When Zhu Sanjia said this, the three of them had already arrived in a stone room. The stone chamber was roughly square, and when the three of them entered from one end, they found that there was a hole on the left and on the right. Directly opposite was a large hole, and under the light of the torches, I could only see that the stone wall of the cave was very neatly trimmed, but as for what was inside, I could not see it at all.

Zhu Sanjia looked at the entrance of the cave opposite, lowered his voice and said to Li Qiufeng and Murong Danyan: "The stone cave on the opposite side is the only passage to Jingxin Temple. ”

Li Qiufeng has always been interested in the Jingxin Temple that Zhu Sanjia said, and as soon as he heard him say it at this time, he looked towards the entrance of the cave. Zhu Sanjia said: "It's a pity that Li Gongzi has something important to do, otherwise my old Zhu will definitely take you to take a look." Although Li Gongzi has extraordinary knowledge, he is afraid that after seeing this meditation temple, he will also be surprised and sigh. ”

Li Qiufeng forcibly suppressed the curiosity in his heart, and said to Zhu Sanjia: "Brother Zhu is right, the current situation is critical, and we must first rescue the heroes of the rivers and lakes before talking about other things." ”

Zhu Sanjia led the way first and walked into the tunnel on the left. Once you enter the tunnel, the ground begins to stretch diagonally upwards again. Zhu Sanjia said as he walked: "After Yao Guangxiao finished speaking, the ancestor of the Sha family and the ancestor of my family glanced at each other, and they had already guessed the purpose of Yao Guangxiao looking for the two of them. Sure enough, Yao Guangxiao went on to say that there was a mountain fifty miles southeast of the capital, and the terrain was steep. One of the peaks is called Hutou Rock, and there is a huge cave in the belly of the mountain. After King Yan came to Beiping, he was secretly presided over by Yao Guangxiao, and stored grain, grass and ordnance in this cave. At that time, it was mainly to prevent the Tartar soldiers from besieging Beiping, and used Hutou Rock as a supply place for grain, grass and ordnance. After the battle of the fish, the remnants of the Tartar soldiers fled to the depths of the desert, not daring to invade south, and the king of Yan no longer cared about Hutou Rock. It's just that Yao Guangxiao always remembers this place, and sends his henchmen to replace the grain and grass hidden in the cave on time every year in case of emergency. In addition, a large number of ironware, firewood and other materials were piled up in the cave, which could be used to make ordnance and armor at any time.

Yao Guangxiao revealed this to the two of them, that is, he asked the ancestors of the Sha family to take people to Hutou Rock to build ordnance and armor in the cave in case of the needs of the Yan Palace. After hearing this, the two breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. Because since King Yan and Yao Guangxiao handed over such an important matter to the two of them, they naturally would not harm the lives of the two.

After the two received the order, they quietly rushed to Hutou Rock with more than 200 elite soldiers from Yanwangfu. At that time, Yao Guangxiao had spent a lot of money in the prefectures and counties around Beiping to invite more than 600 blacksmiths and carpenters to gather at the foot of Hutou Rock. After the ancestor of the Sha family arrived with people, he took more than 600 craftsmen into the cave according to the secret map given to him by Yao Guangxiao, built an oven, made bellows, and began to build blade equipment on the same day.

In order to hide people's eyes, the ancestors of the Sha family built a house on the top of Hutouyan Peak, and claimed to be the old house of the Sha family. There have always been tigers in Hutou Rock, and there are almost no people in a radius of 100 miles. Yao Guangxiao's choice of such a place to build blade armor equipment is indeed far-reaching and beyond the reach of ordinary people. As for the folklore, the cries of the geese cover up the blacksmith's forging sound when he builds the blade, it is just a rumor of wishful thinking on the part of the common people.

"The two ancestors led the guards to supervise the more than 600 craftsmen who worked day and night, and in less than a month's work, they built enough blades and armor to equip 10,000 troops, and also built ladders, siege engines and other equipment. Soon after, the Battle of Jingyan broke out, and King Yan raised troops in the name of 'Qingjun Side', and all the blades, armor and ordnance made by Hutouyan were transported to Beiping, giving King Yan great support. The reason why King Yan was able to repel the siege of the imperial army in the early stage of the Battle of Jingyan is that the ancestors of the Sha family can be said to have made great contributions......"

When Zhu Sanjia said this, Murong Danyan suddenly asked, "Where did the more than 600 craftsmen go in the end?"

As soon as she said this, Zhu Sanjia did not answer immediately. Murong Danyan snorted and said, "These more than six hundred lives, I'm afraid they will also be sent to the two ancestors of the Sha family and the Zhu family?"

Zhu Sanjia was silent, and after walking forward for more than ten steps, he said in a deep voice: "The plan is set by King Yan and Yao Guangxiao, and the ancestors of the Sha family and the Zhu family are just ordered to do things. At that time, the situation was critical, and if the matter leaked out, the imperial court would inevitably send heavy troops to encircle and suppress Hutouyan. At that time, the army of King Yan lost the supply of blades, ordnance, grain and grass, and had to be defeated. ”

Murong Danyan was about to say more, but he heard Li Qiufeng say: "Miss Murong, you are not in the military formation, you don't know the dangers of war, and you have always been unwilling. When the commander of the army leads the troops to the battle, if he hesitates for the slightest, he will incur a catastrophe of death and annihilation. Since ancient times, famous generals have loved soldiers and do not hesitate to fight, and when it comes to critical moments, they have to cut down the big knife in their hands in the face of their relatives and children......"

Before he finished speaking, Murong Danyan said, "Brother Li, if one day you think you have to kill me, will you also cut me with a knife?"

Li Qiufeng was stunned for a moment, thinking that these were two things that were completely unrelated, how could they be put together? He hesitated in his heart, and didn't know how to answer for a while. Murong Danyan asked again, and Li Qiufeng had to smile bitterly: "Murong girl, Li is not a general with troops, so naturally he will not be forced to slash at his comrades with a knife." As for fighting with Miss Murong, Li would never do such a thing!"

Murong Danyan heard him say categorically, his heart was sweet, and he said, "I knew you wouldn't kill me!"

Zhu Sanjia said with a smile: "This little brother is so strange, obviously he is good friends with Li Gongzi, why are you always worried that he will hurt you?"

Murong Danyan heard him call himself "little brother", and couldn't help laughing: "Brother Zhu, you know that I am a girl, why do you still call me 'little brother'?"

When Zhu Sanjia was in the cave, when he listened to Mrs. Sha's story, he heard that she was commensurate with Murong Danyan's sisters, and he already knew that Murong Danyan was his daughter. It's just that he is rough and informal. When he first saw Murong Danyan dressed as a man, he regarded her as a young man and called her "little brother". Later, although she already knew that she was a girl, she didn't bother to change her title. Hearing Murong Danyan say this, he smiled and said, "It's my old Zhu who was negligent, and the girl blames us for being rude." ”

The three of them groped their way forward in the cave, and during this time, they passed through three stone chambers set up by Zhu Sanjia's subordinates, and the wind in the stone cave became stronger and stronger, and they thought that they were not far from the top of the mountain. But I heard Zhu Sanjia say: "After King Yan raised his army, the two ancestors of the Sha family and the Zhu family returned to King Yan to protect the pro-army on errands, and fought more than ten battles with the army sent by Emperor Jianwen to encircle and suppress Beiping, and made a lot of contributions. Later, the Yan army went south and took Nanjing, and the two ancestors had been serving in front of the Yan king's saddle until they entered the city of Nanjing and seized the palace, and the two ancestors were charging ahead. When the overall situation has been decided, the ancestors of the Sha family were awarded thousands of households for military merits and awarded knighthoods. Although the ancestor of my Zhu family did not receive the title, he was also named a thousand households.

"King Yan won the throne, he is the second emperor of our Ming Dynasty, and the temple number is the ancestor. The ancestor of the Sha family changed from guarding thousands of households in the Yanwang Mansion to an officer of the Imperial Forest Army, leading soldiers and horses to defend the imperial city, while the ancestor of my Zhu family was an official in the Military Selection Division of the Ministry of War. The two have not seen each other since. It wasn't until Emperor Chengzu moved the capital to Beiping that the ancestors of the Sha family were sick and recuperated in the house on weekdays. When my ancestors learned of this, they visited them often, and the two families resumed their relationship.

"At that time, the ancestor of the Sha family was seriously ill, and he was accompanied by the bed every day, and the ancestor of my family often went to talk to him. He knew that the ancestors of the Sha family had always wanted to return to his hometown, but the excerpt was sent, but the emperor always refused to approve it. Until more than ten years later, one day the ancestor of my family was chatting with Qingke in the mansion, and overheard a report from the next person, saying that the Sha family had sent the eldest son to the house, and invited the master of the Zhu family to go to the Shafu to discuss important matters.

"At that time, the ancestor of my family mentioned his throat in his heart, and thought that the ancestor of the Sha family was seriously ill and died, and after staying in the lobby, he saw that the eldest son of the Sha family was not wearing filial piety clothes, so he was slightly relieved. After the eldest son of the Sha family saw the ancestors, he first knelt down to give a salute, and then his face was full of joy, and said to the ancestors, the emperor has approved the ancestors of the Sha family, and the whole family was very happy, and he was going to return to his hometown in a few days.

"The ancestor knew that the ancestor of the Sha family had been fighting for many years, and he had countless old injuries on his body, and he was suffering from serious illness. In addition, he also saw that the ancestors of the Sha family were afraid that they would follow in the footsteps of those generals when Taizu was in the footsteps and end up with a dead clan, so he made up his mind that 'the cunning rabbit died, the lackeys cooked, the birds were exhausted, and the good bow was hidden'. Only then did he go up many times and beg for the old man to return to his hometown. It's just that there have been many folds, and the court has not approved it. This time, the emperor allowed him to pay tribute, naturally his wish was fulfilled, and my ancestors were also happy for him.

"The ancestor followed the eldest son of the Sha family to Shafu, and was taken to the living room of the ancestor of the Sha family in the backyard. After the others withdrew, the ancestor of the Sha family, who was originally lying on the bed, suddenly sat up, which startled the ancestor of my family. The ancestor of the Sha family lowered his voice and said, Do you remember Hutou Rock? My ancestor said in a trembling voice, naturally remember. The ancestor of the Sha family sighed and said to the ancestor of my family, I originally thought that the emperor would allow him to return to his hometown, and his wish in this life would be fulfilled, but he didn't expect to receive a secret decree from the emperor, which was brought by the eunuch of Dongchang, asking him not to return to his hometown in Henan, but to live in seclusion in Hutou Rock and guard the cave under Hutou Rock.

When the ancestor heard him say this, his whole body trembled with fear. It turned out that although more than ten years had passed, the emperor had always remembered the incident. The ancestor of the Sha family said with a wry smile: "I originally thought that after leaving the capital, the sea would be wide and the sky would be high for the birds to fly, but I didn't expect to leave the walled prison in Shafu, the capital, and be imprisoned on the Hutou Rock, I am afraid that future generations will also be dragged down by me." My ancestors were sad when they heard him say it, and they wanted to comfort him, but they didn't know how to say it, so they kept silent. The ancestor of the Sha family said: 'When we killed our comrades and brothers outside the fortress and escaped from the battlefield, the fate was already doomed. Brother, I'm not the only one who went to Hutou Rock this time. The emperor said in his oracle that he wanted Zhu's family to move to Hutouyan, and he had bought hundreds of acres of fertile land for your Zhu family in Lijiatun, which was counted as the Zhuangzi of the Sha family, and the Zhu family was the head of the Zhuang. Every year, the grain in the cave is still replaced on time according to the old practice, so that when something happens in the future, the royal descendants can use the cave under the Hutou Rock as a place to supply ordnance and grain and grass, in order to make a comeback. ’

When my ancestors heard this, their hearts sank. He knew that Emperor Chengzu was not in the right position, and he was the best to suspect. He was afraid that someone would follow his example and rebel against the palace, so he planned the way back in advance. The Sha and Zhu families went to Hutou Rock, which is tantamount to becoming the head of two prisons, and even future generations have to live in that place where birds don't, and have been guarding the huge cave in the belly of the mountain for generations for the royal guard. It's just that since the emperor has already made an order, if he doesn't go, I'm afraid that he will end up with a full house of beheadings. He sighed and said to the ancestor of the Sha family: "That's it, that day, you and I killed dozens of fellow protectors, and killed more than 600 craftsmen in the cave under the Hutou Rock. The emperor wants us to guard the Tiger Head Rock, this is the retribution of heaven, and it can be regarded as atonement for our sins!'"

When Zhu Sanjia said this, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Our Zhu family has indeed created evil, and with this retribution, there is indeed nothing to say." I only hope that this sin will be washed away as soon as possible and justice will be given to the descendants of the Zhu family. ”

(End of chapter)