Chapter 782 Qi Family

Chapter 782 Qi Family

Chapter 782 Qi Family
When the first ray of sunlight passed through the mountains and shone on the green river valley grassland, everyone's attention was attracted.

Grasslands, forests, rivers, hills, wetlands, and towns are all bathed in sunlight, like a scroll of calligraphy and painting.

The air is fresh and smells a bit of dew.

Wild flowers are in full bloom, embellishing the mountains, rivers and valleys.

Deep in the reeds by the river, wild ducks took off, leaving behind a few feathers.

The breeze is not dry and the scenery is just right. It is really suitable weather for horseback riding.

There were no drum sounds, no horn sounds, only a flag and a hand gesture, and hundreds of riders rushed out.

The horse's mane is flying, emitting a faint heat, its chest is held high, and its four hooves are flying, showing its strength and beauty.

The knight on horseback held up his lance and stared at the enemy who was screaming in shock.

It was a patrol cavalry, probably a temporary reinforced guard. When they saw them rushing out, they were terrified and rushed forward to meet them.

The sound of thunderous hooves came from another valley entrance. The Iron-faced Knight had a tiger painted on his chest. Like a beast on the hunt, he used all his strength to charge out from the side and went to the rear of the patrolling enemy cavalry.

Cavalry also rushed out from the hillside and behind the woods, like a summer mountain flood, gathering on the plain from all directions, and then spreading to the left and right in the plain.

The horses were vying for the lead, and the soldiers were brave and resolute.

The cavalry advanced forward, the rangers spread out to encircle the enemy, and the infantry dismounted and shot with bows and crossbows.

There was constant noise in the wilderness.

Arrows flew through the air, and people and horses fell to the ground.

The lance was raised high, and the horrific death of the corpse on the lance blade was clearly visible in the sunlight.

The saber gently scratched the human body, using the horse's speed to continuously create huge wounds.

The Xianbei patrol cavalry were like helpless travelers in a mountain torrent. They were quickly swept away by the muddy waves and disappeared.

A few armored cavalrymen held out to the end, like boulders in the flood, seemingly indestructible.

When the lance cavalry dispersed, the archers shot a round of arrows around them and all of them fell off their horses.

The soldiers rushed forward, displaying their superb infantry combat skills, using heavy swords, axes, wooden clubs, and spears.

It seemed as if a "boom" was heard, and the reefs in the water were completely shattered.

When the noise died down, all that was left on the battlefield were empty horses and human heads impaled on spears.

The Iron-masked Knight quickly crossed the valley and arrived within an arrow's reach south of Shanwugu City.

Perhaps, it is no longer appropriate to call it the "old city" because the Xianbei people built a new city on the old site.

At this moment, the city gates were closed and the top of the city was full of people, pointing towards the south with expressions of shock, anxiety, fear, or resentment.

For a moment, no one dared to move out.

More than 300 patrolling cavalrymen were surrounded and killed in the wilderness of the river valley. The deterrent effect was too great.

Moreover, the enemy's army is quite large, with a total of more than 4,000 infantry and cavalry. This news must be reported as soon as possible.

Outside the north gate, the messenger had already disappeared behind the reeds with several fast horses.

They now hoped very much that these Jin people would stay for a while longer to give them time to calmly make their arrangements so that they could then launch a siege.

The Iron-masked Knight quickly rode away.

The light cavalry rushed over, went straight into the glutinous fields in the wild, and trampled on them wantonly.

The people on the city wall were furious and looked at the defender.

The guard showed a painful expression on his face, but he shouted loudly, asking everyone to stay calm. Because in the wilderness outside the city, a large number of knights dismounted, wearing armor and holding swords, staring at them eagerly.

Looking at their movements and the armor and weapons they are equipped with, it is clear that they are not cavalry, but real infantry, heavily armored infantry who are good at close combat.

Perhaps because they had fought with cavalry many times before, they were not very afraid. Instead, they were somewhat expecting it, hoping that the cavalry in the city would rush out and charge towards the positions they had arranged.

Unfortunately, there were not many infantry or cavalry in the city, and they were afraid that the city would be captured after they were defeated, so they closed the city gates and refused to go out.

After trampling the fields, the light cavalry found several hay barns and set them on fire to prevent the enemy cavalry from having supplies when they came after them.

After doing all this, a rider rushed forward and shot a letter to the top of the city wall.

A moment later, thousands of people rushed away and disappeared into the vast wilderness, as if they had never appeared.

After the large group of cavalry left, the smoke and dust gradually settled and everything returned to calm.

The south wind blew, colorful butterflies danced among the flowers, and birds flew over the green water. However, the trampled rice stalks in the fields and the hay barn with only a pile of embers left told everyone present that all this was not a dream but something that really happened.

Their nest was destroyed.

On June 15, three days after the Jin army left, a cavalry force of several thousand people rushed urgently from the direction of Shengle.

There were light cavalrymen in Shanwu City following far behind, guiding the direction. The tribes in the distance also captured more than a dozen Jin cavalrymen who had fallen behind, and after being tortured, they extracted some information.

The leading general was furious when he saw the farmlands and grasslands that had been completely destroyed. He immediately ordered troops from all over the country to launch a siege.

******
A gorgeous carriage stopped at the gate of the temple, and monks of all ages came out to greet it.

It is not easy for Buddhism to develop in the grassland. The monks face fierce competition, and pretending to be aloof and pretentious will not work.

The posture must be flexible, the doctrines must be localized, and other religious elements from the Central Plains must be absorbed so that the people of the Central Plains do not feel too unfamiliar, while at the same time adapting to the preferences of nobles from all over the world.

The monks and alchemists understood this very well, and thus achieved initial success in Dai.

The Xianbei nobles also gave many benefits.

For example, today when Madam Qi came to burn incense, she donated five hundred sheep to provide food and drink for the entire temple, and it was also compensation for them to entertain "visitors from afar."

The monks were also very generous. Several senior monks sharpened their knives and slaughtered fresh sheep in the backyard. While they feasted on the sheep, they also sent a lot of them to the Jin delegation.

After lunch, the monks arranged a quiet courtyard for a secret conversation between the Jin envoys and the Xianbei nobles who came with Queen Dowager Qi.

"You have done a great thing." Madam Qi was a woman in her forties. She was born in the Wuhuan tribe and was the wife of Tuoba Yilu's brother, Tuoba Yiyi, the Lord of the Central Region.

Tuoba Yiyi guarded Dai County and the grasslands to the north all year round, competing with the Jin Dynasty for influence over the Guangning and Shanggu Hu tribes, and intermarrying with the Jin Dynasty frequently.

At the same time, they made friends with the Yuwen Xianbei and had a good relationship with them. They maintained peace for a considerable period of time and also had constant intermarriages.

Madam Qi was born in the Guangning Wuhuan tribe and was of the same clan as Wang Jun's former chief clerk Qi Hong and his former general Qi Xi. In fact, the Qi family was a prominent family among the Wuhuan in Youzhou.

Mrs. Qi had three sons.

The eldest was named Pugen. After his uncle Tuoba Yilu unified the three tribes, he appointed him as the Left Wise King. Later, he defeated Tuoba Liuxiu and became the Duke of Dai. He died after more than a month.

In the tenth year of Yongjia (316), Pugen's son Shisheng succeeded to the throne as Duke of Dai shortly after his birth and died eight months later.

After Shisheng's death, the Xianbei tribes supported Pugen's cousin Yulu as their leader, and he has remained so to this day.

The second was He Nù, who was cowardly by nature and was not liked by the Xianbei people.

The third son Hena, uh, was just captured.

Madam Qi was quite famous in the State of Dai. She had a strict personality, was strong-willed, suspicious, and had a strong desire for control.

During the year when Pugen and Shisheng were in power, they interfered a lot in state affairs, which once caused people to ridicule that Tuoba Dynasty had become a "female country". This is a clear example.

Madam Qi did not quite agree with Tuoba Yulu's tentative invasion to the south.

It wasn't that she was in favor of the Jin Dynasty, but she felt that the timing was not right and it was too reckless.

The Dai Kingdom still needs to consolidate its foundations, carry out reforms, assimilate the various tribes, unify its commands, and then wait for the right time.

But Tuoba Yulu doesn't get along with her, what can she do?
If there wasn't a huge political force standing behind her, Tuoba Yulu might have found it difficult to maintain the outward harmony and would have attacked her brazenly - of course, this was just her suspicion and the facts might not be so.

Shao Shen led his troops into the Zhonglingchuan River Basin, causing an uproar. Because this place was not particularly far from Shengle, the nobles in Beidu felt threatened and began to talk about it.

In addition, according to news from Xinkou, Tuoba Yulu and Shao Xun had been confronting each other for more than half a month. The two sides only engaged in cavalry battles, and the main forces of infantry and cavalry did not engage in face-to-face fighting, and the leaders of the various tribes had many complaints.

Mrs. Qi keenly sensed an opportunity and came to visit the Jin State delegation.

After hearing what Madam Qi said, Yu Mie smiled and said, "Kanto has been unified, and there are more than a million soldiers. Throwing a whip into the river will stop the flow of the Sanggan River. If it weren't for the fact that King Liang was kind-hearted and always wanted to kill Yu Lu and others, and waited for them to turn back and change their ways, he would have led his troops north long ago. Madam has been in power for many years, and you should know the disparity in national strength. Why did you do that?"

In fact, Yu Miezhen didn’t know much about the war situation outside.

The only information we had was obtained from conversations among the monks and from leaks from some members of the delegation.

According to his understanding before leaving Pingyang, the King of Liang would not be able to continue the war, for no other reason than insufficient food and supplies. The King of Liang also told him personally that this year should focus on recuperation and rest to restore national strength.

However, Tuoba Xianbei's initiative to move south was unexpected, and King Liang had to fight passively, which led to a stalemate. No one dared to take the initiative to attack, and no one could do anything to the other.

Judging from the limited information, he felt that neither King Liang nor Tuoba Yulu were confident of winning the war, and the final outcome would be for both sides to stop fighting.

But there are still some things to consider when deciding how to stop fighting.

Shao Shen's surprise attack behind enemy lines and Madam Qi's visit gave Yu Mie an opportunity.

He secretly glanced at Qi's expression, but unfortunately he didn't see anything.

"National strength is national strength, military conflict is military conflict, how can they be confused?" Qi sneered and said, "The envoy does not need to intimidate, just speak out what you think. You can speak freely here, and don't have to worry about others knowing."

Yu Mie subconsciously looked at the dozen or so nobles standing respectfully behind Qi. Judging from their attire, there were some from the Suo Tou, Wuhuan, Xiongnu, and Jin.

Considering that after this group of people came to Shengle, they were actually protected by people sent by the Qi family, he had some idea in his mind.

In addition, he also roughly understood Qi's character, which was really strong.

He pondered for a moment, sorted out his thoughts, and whispered: "If the two countries stop fighting and make peace, there will be several difficulties. The first is the two counties of Dai and Yanmen, and the second is Duke Dai himself..."

After hearing the second half of Yu Mie's words, Qi's expression changed slightly.

(End of this chapter)