From Youzhou to Linhuang, nearly 1,000 miles away, mostly trekking in the Gobi or grassland.

While the team was replenishing food and water in a village, several Khitans wandered around, looking at the Song captives with the same eyes as cattle pickers. The captives sat numbly on the ground with blank eyes. This is not uncommon. Except for hundreds of clans and important ministers, most of the captives were bought one after another. More than 5,000 Bianliang craftsmen who needed to be escorted to Beijing were also snatched up by the Liao people's workshops as early as Nanjing Road because they had no books.

"Is there anyone who knows how to strike iron?" "Do you do carpentry work?"

"As long as you know a 'door' craft!" "Will you burn a brick kiln?" "Do you know how to use a loom?"

Han'er's entourage probed his brain and asked, and the manor steward had an urgent look on his face, and his eyes swept over the faces of the crowd. The Khitan nobles did not need much food, so most of the Liao manors did not have much land for crops, except for large pastures, which were planted with cotton 'flowers', mulberry hemp, melons and fruits, alfalfa, etc. After many Song craftsmen were exiled to the north, the 'fine' porcelain and silk that could only be made in the Song Kingdom can now be made in the Liao Kingdom, but the price is also not cheap. The Liao State Manor needed little food, but the Khitan nobles were good at pomp, and the demand for luxury things was simply not enough. Since the southern expedition of Yelu Dashi, the trade between the north and the south has been almost cut off. In various parts of the Liao Kingdom, Khitan nobles opened workshops one after another. Workshops large and small were used to make slaves work. However, ordinary slaves are easy to come by, but skilled craftsmen are not easy to come by. Therefore, in the eyes of the Khitan masters, the skilled slave craftsmen were very valuable assets, and their living conditions not only exceeded those of other slaves, but also exceeded those of ordinary Khitans, and even exceeded the original treatment of craftsmen in the Song Kingdom.

In the team starting from Bianliang, most of the more than 100,000 captives of the Song Kingdom were various craftsmen, but when they got here, there was less than a tenth left. If it weren't for the fact that these craftsmen had to be escorted to Linhuang Mansion on Shangjing Road, they would have been bought by Khitan nobles as early as halfway through. Along the way, there are still local Khitan nobles who come to collect craftsmen. The further north they went, the more skilled craftsmen were lacking in the workshops opened by the Liao, and the prices offered were getting higher and higher. Later, under the "temptation" and "bewilderment" of heavy money, the escorting officers began to conspire to falsely increase the number of craftsmen who died, and sold some craftsmen who were scarce in the workshop at a high price.

According to the order of usefulness to the Khitan nobles, the status of the Song people in the captives also changed dramatically. The Liao army treated valuable "goods" well, not only gave the craftsmen better food, but also camped in better conditions. On the contrary, but the Song Dynasty clan and important ministers, either without long skills, or old and frail, received the worst treatment, not only had to starve and hurry, but also camped in low-lying wet and cold places, if they died of illness, whether it was the prince or the minister, they were discarded by the roadside and not buried, let the beasts eat the corpse, and the person was only circled on the list.

"Wait until you get to Beijing," Lu Bugu patted Li Ruobing's shoulder, "You can pick a few 'women' over there." ”

After three months of travel, Lu Bugu felt that "Chagan" was very useful, they traveled to many places, and Li Ruobing was always able to 'communicate' with the locals with his paintings. Such people are very rare in the isolated Khitan tribe, and only those merchants who go south and north can do it. Therefore, Lu Bugu decided to 'spend' some money to keep Li Ruobing. Li Ruobing didn't seem to sell too much, every time a Khitan nobleman came to choose a slave, Lu Bugu was worried that he would take the initiative to stand up and sell himself. You know, most Han people want to stay in the south, even if they are also in the territory of Liao, even if they are also slaves. In the ice and snow, every mile of walking north seemed to kill them. Fortunately, Li Ruobing has been following the team and has no intention of staying halfway.

During this time, Li Ruobing spent all his days in torment. The smile of the past has long been deeply rooted in his heart. Now he doesn't know the other side, which makes his heart like a knife. Since the eyes 'crossed' that day, the queen deliberately avoided Li Ruobing's gaze. This made Li Ruobing's heart even more difficult to self-control. The cold weather that froze to death was completely incomparable to the torment in his heart, which made him almost go crazy. The monarch and the ministers were on defense, and he had to bury this lava-like feeling in his heart. Since she studied and learned the way of a sage, Li Ruobing not only restrained her words and deeds, but also made her mind conform to the way of a sage, especially after Zhu Ying was elected to the palace. Every day Li Ruobing suffers between ice and fire, he can only bury his head and hurry, occasionally glance at the familiar figure in the prisoner car, and only dare to glance at it, even if it is another moment, he is afraid that he can't help but rush forward and hold the familiar and unfamiliar face in his palm. In this way, the captive team of "mixed" people of all kinds walked for nearly four months before arriving at the Linhuang Mansion in Shangjing.

Only the Khitans could live in the city of Linhuangfu, and Song Dynasty captives could not enter the city. The North Court of the Liao Kingdom divided the craftsmen into workshops, and most of the palace 'women' and noble 'women' were also assigned to the workshop, and a piece of land was set aside outside the city to house the concubines of the Song Emperor and their accompanying courtiers. This is the hinterland of the Liao State, surrounded by grasslands on all sides, and the North Courtyard is not worried about the escape of the Song captives, so it simply builds dozens of sheds with birch bark and a fence outside. Normally, Zhao Ke was imprisoned in a simple courtyard, and Zhao Ke was not allowed to leave this fence, and the concubines, clansmen, and courtiers could move around. After the Ezhou Prime Minister's Mansion honored Zhao Qi as the emperor, Yelu Dashi's interest in the abolished emperor Zhao Ke was also greatly reduced, and he was not summoned once after arriving in Beijing. Correspondingly, Zhao Ke's treatment has also plummeted. Zhao Ke, Empress Zhu, and the concubines with titles were only given three liters of Chen Gu per day, and they had to lick their own back before they could swallow it. Other courtiers, such as Zhao Zhifu, Qin Hui and others, only had one and a half liters of Chen Gu every day, and they had to pick wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger. It is said that after the 'spring' was issued, the courtiers of the Song State had to grow their own grain to eat, and after the summer, they would no longer give rations.

Rubugu kept his promise. In the book of prisoners in the North Court, Li Ruobing, the Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple of the Song Kingdom, was already a dead man, and there was an additional barbarian named "Chagan" in the Rilian tribe under the jurisdiction of Yelu Tiege, the privy envoy of the North Court, who was registered as a Khitan by the North Court.

The pastures of the Rilian tribe are nearby, and the Khitan people used to live as nomads, but now it is the harsh winter season, and cattle, horses, alpacas and other livestock are enclosed and only released when the weather is good. In this way, Li Ruobing hid in the Rilian tribe, and in appearance, he was completely like a taciturn shepherd, covered with dirty sheepskin jackets, a 'messy' beard all over his face, and a body full of horse manure and sheep 'soothing'. He often drove his flock of sheep near the fence where the Song Emperor was confined, where there was a hot river that did not freeze in winter, and in the white air like smoke and mist, he could see the figure of the laundry by the river. Although the two of them didn't say a word, it was as if they had made an appointment, and whenever the weather was fine, they would appear next to the river sooner or later. Li Ruobing only looked from a distance at first, and gradually, getting closer and closer, getting closer and closer, however, he couldn't take the last few dozen steps.

"Maybe in her eyes," Li Ruobing looked at the figure, "I'm just a shepherd of another race.....

Days like this passed day after day, until one day, the figure finished washing the clothes and did not leave directly, but walked straight towards him, Li Ruobing was a little panicked, Zhu Ying's pale face came to the front all the time, looking up at him, Li Ruobing suddenly understood that she recognized him at the beginning. At this moment, the embankment of reason collapsed, and Li Ruobing suddenly stretched out his hands and grabbed Zhu Ying's hands, which were once so soft, but now they were red and swollen and covered with chilblains. He couldn't hold back any longer, and held his delicate body tightly in his arms.

"Ying'er....." Li Ruobing called his former name hoarsely.

"Ruobing, Li Lang ....." Zhu Ying read like a dream, suddenly trembled, pushed Li Ruobing away with force, and said in a trembling voice, "Li Lang, self-respect....." She didn't dare to look at Li Ruobing's face, gritted her teeth, Zhu Ying said in a low voice, "The concubine has lived up to Li Lang's kindness, Li Lang should not mistake himself again...... "Her nature is weak and strong, and she couldn't cry at this time, and turned around to 'desire'. At the beginning, Li Ruobing was killed by the 'traitor' minister and exiled from Beijing, Zhu Ying wasted many young 'springs' for him, and when Li Ruobing finally 'forgiven' back to the court, it was when Zhu Ying was elected to the palace to get married, and the two were close to the end of the world. Li Ruobing has long passed the year of his establishment, and he has not been married yet, and every time Zhu Ying hears the news of him, he can only secretly cry and swallow his voice, secretly praying that he will find a good match as soon as possible.

"Ying'er," Li Ruobing pulled her back, looked at Zhu Ying and said, "I can't leave you anymore." ”

"Li Lang, your kindness, concubine, can only be repaid in the next life." Zhu Ying muttered, looking at the withered yellow on the mountain in the distance, shaking her head and crying, "The 'flower' has not been released, and the 'flower' has been gone, and it is difficult to bloom again." I can't hurt you anymore. Forcefully broke free of Li Ruobing's hand, ran to the river to pick up the wooden basin for laundry, she was heartbroken, she stumbled and almost fell, she ran staggeringly, but still ran away without looking back.

"The 'flower' has not been released, the 'flower' has been gone, and it is difficult to bloom again......"

Li Ruobing looked at her back and muttered repeatedly. It was as if he had been pierced through the heart by a sharp sword, and great sorrow filled his bosom, so that he could no longer bear it. Li Ruobing raised his arms to the sky, looked up at the sky that seemed to be close at hand, and he shouted like those lonely shepherds, and his sad and angry voice echoed in the empty grassland. In the echo, it seems that someone is sighing: "The 'flower' has been gone, and it is difficult to bloom again....."

Dawn of the Empire:

Chapter 105 The Sun and the Moon Unbiased-3: