novelonline Chapter 1176 Returning East
Chapter 1176 Returning East
Chapter 1176 Returning East
To the north of Liangzhou, a few sparse poplar trees stand tall on the Gobi Desert.
The yellow sand rolled low as several cavalrymen rested on the Gobi Desert, breaking the Hu pancakes in their arms into two halves and swallowing them alive.
Soon a horseman came from afar. The faces of these cavalrymen were full of vigilance, but after seeing who was coming, they immediately relaxed.
The other party dismounted at the poplar tree, put a sheepskin on the tree, and rode away.
After a while, the cavalrymen took back the sheepskin items, and everyone looked at them and asked each other questions.
One of them spoke in Chinese with a Tibetan accent: "Yes, it is a map from Liangzhou to Lanzhou. I came from Nanxiao.
I walked here during the gathering, along the road of Zhuanglang River Valley, and after this is the Yellow River. "
“Lanzhou is on the other side of the Yellow River.”
"Lanzhou, great! Now it is the land of the Song Dynasty, the land of the Han people."
"I am afraid that after we have been in Liangzhou for hundreds of years, the Song people may not regard the descendants of us Guiyi Army as Han people."
"The Song people can even accept the foreigners from Xihe Road, let alone us."
"We are the first people from Liangzhou to lead our troops back to the east. The Song people will definitely treat us well."
"But if we leave, what will happen if Renduo Yading sends people to pursue us, with 20,000 people? I'm afraid that less than 2,000 people can reach Lanzhou."
"That's better than the frequent gatherings of the Tanguts. The Tanguts are even more ruthless than the Tubo and Uighurs back then!"
"Aligu is in Guazhou and has a foothold on Shazhou. It seems that Renduo is forcing us to fight with Aligu and they want to exhaust us first."
A man in armor squatted on the ground and put his hands into the sand. He said, "We still have a token from our ancestors who were the governors of the Guiyi Army. We will present it to Bianjing City."
"The current Emperor of the Song Dynasty is a ruler with great ambitions. He will know the importance of this item."
"Let's go! Let's go back."
After saying this several cavalrymen left this place and marched into the night, and they arrived at a sheltered place to rest.
Wrapped in fur blankets, they watched the strong wind that blew at night, with yellow sand flying all over the sky and making their faces covered with dust.
"Liangzhou is too desolate. Everything is made of dirt."
"I heard that Lanzhou is much better, like the Jiangnan scenery described in books."
"None of us has ever seen what Jiangnan is like."
The big man took a look at the wind and sand outside and said, "Go to bed early! We have to travel tomorrow."
"Don't run into the minions of the Renda tribe tomorrow."
After that, everyone fell asleep. In the middle of the night, the wind stopped, and then the howling of wolves echoed one after another in the desolate Liangzhou Gobi Desert.
The next day, before dawn, five people and eight horses set out with the sheepskin map in their pockets. The extra horses were tied together with ropes so that they could be used for transfers. Halfway through the journey, they were less than ten miles away from the tribe's territory.
There is a poplar forest here, where countless jackdaws rest.
Suddenly an arrow flew over and hit the big man on the shoulder. The other party cried out in pain, and immediately countless crows circled in the sky.
More than a dozen armored cavalrymen with braided hair appeared on the mountain.
"It's Nindab! Let's go!"
The big man roared and broke the arrow. After staring at the armored cavalry on the hillside, he immediately led several cavalrymen to gallop away.
The cavalry of the Renduo tribe rode down the mountain and caught up with them. Both sides took out their longbows and shot at each other on horseback.
The few people led by the big man were warriors from the tribe who were skilled in archery and horse riding. They fought back and forth with the brave cavalry of the Renduo tribe.
Soon two cavalrymen were shot off their horses, and three armored cavalrymen of the Renduo tribe were shot down.
After galloping for a while, the big man and the remaining two cavalrymen immediately jumped onto the other three empty horses. In particular, although the big man was wounded by an arrow, he was still agile.
The big man cut the rope immediately after he sat firmly.
The three horses carried the three big men and galloped away, but the Renduo cavalry was ultimately underpowered and was a step slower, so the three big men escaped back to their tribe.
The big man returned to the tribal tent with the sheepskin map. When he took out the map, half of it was stained with dark red blood.
An old man looked at the map carefully and said, "It is indeed a map to Lanzhou."
"Chief, Renduo Yading probably knows about our plan to return to Song!"
The big man said, "Chief, we must leave immediately! Otherwise, Renduo Yading will not let us go."
The old man did not speak. He said to everyone in the big tent: "Have you all thought it through?"
Everyone nodded.
Although everyone knew that the journey back to the east this time was a life-and-death struggle, no one regretted it.
Because the Tanguts had repeatedly asked them, the descendants of the Guiyi Army, to attack Aligu or Song as the vanguard. If they did not obey, their hostages in the Tanguts would be executed.
However, they obeyed the orders of the Tanguts, and only two or three out of ten of them returned from each battle.
In addition, there were various kinds of exploitation, such as paying a certain amount of leather every year, which was regarded as a tax on the Tanguts.
Now Aligu had attacked Shazhou and Guazhou. He unified the Yellow-headed Uighurs and the Grass-headed Tatars within a year and was regarded as another powerful ruler who was no less powerful than Li Yuanhao.
This became the last straw that broke the camel's back for the men.
In order to avoid being forced to serve as cannon fodder in the war with Aligu, they decided not to be coerced by the Tanguts. They learned from merchants that the Song Dynasty had reclaimed wasteland and planted cotton fields on a large scale in Xihe Road, and the Han and Fan people here were very prosperous and could live and work in peace.
After listening to the merchants' description, they were extremely eager to return to the Song Dynasty.
Lanzhou is an ideal place for them to settle down because of its beautiful mountains, rivers and abundant resources.
After getting everyone's affirmative response.
The old man nodded and said, "You go ahead. I can't leave. My sons and nephews are in the hands of Renduo Yading. If you want to return to the east, go ahead!"
"Clan leader!"
The clan leader smiled bitterly and said, "For so many years, we dare not speak Chinese, dare not wear Chinese clothes, and even the Chinese customs have changed. In the past, some of our Guiyi Army members also returned to the east, but they were all killed after being caught."
"But we must let the emperor of the Song Dynasty know that although we, the Guiyi Army, wear foreign clothes, we still miss our homeland and will always be Han people and Han subjects."
"Although the world is no longer ruled by the Tang Dynasty, we Han people still sit on the throne of the emperor in the east. The descendants of the Guiyi Army are looking forward to the emperor of the Han Dynasty regaining this territory day and night!"
"So let's go!"
"Compared to previous clan leaders, I am lucky. Each of us must remember that we are descendants of the Han family. From now on, you will be the clan leader of our tribe. Lead everyone back! Back to our homeland!"
The clan leader said this to the big man.
The big man's nose felt sore when he heard this, and he nodded and said, "Yes, the clan leader!"
The clan leader looked at everyone with joy and said, "From today on, you can wear Han clothing. We have worked hard here for generations, enduring humiliation and serving the Tubo, Uighur, and Tangut people, just to remind you not to forget who you are."
at night.
All the tents on the grassland were packed up, and except for the items they were carrying, all the extra items were burned.
Tens of thousands of descendants of the Guiyi Army watched their homes, which they had managed for many years, being burned by the raging fire. They all knew that after this departure, whether alive or dead, they would never come back.
The women and children could not help shedding tears when watching this scene. They all knew that they were leaving this homeland today in order to return to a bigger homeland.
There was abundant water and grass, and rich resources. Most importantly, there were no longer any Tanguts who enslaved and persecuted them.
Even though many people may die along the way, they are not afraid.
The tribe leader and the big man watched this scene. The tribe leader said to the big man, "I am too old to travel any further. I will accompany you on this final journey."
"Besides, if Renduo Yading knew that I was gone too, he would definitely torture my people."
"You lead your people back to the land of Han, heading east! To where the sun rises!"
"Yes, Chief. Let's go!" The big man looked at the fire.
The clan leader nodded and watched the big man mount his horse. Then he led tens of thousands of clansmen on the journey back east, with hundreds of mule and horse carts stretching out in a long line.
The patriarch watched all this until the dawn appeared in the east.
In the morning light, he seemed to see his ancestors and his tribesmen stumbling eastward along with their descendants.
The chieftain sat down with great joy, as if he were one of them.
……
In Liangzhou city.
Renduoyating was gnawing on a fat lamb leg while listening to several trusted tribesmen reporting to him in Tibetan.
Ren Duoyading said angrily: "We can't let them go back!"
Renduo Baozhong said, "Dad, since the Eastern Dynasty infiltrated Qingtang, our Renduoquan City has been under the attack of the Song army."
"Aligu has established a foothold in Shazhou and Guazhou, and it has tied up too many of our troops."
"We have finally negotiated peace with the Song Dynasty. What if these people return to the Song Dynasty and stir up trouble? What if the Song people retaliate?"
Renduo Yading put down the lamb leg and drank a large bowl of wine, which flowed down his gray beard. He let out a long sigh and said, "If we don't chase these people, the king will not let us go if he finds out."
"Dad, the Song people gave us a good price. After the Battle of Lanzhou, all the tribes in Liangzhou City were in a panic."
Renduo Yading glanced at Renduo Baozhong and said, "Your brothers are still in the Sixth Squadron of the Imperial Guard."
Renduo Baozhong was about to say something but stopped himself. Renduo Yading continued chewing on the fat lamb leg and said, "Don't think too much. If we don't kill these people, more tribes in Liangzhou City will surrender to the Song Dynasty in the future."
Renduo Baozhong reluctantly stood up and was about to leave the tent when Renduo Yading stopped him and said, "Remember to send the dozen beautiful female slaves you bought this time to Li Qing's home in Xingqing Prefecture immediately."
"Don't let it stay in our hands overnight! It will be worthless if it stays overnight."
Renduo Baozhong said with some indignation that his father, as a local lord, had to flatter a Han minister like Li Qing.
Today, King Li Bingchang is carrying out reforms among the high-level officials of the Dangxiang, adopting Han customs while incorporating those of the minority ethnic groups, making the minority ethnic groups neither Han nor minority ethnic groups, and both the minority ethnic groups and the Han ethnic groups in the court are complaining.
As a member of the Renduo tribe of the Qingtang Tibetan tribe, Renduo Baozhong was a realist. He did not have much thought about the Dangxiang and the Song Dynasty. He would stick to whichever side was stronger.
Unlike his father Renduoyading, he did not have deep hatred and contempt for the Han people.
Now Wang Hou of Song Ren, Tong Guan and Wen Xixin, who was from the same clan as him, wrote to recruit him, and the price they offered was higher and higher. Although Ren Duo Baozhong did not have the firm intention to rebel against the Dangxiang, he did have the intention to wait for the price to rise.
Now Renduo Baozhong ordered the cavalry to leave Liangzhou City to pursue the descendants of the defecting Guiyi Army.