Hua Bushi said: "You want that 'Snake Wing Sword'? That sword is heavy and long and not easy to use. Why don't I have someone make a sword suitable for a princess to wear? It is sharper and more beautiful than Li Hu's sword." How about giving it to the princess as a thousand years old?"
Zhu Huichan's previous request for the sword from Li Hu was originally done on a whim, and it was a bit of a pity. The "Snake Wing Sword" was heavy and long. She already knew how Hua Bushi's words were to her liking. She then said: "You are Seriously, the sword you make must be better than the sword of the Bull Demon King."
Hua Bushi said: "I'm lying to you, princess. If you don't believe me, we can give you a high-five as an oath."
As expected, Zhu Huichan stretched out her palm and struck Hua Bushi three times, which was considered as an oath was fulfilled.
Zhu Huichan's pretty face finally showed a look of satisfaction and said to Li Hu: "I will soon have a sword better than yours. Let's see what else you can do."
She turned to Hua Bushi and smiled: "Others say that 'Evil Dog Master' is a big bad guy, but I think you are quite a good person."
Hua Bushi said: "Princess Chitose Mingjian, the rumors in the Jianghu are all spread by others. It is completely unbelievable that I am actually a good person."
The prince and princess took a boat out of the Luanhe River. Shi Qingzhu and all the forces in Human Village must have noticed that there were several groups of officers and soldiers outside the city, and they might have gotten the news. At this time, they might have gathered people to follow them, so Xifeng The mouth is not a place to stay for a long time
Hua Bushi and Yang Sichang met with Mr. and Mrs. Zhong Bailong who came with him and had a brief chat. After only an hour's rest in Lulong Sei, they set off [
Zhong Bailong was quite surprised when he heard that the prince and princess were to be sent back to the capital through a detour outside the customs, but he did not raise any objection. Businessmen like Zhong Bailong did not know the inside story of the party struggle in the court, and now the passage to the south was blocked by the "Black Wind Flag" "It is also to be expected that the people and horses of the "Tiger and Rabbit Department" will block the situation. It seems that there is no choice.
The disciples of "Bailongxing" traveled from Humanzhai by boat and did not have any horses, but Hua Bushi had already prepared hundreds of horses for them to ride on.
This time, in addition to Hua Bushi's 200 large group of "Bai Long Xing" and more than 300 disciples, Yu Jue will also lead 300 cavalry under his command to accompany them. These people are not small as long as they are not escorted by the Manchu army. It should be more than enough for the prince and princess to travel three hundred miles outside the pass.
Xifengkou is connected to the remnants of the "Qilaotu Mountain" that runs through Liaodong. Outside the pass is a stretch of high mountains. The road is very narrow and difficult to travel. Fortunately, it is early summer and the climate is pleasant. If it is snowed in the cold winter, the rugged mountain road will be blocked. Even if there is a horse to walk on, you will probably not be able to ride on it.
Everyone was cautious during this march. Yu Jue sent cavalry scouts ahead to clear the way to explore the surrounding situation in case they were ambushed and raided.
By dusk, the team had traveled more than a hundred miles without any accidents. Zhong Bailong and others were already quite nervous and relaxed a little. When it got dark, Yang Sichang ordered to find a slope with good terrain to camp and rest.
After talking all night, the troops broke camp early the next morning and set off to continue heading west.
By noon, we have walked another seventy or eighty miles. In addition, we have covered more than half of the distance we walked yesterday. If everything goes well, we will definitely reach Baima Pass this evening.
But at this moment, an army scout rode over from the front and reported to Yu Jue: "Report to the general that the flood ahead has spread and the road has been submerged."
Yu Jue frowned and said: "Where did the flood come from?"
The scout said: "It should be the flood coming from the Black River. The road ahead is low-lying for several miles. The deepest part of the road is about five or six feet submerged."
Even if the horses and people could barely swim through the water depth of five to six feet, it would definitely be difficult for the prince and princess to pass.
Yu Jue turned to Yang Sichang and said: "Sir, we don't have the tools to build a bridge with the army, so I'm afraid we will have to take a detour."
Yang Sichang had been stationed in the northern border for many years and knew the terrain outside the customs quite well. The path he took to leave the customs this time was the one he had chosen in advance. At this time, he lowered his head and pondered, and did not speak for a while.
Hua Bushi on the side asked: "Brother Sichang, is there any difficulty?" [
Yang Sichang said: "The road I originally chose was the safest. There were large-scale Hu tribes along the way, and the terrain was not conducive to ambush. Now that the road ahead is blocked, I have to go through Hushi Mountain, where there are Shanzuo and There are two possible roads on the right side of the mountain, but you still have to consider which one to take.”
Hua Bushi said: "Oh, I don't know what the difference is between these two paths."
Yang Sichang said: "The road on the right side of the mountain is closer, but it has to pass through the two Jurchen tribes of Guangjila and Natan. The road on the left side of the mountain is 30 miles farther, but the people living along the road have to pass through a place called Ma." The terrain of Feixia's valley is quite steep."
Yu Jue said: "In view of the students, we will take the shorter road on the right side of the mountain. With the strength of our troops, even those Jurchen tribes must be afraid of intercepting them."
Yang Sichang said: "Although those tribes are not to be feared, if someone had predicted in advance that we were going to set up an ambush when sending the prince out of seclusion, they would probably have judged that we would take the path on the right side of the mountain."
Yu Jue's expression changed and he said, "Sir, do you suspect that the flood blocking the road ahead was caused intentionally?"
Yang Sichang said: "At the beginning of May, it is a time of heavy rain. It is not surprising to encounter floods, but we cannot completely rule out the possibility of man-made causes."
He thought for a while and said: "General Yu, please order the scouts to go fifty miles forward in two directions to explore both the left and right roads of Hushi Mountain."
Although it will take some time to explore the route, since we are now in enemy territory and the stakes are high in sending the prince back to Beijing, Yang Sichang would rather go slow than be cautious.
Yu Jue immediately passed down the order. Half an hour later, two groups of scouts reported one after another. The scouts on the left side of the mountain found nothing. However, there seemed to be signs of a gathering of men and horses in the Jurchen tribe along the right side of the mountain. However, there were bows and arrows guarding the tribes around them, preventing the scouts from approaching. I can't tell exactly how many soldiers and horses there are.
After hearing the report, Yu Jue rolled his eyes twice and said: "The terrain outside the pass is very easy for soldiers and horses to be hidden by high mountains and dense forests. If the other party really wants to set up an ambush, it will not be so easy to detect them and expose the gathering of troops." Xiang must have done this deliberately to deter us from taking the road on the right side of the mountain so that he can ambush us on the left side of the mountain. I think if we go to the right side of the mountain, we will definitely surprise the opponent."
Yang Sichang shook his head and said: "General Yu should have read the Three Kingdoms and remember the story of Cao Cao's defeat at Huarong Road."
In "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", after Cao Cao's defeat at Chibi, he fled back to Xuchang with his remaining troops. There were two feasible roads, one large and one small. Guan Yu followed the strategy of military advisor Zhuge Liang and burned firewood on the path and released beacon smoke, leading Cao Cao to choose the path. Sure enough, Cao Jun was intercepted on the Huarong Trail.
Yu Jue was stunned and said: "Sir, what you mean is that the other party's move is just to lure us to take the path of Shanyou."
Yang Sichang said: "It's true that the so-called imaginary is real and the real is imaginary. The other party's intelligence is not weak. I want to be like Zhuge Kongming, but it's a pity that I don't know how to learn from Cao Cao. If we take the road of Shanzuo, we can make the other party's arrangements complete." All in vain”
As he spoke, he turned to Hua Bushi and said, "I wonder if Mr. Hua has any high opinions?"
Yang Sichang was proficient in the art of war, and his intelligence and insight were stronger than those of his student Yu Jue. However, after the war in Henan that year, he also knew that Hua Bushi was not weak in intelligence, so he had this question.
Hua Bushi thought for a while and then smiled slightly and said: "The final conclusion of virtuality and reality in the art of war is only intuition. Since Brother Sichang thinks that the opponent will set up an ambush on the right side of the mountain, let's go to the left side of the mountain."
Seeing Hua Bushi, he also agreed with Yang Sichang and said with doubts: "Yu Jue ordered the team to turn to the southwest and we will go to the left of the mountain."
Hushi Mountain is a tall stone mountain. On the left side of the mountain is a stone path two feet wide. Although it is not as wide as the avenue they took before, it is quite smooth for the horse team to pass. Half an hour later, everyone has entered a canyon. It was Yang Sichang who was there before. The mentioned "Ma Fei Gorge"
Yang Sichang only knew about "Ma Fei Gorge" from the map that he had never been here before. At this time, hundreds of people drove into the canyon, but they saw mountains on both sides and large forests on the slopes. The road ahead was winding and could not be seen. end
Yu Jue said: "The mountains and forests here are so dense that if there are soldiers and horses lurking in them, it will be difficult for us to detect them."
Yang Sichang said: "Yes, the terrain here is indeed dangerous, so I ordered the team to speed up and pass through this gorge as soon as possible."
The order was quickly passed down to each team, and the horses galloped to pull the carriage of the prince and princess. They ignored the bumpy mountain road and whipped the horses to drive at full speed.
The gorge becomes more and more narrow as you go forward, but after driving for a few miles, it suddenly becomes clear that there is a large open area in the hinterland of Ma Fei Valley.
On one side of this open space is the 100-foot stone wall of Hushi Mountain. On the other side is a hillside. The slope is covered with trees. There are enough 100-foot distance between the two sides. The ground is quite flat, and the ground is full of gravel and stones.
Perhaps in ancient times this was a river beach that dried up before such terrain appeared.
"Stop!" Yu Jue suddenly shouted loudly.
The reason Yu Jue called to stop was because there were five people blocking the road in front of the team. Li Hu was also riding in the front team, and his heart suddenly trembled when he saw these five people.
Among these five people, he recognized that the two women wearing emerald green cloaks were Shi Qingzhu, and the ugly man wearing a gray cloth with a short hand holding a giant blade like a door panel was Ge Li.
The two people stood slightly behind, like subordinates. In front of them, a scholar in his forties with a face like a jade, wearing a wide white silk robe and silk shoes, was leisurely holding a paper fan in his hand. But judging from the situation, he is the one who takes the lead.