The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 783 Mayi City

Seeing that Li Yan was very interested in Mayi, he explained: "Your Highness, the walls of Mayi City are covered with bricks and have a stone base. They are about four feet high, with a parapet ten feet high. The circumference is six miles, with four corner towers, three horizontal and four vertical streets in the city, and 12 lookout towers set up around the city to watch for the enemy."

"There is a gate in each of the east, south, west and north, and there is a moon city outside each gate. The defense function is very complete. Although Mayi is in a remote corner, it is actually a key border town. It has experienced countless wars and destruction, and has repeatedly changed hands with the Turks, but in the end it is still in the hands of our Tang Dynasty."

"Changsheng, how many enemies do you think are needed to capture a strong city like Mayi?" Li Yan asked with a smile.

Most of the people on Li Yan's trip had never traveled far, and the one with the most experience was Changsheng, so naturally, Changsheng became the actual leader, and the itinerary along the way was arranged by Changsheng.

Seeing the two people talking, the others stood behind them tacitly and did not interrupt.

After a long journey, the group finally arrived outside the east gate of Mayi. They saw that the gate of Mayi was still open and people were coming and going in front of the gate with natural expressions.

Li Yan knew that Mayi had not yet been conquered by Jie Li, but he knew that his itinerary was similar to that of Li Shimin and Zhangsun Wuji in the original drama.

It was estimated that in these few days, the defenders of Mayi were about to cause a huge disaster. They arrested the crown prince Shi Luodie, who had gone out to pick up girls without telling Jie Li. As a result, they got into big trouble and attracted tens of thousands of Turkic troops.

The isolated city of Mayi, which had held out for many years, was crushed to pieces in the face of the absolute disparity in power.

Chang Sheng smiled. The prince was not familiar with military affairs, so it was nothing for him to ask such a strange question. Besides, the purpose of his trip was to gain experience.

So Chang Sheng explained carefully: "Your Highness, the reason why Mayi City was not lost is not because of how strong Mayi City itself is."

"In fact, Mayi is just a small city with only 3,000 defenders. If we just look at it from a defensive point of view, it only takes 10,000 or 20,000 enemy troops to conquer it."

"However, it is meaningless to attack Mayi alone. The northern part of Hedong Road is mountainous, with steep terrain and many barriers. Even if we take Mayi, there are still a series of important passes such as Shuozhou, Ningwu, Xinzhou, and Yangqu."

"They are all tough ones, and then there is Jinyang, the important city of the northern capital."

"If we break into the Central Plains from this route, even if the Turks have 300,000 cavalrymen, they won't be enough to kill us."

"So, generally speaking, it is more convenient for the Turks to cross the Yellow River and enter the capital from the Guannei Road when going south. So although Mayi is small, the Turks will not attack it. Generally speaking, it is still very safe. In addition, both the Central Plains and the grasslands need to exchange materials."

"Salt, tea, lacquerware, porcelain, brocade and silk from the Central Plains, as well as medicinal materials, furs, cattle and sheep from the grasslands were all traded here. Many Turkic nobles also set up trading companies and warehouses in Mayi City, treating this road as an important trade route and generally avoiding it."

Li Yan nodded silently: "So that's how it is."

No wonder Suizhou City held out for so long in the original drama, but Mayi is more famous in history and is obviously deeper into the heart of the grassland. However, neither Li Shimin, Zhangsun Wuji, nor Fang Xuanling, Cen Wenben, Xiao Yu and others in the court had confidence that they could defend Mayi.

It turns out that this is the case. Shanxi is a place with many strategic passes and is extremely difficult to conquer. Another reason is to maintain trade routes and economic exchanges.

In other words, the Turks will not fight, and if they want to, they can attack at any time.

Not only Li Yan, but also many of the tutors following behind him gained a lot of knowledge.

Chang Sheng felt a little pleased with himself after seeing that he had convinced everyone. He reminded them, "Your Highness, the sun will soon set. Let's rest in Mayi tonight. The brothers have been traveling for seven or eight days in a row. Haven't they had a good rest?"

"According to the information provided by the court, Tuli has set up camp on the north bank of the Sanggan River. He can rest for a day before continuing his journey. He still has time."

"Besides, once we pass Mayi, we will be in the territory of the Turks. The Turks are very mobile and no one knows what will happen. They may even try to avoid Jie Li's troops and stay overnight on the grassland. It's a good opportunity to rest in Mayi and replenish some tents, felt blankets, food and other daily necessities."

Li Yan was not sure when the Turks would surround Mayi, but starting from tonight, it could happen every day, so it was better to be careful.

So he pretended to look up at the sky, then closed his eyes and felt it.

Seeing Li Yan closing his eyes in deep thought, Chang Sheng and others around him were a little confused and looked at Li Yan in doubt. Did he need to consider such a small matter?
But Li Yan's expression gradually became serious and dignified, and finally his brows were tightly furrowed. When he opened his eyes again, his face was full of fear. He looked at the Mayi City in front of him as if he had seen a flood or a beast.

The whole person also looked very depressed and decadent, as if he had not slept for several days and nights.
Chang Sheng asked in surprise: "Your Highness, what's wrong? Is there anything wrong?"

"Changsheng, you are all my close friends, so there are some things I won't hide from you."

Li Yan said with a serious face: "In fact, when I was appointed as the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, I had a special ability, which is to sense the disaster and welfare in front of me. However, this perception consumes a lot of mind and energy." "Just now, I felt a very strong sense of crisis looming, so I deliberately mobilized this ability to observe it, and the result..."

Well.
Whether it was Chang Sheng, Sun Renshi or Gao Kan, they all looked at each other in bewilderment. In ancient times, people still believed in destiny.

Li Yan is the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty and the future emperor. He must also have a destiny. If someone says that such a person has the ability to predict good and bad luck, no one will doubt it.

If you are the same as everyone else, how can you be the true dragon emperor?
But no one has ever seen this except the people involved. There are now two people who have served as emperors in the Tang Dynasty. One is the retired emperor Li Yuan who is living in the harem, and the other is the current emperor Li Shimin. Neither of them will tell others whether they have such miraculous performances.

Of course, even if it was said, there is no way for us to verify it.

As the crown prince, Li Yan was also a little dragon. He kept saying that he could predict good and bad fortune, but everyone was somewhat skeptical. After all, they were all bookworms, not ignorant common people. They had seen many cases of superiors flattering themselves.

Those rebel kings who were suppressed all fooled everyone in this way. A few years ago, Li Mi of Wagangzhai said that he was a real dragon descended to the earth. Wang Shichong, a shameless Western barbarian who was obviously not from the Central Plains, also said that he dreamed of a dragon covering his body.

After Li Yan said this, everyone was obviously skeptical, and this half-belief was probably deliberately shown to save Li Yan's face.

Chang Sheng didn't think much about it. Compared to others, he had followed Li Yan for the longest time and had experienced the most. The prince had escaped death many times.

He believed that Li Yan was helped by God, so he subconsciously asked, "Your Highness, what did you see?"

Li Yan's face was filled with fear and his eyes were filled with endless panic as he said, "I saw an endless army surrounding Mayi. In the end, the city was breached, and the soldiers suffered heavy casualties. Countless people wailed under the iron hooves, and the entire city was engulfed in flames."

"Changsheng, I have a strong feeling that if we enter Mayi, all of us will die without a burial place."

call.
Chang Sheng was also frightened by the scene described by Li Yan. He had experienced mountains of swords and seas of fire, and was not afraid of any scene.

But with a prince like Li Yan on this trip, we can't take any risks.

Finally, after looking at the sky and the nearby terrain, Chang Sheng decisively suggested: "Some things are better to believe than not believe. Maybe God is warning Your Highness. If so, then we will not enter the city."

"Three miles to the east are rolling mountains, and at the foot of the mountains is the Sanggan River. Your Highness, why don't we set up camp there tonight?"

"Let Master Ren and Gao Kan and other seniors go to Mayi City to buy some necessary items for setting up camp, and also prepare some food, clothing and daily necessities. We will rest for one night and go directly to the grassland tomorrow instead of entering Mayi."

Li Yan looked at the terrain to the east, the endless rolling mountains, and nodded silently. Chang Sheng was indeed experienced. He chose to camp here because he had already taken it into consideration. In case a large army attacked from the grassland, with the back against the mountains, they could hide in the mountains, and no matter how many people there were, they would not be a threat to them.

"Okay, let's do as you say. Go and make the arrangements."

"It's Your Highness!"

Chang Sheng bowed and gave some instructions to the people behind him. Then he assigned five or six adult tutors to go to Mayi City, while the others continued to walk eastward.

Li Yan fell into deep thought. On the one hand, he was really afraid. Li Shimin was the emperor and a famous general who could lead the elite troops in Mayi City to fight their way out from the north gate, but he did not have such ability.

Besides, the generals behind him were all famous generals of the next era. If one of them was lost, it would be a loss of a star general for Li Yan, a heavy burden that he could not bear. If he knew there was danger, why did he still go in person? It would be safer to stay outside.

Secondly, if he left the territory of the Tang Dynasty, the authority brought by his status as the crown prince would gradually weaken, so he began to display his unique qualities to command his subordinates, making them follow him unswervingly no matter what the circumstances.

Anyway, this was in ancient times, and displaying miracles appropriately could leave a sense of destiny in people's hearts and convince them.

He knew that not everyone might believe him, but as soon as the Turkic army surrounded the city, they would worship him madly and regard him as a god-like existence.

Several people came to a mountain a few miles away, looking for a suitable place to camp.

About an hour later, before the sun set, Sun Renshi and Gao Kan and others came over with more than ten horses. They bought a lot of things, and with some horses, they could basically guarantee that each person could ride two horses to take all these things with them.

(End of this chapter)