There is a Go board placed on the desk in the corner of the public room. The pieces on the board are arranged in an orderly manner. One of the players is about to win. Whale
But the two chess baskets are not placed on both sides, but on the same side.
Because this game of chess was played by Lu Xiufu alone.
And in the middle of the public room, there is a map hanging.
On the map, an march route has been clearly marked. Zhang Jue's East Route Army marched eastward from Nanyang to Kaifeng to regain this city that had great influence on the world situation. Then they moved up from Shandong to the northeast and eliminated the Yuan army still in Shandong.
, completed the encirclement of Yanjing.
In fact, what is placed on the chessboard has the same meaning, that is, to eat the big dragon Boyan in order to seize the territory in the northeast.
This strategy is no secret, and it has already been largely achieved.
Even the objects in this public room have gathered some dust. Lu Xiufu is no longer here. He has left for several days. He led some troops and horses in advance and rushed to Kaifeng with baggage to facilitate Zhang Jue's attack on Kaifeng. Whales
…
Kaifeng suburbs.
"Mr. Lu." Huo Xiaolian rode his horse and rushed to the big tent. He quickly got off his horse and said, "We have found the remnants of Boyan's army."
"How many troops does he have left?"
"More than two hundred riders."
Lu Xiufu quickly pulled out a map from a pile of siege maps, surrender letters and other documents, laid it out, and asked: "Where is it?"
Huo Xiaolian raised her hand and pointed, and immediately clicked on a place on the map. Whale
"Zhuxian Town."
"So close?"
"Because at that time Marshal Zhang returned directly to Zhengzhou to aid Zhengzhou without attacking Kaifeng, Boyan also hoped that a small group of soldiers and horses could sneak back to Kaifeng City secretly. If any scouts spotted him, he would report in advance."
"Can we surround it?" Lu Xiufu said, "This place is mostly filled with infantry and civilians, and I'm afraid there won't be enough cavalry."
"It's enough to select the vanguard camp. Zhang Shuai's pursuers must not be far away."
"I will go with you. If I can persuade Boyan to surrender, it will be of great benefit."
As Lu Xiufu said this, he immediately ordered his officials to arrange the camp, then got on his horse and headed south with the selected vanguard camp.
This cavalry was extremely fast, running from the western suburbs of Kaifeng City to Zhuxian Town in just over an hour.
Suddenly, a whistle was heard in the distance, and the sound of horse hooves was heard from ahead.
"Don't let Boyan escape!"
Huo Xiaolian shouted loudly, stood up in the stirrups, and in the process of running, she actually turned over on another empty war horse, raised the horse again and rushed forward quickly.
Behind him, the soldiers of the forward battalion followed one by one.
Lu Xiufu's riding skills were already very good. He could keep up with them all the way from Kaifeng, and he boasted that he was not lagging behind. But at this time, he could no longer keep up, so he had to pull up the reins and slow down the horse.
There were also a dozen knights left to watch the empty horses and whales.
Two of them protected Lu Xiufu and continued to move forward.
After walking no more than a hundred steps, we could see the bodies of Yuan soldiers lying on the roadside. They looked quite embarrassed. It was obvious that it was not easy to escape from the Nanyang battlefield all the way here.
Tens of thousands of Yuan troops were willing to surrender before they surrendered. Those who could escape here with Boyan were basically his confidants. Therefore, even after chasing for five or six miles, no prisoners were seen. On the contrary, they were occasionally seen being counterattacked by Yuan troops.
The soldiers who were killed were selected from the vanguard camp.
Further forward, the bodies of the Yuan army became more and more numerous. Judging from the scars alone, the selected vanguard camp had become ruthless.
After chasing for another two miles, Lu Xiufu could already see the fighting ahead.
At this point, the morale of the Yuan army had been completely defeated by the Select Front Battalion, and they no longer had the ability to resist. They just desperately wanted to protect Boyan and escape.
Lu Xiufu urged his horse to catch up, and followed the blood trail to the edge of the Wohe River, where he could finally see Boyan's tall figure clearly.
"Bo Yan! Surrender!"
Boyan had already rode his horse to the river and was looking around. When he heard this, he turned his head and shouted: "Don't shoot the arrow."
He first ordered the soldiers around him in Mongolian.
Afterwards, he shouted in Chinese: "Who is coming? Is it Lu Xiufu?"
"Exactly." Seeing that he was interested in talking, Lu Xiufu signaled Huo Xiaolian to postpone the pursuit.
Boyan glanced towards the river again, then rode his horse to take a few steps towards the Tang army.
At this time, there were only about ten people left around him, and he was in a miserable state, but he still laughed at Lu Xiufu and said, "It's a pity that I couldn't defeat you in the battle at Zhengzhou!"
"What kind of regret is this?" Lu Xiufu said: "It is a pity for a man to be unable to fulfill his ambitions in this world. Now His Majesty aims to unify the four directions, and the Han and Mongolian families. Are you willing to help His Majesty to make the herdsmen on the grassland live a prosperous life?
?”
Perhaps because he was facing Mongolians, his language became richer.
It can be seen that at this moment, he is a little accommodating to Boyan.
"Are you trying to persuade me to help you attack the Great Khan who is kind to me? Maybe you want me to lead the way to attack the Ilkhanate?"
"That's right!" Lu Xiufu didn't shy away and said, "I know that you study Sinology and are good at poetry and calligraphy. Since you took charge of Henan, you have implemented benevolent policies and are by no means a cruel and murderous person, so you came here to persuade me."
"I know that your emperor wanted to be the Khan of the day, he learned Mongolian, and he drew a map that was wider than the territory of the Great Mongolia!"
"Yes." Lu Xiufu said, "You need to be loyal to such a king."
Both of them are smart people, needless to say.
Boyan was silent for a while and began to think about what would happen if he joined Li Xia.
He has been trying to understand Li Xia since he arrived in Henan, so he can roughly imagine it.
Perhaps in the next year, he will lead an army to march westward, once again pass through the land of the Western Regions, return to the Ilkhanate, and return to the shores of Lake Urumiye.
At that time, he will no longer be an envoy, but will bring His Majesty the Emperor's will or war.
"I need to think about what kind of story I will leave behind after I die." Boyan said: "What kind of songs will the herdsmen use to sing about me when they herd sheep."
Lu Xiufu said: "Do you know Ashina She'er, if he loses his thinking power, what's the power of Qibi? Like them, you will leave your name in history and become a hero. I hope that one day I can be the same minister as you, and we can
He is the future prime minister of the Tang Dynasty. Boyan, please get off your horse and come to me." Whale
He first turned over and dismounted, took a few steps forward, and made a welcoming gesture using the etiquette of the prairie.
After waiting for a while, Boyan finally got off his horse.
"Lu Xiufu, thank you!"
However, with this shout, Boyan quickly dodged behind the horse, ran towards the river, and jumped.
A small boat has floated out from the grass upstream, and a boatman is rowing on it.
Boyan jumped into the boat.
"Let's go!" Whale
The boat moved quickly down the river.
At that time, Zhang Honglue destroyed Xia Gui's grain and grass by going down the Guohe River. The downstream of this river was Bozhou, where Ali Hague was based.
Although Boyan mobilized all the Yuan troops in Henan, there were still a small number of troops stationed in Bozhou City.
No matter how few soldiers there are, it is enough to escort him back to the grassland.
At this time, the dozen or so riders on the shore quickly dispersed and dispersed in all directions.
"kill."
Huo Xiaolian was not surprised and gave the order directly, driving her horse to chase the whale.
The cavalry of the Selected Front Battalion caught up like the wind, raised their crossbows, and began to kill these Mongolian soldiers mercilessly.
"Whoosh."
"Whoosh..."
Soon, Huo Xiaolian galloped to the river.
Lu Xiufu rode up and saw Huo Xiaolian raising his crossbow and shot the Yuan soldier who was still holding the oar.
There was a "pop" sound, and the soldier fell into the boat.
"Bo Yan." Lu Xiufu shouted: "This is your last chance, surrender!"
But Boyan had already taken the oar and rowed the boat to the other side.
"Whoosh."
A crossbow arrow was driven into the crook of Boyan's leg. He fell to the board of the boat and turned to look at Lu Xiufu.
"I'm afraid that the pastoral songs on the grassland will say that Boyan is ungrateful. The Great Khan treats me like Genghis Khan treats Muhuali..."
At this time, the boat was still drifting downstream, so Huo Xiaolian led the people to chase after it on the shore.
Just downstream, another tributary merged into the Wo River, and the river surface suddenly became much wider.
Huo Xiaolian frowned slightly, raised her crossbow, and shouted: "Bo Yan! Are you going to surrender or not? If you don't want to surrender, you will die!"
Boyan stood up and sat up, turned his head and looked here without answering, as if he was thinking about it.
"Xiangong Lu." Huo Xiaolian said: "This thief is cunning, I have to kill him."
"Can we capture him alive?" Lu Xiufu whispered, following Huo Xiaolian's gaze downstream.
I saw a reef standing in the middle of the river, and not far downstream of it was the confluence of the two rivers.
This is a triangular area. After the intersection, the cavalry must cross the river to continue the pursuit.
Suddenly, with a glance from the corner of his eye, Boyan on the boat had already started to paddle towards the fast rock.
"Whoosh." Whale
"Kill!" Huo Xiaolian's hands were faster than his brain, and he only remembered to shout after grabbing the crossbow.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."
In an instant, several crossbow arrows were shot at Boyan. Some of them missed, but five arrows penetrated Boyan.
With a loud "bang", the boat hit the rocks hard and broke into pieces. The body covered with arrows fell into the water and was swept away by the current.
"Catch up! Search downstream and bring the body back!" Huo Xiaolian shouted again.
He was a little annoyed because he thought that His Majesty had told him to live a better life.
But Boyan is too cunning, and if he is not willing to surrender at the last moment, he will have to die to see his corpse.
Everyone searched along the river for two more hours before finally finding Boyan's body in a river bend downstream.
"Mother, since you don't want to surrender, why don't you kill yourself as soon as possible and waste all the time to find me."
The soldiers who dragged the corpse ashore complained like this.
The sound reached Lu Xiufu's ears. He stood there and looked at Boyan's pale face. For a moment, he felt that the rules of success and failure in this world were so cruel.
I don’t know how I would make a decision if it were me today...