Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1094 1089 [Dragon Tail Pass]

Dali, Wuwei Temple.

Duan Yu, who has become Master Guanghong, naturally cannot eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures all day long.

Even if you become a monk, you have to leave behind some "merits".

He first rebuilt the Luohan Hall of Wuwei Temple and summoned craftsmen to carve 500 stone Luohan statues. Then he picked up a hammer and carved statues of eminent monks from past dynasties in Wuwei Temple himself.

"Dangdangdangdang..."

The hammer kept hitting the chisel, carving lines on the stone wall. Duan Yu's stonemasonry skills became more and more sophisticated.

Suddenly, there was a sound of footsteps.

Duan Yu put down his hammer and chisel, turned around and looked at the soldiers running towards him: "What do you want to do?"

The person leading the troops was Gao Guanyinmiao, the son of Gao Guanyinlong. He knelt down and bowed to Duan Yu, saying, "Your Majesty, I have been ordered to take you back to the city."

Duan Yu said: "My Buddhist name is Guang Hong, and I am a monk of Wuwei Temple. I should stay in Wuwei Temple."

Gao Guanyin said: "Your Majesty, Shanchan Prefecture has been captured by the Ming thieves, and Gao Zhenshou's army of tens of thousands was defeated. Gao Liangcheng collected the remaining troops, but refused to go to the capital to defend the king, which seems to be a sign of treason. The Ming thieves may attack Dali at any time. Your Majesty's safety in the mountains is unpredictable, and you should return to Dali City as soon as possible to protect your body. Moreover, your Majesty and Gao Liangcheng had a harmonious relationship, so please ask your Majesty to personally issue an edict to order Gao Liangcheng to defend the king."

"Shanchan Prefecture was breached?" Duan Yu asked in surprise.

"It has been occupied by the Ming bandits for many days." Gao Guanyin said wonderfully.

Duan Yu asked again: "Gao Liangcheng took over Gao Zhenshou's remaining troops, and you said Gao Liangcheng refused to go to the capital to defend the king. Then who is ruling the city of Dali now?"

Gao Guanyin said: "Ningguo Duke and Prime Minister Gao Yucheng was born."

Duan Yu's eyes widened immediately after hearing this, and he pointed at Gao Guanyin Miao with a trembling arm: "You guys are still fighting for power when the country is about to be destroyed!"

Gao Guanyin Miao prostrated herself on the ground: "Please ask the emperor to return to the city."

"Please ask the Emperor to return to the city!" A large group of soldiers knelt down and surrounded Duan Yu.

Duan Yu really wanted to pick up the hammer and knock Gao Guanyin to death with one blow.

More than 60 years ago, the powerful official Yang Yizhen usurped the throne and killed the Dali ruler Duan Lianyi. Gao Zhisheng and his son Gao Shengtai restored order, destroyed the Yang emperor, welcomed Duan back to the throne, and took the opportunity to arrange for their children and grandchildren to control the states and counties.

Immediately afterwards, Gao Shengtai usurped the throne, changed the country's name to "Great China", and proclaimed himself "Emperor Zhengde of Great China".

In order to win local support, Gao Shengtai did not disrupt the jurisdiction of the Gao clan's princes, but instead further consolidated Gao clan's control over the state capital.

At that time, a rule was set that Gao Shengtai's descendants would rule western Yunnan for generations, while his younger brother Gao Shengxiang's descendants would rule eastern Yunnan for generations.

If everyone always abides by the rules, Dali's politics will not be in chaos.

However, the thirty-seven barbarian tribes captured Shanchan Prefecture, and Gao Shengxiang's descendants suffered heavy casualties. Gao Shengtai's descendants took the opportunity to suppress the rebellion to cross the border and seize territory.

Including Gao Liangcheng’s territory, Weichu Mansion, which was also snatched away by his father at that time!

Once someone breaks the rules, will no one follow suit?
Wouldn’t the Gao clan princes be jealous if they could seize the fiefdoms that had been demarcated long ago?

The fiefdom can be seized, but can the position of prime minister be seized?

Not only has he seized the position of prime minister, but it has also become easier for him to seize territory!

For example, Gao Liangcheng and his father not only forcibly seized Weichu Mansion, but also took away Xishuangbanna and Pu'er further south.

Faced with a group of soldiers kneeling on the ground and shouting, Duan Yu closed his eyes and gave up resistance, and obediently followed them back to Dali City.

All the villages along the way were in a state of decay.

Gao Zhenshou had already recruited soldiers from the capital area once, and Gao Yuchengsheng now forced young and strong men to serve as soldiers, and even forced them to die because of the shortage of food and fodder.

In every village, all the young and strong people who could escape fled!

The convoy caught up with a group of able-bodied men escorting soldiers. Duan Yu lifted the curtain and was extremely shocked to see that those "able-bodied men" who were captured from somewhere to serve as soldiers were mixed with white-haired old men.

Duan Yu suddenly thought of "The Stone-Harrow Officer".

Duan Yu had never led troops in battle, but he knew in his heart that this white-haired "old soldier" could not possibly defeat the ferocious Ming army.

These traitors are bringing disaster to the country and the people, they all deserve to be killed!

Unfortunately, this Duan Yu did not know the Six Meridians Divine Sword or the Northern Ocean Divine Art. He did not even have the freedom to continue staying in the temple, and had to return to the palace as the emperor emeritus, lest he be captured by the sudden attack of the Ming army.

……

Lizhou, Sichuan.

A county had been established in the barbarian areas south of the Dadu River and was under the jurisdiction of Lizhou, with the county seat located in the northeast of the later Yuexi County.

Troops were also sent there. Only two thousand Ming soldiers went south, and the rest of the troops were all barbarians.

The leader of the barbarians was Bai Qi’s old lover Cun Aguo.

After besieging Jianchang Prefecture (Xichang) for many days, the defending general Gao Yuchenghui was forced to surrender. That place was originally the territory seized by Gao Liangcheng. In order to gain the support of Gao Yuchengsheng, Gao Zhenshou replaced the military position of Jianchang Prefecture with Gao Yuchengsheng's son.

Further south, Gao Yuchengsheng's old nest, Tongshi Mansion, was captured by troops led by Lin Chong and Gao Liangcheng.

However, no prisoners were captured, and no money or grain was seized. Gao Yuchengsheng had already moved all his troops, clansmen, and property to Dali.

Bai Qi personally led the main force and successively conquered the prefectures and counties in the southeast of Dali capital.

More than ten days later, Bai Qi and Lin Chong, who had divided their troops into two groups, captured various states along the way and finally met up successfully on the shores of Erhai Lake.

Gao Liangcheng took the initiative to help analyze the battle situation: "Dali City is adjacent to Erhai Lake in the east, Cangshan Mountain in the west, Longwei Pass in the south, and Longshou Pass in the north. If we have a large number of warships, we can cross Erhai Lake and take the city directly, but all the ships have been collected by Gao Yuchengsheng, and it is too late for us to temporarily build warships. Therefore, we must storm Longshou and Longwei Passes." "The key to attacking these two passes is to occupy Cangshan Mountain first. There must be military camps on the mountain at this time, and we must storm those military camps."

"Although Gao Yuchengsheng is the prime minister in the city, Gao Guanyinlong must also be very powerful. If the two of them join forces to steal the government, they will inevitably have grudges in the long run. Because Gao Guanyinlong is a direct descendant of the Gao family in the East Route, while Gao Yuchengsheng is a branch of the Gao family in the West Route. The two of them are mixed together purely for their own interests."

"While attacking Cangshan, you can send letters to the Dragon Head and Dragon Tail Passes, stating that we will only kill Gao Yuchengsheng, and that we will treat Gao Guanyinlong well if he surrenders. This conspiracy of alienation is guaranteed to cause chaos among them."

"The prominent families here, such as the Dong, Zhang, and Yang families, also have their own private soldiers in the capital, and now they are all under the command of Gao Yuchengsheng. We can also shoot letters to ask them to surrender, so that Gao Yuchengsheng will suspect that everyone has betrayed him, and scare the generals of various families into surrendering..."

This is the role of the guide, who is very clear about the situation in Dali.

Bai Qi summoned all the generals to discuss and finally decided to divide the troops.

Lin Chong led his troops around the northern end of Erhai Lake and attacked Longshou Pass there.

Bai Qi headed straight to the southern end of Erhai Lake and attacked Longwei Pass there.

"General, another envoy from the enemy army is here to see you."

"No, let him go back and order the ruler and his ministers of Dali to surrender immediately."

Several groups of envoys from the Dali Kingdom have arrived.

The first was to request the cession of Shicheng County and Shanchan Prefecture to the Ming Dynasty in exchange for the withdrawal of Ming troops.

The second time, in addition to ceding Shicheng County and Shanchan Prefecture, Jianchang Prefecture and Dongchuan County were added.

The third time, Weichui Prefecture, Huichuan Prefecture and Zuining Prefecture were added.

I don’t know what those guys in Dali City are thinking. They are still holding on to the hope of being able to negotiate, and are even willing to cede half of Dali’s territory.

Just don’t surrender!
Bai Qi, along with his personal soldiers, generals, and a group of Dali surrendered generals, went to Longwei Pass to observe in person.

From Erhai Lake to Cangshan Mountain, there is a wall that stretches for eight miles.

At the westernmost part of the Cangshan Mountain, there is another gate called Tiansheng Pass, and there is a valley leading to Tiansheng Pass. However, both sides of the valley are heavily guarded, and you must capture the mountain to pass.

The mountains were high and the roads were long, so Bai Qi did not bring any heavy artillery. The heaviest field artillery he had weighed only a few hundred pounds.

If you want to knock down the wall, you'll probably have to take your time.

He carefully observed the pass for a while, and then approached Cangshan Mountain to observe the mountain stronghold with a telescope. The trees made it difficult to see clearly, and the information provided by the spies was not detailed. After all, important military sites would not be explored casually.

Those surrendered generals took action again and worked together to draw a schematic diagram, marking all the routes that were convenient for attacking the mountain.

On the first day, they chopped down trees and shot letters to persuade people to surrender.

On the second day, they cut down trees and shot letters to persuade people to surrender.

The third day...

Gao Yuchengsheng sent his son Gao Yuchengguang to lead the troops, apparently intending to defend Longwei Pass to the death.

In their opinion, Longwei Pass was impossible to break through.

Gao Zhushou stood on the tower and observed for a long time, then said, "The enemy army has Gao Liangcheng as their guide, so they will definitely attack the mountain first and then the pass. They are cutting down trees to build siege equipment. Should we send troops out to destroy the equipment?"

"It will probably be difficult to achieve success if we send troops out of the city." Gao Yucheng shook his head.

Gao Zhushou said: "The letters that have been sent in these few days have had a great impact on morale. It is obviously a plot to sow discord, but..."

They are all descendants of Gao Shengtai, and Gao Zhushou is the cousin of Gao Yuchengguang in terms of seniority.

However, Gao Guanyinlong, who is guarding Longshou Pass at this moment, is a descendant of Gao Shengxiang, so it is difficult for the two sides to pee in the same pot.

Gao Zhushou was also very capable. His territories were in Lanping, Jianchuan and Heqing. He led several thousand soldiers to respond to the call and come to support the king.

"Boom boom boom!"

Suddenly, cannon fire sounded. The uncle and nephew stopped talking and picked up binoculars to observe the situation.

However, dozens of cannons of all sizes were fired one after another on the southern shore of Erhai Lake, targeting the Dali warships patrolling in the lake.

Most of these warships were merchant ships that were temporarily requisitioned. Although their combat effectiveness was not very good, they were used to bully the Ming army because they had no ships.

Gao Yuchengguang and Gao Zhushou did not think much about it, thinking that the Ming army was preparing to attack the pass and did not allow the warships to transport troops southward from the east side of the pass to harass.

After one warship was sunk and four were damaged by artillery fire, Gao Yuchengguang ordered all the warships to retreat three or four miles, to a place beyond the range of the Ming army's artillery, but still within reach of the Ming army's attack at any time.

The next day, Gao Yuchengguang climbed the city again, and the situation in the southeast made him furious.

The Ming army went too far and actually set up camp on the south bank of Erhai Lake, dividing their troops and setting up camp only two or three miles away from the eastern section of the wall!
This is simply not treating the defenders as human beings.

If it was Yang Zaixing who came to guard Longwei Pass, he would have gathered his troops and charged out at this moment.

Does Gao Yucheng Guang dare?

He dare not.

While the Ming army was setting up camp nearby, they were also building a mound across the Xi'er River, making the mound slightly higher than the city wall.

Then, cannons were placed on the mound.

Should we attack the mountain first as Gao Liangcheng suggested? That would be too much trouble and would result in a huge increase in casualties.

Bai Qi wants to attack Guancheng directly!
(End of this chapter)