On the twelfth day of the first lunar month, the snow stopped falling.
The sun shines through the clouds and shines on the soil beside Baiyang Lake, causing the snow water to seep into the mud little by little.
Horse hooves broke up the snow and stepped into the mud.
The knight on the horse did not dare to go any further and tightened the reins.
But he still wanted to take another look at the situation ahead, so he stood up on the stirrups, picked up a single-cylinder telescope and looked into the depths of the swamp.
In the sunlight, a flash of purple light flashed.
With a "whoosh" sound, a crossbow arrow suddenly shot out and nailed the knight's neck.
The armor-clad body fell into the mud with a very soft sound.
Several thin men quickly rushed over.
Wang Yun's official career was not going well during the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties. When he surrendered, he was just a guest of the historian. In private, he often wrote poems to express his feelings about being unappreciated, such as "I am only afraid of being at the bottom of the Nanyang ridge, but I am empty-handed and my father Liang is chanting" and so on.
"Without my cousin's release, I almost wouldn't have been able to come up."
"You want to test how much weight I, a noble concubine, have?" Zhang Wenjing opened her eyes and asked.
It's just that since this matter has been handed over to Zhang Hongdao and Zhang Wenjing, who can be more attentive than these two brothers and sisters.
"Where is the imperial concubine?" Zhang Hongqing interrupted Jingjie.
I saw all the guests of the Zhang family sitting there, discussing with each other in low voices, and they were all a little nervous.
Someone led the horse away, and someone had already stripped the body of its clothes.
He had just arrived at the stream and was about to scoop out water in a bucket.
"My hand was disabled by Brother Ninth and can no longer be used."
They were all barefoot. When walking through the swamp, their feet would get stuck in the mud, but they could pull them out quickly and move like flying.
Zhang Hongqing had no choice but to agree, turned around and left the small pavilion.
This kind of working posture is harmful to the body, and farming is really boring.
He was still very busy, and he didn't think that with just a few swings of the hoe, the land would be better planted. He was afraid it would be even worse... But when he came to inspect today, he met Guo Shoujing again, who had no eyesight.
"Then go downstairs and rest. Don't touch the wound."
"Soon."
"You are very good at talking. I didn't even know you had so many profound meanings."
Three miles to the northwest is the place where Zhang Hongdao and Namuhan exchanged prisoners today.
"What can I know? Is the eldest sister asleep?"
"You don't have to accompany me back to Baozhou." Li Xia had already washed his feet, turned around and went ashore, and said, "You come to be Guo Shoujing's deputy envoy to the field. He is a dull man, so you can help him."
"Let's go."
"It can be saved." Zhang Wenjing responded again.
Wang Yun was so moved by such a simple thing that he went around to the downstream of Li Xia and entered the stream.
"Is the imperial concubine up there? Zhang Shiyilang wants to see you."
Zhang Wenwan heard the movement, turned around and said, "Brother Eleven? Did you rescue dad and the others?"
There is still a lot of official business waiting there.
On this early morning, east of Baiyangdian, there was a Mongolian cavalry of more than 5,000 men running at full speed. They would bypass Baiyangdian and attack Zhang Hongdao's abdomen and back.
Maybe it was because Kublai Khan didn't believe that Zhang Hongfan died in battle, or maybe it was because Li Xia also named them and wanted to exchange them back... Zhang Rou didn't know this.
What is ridiculous is that the four wives and seven children of Zhang Hongfan, who was most loyal to Kublai Khan, were among them. It was not that Kublai Khan planned to return them to the Zhang family, but that they were imprisoned together after Baozhou surrendered.
Woke up.
But what is certain is that the general at the head is Zhang Hongdao.
Now that Li Xia has surrendered, he can still accompany him today. He is very attentive and rushes to fetch water to wash Li Xia's feet.
"Your Majesty is joking, I just have a brief understanding of His Majesty's Sacred Heart."
Even now, Li Xia has not forgotten to practice hard. Looking at the armies on both sides, there are probably not many people with better physical strength than him. Unexpectedly, after bending down to work in the field for a while, even he felt sore in the back.
~~
East of Baozhou City.
"I thank your Majesty for your grace."
~~
Baiyangdian.
In fact, he can't work for even half a day in total. He is not qualified to say that farming is hard and boring, and it is not his turn to complain.
The prisoner exchange time is scheduled for late afternoon.
Zhang Wenjing actually had a gentle smile on her face. She said: "Everyone is waiting for the family to come back. The second sister is also anxious. She is always so arrogant. Don't mind me. Are you feeling better?
?”
But after thinking about it, he bent down again and planned to dig out the drainage ditch he was digging.
"Really? Tell me."
~~
Southwest of Baozhou City, Changfeng Village.
"Then wash up quickly and set off."
But he was still not happy. He always felt that he had lost money by surrendering to Li Xia, but he couldn't find anyone with the same idea.
"What can others care about? I heard that Your Majesty went to work in the fields today. Does he not take our Zhang family to heart?"
"I just thought that Eleventh Lang is still recovering from his injuries. When you recover from your injuries, Your Majesty will definitely put you to good use."
"Has it been untied?"
Zhang Rou raised her head and saw Hu Lahu'er, An Tong and others walking towards the opposite side.
"I...can vaguely understand His Majesty's painstaking efforts."
"Well, she is very tired from arranging to save her family these days."
Someone upstairs looked down and let him go up to the top of the tower.
Li Xia actually didn't want to go to the ground in person.
The next moment, Zhang Wenwan had her hands on her hips and cursed again: "More than twenty sect kings, four Ketun, and a bunch of tens of thousands of households, including Chief Qie Xue, have all been handed over to Fifth Brother for exchange. What else do you want?"
?”
Li Xia stepped on the mud with her bare feet and was digging with a hoe.
"are you crazy?"
…
"Calm down. He's not in a hurry about his empire, so why are you in a hurry?"
In the small pavilion, Zhang Wenjing was sitting on a chair, seemingly asleep.
Zhang Hongqing then walked up.
"father."
Jingjie was standing by the window, looked back and said, "Here comes the Eleventh Man? Sit down."
"Your Majesty, it's getting late. We are bringing Zhang Rou back today. Your Majesty should receive her in person anyway. If you don't rush back to Baozhou, it will be too late."
"Wash your feet with ice water, what grace is there? What do you think of today's digging of the ground?"
"Sister, I'm afraid you have misunderstood me. What I mean is that if father, second brother, and sixth brother cannot be rescued, and if there is no one in the Zhang family to support you, then you are by His Majesty's side..."
"You don't care about the war when it's imminent, and you just come here to show off. You're so young, you can really put on a show."
So I couldn't help but think in my heart: "Let's see, since Li Xia has won Baozhou, how can he save the Zhang family? Only then will you know who is right."
Guo Shoujing felt that others were not doing well, so he picked up a hoe and went to the fields to demonstrate in person. He also warmly invited Li Xia to set an example. Once he opened his mouth, Li Xia couldn't refuse, so he had to work in the fields himself.
"In the small pavilion above."
Zhang Hongqing was not familiar with this sister, so he was stunned again and said: "I didn't think about anything, but I just wanted to ask my eldest sister, Your Majesty..."
Zhang Hongqing climbed up the tower with a broken arm wrapped around him, but was stopped at the stairs.
Zhang Wenwan suddenly cursed, which made Zhang Hongqing stunned.
But Li Xia had already come over, stepped into the cold stream, leaned over to wash, and asked Wang Yun, "Are you afraid of the cold?"
At this time, everyone in the Zhang family had their hands tied behind their backs, cloths were stuffed in their mouths, and even their feet were tied with ropes, so they could only take a moderately wide step.
Wang Yun was surprised and happy. He was stunned for a moment and even forgot to thank him.
Several newly demoted officials accompanied him and were working in another field. Their movements were much more agile than Li Xia's, but they had many complaints.
I never thought that the most prosperous person in the Zhang family today is Wu Lang who defected back then.
"Shh."
"What's the meaning?"
"I am not afraid."
"Just in case, after all, it is the Fifth Brother today, not His Majesty himself..."
This is a large barren field that was designated as a military camp a few days ago. The snow has been trampled away. What needs to be done now is to loosen the soil and drain the water from the mud.
Zhang Hongqing walked to the window of the small pavilion and took a look outside. He saw one or two teams of cavalry walking around outside the city, and said: "We are the only three brothers and sisters who belong to the Zhang family."
But Li Xia ignored him, put on his boots, got on his horse, and headed towards Baozhou again.
Today, even though he knew that Baiyangdian was exchanging prisoners, he still accompanied Guo Shoujing to start the military camp. It was not because he didn't value Zhang Rou.
He looked at the sky, waded through the mud, walked to the field stalks, threw down his hoe, and went to Li Xia's side to whisper a reminder.
This small job can only serve as a warning to him that being a farmer is not easy.
"Rokuro." He lowered his voice and called in a low voice.
Further forward, in the line of sight, were rows of Tang Army cavalry. Because of the distance, the faces of those cavalry could not be seen clearly.
"It can be saved."
In fact, both publicly and privately, he still wanted to see Zhang Rou again.
Zhang Hongqing felt bored and said: "That's good."
Zhang Rou slowed down, turned her head and glanced behind her, only to see that she was more than a stone's throw away from the Yuan army's queue.
Li Xia didn't respond, but there was already a look of approval in his eyes.
With these hasty words, the swamp quickly became quiet again.
Zhang Rou has many descendants, and the total number of family members, men, women, and children who were released at this time is one hundred and eighty-six.
There was some sweat on Li Xia's forehead, but he was already very skilled in the movements of his hands. He hoeed a few more times and finally dug the ditch.
"He doesn't know how to plow the ground. If he puts it here to win people's hearts, he won't be driven away after he plants the seeds..."
Wang Yun, who was passing by, glared and shouted at these gossiping officials.
"Shh."
Jingjie said: "Don't worry, your Majesty has many important ministers with prosthetic limbs around you..."
Swinging down the hoe, he cut an earthworm into two pieces and burrowed into the mud. It was very disgusting. At the same time, he could smell the smell of mud. Li Xia raised his head and felt that he had set an example.
"good."
Wang Yun was a little nervous, licked his lips and said: "After listening to your majesty and Mr. Dong Xianggong a few days ago, I have been thinking about this matter. Although it is too late to plant seeds now to provide the food and grass that the army will need in February and March, but now it is necessary to
Lie is determined to delay the war and clear the country. If your majesty attacks Yanjing, it will only be a waste of food and grass. It is better to start a military camp. When Kublai Khan learns of this, he will think that your majesty's food reserves are enough to last until summer and autumn. He does not know the truth and will be in chaos.
Proper."
Wang Yun added: "When your majesty has arranged the military garrison, the weather will get warmer, and we can attack Yanjing. But Kublai Khan was hesitant, thinking that your majesty will not be short of food, so it is inevitable that there will be omissions, and then your majesty will be able to attack Yanjing."
Attack the route he used to transport money and grain. In short, when others thought it was time to attack, His Majesty slowed down the military camp, and when others thought His Majesty was stationed in the fields, he could attack unexpectedly? As for today, it is precisely because ordinary people do not understand that Your Majesty knows so well that His Majesty personally
Work hard and set an example."
"What is this?"
"Soon."
"Something is wrong." Zhang Ju said: "The prisoners on the other side got closer, and you led people to kidnap a few precious people."
Zhang Honglue also slowed down his pace, and the hands behind his back were still holding things and cutting the rope bit by bit.
"The father leaves first, and the son knows it well..."