In the blink of an eye, it was the first month of the eighth year of Yongle, and Cheng Zu ordered Xia Yuanji, the head of the household department, and the eldest grandson of the auxiliary emperor, Zhanji, to stay in Beijing to receive military salaries. He led Wang You, Liu Sheng, He Fu, Zheng Heng, Chen Mao, Liu Cai, Liu Rong, etc., to supervise the 500,000 oath to the north. This was Chengzu's first expedition to the north.

It was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Early in the morning, Gong Bu Shijie got up, went to the ancestral hall to burn incense and bow and pray, and then carefully inspected the house and asked his subordinates to clean the house carefully.

Then arrange for people to go to a few more hundred households, and tell them to go to the homes of the soldiers who are going to go out to have a look, one is to inform them, tomorrow morning at the end of the day, the school field will be assembled, at noon to eat the expedition meal, and set off at the right time; Second, let's take a look at how these people are, and if there are any difficulties, I can help. In the afternoon, I went to my grandmother's house to talk to my grandmother, and then I found my son Yijia to check his learning, and watched him practice martial arts, and told him to listen to his grandmother and grandmother after he went on the expedition, and he should take the initiative to take responsibility. He shouted that he would go with him to see the world, and he reprimanded him loudly.

In the evening, Gong Bu Shijie urged his family to go out to watch the lanterns. Madame made two side dishes, scalded a pot of wine, and talked with him in the house.

At first, he didn't speak, and after three or five glasses of wine, Gong Bu Shijie held his wife's hand and said, "Ming'er, I'm going on an expedition." ”

"Hmm!"

"Grandma is old and sick, and the family depends on you!"

"Yes!"

"You have to discipline your son well,—— this kid is good at learning and insightful, strong, and his martial arts are also good, he will definitely have a future in the future, you must discipline him strictly!"

Speaking of children, both men's eyes glistened with tears.

"You have to worry about yourself! You're going to have to tie the red trouser belt I made for you all the time! Did you hear that? On the battlefield, the sword is ruthless, the battlefield is bloody, how come there is no bump, you have to give me a body back, you can't miss a hair! ”

"Got it, don't worry!"

The two of them hugged each other tightly.

The next day, the soldiers who went out arrived one after another and gathered at the large school field. Gong Bu Shijie put on his armor and came to Grandma's room again. Mrs. Ma was lying on the bed, her hair gray, her face sallow, and panting. Two maids waited by his side.

"Grandma-" Gong Bu Shijie knelt on his knees, tears falling like rain, how could he be willing to leave Grandma!

"Stand up! Here's what it's for! Our family has been favored by the imperial court, and you have entrusted your father and brother to be appointed as a general, how can you abolish the public with private affairs? ! Besides, life and death are decided, I just feel the wind and cold occasionally, what's the big deal! Besides, life and death are in heaven, if God wants me to live, I will live, if I want to die, I will die, what is so terrible about this! Men and husbands should put national affairs first, gallop across the field, and make contributions, if you can do this, I will be blind when I die! Mrs. Ma struggled to sit up, "Children, help me up, I will personally send the soldiers on the expedition!" ”

At noon, the soldiers who set out for the battle were in full formation.

Mrs. Li supported Mrs. Ma and came to the front of the procession surrounded by everyone.

"Kids! Today you are going on an expedition, and I am here to see you off! Being able to drive the expedition is your pride and the pride of all of us! - What do you see on that banner? Mrs. Ma vigorously pointed to the apricot yellow flag on the flagpole standing in front of her house, "It's the four big characters of 'Shidu Loyalty'!" Children, we are the people of the Ming Dynasty, now that the country is in trouble and needs us to go to war, we should go to the battlefield without hesitation! You can go with confidence, with me at home and my old lady Ma, your parents, your wives and children will not be cold or hungry! ”

Mrs. Ma paused, "Come, serve the wine!" Give our good boys a baro! ”

All the soldiers were full of enthusiasm and heroism, and after drinking the wine of the expedition, they set out without hesitation.

Withstanding the cold wind all the way, Gong Bu Shijie led his subordinates to sleep in the open, not to mention the Iron Horse Binghe.

In March, they rendezvoused with the army led by Ming Chengzu at Xuanfu.

Ming Chengzu was very happy and let Gong Bu Shijie be incorporated into the "Three Thousand Battalions".

Originally, the Ming army was divided into three battalions: the five military battalions, the three thousand battalions and the Shenji battalion. The cavalry of the five army battalions was divided into the middle army, the left and right sentry and the left and right sentry five armies. The 3,000 battalion consisted of 3,000 cavalry, but it was the most powerful cavalry force in the Ming army, and they mainly played a surprise role in the war. The Shenji Battalion is the killer weapon of the Beijing Army, composed of soldiers with firearms and officers and soldiers accompanying the escort horses, and has many firearms such as "Huwei Cannon", "Fire Dragon Gun" (special musket for cavalry), Annan Gun (carrying gun), "Swarm of Bees" (rocket artillery), "Fire Dragon Car" (flamethrower) and so on. There are also 5,000 battalions attached to the battalion. Ming Chengzu asked Gong Bu Shijie to be included in the "Three Thousand Battalions", which shows the importance he attaches to him.

Joining the army led by Cheng Zu, Gong Bu Shijie and his subordinates were very happy. Everyone was elated, talking and laughing. Wait until dusk to receive an order from Chengzu, set up camp, and rest on the spot. Gong Bu Shijie arranged for Lu Lu, Huo Chitu and others to slaughter more than a dozen sheep brought with them when they set off to reward the sergeants.

In the north in March, although the weather is still a little cool in the morning and evening, the footsteps of spring have quietly come, and in the afterglow of the sunset, the earth is glowing with light emerald green. A breeze blew, and a faint fragrance of grass rushed into the heart and lungs, and the faint fragrance of grass gradually mixed with the aroma of cooked mutton, which became stronger and stronger.

The strong aroma of mutton attracted a person, and he was Zheng Heng, the former general of the expedition to the west.

"Hello to a thousand households!" Zheng Heng walked over and greeted Gong Bu Shijie.

"Hello General!" Gong Bu Shijie hurriedly saluted Zheng Heng.

"You cooked the meat?"

"Yes, everyone is very happy to meet the army today. I had my men kill a few sheep that I had brought from my hometown to reward my men. Gong Bu Shijie explained,

"Humph!" Zheng Heng shook his head, "Do you know that since the expedition, the emperor has not eaten meat once!" After saying that, he didn't look back and left.

The emperor didn't eat meat once? Gong Bu Shijie was shocked when he heard this. He saw that the cooked mutton had just come out of the pot, and ordered his subordinates to quickly fill a large pot, and brought it to Chengzu's big tent with trepidation!

"Please atone for your sins!" As soon as he entered the big tent, Gong Bu Shijie immediately fell to the ground and didn't dare to raise his head.

"What's wrong?"

"Your Majesty, we killed the sheep and ate them!"

"Oh?"

"I don't know that Your Majesty hasn't eaten meat once since he went on the expedition. Please atone for your sins! ”

Cheng Zu waved his hand, "You get up." I don't eat meat, it's not that I can't eat meat, it's not that I don't want to eat meat. The 500,000-strong army marched north, and the sergeants traveled long distances, and the hardships were unusual. The sergeant can't eat meat, how can I eat it?! ”

"Please atone for your sins!" Gong Bu Shijie sweated on his head.

"Since you've cooked it, serve it and we'll taste it together!"

Gong Bu Shijie hurriedly got up and respectfully served the mutton.

"It smells good." Cheng Zu took a piece and bit it into his mouth, "It's so fragrant!" It smells so good! ”

It turned out that Cheng Zuyi hadn't eaten meat for a long time, and secondly, the mutton offered by Gong Bu Shijie was really delicious, so he felt very refreshing.

"Delicious! Delicious! Your lamb is really delicious. The best lamb I've ever tasted. Where did you come from, this sheep? ”

"Your Majesty, we brought it from home."

"Tell me why your mutton is so delicious?"

Gong Bu Shijie hurriedly stepped forward to introduce, "Your Majesty doesn't know, there is a place called Seven Mountains with a deep mountain ravine between Zhuanglang River and Xidatong River in my hometown. The sheep raised here only drink natural spring water, eat alkali wood, shallots, and some wild Chinese herbs, so its meat is extremely delicate, delicious and nourishing. ”

"Good, good! Since it's a scarce delicacy, let's try it. "Cheng Zu ordered people to invite all the generals stationed nearby to come and taste it. Gongka Shijie hurriedly asked someone to bring all the boiled mutton. There are more people and less meat, although everyone only tasted a piece, but they were full of praise.

"Then I will reward you with the Seven Mountains, and you will order your subordinates to raise some fine sheep and pay tribute every year." Cheng Zu said to Gongka Shijie with a smile.

"Yes!" Gongka Shijie stood up to take the order.

In May, the Ming army entered the Yuqu River. The forward sentry horse went to the Yellow Gorge to reconnoitre, and captured several enemies, one arrow, and four horses. Cheng Zu estimated that he was not far from the enemy, so he ordered to cross the river and advance. Seeing the Ming army coming mightily, Ben Ya did not dare to engage in the battle, and fled north to the Nan River, that is, the Zhaoxing land of Yuan Taizu. Chengzu encouraged the whole army to chase after him, to the bank of the Troubled River, to catch up with Benjamin, to cover up the past in one go, and defeat the enemy. Benjamin had no choice but to abandon his heavy cattle and flee with seven horsemen. Before this, Benjamin heard the explanation of Chengzu's personal expedition, and was shocked, and wanted to lead the crowd to flee west with Arutai, but Arutai did not obey, so the monarch and ministers separated, Benjamin fled westward, and Arutai ran eastward.

Chengzu saw that Benya was far away, and no longer pursued him, so he immediately ordered to move east to Arutai. At this time, it was the height of summer, and the soldiers marched through the desert, sweating like rain, and it was inconvenient to trek during the day, so they had to travel east by night. After the investigation learned of Arutai's residence, Chengzu sent an envoy to surrender. Arutai pretended to surrender as ordered, sent several horsemen to follow the envoy to restore his life, and secretly led the elite to follow behind. Cheng Zu received a report from the envoy and didn't believe it. He immediately led his people to climb the heights and look eastward, and saw that a few miles away, the dust was flying, and there were almost thousands of troops and horses, rushing forward, and he couldn't help but be shocked: "Since Arutai said that he would come to surrender, why did he bring this heavy army?" Didn't you come to attack me? "Immediately order the generals to prepare and be ready for battle. Arutai arrived in front of the battle, thinking that the Ming army was not prepared, so he waved the banner, attacked in columns, and Chengzu ordered a counterattack, so the cannons, guns, and arrows of the Shenji battalion fired in unison, hitting the head of the horse ridden by Arutai, Arutai fell off the horse, the enemy was in chaos, and the cronies helped Arutai up, changed the horse and turned the horse's head to flee, and the Ming army chased and killed the past, like the wind sweeping the leaves, and it was all over in an instant.

Cheng Zu took the weather too hot, collected the army and returned to the camp, recuperated for a day, and was ordered to be a teacher. Arutaiwen retreated, and sent the remnants of the cavalry to the tail, Chengzu was guarding against his attack, and ordered Gongbu Shijie to wait in Haraha. Arutai really sent troops to attack. Seeing the enemy's fierce attack, Gong Bu Shijie was not afraid and shot more than ten people bravely. The enemy did not dare to step forward, surrounded by groups, arrows rained down, Gong Bu Shijie died in battle, and was divided by the enemy.

Cheng Zu heard that Gong Bu Shijie was killed in battle, and was extremely shocked by the chaotic division of the corpse by Alutai's subordinates, and ordered the Ming army to besiege on all sides, leaving the enemy soldiers and soldiers behind, and wiped them out.

At the end of the battle, Ming Chengzu ordered people to look for Gong Bu Shijie's bones. The battle was extremely tragic, and there were soldiers killed everywhere, the flesh and blood were blurred, either missing arms and legs, or cutting off heads and hurting chests, which was unbearable. Everyone searched for several days, but they couldn't find Gong Bu Shijie's body. Ming Chengzu was furious: "I have such a beloved general who fought bravely to kill the enemy, and died on the battlefield, but I couldn't find his bones, where is our conscience!" Look for! Even if you dig three feet into the ground and search for ten miles, you must also find the bones of General Gong Bu Shijie! Then he ordered Gong Bu Shijie's subordinates to spread around and look for Gong Bu Shijie.

Half a month passed, and his subordinates found Bu Shijie's helmet on the battlefield. It turned out that Gong Bu Shijie drove out on the expedition, fought bloodily for more than a month, never removed his armor, and his armor and helmet had rusty spots, and when he found it, there were already seedlings in it. The subordinates found his right arm again, and when Ming Chengzu learned about it, he sighed greatly, and ordered someone to prepare a good coffin, and put Gong Bu Shijie's armor, arm and relics, and sent someone to escort him back to Zhuang Lang. Chengzu learned that Gong Bu Shijie's eldest son, Lost Jia, had great ambitions, wisdom and bravery, and now he had grown up, so he could inherit the position of a hundred households.

When the news of Gong Bu Shijie's death reached Liancheng, the family was shocked and grief-stricken.

"Grandma-" Mrs. Li stumbled into Mrs. Ma's arms, screaming heartbreakingly and fainting.

Mrs. Ma was very calm, and after arranging for someone to take care of her daughter-in-law, she immediately gathered her family together and said: "Shijie accompanied the northern expedition, repeatedly made military exploits, and won the emperor's attention. He will be loyal to his soul and his heroic spirit will live on! Why should we be sorrowful! Everyone prepares to welcome Shijie home with the most solemn etiquette. ”

"Grandma, I'm going to pick up Abba home!" With fire in his eyes, he vows to avenge his father1

"Okay, let's go, on behalf of our family, take your Abba home with a beautiful scenery."

He put on white clothes and white armor, tied a white cloth strip to the horse's tail and mane, and spread a white mat on the saddle, and led the subordinates who rushed to No. 100 to meet Gong Bu Shijie's coffin at the three-way intersection of the river bridge.

Seeing the procession escorting the coffin appear from afar, the group jumped off their horses and knelt down on the road.

"Abba! Grandma asked me to take you home! He knocked three times in a row, opened his arms, and shouted hoarsely, as if it were about to pierce time and space, causing the birds on the branches of the roadside to chirp in horror and fly off into the distance.

"Qianhu, we're taking you home!" The others shouted in unison.

The two teams of people and horses gathered together, everyone's eyes were red, they all puffed up their chests, shook their spirits, and took firm steps, guarding the coffin, and walking towards Liancheng.

When Shijia led everyone to escort Gong Bu Shijie's body to Liancheng, passing through the streets, the people knelt down to greet each other, burned incense and paper, and wept silently.

When she arrived at the house, the women of the family were crying, and Mrs. Ma's hands were shaking and stroking her son's armor, her eyes were misty with tears, but she knew that she could not fall, she could not lose her opinion, and she still needed to think of many things.

Gong Bu Shijie's remains were placed in the lobby, and Mrs. Ma asked Lanzhou celebrities to paint Gong Bu Shijie and put it in the ancestral hall. Gongbu Shijie's funeral was very grand, and the lamas, yin and yang, and monks from the nearby big temples were invited to do the "Dragon and Tiger Dojo". After that, he was buried in Yongdeng Qingshi Mountain.

"Grandma, I want to become a monk and take refuge in Buddhism?" Thorn dry Luo Zhusi

"What? How did you come up with this idea?"

"Grandma, let me tell you the truth, I have long had the heart to take refuge in Buddhism." You know, I have been associated with the Buddha since I was a child, and I like to be pure, and I like to chant sutras. I've been afraid to tell you. After Abba's death, this desire was even stronger in my heart. I just want to take refuge in my Buddha, pray for the peace of the country and the people, pray for us to have good weather in the city, and pray that my Buddha will bless my family members with no disasters and no difficulties, good health, peace and auspiciousness! ”

Mrs. Ma tearfully nodded in agreement and let him practice in the Buddhist hall to the west of the office.