Gao Qiong looked at Gao Changshou and Bai Nongchuan in front of him with thoughtfulness in his eyes.
Bai Nongchuan came back from the Song Dynasty and told what he saw and heard as well as Li Xia's reply.
After hearing this, Gao Qiong thought for a while and reconfirmed his concerns.
"Is it really the Lieutenant Li of the Song Dynasty who killed Wu Lianghetai?"
Bai Nongchuan said: "According to the villain's opinion, it must be true."
"Li Xia and Li Feiyu." Gao Qiong muttered it again in a low voice, and then asked, "Will he come to Tongyacheng to see me?"
"I'm talking to the young master about opening up the smuggling trade route. I think I'll be there in a month or so."
"What he told Muru, you say it again."
"Yes." Bai Nongchuan said: "Li County Lieutenant said that the reason why he was able to kill Wu Liang Hetai was because the Xuzhou Army defeated the main force of the Mongolian Army; because the Changning Army contained the remaining Mongolian Army; and because the Song Army had firearms, ships, and bows.
Crossbows and other armaments; because the people of the Song Dynasty enthusiastically resisted the Mongols... all these are the national strength of the Song Dynasty.
In short, he claimed that he relied on the national power of the Song Dynasty to get the head of Wu Liang Hetai by chance. On the other hand, in Dali, when the country was destroyed and the king surrendered, there was no national power to rely on. If the young master and Yuehou got into trouble, they would be unable to support each other and would be defeated.
.Don’t act rashly.”
Gao Qiong nodded, deeply convinced.
He looked at Gao Changshou and sighed: "It seems that your friend has the same opinion as me. Occupy Dali City and kill Duan Xingzhi... We can't resist Mongolia by relying on this. The most important thing now is to accumulate strength."
"I don't agree." Gao Changshou shook his head and said: "While the people are still passionate, call on the heroes to overthrow the Duan clan as soon as possible and drive out the Mongolian Tatars."
Gao Qiong said: "You want me to contact the thirty-seven ministries again to fight. Can I defeat the Mongolian army? Back then, my father used the whole country to resist the Mongolian army and was defeated. How much more so now?"
"Ashu led his army eastward to Jiaozhi, and people in Dali were filled with resentment. Why didn't they dare to give it a try?"
"The lives of tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of people are not just for testing!"
Gao Qiong scolded and said: "I'm not the only one advising you this time. Li Xia also said in his letter not to act rashly. If the rebels have no armor, no horses, no food, and no training, they will be ruined if they lightly raise the banner of restoration."
It’s just life.”
Gao Changshou frowned, a little anxious.
Gao Qiong said again: "I know you are impatient. Fortunately, you did not hide it from me, but were willing to tell me Li Xia's opinion frankly, and wait patiently. As he said, open up the smuggling trade routes, accumulate food and organize the army... to plan for big things.
Don't be hasty."
Gao Changshou was not in a good mood, but he still nodded and said: "You are the leader of the Gao family, and you are unwilling to call on people to take action. What can I do? It's up to you."
"Let's prepare to buy horses and trade with Li Xia." Gao Qiong said with a wry smile, "It's good to sharpen your sword and chop wood quickly."
"Well, let's go."
Gao Changshou left with Bai Nongchuan, and the bitter smile on Gao Qiong's face gradually faded away, leaving only a bitter look.
He took out a letter from the drawer and read it again.
The letter was written by a Yi leader who followed Gao Taixiang to fight against the Mongols. It said that after the defeat at Heichu Mountain, he was lucky enough to survive and escaped into the temple. He took the Buddhist name "Sari Seng" and called on the people in the name of the Buddha in order to take advantage of Wu.
Lianghetai was dead, and A'shu took action during his eastern campaign against Jiaozhi. He invited Gao Qiong to join him in the great cause, and he was willing to make him the leader of the rebel army.
…
Sometimes things in the world are strange. Gao Changshou was dedicated to his cause, and got a letter from Li Xia advising him to slow down his plans; Gao Qiong was unwilling to raise an army, but he got a letter from Sarimonk, saying that we would work together for a great cause.
Gao Qiong has written a reply, but has not received a reply from Sarimonk for several days.
He was deeply worried about this.
After meeting Gao Changshou today, he was already more inclined to Li Xia's proposal... First open a smuggling trade route, exchange horses for tea, silk, porcelain, salt and other items from the Song Dynasty, and sell them to Dali dignitaries or transport them to Tubo and Tianzhu.
Earn money, accumulate food and grass, smelt weapons and armor.
After that, you can seek to use the junction of Sichuan and Yunnan as a stronghold, build mountain cities, train elite troops, and wait for a turn in the Song-Mongolia war.
At least they have to wait until the Song army captures western Sichuan and interrupts the communication between Mongolia and Dali. At the same time, Sichuan and Yunnan can rely on each other and support each other. This is the real opportunity.
As Li Xia said, "relying on the national power of the Song Dynasty", Xu Tu made progress.
In his opinion, raising the flag hastily will only send many courageous but unarmed people, mountain people, and believers to Duan Xingzhi's butcher knife...
Gao Qiong spread out the paper and ink, picked up the pen and planned to write another letter to the relic monk, when he suddenly heard a knock on the door.
The person who came in was Gao Qiong's clan brother, named "Gao Junjin".
"Brother."
After Gao Junjin entered the house, he closed the door first, then handed a letter to Gao Qiong and whispered: "The letter from Shanchan City...this time, it's not a secret letter."
Gao Qiong shook his head, knowing that "it's not a secret message" meant that the relic monks had already launched an army.
He opened the envelope and glanced at it, his expression becoming more and more sad.
"Within half a month, 100,000 rebel troops will arrive at Tongya City. Please invite the young master to open the city during the introduction."
Shanchancheng.spanstyle>Valley/spanstyle>
In Kunming of later generations, Shanchan built "Tuodong City" during the Nanzhao Kingdom, and it was called "Shanchan City" during the Dali Kingdom.
This place is the capital of Dali, an important town in central Yunnan, with prosperous commerce and industry...
On the first day of March, the Mongol flag at the top of the city fell down, and the rebel army had captured Shanchan City.
A yellow-robed monk stood at the top of the city with his hands clasped together to pray for the rebel soldiers who died in the battle.
Because of his actions, the expressions of the rebels who were still cheering for victory gradually became solemn.
After a long time, the monk finished his salvation and began to speak.
"I'm telling Shanshan to the people of the city that the rebels are following the orders of Acuoye Guanyin to fight against the tyranny of the Mongolian Tatars and to save all sentient beings. After entering the city, they will not rob or kill, and the people should not panic..."
Someone spread his words.
"Don't steal anything, don't kill anyone! Acuoye Guanyin will save all living beings..."
Huge cheers erupted in Shanchan City.
"Shariputra...save the suffering, save the suffering Shariputra!"
"Follow Shariputra and resist Mongolia..."
"Monk."
When Duan Xingzhi's army arrived outside Tongya City, he received a message and learned that Sarimonk had captured Shanchan City.
"General, the demon monk has a huge momentum. As soon as he rebelled, he captured Shanchan City. He claimed that he had an army of 200,000. He killed the guard and occupied the city. All places were in panic..."
Duan Shi smiled instead of getting angry.
"Huh? Two hundred thousand people?"
The entire Shanchan Prefecture has a population of just over 200,000. Even if all the men, women, old and young follow the Sarimonk in rebellion, they will not be able to muster an army of 200,000.
In his view, this was another opportunity to show his loyalty to Meng.
Duan Shi led eight thousand Dali troops to deal with Gao Qiong. He planned to find Gao Changshou or other evidence and depose Gao Qiong, the leader of Tongshi City.
"It just so happened that the demon monk rebelled, and he was literally sent to his door."
Duan Shi opened the map, pointed at it, and murmured: "The demon monk captured Shanchan City. The next step must be to enter Tongya City and seize the main road to attack Dali. He thought that Gao Qiong had no intention of resisting and would even cooperate with him.
, but I didn’t expect that I happened to lead elite soldiers here..."
This strategy is too simple.
The rebels must attack the capital city of Dali. There is a straight line from Shanchan City to Dali City, with Tongshi City in the middle.
Duan Shi watched every step Sarimonk took next.
"Send a message back to Dali City and tell your brother to ask the Mongolian garrison general to lead troops to Qianshi City to attack the rebels together. Then send a fast horse to the southeast to report that the marshal of the capital does not need to return to the army. Duan can quell a small rebellion...
…”
The ninth day of March.
Gao Qiong was pacing in the study, his eyes even more worried.
Because of this uprising, all his plans have been disrupted.
In the past few days, he wrote to the monk Sari, urging him not to move westward and not to use Dali City as the main strategic direction of attack. It is better to occupy the stronghold in the north towards the Wumeng tribe, move closer to Sichuan, and contact the Song army.
He also asked Gao Changshou to send Bai Nongchuan to inform Li Xia that he could no longer bring goods to Dali for smuggling. With the war going on, it was no longer the right time.
At the same time, Gao Qiong was extremely worried that Gao Changshou would act impulsively and join forces with the relic monk, and kept telling him not to act rashly.
However, Gao Qiong did not get a response from Gao Changshou all day yesterday. He once again sent people to look for Gao Changshou in the deep mountains and forests outside the city, but he never came back.
…
"Brother, it's not good." Gao Junjin walked into the study without hesitation.
"What happened?" Gao Qiong asked, "Is the relic monk about to attack Tongya City?"
"No. Duan Shi arrived and locked up the city with the Mongolian defenders and controlled all our people. He brought nearly ten thousand people with him and seemed to be setting up defenses to prevent our people from approaching..."
Gao Qiong was stunned when he heard this, and his eyes instantly lost their luster.
After a long time, he muttered something in a hoarse voice.