Chinese New Year

Chapter 513 I Go to Anyang
There is a newly built pagoda in the west of Changle County, named "Yuhua Temple".

Even during the war years, Yuhua Temple was still very popular and offerings continued.

It was already the first day of July, the third day after Changle County was captured by the Jin army. After the situation stabilized a little, some people immediately drove their carriages and horses, impatiently coming to Yuhua Temple to seek spiritual comfort.

Although monks always say that "all beings are equal", there are always people who are more equal depending on the amount of offerings.

Now, several “big brothers on the list” were invited to a quiet place in the backyard, and were offered tea, snacks and the best hospitality.

The kind-hearted Master Huizhao first talked about Buddha nature and Buddhist principles for a while. When he saw that everyone was absent-minded, he smiled slightly, stood up and left, leaving the space for everyone.

There are many temple fields near Yuhua Temple, most of which were donated to the temple by local wealthy families. Most of them were farmlands that had been abandoned for a long time, and they were unable to cultivate them, so they simply gave them away as a favor.

At the beginning, all the monks in the temple had to work in the fields themselves. As the war deepened, some refugees appeared from time to time. The temples took them in and settled them in the temple fields to farm and provide food and silk for the temples.

Most people would give the temple some respect and not disturb it too much. Over time, it became a well-known safe place, and more and more refugees came to seek refuge there.

The monks have now escaped from the hard days of farming themselves, and they recite sutras and worship Buddha every day, feeling so free.

But today something is not good.

A group of soldiers stationed in the manor near the temple and forced them to provide food and fodder.

It was the first time that the mages had seen such naked soldiers. They had no choice but to hand over 5,000 hu of millet and allow them to pick fruits and vegetables in the manor.

They are still here now.

When the sky was just getting light, they had already found a deserted place and formed a line. The shouting and screaming made the Yuhua Temple so noisy that people could not even continue to worship the Buddha.

Master Huizhao climbed up the pagoda and took a look from afar.

The big flag with the word "Gold" was flying high. Thousands of people were divided into several groups. They held long spears and walked forward quickly in rows, practicing assassination on the straw man.

Looking at their ruthlessness, it seemed as if they really treated the straw man as the enemy who killed their father.

There was another person holding a bow and running in small steps, drawing the bow and drawing an arrow as he walked. Then, with a "whoosh", the arrow flew out into the air and hit the straw man dozens of steps away.

He did not stop during the entire process, but shot while moving, which made Master Huizhao take a deep breath and was extremely surprised.

He had seen the troops in the fortress training.

They also have archers, but they tend to stand in a row and shoot arrows without moving.

Moreover, even if you shoot from a stationary position, you often can’t shoot accurately, not to mention shooting while moving…

"No wonder, no wonder." Master Huizhao sighed repeatedly.

Changle County was not without soldiers, but it was taken in three days, two of which were spent on making siege equipment. According to the commander of the fortress who was ordered to deliver grain to the city, the Jin soldiers sent more than a thousand archers to the city and fired at the city, so that the defenders on the city wall could not stand.

The Jin people recruited hundreds of brave warriors to climb the city wall and captured it in one fell swoop.

He didn't believe it at first. How could he be better than you when he shoots arrows from the top of the city wall? But now it seems that it is possible.

It is entirely possible that the defenders did not have that many archers and their skills were not very good, so they were eventually defeated.

The sound of drums was heard on the post road in the distance.

Huizhao looked around and saw countless soldiers marching westward along the banks of the Huan River.

The carts were outside, people were on the inside, in the middle was the river, and many boats were going upstream and following closely.

This is not the first group of people traveling west.

In fact, a group of people had set out yesterday as the vanguard. Huizhao was not a warrior, so he could not count them very well, but he estimated that there were at least three to five thousand people.

Of course it is impossible for tens of thousands of troops to set out on the road all at once.

Some people leave first, some leave later, some have reached the next destination, and some have not yet set off. This is all normal.

After reading for two days, Huizhao felt that he had some understanding of military warfare and learned a lot.

Ugh, sin, sin!
How can a Taoist care so much about weapons? It is really a sin - monks and Taoists are all "Taoists", and can all call themselves "poor Taoist", and there is no such title as "poor monk".

Huizhao reflected on himself while going down the pagoda. After a while, he returned to his meditation room.

After sitting quietly for a while, he hesitated a little, and finally sighed and said to himself: "I can only feel ashamed of Master Cheng."

"Master Cheng" is Fotucheng, a great master from India who traveled thousands of miles to China to preach and spread the Dharma.

Since the Taoist tradition was founded in the late Han Dynasty, there have been hundreds of Buddhist temples throughout the country. They have moved from the common people to the homes of princes and nobles, and the momentum is very good.

For example, the Prince Minhuai Pagoda in Luoyang is exclusively for the royal family.

It is really not easy to get to this point, but some people think it is not enough.

Fotucheng was eloquent, well versed in Buddhism, and ambitious, wanting to build Buddhist temples throughout the Middle Kingdom. But after several years in Luoyang, seeking help from people everywhere, he ultimately failed to build a temple of his own.

I heard that he once went to Xuchang to visit Shao Xun, but didn't even see him.

He went to ask for an audience with Empress Liang again, but still to no avail.

In desperation, they crossed the river and headed north to develop in Hebei.

Huizhao was fortunate enough to host him for half a month. He was very impressed by his Buddhist practice and sought his advice carefully, respectfully calling him "Master Cheng."

Master Cheng has now gone to Yecheng. It is said that with the help of a noble person, he has built a Buddhist temple.

In Huizhao's opinion, Master Cheng should have achieved his goal. From now on, he should worship Buddha and spread the Dharma. With his talent and wisdom, he will surely be able to deeply root the Dao in the land of Hebei.

But he seemed unsatisfied...

Huizhao didn't know what to say about this. This was playing with fire, and those who play with fire will get burned. He didn't dare to participate.

However, I still have some respect for Master Cheng in my heart.

Master Cheng will serve whoever supports Buddhism and his orthodox tradition, even at the cost of his own life.

To be precise, this is not much different from a scholar who burns his boats and bets all his fortune on a certain person in the hope that he will unify the world. It's just a gamble.

There were footsteps outside the yard. A moment later, someone came in and said something in Huizhao's ear.

Huizhao waved his hand and asked people to leave.

Then he closed his eyes and sat in silence for a long time.

The wealthy families in Changle County have decided to abandon Shi Le completely.

The battle was not over yet, and the situation was not clear yet. These people decided to join Shao Xun, which was decisive. After an unknown amount of time, Huizhao suddenly opened his eyes and let out a long sigh.

He also made a decision.

Today, I will bring monks of all sizes to the Jin army camp to provide medical treatment to the soldiers and present them with some medicinal herbs.

In an age of great contention, no one can stay out of it.

Master Cheng was too hasty and might fail. In order to keep the orthodoxy alive, he had to do something.

******
Outside Anyang City, countless people fled in panic with their families.

There is no doubt that this will affect morale.

But most of those who fled were fort commanders and relatives of manor owners, and none of them could be moved. After all, General Ji Baoji, who was responsible for defending Anyang, had just collected a lot of food from them.

After the money and grain have been collected, the hostages will naturally be released.

But only these people can leave, no one else is allowed to run away.

The men went up to the city walls to defend the city, while the women did the laundry and cooked, each with their own tasks.

The news from the south was becoming increasingly unfavorable.

The enemy built a city in Changshagou. Although it has not been completed yet, it is barely usable.

The day before yesterday (July 1st), news came that thousands of enemy vanguards marched north and reached the outskirts of Dangyin City.

Dangyin had no soldiers, and the county magistrate fled in a panic. Hundreds of young men who were temporarily conscripted scattered in panic, allowing the city to be easily occupied.

The enemy general named Yang Dan was so aggressive that after taking Dangyin, he even wanted to head north to Anyang immediately.

Fortunately, yesterday Zhao Lu led his army to attack a Jin grain transport team, killing 300 of their escorting cavalry and more than a thousand infantry, and burning hundreds of grain carts, which slightly curbed their arrogance.

Otherwise, they would probably be able to meet Mr. Yang tonight - it is only forty miles from Dangyin to Anyang by crossing the river to the north.

The sun was setting in the west, and the last ray of sunlight shone on the western city wall, blood red.

Ji Bao climbed to the top of the city wall and suddenly saw a group of cavalry retreating northward.

This should be the last troop to retreat northward from Dangshui.

The overall morale was still high. There were heads of Jin soldiers hanging under everyone's saddle, which showed that they had obviously won a victory.

But they won, won, won every day, and in the end, they were still unable to cut off Yang Dan’s food supply, and they were never able to stop them from heading north.

After building the city in Changshagou, their next step was Anyang.

This is a ready-made city that can be used to store a large amount of supplies and serve as a base to attack Yecheng directly.

There was another sound of horse hooves coming from the east.

Several scouts ran straight to the foot of the city, handed the horses to the defenders inside the sheep and horse wall, and then took a basket to the top of the city.

"General, the Shao bandits' vanguard is fifteen miles away." The scout reported.

"How many people are here?" Ji Bao asked.

"About a thousand people."

"Got it." Ji Bao waved his hand expressionlessly and asked him to go down and rest.

A thousand men were only the vanguard of the vanguard. But no matter what, the Shao bandits were advancing from the east to the west, and were not far from Anyang. In a few days, a large group of troops could enter Anyang and surround the city.

It’s even faster than Li Chong’s!
Ji Bao felt heavy-hearted. After he got down from the city wall, he summoned his staff and asked about the situation of food and grass in the city.

This year, the army was frequently deployed and the food and fodder were insufficient. Up to now, there was only a month's worth of food and fodder in Anyang City. He had to find a way to get this little food. Da Hu didn't give him any because he wanted to store as much food and fodder as possible in Yecheng to help him hold on.

In other words, Anyang can only fend for himself, as he can't take care of too much.

The servants brought tea and food, but Ji Bao had no appetite. After eating a little, he thought for a long time, and finally called his generals and said, "Add 1,000 soldiers to Anyang Bridge in the north of the city, and make sure you defend it."

After the general left, Ji Bao took out his sword and wiped it casually.

Later that night, the sound of horse hooves continued outside the city. Ji Bao stood up to check, but could not see clearly.

After dawn, he climbed to the top of the city wall and saw that more than 3,000 infantry and cavalry had gathered in the east of the city.

Someone was leading a horse and pointing at the city wall in the distance.

Some people rode on horseback, wandering around and observing the terrain.

By noon, more than 3,000 people arrived.

The first thing they did was to cut wood, build fences and establish camp.

Ji Bao did not send anyone to fight, but just watched quietly.

On the fifth day of July, a large number of ships appeared on the Huanshui River.

Tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry were marching on the north and south banks of the Henan River. For a moment, the scene was extremely grand with the rumbling of carts and the neighing of horses.

That afternoon, thunderous shouts like tsunamis were heard outside the city.

Ji Bao climbed up to the top of the city wall again, and saw a big flag with the word "Shao" flying high, standing on the high platform.

Countless soldiers spread out to the surrounding areas of Anyang like mercury pouring out of the ground.

A huge fire had already broken out near Anyang Bridge, four miles north of the city.

More than a thousand warriors wearing heavy armor and holding long swords crossed the trench wall and killed the fifteen hundred soldiers guarding the bridge.

The enemy cavalry also set out.

They seemed not to be regular soldiers, but rather the tribes of the nobility, but they were extremely brave in a favorable battle. They chased the fleeing soldiers guarding the bridge, stabbed and hacked them repeatedly, and arrows rained down like rain, killing the 1,500 men in an instant.

Ji Baoru fell into an icy cave.

In just half a day, Anyang Bridge was completely lost under the fire attack of the Jin troops.

The retreat is blocked.

(End of this chapter)