Chapter 962
: Postponement of the Journey to Weizhou
Chapter 962: Postponement of the Journey to Weizhou
"Report, Lord, the gates of Daliang City are open. Marshal Wang Jie has led the imperial soldiers north to the capital. He has left 30,000 cavalrymen behind, led by General Hu. They have already entered the camp and are eating."
In the central tent,
Zhang Jinyu and His Royal Highness Prince Jin sat opposite each other and were having a meal. There were a lot of food on the table. Although it was not as exquisite as the food in the capital every day, it was rare to have meat and vegetables in the military camp and eat a hot meal.
Just after swallowing a few mouthfuls of food, before I had time to taste it, a personal soldier came from outside the curtain to report that Wang Ziteng and his group had already set off. It was said that they couldn't even have a peaceful breakfast.
"Got it. According to the plan, let General Gu, General Song, and General Duan prepare their troops and go out first. The rest of the people, after finishing their meal, can go straight to Linshan County City."
"Yes, sir, I will go and pass the order immediately."
The guard clasped his fists, turned around and left.
inside the account,
It was still the two of them who were left to eat. After eating for a while, His Royal Highness Prince Jin couldn't help but asked in a low voice, still a little worried;
"My Lord, do you really want to divide the troops?"
"Why, Your Highness is still worried? How can the strategy we have discussed be easily changed? In addition, from last night to today, I feel that the leader Chu may not have entered the county city at all, but went directly south."
Zhang Jinyu swallowed the food in his mouth, and a trace of solemnity flashed in his eyes. That Chu Sect Leader was definitely not a mediocre person. Linshan County City was a place where they were bound to die. Even if they defended it for a long time, it was just the rebels' desperate resistance. But they couldn't just leave it alone. This place controlled the strategic point between the north and the south, and it was also the gateway to the south of Beijing. If they really left it alone, those rebels inside would come out to cause chaos, and it would be much more troublesome to deal with them.
Therefore, we still need to try to fight, but how to fight is a little difficult. It is not appropriate for the Beijing Camp and the Imperial Guards to waste soldiers under the city. We cannot explain it to the court. What's more, the Emperor is also involved in the military merits of the capital. Therefore, a war of attrition requires the use of other people's soldiers. Where can we find them?
"My Lord, what do you say?"
Prince Jin put away his chopsticks, quickly finished his porridge, took out the Jingnan Fengshui map that the marquis had put away earlier, spread it on a corner of the table and asked.
"Your Highness is studious."
Zhang Jinyu praised sincerely. Compared with the other two princes, Prince Jin's enthusiasm for learning was worthy of praise. He pointed to the location of the county town on the map.
"Your Highness, you see, the distance between the two cities is very short, and it takes less than a day's journey. The leader Chu of the Taiping Sect is also a great man of the time. How could he not understand this? Therefore, he led the remaining troops through the county city without stopping. Then they can only go to Weizhou."
Zhang Jinyu's eyes suddenly condensed, staring at Weizhou City on the map. This place is deep in the hinterland of southern Beijing, and it is also the eastern barrier of Qinzhou and Linyue Mansion. The leader Chu will definitely reorganize his army here.
"My Lord, do you mean that the enemy troops will gather in Weizhou?"
King Zhou Ding of Jin also saw the direction pointed by the Marquis. Weizhou, deep in the hinterland of southern Beijing, was right in the center and a place that must be fought for.
"Yes, it is Weizhou. Someone, come and inform General Duan to postpone his trip to Weizhou and instead join the Central Army to besiege Linshan County City."
Zhang Jinyu thought about it carefully and decided that it would be risky to let Duan Wenyuan go to Weizhou again. The enemy army still had the strength to fight, and there should be an ambush in Weizhou. It was still unknown how many enemy troops there were.
"My Lord, why is this? Could it be that the 150,000 troops in Weizhou are not enough?"
Seeing the solemn expression on the Marquis' face, King Zhou Ding of Jin also frowned and asked, "Even if the main force of the Taiping Cult is still there, apart from the bandits in Linshan County, it is still unknown how many troops are left.
"Your Highness, we cannot take risks. From Chenzhou down, there is only Linyue Prefecture left. Unfortunately, the mountains block the way. There is only one Fallen Leaf Valley. If the enemy army has ambushed in the valley and the army intercepts us, it will be difficult to pass. So we can only go through Weizhou. But I can't guess how much strength the Taiping Sect in Weizhou has. In the battle of Anyang Mountains, 50,000 elite soldiers of the enemy army escaped. In addition, there are 50,000 people under the city of Daliang, which means there are 100,000 people. It's better to be safe."
In the final analysis, I still don't trust the generals of the Beijing camp. If they lead the troops in high spirits and are defeated in another battle, the court may be worried because the south will be restless. So it is better to be cautious. The soldiers are watching in front of them. As long as they don't make big mistakes, in this bad era, whoever makes fewer mistakes will win. It's hard to explain these things to Your Highness in detail.
"That's right. I understand what the Marquis means. No matter what, the bandits in the county city can't escape. As long as we capture Linshan County City, Weizhou will not be a big threat."
The eyes of the King of Jin were bright, and he had a kind of commanding aura. He was truly a member of the Heavenly Family. It was hard to say who would be the Crown Prince in the future.
"Your Highness has good foresight. The large number of siege equipment we brought from the capital has not been put to good use yet. Now that Linshan County City is right in front of us, it is time to test the skills of those people in the Ministry of Works. Even if they are brave enough to die, I estimate that the casualties will be considerable. I wonder where Your Highness can spend the troops."
The question was obscure, and it depended on whether His Highness could figure out the truth. In fact, Zhang Jinyu had no other choice this time. He wanted to attack the city and reduce casualties at the same time. How could that be possible?
Who knows,
King Zhou Ding of Jin thought for a moment, blinked, and replied;
"My Lord, what you mean is that you want to use the same slave army as the Taiping Sect to deplete the defenders' strength first. Didn't we capture so many bandits before? If we capture Huaizhou and Qinzhou, there will definitely be a large number of prisoners. Using them as the vanguard may help reduce casualties."
Now it was Zhang Jinyu's turn to be a little surprised. His Highness dared to say something that was not in line with the way of the saints. Fortunately, there was a way, which was better than nothing. I could think about it, but I couldn't try it.
In addition, he also wanted to see what was left behind in Linshan County.
"Your Highness, pack up and let's go,"
"Yes, Lord Marquis."
Beijing,
In the upper rooms of Zuixianlou at the corner of Ningrong Street, several Taoists from Longhu Mountain had already packed their bags inside. The leading Taoist disciple, Tan Liangcai, was still outside, shouting towards a room at the innermost corner;
"Uncle Master, the time has come, we should leave."
inside the house,
Zhang Tiansong, the Heavenly Master of Mount Longhu, carefully sealed a box with black mud, then wrapped it with yellow brocade. Seeing that everything was in good condition, he put it in the bag behind him, tied it up, put it on his back, pushed the door open, stroked his beard, and glared at the younger generations.
"Why are you rushing me? I have to be extremely careful with that thing and make sure it doesn't lose its potency on the way. I brought too little cloud mud this time, so I could only seal the edge of the box. I didn't expect that the precious medicine given by Luo Yunhou was actually a complete pill. This time, the karma I owed is too great."
Zhang Tiansong also didn't expect that it would be extremely inconvenient to store precious medicines that were more than two hundred years old. The medicinal properties would be greatly lost, causing the precious medicines to shrink and their medicinal properties to decay.
Can anyone think of,
What the Luo Yunhou Mansion gave was actually a living purple ginseng, which was extremely plump and still had a trace of vitality. It was priceless. When the few people got it, they were all incredible. The only one in the world who could have such a magical thing was the wealthy Luo Yunhou Mansion outside the Great Wall. You have to know that the value of the precious medicine outside the Great Wall is twice that of other places.
After hearing what his uncle said, even Tan Liangcai, who had a lively personality, fell silent. The matter of cause and effect was not only important to the disciples of the Buddhist sect, but also to the people of the Taoist sect. If this precious medicine was brought back to Longhu Mountain and cultivated with the secret medicine of cloud soil, perhaps more precious medicine could be obtained. This favor was too great. Unfortunately, Marquis Luo Yun had all the wealth and power, so how could he repay this favor?
"Uncle Master, this Marquis Luo Yun is one of the nobles. I'm afraid it will be hard to repay this favor."
Tan Liangcai gave a bitter smile. With this precious medicine, he only needed to cut off the ginseng whiskers to use as medicine. If it was alive, he could feed it with secret medicine and it would grow more ginseng whiskers. In this way, theoretically, it would be inexhaustible. Although the cost of cultivation was high, it was nothing more than spending money. Then Longhu Mountain would have added thousands of heritages. How could he repay this favor?
"Tell me what you think."
Zhang Tianshi was a little hesitant. Everything in heaven is predetermined. The more you take, the more you have to pay back. This time he was lucky, but the cause and effect were too great.
The faces of the many Taoists who were asked were slightly red. They were all cultivating Taoism on Mount Longhu. The worldly affairs were handled by the outer sect managers. They were not sincere about the human relationships and ways of the world, so how could they solve this problem? They all shook their heads and didn't know.
Seeing this, Zhang Tianshi sighed and could only go back to report to his master.
"If there is no other solution, we can only go back and report to the headmaster and discuss further."
I closed the door and prepared to go downstairs.
"Uncle Master, please wait for a moment. If you leave without any reason like this, it will make our Longhu Mountain Taoist sect look indifferent if it is spread in the martial arts world. I thought about it. Since Marquis Luo Yun is extremely lustful and likes women, there is no rumor that his wives and concubines are pregnant. It just so happens that we have the secret medicine Shangqing Yunxiang in Longhu Mountain. Wearing it on the body can help you get pregnant and nourish the fetus. Why don't you go to the mansion to thank him and tell the master the recipe? Even if the secret medicine uses cloud soil, didn't Uncle Master leave some unused?"
Tan Liangcai stopped everyone, with a slightly embarrassed look on his face. He said clearly that if he had to use cloud soil to seal his mouth, it wouldn't take much. Everyone stopped and thought it made sense, so they looked at Zhang Tianshi.
Zhang Tiansong suddenly felt a little emotional. The good intentions of the head teacher were actually here. Looking at the chief disciple Tan Liangcai in front of him, he felt that Longhu Mountain Taoism had hope.
"Ahahaha, good, good, you have finally come to your senses. There is still half a box of Yuntu left. Although it is precious, it is nothing compared to the precious medicine. You just mentioned the issue of the heir of Luo Yunhou Mansion. Don't discuss it outside. If I am right, it is because Luo Yunhou has too much yang energy. We just need to wait for the Marquis to break through and the yang energy will be restrained. As for the Shangqing Yunxiang secret medicine, I will listen to you. This thing is not only effective in pregnancy and fetal preservation. Forget it."
Zhang Tianshi also felt a little pain in his heart. The secret medicine of Shangqing Yunxiang is actually a magical medicine for practicing qigong and nourishing the spirit. It is a secret of the Longhu Mountain Taoist sect that is not passed on. Only the true disciples of the Taoist sect can enjoy it. Other outer disciples have never seen it. Even among the true disciples, only a few can use it.
As for why it has the effect of protecting the fetus, it is because it also contains magical drugs for protecting the fetus such as Eucommia ulmoides, Viscum album, Cuscuta australis, and Cornus officinalis, which are used to assist in reducing the main medicinal properties. Therefore, people in Longhu Mountain jokingly call this thing "fetus-protecting incense".
"Uncle Master, can you still go?"
"Let's go to Luo Yunhou Mansion to express our gratitude."
Zhang Tianshi was not a person who would drag his feet. Since he had made up his mind and time was running out, he did not stay in the inn. He led everyone down the stairs in a hurry and paid the bill.
After leaving the inn and taking out the horse, he headed straight for the Marquis's mansion.
Inside Zuixian Tower,
The waiter watched the Taoist priests leave and then walked towards the kitchen. When he met the shopkeeper, he quietly asked:
"Boss, the Taoist priests from Longhu Mountain have left,"
"Yes, I get it. It's strange to say, that group of old Taoist priests only stayed for one day and then left. They came and went in a hurry. It is said that people from Longhu Mountain never like to come to the capital in the north, but today is strange," the shopkeeper's eyes flashed with a strange color. The White Lotus Sect was about to attack Xihe County, and all major sects closed their doors. What was the purpose of these old Taoist priests coming to the capital?
"Boss, do you want to send someone to follow and check it out?"
The waiter hurriedly asked, as the person had not yet gone far away.
The shopkeeper touched his beard, thinking that there were only a few masters in the inn, and it would be difficult for ordinary people to follow. If they were discovered, it would cause trouble, which would be undesirable. So he shook his head and refused.
"Let's not talk about this anymore. Among those Taoists, there is an elder from Longhu Mountain. He is one of the best masters in the martial arts world and ordinary people cannot keep an eye on him."
"Yes, sir, I know."
The waiter nodded, and brought two bowls of vegetarian noodles from the stove. He shouted and walked out.
"Two bowls of vegetarian noodles are ready,"
In front of the Luo Yunhou Mansion,
As soon as the group of Taoists arrived at the gate of the mansion, they were stopped by the gatekeeper.
"Hurry up, clean it up. Hey, Taoist priests, why are you back again?"
The concierge Zhang was standing in front of the mansion gate, watching the servants cleaning the road outside the mansion. He saw the Taoist priest who had left the day before yesterday and now returned. What was he doing? He stood up and went over to ask,
Zhang Tianshi pulled the reins, turned over and dismounted, clasped his fists and replied;
"I am grateful for the great kindness of the Marquis. I am going back to Mount Longhu now. I came here specially to say goodbye to the master."
Seeing the master uncle dismounted, the disciples behind him dared not to ride on their horses anymore, and they all dismounted to greet him.
"Masters, how dare I accept such courtesy? Masters, please wait a moment, I will go in and report."
Manager Zhang hurriedly stepped back, making way for the Taoist priest to salute. He replied with a word, then hurried into the front yard, followed the path, and entered the East Garden of the Grandmother.
He walked carefully to the outside of the main hall, knocked on the door, and reported;
"Manager Bao, a group of Taoist priests came to the outside of the palace. They said they were leaving Beijing and returning to Longhu Mountain. They came to thank the Marquis' Mansion before leaving."
The noise outside the house spread into the house.
At this time, Baozhu, along with a group of maids, was tidying up the room for grandma. All the tables, chairs and benches were covered with soft cushions. In addition, the food on the table was always placed in a food box in different ways, so that grandma could eat at any time if she felt hungry. When she heard the noise outside, she stopped what she was doing, walked over and opened the door.
"What a bunch of Taoist priests, just leave if you want. Grandma is busy here and needs to rest."
Baozhu doesn't care about the Taoist priests and monks outside. They won't leave after getting the benefits, and no one knows what they want to do.
Grandma said she wanted to eat fish today, and there happened to be a few perch from Qinghu Lake in the mansion. I just don't know how the cooking skills of those old women behind the scenes are. Baozhu was thinking about grandma and didn't take those Taoists seriously at all. Grandma is pregnant now, which is a great joy, and the Qin Mansion has not been told yet.
Hearing Miss Bao's reply, Manager Zhang felt something was wrong, but he still nodded.
"Miss Bao is right. In that case, I will refuse your offer."
Just about to leave,
Qin Keqing, who was still resting in the room, came to the hall and sat down, and asked;
"Baozhu, what's the matter?"
"Grandma, Manager Zhang said that the Taoist priests were going back to the mountain and wanted to come to the mansion to say goodbye and express gratitude. I thought that since you are not in good health right now, how can you meet those outsiders? So I asked Manager Zhang to decline this matter."
Baozhu pouted, and what she said was true.
But Qin Keqing was a little curious about how her husband could recognize the Taoist priest from Mount Longhu, and she didn't know where they met.
"Look at what you said. Since they have come to thank us, how can we let the Marquis' Mansion lose its courtesy? It is indeed inconvenient to have too many people, so let the leader come in."
"Yes, I'll listen to grandma,"
Baozhu responded somewhat reluctantly and instructed the steward outside the door,
"Let their leader come in. As for the rest, it's not convenient here for grandma, so you don't have to come in."
"Listen to Bao, the manager,"
Manager Zhang nodded, bowed, and then returned to the gatehouse.
Out of the house,
He cupped his fists towards several Taoist priests;
"Old Taoist priest, the lady has invited you, but she only invited the old Taoist priest. The Marquis is not at home, so some things are inconvenient."
That's enough. If you want to stay in the mansion, you must abide by the rules of the mansion.
"Sir, there is no need to explain. It would be a bit abrupt for us outsiders to come here. In this case, I will go in alone."
laughed,
Zhang Tiansong waved his hand. It was a bit rash of him to come here today. It was indeed a bit inconvenient.
"Okay, old Taoist priest, this way please."
The doorman stood up and led the way, walking in front.
The two of them entered the inner courtyard one after the other. As soon as they entered the mansion, Zhang Tianshi suddenly felt his body tense. He looked up and saw that although there were ordinary servants sweeping the floor, they were all agile. Many people were standing densely around them, with their qi pulling them. It was vaguely felt that they were all masters of internal strength. He thought to himself, they are really the princes outside the Great Wall. They are not simple.
Go outside the yard.
There were even several fierce eyes looking over, and then I realized that outside this courtyard, there were actually many heavily armored soldiers standing. I thought the wife of the Marquis lived here, so I walked carefully and followed.
After entering the main hall of the courtyard, the steward knocked on the door and called out,
"Manager Bao, Master Zhang from Mount Longhu has arrived,"
The voice just fell,
The door was opened. Baozhu opened it reluctantly and looked at the person who came in. He was wearing loose clothes with a wooden hairpin stuck in his head. Although the Taoist robe was expensive, he didn't look like a Taoist priest.
"You are the Taoist priest of Longhu Mountain, why do you feel like that?"
"Ahahaha, Taoism emphasizes following one's heart and nature. I am indeed the Heavenly Master of Mount Longhu. I wonder what you think a Heavenly Master is like, little girl."
Zhang Tiansong was not angry. Instead, he smiled and said to the little girl, "The Taoism does not have the twists and turns of Buddhism.
"If you ask me, since the Taoist priest is a Taoist priest, shouldn't he look like an immortal and dress elegantly? I've been to the Jing'an Temple, and their abbot at least wears decent clothes."
(End of this chapter)