Unlike the south of the Yangtze River, which still has a line of green and warmth, after a few snowfalls, the land of eastern Liaodong has become a white expanse, and the large and small rivers have begun to freeze slowly, and the freezing period of the Luanhe, Liaoshui, Songhua River, and Yalu River, which has the largest flow, is a little later, but the hunters in the mountains know that the latest is next month. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

For the Liaodong rebels who fled in the Changbai Mountains at this time, these heavy snowfalls gave them a rare buffer time, and the pursuers who were originally hanging tightly behind finally lost their traces, and they could stop and take a breath.

An old village located in the mountains and forests is the territory of a Jurchen tribe, this tribe is not big or small, and there are thousands of men and women still in the village at this moment, most of them are old and weak, women and children, but everyone who can hold a bow and arrow, whether it is a half-old child or a strong woman, is leaning behind the low rough wooden fence, staring at the large black shadow not far away with vigilant eyes, but they do not dare to move for half a minute, because the number of the other party is far more than the other side.

Just under the noses of those people, only a hundred paces away from the stockade, several fires of different sizes were raised, and the pine branches with fresh breath were cut down in bundles, and even the needles on them were thrown into the fire without plucking, and the plants full of water were moxibusted by the fire, emitting a puff of black smoke, and the choking smoke spread out, and the people who smelled it were coughing, and there were also the cries of children and the neighing of horses, and the whole camp was lively at once.

A middle-aged man in a brocade robe, sitting on the edge of the largest fire, stared blankly at the flickering light of the fire in the branches, and did not feel that the black smoke passed in front of him, and his ears were full of those noisy sounds, which sounded like the events of the day of the rout, and the scene of that day was like a painting in his mind, and he could not get rid of it.

"Take it away, take it away, I told you, as long as the firewood is dry, and such a big smoke is burned, do you think the enemy can't see it?" An angry voice resounded through the woods, and the middle-aged man looked at it, it was the steward of his tent, a loyal old servant.

Under the command of the old servant, the pine branches in the fire were pinched out, and some dead branches that I didn't know where to pick them up were replaced, and the black smoke suddenly became much smaller, and the middle-aged man was a little uncomfortable, so he felt that his throat was dry, his nose was itchy, and his eyes were irritated with tears, and he couldn't help but lower his head and cough.

"Great Khan, it's all the old slave's fault, do you want it?" Seeing this, the old servant hurriedly ran over and patted him on the back, and after a long while, the middle-aged man stopped his movements, raised a hand and waved it in the air.

"I'm fine, you go and take care of the people, just follow your method, let the women and children use it first, and the old people and men will go to collect firewood, starting with my son's removal from the black platform, if he doesn't follow, you will directly take my whip."

"The old slave knows."

This is the rule of the tribe, but also the law of the grassland, in the critical moment, the first to be abandoned is the old man with limited mobility, followed by women and children, only the man who can fight is the most important property of the tribe, once thought that he would never remember these, but I didn't expect to use it today.

The middle-aged man who came back to his senses looked at the firewood that was "crackling" by the raging fire again, although the expression on his face maintained the dignity of a leader, and the frustration in his heart was almost uncontrollable.

He is the Naiyan who was the patriarch of the kings of Liaodong a few months ago, the descendant of Genghis Khan's brothers, and the master of the Chijin tribe, known as "Ulus Khan".

The fall of the territory, the captivity of the people, and the rout of the army seemed to have happened yesterday, and now they have become lost dogs, hiding in the territory of the Jurchens, looking for a way out in this reckless forest, but where is the way out? Naiyan knew that just outside the mountain, along the Yalu River, along the Xing'an Mountains, and along the foothills of the Changbai Mountains, all the exits were full of Atahai's scouts, and that experienced fellow, who had just been appointed by Kublai Khan as Pingzhang of Liaoyang Province, was waiting for his head to curry favor with the new master of the capital.

Huhai died, the Jin family slave died, and even his best brother Hadan Balugan was not spared, thinking of the upright man who took the initiative to lead the army behind in order to let them escape, Nai Yan's heart ached, which was even more uncomfortable than losing the wealth that had accumulated for two generations.

Now, there are only more than 10,000 people left with him, most of them belong to the Chachijin tribe, and some are the Hachiwen tribe of Hadan and the Hesar tribe of Shiwen'er, all of them are descendants of Genghis Khan's brothers, and they have never been so united as they are today.

The problem at this moment is more realistic than reviewing the gains and losses, the team of more than 10,000 people, in the deep mountains and old forests is just a small piece of black shadow, it is not easy to be found, but it is even more difficult to survive, they are warriors on the grassland, not hunters in the mountains, bows and arrows in the winter when prey is scarce, can not bring enough food to wrap their stomachs, if not with some livestock, they have long been out of food.

The mountains and forests are the world of the Jurchens, and they behave very docilely on weekdays, whether it is the one in the capital or the one under his nose, he almost responds to his needs, but the premise is that he is still the lord of Liaodong, not a lost dog who is chased by others!

The hostility of the Jurchens in the stockade was so obvious, Nai Yan knew that there must be food in the stockade, enough food to survive the whole winter, and he even knew where these things were hidden, and it would not take much trouble to grab them, all of them were old and weak, women and children, and he only needed to send his personal guard cavalry, and he could take it in less than an hour, but he couldn't do this.

Because as long as a living person escapes, the news will spread in this mountain, and when the time comes, he and his people will really face a desperate situation, inside the mountain is full of hateful hunters, and outside the mountain is an army of tigers and delays ready to pounce at any time, their team of more than 10,000 people, including women and children, will not last more than a month, and will completely disappear in this mountain forest.

At least now, the two sides can maintain a situation of mutual non-aggression, as long as they don't mess with them, the Jurchens will not pay attention to the grievances of these people outside, after all, they still have more than 10,000 people in hand, and no village dares to take this risk, otherwise it will be the end of the funeral of the Hu clan.

However, there will always be a day when this situation will be broken, and when they are weak, they will fall to the strong, and pounce on them without mercy and take a bite, the jungle is like this, and only such people can survive.

Stuck in thought, Nai Yan suddenly felt a weight on his body, a tiger skin with big fur covered his back, the warm fur dispelled the last trace of chill in his heart, and he turned to meet a pair of gentle eyes.

"Lost, come and sit down." Nai Yan took her hand and asked her to sit beside her, and by the way, she pulled the tiger skin and covered both of them.

"I remember this tiger skin as your dowry, but I didn't expect it to have fallen yet."

"yes, it was so messy at the time, I didn't take anything, I only took this, I think with it, Uzhna can have a place to sleep and not freeze."

Nai Yan looked at his wife's side face, the once beautiful grassland flower had become extremely haggard, but there was a little more tenacity in his eyes, which made him ashamed and sad.

"I want you to take Uzhna to her grandfather, it's better than to suffer here with me."

"You know I'm not leaving." Ye Lost leaned on his shoulder, staring at the red light in front of him without blinking: "If you left us on the day of the retreat, maybe there will be another day, since you didn't do this, then I won't leave you either, Uzhna has only one father, and that is you, Naiyan." ”

"You should know, I don't know how long it will last, the cattle and sheep brought are almost finished, and there is no new food. If there is no other way in the end, you can only grab it from the Jurchens, in that case, even death may become a luxury, and you will be lost, don't force me. ”

"I know that if that day comes my way, I'll fight them with a knife and kill them or myself."

Nai Yan sighed deeply, knowing that it was impossible for him to convince his wife, the husband and wife just leaned against each other in front of the fire, the camp's fires were lit one after another, in addition to the fire to warm up and cook food, slowly those noises were much quieter, only the wind from the mountains and forests remained, and they whimpered like crying.

"Great Khan, Kedun." Nai Yan, who was almost asleep, was suddenly woken up, and when he turned his head, he saw that the old servant had led a few people over, each of whom was tightly wrapped, revealing only a pair of eyes outside.

"Who are they?" Nayan stood up, wrapped the whole tiger skin around his wife's body, and helped her sit firmly before turning to face them.

"The old slave doesn't know, it was introduced by the Han man."

"Old Ding Tou is back? What about people. ”

Nai Yan was a little surprised, after the defeat of the army, the Han man who had ventilated for them disappeared, did not say what to do, nor where to go, he just thought that he had escaped, and never thought that he would come back.

"Over there, he brought a lot of food and was busy distributing it to everyone."

Nai Yan followed the direction he pointed, and sure enough, he saw some busy figures by the fire, but what made him strange was that in addition to some Han people and Jurchens who came to deliver food, this old Ding Tou was really not simple.

In this way, it is impossible for Nai Yan to ignore the people he introduced, maybe they are here to save the lives of his subordinates.

"I'm Naiyan, who are you?" What the other party didn't expect was that this Mongolian prince could actually speak Chinese, although it was a little weird, but there was no problem in understanding it.

"Venerable Ulus Khan, my brother and I have come from the sea, and we have received news of you, and we have come to pay a visit, a little gift, not a respect." The leader removed the mask wrapped around his face and arched his hand to him.

"At sea?" Nai Yan's expression became even more confused, looking at this leader who was still very young despite having a beard, he suddenly thought of something: "You are powerful people from all over the world?" ”

"So that the Ulus Khan may know that this is our great master." A man next to the young leader proudly raised his hand and introduced him.

"Don't dare to be, my surname is Jiang, and I am the family member of the world." Jiang Ning smiled and nodded.

"Disrespectful and disrespectful, I didn't expect Jiang Da to be in charge, please."

What can make Nai Yan do this, of course, it can't be the name of a pirate, it is true that there is a demand for talents, Jiang Ning knows it very well in his heart, but he still accepts it happily, although the other party is down, he is also a serious Mongolian prince, the former lord of Liaodong.

In fact, they have been looking for the remnants of Naiyan for a while, but Changbai Mountain is so big, the mountains are high and dense, and more than 10,000 people are thrown into it than looking for a needle in a haystack.

"The kindness of Jiang Da's family, Nai Yan will never forget, and I hope that there will be a day when he will repay him."

"The Great Khan is polite, in the heart of the one in the capital, you and I are both confidants, and it is not a big deal to help each other." Jiang Ning stretched out his hand and roasted on the fire for a while, almost dispelling the chill on his body, and his thoughts became smoother.

"It's just that there are a lot of people here in the Great Khan, and the daily needs are a huge amount, I can help once, but I can't help every time, with all due respect, the Great Khan has no other way." Jiang Ning's words made his expression stagnate, and his eyes dimmed.

"The big bosses have seen it, all the old and young here, all have to eat, I worry about it every day, if there is really a way to think, I won't nest here and have nowhere to go."

"This place can be safe for the time being, but when the river freezes, the cavalry outside can wade through the river, and when the time comes, it will be surrounded on all sides, and the Jurchens in this forest will tell each other, I am afraid that I can't run if I want to."

Jiang Ning's words made Nai Yan surprised, the other party said well, no matter how difficult it is to find in the forest, if there is a Jurchen to lead the way, it will not be difficult, otherwise how did the other party find it, the river is frozen in this month, at the latest next month, once the river becomes a thoroughfare, it will be really difficult to fly by then.

What makes him undecided is whether the other party is kind to remind or intentional, there is no gift for no reason in this world, of course Nai Yan will not be naïve to believe that the other party is so generous because he admires himself, that is another purpose, he is not afraid of using anything, what he is afraid of is to lure himself out to die.

"What can the big boss teach me?" Naiyan learned from the Han people's practices and gave it away.

"Trees die, people live, have you ever thought that there is actually a place that is a hundred times better than here?" Jiang Ning took a dry branch and stirred it in the fire, and the flames suddenly "poofed", almost burning his eyebrows.

"Tell me about it."

"Goryeo."

Jiang Ning gently spit out two words, Nai Yan stood up suddenly, pointed at him and said sharply: "You guys, who are you and what do you want to do." ”

Maybe it was because his voice suddenly became a lot louder, which alarmed the guards around him, and several big men pulled out their scimitars, hugged them all at once, surrounded Nai Yan's side, and watched the few people who came with Jiang Ning.

"Didn't the Great Khan think I was hurting you?" Jiang Ning clapped his hands, threw the dead branch into the fire, and stood up fearlessly in the face of the other party's sword light: "That's right, Goryeo has the danger of the city, and it may not be easy to take it, if the road ahead is blocked by them, and there are Kublai Khan's people chasing after him, I am afraid that there will be no place to die." ”

"I know, you still persuaded me to go out of the mountain, but I don't know if I have bad intentions."

"I thought that the Ulus Khan was an eagle on the steppe, who knew that it was just a bird with a frightened bow, since you didn't want to hear it, then when I didn't say it, it's not too early, I will leave, and there will be a period later."

Jiang Ning said to leave, but he didn't expect the Mongols who heard the movement to surround them all of a sudden and stop them to death.

"Is the Great Khan planning to leave a few of us behind?" Jiang Ning turned around and stared at the other party's face sternly.

Nai Yan's face was uncertain, his suspicion was certain, but he had a little hope, if he let the other party leave, he was afraid that these subordinates would really have no way to live, thinking of this, he gritted his teeth and waved his hand.

"Whoever told you to come, go down."

Without waiting for Jiang Ning to move his steps, he said again: "Big boss, can you make it clear." ”

"We Song people have a saying, food will not fall from the world, to get it you have to pay the price, either hard work, or diligent grazing, even if neither is possible, but also to do their own to rob, no one will do at home waiting for death, and there is no road is a risk-free road." Jiang Ning stood there without looking back, as if talking to himself.

"Are you from Song?"

"Of course, otherwise why would we have to help Kublai Khan's enemies?"

Jiang Ning turned around and did not shy away from his gaze: "Going to Goryeo, it is indeed risky, but the benefits are greater, and more importantly, with our help, your cavalry is equivalent to plugging in wings, if you want to fight, you can fight, if you don't want to fight, you can get on the boat and run away, whether it is the Goryeo people or Kublai Khan's people, can they chase them to the sea?" ”

Although Nai Yan was silent, his heart was already moved, whether this matter was a trap or not, he had no other choice, the weather would be colder in a few days, they were not prepared for winter in the mountains at all, how could people who were used to sleeping in yurts withstand that kind of grass nest, although this young man was meeting for the first time, he was very impressed, and this matter was very likely to be true.

"How many people do we need to send at a time?"

"Five hundred cavalry, I need the most elite men, and everything I get is divided in half." Jiang Ning secretly breathed a sigh of relief, he was not afraid of death, but worried that this person was too suspicious and made things more complicated.

"So few people? Is it enough. Nayan made up her mind, but began to worry about the harvest.

"Robbery is a technical job, a large number of people is not necessarily suitable, the important thing is speed, to avoid the enemy's heavy troops, hit its weakest place, hit it with one hit, go with one hit, attack around the coastline, attack day and night, how much do you think there will be?"

He didn't understand what technical work was, but since it came out of the mouth of a pirate, most of them had a special meaning, and there were only five hundred horses left and right, Nai Yan could still make up it, even if he lost it, it wouldn't affect anything, no matter what, for the future of the whole clan, this risk was worth his risk.