Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 33

China has maintained close trade ties with overseas countries since ancient times, among which porcelain and tea have naturally always been in-demand commodities. But since when have those less valuable cloths become the objects of pursuit by various merchants?

Therefore, during this time of year, small traders who had purchased cloth from farmers would often rush to Zhenjiang overnight, hoping to take advantage of the last wave to sell their goods.

But things are different now. In recent years, the main cotton producing areas of the Ming Dynasty have suffered repeated wars, and the production of cotton cloth has been greatly affected.

Of course, no one would travel overnight at this time of year.

However, there was something different in the past few days. A few days after the news of the fall of Yangzhou spread, groups of messengers and runners rushed from Yingtian to various prefectures and counties to deliver the message.

The order said that the Tartars were about to attack, and in order to prevent the incident in Yangzhou from happening again, the counties and cities in Yingtian Prefecture should evacuate the people if they felt they could not hold on.

As a result, on the originally deserted road, you can see many people with their families walking south together day and night.

"Damn Tartars!"

Zhang Xuchang, who was sitting under a tree to rest, couldn't help but curse when he saw this scene.

When His Highness ordered people to deliver the message to various states and counties that day, although he knew the danger, he was still the first to accept the task.

He himself couldn't explain the reason. Perhaps it was out of anger caused by the emperor's escape, or out of pity for the people, but in any case, he had now completed his mission and was on his way home.

Those of them who were sent to Changzhou Prefecture in the past few days had already split up and were left alone when they returned.

After a while, Zhang Xuchang saw that the hot steam coming out of the horse's nose was no longer clear, so he got on the horse again, but the route he chose was slightly further north than the one he came by.

This route does take less time, but at the same time it is closer to Zhenjiang.

If Zhang Xuchang had not been worried about spending too much time on the road and being unable to return before Yingtian was besieged, he would never have risked encountering Tartar scouts by taking this route.

After walking for more than an hour, Zhang Xuchang had turned into a wide and flat road, but there was no one in sight. It was obvious that the fleeing people also knew how dangerous this road was.

When he was about to urge his mount to full speed, the creature actually stopped by itself.

Zhang Xuchang was anxious, but he could only jump off the horse and lead it to the side of the road.

In more than two days, he ran hundreds of miles. Now not only has the horse reached its limit, but he himself can no longer hold on.

But time was running out, and he had to get back on the road after the horse had recovered for a while.

"Tap tap tap tap."

Before Zhang Xuchang could sit down properly, he heard the sound of horse hooves coming from the west.

At first he didn't take it seriously, but as he changed his mind he jumped up from the ground, and then forced the horse to run into the woods by the roadside.

Now the moon is high in the sky and the sound of horse hooves comes from the west. How can he not be careful at this special time of year?

But how could leading a horse in the forest compare to galloping on the road? He had only run a dozen steps when the sound of the horse's hooves became louder.

Zhang Xuchang knew that he couldn't make any more noise, so he made up his mind and squatted on the ground. As for the horse, he could only hope that it would not be discovered by the visitor in the dark forest.

"Tap tap tap tap."

The sound of horse hooves became clearer and clearer, and a knight was galloping from the west.

Although Zhang Xuchang couldn't see the details of the knight clearly, the outline of his figure still made him feel a chill in his heart.

"I'm afraid this is a Tartar scout."

Although Yingtian is not as different from the north as Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou, there is still a difference in height from a distance. Coupled with the head reflecting the moonlight, Zhang Xuchang immediately guessed his identity.

But this place is located to the east of Zhenjiang, so why would the Tartar scouts appear here?

"Don't they plan to attack Yingtian?"

As soon as this thought arose, it was immediately rejected by Zhang Xuchang.

Yingtian was originally the Nanjing of the Ming Dynasty, and now it is the core area. How could the Tartars ignore such an important place?

After another half an incense stick of time, the knight had disappeared. Seeing that there was no movement around him, Zhang Xuchang prepared to get up and return to the main road.

But who would have thought that as soon as he moved, he heard a sound of breaking air, and then he felt a stuffy sensation on the side of his chest, and then he fell backwards to the ground.

"The Tartar soldiers haven't left!"

This was the first thought that came to Zhang Xuchang's mind, but before he could think of a response, he heard hurried footsteps coming from the forest.

In this situation, although Zhang Xuchang's mind was still confused, his instinct drove him to struggle and climb onto the horse's back.

"Whoosh!"

As another sound of breaking air was heard, Zhang Xuchang, who had barely managed to hang half of his body on the horse's back, fell to the ground.

At this time, the initial shock had passed, and he no longer felt anything in his heart except fear.

"You gave me a hard time finding you."

Zhang Xuchang looked in the direction of the voice and saw a burly man with a bow and arrow on his waist and a short blade in his hand squatting more than ten steps away from him, but for some reason he had no intention of moving forward.

"I ask you questions and you answer them. If you answer well, I will heal your wounds. If you don't answer well, I will turn around and leave." As he said this, the big man looked around vigilantly, and then when he saw that Zhang Xuchang didn't respond, he said again: "You must understand that this injury will not last long."

Zhang Xuchang struggled internally, he knew what the big man said was true, if this wound was not treated in time he would bleed to death.

but.

The big man saw that the other party just refused to cooperate, but there was no sign of anger. He just moved forward a little and said, "Brother, you and I are both soldiers who get paid. There is really no need to sacrifice our lives for a noble man. I am not afraid of you laughing at me. If I were in your shoes, I would definitely not be as stubborn as you."

"Ah."

Seeing Zhang Xuchang's reaction, the man moved forward a little and stopped when he was within two arms' distance.

"I'll help you heal your wound first."

The pain from the two arrow wounds was originally suppressed by the body's instinct, but perhaps it was the man's words that drew his attention, a sharp pain suddenly spread to Zhang Xuchang's brain, and he also let out a muffled groan.

Then the man seemed to have completely let down his guard. He moved to Zhang Xuchang's side and treated his injuries while chatting with him like they were old friends.

"You and I are both miserable people. We have to risk our lives in this desolate wilderness in the middle of the night."

Zhang Xuchang's fear had mostly dissipated with the man's attitude. When he heard this, he directly retorted: "If you don't come to fight us, why do you have to do this?"

The man treated the wound skillfully, laughed and said, "It's all the same. Your emperor and my Khan are fighting for the world, and we ants are just struggling to survive."

"How can our incompetent emperor fight for the world? If it weren't for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Yingtian City might be preparing to welcome you into the city right now."

(End of this chapter)