"What did you say? A very famous monk led his troops to the outside of Ganzhou City. Now everyone outside the city has dispersed?" Ma Buxiang stared at the person in front of him and yelled.
"Brother Ma is not a very famous monk, but Venerable Tsongkhapa. Venerable Tsongkhapa and several disciples escorted his thousands of monk soldiers outside Ganzhou City where they arrived two moments ago. Solaha sent people with
They negotiated and did not want to fight with the monk soldiers of Venerable Tsongkhapa. But something happened, the monk soldiers suddenly attacked us, and then the army outside the city dispersed and ran away," the man said.
"There are five thousand people outside the city, and the number of monk soldiers is probably the same. Even if they are well-trained, they cannot be as good as the Ming Dynasty's Shang Zhiwei. They will not be dispersed in an instant!" Ma Buxiang continued!
roar.
He had to roar. The people outside the city were dispersed. There was a huge loophole in his battle plan. It was very likely that it would fail completely. The fire in his heart had to burst out. Moreover, he felt that when the troops were equal, it would not be instantaneous.
He was defeated and even more angry. At the same time, he complained to Soraha in his heart: How did you command!
"Brother Ma, those are the monk soldiers led by Venerable Tsongkhapa himself!" The man shouted: "Master Tsongkhapa was born in a Brahmin family in India in his previous life. He served as an attendant of the Bodhisattva. He was personally taught by the Bodhisattva and even saw him.
Buddha!"
"Since Your Majesty wants to fight with us, it means that what we did is wrong, and the mistake is so big that even the Buddha and Bodhisattva can't stand it. How can we resist? Naturally, we scattered and ran away." The man said.
Hearing this, Ma Buxiang slapped himself in the face! He had forgotten that more than 30% of the bandits he collected were Tibetans, more than 30% were Mongolians, less than 30% were Han Chinese, and the remaining few were Semu people.
Regardless of Tibetans, Mongolians or Han people, the vast majority believe in Tibetan Buddhism. He was surprised when he first learned this, but over time he stopped caring. Anyway, they did not believe in Chinese Buddhism, and it did not affect the people in the Han area.
Burning, killing and looting.
But at this time, an eminent monk from Tibetan Buddhism suddenly appeared in Ganzhou City, which became very fatal. Facing Tsongkhapa, most people simply could not muster the will to resist, and because they thought of themselves and frightened themselves,
They were all gone in an instant. Although Sauraha wanted to lead his troops to resist, the five hundred Semu people under him were really no match. In order to preserve his strength, he also led his troops to retreat. Before retreating, he sent a person to the city to inform
Ma Buxiang. But unfortunately, this man accidentally fell off his horse and died on the way. If a Tibetan had not come to report that one of the Tibetans who entered the city to attack Prince Su's Mansion was his good brother, Ma Buxiang would not have known about it now.
"It's really up to people to plan things, but it's up to God to make things happen!" He couldn't help but sigh, feeling like Zhuge Liang who wanted to burn the upper valley on fire, but the flames were extinguished by heavy rain.
"Come here, I have something to tell you." After sighing, Ma Buxiang said to the man who came to report the news.
The Tibetan didn't doubt that he was there, so he bent forward and put his ear next to Ma Buxiang. But at this moment, he suddenly felt a pain in his heart, and he didn't know anything after that.
"Sir, what's going on?" The two men with lustful eyes heard the sound coming from the house, walked in and saw a corpse, and couldn't help but ask. Because the noise on the battlefield was difficult to hear clearly, Ma Buxiang chose a place in the front yard.
Tibetans reporting the news were seen in every house.
"A Tibetan Buddhist monk came to the outside of Ganzhou City for some reason and sent monk soldiers to attack. The people outside the city have been defeated, and even Sauraha has withdrawn with his people." Ma Buxiang said: "They will soon
Most of the people who rushed into the city and were plundering the official treasury and attacking Prince Su's palace in front of them also believed in Tibetan Buddhism, and they would probably be defeated when they saw the monk soldiers."
"Then only the three or four hundred of us will be left! It is absolutely impossible for the three or four hundred of us to conquer the backyard of Prince Su's Mansion. Even if we slow down and cannot get out of Ganzhou City, we will be wiped out! So we must prepare to retreat immediately.
, then blend in with the others and escape!"
Although Ma Buxiang was very loyal to Timur, his own life was also important. If there was no retreat, he would choose to fight to the death, but he would retreat if there was still a retreat.
"Let our people withdraw quietly, gather together, and retreat when the monk soldiers come." He ordered again.
One of the semu men followed the order, and the other semu man asked: "Sir, where should we evacuate from?"
"I originally planned to go south across the Qilian Mountains after plundering Ganzhou City, passing through the Qaidam Basin and the Altyn Mountains to the Tarim Basin, crossing the Tarim Basin and then crossing the Pamir Plateau back to Samarkand City. But now that the monk soldiers have arrived from
If we come from the south, we can't go to the south; to the east is the Ming Kingdom mainland, and to the west there will be many Ming Kingdom soldiers coming and unable to leave. Now it seems that we can only go to the north. After escaping the pursuit of the Ming Army
Then try to find a way to return to the city of Samarkand."
"When he has gathered dozens of people, you should rush to the north gate of Ganzhou City and guard the retreat road," Ma Buxiang said.
"Yes, sir." The se-eyed man agreed and retreated to carry out his order.
…
…
In the backyard of Prince Su's Mansion, there were shouts one after another, but no matter who it was, they always shouted the same sentence: "All the robbers have run away! All the robbers have run away!"
"They all ran away? Why?" Yun Zhi stood blankly at the door of the main hall of the backyard, looking at the yard that had become empty with only corpses left on the ground, and said to herself.
"Could it be that the Buddha appears and protects us?" She originally believed in Buddhism, and just now she vaguely heard the Buddha's name coming from the air, she couldn't help but think so.
"Quickly, put out the fire!" Zhang Wuji did not think about the reasons for the bandits' escape like her, but immediately directed to put out the fire.
"Put out the fire! Go get water quickly!" After hearing Zhang Wuji's words, the guards and palace maids who had been stunned just now all reacted and started to put out the fire.
But at this time, the scene was in a panic. When water was brought in, the fire was already too big to put out. Zhang Wuji had no choice but to send people to rescue Xu Miaojin, Princess Su and others from the main hall, and everyone moved to other palaces.
"Commander Qu, Guard Zhang, what is going on? Why did the bandits suddenly retreat?" After being rescued, Xu Miaojin didn't care at all what was lost in Prince Su's palace, nor how many maids there were. The maid was already dead.
, called Zhang Wuji and Qu Feng to ask.
"Your Majesty, I don't know. However, I have sent people out of the palace to inquire about it. We will get back in a while." Qu Feng bowed and said. He finally maintained his true character as a general and let the remaining bandits retreat after the bandits retreated.
The soldiers reoccupied the backyard wall and sent people to inquire about the news.
"Just now, I heard the sound of chanting Buddha in a trance. Have you heard it?" Xu Miaojin asked again.
"Sister-in-law, I heard it too." At this time, Yunzhi had come to her senses and said hurriedly after hearing Xu Miaojin's words.
"Huainan, don't be rude in front of everyone." Xu Miaojin said.
"Yes, Concubine Chen." Xu Miaojin said hurriedly. According to the etiquette, she can call herself me, my concubine, my wife, etc. in front of outsiders, but she cannot call herself me; she cannot call her the concubine nor my sister-in-law. Only the queen can.
She is the only sister-in-law. She calls the imperial concubine with a high status by title, and the concubine with a low status by title.
Xu Miaojin wanted to say something more, but a man ran in from the gate, knelt down in front of Qu Feng and said: "Sir, we already know the reason why the bandits retreated. It was the Tibetan Buddhist monk Zongkhapa who led the monk soldiers to Ganzhou City.
."
"Most of the bandits who attacked the city believed in Tibetan Buddhism and retreated one after another after seeing the monk soldiers. The few who did not believe in Tibetan Buddhism did not dare to stay and retreated together."
"Tsongkhapa, the master of Tibetan Buddhism? Why did he suddenly come to Ganzhou City? What is his purpose?" Xu Miaojin asked suspiciously. Should we also be wary of him?
Qu Feng and others all shook their heads. They didn't know why Tsongkhapa suddenly appeared here. But Yunzhi suddenly thought of something and said: "Concubine Chen, Commander Qu, there was an imperial edict before, and the emperor sent someone to invite him."
An eminent monk from Tibetan Buddhism came to Ganzhou City to meet me. I can’t remember the name of this eminent monk, but it seems to be this one.”
As soon as she said this, Xu Miaojin also remembered this imperial edict, and breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Since His Majesty invited me before, I guess nothing will happen."
Everyone also breathed a sigh of relief. Since it could be proven that Tsongkhapa had no ill intentions, they no longer had to worry about it.
After the security issues of the city have been resolved, order in the city will be restored. Xu Miaojin ordered: "Commander Qu, you immediately start to rectify the order in the city. Count how many soldiers died in battle, how many civilians were killed, and the official treasury in various places were destroyed."
How many things were robbed?"
"It is also necessary to settle down Master Tsongkhapa and the monks and soldiers he brought with him. We must not neglect them. Master Tsongkhapa settled in the post house in the city. I remember that Your Majesty mentioned that the envoys of the foreign countries from the northwest to the Central Plains
It is not rude to place him in the post house. If the post house has been destroyed, he will be placed in the great Buddhist temple in the city."
"Princess Su," she turned to face Princess Su again: "Please tidy up the palace of Prince Su immediately."
Xu Miaojin gave the instructions one by one, and everyone agreed except Princess Su who was still frightened. Seeing that Princess Su was in such a state, Xu Miaojin might not be able to take on the important task of restoring order in the palace, so she ordered all the maids and eunuchs who were still alive in the palace to be in charge.
Call them over and give them instructions in person.
After finishing the instructions, Xu Miaojin ordered people to take good care of Princess Su. Just as she and Yunzhi were about to find an undamaged palace to rest for a while, someone suddenly announced: "Your Majesty, the imperial guard Chen Lijie wants to see her."
"Chen Lijie? Why did he appear in Ganzhou City?" Xu Miaojin was puzzled, but immediately said: "Announce his appearance."
Chen Lijie quickly arrived at the palace, knelt down and said, "My minister, Chen Lijie, has met Concubine Chen and Her Highness the Princess Huainan."
"No need to be polite."
Chen Lijie kowtowed and stood up, bowed and said: "Empress, I have been commissioned by Your Majesty to return to Ganzhou City to prepare matters."
"But I didn't expect that when I arrived at Ganzhou City early this morning, I found that bandits were attacking the city. At that time, I was almost scared to death. I was afraid that the city would be captured by bandits, so I immediately led my troops to fight with the bandits."
"..., I immediately led troops into the city, but they were still blocked by bandits, making it difficult to come to the rescue of the palace. But thanks to the blessing of God and Buddha, the bandits suddenly defeated themselves, the population dispersed, and the siege of the palace was relieved. I took the opportunity to block one of the
Annihilate them all."
"After that, I hurriedly led the soldiers to Prince Su's Mansion. Seeing that Commander Qu was settling the order in the city, I handed over the soldiers to Commander Qu and rushed to report to the Queen."
"Servant Chen, thank you for your hard work. You are credited with being able to defend the palace in this battle, and I will inform Your Majesty." Xu Miaojin saw through the reasons why Chen Lijie said so at a glance, and she would not be a bad person.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Chen Lijie immediately knelt down and said, and at the same time he said happily in his heart: Finally, he has another military exploit.
"How many bandits have you killed? Is there any leader of the bandits among them?" Since he was showing off his merits to him, Xu Miaojin asked casually.
"Mother, I did not capture the two most important leaders. I also encountered the Semu bandits at that time, but these bandits were very powerful and I killed dozens of them before escaping."
"But Chen captured and killed more than a dozen ordinary bandit leaders, all of whom were former leaders of various bandit villages in Xingdusi, Gansu Province."
"This battle started from sunrise to this time, and the sun has already turned west. Guard Chen, thank you for your hard work. Have the accommodations of your soldiers been arranged tonight?"
"It's already been arranged."
"In this case, I will not keep any more guards. I will inform your majesty of your merits and reward him after your majesty comes to Ganzhou City. Please step down."
"Go and count the heads of the bandits that Guard Chen brought over." She ordered another guard.
The guards took the order and stepped down; Chen Lijie agreed and bowed down.
During this process, Yunzhi remained silent, just lost in thought. Xu Miaojin did not speak to her either. After resting for a while, he asked Zhang Wuji: "Guard Zhang, go ask the conductor how to settle Master Tsongkhapa.
After the detective hears the news, he will invite the master to Prince Su's Mansion, and I will receive him."
Zhang Wuji hesitated for a moment before agreeing. Logically speaking, the imperial concubine could not meet with monks or Taoists without the emperor's permission, but now was an emergency and she could not care so much.
Zhang Wuji then turned around and saw Yun Zhi still staring blankly at the door. She sighed and coughed. Yun Zhi came back to her senses, looked at Zhang Wuji with some embarrassment, and said hurriedly: "Sister-in-law, what's the matter?
"
"My sister-in-law will meet Master Tsongkhapa in a while. You and your sister-in-law will meet him together," Xu Miaojin said.
"Okay, sister-in-law." Yun Zhi agreed hurriedly.
"Sister-in-law heard that the Tibetan Buddhist master named Tsongkhapa is very capable. If you ask him for advice on anything, you will definitely be able to gain something." Xu Miaojin said pointedly. But Yunzhi didn't know where he was at this time.
What was she thinking? I didn't understand what she meant.