1

And when they had been walking for several days, they came to a hill, where they were hungry and thirsty, and were looking for food and water, and they looked around on the barren hills, and there was not a single house, and they had no choice but to walk with hunger. After walking again, I only heard Shi'an shouting: "Big brother, there seems to be a rebel army in the woods ahead, I went over to ask for something to eat." ”

When everyone looked at it, in the woods in the distance, they could faintly see the crowds of people, the flags fluttering, and there seemed to be a black word 'righteousness' on the flag. Tang Hai said secretly: "Now that Hebei and Henan are all under the world of Dashun, the rebels should all be stationed in the city or on the outskirts of the city, what are they doing hiding in this wilderness?" Then he said, "Brother, you wait here, I'll go and see." ”

Tang Hai took Huang Yi, Wang Hua, and Wu Fei into the woods, and walked half a mile, only to see a group of ragged men holding knives, sticks, bows and arrows to block the way, about 100 of them, Tang Hai looked at the righteous flag behind them, and asked, "Are you the righteous army?" ”

An old man replied, "Yes, who are you?" ”

Tang Hai said with a smile: "I am the general Tang Hai, whose subordinates are you, which battalion, and why are you stationed in this mountain forest?" ”

Several people on the other side were shocked, and the old man said: "You are Tang Hai, the prison army under Li Zicheng?" ”

These people called Li Zicheng by his name, it should not be the army of the Dashun Dynasty, but in Hebei and Henan, there are no other armies except for the Dashun army. Could it be that they are hidden remnants of the Ming Army? Thinking of this, Tang Hai broke out in a cold sweat.

Tang Hai's face changed, and he said sharply: "I am a general under the command of King Dashun, who are you who dare to pretend to be a rebel?" ”

The old man sneered: "We are the rebels of the anti-righteous army. ”

Before they finished speaking, the gang had already surrounded Tang Hai and the four of them.

Tang Hai was shocked: "Uncle, what is the righteous army of the anti-righteous army?" ”

The old man said: "When the army of Dashun Kingdom is in the future, it is rumored everywhere that King Chuang is coming and does not pay food, but now that King Chuang is coming, not only let us pay food as usual, but also kill innocents indiscriminately. ”

Tang Hai was shocked, he couldn't imagine that the officials at all levels set up here in the Dashun Dynasty were so rotten, Tang Hai was trying to appease everyone with a few words, but the old man waved his hand, and everyone waved their swords and swords and rushed towards Tang Hai and the four of them, Tang Hai thought that it was important to get out, and ordered: "Run." ”

Tang Hai, Huang Yi, Wang Hua, and Wu Fei were unarmed, and they turned around and fought with a few people behind them with their bare hands, while the old man and dozens of other people covered up from behind. The old man saw that the four of them had escaped, and he was busy ordering archery, Tang Hai ran for a ride, and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back shoulder, and when he looked back, he had received an arrow on his left shoulder, Tang Hai was shocked, and one of them fell down. Huang Yi saw it and shouted: "General Hong, help!" ”

Shi'an listened to the call for help and flew into the forest, followed by Zhan Ping, Xue Tao, and Li Jie with all the guards.

Shi'an overturned more than a dozen people and restrained the opponent's offensive. The old man saw that Shi'an was brave, and ordered to shoot arrows to kill, and the guards were bare-handed, although they could pick up some branches and stones everywhere as weapons, but after all, they could not resist the sharp arrows of swords, guns, and arrows, and a burst of arrows came, and several guards fell immediately.

Fortunately, there are many trees in the forest, so everyone can take refuge with the dense forest.

Shi'an helped Tang Hai up, saw that he was hit by an arrow in the back shoulder, and hurriedly ordered Huang Yi to retreat first with Tang Hai on his back, and broke a branch and stood in front of him to block the arrow rain.

The old man saw that Shi'an and the others had no weapons, and there were only more than sixty of them, so he was not afraid, and ordered more than 100 people to rush over.

Shi'an led the guards to meet him, and the two sides fought fiercely in the woods. Although Shi'an and the others are bare-handed, they have been on the battlefield for a long time, even if the other party has swords, after all, they are all farmers who have just rebelled, and when the battle is not long, Shi'an and others have won many swords, and they have killed the other party in all directions.

Seeing that the victory was decided, Shi'an ordered Xue Tao, Zhan Ping, Wang Hua, Li Jie, and Wu Fei to say: "You will pursue the past, and you will definitely seize more of their weapons." ”

After the confession, Shi'an withdrew from the battlefield and went to find Tang Hai. After looking for a long time, I saw Huang Yi carrying Tang Hai on his back and the other four guards walking the ridge at the foot of the mountain in front of him.

Huang Yi really couldn't carry his back, he was so tired that he kicked hard, so he had to put Tang Hai down and let him lie on his side on the ground.

Shi'an hurriedly rushed over and helped Tang Hai up, only to see that his face was blue and the corners of his mouth were black, and he hurriedly shouted: "Big brother must hold on, I will carry you to the doctor." ”

Huang Yidao: "There are barren mountains and mountains here, how can there be a doctor." ”

One of the guards said, "Look, there's a family there, let's go and see if there's any medicine for the wounds." ”

The three guards ran over.

Tang Haiqiang struggled and said: "Hurry, go quickly, tell them not to disturb the people, if people want to save them, they will save them, and if they don't want to save them, don't force them." ”

When Shi'an heard this, he ordered another guard: "You chase after you and tell the two of them not to be reckless." The guard arched his hand and said, "Yes." He immediately chased after him.

"This arrow is poisonous, according to this poison, it is snake venom, it seems that the arrow has been soaked in snake venom," I don't know when, a white-haired old man stood behind Tang Hai.

Tang Hai, Shi'an, and Huang Yi were taken aback, when did this old man come, why didn't he make any noise at all?

"Uncle, can this poison be cured?" Shi'an asked anxiously.

The old man smiled and said: "It can be solved, it can be solved, there are thirteen kinds of medicine in these five finger mountains: gong grass, star anise, evergreen, three-pronged gold, three-step jump, earth and wood incense, lobelia, hairy winter melon, open sword, four-leaf pair, golden key, green wood incense, plus fresh seven-leaf flowers, if these thirteen kinds of medicine are collected, boiled into soup and drunk, and the medicine residue is applied to the wound, it can be solved." ”

Shi'an was shocked: "Huh? With so many medicines and such a big mountain, where do we go to find these thirteen medicines? Even if you pick all the pots and fires, how to boil the medicine? ”

The old man smiled and said: "Coincidentally, I just came up from the mountain, and there are two boys selling this medicine in the middle of the mountainside, they are all boiled, and they are hot, you go quickly, maybe you can ask them for a little, it's too late, your general's life is not guaranteed." ”

Shi'an Daxi: "Thank you for your advice, dare to ask how far is the halfway up the mountain?" ”

The old man said: "Thirty miles away, your general is seriously ill, you must rush there within half an hour, otherwise you will ......" After the old man finished speaking, he shook his head gently.

Shi'an gritted his teeth and said fiercely: "It's okay, don't say thirty miles, even three hundred miles, I have to carry it on my back." ”

The four guards ran back, shook their heads in disappointment, and said, "It's an empty house, and it's uninhabited. ”

Shi'an said: "It's okay, this old man said that there is medicine on the mountain, I will go now, come, you will help the general to my shoulder." ”

The old man bowed his head in approval, laughed heavily, and went into the woods, and sang again:

Hurry and hurry to pursue, cold and warm spring and autumn.

The family plan of the twilight camp in the morning and evening was dim and dim.

What time is it right and wrong, and when will the troubles and troubles stop?

Knowing a clear road, thousands of people refuse to stop.

Shi'an carried Tang Hai on his back, looked up at the towering Wuzhi Mountain, knew that time was running out, gritted his teeth, used all his strength, pulled his legs and ran, Huang Yi and the other five followed.

The mountain road was rugged and steep, and Shi'an ran for a while, leaving Huang Yi and the other five far behind. The sun was blazing, and Shi'an was sweating all over, but he didn't dare to pause for a moment.

"Good brother, let me down and rest for a while, the life and death of a person is left to fate, how can you force it," although Tang Hai was groggy, he could sense that Shi'an was too tired to do it.

Shi'an knew that he had to walk the twenty-mile uphill mountain road for half an hour, so he didn't allow himself to stop for a moment, so he said: "Big brother rest assured, even if Shi'an runs and dies in this five-finger mountain, he must cure his eldest brother's arrow wound." ”

"Brother, the eldest brother took you out of Beijing, the wealth at your fingertips is gone, and the fame that can be picked up is gone, you don't hold a grudge against the eldest brother, right?"

"Where does the eldest brother say, how can Shi'an be a person who is greedy for fame and profit!"

"That's good......" Tang Hai burst into tears, there are good brothers like this, even if they die in this Five Finger Mountain, it is worth it.

Shi'an ran wildly, and when he was almost halfway up the mountain, he suddenly saw a boy and a woman walking down the mountain with a bamboo basket, and the boy stopped and asked, "Are you two generals who have been hit by arrows?" ”

Shi'an stopped, breathless, and replied: "Yes, my general was wounded by an arrow, and you two are boys selling medicine halfway up the mountain?" ”

The boy said, "Exactly, you put the patient down." ”

Shi'an put down Tang Hai and let him sit on the shady stone slab.

I saw that the man and woman and the two children checked the injuries, applied medicine, first broke the shaft of the arrow with a knife, then dug out the arrows, squeezed out the venom, reapplied the medicine, bandaged them with cloth, and asked Tang Hai to drink a bowl of soup, and said: "The general will go back and recuperate for a few days, and the arrow wound will be healed." ”

Tang Hai has always felt numbness in his shoulders, weakness in his hands and feet, dizziness and vomiting, after the treatment of the male and female two children, he suddenly felt a lot more comfortable, and said: "Thank you two for saving your life." ”

The girl blamed Shi'an and said: "Your general is obviously sick and seeking medical treatment, but he doesn't know how to go up the mountain quickly, and he grinds and grinds along the way, so he doesn't know that he will die after a long delay?" ”

Tang Hai said apologetically: "The mountain is high and the road is steep, so it is slow, fortunately, my brother has a peerless martial arts, otherwise, with my body weighing more than 100 catties, how can I walk so fast." ”

The girl giggled at the boy: "It's funny, he walks like an ant, he climbs this little mountain road and kicks the ground, and he boasts of a peerless martial arts, and he doesn't know how to be shy." ”

Tang Hai and Shi'an laughed when they heard it, and their childlike words were unscrupulous and cute.

"What are your names, two little boys," Tang Hai asked with a smile.

The boy said: "My name is Wang Yao, and this is my sister Wang Luomiao." ”

"Okay, I remember, where do you live, Tang Hai will thank you another day."

The girl hurriedly said, "Master said, you can't be thanked for curing the sick and saving people." ”

Tang Hai was surprised: "Master? What's Master's name? ”

The boy said, "The general forgives us, and the master never allows us to say his name." ”

Tang Hai and Shi'an looked at each other, and Tang Hai smiled: "Tang Hai is not a wicked person, why not tell me?" ”

The boy shook his head, insisting on refusing to reveal the name of the teacher, but said, "Please forgive the general." After saying that, he packed up the bamboo basket and was about to leave with his sister.

Shi'an stopped and said, "Hehe, the little guy still listens to the master's words very much, you tell me what the master's name is, I will visit you tomorrow and bring you candy from the city to eat." ”

The girl got angry and said, "You are so strange, you have to ask, why do you not ask when you see my master, but you want to embarrass my brother here?" ”

"How have we ever seen your master?" Shi'an is confused. Tang Hai also said: "We met in Pingshui and lived with your master!" ”

"Strange, haven't you seen my master?" The boy asked.

"Brother Wang Yao, don't believe them, they lied to us!" The girl said.

Tang Haidao: "We are from Beijing, and we have not seen your master when we came here today. ”

The boy said strangely: "My master went down the mountain today, but in less than an hour, his old man came back again, and brought thirteen flavors of medicine, Master said: 'I saw a general at the bottom of the mountain who was poisoned by arrows, I didn't want to care about him, just because he would rather die than disturb the people, knowing his benevolence and righteousness, and couldn't bear to sit idly by, so I asked him to go up the mountain to cure, and after they went first, I went to the pine forest at the foot of the mountain, and collected these medicines from the cliffs and bushes on the top of the mountain. After the master finished speaking, he began to boil the medicine, and after boiling the medicine, his old man traveled again, and my sister and I came to the halfway up the mountain with the medicine, and we didn't see you come up for a long time, so we went down the mountain to meet each other, and walked three or four miles before we met you two. Why, you really haven't seen my master? ”

"Huh?" Tang Hai and Shi'an were shocked.

"Is your master seventy or eighty years old, with gray hair?" Tang Hai asked in surprise.

The boy said, "Exactly." ”

Shi'an shook his head and said: "Impossible, I walked from the foot of the mountain at the same time as your master, I have never made detours along the way, in such a short period of time, how could he, an old man, go to several places one after another, and boil the medicine well?" ”

Seeing that the two did not believe it, the boy and the boy snorted contemptuously, lifted the bamboo basket, and jumped away hand in hand.

Tang Hai and Shi'an were stunned.

2

Back at the foot of the mountain, everyone gathered, and roughly counted, this battle won 60 swords, more than 30 bows, 5 or 600 arrows, a horse, killed more than 40 opponents, and killed 8 people.

Tang Hai was seriously injured and couldn't travel far, Shi'an thought about it for a while, so he had to settle Tang Hai down in the Shili Pavilion at the foot of the mountain first, and ordered Xue Tao and Zhan Ping to take ten guards to find food. After dark, Xue Tao and Zhan Ping came back, bringing a lot of dry food, and everyone ate it and rested in peace.

Tang Hai lay on the simple bed that Shi'an lay on the ground and fell asleep, Shi'an stayed by the side and closed his eyes to recuperate, Xue Tao gently pushed the door in and said, "General Hong, I made a simple stretcher with Wang Hua, can you see if it's okay?" ”

Shi'an got up and went to the outside of the pavilion, and saw that although the stretcher made by the two of them was simple, it was also firm, and praised: "Yes, thank you for your hard work, with this stretcher, you can carry the general back to Daba Mountain tomorrow." ”

Xue Tao said: "The general said that the war has subsided, and sent us home to enjoy the blessings, but when we went to look for food today, we heard from the people that Wu Sangui had come back and rebelled, and he still wanted to avenge the demon Chongzhen. ”

Shi'an said: "Of course I have to go back, the Dashun Dynasty already has a million troops, what kind of storm can Wu Sangui's tens of thousands of horses set off?" ”

While the two were talking, Tang Hai came behind him at some point and asked, "Xue Tao, where did you get this news?" ”

Xue Tao bowed and said: "General, the people all said so, and the righteous army also increased the punishment of the local Ming court officials, saying that they were the same as Wu Sangui, and they were not sincerely obedient." ”

Tang Hai thought for a moment and said, "I'm tired of the day, go to bed early." ”

After Xue Tao left, Shi'an helped Tang Hai sit down, and Tang Hai said to himself: "If this is the case, I must return to Beijing as soon as possible." ”

"Why? What if Wu Sangui is reversed, can his tens of thousands of people still turn the sky? Shi'an was puzzled.

Tang Haidao: "Brother I don't know, that Wu Sangui Wuju was born, after a long period of war, the soldiers under his command are the elite of the Ming Dynasty, and more importantly, he occupies the border pass and dangerous places, if he does not surrender, I Dashun will always have worries, Jiangnan Remnant Ming will also firmly confront Dashun, my Dashun will be attacked in the north and south, and the great cause of unifying the world does not know how many years to delay." ”

Shi'an said: "If he doesn't surrender, the king will definitely lead the army to destroy him, what's the trouble?" ”

Tang Hai sighed and said: "If Wu Sangui leads the army to attack, it will be easy to do, I believe that with the power of the righteous army, it will be easy to annihilate him, I am afraid that the king will lead the army to attack him!" ”

"How?"

"He has come to me, and I am in the city, and he is outside the city, and the place is mine. I went against him, and he was in the city, and I was outside the city, and the place was in his place. Shanhaiguan defended Dongyu for decades, Nurhachi, Huang Taiji, and Dolgon have never broken through, which shows how strong this pass is, if the king goes to attack, even if he can break through, he will lose his troops and lose heavy casualties. And ......"

Tang Hai seemed to be extremely anxious, and Shi'an hurriedly asked, "And what?" ”

"Moreover, outside the Shanhai Pass is the Eastern Manchu Qing Dynasty, the dog is still in a hurry and jumps over the wall, if he abandons the city and goes to a foreign country, how can I have a peaceful day?"

"Wu Sangui's family is all in Beijing, he went to seek refuge in the enemy country, didn't he care about the lives of his family members, and was he not afraid of leaving a reputation for eternity?"

Tang Hai smiled bitterly: "The righteous army does not distinguish between good and bad, and kills innocents indiscriminately, and Wu Sangui's family will be difficult to protect sooner or later." As for infamy, there must be one, but thousands of years later, there will be enlightened people who will recognize his hardships and avenge him. ”

"He took refuge in the enemy country, and future generations will still avenge him?"

"Everyone is happy to live and die, a person is not at fault, but he can't live in his own country, and he is forced to take refuge in the enemy country, how can future generations blame him?"

Shi An was silent, and Tang Hai added: "Of course, he not only defected to the enemy country, but also slaughtered his own compatriots for personal gain, that is another matter. At that time, the king of Zhou had no way, and he led foreign invasions under the desperate situation, who scolded him for betraying the country today? Li Guangli was exterminated by the three tribes, and he had no choice but to surrender to the Huns, but he didn't worry about killing a Han people. ”

Shi An said: "What you are talking about, big brother, how do you think the king will deal with this matter?" ”

"The generals are brave and strong, and they will definitely instigate the king to send troops to Shanhaiguan, the king is brave, and if you want to conquer the remnants of the people and Zhang Xianzhong in the south, you must also get rid of Wu Sangui, the sword hanging in the backyard, I guess, the king will definitely wave his army to fight."

"What then?"

"I hate that I was wounded by an arrow and can't go to Beijing in person, good brother, I want to write a letter to persuade the king, and I urge you to ride a horse back day and night, and personally hand over the letter to the king, how about it?"

Shi'an said: "I'm gone, who will protect the eldest brother?" ”

"It's okay, Huang Yi can protect me, you go, if you can't see the king, you can hand over the letter to General Li Yan and ask him to forward it to the king." In addition, the appearance of the rebel army in the Central Plains is a strange thing, you should inform General Li Yan of this matter, and let him advise him with his heart, and he must not let the Great Shun Kingdom lose its trust in the people. ”

Shi'an said: "Okay, big brother will write it tonight, and I will leave early tomorrow morning." ”

Tang Hai held the pen in his hand, thought about it repeatedly, and after some careful consideration, he waved a letter of sincere advice under the dim light:

I was shocked to hear that Wu Sangui descended and rebelled, vainly trying to establish a new monarch and save the remnants, but it was really a grasshopper shaking the tree, and he couldn't measure his strength, and this thief was looking for a desperate way out, and he lacked mercy. With the power of the king and the courage of the generals, the ministers are rebellious and begging Wu Kou, which is to catch turtles in the urn, which is as easy as picking up mustard.

Ranchen thought that it was not the best policy to rejuvenate the teacher. The ministers heard that the king of Zhou You, Shen Hou led Kou in, the anti-guest was the main, the king of Qin Hui went east, the six countries became a combination, and it was difficult to get out of the letter valley. I also heard that Cao Cao chased the second Yuan in Liaoxi, withdrew the troops and retreated, and the second Yuan head came to the end, and captured Liu Bei in Jingxiang, looking at Jiangdong, attracting fire to Chibi. Far away, recent examples can be learned, the late Tang Dynasty Emperor was very anxious, Shi Jingjiao was willing to be the emperor, dedicated Yanyun to the sixteen states to surrender to the enemy, attracting the Khitan into the Kou. From this, it can be seen that suppression and appeasement, advance and retreat, movement and stillness, are related to life and death, and they must be observed.

The minister expected that Wu Sangui, as a Han Chinese, would not abandon his ancestors and leave his reputation for eternity as a last resort. Today's reversal is nothing more than worrying about the sheep falling into the tiger's mouth, falling into the trap, having to rebel halfway, and fighting to the death.

The minister has two plans: one is yang, and the other is yin. The scheming person gave preferential treatment to the old and young of the Wu family, went to his worries, treated the ministers of the Ming court well, and solved his life and death troubles. Repatriate a man who can speak well and surrender with a lot of money, talk about the past and the present to know the righteousness, add officials and knights to lure them to benefit, show the power of the hero, do not worry about Wu Sangui's humble words, and surrender with courtesy. The plotter, quickly ascend to the great treasure, sacrifice the world in the suburbs, swear to the south, leave a Ming Dynasty to guard the Beijing division, so, then the Wu thief slack, he will reject the Manchu Qing Dynasty, look inside the Dashun, the king of the division out of the south gate, feint to the south of the Yangtze River, lure him to the west, surround and rape him.

Yin and Yang are the two plans, not in the east. Why? Wu thieves stand at the entrance of the cave like rats, dogs squat on the wall, the army presses the realm, and the rats hide in deep holes; Tianwei went east, and the dog jumped off the wall in a hurry. Wu Sangui rushed to the east, then I Dashun has a remnant Ming in the south, a Jin chief in the north, and Zhang Xianzhong in the west, which is bound to be difficult to gain a foothold in the Central Plains, and the general trend of the world will return to fire and water, and the people of Li will fall into the quagmire again, which is a disaster for all people, and the benevolent cannot bear to gamble.

Therefore, the change of Wu Sangui, I must not be careless, and I hope that the king will think about it.