Lihua Station by the Lihua River.

The town with this poetic and picturesque name is actually an extremely dilapidated border town with no pear blossoms, no inns, and no poets.

The word "Lihua" in Lihuayi comes from the Lihua River, which is the Red River leading from Yunnan to Annan. The word "Yi" comes from a long-abandoned inn and a battle in Annan that ended sadly.

During the years when Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty conquered Annan, Lihuayi was really a post station. It was also an important post station for communication between Yunnan and Annan.

However, after Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty struck off his conquest of Annan, there was no need for Lihua Station to exist. However, the people who relied on the station soon found a new way to survive. That was to conduct some cross-border trade through the Lihua River, which could only barely navigate, and earn money.

Although he did not have a lot of money, he could still support his family and maintained the town of Lihuayi for more than 200 years. It also gave Zhu Cizhao, the fleeing king of Yunnan in the Ming Dynasty, a temporary place to stay before entering the territory of Annan Dutongsi.

It is now the second day of April in the second year of Hongxing reign of the Ming Dynasty. The Yunnan King of the Ming Dynasty, who abandoned Kunming at the end of February and embarked on the road to escape again, has lived a homeless life for more than a month. But Zhu Cizhao, who has turned 18 this year,

He also has a strong physique inherited from Emperor Chongzhen, and he has not been very stable since five years, and has long been accustomed to living on the run.

So when he ran to Lihua Station, the prince was still in high spirits.

And those who ran with him were all masters who were accustomed to running. Zhang Yong couldn't defeat the Donglu and the rogue bandits, so he still couldn't run?

And Qiu Lei is also good at running. When Beijing fell five years ago, he was leading troops in Shandong. Now he has gone to Yunnan. What a good runner!

Following Zhu Cizhao's concubine Zuo Mengmei, now called Qiu Mengmei, she was also accustomed to traveling around. She has traveled to many places in the past few years!

As for the troops who followed the King of Yunnan into Yunnan, they were all good at walking. Not only did they have strong legs that they had honed over the years, but they also did not bring their families with them when they entered Yunnan (their family members all stayed in Guizhou, and they planned to reunite with Yunnan after they had completely conquered it)

), so I can leave at will.

An army of nearly 30,000 people, plus more than 10,000 civilians pulling horse-drawn carts, left Kunming and headed south.

Because they had been fighting with Sha Dingzhou and his wife in Lin'an Prefecture for more than a year, they were familiar with each other and knew where to go to collect food and grass.

Therefore, more than a month's march did not bring down the army, which was mainly composed of Bei and Jing people.

Even when they arrived at Lihuayi, they did not show the desolation that a defeated fleeing army should have. Not only did they bring their weapons and armor, but they also had sufficient supplies. Because Qilong was more than a hundred miles south of Lihuayi.

Along the bank of the Yangtze River, there is the location of the Mu Family Village (this area belonged to Vietnam in later generations), and there is a large area of ​​fertile farmland in the valley of the Kuilong River. When they last attacked Shadingzhou, Zhang Yong and Qiu Lei knew that there was such a place.

At Xunzhuang. So when we ran away this time, we sent elite soldiers to take the lead and occupied Xunzhuang first. Then we mobilized civilians from several nearby chieftains to transport the grain to Lihuayi.

So when Zheng He, the governor of Annan's Guihua Prefecture, and his people rushed to Lihuayi to pick him up according to the decree of the King of Yunnan (now Annan Kingdom is still nominally the Annan Capital Commander of the Ming Dynasty), the old man's heart was lifted.

Although this old man looks dry, shriveled, and black, like an old farmer, in fact he can be regarded as a strong general in the Zheng family! Six years ago, he followed Zheng Zheng to attack Changyu Base, taking the lead and establishing a strong position.

Because of his great merit, he became the naturalized magistrate.

As a veteran of the Zheng family's imperial army, Zheng He has a very poisonous eye! He can tell at a glance whether this army can fight or not.

And the so-called "fleeing army" in front of us clearly has the momentum of a heroic army! How can it not look like it is fleeing?

Zheng He was a veteran who joined the army with his hair tied and followed Zheng Zhi and the Ruan family in Guangnan for more than 20 years. Moreover, he was particularly good at defeating battles. Except for following Zheng Zheng to conquer the Changyu Barrier six years ago, he had never done anything in his life.

We have lost battles (the Zheng family’s army has been fighting against the Ruan family since more than 20 years ago, and they have basically lost every battle). We have seen too many defeated soldiers.

Defeated soldiers should have lost their armor, were dejected, and were in panic all day long.

How can there be such a thing as the so-called "fugitive soldiers" here in Lihuayi? Almost all soldiers wear armors and even run away with them when they win the battle. Isn't it too heavy?

In addition, many soldiers are carrying long spears that are more than ten feet long. Who is still carrying this thing when running away?

Oh, and there are cannons and muskets!

You can tell at a glance that the gun is a good thing bought from the Dutch (actually purchased from Foshan). The artillery is a 3-pound bronze field cannon! It is exactly the same as the one used by the Ruan army (both from Macao)

Products from Bugarao Factory), they are very powerful when used!

What made Zheng He most suspicious was that the arrival time of this Ming army was so strange. The King of Qingdu (Zheng Zheng) had just been defeated at Changde Base. It was a very, very tragic defeat! Although the Zheng army had already

Habits have been defeated, but this time the defeat reached a new level.

The 100,000 Imperial Forest Army was defeated by the 20,000 Ruan family members (the Ruan Lord's army was semi-Westernized, and relied on the dangerous Chang De base to defend and counterattack), and the half-Western-style troops that had been worked so hard to save were completely wiped out.

!Moreover, even Li Emperor Li Weiyou, who was in charge of the imperial army, died in the battle without any explanation.

Therefore, when the children of the Annan Zheng family learned about the tragic defeat, they all burst into tears!

And Zheng He was in tears. Before he could wipe away his tears, he got the news that King Yunnan of the Ming Dynasty was coming to seek refuge.

If the Zheng family's imperial army had not suffered a disastrous defeat, given the strength of Lord Zheng of Annan, he would not have been afraid of the Ming Dynasty's attack. Lord Zheng had an army of 100,000, several Western-style warships, Dutch military advisors, and more than 10,000 semi-Western-style elite soldiers. Although this army

The army could not defeat the Nguyen clan's Quang Nam army who was defending the Truong Duc base, but it was not afraid of the Ming army who had to go on an expedition.

But the problem is that Lord Zheng's 100,000-strong imperial army was defeated. Before they could recover their blood and lick their wounds, your Ming army came at the last moment. Isn't this too small?

Who would believe that there is no conspiracy?

Although Dai Viet will not be destroyed, the Zheng family is definitely hopeless and will be exterminated.

At the thought of genocide, Zheng He and Old Man Zheng couldn't help it, so they burst into tears in front of Zhu Cizhao, Qiu Lei, Zhang Yong and others!

"Old man, old man, why are you crying? Are you being bullied by someone?" Zhu Cizhao's reaction was still quick. Others were still dumbfounded, but he already asked sympathetically.

Of course he spoke in Chinese, which ordinary Annan people could not understand, but Zheng He was educated. He had also participated in the imperial examination and passed the Annan Jinshi, so he understood Chinese.

After listening to Zhu Cizhao's question, Zheng He shed tears and did not kneel to Zhu Cizhao. He stood there and said righteously: "King Yunnan, you took advantage of the new mourning of our king and the disastrous defeat of King Qingdu's troops to lure tens of thousands of tigers and wolves.

You're an intruder, and you ask who bullied me?"

He spoke in Cantonese Mandarin. Zhu Cizhao had a little difficulty listening, but he still roughly understood the meaning.

The Annan Kingdom seemed to have just lost a battle, and the leader of the country died. I don’t know if he was killed by an attack? Anyway, the country was leaderless and people were in panic, so when they saw that they were fleeing with their troops, they became suspicious.

"Old man, you misunderstood" Zhu Cizhao sighed, "The lonely king also lost the battle and had no choice but to come to the Annan Dutong Division. He definitely did not want to seek the position of Annan Dutong. The lonely king was a vassal king, and he could still fancy it.

Everyone is unified?"

Still want to lie

How could Zheng He be fooled? What does the desperate army look like? You guys are obviously here for a sneak attack!

"Hmph!" Zheng He snorted, "Why do you, your Majesty, need to joke and deceive each other? Zheng is an Annan man in life and an Annan ghost in death. He will never surrender. If you want to kill him, just kill him!"

I don’t even know what to say to kill Zhu Cizhao! He looked around and said: "This old man seems to be crazy, why don’t we go to the territory of Annan Dutongsi? After all, it is the land of the Ming Dynasty, and the lonely king cannot go anywhere.
Chapter completed!