knife

Chapter 501 Small Town
Linwu was just a small county town, under the jurisdiction of Hanzhong Commandery.

Due to the terrain, Linwu has only one main street, which is several miles long and barely wide enough for a horse-drawn carriage to pass through. Hundreds of households live on both sides of the street.

The houses on the outer side of the street are half suspended in mid-air, with thick wooden beams forming a foundation. Standing inside, it seems as if you are on the ground, but if you walk to the window and look down, you will find that the house is suspended in mid-air, with the Han River below. It is currently the flood season, and the surging river roars downstream. If you look at it for too long, you will feel dizzy.

At the other end of the street, behind each house, stood a towering mountain; looking up, one could only see swirling clouds and mist, its peak hidden from view.

Linwu is a vital passage to Hanzhong, the capital of the Hanzhong prefecture. Although it is not large, it has an extremely strong commercial atmosphere. With rivers, mountains, and a constant flow of people, the people living here are naturally much wealthier than those outside. In particular, since last year, the income of the people here has increased exponentially.

Because a large number of people and supplies poured into Hanzhong through this area.

From Chang'an to Hanzhong, we've covered exactly two-thirds of the distance. We can rest here a bit, recover our strength, and replenish our supplies before finally reaching Hanzhong in one go.

Therefore, this place is also an important junction between Chang'an and Hanzhong and Shu Commandery.

Now, Wei Zhengdao, the chief minister of Qin, and the young emperor Li Ping, who had withdrawn from Chang'an, are also resting here.

Although they were fleeing, the emperor and the prime minister were passing through after all, and there had been some prior planning. Therefore, some preparations were made in Linwu. At the end of Dujie Street, a row of rammed earth houses that were originally used as a warehouse for storing supplies were all cleared out, yellow sand was laid on the road, and then red carpets were laid on top, making it look quite presentable.

However, the weather seemed to be uncooperative. After they arrived, it rained continuously. The streets were originally paved with bluestone slabs, but due to the large number of people from outside, countless muds were brought onto the streets, making the once beautiful stone slabs muddy and difficult to walk on.

Linwu County, which normally can only accommodate three to five thousand people, suddenly saw nearly twenty thousand people flood in. You can imagine how crowded and chaotic it was.

Order and discipline have essentially vanished.

At this time, even the most disciplined generals would focus more on appeasing soldiers and maintaining basic order, turning a blind eye to any acts of harassment against the local population.

After all, they were fleeing at this time.

Behind them, Linghu Ye's nephew, Linghu Shili, was leading thousands of elite troops in hot pursuit!
Everyone's emotions are quite unstable.

The Imperial Guards all came from Chang'an and the surrounding counties. For more than a year, although they had been mobilizing the families of the Imperial Guards to migrate to Zhizhong and Shu counties, it was the hardest thing to leave one's homeland. Even with very favorable conditions, the vast majority of them were still unwilling to leave their hometowns.

Staying at home is always great, but going out is always difficult!

This casts a shadow over the army's withdrawal.

So far, desertion is still an isolated phenomenon, which is already extremely rare. This is also the reward for the Wei family's tireless efforts in feeding them money over the past few years.

Although Chang'an was lost, everyone still held onto the hope that they could take it back one day.

Because they were not fighting alone. Behind them were Hanzhong, Shu Commandery, and, more importantly, the Beiting Protectorate outside the pass.

In particular, the morale of this imperial guard was greatly boosted after the Northern Protectorate of the North had recently completely destroyed the Northern Yuan.

Linghu Ye had been in a standoff with the Northern Yuan for decades without accomplishing anything for them, but now the Northern Protectorate, led by Li Dachui and Xiao Changche, had reduced the powerful Yuan to rubble in just a few years.

The imperial court widely publicized this news, claiming that hundreds of thousands of troops from the Beiting Protectorate were about to enter the pass to defend the emperor. Therefore, this withdrawal from Chang'an was merely a strategic retreat, a preparation to preserve manpower for a future counterattack, and also a demonstration of the court's compassion for the Imperial Guards, unwilling to let them sacrifice in vain. Under such propaganda, although the Imperial Guards still had doubts, they chose to obey.

In their eyes, if Li Dachui and Xiao Changche could destroy the Yuan Kingdom, what was Linghu Ye? When they marched into the pass, they would surely be unstoppable. At that time, they would also gain a reputation for protecting the emperor, and wealth and glory would naturally be within their grasp.

The expectation for the future has become the only cohesive force for this army.

Wei Zhengdao sat on a small stool, holding a bowl of ginger soup, and sipped it slowly.

Such drizzle is the most annoying. It wets your clothes without you even noticing, and by the time you feel the cold, the chill has already penetrated to the bone. Before you know it, typhoid fever will come knocking.

If you fall ill during a march, you're practically asking for death.

In three days at most, we will arrive in Hanzhong, where a new beginning will begin.

For Wei Zhengdao, the swift annihilation of the Northern Yuan by Li Dachui and Xiao Changche was both a cause for joy and sorrow.

The good news is that without the Yuan Dynasty's involvement, the Beiting Protectorate can march south to defend the emperor without worrying about trouble at home, allowing them to launch a large-scale southward campaign. The bad news is that the Beiting Protectorate's great victory has also cost them more bargaining power.

The other party will inevitably become more assertive.

But all he had was Hanzhong.

There was a commotion behind him. Wei Zhengdao turned around and saw the little emperor's face scrunched up like a bitter gourd. He kept asking the eunuch to add a little more sugar to the ginger soup.

He also has an emperor!

This is probably the most valuable card I have.

Wei Zhengdao's mood improved considerably. He stood up and said to the eunuch who was feeding the young Emperor Li Ping, "If Your Majesty wants to add sugar, then add a little more!"

As long as the emperor remains in your hands, the greater good is in your hands, and it is not impossible to use the emperor to command the other lords.

"Lord Hong, let's go for a walk!" Wei Zhengdao said, looking at Hong Zhan sitting beside the young emperor. "The Han River flows mightily; viewing it in the rain has a unique charm!"

The two had just stepped out of the earthen house when they heard the thunderous sound of horses' hooves. Turning around, they saw a group of more than ten cavalrymen galloping down the street, whipping their horses into action.

The streets were narrow, crowded with people, and galloping horses made it impossible for anyone to avoid them. Some people were still knocked to the ground.

Wei Zhengdao looked at the dozen or so knights rushing towards him with a look of shock on his face.

Because the one leading the group was his son, Wei Yi.

Something serious must have happened to make Wei Yi so flustered. Wei Zhengdao took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

(End of this chapter)