eleven 1
Two months and three days had passed since the Battle of Chelegou and the Battle of Hatai City, and people still remembered the whip that Red Eagle swore on the city wall that night - that whip split the fate of the grassland people in two: the half that was bullied by the Dzungar was thrown into the dark night; and the half that was recovered one city after another like a rotten wood, like the sun, inspiring every member of the thirteen Uyghur tribes.
During these two months, they first joined forces with the Yugusa tribe and, according to the account of the captured Junggars, razed the ancient city of Hedra; then they gathered the Wagmu tribe and the Xiasak tribe, chased and annihilated the remnants of the ancient city of Hedra to Erqigou, and took over the ancient city of Changtai. By the time Reiza convened the Thirteen Tribes Conference in the name of Danying, most of the Uyghur territory occupied by the Junggars in northern Xinjiang had been recovered. Not only that, wherever the Uyghur warriors went, the Junggars were defeated, leaving behind countless food and fodder, enough to supply the thirteen Uyghur tribes for a winter; and the Han friends of the Lantern Festival and the young and brave leader of the Danying Alliance became heroes admired by everyone on the grassland.
This time, the Thirteen Tribes Conference was held in the Satamong tribe. From there, further north was the important town of Naksu in the northern border. Once Naksu was recaptured, according to Menghu's plan, they could march straight into the Yili River Valley, Galdan's hometown.
In the Satamon tribe's field, a bonfire was blazing up to the sky. Warriors from the thirteen tribes, Kazakh warriors met along the way, and heroes from the Lantern Festival gathered together. Holding high their glasses of grape wine, the song of Rouge Horse floated over the grassland to the sound of the plucked harp.
"The grassland is vast, the horses are on the plain, the rouge on the horses' backs is more beautiful than the flowers; the flowers reflect the moon, the moon shines on the sand, and the songs in the sand remind me of my home..."
They all sang happily, but Liu Qingye couldn't help feeling sad when he listened to them - Moler, who originally sang this song, has stayed beside Chelegou forever - but when he saw the red eagle and the grassland today, he thought that if Moler knew about this in heaven, he would sing this song together.
"Damn it!" Cheng Anren couldn't stop using profanity. "Dan Ying girl, you really look like a leader now! I admire you! But there is one thing - I still prefer the way it was done in Chelegou, killing everyone and burning everything - how come you have changed your nature when you fight now? You don't kill with pleasure!"
Dan Ying smiled and said, "So winning every battle is not the best of the best; defeating the enemy without fighting is the best of the best. So the best military operation is to attack their plans, the next best is to attack their alliances, the next best is to attack their troops, and the worst is to attack their cities. Attacking cities is the last resort."
"Ah? What are you talking about?" Cheng Anren was completely confused. But Meng Hu immediately recognized that this was a quote from Sun Tzu's Art of War, and said in surprise, "Dan Ying, you..."
Dan Ying said, "Uncle Meng, I didn't want to learn the art of war before, but now I really know that fighting a war is not enough just by being brave. I read the book you gave me every day. There are many things I don't understand, so I need your advice one by one."
When the people in the Lantern Festival heard Dan Ying say this, they were all slightly surprised, but then they all nodded and smiled.
Cheng Anren said, "Dan Ying girl, you... you really have changed your character... but you are awesome... awesome!" He glanced at Meng Hu and said, "Damn it, you are such a tortuous guy, but you actually... actually have some skills... I will listen to you from now on!"
Everyone knew that he had always disliked Meng Hu, but when they heard his words now, which were very sincere and without any intention of teasing, they all thought: Although this man is a rough guy, he keeps his word and takes the overall situation into consideration. He is a good man.
"But..." Cheng Anren changed the subject, "I still think that Dan Ying is better than you. If Dan Ying hadn't told us to get into the underground river during the battle in Hatai City, we wouldn't know how much trouble we would have to endure outside. Mr. Meng, you are not happy!"
Everyone was stunned, then they all burst into laughter, thinking: This guy is really a brave but impatient person!
After laughing for a while, Meng Hu said, "Dan Ying, I've always wanted to ask you, how do you know that the waterway is big enough for you to get into the city? If the waterway is narrow, or there is no space for ventilation, then wouldn't it be a complete failure?"
Dan Ying said, "I have to thank my father for this. When we were digging for the water source, I asked him about it. My father is knowledgeable and he said that if we dig half a man deep, then we should dig half a man deep. So he told me that the waterway must be an underground cave. I thought it must be true, so I went down to give it a try."
Everyone looked at the old Kazakh man after hearing what Wutan had said. The old man laughed and said, "It just so happens that what I said is correct. I have been wandering on the grasslands and Gobi Desert for sixty years. I am most interested in these strange underground situations. I have seen no less than a hundred underground rivers, but less than half of them are the ones in Hatai City."
Dan Ying said, "Dad, how could you like things underground? We farm and graze, both on the ground."
The old man twirled his beard and smiled, "Miss Dan Ying, you may not know this, but in fact, I have spent my entire life searching for a mysterious black spring that flows out from underground."
"Black spring water?" No one had ever heard of it. Wu Tan asked, "Dad, if the spring water is black, wouldn't it be smelly?"
Dad smiled and said, "This black spring water does have a fishy smell, but it can be used as fodder. It's really magical!"
Everyone was shocked when they heard this: "What? Spring water can be used to boil water. This is really a strange thing!"
Dad said, "It was about sixty years ago. I was herding horses in a valley and got lost. It was late autumn and I was freezing to death. I was lighting some dead branches to keep warm when I heard a bang and a flame jumped out from the side. I saw a small stream of black spring water gushing out from the ground. It was this black spring water that was burning. Don't underestimate this spring water. It burns much more fiercely than dead branches. The small stream of spring water ignited into a sky-high flame and did not go out until the next night."
Everyone had never heard of such a thing and was stunned.
The old man continued, "I thought I was dreaming at first, but then I saw several black springs in the valley, all in puddles. I lit them one by one, and they really burned for a long time."
"It seems that this black spring water is indeed a good thing!" Reiza said, "If there is a spring source that is inexhaustible, then we can use it to light lamps and warm ourselves by the fire, and no matter how heavy the snow is, we won't be frozen!"
"That's right." Meng Hu also said, "I have read about this kind of black spring water in the Song Dynasty's Mengxi Bitan. It is called 'petroleum', also known as 'Yanchuan stone liquid'. It can be used to light lamps and cook - I think it can also be used in wars." As he said, he looked at Dan Ying and said, "Have you read the Fire Attack Chapter? If we can find a source of such a black spring water, when we attack the city of Naksu this time, we only need to lead the spring water to the foot of the city and burn it for three days and three nights, and the people in the city will -"
"It has become a whole roasted lamb, haha!" Cheng Anren interrupted.
Everyone couldn't help but smile.
"Then... Dad, have you found the source of the spring?" Dan Ying asked.
The old man shook his head and said, "I have been searching for more than fifty years, but I have never found an inexhaustible spring. Every time I found it, it was only a small pool, which disappeared after burning. Now I am old and can no longer search."
Everyone was a little disappointed. The old man said, "But after searching for more than 50 years, I am sure that the source of this black spring water must be on our grassland. We will definitely find it. By then, our grassland will shine!"
"Yes, my god, it will be a great success!" Cheng Anren took a big gulp of wine. "After we defeat those bastards in Junggar, we will look for this black spring water. When we get to the grassland and see it in full bloom, I will stay here and marry a Uighur wife as beautiful as Danying girl!"
Everyone laughed when they heard this. Li Ming thought to himself, "You want to marry a wife like Dan Ying's sister, but where can you find one? Unless it's Dan Ying's sister, but my junior brother won't agree!"
As soon as he said this, everyone looked at Liu Qingye, who was so embarrassed that his face turned red. He only dared to glance at Dan Ying secretly. But Dan Ying was much more generous. He stood up and said, "What are you talking about now? Are you kidding me if we don't drive the Junggars out of the grassland?" The words were so righteous that the sweetness in Liu Qingye's heart disappeared immediately.
"That's right!" Wang Chunshan suddenly said, "If we don't get rid of the Tartars, we will have no home! Brother Cheng, how could you forget that we are only helping our Uyghur friends fight the Dzungar enemies, and our own country is still under the iron hoof of the Qing Tartars. If we find the black spring water, the grassland will certainly shine, and we should also use this black spring water to wipe out the old villain Fu Chakang in one fell swoop! Join forces with the brothers of the Dragon Slayer Society and the Heaven and Earth Society to restore the orthodoxy of our Han Dynasty!"
As soon as this was said, the whole room was stunned. The people in the Lantern Festival all agreed, and Cheng Anren scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. However, Liu Qingye's cheerful mood was immediately shrouded in a shadow. These days, he almost forgot about the anti-Qing and restoration of the Ming Dynasty. Now that Wang Chunshan suddenly reminded him, he couldn't help but glance at Cao Mengsheng. In the past two months, Cao Mengsheng had hardly spoken to Liu Qingye except for occasionally asking him to protect Dan Ying. Master still refused to forgive me after all, Liu Qingye thought sadly. I can only help Dan Ying take over Naksu City as soon as possible, and then immediately go to Shanshan with all the seniors to kill Fu Cha Kang... But what after killing Fu Cha Kang? Master will most likely force me to kill Fu Cha Tao and Mr. Li, and then perhaps unite with the Uyghurs to restore the homeland... Alas, I don't know when I can see the grassland shining brightly.
This worry occupied his mind for a while, and he became depressed. He couldn't concentrate on listening to the boys playing the piano, the girls singing, or even the people discussing the next strategy to attack Naksu. He just kept asking himself in his heart: Why, why am I so enthusiastic and desperate to help Danying fight against the Junggar bandits; but why am I so anxious and uneasy when I am asked to kill the Manchu Tartars who occupy my beautiful land? Aren't the two the same? Besides, the mountains and rivers of the Central Plains are still my motherland! My parents have sacrificed their lives for these mountains and rivers! What is it all for?
He was thinking in such a confused and troubled way that he felt extremely depressed. Just when he was about to stand up and walk on the grassland outside the village, he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves behind him, followed by a voice as loud as a bell, saying, "Excuse me, is this the Satamon tribe? Are the heroes of the Lantern Festival here?"
The music in the venue stopped abruptly, and everyone looked towards the person who had spoken. They saw that he was a middle-aged man with a shaved head and a braid, and it was difficult to tell whether he was a Manchu or a Han Chinese. Following him were two young men, one fat and one thin, who were dressed the same way.
The person in the Lantern Festival stood up cautiously and asked, "Excuse me, who are you?"
The man dismounted, clasped his fists and said, "I am Zhong Rui from the Dragon Slayer Society, and these two are my disciples. I am here on the orders of our great master to meet the heroes of the Lantern Festival."
The people in the Lantern Festival looked at each other, not daring to believe it. At this time, Cheng Anren strode forward, grabbed Zhong Rui's arm and said, "Damn it, it turned out to be you, brother, I have been looking for you for a long time!"
Zhong Rui was stunned for a moment, then said happily: "Oh, Brother Cheng, you haven't made any money in the underworld in the past two years. Did you join the Lantern Society?"
Cheng Anren chuckled, "No, no, I'm just unlucky. The heroes of the Lantern Festival look down on me. But you, I haven't seen you robbing and killing people for more than ten years. It turns out that you have joined the Dragon Slayer Society. I'm really envious!"
Seeing how familiar Cheng Anren and Zhong Rui were, the people at the Lantern Festival were no longer wary and asked Cheng Anren to introduce them. Cheng Anren then pulled Zhong Rui over and said, "This is the man I swore by when I was a bandit in the frontier. He was known as 'Jade-faced Li Kui'."
Everyone in the Lantern Festival, including Liu Qingye, knew the nickname of Jade-faced Li Kui. This person had a hot temper and hated evil, just like Li Kui. However, when he was young, his face was as handsome as a jade and he was quite unrestrained and suave, so everyone added the word "Jade-faced" to his nickname. People called him by this nickname so many times that they forgot his real name. When Cheng Anren said it, everyone came up to greet him and said, "I have heard of you for a long time. It turns out that you are 'Jade-faced Li Kui'!"
"What do you mean by 'Jade-faced Li Kui'?" Zhong Rui said with a smile, "Please do not mention this nickname, heroes. I am already old, how can I still have the 'Jade-faced Li Kui'? It is really a false reputation!"
"You can't say that!" Cheng Anren said, "Brother, you may not have a jade face, but your axe is not in vain, right?"
When everyone looked at Zhong Rui's back, they saw a pair of dark axes. People said that the axes of "Jade-faced Li Kui" were different from others, because most people who used axes relied on the heavy axe and its infinite power, but the axes of "Jade-faced Li Kui" were light and thin, and he won by his sharp moves. Now, seeing him, it was true. They knew that this man must be "Jade-faced Li Kui".
Wang Chunshan asked, "I wonder what important matter has Master Zhong come here specially for, Master Weng of your association?"
When the two sides talked to this point, both the Uyghurs and Kazakhs knew that the Han people had something to do, so tribal leaders such as Reiza and Danying asked everyone to disperse and rest. They went to the house of Chief Unati of the Shangsatamon tribe to discuss, leaving the people from the Lantern Festival waiting in the venue.
Zhong Rui said, "Our boss heard that your organization was planning to assassinate Fu Cha Kang, so he rushed all the way from the interior to help. But when he arrived in Adaler, he learned that your organization had fallen into the trap of the Tartars. The boss asked around for the whereabouts of the heroes, but there was no news. It was not until more than two months ago that he captured the traitor Li Yunsheng and the little Tartar Fu Cha Tao in the Gobi Desert that he learned that the heroes had come to the Uyghur tribe, and he came all the way here to find you."
Liu Qingye was shocked when he heard this: Fu Chatao and Mr. Li have fallen into the hands of the Dragon Slayer Society? I wonder if they are alive or dead?
Everyone at the Lantern Festival was delighted. Wang Chunshan said, "Master Weng has captured the little Tartar and Li Yunsheng? This is a great joy!" As he spoke, he glanced at Wu Shuiqing and saw that she had no expression on her face, as if she had broken off all ties with her husband whom she had missed for many years.
Zhong Rui said, "That's right. We originally planned to threaten the life of the little thief Fu Cha Tao and force his father to commit suicide, but Fu Cha Kang is so inhumane that he doesn't care about his son's life or death! However, the boss thinks that killing Fu Cha Kang alone will not bring down the Tartar court. We must find a way to make the Tartars fight among themselves and kill each other, so that we can eliminate them in one fell swoop."
"What Master Weng said is very true." Meng Hu pondered, "However, how easy is it to make the Tartars quarrel among themselves? The old villain Fu Cha is extremely suspicious and cunning. I heard that the Tartar emperor is a mature and scheming character. How can we alienate them?"
Zhong Rui said: "Our boss also understands the difficulties involved, but right now there is a great opportunity."
Everyone asked in unison: "What opportunity?"
Zhong Rui said: "The old thief Fucha was ordered to help the Uyghur and Kazakh tribes fight against the Junggar nobles. His delay in sending troops to attack has caused dissatisfaction among the Tartar emperors, who suspect that he wants to collude with the Junggars and plot to establish his own power. Now, the old thief Fucha has no choice but to send troops to fight, but one of his generals, Kehai, has been eliminated by the heroes of your association. Although his son is well-versed in military books, he has fallen into the hands of our Dragon Slayer Association. His right-hand man Li Yunsheng has also been captured by us. Now he has no choice but to send that Mang Keshan to lead the army to the north. As a result, Shanshan City is empty, and the old thief Fucha has become a lonely man..."
"So," Meng Hu said, "Master Weng's intention is to take this opportunity to kill Fu Cha Kang and use Fu Cha Tao as a threat to the generals, so that the news of the rebellion can spread, and then the Tartar emperor will be thrown into disarray and lead the army in person. Then we can capture this kid and force him to abdicate, and return the Han world to us - I wonder if what I said is right?"
Zhong Rui said: "I have heard for a long time that Master Meng Liu is resourceful and far-sighted. This is exactly what our Master meant!"
Wang Chunshan said: "This strategy is indeed brilliant. If we call on all Han people in the world to rise up in rebellion, there will inevitably be countless casualties. Now let the Tartars fight each other, and we will reap the benefits. I wonder how Master Weng wants to help Bihui?"
Zhong Rui said, "Our leader said that the heroes of your association are very familiar with the situation in Shanshan City. We hope your association can help us in assassinating the old villain Fu Cha. Our brothers from the Dragon Slayer Association will ambush on the road that Mang Keshan must pass through to kill this dog Tartar and prevent him from doing anything bad when he returns."
Wang Chunshan said, "That's great - but that Mang Keshan is very difficult to deal with, Master Weng, you must be careful - I wonder when Master Weng will decide to take action?"
Zhong Rui said: "When I set out from Shanshan, Mang Keshan also set out, but his group moved slowly, so I arrived two or three days earlier than him. I think Mang Keshan is about to walk into our ambush circle. We must kill him tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Hero Wang should lead the other heroes to set out quickly."
"That's right." Wang Chunshan nodded and said, "Let's talk to Chief Reiza and the others tomorrow and then go to Shanshan."
"Brother Wang..." Cao Mengsheng suddenly said, "Nakesu has not been captured yet."
Wang Chunshan was stunned for a moment, and said, "This is a golden opportunity! Naksu City... there is no rush. Besides, the Thirteen Uyghur Tribes are unstoppable now, and we can still help them to take down a mere Naksu."
Cao Mengsheng said: "But, since we have already arrived at the city of Naksu, and the tribe leaders have just planned our mission, if we suddenly leave now, wouldn't that be a breach of trust? How can we, the chivalrous people, do this?"
Wang Chunshan frowned and was unable to respond. Cao Mengsheng continued, "Since the Dragon Slayer's hero Weng has led the heroes to ambush Mang Keshan, once Mang Keshan is dead, the Dragon Slayer's heroes can wipe out his remaining troops, and Fu Chakang will definitely not know about it. When we take over Naksu City, we can go back to Shanshan and kill the old thief. Isn't it a big deal?"
Wang Chunshan heard this, looked at Zhong Rui, and then looked at Meng Hu. Meng Hu said: "Fifth brother has a point. We help the Uyghurs to recover lost territory and fight against the Dzungars. They regard us Han people as brothers. If we fail this time, we can prevent the Tartar emperor and Fu Chakang's troops from fighting each other to a loss. We can still rely on the power of the Uyghurs and Kazakhs."
After listening to Meng Hu's words, Wang Chunshan pondered for a moment and said to Zhong Rui: "Master Zhong, what do you think? In this Uyghur tribe, there was a chief who was my brother in the Lantern Festival. We promised his daughter that we would kill all the Junggar bandits and avenge this brother. Now victory is just around the corner. Should we wait until we capture Naksu City before moving on to Shanshan?"
Zhong Rui thought for a moment and said, "As the saying goes, 'He who is familiar with the nine changes knows how to use troops.' The great leader is asking me to act according to my own circumstances. What's more, what the leader Meng Liu said is also very true. The heroes of your association have recently helped the Uyghurs fight against the Junggar troops on the grassland. They have made great contributions. All the brothers in my association admire them very much."
Everyone said politely, "No, no."
Zhong Rui said: "Then, I will send two disciples back to inform the brothers of the Dragon Slayer Society. If there is any change over there, they will be informed in time."
Wang Chunshan nodded: "In that case, thank you for your hard work, brothers."
Liu Qingye had no recollection of what the group talked about later. But that night, he tossed and turned, and the deep gaze of Fu Chatao staring at him appeared in front of him from time to time: "The grievances of the country are not grievances when placed in the lives of the people of the world." Fu Chatao always said this, but now he has fallen into the hands of the Dragon Slayer Society.
