stubborn thief

The frozen ice of Bailing Mountain turns into a waterfall, rushing down from the mountain and rushing down into a river, rushing to the endless Gobi desert.

Between the Rizhao Snow Mountain and the majestic and beautiful Chibi Danxia, ​​on the Bazidun grassland in the southwest of Zhangye, the Liyuan River winds to the east, and there is a Ming army fortress on the riverside, which is called Liyuan Fort.

This fortress was built in the first year of Chongzhen, and it was the center of the five Huangfans of Bazidun under the jurisdiction of Gansu Zhenbian Army.

Since Huangfans were the former Hexi Huangtou Uighurs, they moved eastward and entered the customs during the Zhengde and Jiajing years.

It was not until the end of Wanli, because the Mongols were flourishing in the northwest and Huoluochi rushed into the sea to claim the king and hegemony. In order to distinguish between the barbarians and the pirates in the north and south of the Qilian Mountains, the court began to call them Shuda.

At this stage, in fact, there is no significant difference between the people of Fan and Mongolia in the northwest court. The people who farm in the mountains are called Fan, and those who shepherd sheep in the grasslands are called Da. In addition, the clothing is different, and there are many names, such as Red Riding Hood. Fan, yellow head fan.

Shuda means obedient herdsmen.

However, since the Bazidun is located in the northern section of the Gaoshan Pass, which is connected to the north and the south of the Qilian Mountains, they are destined to be oppressed by the court and the pirates in both directions.

Living here, of course, every year, I have to pay the squatters of Liyuanbao to Sina Ma. In the past, Xiao Lazun also set up several tax officials in the northern foothills, and asked them for [-]% of Timba every year.

Although the Five Heads were miserable, they had no other way. Anyway, the Gansu frontier army could not provoke the pirates, and the pirates could not provoke the Gansu frontier army, but both Gansu and the pirates could bully them.

Later, the Marshal's Mansion drove away Xiao Lazun, and the five Huang Fans had a comfortable life, but soon the Huoluochi army who fled into the mountains and the deserters from Gansu Town jumped repeatedly in Qilian Mountain, and the Gansu Frontier Army was too lazy to search the mountains. Five Huang Fans can only barely resist.

Until the bandit suppression troops of Chen Qindai, the magistrate of Haixi, drove into the mountains, they were completely unable to stop them.

Because Chen Qindai's bandit suppression troops did not come from accumulating virtue and doing good deeds, and Haixi County had a clear boundary marker, so it was bounded by the pass at the highest point of Qilian Mountain. To the north of the pass was the boundary of Gansu Town.

Therefore, as long as the deserters and bandits in the mountains crossed the snow-capped mountains and entered Gansu, Chen Qindai would not pursue them.

The bandits here did not improve slightly until the Three Tribulations would be spread out in Gansu.

Wang Ziyong's resume is complicated. He has his footprints everywhere along the Great Wall. He has led a team to rebel in Yan'an Mansion and Ningxia. At the bottom, he took out eight camps to burn incense and worship Buddha. In Shanxi, he was the most active general in suppressing bandits. In Gansu, he changed his body and became the leader of the Three Tribulations Association.

Most of the bandits in the northern foothills of Qilian were deserters who were deserted by King Qin Hui. These people were deeply impressed by Wang Titui, who led the White Lotus Cultists to sing good deeds. Many people came to join him when they heard Wang’s self-used name. Solved.

Since then, Wang Ziyong has been the best friend of Huangfan from the five tribes of Bazidun.

The chief leader of the five Huangfans is called Tahezhike, the name means tiger, and the Huangfans often call him Anzhang, because people think that each generation is the king of Anding of Beiyuan or the left guard of Handong. Descendants of the founder Amazhap.

He has a yellow beard, a big red face, beeswax beads hanging around his neck, and always wears huge silver earrings, shining in the sun.

At this time every year, Tahezhike will lead his followers to make tributes to the mountain gods, praying for lush water plants, a bumper harvest of food, and more males for the tribe in the future.

Whenever sacrifices are offered, flocks of white-headed vultures will hover in the sky. The old man in the tribe said that the vultures are the messengers sent by the mountain gods to receive the tribute. The animals are safer and healthier.

However, in the eight-character pier of Sunan in the seventh year of Chongzhen, there were no vultures in the sky.

Tahezhike looked up at the red face, until his neck was stiff and sore, but he could not see the scene of the vultures hovering in the sky. In his field of vision, only the low white clouds and the poisonous sun formed a halo, and The braids that were swayed by the west-slanting wind of the eight-character pier.

People's expressions changed from joy to piety, from piety to panic, and finally from panic to despair.

Until someone ran quickly along the mountain ridge, and whispered in his ear: "An Zhang, Wang Guanren is here!"

Tahezhike's face was still full of worry that there was no vulture. He turned his head and was stunned. He shook his head and said, "Don't bring him into the tribe, take him to the deer farm."

The deer farm is the hunting ground of Tahezhike, which is sparsely populated.

Not long after, Tahezhike appeared on the deer farm like a god, sitting on a saddle made of elm wood and riding a horse.

In the forest of tree stumps left after the deforestation, he saw Wang Ziyong, who was sitting on the tree stump.

He flipped off his horse, raised his whip and said, "Wang Huishou, you still dare to come to me, the official army entered the eight-character pier a while ago, and they want us to see you and kill you."

Wang Ziyong smiled and didn't take it seriously. He just gestured to the tree stump beside him to sit down and said with a smile, "My horses are with you, why can't I come?"

Tahezhike also sat on the stump and said to himself: "There are no vultures in the sky. The lama said that this is a sign of war. You are also an eminent monk, what do you think?"

Wang Ziyong heard the title of high monk, smiled and touched his bun, and said, "You know that in northern Shaanxi, although some people called me monk Wang in the early years, more people called me Zijinliang, Zijinliang is the way Crown, so I am not an eminent monk."

"But if you ask if there is going to be a war, yes, there is a war going on, and I'm going to raise an army."

Wang Ziyong looked at the red-faced big man in front of him and said, "I came here this time to invite you. People say that your ancestors are the Yanzhang of the Left Guards of Handong. Let me fight."

"I told you that the official army entered the eight-character pier, and if I see you, I will kill you."

Wang Ziyong was confident: "Then are you going to kill me?"

Tahe Zhike shook his head and said, "You have 970 horses in my hands, which are more than the five of our war horses. Those horses are very good, but the grass didn't grow well this year, and they lost a lot of weight."

"If you kill me, these horses will be yours."

Tahezhike shook his head stubbornly: "You are a friend who has helped us, and the friendship of a friend is better than a thousand horses, I will not harm you because of these foreign objects, you can take them away at any time... How could you be Court chase?"

Wang Ziyong sighed: "The matter of pounding the warhorses and armors from the military fortress has happened."

He shook his head and said, "It's all right. No one will tell the truth, but the governors of the three sides sent Bai Guangen."

"Bai Guangen? He is the one who entered the eight-character pier."

"Yes, he is a traitor who came from the rebel army in northern Shaanxi and surrendered to the imperial court. He is more dedicated to his work than anyone else. He doesn't read the accounts given to him by the officers. He wants to get into the porridge room and see what the soldiers eat."

Wang Ziyong shook his head, he had nothing to do with someone like Bai Guangen.

Originally, the congregations of the Three Tribulations Association were scattered in various military fortresses. By defending against the east wind of the Marshal's Mansion, the guards and battalions in various places had to ask the sergeants to practice rigorously. The training of this kind of camp is very rare, and it takes three days to practice. At one time, it was mainly junior officers and even soldiers honing their craft on their own.

With this path, it is normal for a general flag or a team to lead troops to break two pots of arrows last month, report two sets of armors scrapped this month, and run away two horses next month.

Even the senior officers who reported to them felt at ease, creating an illusion that the soldiers were all studying and practicing hard.

But Bai Guangen didn't believe this. He got into the porridge room and saw that the rice the army cooked for the soldiers was thinner than the porridge he drank when he was in prison when he first surrendered. He understood everything.

Eating is like feeding rabbits. Even the bow has to be pulled lightly. It is impossible to break the bow or smash the arrow. It is still possible for the horse to die. After all, the superiority of the cavalry is placed here. The hungry army will try to kill the horse.

Originally, when things had developed to this point, Wang Zixuan was still safe. Unfortunately, in order to respond to the advance of the Marshal's Mansion, the Three Tribulations Association also recruited many followers in a short period of time, including many mid-level officers and wealthy households.

The Three Tribulations will not have much effect on these people. Many people just donate some money to buy an identity so that they will not be placed in the air.

It is good for them that the Three Tribulations will not be involved. They are the chief land of the Three Tribulations. When they feel that the Three Tribulations are about to rise, they will naturally sell the Three Tribulations to make meritorious deeds and receive rewards.

Wang Ziyong himself just wanted to take a risk. In the past few days, they would raise their flags to rebel when Zhang Tianlin came over without incident. At that time, it would be useless for these people to jump, and he could raise a rebellion as soon as possible. funds.

It's a pity that the matter was noticed in advance, and Bai Guangen stepped in, causing him to be exposed and have to act in advance.

Thinking of this, Wang Ziyong could only look up to the sky with regret. How can things go smoothly in life? After all, man is not as good as the sky, and the soul of a great teacher is looking at him in the sky.

"How about raising troops, raise troops with me, and the Grand Marshal can give you a higher official position than the commander of the ancestors of Handongwei."

"We won't help you."

Tahezhike also refused firmly. He looked at Wang Ziyong and said, "My ancestors have lived far away from the pass for generations. The wind blew away livestock, and the yellow sand buried the tent. They walked through the Thousand Buddha Caves, through the thousands of Foxia, we have entered a place where the Han people have lived for generations, and the Emperor Daming is also our benefactor.

Although he was rejected, Wang Ziyong was not surprised, he just nodded, got up and said, "In this case, I will take the horse with me. If there is an army from the south, tell them that you are my old friend, and they will It won't be difficult for you."

Tahezhike nodded in response, and also warned: "Be careful, they recruited the black and yellow fans from the high platform, and Brother Tiger Wolf sent troops."

"understood."

Wang Ziyong knew that Brother Tiger Wolf was the head of a black and yellow fan tribe on the Gaotai side, but he didn't care, because in the Ming Dynasty, all the Fanyi and Mengtar attached to it had no powerful forces. What he really had to be careful about was still the The Ming Army in Gansu.

Just when he was about to leave, he was suddenly stopped by Tahezhike, turned his head, and saw that Tahezhike took off the Buddha beads that he had worn all his life, kissed the beads, and put them on his head.

"My merits of reciting Buddha all my life are here, I hope it can bless you and live."

At first, Wang Ziyong wanted to dodge, but after hearing this, he stretched his neck obediently and let Tahezhike hang a Buddha bead on him. Then he clasped his fists, said to take care of himself, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, although I In my life, I have never won a war with the official army, but I have never been killed by being pursued by the official army.”

Looking at Wang Ziyong's departure, Tahezhike's statue suddenly became much older, he slowly sat back on the tree stump, waited for a long time, then looked up at the sky, and finally sighed in disappointment: "The vultures are dead, War is coming."

A few days after Wang Ziyong left Bazidun, the Liyuan Fort on the Liyuan River was lost in the army mutiny.

That morning, the original camp of Liyuan Camp held a camp exercise as planned, but as soon as the army left the fort, some people were making trouble during the march, and then it became more and more intense.

The garrison Ma Pin, who led the troops out of the fort, was killed on the spot by the sergeant who was troubled. Then the rebels rushed towards Liyuan Fort with torches high, and the commander Wei Yinglin ordered the castle to be locked and defended. Unexpectedly, this was a premeditated rebellion, and the west wall of the castle was advanced in advance. Bury the gunpowder.

With an abrupt loud noise, the fort wall collapsed. The starving soldiers held high torches and shuttled through the smoke and dust. Guns were fired in unison. In the blink of an eye, the raging fire was ignited in the official barracks, and the black smoke shot into the sky.

When the news reached Ganzhou City, the commander-in-chief Yang Jiamo was furious, and immediately ordered a battalion of troops, led by the guerrilla Li Yun, and together with Bai Guangen to lead the army to attack the rebels.

Bai Guangen's march was in order, and the guerrilla Li Yun was eager to achieve success. He postponed more than a thousand infantry, and led three hundred horses to gallop out to Liyuan Fort. Who knew that he was only fifty miles away from the city that day, and he was ambushed by Wang Ziyong himself and led more than a thousand horses. The cavalry rushed to the chase, and the guerrilla Li Yun was also trapped and killed.

Wang Ziyong's plan was very simple. The original cavalry configuration of the officials in the north was three horses and seven steps. Gansu was a place rich in war horses. .

His plan was to use the Liyuanbao mutiny to lure the Ganzhou officials out of the city and reimburse their cavalry, so that they would be able to master the maneuvers in the next battle, which would be much easier.

Knowing that he had defeated the guerrilla general, Wang Ziyi was extremely excited.

The leader of the uprising that started in the second year of Chongzhen, all the victories he fought in his life were in Shanxi, and he chased down Shanxi pirates to quell the rebellion by the imperial court, in case they were killed by Cao Wenzhao behind him. won.

As soon as he won this time, he was enthusiastic and immediately decided to lead his troops north to continue to challenge the official army. As a result, he bumped into the face of Bai Guangen, who was fat and strong.

Regardless of the seniority of his rebellion, but he only has 1000 people. Bai Guangen originally led a full-scale battalion, and temporarily took over more than a thousand infantry soldiers sent from Ganzhou. More than 4000 horses ran towards him in a mighty manner. Wang Ziyong ran south as if he had met a natural enemy.

At this juncture, Zhang Tianlin, who was trembling with three thousand light infantrymen, finally crossed the Qilian Mountains, holding a big rocket and showing curious eyes to Gansu, which was full of unknowns.