In April, the Yangtze River Basin in the south has entered summer, but in the vast area north of the Yellow River, it can only be said to be the end of spring. +
At this time, the weather in the north and south is neither cold nor hot. The rainy season is coming and life is getting stronger.
In the morning, the sky is getting brighter.
A big man from the north wearing animal skins and a full beard, with a short knife in his waist, a bow and arrow in his hand, and a man on his back, gradually walked out of Shangdang territory along the southern foot of Taiyue Mountain.
"Mr. Jiang, if we walk one day further, we should be able to see the Fen River. I came here once with my father. It is unmistakable. This is the boundary of Linfen County. Going south along the Fen River is the county seat."
The big man said in an angry voice, and he put down the person on his back, a little ignorant of the importance, just like taking off the beast meat from his shoulders, and threw it to the ground.
The figure on the back is actually quite tall, and he seems to have been prepared for it. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he staggered a few times due to soreness in his waist and weak legs, but he still stood firm.
While the big man was talking, he took out a few pieces of black dried meat from the leather pouch around his waist and stuffed them into the man. He then touched the sweat on his head, rubbed his rough palms in a dull manner, and said calmly: "
Mr. Jiang, if not... I will send you here. The mother-in-law and children at home are still waiting for me to go back. I have been out for many days and haven't hunted anything. Alas, I will have to be complained by the mother-in-law when I go back..."
Jiang Baoyi was now in ragged clothes, unkempt, and there was no trace of the deputy general manager of Jiezhou March on his body. He was no different from when He Chou walked out of Taihang Mountain some time ago.
Of course, he didn't have the skills of He Chou, so he couldn't have lived in the mountains with ease. In fact, if he hadn't met this mountain man named Zhang soon after escaping into the mountains, whether he could have walked out of Taiyue Mountain alive is another matter.
Mountain people these days actually have the word "bandit" on their heads. On ordinary days, if Jiang Baoyi met such a pariah who refused to obey the government's control, he would just order the guards to kill him. It would be unnecessary to even take a look at him.
But on the way to escape, the pursuit behind him was urgent. Jiang Baoyi was at the end of his rope, so it was natural for him to beg others for help.
Fortunately, the big man looked a bit ferocious, but he was very honest. He didn't kidnap Jiang Baoyi in exchange for rewards, nor did he drag him into the bandit's lair and pickle him into a two-legged sheep. He took Jiang Baoyi into the deep mountains and old forests, and nothing happened.
It took trouble to avoid the pursuit from behind.
Another journey over mountains and ridges brought Jiang Baoyi here.
The past month has been very stressful for Jiang Baoyi. During the last part of the trip, he spent most of the trip lying on other people's backs.
For Jiang Baoyi, the hardships on the way to escape were really hard to describe, and he was even more grateful for the man's righteous deeds.
The big man's name is Zhang Man. His ancestor is said to have been a general in the Northern Qi Dynasty. When the Northern Qi Dynasty fell, he fled with his tribe into the Taiyue Mountains and never went out again. Zhang Man has been living in the mountains and forests since he was born, and has no knowledge of external affairs.
Nothing more.
This made Jiang Baoyi very relieved. The only headache was that Zhang Man was thinking about his wife and children at home, and in a few days he was clamoring to go back. No, he was planning to leave Jiang Baoyi behind again.
As for Mr. Jiang in the big man's mouth, it was the result of mistrust, and Jiang Baoyi had no intention of correcting it, just in case.
"Dalang, let's go over there and talk first."
Jiang Baoyi pointed to a forest not far away, and Zhang Man nodded, "Yes, be careful, you've said it all the way, and I always forget..."
After walking a few steps, he felt that Jiang Baoyi had walked too far, so he carried Jiang Baoyi on his back and strode into the forest.
Leaning against an old tree, Jiang Baoyi took a few deep breaths. Being carried on someone's back was not like riding a horse, let alone the discomfort. Now, even if he was hungry, he would not dare to eat more, otherwise he would have to walk a long way.
, you can spit it out.
It was a blessing for him to survive this catastrophe, and pride was unavoidable. Li Zhongwen died, and Zhang Lun, the thief, surrendered to the enemy, but he was the only one who was so powerful and unyielding that he risked his life to break out of the enemy camp and return.
The Jiang family's reputation for loyalty has not been compromised.
As for the fall of Jiexiu City, he believed that he not only had no fault, but also made meritorious deeds.
Zhang Lun was the first to surrender to the enemy. When the enemy attacked the city, it was Li Zhongwen who first broke through the North City. Especially Li Zhongwen's son, who, after becoming famous, abandoned the defenders and escaped from the city.
Compared with him, Jiang Baoyi, he was completely different.
After going back, I will definitely lead the army back to avenge the past humiliation...
Jiang Baoyi thought about it countless times. Of course, the top priority was to go south first and find reinforcements.
At this time, he didn't know whether the rebel army moved south after capturing Jiexiu. Of course, it didn't look like the situation at the moment, otherwise Shangdang territory wouldn't be so quiet.
He was similar to He Chou in that he didn't even think of showing up in the Shangdang. The Shangdang had a strong folk custom since ancient times and there were many people who refused to obey the rules. He couldn't trust the ministers here.
And he also believed that he had a mission, to bring back such crucial news as the annihilation of the 30,000-strong army, and not to let the reinforcements fall into the trap of the thieves.
Zhang Man couldn't explain these important things clearly, so he could only helplessly persuade him again, "If Da Lang can send me to Linfen, I will be rewarded generously. Life in the mountains is difficult. I will pick up your wife, children, and children. When the time comes,
It’s just a matter of my words. If you stay with me in the future, I will ensure that your family will be prosperous and wealthy for generations to come..."
Zhang Man chewed the dried meat, stuffed it into Jiang Baoyi's hand, and muttered: "My father said that there is no good outside the mountains, and those who kill here and there will lose their lives if they are not careful. Moreover,
The people outside the mountains are not good to us either. When I was young, they always robbed our prey and even killed our people."
"Well, those people chasing Mr. Jiang are not easy to mess with. If I hadn't been familiar with the road, I really wouldn't have been able to save you. Mr. Jiang, tell me again, is it really that chaotic outside? There is enough chaos in the mountains now, and there are many more.
When I came out of the village, I heard that many people had died."
Jiang Baoyi sighed, "What are the people who died in the mountains?"
Traveling with Zhang Man these days, Jiang Baoyi has regarded this Northland man whom he met by strangers as his confidant, and he chattered about the general situation in the Northland.
Zhang Man was also a good listener, rolling his eyes with expressions of surprise or admiration from time to time, which always brought great satisfaction to Jiang Baoyi's frustrated soul.
And he had never noticed that Zhang Man was different from ordinary mountain people in his alertness and intelligence. Of course, he had never seen any ordinary mountain people, so he had no way to compare.
Miracles rarely happen in the world, and it is even less of a miracle that he escaped from death surrounded by a large army.
"Finally" persuaded Zhang Man, and the two rested in the woods for a day. It was not until the sky darkened that they set off again.
This has been going on these past few days, and the two of them have completely become night owls. Jiang Baoyi is afraid of encountering Bingdai Rangers, Queshu Valley is occupied by the bandit army, and the north and south of Linfen are not very stable in his opinion.
The two of them first headed west, came to the shore of Fen River, followed the Fen River to the south, and headed straight for Linfen.
After walking for two days, Jiang Baoyi finally calmed down and asked Zhang Man to carefully go out to investigate and found out that the rebel army had not moved south in a large scale. Once he got such news, in addition to relaxing mentally, he returned to his old ways.
What I think about is that although the thief is cunning, he lacks strategy.
Instead, someone like him, Jiang, would definitely take advantage of the great victory and send his troops south to occupy Linfen County. After so much time, Jiangzhou might even be captured.
If they were so cowed, Linfen would be impregnable once the reinforcements arrived. The rebel army was so stupid that such an opponent actually broke through Jiexiu garrisoned by 30,000 Tang troops in one battle.
Jiang Baoyi looked up to the sky and sighed, Li Zhongwen, Zhang Lun and others misled me...
At this time, he had long forgotten the billowing smoke in Jiexiu City and the dense mass of warriors attacking the city wall.
A few days later, Linfen was in sight, and the battle flags of the Tang army were flying high at the top of the city. Jiang Baoyi struggled off Zhang Man's back, staggered forward to the city, and shouted loudly with tears in his eyes.
Well, this Tang general who had fled thousands of miles had finally returned home. What he didn't know was that his legendary journey had just begun.
A few days later, Jiang Baoyi was escorted to Jiangzhou by the Linfen garrison.
At this time, Jiangzhou was already densely populated with military camps and reinforcements were gathering in large numbers.
With this period of time as an interval, there was no need for Jiang Baoyi to report it. In fact, he had already received the news that Jiexiu had been defeated, and the Tang army scouts paid a heavy price for it.
The Bingdai Rangers, who came and went like the wind, appeared and disappeared in the mountains and forests. The Bingdai scouts who occupied various key points had a fierce battle with the Tang army's spies.
There is no need to mention the party that has the absolute advantage.
Since the formation of the army, the elite border troops have almost never faced weak opponents. They have fought with the Tang army, which mostly grew up in the war against bandits in the southern part of Shan Dynasty.
Pass.
After getting the news of Jiexiu's fall after many hardships, Li Shentong and Pei Ji were shocked and immediately gathered their troops and sent out letters asking for help one after another.
If Jiang Baoyi hadn't gone around in a circle and been too careful, he would have encountered the Tang army scouts long ago.
Later, Li Shentong strictly ordered all his troops not to go into battle without authorization. Even the scouts retreated into the city and stopped inquiring about information from the enemy.
At this time, Li Shentong's confidence was different from before.
A steady stream of reinforcements from various ministries came to join together, and the Tang army quickly expanded to more than 100,000 troops. By the way, the troops of the counties in southern Shanxi were almost exhausted, and Tongguan also sent reinforcements.
There was no way, the changes in Henan's occupation were so fast that people could hardly react, and Li Mi was already on the road to death.
There is no need to think about the ensuing situation. After completely defeating Li Mi, Wang Shichong's next opponent will definitely be Li Tang, and there will be almost no second choice.
Because Wang Shichong, who controls the eastern capital of Luoyang, can capture Chang'an, the western capital, how can the other rebel kings compare with Wang Shichong who has occupied the two capitals? It is estimated that most of them will surrender without a fight...