The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 556: Prince Jin Crosses the River
On the fifth day of the fifth month of the twelfth year of the Hongguang reign, at the horse review ground at the Chu Prince's Palace on Gaoguan Mountain in Wuchang, flags were waving and swords and spears were everywhere.

Zuo Liangyu, the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, the Duke of Kunshan, and the Commander-in-Chief of Jiangxia, sat upright, his eyes slowly sweeping over the officers below the stage.

Completed in the 12th year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty, the Wuchang Chu Palace boasts 811 rooms and suites, similar in layout to the Yan Palace. The main gate, front and rear halls, and four gate walls are decorated in turquoise, while the corridors are indigo. The four main gates are lacquered in red and studded with gold, creating a magnificent and opulent palace.

Since Zhu Zhen became a vassal in the 12th year of Hongwu, the Chu King lineage has passed down eight kings, which is considered a "long-lived" branch among the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty.

In the first year of the Hongguang reign, Liu Zhaosun, the Protector of the Country, usurped the throne and the Tianqi Emperor Zhu Youjian passed away. The troops from the north and south surrounded the capital and attacked Liu Zhaosun in the name of pacifying the rebellion, causing chaos throughout the country.

Seeing that the time was ripe, King Zhu Huakui of Chu also led a motley crowd of 2,000 people to go on an expedition in the name of "pacifying the rebellion". However, his target was not the regicide and usurpation of the throne by the Duke of Protectorate in the north, but his distant relative Zhu Changling who had just proclaimed himself emperor in Southern Zhili.

The army marched eastward along the Yangtze River to conquer Southern Zhili. However, Zhu Huakui, ambitious but incompetent, was defeated by Zuo Liangyu, who sailed up the river, before he even reached Nanjing. Deserted by his allies and with nowhere else to go, Zhu Huakui was forced to set himself on fire in the river at Zhenjiang. Thus, the Chu vassal state was severed.

Zuo Liangyu was rewarded with the title of Marquis of Jing'an for his meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion. In the second year of Hongguang, as the promised food and money from the Southern Ming court had not arrived, Zuo Liangyu was furious and allowed his troops to plunder Jiangxia City and Baishazhou area, massacring civilians in an attempt to claim credit. He then plundered Jiangxia twice and occupied the Prince of Chu's Palace.

In the third year of Hongguang, the court not only did not punish Zuo Bu, but also conferred the title of Kunshan Duke on Zuo Liangyu, and included the Wuchang area in his defense range. Zuo Ying moved to Jiangxia, confronting the Fourth Corps of Qi State stationed in Jiangbei across the river.

After taking control of Jiangxia, Zuo Liangyu accepted the advice of his aide Lu Jingcai: "Build high walls, store up food, and slowly declare yourself king."

Wuchang City was then built. Zuo Liangyu spent three years expanding the city wall to the south of Snake Mountain, not only enclosing Snake Mountain within Wuchang City, but also enclosing Ziyang Lake, Chang Lake, Gedi Lake, West Lake, and Dusi Lake.

Taking advantage of the Qi army's eastward expedition to Korea to encircle and suppress the Cossacks, Zuo Liangyu expanded the circumference of Wuchang City to 30 miles, added artillery and firearms at each city gate, and the number of soldiers defending the city increased sharply from the original to .

By the eighth year of Hongguang (the third year of Taichu), Zuo Liangyu had built Wuchang into a strong city comparable to Nanjing, and with the support of the Yangtze River defense line, the Duke of Kunshan thought he was unbreakable and was very proud of himself.

Although the Qi-Ming peace agreement had been reached, and although Liu Zhaosun and Zhu Changling had become uncle and nephew, when Duke Kunshan thought of how Liu Zhaosun had humiliated him, how he had killed his eldest son Zuo Menggeng, and how he had threatened Zuo Ying, he could not sleep at night and never forgot about revenge.

He ignored the advice of Emperor Zhu Changling and insisted on being an enemy of Qi. He first launched several provocations on the Huaihe River defense line, but was defeated by Qin Jianxun stationed in Xuzhou. So he turned his attention to Wuchang in the west. It was said that the defense here was even weaker, and a large number of Qi troops from the Fourth Corps were withdrawn north to assist the Korean battlefield.

Zuo Liangyu learned from the lessons of his previous failures and first searched for Qi spies in various places in Huguang and Jiangxi. As a result, he captured Yu Chengze, a salt merchant from Raozhou. Following the clues, he found the whereabouts of Li Dingguo.

Zheng Chenggong could have spared Li Dingguo and let him go back to report the news, but Duke Kunshan did not have such magnanimity. His entire family died at the hands of Liu Zhaosun, and blood debt must be repaid with blood.

"Liu the thief is going too far. Do you really think that Zuoying is a market where you can come and go as you please?"

"Go after them! Search Wuchang City and beyond. Don't let these Qi bandits escape! Pass the order on! Whoever captures Li Dingguo alive will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver, and promoted three levels!"

~~~~~
On Baishazhou in Jiangxia, thousands of torches formed a sea of fire, chasing towards the wide and flat river bank.

The young man was leading a skinny mule with a young girl on its back. Both of them were in tattered clothes and looked unrecognizable. To avoid being hunted, they had been hiding here for two days, just waiting for a ferry to cross the river.

There was a sound of dense footsteps coming from the distance, mixed with the sound of armor colliding with weapons.

"The Ming army is chasing us, let's hide first."

The girl nodded, and the boy helped her down.

He took the five skulls out of the package, filled it with sand again, placed it on the back of the mule, and kicked the horse on the butt. The mule and horse could not bear the pain and ran away to the south.

The two walked further north and curled up in a dense and messy bush.

After only a cup of tea, he heard the shouts of pursuers all around.

"There are horse hoof prints here, heading south. Chase them!"

"All of you, go pull all the ferry boats from Baishazhou over here. Without the boats, they can't escape!"

Li Dingguo held a dagger in his hand and protected Yin Susu while they hid in the bushes. The two held their breath and listened attentively to the crunching sound of official boots stepping on the water plants outside, not daring to make a sound.

They fled from Jiangxi to Huguang to avoid being hunted by the Ming army. They stopped and walked along the way and unknowingly had been walking for more than a month.

Drawing on Li Dingguo's previous experience as a refugee in Shaanxi, the two of them hid during the day and traveled at night, avoiding densely populated towns and cities, and only took the back roads of the wilderness. Occasionally, they would engage in some petty theft, stealing clothes and food from the villagers. This is how they managed to survive until now. Every time Li Dingguo stole a chicken, he would solemnly tell his companion:
"When our army marches south, we will definitely repay these villagers double."

Yin Susu remained silent. The prefect's daughter had a much deeper understanding of the government than Li Dingguo. The court was exploiting the people, and taxes had been collected for seventy years during the Hongguang period. It was a question whether these villagers could survive this winter.

After stealing several times, Li Dingguo felt guilty and stopped traveling through the countryside, so they came to Wuchang City.

"You, why did you save me? And twice."

Yin Susu asked the handsome young man with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes more than once why he saved her twice.

"A meal of kindness should be repaid with a spring of gratitude."

Li Dingguo always answered her like this.

"Is there no other reason? For example, my father is the governor of Raozhou, for example..."

It was midsummer, and the girl was wearing a blue cloth dress that she had just "borrowed" from a clothing store in the east of the city. Although it was simple, it brought out her graceful figure.

During the Ming Dynasty, the Han River changed its course, forming Hankou Town, which gradually developed into one of the most important cities in China. It is known as one of the "Four Gatherings of the World" together with Beijing, Suzhou, and Foshan, and is also known as one of the "Four Famous Towns" together with Zhuxian Town, Jingdezhen, and Foshan Town, becoming the most prosperous place in the land of Chu.

As Yin Susu spoke, she looked back at the city walls of Wuchang with infinite tenderness. If she hadn't been fleeing, she would have definitely visited here. "Your father threw you into a pig cage for the sake of a chastity arch and his own future. What kind of father is he? Back then, when you and I fled to Bailuyuan, he gave me his last mouthful of Guanyin soil to eat and starved to death himself..."

Li Dingguo seemed to have opened up his mouth and told the miserable girl everything he had not said along the way.

When Emperor Wu Ding was promoting the Qi Dynasty's land system in the north, the chastity arch of the Hongguang court was built from Jiangxia to Xiamen, Fujian.

This is a crazy era. Those in power are using what they believe to be right to wantonly torture their people.

A red snake as thick as a bowl suddenly crawled out of the water plants and rushed towards the woman.

"what!"

The disheveled Yin Susu screamed in fear. Li Dingguo was quick-eyed and quick-handed. He swung his sword and slashed. With a flash of cold light, the red snake broke into two pieces.

"It was dangerous,"

Yin Susu gasped for breath, and her pale and pretty face was reflected on the surface of the river.

At this moment, the severed snake head suddenly flew up and hit the woman's calf like lightning. Li Dingguo hurried forward, split the snake's head with a dagger, and began to suck on the wound bitten by the poisonous snake.

Yin Susu stared blankly at Li Dingguo, watching the young man suck out the snake venom, and couldn't help asking him again:

"Why did you save me? This is the third time..."

"A meal of kindness should be repaid with a spring of gratitude."

~~~~
A hint of paleness appeared in the eastern sky, the chirping of insects and croaking of frogs disappeared from the ears, and a light rain began to fall in the sky. The eastern part of the Yangtze River, which was covered with mudflats, was washed by the rain, revealing its original hideous and ugly face.

Nine rivers flow across China, a deep line running through north and south. Misty rain stretches across the vast expanse, a tortoise and a snake lock the river.

Guishan Mountain was right in front of them. After crossing the vast river, the territory of Da Qi would be to the west. Li Dingguo did not dare to hesitate. Holding Yin Susu's hand, they walked along the muddy river bank, one step deep and one step shallow, searching for a ferry to cross the river.

Suddenly, a flash of red appeared on the river bank, and a group of Zuo Liangyu's servants discovered them.

"Don't let the Qi bandits escape, catch them!"

Li Dingguo raised his dagger, ready to fight to the death.

At this critical moment, an old man emerged from the woods by the river. He was wearing a square scarf and a Taoist robe, leading two horses in one hand and a whip in each. He shouted:

"General Li, mount your horse!"

Li Dingguo didn't think twice and quickly helped Yin Susu onto the horse. He took the whip and jumped onto another horse and galloped away.

The servants from the left camp pointed at the old man and angrily cursed, "You old bastard, I'll come and kill you later!"

The young boy and girl rode their horses towards Baishazhou in the north. Less than half a mile away, they were blocked by a group of Ming soldiers in front of them and had no choice but to turn south again.

More servants came from the south, drawing their bows and arrows and shooting at the horses.

Li Dingguo went to the bank of the Yangtze River and looked around. All he saw was the vast expanse of water.

The Ming army was chasing them again. Li Dingguo was so anxious that he felt he had no way to escape. He cried out, "Heaven has forsaken me!"

At this shout, the horse suddenly raised its two hooves and jumped into the river with Li Dingguo on its back.

When the Ming soldiers saw this, they shouted, "Oh no!" and shot arrows into the river. The horse was like a fish in water, and the two men on its back disappeared. When they boarded a boat to chase after them, a thick fog rose over the river, and they could no longer see them. How could they chase them?
The Zuo family servant was furious. Seeing that the two Qi bandits had disappeared, he returned to the forest to look for the old man, but the old man had disappeared.

~~~~~
Let’s talk about Li Dingguo and Yin Susu riding horses and jumping into the Yangtze River. The surface of the river was foggy and Li Dingguo could only hear the sound of water. In less than half an hour, the horses had already crossed the river and jumped onto the shore.

After walking for a while, they came to a dense forest. The horse lifted Li Dingguo off the ground and ran into the forest.

Li Dingguo turned around and saw Yin Susu beside him. He couldn't help but exclaimed, "Could it be the gods' blessing? May the Great Emperor Zhenwu bless you!"

As he was thinking, he looked up and saw that the sun was setting. It was getting late, so he had to slowly walk into the forest.

There actually was an ancient temple here. Looking up, I saw an old plaque on the temple gate. Although it was peeling, the words on it were still visible: five golden characters, "Cui Fujun Temple."

The two men walked into the temple gate. Inside stood two clay horses, the same color as the ones they had ridden. Seeing that the horses were dripping wet, Li Dingguo thought to himself, "Could it be that these horses are the ones that took us across the river?"

It turns out that Wanyan Gou's mud horse crossing the river was not just a fantasy, it was all true!

Yin Susu cried out, "That horse is made of mud. How can it not be damaged if it gets wet?" Before she finished speaking, there was a sound, and the horse melted into pieces.

Li Dingguo was furious when he saw the two horses turned into mud and water. He was about to scold Yin Susu when the prefect's daughter walked straight up to the hall, raised her hand to the statue and said:
"My wife and I have been blessed by divine power today! We have escaped death. When we return safely to Da Qi, I will rebuild the temple and recreate the golden statue with you!"

"A couple?"

(End of this chapter)