After some questioning, Zhang Yanling found out the identities of these three people. The old man was called Ma Fusheng, and the two young men were his two sons, Ma Zhanbao and Ma Zhanyin. The father and son were from Majia Village, east of Helan Mountain. Hunters in the mountains make a living by hunting.
Originally, few hunters on the other side of the mountain dared to cross the Helan Mountains to hunt in the mountains to the west. After all, this is the territory of the Tatars. However, in recent years, there has been a lot of construction in the town of Ningxia. In particular, Anhua King Zhu Zhixiu built many In addition to palaces and villas, officials in Ningxia Town also built garden villas and cut down a large number of trees in the east.
Iron ore was discovered in the east of Helan Mountain, and several large mines were opened. At the same time, many workshops for burning charcoal and kilns were built. Not only were the mountains and forests severely damaged, but there were also people going in and out of the mountains to mine and burn charcoal all day long, making a lot of noise. Incessantly, all the wild beasts in the mountains that were disturbed were almost gone.
The Ma family and his son made a living by hunting, but they really had no choice. So the three father and son, as well as nearby hunters, ventured across the Helan Mountains to hunt in the forests on the Shanxi side. Because most of the frightened prey fled to this side.
Of course, doing so is risky. Xin Laosan, who lives nearby in Xinjiazhuang, was captured by the Tatars. He was forced by the Tatars to lead the way and pretended to be an Orion to sneak into the territory of the Ming Dynasty. As a result, he was discovered by the guards of Ningxia Town. All the Orion people in the family village were implicated and were arrested and tortured by the officials. For this reason, more than 20 people were killed.
Because of this, the Ma family and his son just now thought that Zhang Yanling and others were Tatar soldiers, so they would rather die immediately than say anything, because they were afraid that like Xin Laosan, they would implicate others and bring bad luck to the whole village. .
In the border towns, the officers and soldiers of the Ming Guard Station were naturally very strict in defending the mountain passes. Especially to prevent Tatars from infiltrating. If any mountain people were found to be collaborating with the enemy, they would naturally be severely tortured and killed as a warning to others. The father and son obviously understood this. But due to the pressure of life, they had no choice but to venture in for hunting.
After understanding all this, Zhang Yanling was relieved.
"Untie them." Zhang Yanling ordered.
Someone came forward and untied the three of them. Ma Fusheng thanked his son profusely and kowtowed. His eldest son Ma Zhanbao was still on guard.
"Are you...really the soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty? But why are you here?" Ma Zhanbao asked.
"What are you talking about? Is this what you should ask?" Chen Shiyi shouted.
Zhang Yanling had an idea in his mind. He said pleasantly: "Of course we are soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty. I am the Marquis of Jianchang of the Ming Dynasty, and my name is Zhang Yanling. These are my subordinates. We are here because we have important military affairs to handle. .Look at our clothes and listen to our accents. Do we look like Tatars?"
Ma Zhanbao shook his head and said: "It just doesn't look like it. How can the Tatars have such good armor and weapons? We have seen the Tatars. They are all in ragged clothes and look as ugly as wild boars. However, our soldiers and horses in Ningxia Town are not like you. You're well dressed. The military men at Yamaguchi Guard Station are also in rags. And your accents don't sound like I'm from Ningxia Town."
"Yes, you are a bit shrewd and your observations are detailed. We are soldiers from the capital, not frontier troops from Ningxia Town. Naturally, our equipment and accents are different." Zhang Yanling said with a smile.
"Soldiers and horses from the capital? Brother, are they here to... attack King Anhua's court soldiers and horses?" Ma Zhanyin on the side suddenly said in shock.
The three of them, father and son, were even more shocked and stunned.
"Do you know about the war between the imperial court and King Anhua?" Zhang Yanling asked in a deep voice.
Ma Fusheng smiled bitterly and said: "How could you not know? Prince Anhua rebelled, who doesn't know about this? Ten days ago, they went into the mountains to recruit young men. Fortunately, we learned the news and fled into the woods, so we were not captured.
They were recruited to serve as soldiers. I heard that the imperial court sent a large army to the south bank of the Yellow River to prepare for an attack. Who would know this?"
Zhang Yanling nodded slightly.
Ma Zhanbao asked: "Are you really the soldiers and horses coming from the imperial court to suppress the rebellion? But why are you here? Didn't you have wings and fly here?"
Zhang Yanling looked at Ma Zhanbao and smiled and said: "We came from the Gobi desert and were about to cross the Helan Mountains to fight the rebellion in Ningxia City."
The Ma family, father and son, were once again shocked. Ma Zhanbao murmured: "How is it possible? You actually came from the Gobi Desert? How is this possible?"
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "Whether you believe it or not, this is a fact. Well, we are pressed for time. You three, since you are the people of the Ming Dynasty, of course we will not kill you. But we cannot let you go. We are marching in secret.
Don't let the news leak out. You have to follow me
We're leaving together. We won't let you go until the matter is over. Remember, don't think about escaping or doing anything wrong. Otherwise, you will be killed. We don't want to kill you, but in order to keep it secret
We have to do this for action, do you understand?"
The father and son nodded quickly.
Zhang Yanling ordered people to take them aside and ordered people to guard them. He took out the map and continued to study the terrain.
Before the march, Zhang Yanling had already mapped the simple terrain of the southern part of Helan Mountain. In particular, he made some notes on the mountain passes that he crossed. According to Zhang Yanling's understanding, there are actually many mountain passes on the south side of Helan Mountain. Many of them are unnamed, but the most suitable mountain passes for cavalry to pass through the mountains.
It is called Chimukou, and it is a relatively open valley. After crossing Helan Mountain from Chimukou, you can directly reach the boundary less than 80 miles west of Ningxia City, which is also the core location.
But the problem is that Chimukou is the largest mountain pass, and the Tatar and Ningxia defenders have deployed a large number of troops and forts on both sides of the mountain pass and in the middle valley. If you walk through Chimukou, it may be difficult to avoid being discovered.
Moreover, I am afraid that we will have to fight the Tatars or the Ningxia border troops. This is something Zhang Yanling absolutely does not want to see.
The core of Zhang Yanling's plan is to seize the city of Ningxia by surprise, seize Zhu Zhixiu, and capture the thief first. This can quickly disintegrate the fighting spirit of the rebels, thereby achieving a north-south pincer attack, annihilating the stubborn enemies on the north bank of the Yellow River, and quickly pacifying the enemy.
The purpose of rebellion.
If discovered before then, all efforts will be in vain.
Therefore, Zhang Yanling did not want to choose the Chimukou Passage. But the other passages were either guarded by troops or they did not know whether they could pass through. This was really difficult. There were seven or eight nearby passages marked on the map, but
Zhang Yanling knew nothing about the situation.
Zhang Yanling was hesitant, and suddenly saw the three Ma family father and son sitting under the tree being guarded, and his heart moved. These three people are local hunters, and they came over the mountains from Ningxia Town in the east. Maybe they will know
Pathways. Why not ask them.
Of course, test whether they are honest before asking.
Zhang Yanling walked over, and the Ma family, father and son, quickly stood up.
Zhang Yanling asked: "You three, I have something to ask. If we want to cross the mountains from here to Ningxia Town, I wonder if there is a suitable path for the cavalry. Is there a mountain pass in Helan Mountain that we can march on?"
Ma Fusheng said hurriedly: "Master, there are many roads from east to west in Helan Mountain. There are more than a hundred mountain passes, large and small, from south to north. But the military officers are all cavalry, so some roads are inaccessible. But
There are still more than a dozen mountain passes.”
Zhang Yanling asked: "Is there any path near here?"
Ma Fusheng said: "Yes, there is a canyon ten miles away to the north, called Chimukou. There are Tatars guarding it, and there are also officers and soldiers guarding the outside of the mountain pass."
Zhang Yanling nodded slightly, Ma Fusheng didn't lie, and everything he said about the location and direction was correct.
"Is there anything else? Is there a passage nearby where horses can pass?"
"There are also...Huzigou, Baicaogou, and Bison Valley. You can pass through these, but they are guarded by soldiers and horses," Ma Fusheng said.
Zhang Yanling nodded slightly. These three places were indeed marked on the map. They were several smaller mountain passes. But with soldiers and horses stationed there, that was impossible. But since what Ma Fusheng said was absolutely right, it meant that he was not lying.
"Is there any passage that can not be discovered by the defenders? And horses can also pass through." Zhang Yanling asked.
Ma Fusheng thought for a moment, frowned and shook his head, saying: "There are paths, but they are all small trails. It's probably impossible for a horse to get there. They have to climb over mountains and ridges."
"Dad, why not? Have you forgotten the road to Eagle Mountain? Horses can walk on it." Ma Zhanyin shouted.
Ma Fusheng was stunned and scolded: "Don't talk nonsense, how can that road be passable? It's too dangerous. Something will happen. And there is a canyon across the way."
Ma Zhanyin said: "What are you afraid of in the canyon? Just build a bridge. Although the road is dangerous, you will be fine if you lead the horse. These military masters are going to fight the rebels, let's just lead them across."
Ma Zhanbao also nodded and said: "Zhan Yin is right, that road is feasible, it just needs repairs and a few bridges along the way. Mr. Marquis, if you can trust us, we can lead the way. That road is definitely possible.
In the past, and no one will ever find out."
Zhang Yanling was ecstatic in her heart, but her face remained calm. She said in a deep voice: "Since you know that we are going to fight Zhu Zhixiu's rebels, why do you want to help us? Aren't you going to King Anhua? You people in Ningxia Town
Don’t you want to help him?”
Ma Zhanbao smiled bitterly and said: "Help him? He has caused so much misery to our people, why should we help him? He has taken away so much of our people's land and forced us people to farm land, burn charcoal, and cut wood for him. He rebelled and wanted to be the emperor.
old man
I heard that he is still colluding with the Tatars. How many of our people have been killed by the Tatars? This old thief, King Anhua, is still colluding with the Tatars. He is simply not a human being. Everyone is scolding this old thief behind his back.
, will you still help him?"
Zhang Yanling nodded slightly and said in a deep voice: "Father and son of the Ma family, I believe in you. Please lead my army. If you can lead us to the other side of the mountain without anyone noticing, you will have done a great job. By then,
I will reward you heavily. But if you have other evil intentions, you will be killed without mercy. Do you understand?"
Ma Zhanbao bowed and said: "Don't worry. We don't ask for any heavy reward, as long as we can live in peace and contentment. I hope the court can give us people a way to survive."
Zhang Yanling smiled and nodded. He immediately ordered the troops to prepare and set off.