Chapter 9 Chapter 9 Shenting Temple

Niuzhu (now the area around Caishi Town, Ma'anshan City, Anhui Province) faces the Yangtze River and is backed by mountains. It is a key place and is known as the Iron Gate of the Yangtze River. "Sun Jian's son, Sun Ce, is attacking from the south!" When the news came, Liu Yao summoned all the generals to discuss, and sent 100,000 shi of military rations to Niuzhu early, and at the same time allocated the army to General Zhang Ying, ordering him to be on guard. Tai Shici, who was sitting at the bottom of the table during the discussion, took the initiative to ask for battle: "Please let me be the vanguard. Although I am not talented, I will definitely defeat the enemy!"

Liu Yao only glanced at him, dismissed him with one sentence, and said, "You are not qualified yet!" Tai Shici blushed and remained silent.He is a young man who has just turned 30 years old. He has not been with Liu Yao for a long time, so he is a newcomer.Everyone looked at him with the words "this man is really talkative" in their eyes, which made him feel embarrassed. Zhang Ying was guarding the Niuzhu Fortress, and he prepared his troops in a place called Dige, and waited leisurely for Sun Ce's army. Prior to this, Sun Ce prepared dozens of warships and sailed out of the Yangtze River, connecting boats and boats, and coming back up the river.

"Ah, it's Niuzhu." "The enemy is heavily guarded." "Don't be afraid of Yafeng Arrow Rain. Attack the opposite bank together!" Headed by Sun Ce, the generals Ziheng and Zhou Yu stood on their own ship towers and began to command. The arrows flying from the land covered the sky and the sun. White waves beat against the side of the ship. The shouts pressed towards the shore. "Keep going!" Sun Ce jumped onto the land from the bow of the ship, hacking and rushing into the enemy army. "Don't hurt my son!" Soldiers jumped off the other boats one after another.Horses were also pulled ashore.

Overcome the dead body to occupy an area of ​​one foot; then step over the corpse to occupy an area of ​​several feet... In this way, the whole army landed gradually. On this day, Huang Gai in Sun Ce's army was the bravest in killing the enemy. He found Zhang Ying, the enemy general, and said, "Come on!" He patted his horse and rushed forward, raised his knife and dropped it, and chopped down the general. "What do you want to do?!" Zhang Ying was also a hero, shouting to fight hard, but lost to Huang Gai, and hurriedly rode his horse and fled back to his own formation.The whole army was defeated and fled, and the embankment burst.

However, when they fled to Niuzhu Fortress, they saw a cloud of black smoke rising from the city gate and the area around the Bingliang Depot. "Eh... oops... what's going on?" Zhang Yingzheng panicked, and his own soldiers in the fortress fled out of the city accompanied by thick smoke, shouting in unison: "There are traitors!" "It was set on fire by traitors!" The flames were already higher than the city walls. Zhang Ying led the defeated soldiers who were running for their lives, but ran towards the mountains helplessly.Looking back, Sun Ce's army took advantage of the momentum and pursued at an astonishing speed.

"Who is the traitor?! When did Sun Ce reach out to us?!" Zhang Ying, who fled into the deep mountains, gathered his troops and horses to take a rest, just took a breath, and was seized by suspicion as if possessed by a demon, contemplating the reasons for the defeat. Sun Ce's army won a big victory.The victory of the day was also an unexpected miracle for Sun Ce. "Who is it that set fire to the city as internal response?" He wondered. At this moment, a group of soldiers and horses appeared on the mountain road behind the city. There were about 300 people. The gongs and drums were beating, and the flag was held high. ——Don’t mistake us for the subordinates of the enemy Liu Yao—”

Soon, two general-like figures came forward from the crowd and said, "Let's meet General Sun!" Sun Ce asked them to come closer and take a closer look at the two of them. One has a face as black as lacquer, a thick nose bridge, a light yellow beard, and a sharp canine tooth biting a thick lip.At first glance, he is a man full of courage. The other is a man with bright eyes, bushy eyebrows, tall and slender limbs. The two stood in front of Sun Ce, a little dumbfounded, and said: "Ah, the first time I saw you." "You are General Sun?" I don't know how to be polite, just a hello, the savage looks like a savage.

"Who are you?" Sun Ce asked. The man with the big nose and black face answered first: "We are the leader of the lake thieves on Xunyang Lake in Jiujiang. My name is Jiang Qin, and my name is Gong Yi. This guy is my younger brother, and his name is Zhou Tai, and his name is You Ping." "Oh, the lake thief?" "We go boating on the lake, we use the boat as our home, attack passing merchant ships on the Yangtze River, and earn money by wading in the river and lake." "I am the army of the good people, and the thieves who make the good people suffer are my enemies. What do you mean by appearing in front of me in broad daylight?"

"No no. In fact, when I heard that you were coming here this time, I discussed it with my younger brother Youping. We must not be lake thieves for the rest of our lives. Besides, General Sun Jian's son must be a great person, and being punished by him is unbearable. It's better to wash your hands and quit being a lake thief, and be a real person again." "Oh." Sun Ce smiled wryly, and loved their honesty. "Having said that, it's too stupid to say please accept us to join empty-handed. If you make some contributions as a meeting ceremony, and then ask to accept us as retainers, the treatment will be better. Everyone said, okay, let's do it. The night before yesterday, we turned over Cross the cliff, climb into the back mountain of Niuzhu Fortress, and hide. When the battle started today, when all the soldiers and horses in the city were out of the city, we jumped into the city, set fire to the city, and killed all the remaining guys... Hey , How is it, general? Let us join the banner and command us."

"Hahahaha..." Sun Ce clapped his hands, looked back at Zhou Yu and the two counselors beside him and said, "How is it? These guys are quite funny! But some things are too much. I allow them to join you. You have to train them to be warriors .” After being allowed to join the team and follow the army, the two of them were overjoyed. Facing the row of majestic faces, they greeted them according to Jianghu etiquette: "Hi, please, please treat us better in the future!" Everyone couldn't help laughing, but they were very serious.Later, they seized the enemy's military and food depots, and recruited nearby thieves and rascals, so that Sun Ce's army immediately grew to more than 4,000 people.

The fortress, which was believed to be an iron wall, was breached in just half a day.Hearing this, Liu Yao turned pale in astonishment, and said, "Is there any troops there?" At this time, Zhang Ying fled to Lingling City with the defeated soldiers, and Liu Yao became even more angry. "What face do you have to come back alive, shameless?! Beheaded for public display!" Liu Yao was furious, but Zhang Ying finally saved his life after being persuaded by all the ministers. Liu Yao's camp became more and more shaken. So urgently strengthened the defense of Lingling City, Liu Yao went to the village in person and set up the headquarters in the south of Shenting Mountain. Sun Ce's 4,000 soldiers and horses had arrived at the north side of Shenting Mountain the day before.A few days after he was stationed here, Sun Ce called the head of the local people and asked, "I heard that there is a temple of Emperor Guangwu of Han Dynasty on this mountain. Is that temple still there?" "Hey, the spiritual temple is still there, but no one worships it. It's already very dilapidated." "Is the spiritual temple on the mountain?" "From the top of the mountain, it's halfway up the mountain. When you climb up from here, Poyang Lake and the Yangtze River are right in front of you, and you can have a panoramic view of the south and north." "understood." After the village chief returned, Zhang Zhao remonstrated, "It's okay to worship the temple, but you can go after the battle." "No, I suddenly want to go to Sacrifice. I can't let go if I don't go." "Then why?" "I had a dream yesterday." "Dream?" "Emperor Guangwu stood beside my pillow, beckoned to me, and disappeared on the top of the pavilion. The sound of pines rustled, and behind Emperor Guangwu there was light, forming a rainbow." "...But now, Liu Yao's base camp is located in the south of Shannan, if there is an ambush along the way..." "No no. I have the protection of the gods. I was invited by the gods to sacrifice to the gods. Why be afraid?!" the next day.According to the agreement, let the head of the village be the guide, and Sun Ce rode to the mountain road. Among the entourage are Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang, Jiang Qin, Zhou Tai and other thirteen generals.They each held their guns and halberds, and the higher they climbed, the wider their vision became. On the endless continent, the water of the Yangtze River flows for thousands of miles, coming in the clouds, going in the clouds, coming without a source, going without an end, winding long and long.Numerous lakes and swamps along the coast are connected without end.One-tenth of the Loess Continent is full of huge waters.On one billionth of that loess, tribal villages are scattered like bird droppings.Some villages are gathered together to form towns and cities. "Ah, here it is." Looking up at the spiritual temple, people dismounted, swept away the fallen leaves, and offered offerings. Sun Ce burned incense, kowtowed in front of the temple, muttered words, and prayed: "Respect God! Please let me inherit the legacy of my late father. Soon the land of Jiangdong will be pacified, and the Ling Temple will be rebuilt, and sacrifices will be made at all seasons." After leaving the spiritual temple, he did not return along the original path of the mountain road, but prepared to go down the mountain southward.The generals panicked and reminded: "No. You are going wrong. If you go that way, you will go down to the enemy's stronghold."