Chapter 8 The Seventh Repayment of Qiu Xue's Hatred of Zhu Wangli's Mutiny

About ten days after Zhao Xingde and the others received Zhu Wangli's third letter, Zhu Wangli led the troops on their way home. It had been ten months since they left Guazhou City.It was early winter.Recently, there has been hailstorm outside, and the hailstones as big as thumbs hit the ground with a "dong dong" sound, and people could hardly go out. On the morning of this day, Zhu Wangli sent someone to report that the troops could enter the city at dusk.After Zhao Xingde heard the news, he quickly arranged for his subordinates to welcome him.At the same time, we must prepare to welcome Li Yuanhao and the troops from the headquarters of the Xixia Army who will arrive later.Because he didn't know how many people would come, Xingde mobilized all the soldiers in the city to collect food from the tribes around Guazhou.The hailstorm in the past few days made this work have to be temporarily suspended.

Zhu Wangli's troops entered the city through Chaojing Gate as they did when they set off.When the team of 4,500 people came back, there were less than 1,000 people.After more than a dozen camels carrying whirlwind cannons passed by, you could see Zhu Wangli walking over on a camel, surrounded by soldiers holding general flags on both sides.Behind him were more than thirty cavalrymen, and the rest were all infantry. Zhao Xingde and Cao Yanhui walked out of the city gate to welcome the triumphant division, also to show respect for the old captain.When Zhao Xingde saw Zhu Wangli for the first time, he felt that he had become younger for some reason, probably because Zhu Wangli's body was thinner and his face was darker.Zhu Wangli got off the camel and walked towards Xingde and Yanhui, his face was amiable, as if he was talking about something, but neither Xingde nor Yanhui understood.Xingde put his head in front of Zhu Wangli, trying to hear what he was saying, but it was still in vain.Zhu Wangli said it again, and this time Xingde could hear some meaning from his hoarse guttural voice.

"It's not dead, it's finally back." Zhu Wangli's voice was almost hoarse to the point of being inaudible. Xingde replaced Zhu Wangli and ordered the returning troops to wait in line on the school field in the city. He wanted to reward these officers and soldiers who had been fighting abroad for a long time with wine and food.After the feast, he arranged for someone to send them back to the barracks. Zhu Wangli sat on a chair at the banquet, silently watching the soldiers walk away with tired steps.He didn't go, waved to Xingde, and said a few more words in a hoarse voice.Xingde put his ear to his mouth and listened for a long time, and asked him to repeat it several times before he finally understood what he said.

"The war will start again tomorrow. Let the prefect Cao Yanhui lead the people out of the city to seek refuge." From Zhu Wangli's intermittent words, Xingde knew that Zhu Wangli wanted to tell him an unexpected news.Xingde moved his ears forward again. "Tomorrow Li Yuanhao's troops will enter the city. I will kill him. There is only tomorrow. Don't miss this opportunity. If you miss it, you will never come back." Zhao Xingde was taken aback.But on second thought, it wasn't entirely unexpected.This plan must have been brewing in Zhu Wangli's heart for a long time, but the time has never come.From Xingde's observation, Zhu Wangli's hatred for Li Yuanhao was only revealed once.It was the day after the Uighur princess jumped from the city, on the march from Ganzhou to Suzhou.Since then, Zhu Wangli has never mentioned this matter again, but his hatred for Li Yuanhao has never been reduced by half, and this anger has been burning in his heart.During the march from Suzhou to Guazhou, Zhu Wangli also revealed that after arriving in Guazhou, he must do an important thing. It sounded like a mystery at the time, but now that I think about it, it must mean this matter.

"That guy Li Yuanhao took away the Uighur woman and drove her to a dead end. That woman was tortured for three days and three nights, but she still became Li Yuanhao's concubine. In the end, she died a terrible death. Tomorrow I must report for that woman This is a deep hatred." Zhu Wangli's voice turned into a deep roar, and Xingde heard his declaration of revenge clearly. "What is the relationship between the woman and the adults?" Zhao Xingde was still brooding over this question, so he couldn't help repeating the old saying. "I like her."

Zhu Wangli said with a sigh. "Is that all?" Zhu Wangli was silent for a moment, staring ahead, and said: "I don't know what she will think, but I like her. I planned to marry her and live together, alas... I still can't forget it." It was difficult to hear Zhu Wangli's words clearly, but Xingde never missed a word.Did Zhu Wangli ever possess that Uighur woman?This suspicion has always remained in Xingde's heart, he really wanted to get to the bottom of this matter, he repeated it several times, but the words came to his lips, and he was forced to hold back.

"And what about the necklace?" Xingde still couldn't help asking. "When Li Yuanhao took that woman away, I wanted to take something as a souvenir." "Is it a gift from her?" "No, I snatched it. When I took the necklace in my hand, she took it from her neck and gave it to me without saying a word." While talking, Zhu Wangli eagerly turned his gaze to Xingde, as if to say, if you want to criticize, you can criticize.Zhao Xingde was silent, Zhu Wangli said again: "I want to kill Li Yuanhao, you can go. If you want, you can leave the city now."

Xingde immediately expressed his position on this: "I also have the same intention. What is Li Yuanhao afraid of?" After Xingde said these words, he was in high spirits, and he had no jealousy towards Zhu Wangli in front of him.Even if he had forced Uighur women to submit, did he have the right to hate him for it?Yes, I once entrusted the Uighur woman to Zhu Wangli, but I still failed to return as scheduled.Zhu Wangli has a deeper affection for her, so it should be like this. Xingde is calmer than Zhu Wangli.He didn't simply think that Li Yuanhao was easy to deal with like Zhu Wangli. After all, he was the king of a country, and it was hard to predict whether he would succeed.If you succeed in one fell swoop, everything will be fine, but if you fail, the consequences will be disastrous.I am afraid that the Han people in Guazhou and Shazhou will be involved in a catastrophe.

Since receiving the news that the Xixia army was going to enter Guazhou and Shazhou, the prefect Cao Yanhui has been restless all day long, as if he had a serious illness.In order to dispel Yanhui's doubts, Xingde would visit his house once a day and say something reassuring to him.The six gods of Yanhui have no master, and the square inch is in chaos.At one time, he advocated welcoming the Xixia army into the city, and at another time he advocated abandoning the city and moving to Shazhou, where he tried to prevent the Xixia army from continuing to advance westward.Zhao Xingde himself is a Han. Although he served in the Xixia army, Yanhui still regards him as a confidant and often discusses matters with him.

Zhao Xingde is well aware of the current strength of the Guazhou Jiedu envoy Cao's clan, even if all his soldiers and horses fight for a long time with the well-trained Xixia army, the result will undoubtedly be annihilation of the entire army.Therefore, he has always believed that Guazhou should not confront the Xixia army head-on, and he can avoid its spirit first and allow them to station.In this way, not only the Cao family, but also the Han people in the city can suffer less losses from the dismal management over the years.It is expected that the Xixia Army will not be indiscriminate in Guazhou as it was in Ganzhou and Liangzhou.

But if the troops serving as the vanguard of the Xixia Army rebelled, the situation would be completely different.Most of the officers and soldiers in this army are Han Chinese, and they are related to the Cao family. Once they rebel, they will definitely be considered as complicit with the local government in Guazhou. Zhao Xingde explained the truth to Zhu Wangli, but Zhu Wangli only said in a hoarse voice from deep in his throat: "madness!" After speaking, it took a lot of effort to catch my breath. "Li Yuanhao wants to kill all the Cao clan, capture all the men in Guazhou as soldiers, and capture all the women as slaves. He also wants to drive the men who are soldiers to fight against the Song Dynasty. Now with the Deming Dynasty Times are different. Regardless of whether Guazhou and Shazhou rebel or not, the result is the same. We are all descendants of Yan and Huang, and it is not enough to avenge Li Yuanhao if we do not kill Li Yuanhao." Then Zhu Wangli talked about the various atrocities committed by the Xixia Army.In this year's battle against Tubo, not only myself, but also the surviving brothers have witnessed it with their own eyes.In the Qingtang Xixia Army, thousands of girls were tortured and killed.Xixia is now at the same time as the enemy of the Song Dynasty and Tubo, and they are counting on bloody means to win.This battle with the Xixia Army will be a fierce battle.Zhu Wangli's words seemed to be talking to himself, Zhao Xingde put his ear close to his mouth, but he still heard what he said clearly. It was late and the city was dark.The soldiers who had been fighting outside for ten months had just returned, all drunk and harassing everywhere.The streets and alleys were full of cursing and shouting. "Don't let the soldiers go back to the camp to rest, just sleep here like this." Zhu Wangli gave an order to Xingde.The bloody smell on the body has not been washed away, and the officers and soldiers are in a state of nervous standby again. "The troops stationed in the city and the local defenders of Yanhui will assemble urgently tomorrow morning, fully armed, with bows and arrows. Aim at Li Yuanhao and shoot me hard." Zhu Wangli stood up, passed through a large group of soldiers, and walked towards his mansion.Zhao Xingde also had to discuss with Zhu Wangli the method of raiding Li Yuanhao and the deployment of combatants, so he also walked behind Zhu Wangli. As soon as Zhu Wangli returned to the mansion, Jiaojiao ran out of it.Zhu Wangli was also overjoyed to see Jiaojiao, and said a word to her, but Jiaojiao didn't hear clearly.Xingde thought that he might have called "Jiaojiao", but his voice at this time was quite different from the usual soft tone of calling "Jiaoer" before. After Zhao Xingde came out of Zhu Wangli's mansion, he went to the mansion of the eunuch Cao Yanhui, and asked him to convey Zhu Wangli's order to the people in the city to evacuate to a suitable place outside the city for a while before tomorrow morning.Xingde only told him that because the city might become a battlefield, he didn't give any explanation other than that.When Xingde said these words, he was very surprised to observe Yanhui's dejected expression.Yanhui nodded and remained silent.After a long time, he replied: "That's the only way to think about it. This will save the people from being killed, and the scriptures hidden in the cities and temples will not be burned." Yanhui immediately sent a subordinate in and asked him to issue an evacuation order to all the residents in the city. Zhao Xingde was busy until midnight.Thirty soldiers were needed to take the weapons out of the warehouse, and Xingde himself took care of them everywhere, fearing that something might go wrong.After this matter was done, the third watch had passed, and the city was silent.Zhao Xingde originally imagined that there would be chaos in Guazhou City, but who knew that at this hour, there was still no movement at all. Xingde came to Yanhui's house again.In such a large Cao Mansion, there was no sound at all.Xingde entered the hall, and saw Yanhui sitting alone on a big chair, an oil lamp on the lampstand flickered on and off.Yanhui's whole body was tightly huddled in that chair, with a dejected expression on his face.The hall was filled with the pungent smell of lamp oil.Xingde asks Yanhui whether the evacuation order has been conveyed.Yanhui replied: "All arrangements are in place." "But there was no movement in the city, and no one was seen preparing to evacuate in the city." Xingde asked again.Yanhui didn't seem to believe it, he stood up, opened the door of the back room, and went to the watchtower to check.After a while, Yanhui came back and said: "As you said, there is no movement on the street, which is inconceivable." "I don't know if my lord and the rest of the Zunfu are ready to stop?" Xingde asked. "I'm here alone, and I can set off at any time. It's just that there are thousands of items in this big mansion, so it's hard to decide which one to choose, and it takes a lot of hesitation." After Yanhui finished speaking, she sat down again, shrinking her body into the big chair. Xingde was so anxious that he directly summoned Yanhui's subordinates to ask whether the evacuation order had indeed been issued to thousands of households in the city.In fact, this order has indeed been conveyed by the people in the prefect's government office.It's just that it hasn't reached the homes of ordinary people yet.After Xingde came out of Yanhui's house, he still felt that he could not let Yanhui's subordinates handle the matter, so when he returned to the barracks, he explained to his subordinates how to convey the evacuation order to the people in the city , and have them execute immediately. Although the people sent by Xingde tried their best, the people in the city did not see the documents from the prefect's mansion, and many people were still a little dubious. In the early morning, the sky was twilight, and the streets and alleys began to commotion.Groups of men, women and children hurried out of their homes.Some pointed to the sky and sighed, while others simply sat down on the ground and yelled loudly.After a while, seeing everyone leaving in a hurry, these people got up again and walked forward. Zhao Xingde urgently assembled the troops who had just returned to the city and the remaining troops stationed in the northwest corner of the city, and ordered them to be fully armed immediately.At this time, the city was in chaos, and the streets were crowded with panicked people and messy things, like a hornet's nest was overturned. When the sky was bright, the troops left behind and the troops returning to the city were ready to face the battle.There are also some officers and soldiers who opened the west gate and are helping the common people out of the city.Until noon, there were not many people leaving the city, mainly because there were too many people and the roads were narrow, and there were too few horses and camels.It seems that this chaotic situation does not know when it will end. After noon, the beacon tower at the east gate of the city was lit with beacon fire.This is to tell Li Yuanhao's troops stationed ten miles east of the city that they can enter the city at any time.The two thousand officers and soldiers in the city already knew who they were going to fight this time.Li Yuanhao's troops should have entered the city from the Chaojing Gate, and ambushed 300 archers under the wall on the side of the Chaojing Gate.Each person holds fifty arrows, and another 20,000 arrows are prepared.The bows and arrows were all taken from Yanhui's arsenal. When the beacon was lit, Zhao Xingde happened to be in Yanhui's residence.Yanhui and a group of people from the prefect's mansion formed a large team of thirty people and walked out of the city.As soon as Yanhui came out, she seemed to be a different person, the haze on her face disappeared, her expression was very active, and she would return to the mansion from time to time to tell her family to carry things.Xingde originally wanted Jiaojiao to join Yanhui's team, so that he could take care of them when they took refuge, but seeing that there were too many of them and their movements were slow, he had no choice but to find some other soldiers to escort Jiaojiao Out of town. After finally sending Yanhui's family out of the mansion, Xingde happened to see the smoke welcoming Li Yuanhao's troops into the city when he came out.On a rare sunny day with no wind, the wolf smoke rose straight into the sky.Xingde rode his horse and ran towards Chaojing Gate. He saw that Zhu Wangli was still the same as usual, coming down from the city wall calmly.Xingde came to Zhu Wangli, only to hear Zhu Wangli resolutely say: "Just wait and see the good show." "The officers and soldiers all know it." Xingde asked. "They will fight braver today than they have ever fought before." Zhu Wangli replied.After finishing speaking, he said to Xingde: "I will not give up until I get Li Yuanhao's head!" After speaking, Zhu Wangli led more than a hundred riders out of the city to meet the Xixia army. At the same time, Zhao Xingde boarded the tower with two other officers.One of the two officers was tall and thick, and the other was short in stature, but both were warriors who had survived countless battles with Zhu Wangli in Tibet. The field was silent.In this quiet wilderness, Xingde saw the troops of the Xixia Army approaching from far away, quietly walking towards this side.Dozens of flags shone in the sun, but they were different from any team Xingde had seen before.Maybe it was the guard of honor of Yuan Hao, king of Xixia Kingdom. The troops did not seem to stop advancing, but they were moving extremely slowly, and they hadn't come close for a long time.The cavalry that Zhu Wangli brought out of the city to meet him also walked very slowly. Zhao Xingde and the two officers got impatient waiting on the tower.The three of them didn't say a word.It seemed to be in a strange mood, as if someone would tell something if they said something.The vanguard of the Xixia Army on the field and Zhu Wangli's cavalry gradually approached, then mixed together and stopped.After a while, they formed again, divided into two columns, and walked towards the city gate.This time the team moved much faster than before. Xixia's vanguard has only more than a hundred cavalry, and Zhu Wangli's cavalry is not far behind them.Not far behind Zhu Wangli's horse team was a small team of about thirty riders, carrying banners.Maybe Won Ho is among them.Finally, infantry, camels and horses.Xingde said: "Probably five thousand people." "Three thousand." The little officer corrected Xingde's statement.The troops were getting closer.The big officer winked at the small officer, and went straight down to the city to set things up.Xingde thought that once the fight broke out, he would have nothing to do.Both his own subordinates and Yanhui's subordinates were under Zhu Wangli's command.So he stayed in the city, so that he could see how the battle was going on, and secondly, he could see the ending. Xingde has seen Xixia's vanguard troops enter the Chaojing Gate.Looking down from the high city, he found that the faces of the vanguard soldiers were ugly.Almost all of them rode dark horses, and they all looked exhausted, probably because they were too tired from fighting for days.After they entered the city, they were followed by King Zhu's Ministry of Rites.After the vanguard troops entered the city gate, they were led into the city by the big officers. The sound of horseshoes made people even more nervous. Zhu Wangli's troops approached the city gate one by one, Xingde held his breath, waiting for them to enter the city.When the last soldier came in, the two city gates were closed. At this time, the little officer roared loudly. I really don't know how he could make such a loud voice for such a small man.The archers below the city heard the call and ran up to the city together. Xingde turned his eyes to look at the field.The team of Xixia Army is coming here.In the guard of honor who had already walked to the gate, the expressions of the soldiers were still gloomy.The distance between the team and the city gate is getting shorter and shorter.Now it can be clearly seen that dozens of flags are Li Yuanhao's flags, and the soldiers carrying the flags walked in front, completely covering the commander behind.At this moment, Xingde heard a shout, and hundreds of archers in the city opened their bows together, and suddenly the arrows were like locusts, shooting at the guard of honor at the gate of the city.The war horse hit by the arrow jumped up, and the neighing sound pierced the sky.After a shower of arrows, there was a raging shout of killing from below the city, Xingde couldn't help himself, he ran down the city quickly, jumped on a horse, and rushed out of the city together with other cavalrymen who were at war.After leaving the city, Xingde discovered that Xixia soldiers and horses had been killed and their corpses were scattered all over the field.Seeing the sudden change in the situation ahead, the follow-up troops turned around and retreated in a swarm. "Catch Li Yuanhao!" Zhu Wangli's hoarse voice reached Xingde's ears, and Xingde stopped his horse.The horse team did not pursue far away, and the corpses of hundreds of Xixia soldiers were thrown on the field. "Where is Li Yuanhao, find it for me!" Zhu Wangli was riding a horse and shouting while running on the field full of corpses.Dozens of soldiers got off their horses and turned over the corpses on the ground one by one, carefully examining their faces.After looking for a long time, Li Yuanhao was never found. Since Li Yuanhao's body was not found, Zhu Wangli immediately led the team into the city.Li Yuanhao was a general who was used to fighting. Although the vanguard suffered this immediate loss, he would definitely not let it go and lead his troops to counterattack.There were more than 2,000 cavalrymen who were defeated and retreated. In addition to the headquarters troops led by Li Yuanhao, and other Xixia troops following closely behind, they must be marching towards Guazhou now. When Xingde returned to the city, the riots caused by the hundreds of Xixia vanguard troops who had entered the city had subsided, and those who survived were disarmed and detained in a centralized manner. Zhu Wangli ordered the soldiers to help the refugees who were crowded in the city to get out of the city as soon as possible.The army also retreated after moving the people out of the city.There is no time to delay.According to the report from the lookout post, several Xixia troops appeared in the east and south of the city, and it was hard to see how many troops there were. Xingde went up to the tower to watch, and sure enough, as the sentry reported, the horseshoes in the distant field raised waves of dust, indicating that cavalry troops were rushing towards this side.Zhu Wangli also came to the tower, but he didn't care about it. "I'm afraid they will station in one place and attack us at night. We can stay in the city now, and it won't be too late to abandon the city and retreat at night." Zhu Wangli said.Of course, Xingde had to put his ear close to Zhu Wangli's mouth in order to hear what he said clearly. "It's his fate this time. If you don't kill this thief, you won't be willing to die. You heard it too!" Zhu Wangli's eyes were full of vengeful anger.As Zhu Wangli said, the troops scattered in the field were all gathered together and stationed in one place, and they were not in a hurry to move forward. The short, anxious day passed and night fell.Originally planned to take advantage of the night to step up and organize the people out of the city to take refuge, but the Xixia army came earlier than Zhu Wangli expected, and they rushed over as soon as it was dark. The archers of the Xixia Army shot arrows into the city. The distance was too far. The bows and arrows that fell into the city were already at the end of their strength and did not cause much damage. However, it caused a panic among the people. Women and children screamed and cried loudly. .It was hard to gather these people together, and now they scattered and ran away. After a while, it was already dark, and Zhu Wangli ordered people to open the west gate, so that the people in the city could retreat as soon as possible.At this moment, rockets were fired from outside the city, and the opponent also advanced the attack time. With the injection of rockets, the Xixia army's offensive became more and more fierce.Seeing the large troops of the Xixia Army approaching the city wall step by step.A large crowd of people crowded around the west gate, trying to escape from the city.Now there is no enemy in the direction of the west gate, so there is no other way but to use this gate. There were less than 2,000 soldiers in the city. They were guarding the three city gates, and they used bows and arrows to fight back in the direction of the rockets. However, this could only temporarily prevent the Xixia army from approaching the city wall quickly. Zhu Wangli patrolled the three city gates one by one and directed the battle, while Zhao Xingde was in charge of organizing the people out of the city at the west gate.Suddenly, the city was brightly illuminated, and the crowds squirming in the streets and alleys were clearly illuminated.It turned out that the Xixia army gathered a large number of archers, and the bows and arrows with raging flames fell on the houses in the city like raindrops, causing a huge fire. "Ah, the house is on fire, they want to set fire to Guazhou!" Xingde turned his head and looked in the direction of the shout, only to see Yanhui shouting loudly with his face up to the sky.His slack face had been burned by the fire, and it looked red in the light of the fire. "My lord is in the city at this time?" Xingde was furious and questioned loudly.He thought that Yanhui should have been out of the city for a long time at this time, but he was empty-handed, and he was still mixed in the crowd. "Ah, the temple is on fire, but it's a pity that thousands of Buddhist classics have been burned!" Hearing what he said, Xingde suddenly remembered the scripture translation hall in Yanhui's mansion. "Where are the people in the translation hall now?" Yanhui didn't answer, but still murmured: "Ah, the house is on fire, Guazhou is on fire..." Xingde left Ximen and strode towards the prefect's mansion.He was not only worried about the six Chinese scholars who translated the scriptures, but also worried about the scriptures they had already translated.The flames illuminated the streets of the city, and several houses were burning vigorously.But after walking a few streets, there was no one in sight. Walking forward for a while, he saw several cavalry galloping past. Xingde thought to himself, maybe after receiving the retreat order, everyone went to the west gate.Twenty or thirty more cavalry came from behind, and the faces of the cavalrymen all had a strange red light. Zhao Xingde walked into the empty prefect's mansion, walked through the front hall, and went straight to the translation hall.There is no light in the hall, and the windows are closed, so it is not as bright as outside.There was no one in the hall.Xingde opened the door of a side room.Xingde himself and other translators used to transcribe and correct the translated drafts here before binding them.But at this time the room was empty, and none of the translated scriptures were seen, so they must have been taken away.Now that Xixia has become an enemy, the translation of Chinese scriptures into Xixia language seems a bit absurd now.Xingde thought about it, and felt a little relieved, because their original intention of translating the scriptures was not for Xixia.Yanhui is to worship the Buddha, and he himself is to pay homage to the little lady in Ganzhou. As soon as Xingde ran out, the fire burned down the house of the prefect.Sparks are scattered all over the street, and Xingde has to make detours from time to time.The city was already on fire at this time, and the black smoke exuded a burnt smell. Xingde finally arrived at the west gate, and the remaining hundred or so cavalry were preparing to leave.A soldier gave Xingde a horse, and Xingde mounted the horse and ran out of the city.They walked in groups of four or five.After running for a while, when Xingde looked back, Guazhou City was already in flames. Zhao Xingde met Zhu Wangli on the bank of a dry river in the early morning of the next day, and he was gathering his team.There was no trace of the fleeing people, and it is said that they all fled to several tribes near the city of Guazhou. When Zhu Wangli retreated, he set fire to the freshly harvested grain stored outside Guazhou City, so he said that the Xixia army would never follow immediately. When the troops were being assembled, Xingde saw the prefect Yanhui and a dozen followers riding over together.Yanhui said that he had ordered all the people in the house to go to the tribes in the north of Guazhou City to take refuge for a while, and he led these dozen people willing to act together with Zhu Wangli.An excited expression appeared on his pale face, and he kept talking to himself: "Save Shazhou and keep the temple." After Zhu Wangli assembled the team, he ordered a forceful march westward and headed straight for Shazhou.