Chapter Twenty-Five: The Caravan Arrives at Yanqi

Ningde devoted all his energy to the construction of the northwest, in fact, militarily, there was no great threat over there for a long time. Ningde's focus is very right, the railway is opened, and the entire Hexi region is closely linked with the rear. The opening of the railway, both militarily and economically, has a very significant impact on the Hexi region.

Now the power issue mentioned by Ningde is also the focus, and Zhang Zhimu will of course support them. In particular, after several years of development, the production capacity of boiler factories, motor factories, and steam turbine factories has been greatly improved, and the power construction team has also been greatly tempered and improved, and there are also conditions to provide more support to the Hexi region.

However, Chen Yufeng was concerned about the situation over there, "The Heavenly Sect disciples over there didn't make any more trouble?" ”

"It's pretty stable now," Ning De said, "but don't be careless, I'm going to talk about it when I come back this time." On the way, Li Kui and I also studied this matter, and we all had a feeling that some people in those Heavenly Fang Sects were very mysterious, and their outward expansion of influence was planned and arranged. Definitely constantly expanding the reach of what they teach. Their secret organization is so tightly organized that no outsiders can see it. But expanding outward is very hard. Many of the original believers in Buddhism in the Western Regions were killed and driven away by them, and almost all of them were cut off, and now they all believe in their Heavenly Sect. These people are very keen on politics, and they are politically and clerically indistinguishable. ”

"Hmmm! We should pay attention to what General Ningde said, because we Buddhists are not as tightly organized as them, and our teachings are not the same as theirs, let alone exclusive, so it is difficult to confront them. In fact, trust and teaching us don't want to care, and we can't manage it. But for those who don't believe in their religion and think that all heretics are going to be killed, I think we still have to take some measures. Otherwise, it will be very troublesome to let them run rampant. Zhang Zhimu understands that if this problem is not solved, there will be endless troubles.

Chen Yufeng disagreed, "Since they can destroy the Buddha, we can also destroy them." Zhimu, as long as you don't be soft, there's nothing difficult about this! ”

Ouyang He said: "Now that the Mongolian Great Living Buddha is in Yaogang, we can support them to preach in the Western Regions, and we can support the monks on Wutai Mountain to preach the Dharma in the West." With our support, we will show no mercy to anyone who uses force to confront again. ”

"It's a good idea," Mr. Ningde said, "and we'd rather spend some money and build a few more temples so that Buddhism can take root again there." ”

"We are developing outwardly, first of all, militarily, and at the same time economically, politically and culturally. These are our strengths. We should be tough when we should be tough, and soft when we should be soft. Zhang Zhimu knows very well that only by giving full play to the comprehensive strength of the kiln gang can the occupied area be stabilized as soon as possible.

"In fact, ordinary people don't know what religion is right or good! It's all about what the people say. Chen Yufeng said, "We should adopt coercive measures to limit the spread of some religions." Especially those that make people evil. ”

Li Kui and the others came to the restaurant after washing upstairs and regained their spirits one by one. As soon as he sat down, Li Kui said excitedly: "Hehe! The merchants from the Western Regions who came with us were stunned as soon as they entered the hotel room! They've never seen a room like this! Ha ha! ”

Yan Xing asked, "I said, when you go to the Western Regions, you will also encounter things that you don't understand, right?" Isn't it the same as them? ”

"Huh! There are so many new things to encounter, but when the locals heard that we were from Dongtu, they couldn't laugh at us, and they were so respectful to me! Li Kui said proudly.

"I see us chatting while drinking!" Zhang Zhimu said, "However, Uncle Kui is going to spend a few days and tell us what you have seen and heard in the Western Regions." ”

"Of course, but we can't finish talking about it for a few days." Li Kui said, "Fortunately, we brought two cameras this time, and they made a lot of movies. Take a photo and that's even more. What a pity! We brought so little film with us that we were reluctant to shoot in many places. ”

"This time we can make a documentary film about the Silk Road." Zhang Zhimu said, "Come, let's have a drink first to celebrate Uncle Kui's triumphant return!" ”

"Drink!"

"Drink!"

Li Kui was very interested, picked up the wine glass and drank it all. After a few glasses of wine, Li Kui's words couldn't be stopped.

After Li Kui toasted again, he wiped his mouth and said, "Mr. Zhang, do you know how many camels we can have when we leave Jiayuguan?" ”

"I've heard there can be more than a thousand! There's no end in sight! I also heard that you took a cavalry battalion, and the cavalry all exchanged their horses for camels. ”

"Less!" Li Kuibi gestured three fingers and said, "In the end, there are nearly 3,000 camels!" We have more than 1,500 of our own. There were also merchants from Xi'an, Lanzhou, Quanzhou, Shanxi, and the Western Regions from Mongolia. In the end, they all rushed to Jiayuguan to walk with us. Many of them only followed us when they set off. ”

"Hey! Did there be a war on the road? "Yan Boju is more concerned about the excitement.

"Hit, big and small, have fought a lot!" Li Kui took a sip of wine and said, "However, I don't think there will be any opponents for us in the world." The Mongols are like the Dots, but they are no match for us. ”

"Where did you fight with the Mongols? Why didn't you notify home with a telegram? Chen Yufeng asked.

"Huh! What's the use of informing your family, it's not for you to worry. Li Kui said, "We walked for more than a day after Loulan (Lop Nur), and a team of Mongolians caught up with us. There were 2,000 people, presumably because Lop Nur had their spies, and there happened to be some Mongols who came to check on us, just so that they found out that our caravan had just passed, and they thought they could pick up a bargain! ”

Ningde interjected: "We have not found a large number of Mongols, which means that they are very secretive and will not easily expose their targets." It's all a light walk! It turned out to be just in time for them to catch up! ”

"Yes! At that time, we were also careless, we didn't expect them to follow from behind, we just sent a team of cavalry in front to open the way! Li Kui said, "The camels in our kiln gang are all in front, and the camels in the back are all camels from various businesses. The Mongols came from behind, and they cut down many camelmen. Fortunately, the camel drivers are very clever when they travel from south to north, and they hide under the belly of the camel when they find that the situation is not good. It was also inconvenient for the Mongols to cut them on their horses, and they all had blades in their hands. So five died, and a dozen wounded. Fortunately, we have doctors and good medicines, and the treatment is timely, otherwise it would have been miserable. ”

"Tell me how you dealt with the Mongols?" Yan Boju was very interested in the matter of war.

"What do you say, we have a cavalry battalion of more than 400 cavalry, and all the kiln men in our caravan who don't have automatic rifles also have pistols, and it's not easy to deal with that bit of cavalry. We rushed over a hundred cavalry on each side of the caravan, and before the automatic rifles in each of us burst out, the Mongols were thinking about how to rob things, where had they ever encountered such a thing. After killing a few hundred people, the Mongols stopped doing it, and soon they fled! It's a pity that our cavalry didn't have horses, otherwise Lao Tzu would have caught up with them and destroyed them all. ”

"Isn't there a horse this time?" Yan Boju was interested in horses, "Actually, you cavalrymen should bring horses!" ”

"If our caravan is going to cross the desert, bring horses and prepare water for them, it will not be as good as camels." Li Kui said, "However, these hundreds of horses have really solved a lot of problems!" We left Loulan (Lop Nur) along the Peacock River, but there was no shortage of water, and just as our caravan was about to reach Yanqi (Yanqi County), we were suddenly attacked by a group of men with turbans, who we couldn't tell at the time, but it was certainly not Mongolian. Their horses were exceptionally tall and all of them were holding crescent knives. In the beginning, there were not many of them, so they followed us not far and close, but later, more and more people came. Our cavalry all changed into horses, and I asked them to take out their machine guns as well. Later, when the fellows came, more than 1,000 of them, they thought that we were in their possession, and rushed from both sides of our caravan, and all our firepower opened fire together, killing more than 200 people, and these fellows immediately ran away, and could not compare with the fierceness of the Mongols. But these fellows were very difficult, and they came back after a short run, and followed us not far away. There is no way. As soon as I saw that this would not work, our caravan was too long for us to take care of any accident, so I ordered them to camp in a wooded area by the river. It was a good place, with water, and we had food that we could not die of hunger or thirst. I'll build a camp and not leave yet. ”

"Clever!" Chen Yufeng couldn't help but say.

"I'll just say, this guy is thick and fine!" Yan Xing also said appreciatively that he was sincerely happy for this brother.

"Wait until I've got the camp arranged! When I asked the businessmen who were familiar with the situation, they said that they were most likely Uyghurs. I also think I'm in a place where the Uyghurs are located. But why did they attack our caravan without asking why, isn't this the same as banditry? "What I'm worried about is that they are Uyghurs, and most of the road behind us is on their territory." We can fight back these people in front of us, but we can't fight all the way? ”

"If you don't win first, you won't be able to do anything!" Chen Yufeng said.

"yes!" Li Kui affirmed Chen Yufeng's words, and said, "After we stabilized, these guys outside were also ready, they wanted to rely on the speed of cavalry to attack our camp, but we were killed by our machine guns and rifles, and then retreated." They are not like the Mongols, who dare to rush forward no matter how many people die. They weren't, I could tell, they knew that although our caravan was large, there weren't many of them who could fight, and they were putting up barriers outside to besiege us. This is their territory, they have time to soak in us, but we can't afford it, we have to hurry. At this time, the Mongol horses we captured came into play. I organized more than 200 people, and at dawn, wrapped the horse's hooves in sheepskin, led the horse up the Peacock River, and encountered the Uyghur (Uyghur) sentry and rushed through the detour and ran back. The Uyghurs outside found that someone had run away, and when it was dark, they didn't know how many people there were, thinking they were going back to send a letter asking for help. They didn't take it seriously because it would take a long time to call for help. But instead of crying for help, our men came back in a circle, coming behind them. ”

"There are more than 400 people in total, and you don't know how many people you dare to attack them?" Yan Xing felt that Li Kui was a little careless.

"Hey! What are we holding in our hands, we are guarding the camp because our caravan of thousands of camels is holding us back, otherwise Lao Tzu would have fought with them a long time ago. Besides, I can see that they don't even have the combat power of the Mongols. Neither can he fight! ”

"Tell me what's going on!" Yan Boju urged Li Kui.

"When we waited for them to eat, we rushed into their camp at once, killing more than 1,000 people and capturing more than 800 horses. The rest fled, and we didn't chase them! When I arrived in Yanqi, I found out that it was the biggest bandit in the area, and they were burning and killing everywhere here, and the officials and soldiers of Yanqi couldn't beat them. When the king of Yanqi saw us coming, and heard that we had killed many of the bandits, he happily feasted us. Of course, we hid our firearms when we entered Yanqi. We don't want outsiders to know too much about us! ”

"This battle is too easy to fight, it's not interesting!" Yan Boju was disappointed.

"You old thing!" Chen Yufeng said, "They have automatic rifles in their hands, what can they do against those bandits with scimitars?" Don't interrupt, let Li Kui say! ”

"Hey! This Yanqi country is good! The whole country believes in Buddhism, and every family recites Buddhism. However, the king said that there were already people who secretly believed in the Heavenly Sect. Li Kui's words made Zhang Zhimu and the others stunned.

"It seems that the Heavenly Fang Sect is very powerful! Such a Buddha country can also be inserted! Ouyang He said.

"Tell me how the Yanqi Kingdom is doing to us, right?" Zhang Zhimu asked.

"They were very nice to us! There was a vassal country in the Han and Tang Dynasties, and when our side couldn't do it, there were constant wars on their side. They were also very concerned about our affairs, and we stayed in Yanqi for a few days, that is, every day to tell the king of Yanqi about our affairs. I promised them to bring back their messengers when we returned, but when we returned, we took the southern road and did not reach Yanqi. ”

Lu Chengxiang interjected and asked, "How is the trade there?" ”

After listening to Lu Chengxiang's question, Li Kui hadn't answered yet, and everyone was happy. Everyone knows that Lu Chengxiang really can't help it!

"Oops! King Yanqi is eager to leave everything we have. Later, I told him that our road had been built to the side of Loulan, that most of the Mongols had fled, and that most of the bandits had been killed, and that it was much cheaper for them to send people to the kiln to buy goods directly. I wonder why they didn't come? ”

"Yanqi is not far from our Jiayuguan, we should send a team of people there. Just have a team of cavalry to protect you! Ningde said.

Yan Boju still wanted to hear the excitement, "Hey! Drinking is drinking, don't delay talking about it! ”

"Oops! I can't finish talking about this journey tomorrow morning, so I'll talk about it slowly! After Li Kui finished speaking, he took another sip of wine.

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New progress in "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty": the Battle of Yashan, the defeat of the Yuan army, the counterattack of the Song army, and the landing in Fuzhou.