Chapter 5: The Shui of the Water (Sixth)

Although the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun are occupied by the Khitan, many local tribes are on two boats. Even though they become officials of the Liao Kingdom, they have many contacts with the Central Plains in secret. The most famous of them is Han Yanhui, the confidant counselor of Yelu Abaoji. Because they missed their hometown, they simply ran back to the Later Tang Dynasty to seek officialdom. Until they had a conflict with the powerful minister Wang Jian, who was afraid of being harmed, they went to the Khitan again.

Therefore, in the eyes of Chai Rong and others, the affairs of the Zhao and Han families are not an insurmountable gap. The Han people in Yanyun are still Han people, and it was Shi Jingtang who ceded Yanyun, not the aristocratic families in Yanyun. As long as Zhao Kuangyin and Han Jing secretly married each other and did not cause trouble to their respective families, the elders in the family would be happy to see that their children could have a good marriage!

That night, the four brothers and sisters slept in the wild with the caravan. They got up the next morning and continued to ride south. It was when the lotus flowers were in full bloom. Along the way, the water was like a wave of eyes, the mountains were like eyebrows gathering, and every face was full of smiles.

It’s a pity that no matter how far the road is, there will be an end.

On this day, the team arrived early on the banks of the Juma River. Behind other caravans who arrived earlier, they were preparing to pay likins to the tax collectors guarding the pass and pass through the floating bridge on the river in sequence.

The Juma River is the tentative border between the Han and Northern Liao. Although neither side acknowledged it, they temporarily tacitly gathered their troops on both sides of the river to avoid unprepared military conflicts. Therefore, the floating bridge on the Juma River became the last checkpoint for everyone to return to the south. As long as they successfully get through it, the horse's hooves stepped on the land on the south bank, they would completely escape from Shengtian.

Han Jing knew that he was about to part with Zhao Kuangyin, and he was very reluctant to leave. He pulled his lover under the tree to remind him. Chai Rong and Ning Ziming both breathed a sigh of relief. He jumped off his mount and fed water to the war horses while slowly walking and stretching his muscles and bones.

After walking a few steps, I suddenly heard a noise in my ears. Then, in front of the crowded team, several vendors dressed in Han family fled to the river beach crying and shouting. The two Khitan officials who were paying for Lika waved the iron ruler and whip, chasing him reluctantly, while chasing him, "The poor ghost, the poor ghost deserves to starve to death. How dare Grandpa bargain and be brave you after eating the leopard! I suspect you are a spy from the southerners. These fur goods are all confiscated and confiscated. You guys, go to the yamen with me to verify your identity!"

"Uncle, please spare your life! The young man is not going to bargain. The young man did only charge 20% when he crossed the river last time!" The vendors were reluctant to leave their wealth and did not dare to run too far. They covered their heads with their hands and cried and begged for mercy.

However, the minor official was merciless and continued to beat him while roaring: "I said that it would be better than what I am. If you dare to make the decision for me, you will rebel against you! Don't run away, kneel down and be bound quickly, otherwise, you will kill you on the spot!"

"Uncle, please spare your life. The young man will never dare to do it again, nor will it dare to do it again..." The vendors cried and begged, not daring to hope to get the goods back, but only to escape to death.

The other vendors waiting to cross the river were worried, but no one dared to speak out. To the north of the Jima River is the territory of the Liao Kingdom. As a Han people, how could they expect the government here to handle the case impartially? The bad guys who were beaten did not go to the yamen, but just threw away all the goods. If they really followed the yamen to the yamen, they would probably have to pay their lives.

"Grandma!" Seeing that the beating vendor was already dying, Ning Ziming could no longer bear it, and he leaned his hand behind Ma Suzi and was about to speak out for justice.

Chai Rong took the lead and held the back of his hand, shook his head, and whispered: "Zi Ming, don't be impulsive. The only dozens of tax collectors guarding the river are not just dozens of tax collectors. The Liao army stationed along the river will come to patrol at any time. Once you start, even if you and I can escape safely, the people who cross the river today will probably be killed by the Liao soldiers!"

"Yes!" Ning Ziming nodded gritted his teeth, but there was a huge anger in his heart.

"It will be no late for a gentleman to take revenge. One day in the future, we will lead the army to fight here!" Chai Rong was afraid of his impulse, so he grabbed one of his arms and whispered.

"Yeah!" Ning Ziming responded softly again, his eyes wandering back and forth along the riverside.

Compared with the Yellow River and Sanggan River, the water volume of the Juma River is not very abundant. However, the two sides of the river are extremely steep, wide and narrow, and change unpredictable. The river water is sometimes fast and sometimes slow, surging and rolling, and it is difficult to measure ups and downs.

It is difficult to move a large boat in such a river. If you want to build a bridge, it is very difficult to find a suitable address for the piers and foundations. For thousands of years, people on both sides of the river have completely relied on small fishing boats and floating bridges to cross the river. During the flood season, traffic is basically cut off, and travelers sigh at the river.

"No need to find this floating bridge, within a radius of two hundred miles, there is definitely no second one. This river is the same as the Gaoliang River and Lu River we have walked through. The width and narrowness vary, the water volume is sometimes large and sometimes small, and there are not enough bridges on the river surface!" Chai Rong's journey north was not entirely for business. After a little thought, he knew what Ning Ziming was looking at. While walking, he whispered, "It's not only easy for us to kill people now, but difficult for us to escape! If someone leads the Northern Expedition in the future, it is also a big problem. As long as the defensive side cuts off the ropes that tie the floating bridge, it will be at least delayed for more than five days. If one of them is not familiar with hydrology, he chooses to fight during the flood season, and before he can fight, he will basically be defeated!" (Note 1)

"What if you take the risk of forcing the cruising force, take advantage of the lack of response from the defenders?" Ning Ziming had accumulated a lot of combat experience under Chang Si's tent. He looked up at the river and asked in a low voice.

"The Sun family is too big, and it is difficult to supply supplies!" Chai Rong thought for a while and shook his head in an expert manner. "Unless like the Khitans, who crossed the river, let the soldiers rob them everywhere. But if they do that, the people will lose all their hearts. Even if they can take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, they may not be able to defend them!"

"Then there is only one way left, to bribe the soldiers guarding the bridge and turn against each other. Or send a small number of elite soldiers to sneak over and take down the floating bridge by accident. Then, then build down the camp with the backwaters, and catch more floating bridges across the river while resisting the opponent's counterattack!" Ning Ziming frowned when he heard him speak seriously, observing the terrain along the coast while giving his own insights.

"Then the one who crosses the river first must be the elite of a hundred battles. The generals who lead the army must also put their own life and death aside!" Chai Rong's eyes lit up quickly, and then he shook his head with a wry smile, "You may not know that the elite under the tent of the governors who can truly ignore life and death are only their own yamen's personal army. The yamen's personal army is the foundation of the stadium. Not to mention that they are fighting all in front of the formation, even if they lose more than half of them, they may face the risk of being annexed by others."

"No wonder when the last time I passed by Yi County, the defenders fled when they saw bandits!" Ning Ziming was slightly stunned and said. Then he remembered that Chang Si had only brought five hundred sects under his command, but he could kill all directions. Obviously, these five hundred sects were Chang Si's foundation. As long as these five hundred people were not hurt, Chang Si would be his Jiedushi as a different place. And if these five hundred people were completely damaged, his status would be dangerous. Even if he held the seal of the Jiedushi in his hand, he would be emptied by local tyrants and become a puppet in name only.

"Those two brothers were originally bandits, so of course they couldn't bear to take out their capital!" Chai Rong smiled and sighed and shook his head, "It's not just the two brothers. Li Shouzhen retreated to Hezhong, Bai Wenke, Guo Congyi and Chang Jiedu led 100,000 people to siege the city. From the beginning of the year to now, he has not even attacked the city. If you want to talk about the three people behind, they are ten times stronger than Li. But a strong attack will definitely lose the elite, so everyone just watched outside the city, and no one would win the old capital first!"

Ning Ziming couldn't take on this. First, Chang Si had a life-saving kindness to him, and he was unwilling to criticize Chang Si's faults behind his back. Second, in his eyes, Li Shouzhen was definitely not a good thing, and the Emperor Liu Chengyou of the Han Dynasty was not a good person. The two of them fought and directly fought with each other face to burn them together. It would be better not to drag others down.

"If you fight a brave and unscheming Li Shouzhen in the future, you will swear to fight the Northern Expedition here. If you fight against the Khitans here, you may have your own thoughts!" Chai Rong was a little depressed and just continued to comment in a low voice. "Why was the Khitan destroyed by the Khitans back then? Du Chongwei turned against him on the one hand, and the governors were busy preserving their strength, and no one was willing to take the lead in fighting. On the other hand, if Fu Yanqing, Gao Xingzhou and others fought bravely for the first time, how could Du Chongwei have the opportunity to collude with the Khitans?"

Although he has no official position at the moment, what he sees and thinks is to reorganize the old rivers and mountains of the Han family as soon as possible. Therefore, he is extremely hated for the current separatist rule of the Central Plains princes, taking care of their own family one acre and three-part land, but he ignores the current situation of the cavalry of the Liao Kingdom. However, he hates him, most of the time, he cannot use any strength. At best, he can only complain a few times to the river and friends.

"Oh--!" Ning Ziming's hand moved away from the handle of the steel whip hanging behind the saddle and sighed to the river. The crying on the river had stopped. The beheaded vendors were unknown to their lives and death, and the Khitan officials who were beating were full of complacent ambitions. The other vendors waiting in line to cross the river lowered their heads, curled their hands in their sleeves, and continued to move forward slowly, like a large group of lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

"If one day in the future, we can train a fierce and fearless elite soldier. None of them are inferior to the yamen confidants of the Jiedushi!" Chai Rong also breathed in the river and said with his head raised. His voice was very low, but he was serious and firm. "In the past, Xiang Yu and Zhang Han were fighting each other, and the princes also watched the wall. But Xiang Yu and the Chu children under his command could still defeat the 200,000 Qin troops. Now that no one is willing to do this, let's do it ourselves!"
Chapter completed!