Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 068 Northeast Horn Company (Part 3)
"Sir, if you go any further, you'll be out of the wall."
"Haha, Captain Li, let me ask you, what is beyond the border wall?"
"You are joking, sir. Who doesn't know that the Jianzhou Jurchens are outside the wall?"
"Of course I know that the people outside the wall are the Jianzhou Jurchens. Isn't the leader of the Jurchens, Nurhaci, the Left Governor and Dragon and Tiger General of the Ming Dynasty?"
"Uh...it seems to be the case."
"That's it. As an official appointed by the imperial court, can't I go to the jurisdiction of another official appointed by the imperial court and ask for permission to pass through? Pass the order, the whole team continues to head east and exit the border wall at Yagu Pass!"
The border wall in Liaodong during the Ming Dynasty had three sections. In order of construction, the first section was in the Liaohe River Basin, the second section was in western Liaoning, and the third section was in Liaodong. The continuous eastward movement of the border wall was a very direct reflection of the expansion of the Ming Dynasty's power in the northeast region.
The border wall that Xiong Tingbi and Li Yongfang mentioned is the third section of the border wall. It starts from Kaiyuan Zhenbei Pass, then goes south to Fushun Pass (from this pass, go east and not far to Sarhu), and then extends slightly to the southeast after reaching Fushun Pass. The easternmost checkpoint is Yagu Pass. After passing Yagu Pass, the border wall gradually retracts inwards to the southwest until it reaches the Yalu River.
Kuandian Liubao, located outside the third section of the border wall, was a bridgehead for the Han people to continue expanding eastward.
Theoretically, starting from Liaoyang, you should not go east to Kuandian. The quickest route is: go south from Liaoyang, go through the jurisdiction of Dingliao Youwei, then board a ship in today's Dandong, and go upstream along the Yalu River to reach Kuandian Liubao directly. In this way, the entire land journey is within the border wall, and the water route is also shared by Ming Dynasty and Korea. It is both labor-saving, fast and safe.
But after Xiong Tingbi came out of Liaoyang, he did not go south, but east. His plan was to go out of Yagu Pass at the easternmost end of the border wall, then pass through the territory of Jianzhou Jurchens, and then go to Kuandian Fort to take office.
To put it more bluntly: Liaoyang is A, Kuandian is B, and Yaguguan is C. It is obvious that there is a straight line from A to B, but Mr. Xiong insisted on going to C first and then to B. According to the theorem that the sum of any two sides of a triangle must be greater than the other side, this is definitely a long detour.
Although they had taken a long detour, the 500 soldiers were enjoying the new clothes and weapons given to them by Lord Xiong. In addition, Lord Xiong was very generous along the way. When they arrived at a garrison, they threw money to the garrison personnel to provide extra meals for the troops. Therefore, the morale of the soldiers was very high at the moment. They went wherever Lord Xiong said. As for the entourage sent by the court and Xinghua Palace, of course, they only followed Lord Xiong's orders.
The two officers Li Yongfang and Mao Wenlong did raise objections, but Xiong Tingbi was not inferior to Li Chengliang, so would the opinions of the two centurions be effective?
Along the way, Xiong Tingbi was also carefully observing these two guys in various ways. In general, Li Yongfang was a man with a quick mind, knowledgeable and interesting. He would not flatter in a straightforward and cheap way, but along the way, he ran around, reorganized the team, and got close to the staff of Xinghua Palace and Jinyiwei. When they arrived at the resting place, he could appear in front of Xiong Tingbi at the right time to serve him in various ways. In short, this was a very capable and clever young man.
What about Mao Wenlong? He doesn't like to talk much. He has to manage the team along the way, and he does it well. But he puts more energy on the flintlock rifle in his hand. As for serving Mr. Xiong, eating, sleeping, etc., sorry, what is that? I don't understand.
At Xiong Tingbi's insistence, the group left Yagu Pass, and then Lord Xiong, who was running in the front, continued to move eastward, no, northeastward.
"Sir, this is the wrong direction. We are going to Kuandian. We should be heading south now."
"Hmm? What's ahead in this direction?"
"Sir, if we continue in this direction, we will reach Hetuala in three to five days at most! That is the station of Nurhaci, the commander of Jianzhou Guards."
"Oh, that's great. I'm going to Hetuala to ask that Dragon Tiger General for a drink."
"Sir, I advise you not to do this..."
“Hmph~!”
Just as Li Yongfang continued to persuade Xiong Tingbi, Mao Wenlong rode his horse forward and snorted heavily at Xiong Tingbi.
"What?" Xiong Tingbi narrowed his eyes slightly and gave Mao Wenlong a wicked look: "Captain Mao, do you have anything to say to me?"
"How dare I ask you to teach me, sir? But you may have stayed in the capital for too long and don't know much about the situation in Liaodong."
"Oh, then tell me, what is the situation in Liaodong?"
"Nurhaci of Jianzhou is very respectful to our Ming Dynasty. But this kind of respect is limited to the court, the Marshal and even the generals. For ordinary soldiers and civilians in our Liaodong Town, the commander of Jianzhou Guard who once proclaimed himself as 'Shule Beile' is a ferocious enemy. If a Han Chinese is left alone in the territory of Jianzhou Guard, he might be captured and made into a bondservant. Of course!" Mao Wenlong changed his tone and said to Xiong Tingbi with contempt: "Master Xiong is an official appointed by the court and the teacher of the crown prince. If Nurhaci knew that Master Xiong was coming, he would probably kneel down to greet Master Xiong and give him pearls and women."
Sometimes, people's words are magical. After Mao Wenlong finished speaking, Li Yongfang instinctively felt something was wrong before he could scold him.
"Sir! There is a large group of cavalry heading towards us."
"Haha, it seems that the prince who is both a virtuous lady and likes to be strangled is really here. Li Yongfang, Mao Wenlong!"
"I am here!"
"Assemble your troops immediately! Don't let the enemy leader underestimate our Ming Dynasty!"
"yes!"
Although the Liaodong Town had many problems at that time, the border troops at that time had a psychological advantage over the Jianzhou Jurchens. Therefore, although a column of smoke and dust was seen approaching rapidly on the skyline shortly after the order was passed, Xiong Tingbi's team had already been fully assembled before the enemy entered the attack range. All the soldiers consciously straightened their backs, held their weapons tightly, and made a posture ready for battle.
With a "swish", Xiong Tingbi took out the only monocular telescope in the entire team from his arms and scanned it directly at the face of the leader of the group of knights opposite.
"Well, he has a broad forehead, a high nose bridge, high cheekbones, firm and bright eyes, and a tall body. Although he is wearing a little too much clothes in this weather, it can be seen that he should have a solid physique! Humph, the Jurchen savage is really like what the prince said, and he should not be underestimated."
Xiong Tingbi could not think too much. The cavalry team stopped in unison about two or three hundred meters away from Xiong Tingbi's team. Then, led by the leader, more than a hundred cavalrymen dismounted. After walking a few steps forward, the middle-aged man in the lead shouted loudly: "Excuse me, is this the team of Master Xiong Guancha? Your servant Aixinjuelu Nurhaci greets you!"
