On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 573 Target Dunhuang
Mai Tiezhang kept his promise, and after breaking the city, he did not vent his anger on the soldiers and civilians in the city.

After reporting victory to Jinyang, he left a small number of soldiers to guard Zhangye to restore local order, while he continued to lead the army to the northwest.

Another goal of this trip is to recover Dunhuang and open up the Silk Road with the Western Regions.

Since the Western Han Dynasty seized the Hexi Corridor from the Huns and set up the four prefectures of Jiuquan, Wuwei, Zhangye, and Dunhuang, the land of Hexi has been inseparable from the Central Plains Dynasty.

Until the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian was focused on attacking the Turks in the north and destroying the Chen Dynasty in the south. He had no time to take care of Hexi. Dunhuang was occupied by Tuyuhun from then on.

After Cui Che exempted the common people from the land rent for one year, and rewarded the army and ministers after the founding of the country, the treasury was once again in short supply. Now that he plans to inspect Hebei, life is even tighter.

Therefore, the recovery of Dunhuang, whether in terms of political significance or the economic significance of opening up trade routes, is the biggest goal of Mai Tiezhang's dispatch of troops this time.

Before the army set off, Li Shimin approached Mai Tiezhang.

"The sage asked me to follow Sugong around. Now that Sugong is commanding Dunhuang, why don't you allow me to go with you?"

It turned out that Mai Tiezhang arranged for Li Shimin to take Yin Shishi's family members to Jinyang, so that he would not be allowed to go west with him.

This made Li Shimin extremely dissatisfied. He straightforwardly expressed his attitude to Mai Tiezhang, hoping to go to Dunhuang with the army.

But Mai Tiezhang obviously didn't intend to take him with him:

"The sage allows you to follow me, just to give you the opportunity to kill the enemy, not to really let you join the army at your age.

"Now Master Yin is dead, you should go back.

"The sage has ambitions in all directions. You go to Jinyang, study hard, and listen to the sage's Yuyin teachings. It will be of great use in the future, so don't rush for a while."

Li Shimin saw that Mai Tiezhang's mind had been made up and could not be changed, so he had to return with regret.

However, Mai Tiezhang still sent soldiers and Li Shimin to escort Yin Shishi's family members back to the east.

On the long Hexi Road, the women and children of the Yin family were not even qualified to sit in the prison car. Their hands were tied and they were roughly pushed forward by the soldiers.

If Li Shimin hadn't been in the team, I'm afraid the women of the Yin family would have been taken advantage of by these people.

Mai Tiezhang can be lukewarm towards Li Shimin, but the Duke of the dynasty and the brother-in-law of the sage, whichever of the two identities are singled out, are the existences that the escorting officers need to carefully curry favor with.

Before Li Shimin set off, he had already stated that he was not allowed to humiliate the women and children of the Yin family, and the officers naturally followed suit.

Whoever dares to disobey orders and delay his own future, he will have that person's head.

Therefore, despite the hard work along the way, the wives, concubines and children of these Yinshi masters were not insulted.

The girl was walking numbly among the pushed team. Her name was Yin Yue'e, and it was the night when the city was broken that she was the lovely girl who caught Li Shimin's attention.

It's just different from the lovely appearance that night when she was dressed in mink fur and carved with jade, Yin Yue'e is now unkempt and wearing coarse clothes.

A young man was next to Yin Yue'e, he looked a little younger than Yin Yue'e.

"Sister, are we going to be sent to Jinyang to be executed?"

asked the boy with a trembling voice.

Yin Yue'e turned her head to look at the boy. This was her younger brother named Yin Hongzhi.

"Man is a sword, I am a fish, I cannot help myself."

Yin Yue'e was full of helplessness.

Yin Hongzhi raised his hand, wiped away the tears for his sister, and said in a low voice:

"Since we are all going to die, why do we have to suffer this pain and walk to Jinyang on foot.

"Sister, why don't we think of a way to escape, even if we are caught and brought back, left and right will only die."

Yin Yue'e was startled when she heard the words, she quickly lifted it up, looked around, and saw that the words of the younger brother did not arouse the vigilance of others, so she was relieved, and was about to say something, when she saw a man who looked like a domestic servant approaching her. come.

"My master is ordered to take this person away."

The house slave pointed to Yin Yue'e and said to the officer in charge of the escort.

There was a clear look on the officer's face, as if to say that although Tang Guogong was young, he was still a man after all.

How could the officer refuse such a small request.

But when the house slave wanted to take Yin Yue'e away, Yin Hongzhi defended his elder sister to the death, not allowing her to be taken away by outsiders.

But after all, he was a boy under ten years old, so how could he be the opponent of these strong men, he could only watch helplessly as Yin Yue'e was taken away, the siblings cried and cried until the other party disappeared from sight.

This scene was also seen by Yin Yue'e and Yin Hongzhi's mother.

The mother of the two, surnamed Gu, was the daughter of Gu Yi, a minister of the Sui Dynasty, and the successor of Yin Shishi.

The Gu family is a barbarian from Tianzhu. His appearance is different from that of women in the Central Plains, but he is very beautiful.

She didn't know what her daughter would go through after being taken away, she cried heart-piercingly, but like Yin Hongzhi, she could only helplessly watch Yin Yue'e being taken away.

Yin Yue'e came to the carriage at the front of the team, and the servant urged:
"Go up quickly, don't keep my master waiting."

Yin Yue'e was terrified and restless, unable to move, until the slave raised the whip, and under the threat of the whip, she walked into the carriage with fear and anxiety.

There was only one handsome young man in the carriage, and Yin Yue'e recognized him.

That night, the boy didn't insult his father's body and left him the whole body.

She also said something, praised her father, and let the vicious general of the Yan army spare the women and children of the Yin family.

Li Shimin closed his eyes and opened his eyes, pointing to the seats on both sides of the carriage, and said:

"It's a long way to go to Jinyang. You are a girl, and you are young. I am afraid that your feet are not strong enough. You should take a carriage along the way."

Yin Yue'e looked at Li Shimin in disbelief.

Li Shimin continued:

"Sit down, I don't have any malicious intentions, and I won't take advantage of others."

That's what he said, but Li Shimin understood that he was indeed tempted by this girl, but he just didn't bother to bully the weak.

Yin Yue'e didn't sit down, she looked at herself covered in dust, for fear of soiling the cushion.

Li Shimin followed her gaze and also landed on Yin Yuee's dirty coarse clothes, he feigned anger and said:

"If I tell you to sit, just sit, don't make me unhappy!"

Yin Yue'e was frightened, and she sat down without caring about soiling the cushion.

The carriage was bumping, Li Shimin was still resting with his eyes closed, and Yin Yue'e secretly looked at him.

She knew that this boy had no malice towards her.

When Li Shimin fell asleep in the carriage and woke up, Yin Yue'e mustered up the courage to ask:

"Can my mother and younger brother get on the bus and let me get off? My younger brother is still young, so I'm afraid he won't be able to make it to Jinyang.

"There is no reason why a mother is suffering, but a daughter is enjoying it in a car."

Li Shimin frowned, and instead of answering Yin Yue'e's request, he lifted the curtain and said:
"parking."

(End of this chapter)