Chapter 848 Sacrificing one’s life for the country

Chapter 848 Sacrificing one’s life for the country

"Han Yang Zhi" says: The clouds are in the north of the river, and the dreams are in the south of the river. The combination of the two is Yunmeng Daze.

However, with the passage of time and the drastic changes in the world, Yunmengze, located to the north of the river, gradually degenerated into a swampy sandbar wetland and eventually formed land. As for Zeye south of the river, it is still preserved and is no longer called Yunmeng, but instead called Dongting Lake.

Not long after Li Qianzhe and his group crossed the river, something unexpected happened in the south. The situation in Tianmen County, which had originally asked for surrender, changed. Some local people in the territory gathered in crowds to cause chaos. They attacked the county city directly and then occupied the city to respond to Wang Lin's army. .

At the same time, Wang Lin's general Hou Ping also led a group of troops into Wuling, annexing the weak and rampant in the territory, probably to accumulate strength and prepare to advance northward.

Before Li Qianzhe and his party penetrated deep into the territory, the situation changed like this, which made people a little worried. Before deciding on the next military action, Li Qianzhe had a serious discussion with Xu Shipu and other generals.

"Tianmen County is located among mountains and mountains, with only the Lishui River connecting it to the outside world. There are many groups of caves and villages in the territory. They live in caves and caves, making it difficult to control. Even during the old Liang Dynasty, this place was not known for its governance. The people are tough and willing to die, and are impatient and aggressive. Although the Wuxi barbarians are different from the Chinese, if they can be unified, they can still be regarded as good soldiers..."

Tianmen County is the location of Zhangjiajie in later generations. Although it was a beautiful tourist destination in later generations, it is by no means a good place at present. There are many peaks and rugged mountain roads, and there are many barbarian tribes in the area. Channels for communication with the outside world are very limited.

Most of the land routes are winding mountain trails, which are difficult to accommodate large groups of people. The only convenient way to enter and exit is through the Lishui waterway. However, even waterways cannot accommodate large warships, and light boats and speedboats are often needed. In some places, the Gulf Stream is so strong that it even requires rock climbing and detours. On a winter day like this, boats cannot travel smoothly.

After the explanations by Xu Shipu and others, Li Qianzhe also realized the difficulty of this mission. He was originally from a wealthy chieftain in Shannan, so he naturally knew what the situation was like in these untouched mountains and wild lands. The barbarians here often rely on danger and are only interested in profit. It would be very difficult to defeat them purely by force, and it would not be of much value.

But if left unchecked, these barbarians will become even more unbridled, and some relatively large tribes will gradually form within them. As their power grows stronger and the population increases, they will no longer be able to gain greater power simply by annexing each other. When power develops, it will seek external expansion and go out of the mountains and fields to burn, kill, and plunder.

Tianmen County is located in the middle and upper reaches of Lishui River, which flows directly into Dongting Lake. Especially in this section of the river basin where it flows out of the mountainous area, there are densely populated farming areas. If Tianmen County cannot maintain stable control, the entire west bank of Dongting Lake will be threatened, and places such as Wuling in the south will also become unstable.

After some thinking and weighing, Li Qianzhe first led the army to camp by the water, and then sent scouts to go west in small boats. Along the way, he announced that the army was about to attack the barbarian rebels entrenched in Tianmen County. He also warned the barbarian tribes along the way that if not Those who follow the rebellion can avoid disaster by keeping their gates tightly closed. If they are determined to join the king's division, they can lead their troops along the Lishui River to wait for the labor force. After they join up with the rear divisions, they will be rewarded heavily.

Although the terrain of Tianmen County is relatively isolated, it does not mean that the barbarians have no need to communicate with the outside world. Therefore, there are also many barbarian tribes scattered along the Lishui River.

After Li Qianzhe sent several scouts one after another and continued to publicize his orders along the Lishui waterway, the nearby barbarian tribes gradually learned about the relevant situation, but the masses' response was relatively cold.

Although this order was both kind and powerful, the barbarians were not very interested in it. Liang Bing often came to Xuanwei in the past, but soon after he arrived, the mountains and fields were still in their original order. It is said that the Western Qiang soldiers arriving now must travel by horse. Once they set foot on the ground, their legs and feet will become gangrenous and rotten. But looking at the mountains and fields, where can they let their horses gallop?

Amid the discussions among the barbarians in the mountains, a few days later, Li Qianzhe led the anti-rebellion team to board a ship and head west. Because large ships are difficult to navigate, they can only use light boats and speedboats, which makes the team stretch extremely long in this channel, with a distance of more than ten miles from end to end. Moreover, the armored men on board are powerful. It is rare to see such a powerful force. It was also a big shock to the barbarians, and they gradually put away their joking thoughts.

The water was dry in winter, the river valley was winding, and the team was traveling upstream, so the army did not move very fast. Because of the propaganda that Li Qianzhe sent before, many barbarian people stood on the left and right mountains to watch the march of the army, but few dared to approach and make contact, and they stayed away from these outsiders.

On the third day of the team's march, there was still no one paying attention, and there was no scene of people eating pots of wine and welcoming Master Wang. However, in the afternoon, due to the impact of the Gulf Stream, one of the ships in the team washed up on the river beach and ran aground directly. The hull of the ship was turned sideways, which greatly affected the navigation of the following fleet, and soon caused congestion on the waterway.

The soldiers on the ship could only get off the ship quickly, and then used ropes to pull the stranded ship back into the channel. However, because the ship was too heavy, it was difficult to move for a while.

At this time, dozens of strong barbarians who were watching the excitement on the hillside came up to help. After a lot of efforts, the stranded ship finally slid into the channel again.

"Don't let them leave!"

Li Qianzhe, who was on the warship behind, saw this scene and shouted loudly. At the same time, the crew put down the canoe and speedboat, bypassed other ships, and stepped forward to deal with the matter in person.

After hearing the order, the armored soldiers in front hurriedly drew out their bows and knives to surround the barbarians and did not allow them to leave. The barbarians did not expect that their temporary kindness would be treated like this. They were shocked and angry for a while, and some were so angry that they They shouted, and some knelt down and begged for mercy. As for the barbarians watching in the surrounding mountains and forests, they also shouted loudly and vented their dissatisfaction.

After Li Qianzhe arrived at the scene, he did not order the punishment of the barbarians. Instead, he ordered the soldiers to take some silk rice supplies from the ship and gave each of the helping barbarians a bolt of silk and five pecks of rice.

"Too much, too much!"

There are many barbarians near the Lishui waterway who make a living by working as trackers and pulling boats. The barbarians who just jumped down to help also had such thoughts. When they saw that Li Qianzhe had given such a generous reward, they were all happy and delighted. He waved his hands in shock and said.

"Master Wang has entered the country, and this town has been under new rule since then. You who have helped Master Wang out of necessity should receive this reward!"

Li Qianzhe said with a smile at first, and then pointed at a barbarian who came down to help first and said: "You are the leader of the group, and from now on, you will control the twenty-mile voyage!"

The middle-aged barbarian became even more embarrassed after hearing this. He waved his hands and couldn't say anything. However, a barbarian next to him said: "The prince rewarded you wrongly. He is a cave slave. How can he be the master of the cave!"

Li Qianzhe laughed twice after hearing this, and then said with a smile to the middle-aged barbarian: "Since you have been appointed as the righteous leader by Master Wang, you will never be a slave from now on! Who is the master of your cave? I will kill you. If he refuses to redeem you, then you can make him the new cave master!"

The middle-aged barbarian didn't quite understand the meaning of Li Qianzhe's words. When someone came up to explain in a low voice, his eyes widened in disbelief. After a while, he quickly kowtowed and thanked him under the guidance of the people next to him. : "Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you, Your Majesty!"

Li Qianzhe knew that the first contact with the natives was the most important, so he immediately seized this opportunity and ordered the team to pause here. He then dug rocks, dug earth and set up fences at a suitable location on the nearby hillside. One day, a large-scale cave mountain village appeared.

The middle-aged barbarian was appointed as the cave master and formed a new tribe with the dozens of barbarians who helped tug the boat. Some of these barbarians were cave slaves from other tribes, and some were also poor people. Those with families were redeemed here, and those who were not yet married were selected from nearby barbarian tribes to marry.

Although there is no strict social organization within these Wuxi barbarians, there are still hierarchies. Especially the location adjacent to the waterway means the opportunity to contact the outside world, and it requires a very powerful tribe to enjoy it.

The territory assigned by Li Qianzhe to this new tribe naturally has its own owner, and it belongs to the two nearby tribes with thousands of members. When Li Qianzhe sent people to contact these two tribes, their respective chiefs were smart and did not dare to show their intention to refuse. They repeatedly stated that they had no objection to this.

But Li Qianzhe still asked people to invite the two chiefs to the boat, and said with a smile to the frightened two people: "Master Wang entered the country to spread enlightenment, not to hurt you and enrich others! What do you two want? , you might as well tell me, as long as your request is reasonable, I will satisfy you."

One of the chiefs still waved his hands and said nothing, while the other couldn't bear it and said: "My father was killed by the master of the big cave in Kushuiling. There are thousands of members of that tribe, and I am no match for it. If you can avenge me, I will willingly give you another piece." territory!"

After turning around, when the chief who made the request saw the bloody head of his enemy lying on the deck, he couldn't help but burst into tears and kowtowed to Li Qianzhe repeatedly to thank him.

When this scene fell in the eyes of the surrounding spectators, they all felt sad in their hearts. But another chief who did not dare to make a request yesterday now shouted loudly and happily: "I have something to sue you, I want to sue you! I have a biological woman who I want to offer to you. If you are willing, I can Accept it, and I will donate my territory again!”

When Li Qianzhe heard this strange request, his face suddenly darkened. He resisted the urge to kick the chief off the boat. After a while, he said, "Then I would like to thank the cave master for the gift!"