Celestial Empire. On the fifth day after arriving in the Celestial Kingdom, the protector died tragically in the forest.
Hai Shou ran quickly with Lotus, but the noise behind him got closer and closer, and two horses were already chasing him. Hai Shou put the reins in Lian Hua's hand with his right hand and said urgently: "Princess, control the horse!" He freed his hand and took out a handful of iron lotus seeds from his arms, and swung the reins back with his unprecision.
"Ah!" "Ah!" After two screams, two robbers were knocked off their horses, but the other robbers kept hoofing and shouted: "Beware of An Qingzi!" and chased him even harder.
A dozen horses were getting closer.
Soon after, Hai Shou roared and threw out a handful of iron lotus seeds with his right hand. At the moment when the robber was dodging, he jumped off the horse, but the soft whip he danced with his left hand hit the horse's butt hard, causing the horse to suffer pain. Leap forward.
Hai Shou shouted: "Princess, let's go!" He waved his whip and blocked the road, fending off the thieves alone.
Lianhua shouted: "Hai Shou!" "Hai Shou!" He got off his horse and rushed forward, running faster and faster. The sound of whips, arrows, and horses' neighing behind him gradually became distant.
Lian Hua was born in a family of military commanders for generations and learned to ride a horse at a very young age. However, as a young lady, she only practiced at her family's horse farm and never rode outside the house. It was truly the first time for me to ride a horse alone on a forest trail and run for my life. I just felt that the woods on both sides were flying backwards, the whistling wind penetrated my ears, and the strong wind made it difficult to open my eyes. The hands holding the reins tightly were covered with sweat.
Suddenly there was another whistle in the forest ahead, and several big men sprang out from the forest on the left and right, all dressed in black, with black scarves covering their faces, full of murderous intent. The horse facing the lotus shouted loudly: "Come down!"
Lotus clung to the horse's back and hit the horse hard, trying to break through. But he saw a big man on the left and right leaping forward and grabbing the reins of the left and right horses respectively. The horse was frightened, neighed, and reared up. Lotus couldn't hold the reins and fell from the horse to the ground.
"It's her!" I seemed to hear such a sentence in the air.