Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Upon hearing the servant's words, Li Dali was overjoyed.

During this period, all eight city gates of Taiyuan were kept closed, and all internal and external transportation was completely cut off.

Now that Liu Nie has taken the initiative, the six hundred banner troops of Taiyuan Left Guard in the city are surely doomed.

The vast majority of people were either dead or captured, and the few lucky ones who escaped were hiding in the city, not daring to show their faces.

Besides these 600 bannermen, the concubines and servants of the Li family, spanning three generations, in their mansion within the city, have likely also fallen into Liu Nie's hands.

The most important of them were Zhang Yin's only grandson, Li Tong, and the concubine who was pregnant with Li Tong's child.

Originally, Zhang Yin and his son both thought that Li Tong and Chu Nanyin had either been captured by Liu Nie or had died in Taiyuan City.

If Li Tong and Chu Nanyin both die, the third generation of the Li family will have no male heirs, leaving only a ten-year-old girl, Li Tong's younger sister, Li Man.

Fortunately, Li Man had been raised on Blackwood Cliff and did not live in Taiyuan, which is why she was able to survive this incident.

During the two days that Li Dali waited on Blackwood Cliff for Zhang Yin's army to arrive, he even seriously considered finding a capable son-in-law for Li Man as his successor.

Since Li Tong and Chu Nanyin had already left the city before the incident, there is a high probability that they are still alive.

"Are you sure Li Tong and Chu Nanyin really left the city?"

Just then, Zhang Yin suddenly spoke up and asked a question.

"Reporting to the Master."

The servant quickly replied.

"It was this carriage that I prepared for you, young master, and as you instructed, I also put a lot of dry food on it."

The driver was Cai Zhongqian, who served the young master.

Before leaving the city, the young master instructed me to accompany him on a task after he returned.

However, less than an hour after the carriage left the city, the city gates were closed. At the time, I was a little puzzled as to why the city gates were suddenly closed in broad daylight.

When they returned, they found that the government troops had completely surrounded Li's residence.

Seeing that things were going badly, the young man didn't dare to go any closer and went straight to hide at the house of a widow he was seeing, thus escaping disaster.

"So, Li Tong originally planned to have Cai Zhongqian escort Chu Nanyin out of the city to seek refuge."

Li Dali nodded.

He himself was not prepared to leave Taiyuan; he wanted to return to the city.

However, Liu Nie launched his attack shortly after he sent Chu Nanyin out of the city, and once the city gates were closed, he naturally couldn't return.

Logically speaking, Li Tong should have gone to the Taiyuan Left Guard military camp after discovering the incident in the city!

At that time, Liu Nie had just taken control of all the city gates of Taiyuan, and most of his troops were to besiege our six hundred banner troops inside the city.

There weren't many troops available to guard the city gates.

If Li Tong immediately mobilizes the more than 4,000 men of the Taiyuan Left Guard outside the city and concentrates their forces to launch a fierce attack on one of the city gates, there is a chance to break through the city and take Taiyuan.

However, Li Tong did not appear at the Taiyuan Left Guard military camp at all.

Until my father returned from Shuozhou and I returned from the capital, the Left Guard of Taiyuan had no idea what had happened in the city, and no one had seen Li Tong.

"I'm afraid Li Tong can't do it."

Zhang Yin shook his head.

"He has never held an important position in the church, let alone presided over any major events."

The followers call Li Tong "Young Master" because he is your son and my grandson!

If he were to lead the uprising of Taiyuan Left Guard on his own, would those commanders really listen to him?

Even if I were to obey his orders out of respect for my father and me, Li Tong still wouldn't know how to command a siege.

Li Tong possessed this much self-awareness; otherwise, he wouldn't have sent a messenger requesting Elder Bai to remain at Blackwood Cliff while Zhao Xixian went to Taiyuan to oversee the uprising.

"We haven't heard any news about Li Tong at all in the past few days since we started the uprising."

Li Dali frowned.

"If he were still within the city, that would be understandable. But since he left the city long ago and didn't go to the Taiyuan Left Guard camp, where could he be now?"

"Perhaps, when Li Tong saw the city gates suddenly close, he realized something had happened inside the city and fled to another place with his pregnant concubine."

After a moment of silence, Zhang Yin finally spoke.

"If that's really the case, it's not necessarily a bad thing."

War is dangerous and perilous; who can say for sure what will become of you and me, father and son?

If Li Tong could take my unborn great-grandson away from the battlefield, it would be a way to preserve one bloodline of the Li family.

"I hope so."

Li Dali sighed softly.

"At this point, we can't worry about him anymore."

Before the imperial army arrives, I should prepare to leave the pass for Tumed.

"My son will surely reach an alliance with Anda, and next year, the right-wing Mongol army will enter the pass and march straight to Pingding Prefecture, relieving the siege of Heimu Cliff."

"Li Tong knew to send his pregnant concubine away before the unexpected happened."

Zhang Yin stood up.

"Great gift, take Li Man with you to Tumote as well."

In comparison, Tumet is still safer than Black Cliff.

Elder Wu will also be going with you. To establish a branch of our sect in the Mongol territory, we'll need a highly skilled master who can keep things under control.

. . .

half a month later.

Inside an inn at Yanmen Pass.

"Your subordinate Luo Ting greets the Left Protector and Elder Wu."

A middle-aged man dressed as a businessman entered the guest room and greeted Li Dali and Wu Nian with a fist and palm salute.

This man was the leader of the Yingzhou branch of the Maitreya sect. Yingzhou is less than a hundred miles north of Yanmen Pass. Luo Ting happened to be in Yanmen Pass on business and met Li Dali and his group.

"No need for formalities, Master Luo."

Li Dali gestured for Luo Ting to sit down.

"We originally wanted to leave the pass today, but the Ming army has already sealed off the pass, and merchants and travelers are not allowed to pass."

"Does Master Luo know of any other shortcuts that can bypass the pass and reach the north?"

"Your subordinate observed that the Left Protector and his party were disguised as merchants traveling with several carts of goods."

Luo Ting thought for a moment,

"The only roads that are passable by vehicles are Zhengguan and the old Xixing Road."

Both roads were guarded by Ming troops, and Zhai Peng, the newly appointed governor of Xuanda and Shanxi, had already ordered the passes to be sealed off, prohibiting merchants and travelers from passing through.

Zhai Peng is currently assembling a large army in Shuozhou, and they will soon head south through Yanmen Pass.

It seems unlikely that it will be possible to bring the goods across the border in the short term.

If these goods are not important items to be taken outside the pass, it would be better to leave them inside Yanmen Pass.

If it's just a few people without horses or goods, I do know a way to get them out of the pass.

Some of the hidden spots in the wall are actually secret tunnels that people can crawl through. These tunnels were even dug by the defenders themselves to facilitate the entry and exit of scouts.

If we give the guards some money, we can also get out through these hidden tunnels.

In addition, there are some relatively low passes on the side wall, such as Dashikou, Ruyuekou, and Malankou.

There is no fighting nearby now, and there won't be many soldiers patrolling these passes at night; it's not difficult for someone to sneak over them.

"How long has it been since the cult leader assassinated Fan Jizu?"

The newly appointed Governor-General of Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi has not only arrived in Shuozhou, but is also already assembling a large army!

Wu Nian asked,

"The imperial court's reaction was surprisingly swift?"