Chapter 10 The Ninth Chapter of Zhu Wangli's Conquest

After Zhao Xingde bid farewell to Yanhui and returned to his barracks, the image of three monks burying their heads in sorting scriptures still appeared in his mind from time to time.Just as Yanhui said, Shazhou City will soon be burned to ashes.Temples, treasures, scriptures, everything will be destroyed in the fire.The tragedy that happened in Guazhou will be repeated in Shazhou.But there is really nothing to do right now, so I have to sit and wait? Xingde didn't feel sleepy at all, he lay on the kang, closed his eyes and thought hard.The troops will not set off until dawn, and it seems that there will be no sleep this night.Maybe there will never be time in this life to lie down and rest like this again, this is the last time.Xingde lay restlessly on the kang, surrounded by silence.Xingde felt that this night was quieter than any other night before, it was a kind of tranquility that penetrated into the bone marrow.

Xingde suddenly recalled the bustling market in Kaifeng, the capital of the Song Dynasty, where men and women dressed in silk and satin were bustling with cars and horses, and there was no grain of sand in the breeze blowing through the elm trees beside the road.There are all kinds of goods displayed in the shops on both sides of the street, and there are endless shouts in restaurants and restaurants of all sizes.Near the east corner building is a place specializing in second-hand goods, all kinds of clothing, calligraphy and painting, jade, and the price varies.There are also brothels and brothels where singing and dancing are peaceful, Yuqian Street with majestic guards of honor, Fanfu Street where dignitaries and dignitaries haunt, Suan Suomen...

"Ugh……" Looking back at his homeland, Xingde couldn't help sighing.But he knew in his heart that he would never return to his hometown again.It is thousands of miles away from the border gates in the west to Tokyo in the Central Plains, and there are countless difficulties and obstacles in the middle.Suddenly, Xingde felt dizzy.He even wondered if it was really so far away from the homeland of the Central Plains, and how did all this happen? Xingde began to review his experience in the western border for so many years.This is an insincere ideology, like water flowing from a high place to a low place, and it is natural to think of everything in the past.Starting from Kaifeng, he entered Hexi, and was captured by the Xixia army. He moved to various places in Hexi, and finally encountered a mutiny and became a member of the rebel army.Now in Shazhou, together with other Han people, we are preparing for a desperate battle with the Xixia Army.If you are lucky enough to live again, as long as the opportunities are the same, you may still walk on this road.Recalling the past and looking back at the present, Xingde feels that even if his life lives and dies with Shazhou City, he has no regrets.Really nothing to regret.The road thousands of miles from Kaifeng to Shazhou is like a gentle slope. In the passing years, I slid down this slope, and now I am lying here alone, with no hope of returning to the Central Plains. .Although some of the original intentions were not as expected, and there are still grudges, but since I have come to this western frontier and cannot return to my hometown, I have no choice but to let nature take its course.

While thinking wildly, Xingde suddenly heard a knock on the door, he quickly got up from the kang, a soldier came in and said that Master Zhu Wangli asked Xingde to come to him. The old captain Zhu Wangli's residence was not far away. As soon as Xingde arrived, Zhu Wangli, dressed in full armor, came to the courtyard to greet him.After seeing Xingde, Zhu Wangli said: "I have received a report from the horse scouts that the Xixia Army's forward is approaching us. This is the news from Mr. Cao Xianshun on the front line. I plan to lead the soldiers and horses in the city to the front line immediately. From the perspective of military strength, our department and Cao Xianshun The army of adults is combined, and the number of troops is also limited. It is difficult to compete with the Xixia army that is overwhelming the city. But it is too early to comment on the victory or defeat. Because I want to desperately launch a surprise attack on Li Yuanhao's base camp, no matter what No matter what, take the head of that guy. Once Li Wuhao dies, the Xixia army will collapse."

At this point, Zhu Wangli stared at Xingde and continued: "You must erect a monument for me. A large stone monument looking upward. We made an appointment some years ago, and I have not forgotten it. The honor of erecting the monument belongs to you, and in order to accomplish this, you must live. " "So, I won't go to the battlefield this time?" Zhao Xingde asked. "You can't do anything even if you join the battle. I'll give you three hundred soldiers, stay in the city and wait for the good news." "Xingde is willing to go to the battlefield with adults and fight to the death!"

Xingde said.In fact, he really wanted to see the final battle of the old captain's life with his own eyes. "Although I am not a warrior, I have fought for many years, and I have absolutely no greed for life or fear of death!" "madness!" Zhu Wangli couldn't help shouting. "This battle is unusual. You are not afraid of death, I know that. It can be said that you are more open to life and death than I am. But you can't participate in this battle, stay in the city for me, this is an order!" After speaking, Zhu Wangli walked out.Zhao Xingde quickly followed up and walked side by side with Zhu Wangli, but he never mentioned the issue of staying in the city or leaving the city to join the war, because he knew that Zhu Wangli was a man who said what he said and was hard to follow.No matter what, I must stay in the city.

The combat order had already been issued, so the two of them saw soldiers rushing to the school field at the assembly point along the way, and more and more soldiers gathered on the school field. There is not much time left for departure.As soon as Zhu Wangli arrived, he led a team of more than a thousand people out of the city from the north gate.Xingde led the 300 officers and soldiers who stayed behind to see him off at the gate of the city.Xingde saw that the fighting spirit of the soldiers who went to the expedition was not strong. Compared with when he was the forward of the Xixia Army, Zhu Wangli's army was no longer the same.More than half of the troops are Yanhui's subordinates, who lack training and have little combat experience. They have only been baptized by the Xixia Army's rocket attack in Guazhou City.Zhu Wangli organized his old subordinates into a cavalry team, and organized the Guazhou soldiers into an infantry team.The infantry team was not far from the cavalry team, and both men and horses exhaled white breath.As soon as the troops left the city gate, they disappeared into the darkness before dawn.

After Zhao Xingde sent Zhu Wangli's troops away, he immediately ordered his 300 subordinates to assemble at the north gate, where he set up a base camp and assigned a small number of soldiers to guard each of the six gates. Then, Xingde went straight to Cao's mansion, and he reported the matter to Yanhui.On the way to Cao's Mansion, I saw that there were no people in the houses. I must have gone out of the city to seek refuge, and there were only empty houses left.When he arrived at Cao's Mansion, the east was white, and the morning sun reflected in the courtyard like an abandoned garden.

Yanhui was still sitting in that big chair like last night.He was half asleep, and he couldn't see it for a while, but from his posture, it could be judged that he hadn't stood up since last night. Xingde reported to him that the Xixia army was marching towards Shazhou. In order to meet the enemy, Zhu Wangli had led his troops to go out. All the people in the palace had to leave the city to take refuge without leaving a single one.Yanhui still looked nervous when things happened, and immediately stood up when she heard this, and said in a low tone as if talking to herself: "Easier said than done."

Then he kept asking non-stop, how is his Guazhou soldiers and horses doing now?Where are the inhabitants of the city?It makes people feel whether his mind has been in a trance. "The Guazhou army has all gone out with General Zhu, and the people in the city have also left the city to take refuge. No one is left behind. At this moment, only the official himself and 300 soldiers are left behind in the city. In addition, there are The adults in the family and their families, etc." Xingde asks Yanhui about the remaining number of people in Cao's mansion, and Yanhui tells him that there are not many people left in the mansion.Xingde remembered that when he came in just now, he saw not as many servants as before.The monks in the Seventeenth Temple in the inner hall are still discussing endlessly. To be precise, there are only those monks besides the people in the house.

"I don't know what your lord's plans are?" Xingde asked. "I'm helpless, I'm in a dilemma, what else is there to plan?" Yan Hui's words contained a tone of blame. "When Guazhou was in disaster, there was still a way to retreat in Shazhou. Now that Shazhou is robbed, there is no way to retreat. There are soldiers from Xixia in the east and Muslims in the west. Both sides attack me. We can only sit here and wait for death. Besides, is there any other good strategy?" That's the kind of depressing words that Yanhui can say.He has been sitting in this big chair for the past few days. This is really the unique final seat in the world arranged for him by God. Xingde came out of Yanhui's room and walked inside.Every room is the same as Yanhui's room, some people are packing up the things and packages, it's a mess.And in each room, there was a member of the Cao family, staring at the blood-red eyes, and seemed to be more energetically busy among the crowd. Xingde learned from one of them that they planned to march to Gaochang State in the northwest at dusk. Xingde returned to Yanhui's room, and heard Yanhui say as soon as he entered the door: "You have seen that my clansmen are desperately packing up their things and preparing to flee in order to save their belongings and lives, but all of this is in vain. Where can they escape? Even if they run out, they will only lose money and people Empty. The Cao family suffered this disaster, the classics that have been treasured for many years were burned, the city was reduced to ashes, and the tragedy of Guazhou will repeat itself in Shazhou, my God, is this really destined?" Like a wizard, Yan Hui said hoarsely.Xingde's eyes reflected the flames he saw when he left Guazhou.This kind of fire disaster will hit Shazhou again tonight, destroying the Cao family, burning Buddhist scriptures, and reducing everything in the city to ashes.You can't expect Zhu Wangli to kill Li Yuanhao by chance, so as to prevent Xixia soldiers and horses from invading.The city was destroyed and people were killed. It seems that there is no way to return to heaven, but maybe those Buddhist scriptures will not suffer the same fate.Xingde thought that it was impossible to save other things, but only these books could be saved. Treasures, life, and power belong to their owners, but Buddhist scriptures are different. They do not belong to any one person. They should not be destroyed like this. We must try our best to preserve them. Own.As long as it is not burned, it will become a priceless treasure. Suddenly, an idea flashed in Xingde's mind.He felt a surge of blood in his body.As long as the classics are not burned, they will be preserved, and even if a small part is saved, it is an immeasurable merit.At least for those three monks, it must be done. Xingde's face was very serious, he remembered the treasure cave in the Thousand Buddha Cave that Yu Chiguang had said.At this moment, these caves are too useful.Thinking of this, Xingde turned around and came out of Yanhui's room, walked out of the palace, and rushed to the schoolyard where Zhu Wangli led his troops to gather earlier.After arriving at the school grounds, Xingde strode diagonally across the school grounds, and finally saw Yu Chiguang and his men still sorting the goods at the same place as yesterday.Xingde walked towards Yu Chiguang who was sitting by the campfire. Yu Chiguang looked unhappy. "What are the people in the palace doing?" he asked.The people from the palace have not come to ask him to help keep the treasure, so Yu Chiguang is very annoyed. "They're packing things up and packing them up for shipment." Xingde replied. "Packing and shipping?" There was a look of surprise in Yu Chiguang's eyes. "Yes, it's being packed and shipped. No one would think of asking you to help store things. The Cao clan will set off for Gaochang at dusk today." "what?" Yu Chiguang stood up suddenly, waved his hands excitedly and said: "Don't believe me, Yu Chiguang, bastard! Now that the matter has come to this point, I have my own way. One step out of the city is the desert." What he meant was obvious, he, Yu Chiguang himself, could become a bandit in the desert without waiting for the Asians and dragons to attack them. "Don't yell like that, listen to me. Even if you rob the Cao family's treasures in the desert, you will still be unable to escape the hands of the Xixia army. The Xixia army has swept from all sides, not only The east, west, and north sides, and even the south side, have also deployed soldiers and horses. I came to you to entrust you to keep the important things in the Cao family's treasure." Hearing this, Yu Chiguang hastily asked with a straight face: "Can it really be done?" "Of course it can be done. The shipment will arrive at dusk today." Xingde replied. "When will it be? Can it be earlier?" "No. It can't be earlier." Xingde denied it outright, and it was not negotiable.Xingde thought of the scripture scrolls in Dayun Temple that he visited last night, they were piled all over the room.What's more, apart from Dayun Temple, there are also a large number of scriptures in other temples, and those that should be removed must be removed. "The more camels the better, one hundred." "Now I have eighty. It's not difficult to get another twenty. I promise you a hundred." Yu Chiguang also told Xingde that he had sent people to the Thousand Buddha Caves to find two or three treasure caves. After Xingde bid farewell to Yu Chiguang, he returned to the base camp of the army, and brought a few soldiers straight to Dayun Temple.The three monks were still the same as last night, buried in the pile of books, sorting out various scriptures by category. When Xingde led people into the temple, they were stunned, thinking that foreign enemies had invaded.After seeing each other overnight, the eye circles of the three young monks had turned black, and there was a strange and stern look in their eyes.Xingde explained the purpose of coming to the three monks. He wanted to move the scriptures here to the grottoes of the Thousand Buddha Caves to hide them, so that the enemy could not take them away, and the flames of war could not be burned, and the scriptures could be preserved. After listening to the three monks, they stared at Xingde, as if they wanted to see through his internal organs.Maybe they finally felt that what Xingde said was not a lie, so the three looked at each other and sat down together.Obviously, although they were reluctant to propose Xingde, there was nothing they could do about it. Xingde repeatedly urged that in order to make it easier for the camels to carry, all the scriptures must be packed into boxes and transported to the designated place before dark.Do not disclose the contents of the box to anyone else.Now with the help of a few soldiers, the three monks began to move the scriptures from the dimly lit library hall to the compound filled with winter sunshine. Seeing that they had begun to work in an orderly manner, Xingde walked out of the temple gate alone and walked towards the palace again.In the palace, he was still at a loss when he saw Yanhui, and he was still sitting on that chair in a daze.After he explained his intentions, Yanhui sent someone to take him to a large room at the back, where the chief monks of various temples in the city were still arguing endlessly. When he got to the door, Xingde asked the guide to go back, and he pushed the door open by himself.But I saw several monks in the room lying on the ground staggeringly, as if they had died out of breath.These monks were not actually dead, they were just too tired and fell asleep on the ground. Xingde woke up a person near the door, explained to him how to deal with the scriptures, and asked him his opinion on the matter.He is already in his seventies, and he has been working hard for several days. The old monk told Xingde sleepily that his lord's opinion will be discussed this afternoon and other people's opinions must be sought.There are only five monks left in charge of the seventeen temples, so only five of them can be represented.Although it cannot represent the opinions of all the temples in Shazhou, it has no choice but to leave it at that.The five temples he mentioned refer to Kaiyuan, Qianyuan, Longxing, Pure Land and Baoen Temple.In addition to the five abbots, there are more than 500 monks, nuns and novice monks in these five temples, but they have all left the city to seek refuge. Xingde came out and saw that it was still early. He came to the north gate where the left-behind base camp was located, sat down in a nearby unoccupied house, and began to write the Prajna Heart Sutra.This is to repay a long-awaited wish. He wants to copy scriptures for the soul of the Uighur princess, and then hide this manuscript along with other scriptures in Dayun Temple in the cave of Thousand Buddha Caves.Time was running out, so he chose Prajna Heart Sutra.In order to commemorate his youthful experience, he translated the scriptures into Xixia while copying them. At sunset, Zhu Wangli, who had set off in the morning, sent someone back to deliver the letter, so Zhao Xingde had to suspend copying to deal with official duties.The content of the letter is an order: "At present, the enemy and us are facing each other fifty miles apart, and the soldiers and horses have not moved. The start of the battle should be after dawn tomorrow. Your department should take this opportunity to evacuate all the civilians in the city. In this way, even if the city fires, there will be no major losses." What Zhu Wangli said about the fire must be because he thought that if our side loses the battle, the houses in the city will also be burned. The enemy will have nowhere to live in the city in the future, so they will have to sleep in the wilderness in the cold. Xingde asked Zhu Wangli's messengers to go back, and sat down again to continue copying scriptures wholeheartedly.The people in the city have already evacuated, although it is said that they do not know when the flames of war will come, which makes people feel uneasy, but Xingde's heart is empty at this time, only my Buddha, so he is very calm.Looking out of the window, he saw a large flock of birds flying from north to south like dust. After Xingde finished transcribing the scriptures, he wrote the postscript at the end: "In the second year of Weishi Jingyou, Yihai December 13th, Zhao Xingde, a man from Tanzhou Prefecture in the Song Dynasty, lived in Shazhou in the west of the river. Today, foreign thieves attacked the country and disrupted the dayun temple. The bhikkhu moved the bible to the Mogao Grottoes and covered the wall. In the middle, I made up my mind to write a volume of the Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra. I placed it in the cave and wished that the eight ministers of the Dragon and Heaven would protect the city god and the common people. full support" When Xingde wrote "Little Lady of Ganzhou", he put down his pen.At this moment, the scene of the Uighur princess jumping down from Ganzhou City flashed vividly before his eyes again.Her face is paler than before, her hair has a brown luster, and her body looks a little thin.As the years passed, the image of the Uighur princess in Xingde's mind also changed.