The next day, His Royal Highness the King of Chu's ceremonial guard left the Jiangdong Gate, boarded the ship parked at the dock, and went down the river.
However, His Highness the King of Chu himself was not in the team. Later that day, he, his uncle, his second uncle, and a group of guards disguised themselves as a group of merchants and left the Jubao Gate by land.
On the surface, his uncle Hu Quan is the shopkeeper of the caravan, his second uncle Hu Bo is the guard leader of the caravan, Teacher Luo is naturally the accountant, and the sixth is the silly son of the landlord... Well, it's the boss's son who follows him.
Knowledgeable.
The rest of the carefully selected guards were disguised as caravan clerks and bodyguards, totaling about thirty people.
Because they are operating in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, a normal caravan can only hire a dozen guards at most, so no matter how many people there are, they will be too conspicuous. The rest of the guards can only be broken into pieces and follow the caravan at a distance to protect it.
The group was more than ten miles away from Nanjing City when suddenly the guards on the perimeter sent out a signal, and Hu Quan immediately stepped back to check. After a while, he came to Lao Liu with a little beggar.
"Young master, look who this is?" the eldest cousin said with a wink.
Zhu Zhen was riding on horseback and could see the long and white swan neck at a glance. "Liu Li?"
"Uncle Junior..." Liu Li took off the torn hat on her head and wiped her face deliberately dirty. Unexpectedly, she was recognized at a glance.
"Why did you run out? Does my master know?" Zhu Zhen quickly got off his horse, pulled her aside, and asked in a low voice.
"I left a letter for grandpa, telling him that I also wanted to go to Nanchang, but my second uncle refused to take me with him, so I went with my junior uncle."
"What do you mean by 'following'?" Lao Liu said with a dark look on his face: "You are obviously following me, okay? It's as if I abducted you."
"How come my junior uncle has learned how to talk with others?" Liu Li lowered his head and fiddled with his belt and said, "I don't have much to eat, and I don't need to ride in a car or horseback. I just follow you..."
"No, your second uncle has his own reasons for not taking you." Zhu Zhen still shook his head and said, "So I won't take you either."
"Cousin, send her back..." he ordered Hu Quan.
"Send me back, and I will come out again. I will go to Nanchang by myself." Liu Li said with a stubborn look on his face: "I must personally avenge my father!"
"I will bring the murderer back to the capital, and you can take revenge with your own hands." The two grew up together, and in front of Liu Li, Zhu Zhen rarely showed off his princely temper.
"Uncle Junior, just promise me..." Liu Li's big eyes were filled with tears, her nose was twitching, her hands were tightly grasping the corners of his clothes, and she begged with tears in her eyes: "These days,
Whenever I close my eyes, I see my father in such miserable condition, I will go crazy if I don’t do something for him.”
"Oh, you are cruel..." Zhu Zhen reached out helplessly and wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
"Thank you, junior uncle, I will never cause you any trouble." Liu Li quickly wiped her tears obediently.
"I believe you are the only one who has ghosts." Lao Liu rolled his eyes and sent someone back to Beijing to report to his master that Liu Li was with him. Don't let him worry.
Well, how could you not be worried?
~~
As a result, there was another cousin from the young master's family who stopped by to visit his relatives in the caravan.
The group traveled along the Yangtze River for two days and arrived at the local Dangtu County. They stayed in Dangtu for one night and boarded a sand boat that had been waiting for a long time the next day.
In fact, there is a whole waterway from Nanjing to Nanchang, but the uncles and uncles who arranged the itinerary, based on their experience in rivers and lakes, deliberately walked a section of the land first and then boarded the boat, saying that this way no one would discover their whereabouts.
I don’t know if this Jianghu experience will work...
The boat sailed all the way up the Yangtze River, relying solely on sails and oars, which was not much faster than traveling by land. Ten days later, it arrived at the mouth of Poyang Lake, and only then could it take advantage of the wind and increase its speed.
The north wind blew the sails of the boat, and the sand boat cut through the waves as it sailed on the vast blue lake. Looking far into the distance, I saw an endless stretch of prairie connected to the lakeside, which made people feel as if they were on a fortress.
The wind blows across the lake and grassland. The lake is sparkling and the grassland is swaying. The scene is extremely magnificent.
"It's so beautiful." Liu Li, who had been hiding in the cabin, was called to the bow by Zhu Zhen. After witnessing this wonderful scene, he couldn't help but be intoxicated by it.
"That's right. This means that reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles. Who would believe that there is a prairie beside Poyang Lake if you haven't seen it with your own eyes?" Lao Liuxin said, so I don't like reading and like running around.
Yes.
"Then why don't you see anyone herding sheep in the grassland?" Liu Li looked around and asked.
"Because soon, when the spring floods arrive, the grassland will turn into a lake again." Lao Liu said with a smile: "Then the lake will be ten times larger than it is now. Will sheep be allowed to graze? It will be good if they don't drown."
"Uncle Master, are you telling me that the changes in the world can happen in the blink of an eye, and the life and death of us mortals are irresistible?" Liu Li said thoughtfully.
"Uh..." Lao Liu twitched the corners of his mouth. I just wanted to show off his rich knowledge. But Liu Li's ability to think like this meant that she was working hard to come forward. Of course he had to cooperate. He nodded and said with a deep expression.
:
"I don't agree with the so-called filial piety in Confucianism. When a person dies, he is dead. Why should living people torture themselves in different ways? The result of three years of self-abuse has no meaning other than self-impression. It will only cause damage.
The body adds burden to living relatives."
"But, it's really sad." Liu Li lowered her head and whispered.
"You said that senior brother hopes you will be happy every day," Lao Liu, who is not good at comforting others, has already shown his best. "Do you think he will be sad when he sees you crying every day?"
"..." Liu Li was stunned for a moment when he heard this, nodded and said, "Thank you, junior uncle, I will be strong and not make my father sad."
"That's right." Lao Liu breathed a sigh of relief. He was already running out of words. If he continued, he might be scolded.
~~
The boat sailed on Poyang Lake for a day, entered the Gan River, and then walked along the Gan River for two more days before arriving at the foot of Nanchang City, a city with "famous treasures and brilliant people".
Zhu Zhen stood on the boat, looking at the brand-new blue brick city wall of Nanchang City. He heard the uncle beside him say with emotion: "After the defense of Hongdu, the entire Nanchang city wall was not intact, and there were rotting corpses of both armies everywhere.
, it’s like a hell on earth. It’s only been more than ten years, and there are no traces of that time at all.”
"But the great victory of my cousin and you has already gone down in history and will be praised by others thousands of years later." Zhu Zhen said solemnly.
"Thank you, Your Highness." Hu Quan and Hu Bo said softly. Both of them were generals who survived the battle to defend Hongdu. However, they had been depressed because of Zhu Wenzheng's involvement.
"This is not comfort, this is fact." Zhu Zhen said seriously.
