Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 62 Shanzhou Shangmaidservant

"Moo..."

At noon, outside Shandan City, more than a thousand soldiers and civilians were silent, and everyone was busy harvesting.

A large amount of corn and straw was collected and transported to the city, and there were also special people on the grassland harvesting the yellow weeds.

Oxen and horses pulled corn, straw and weeds into the city one after another, and then came out again after a while, repeating this process over and over again.

A large area of the forest in the distance was cut down, but worried that it was not enough, Liu Jilong organized people to dig coal from a nearby coal mine, and piled the mined coal in a warehouse in the southwest corner of the city, away from the granary.

At this moment in Shandan City, neither the military nor the civilians dared to stop. Even children aged seven or eight were mobilized to work in the fields.

"In three days, most of the grain outside the city has been harvested. It will probably take another three days to harvest the remaining beans and hemp."

In the Shandan government office, Cui Shu reported on the autumn harvest outside the city and estimated:
"According to the current situation, we should be able to harvest 22,000 to 23,000 shi of corn this year."

"Even though the weight will be reduced by 30% after the shells are removed, there are still 15,000 to 16,000 shi of rice."

"This batch of food alone is enough to feed the more than 3,300 soldiers and civilians in Shandan City for seven months."

After Cui Shu finished speaking, Liu Jilong, who was sitting in the main seat, remained silent and did not respond, but kept tapping his fingers on the table.

"Any news about Zhangye and Qilian City?"

“No!”

After hesitating for a long time, Liu Jilong asked, and Zhang Huaiman below shook his head.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong took a deep breath and asked, "Have the 200 men from Longshou Mountain been transferred back?"

"I came back last night and participated in the harvest this morning." Zhang Huaiman explained.

After a long silence, Liu Jilong had nothing else to say, so he could only signal everyone to go back to their respective duties.

However, before noon, a group of Tangqi appeared in the west of the city, and everyone gathered together again.

"According to the military order of Governor Zhang, General Liu Jilong of Shandan shall receive the order!"

"Liu Jilong received the order..."

Inside the government hall, Zhangye's chief presented the military order with both hands. Liu Jilian also stepped down from his seat, took the order with both hands and began to examine it.

The letter paper pressed under the military order was opened, and Liu Jilong read the contents at a glance.

He frowned slightly, and did not discuss the content immediately. Instead, he raised his head and signaled Geng Ming: "Geng Ming, send these brothers down to rest."

"Yes!" Geng Ming bowed in response and personally led the Zhangye Tangqi out of the yamen.

Only after they left did Liu Jilong reveal the contents of the letter.

"Governor Zhang ordered me to lead the troops to transport 3,000 dan of grain and fodder to Qilian City, and I must arrive on the fifth day of the first lunar month."

"The fifth day of the new year?!" Zhang Huaiman said in a lost voice, "Today is already the second day of the new year, doesn't that mean there are only four days left?"

Cui Shu also frowned: "It will take the army at least two and a half days to travel from Shandan to Qilian City. Now we have to transport food and grass, but we only have four days. This..."

He didn't dare to continue, but his meaning was very clear.

Compared to their worries, Liu Jilong was worried about the safety of Shandan City: "Qi Lian City may have encountered a major war."

"But if I lead a brigade of soldiers to transport food and grass to Qilian City, even if I follow the military order and transfer back 80 brothers from Longshou Mountain, there will only be 180 brothers in this city."

"If the Uighurs in the north take the opportunity to attack, Shandan may be difficult to preserve..."

His face was grim, but he still thought of a solution in the blink of an eye. He looked at Cui Shu and asked, "How many armors and weapons are there in the treasury?"

"Fifty-four sets of armor, and hundreds of sets of weapons and bows and arrows." Cui Shu explained.

Hearing this, Liu Jilong ordered in a deep voice: "Send people to Longshou Mountain immediately and call back 80 brothers."

"Also, go to the granary in person and transfer three thousand stones of grain and fodder to the South Gate."

"Yes!" Cui Shu responded and turned to walk out.

Seeing him leave, Liu Jilong immediately looked at Zhang Huaiman and said, "I will lead a group of brothers to Qilian City and give each of them a horse."

"As long as the food and grass are delivered, I will lead the troops back to Shandan according to the situation. If I can't come back, you will be the one to guard Shandan!"

"Yes...I obey your command." Zhang Huaiman swallowed hard.

Seeing his appearance, Liu Jilong felt a little worried.

Not all of these powerful children are outstanding people, most of them have mediocre abilities.

"You go back first!"

Liu Jilong gave the order, and Zhang Huaiman also left the hall with unsteady steps.

Watching him leave, before Liu Jilong could say anything, Chen Jingchong and Ma Cheng came up to him, both with worried looks on their faces.

"Don't worry, I'll go with you!"

"me too!"

The two spoke one after another, but Liu Jilong shook his head and said, "You two stay in Shandan City."

"This..." They tried to argue, but Liu Jilong raised his hand to interrupt.

"Zhang Huai is ambitious but incompetent. We kept him here just because he is a lieutenant."

"In order to prevent Shandan from getting lost, I want you to keep a close eye on him in Shandan. If anything goes wrong, send an expedited response to Qilian City immediately!"

After Liu Jilong's explanation, the two finally calmed down.

"Go down and get ready!"

Liu Jilong signaled the two men to leave, and he returned to his courtyard and asked Cao Mao to prepare clothes and armor for him to travel.

The clothes and armor were placed on the saddle of a slow horse. In just an hour, Liu Jilong rode the horse to the south city.

At the same time, horse-drawn carriages kept coming from outside the South City.

These horse-drawn carriages were loaded with armor, weapons and food.

Three thousand dan of grain and armor and weapons for a brigade of soldiers would require a total of six hundred horse-drawn carriages.

Due to the shortage of draft horses, Liu Jilong could only use oxen to pull the carts.

After much difficulty in gathering supplies and vehicles, they needed enough laborers to drive the horse-drawn carriages, but at that time there were not even 400 men over the age of ten in the city.

In addition, men were needed to guard the city, so Liu Jilong could only recruit more than 100 men under the age of 18 to serve as grooms. At the same time, he ordered the soldiers to connect some horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts.

In this way, two or three horses can pull two or three thousand kilograms of supplies side by side, but only one groom is needed.

Starting from noon, Liu Jilong and his grain team finally completed all preparations before 3 p.m.

Before leaving, Liu Jilong repeatedly instructed Zhang Huaiman not to make any decisions on his own no matter what happened, but to send Tangqi to Qilian City for instructions.

After getting Zhang Huaiman's guarantee, Liu Jilong finally felt relieved and led his team to Qilian Mountains.

Shandan in early September has already been tinged with autumn, and the northwest wind is even a bit chilly.

On horseback, Liu Jilong rode to the top of a hill. He first glanced at his grain team, and then looked at the Shandan City in the distance.

Looking at the Shandan City standing on the plain, he couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.

But after being nervous for a long time, he suddenly woke up and couldn't help but laugh at himself.

"We've been living in peace for too long. Even I'm beginning to be afraid of death..."

Turning his horse around, he calmed himself down.

As he shook the reins of his horse, he joined the team and headed towards Qilian City in the south.

At the same time, one day after Liu Jilong set off.

The dull sound of horse hooves could be heard densely in a river valley in the southern Qilian Mountains. A team of thousands of people was hurrying along the valley road towards the northwest.

Although these thousands of people were riding horses, and there were even hundreds of armored cavalrymen in the team, their faces were full of fear.

There were more than ten carriages hidden in the team, one of which was very spacious, enough to accommodate seven or eight people. The carriage was guarded by armored cavalry, and a huge flag was inserted on the roof of the carriage to highlight its status.

"Duo Luo..."

Amid the noisy scene, a voice was heard from inside the carriage.

Hearing the sound, a general on one side of the carriage slowed down his horse, and when he was in the same row as the carriage, he opened the window.

Through the window, I could see a short and stocky Tibetan official sitting in the carriage.

Besides him, there were two sturdy young men in the car.

"Jiedushi..."

The general bowed slightly on his horse and asked, and the short and strong Tibetan official coughed and said, "How many miles to the valley entrance?"

"It should be another eighty miles away, and we will arrive at noon the day after tomorrow." The general responded.

Hearing this, the senior official nodded, but asked worriedly, "How far are Shang Yanxin's cavalry from us?"

When asked, the general was confident:
"It's at least another 100 miles. The terrain of these three slopes is rugged. Even though they are all cavalry, they can't go fast."

"We should be able to reach the valley entrance before they catch up."

"Lu Dongben has already sent out the Tang cavalry. I believe there will be news about the Tang army soon."

"Okay... okay..." The senior official breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the general's words.

As for his identity, he was Shang Bibi, the former governor of Shanzhou of Tubo who had now fled.

"It's my fault that I didn't listen to Huai Guang. That's why I'm in this situation now. Sigh..."

Shang Bibi sighed, and the general fell silent after hearing that.

Going forward in time, even a year ago, the situation in Helong was centered on Shang Bibi.

Who would have thought that it was just a matter of underestimating the enemy, which eventually led to Lun Kongre's troops besieging Shanzhou, and Shang Bibi had no choice but to flee westward.

"As long as we can escape to Gansu and Suzhou and contact the Dongdai in our family, we still have a chance to return to Shanzhou... ahem!"

Shang Bibi couldn't help coughing while comforting the people around her.

Looking at him like this, the general couldn't help but look back at his own troops.

Most of the 3,000 cavalrymen wore simple leather armor, with only 500 wearing lamella armor.

In the middle of the team, more than a dozen horse-drawn carriages were pulling Shang Bibi's family and maps of the five states of Hehuang.

If the Tang army in Hexi were stronger than this team, the outcome would be hard to predict.

It now seems that they have no other choice but to join the Tang army in Hexi.

The road to Lhasa was blocked by Lun Kongre, so they had to take a detour to Lhasa from Hexi.

But before that, they had to get rid of the pursuers behind them.

"drive……"

Shaking the reins, Shang Duoluo could only sigh in his heart and continue to escort Shang Bibi forward.

Time passed, and the Shanzhou soldiers spent their time on the journey except for resting at night.

It was not until noon the next day that news came from the Tangqi, the vanguard of the Shanzhou troops.

They negotiated with the Tang army twenty miles ahead, and the Tang army agreed to let them go out of the valley to negotiate.

Shang Bibi knew about Qilian City, but he didn't expect that the Tang army could repair Qilian City in such a short time.

However, after learning that the Tang army was stationed in Qilian City, he finally felt relieved.

The three thousand men under his command plus the Tang army in Qilian City should be enough to repel the pursuers behind them.

Even if we are defeated, the worst that can happen is that we hold on and wait for help. After all, there is a severe drought and food shortage in the Hehuang and Helong areas right now, and the pursuers will not be able to hold out for long and will have to retreat.

At that time, I can return to Shanzhou or go to Luoshui depending on the situation.

Thinking of this, Shang Bibi asked people to speed up their pace...

At the same time, Liu Jilian, who was escorting grain and fodder to Qilian City, also arrived in Qilian City after a four-day trek.

"Is this Qilian City?"

Sitting on horseback, Liu Jilong and his companions looked extremely embarrassed.

They rushed towards Qilian City in the south, and nearly a hundred cavalrymen were galloping towards them from the direction of Qilian City.

In just a cup of tea, he saw Zhang Huairong, Suo Xun, Jiu Juyan, Li Ji and others on horseback.

"According to the military order of Governor Zhang, we have delivered 3,000 dan of military rations to Qilian City without any error..."

Liu Jilong bowed to the people on horseback. Seeing this, Zhang Huairong also rode forward and reached out to support him.

"I have heard from Tangqi that you have come at the right time. Our people just met with Shang Bibi's people an hour ago. We will probably see them in another hour."

"There is no news about Governor Zhang's troops yet. I think they will arrive in the next two days."

Zhang Huairong's words confirmed Liu Jilong's guess, and Suo Xun also took over the grain transport team and transported the grain to Qilian City.

On the way to Qilian City, Zhang Huairong told Liu Jilong what had happened in the past few days.

First, Shang Bibi sent someone to deliver a letter, offering maps of five states in exchange for a place to live.

Then Zhang Huairong sent people to deliver letters to Shandan and Zhangye, while Zhang Huaishen sent people to order Liu Jilian to transport grain.

After hearing the whole story, Liu Jilong couldn't help but feel heavy-hearted.

"Shang Bibi said that the person chasing him was Shang Yanxin, the emissary of the Hewei tribe, who had 5,000 cavalrymen under his command."

"Since Shandan's food and grass have been harvested, you should stay here with your men to resist this bandit!"

Zhang Huairong was very happy when he saw the more than 200 people brought by Liu Jilong.

Just hearing him say that, Liu Jilong's mood immediately sank to the bottom.

They have only 800 soldiers and 800 civilians, totaling only more than 1,600 people.

Even if Shang Bibi's troops were included, they would probably be no match for Shang Yanxin's troops.

If Zhang Huaishen had arrived a few days later, would this group of people really be able to defend Qilian City?
Liu Jilong's thoughts became more serious when he saw Qi Liancheng.

The east and south sides of Qilian City have been repaired, but the west and north sides have only had a few gaps filled, and they have not been completed yet.

If Shang Yanxin tries to attack by force, Qilian City may not be able to hold out for long.

From this point of view, perhaps they can only gamble on the time difference and hope that Zhang Huaishen will arrive in time with reinforcements.

Liu Jilong was so exhausted and hungry that he had no mood to talk along the way.

Zhang Huairong and Suo Xun also knew that he was quite tired, and the situation was not optimistic, so after asking the soldiers and civilians in the city to unload the grain, they ordered everyone to carry armor and rush towards the entrance of the valley.

Even Liu Jilong didn't have much time to rest.

He put on heavy armor and headed to the entrance of the valley with the team.

Qilian City was more than ten miles away from Sanxie Road. It was an hour later when they arrived at the entrance of the valley.

Eight hundred Shandan soldiers stood at the entrance of the valley of Sanxie Road, with long spears in full view, and all of them wearing heavy armor.

The action of standing in heavy armor at such an altitude made many people turn pale, and even Liu Jilong felt a tightness in his chest.

Fortunately, Shang Bibi didn't make them wait too long. After only a quarter of an hour, the sound of dense horse hooves came from the entrance of the valley.

Finally, with heavy breathing, the Shanzhou Tibetan troops with Tibetan flags emerged from the entrance of the valley and walked towards the Shandan army at a leisurely pace.

Seeing this scene, Liu Jilong clenched the spear in his hand.

"Shang Bi Bi, you are here after all..."

(End of this chapter)