Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 285 0280 [Duel of Life and Death]

After a few more days, Zhu Ming came to Pugu Long.

He was a little surprised by the sight in front of him. This place was not a village, but a small city, even with earth and stone walls.

If Zhu Ming carefully reads "New Tang Book" or "Zizhi Tongjian", he can know the origin of this city.

It is Yan Qingfu, the loyal general of the Tang Dynasty, who built Xin'an City to defend against the Nanzhao Kingdom.

The Wudeng tribe of the Qiong tribe occupied this place, repaired the collapsed city wall, and built many watchtowers in the city.It was renamed Wutuoerku, namely "Utuo City"; according to the name of the tribe, it was also called "Wudeng City"; or "Pu Gucheng" or "Pu Gu Cage".

The barbarians south of the Dadu River are actually the descendants of the Yihua Qiang people.

To put it more precisely, their ancestors were Baima Di, also known as Baima Qiang.

As for Qiongbuchuan, this is the name of a river, and the tribes living along the river are collectively called Qiongbu Chuanman.

Along the way, Ju Ming's notebook is almost full.He briefly recorded the mountains, rivers, and tribes along the way, and drew simple maps of key places.

For Da Song, this is unprecedented information.

Because since the founding of Zhao Kuangyin, the Song court never sent envoys south, only let Lizhou officials deal with the barbarians.

Lizhou officials, on the other hand, only focused on the area north of the Dadu River, and never thought of going to the south to find out what was true.

in the city.

The houses of the Han people in the Tang Dynasty have long since ceased to exist, replaced by various barbarian houses.

The ghost master of Baimandu lives in the center of the city, and his cage castle has five floors.The top floor is full of food and weapons, the ghost master and his wife and concubines live on the fourth floor, the children and grandchildren live on the second and third floors, and the ground floor is where the ghost master works.

Around this cage castle, there are also some cage castles, most of which have three floors, and a few have four floors.

Among the cage castles are ordinary two-story buildings, and there are even livestock on the ground floor.Hmm... It's a bit like moving the village into the city, where there are almost no shops, and the lifestyle is similar to that in the village.

"Ghost Lord, the Han officials are here!"

The great ghost master of Baimandu, Jumeng, was personally feeding the war horses, and his subordinates hurried over to report.

Ju Meng froze for a moment, frowned and said to himself: "What are the Han officials here for?"

Han officials have not set foot here for more than 200 years.

Jumeng returned to the bedroom, combed her hair in a bun, put on a robe that symbolized her status, and led her sons to the gate of the city to welcome her.

When Li Jien met, he scolded: "This is Zhu Ming, the county magistrate of Hanyuan, Lizhou. He came here under the order of the magistrate. Why did you delay for so long and let the magistrate Zhu wait?"

"Who are you?" Ju Meng asked.

Li Jien said: "I am Sha Pang, the son of the great ghost master of Lianglin Man, and my Chinese name is Li Jien!"

Ju Meng was too lazy to talk nonsense with this young man, so he said to his son: "Call one of the Han people in the city."

Li Jien said: "I can speak Chinese, so I don't need to find Han people."

"Can I trust you?" Ju Meng sneered.

Zhu Ming was invited to the biggest bunker as a guest, and a Han man named Sun Shu came after a while.

When Zhu Ming met him, he asked, "It's understandable for you to live in a barbaric place. Why don't Han people wear buns instead of wearing barbarian buns?"

Sun Shu replied, "Follow the custom."

Zhu Ming took out Yu Wenchang's letter, handed it to Sun Shu and said, "Read it to this barbarian leader."

Sun Shu opened the letter, turned around and said to Jumeng, "Your Honorable Lord Du Dagui, this is a letter from a Han official in Lizhou."

"Read." Ju Meng said.

Sun Shu translated classical Chinese into barbarian language: "The Han officials in Lizhou said that the Sichuan barbarians in the Qiong tribe have been favored by the Song court for generations and accepted the canonization of the court..."

"Your lineage was originally just a great ghost master. 70 years ago, Baa Mo, the great ghost master of Baimandu, ungratefully plundered Lizhou. Sun Gu, the prefect of Lizhou, sent troops to conquer. Your grandfather took the opportunity to kill Bamo and usurp the throne himself. Became the great ghost master of Hundred Barbarians."

"The court of the Song Dynasty remembered your grandfather's merits and recognized your grandfather's status as the great ghost master of Baimandu. The court has a kindness for promoting and rebuilding your whole family. Why did you often harass the Han people after you succeeded to the throne, and also blocked all the barbarians from paying tribute to the mutual market? aisle?"

"The Lianglin Man is also a barbarian tribe that has surrendered to the imperial court. Why do you keep attacking them and take away the land and population of the Lianglin Man? Many prefects in Lizhou don't listen to the admonition?"

"I heard that you robbed the Lianglinman's tribute horses and property last year, and also plundered hundreds of men and women and a lot of food from the Lianglinman. The previous mistakes were not pursued by the government. Return the number to the two Linmans."

"If you still don't obey the order, the Han officials will go to Shu Da Song Emperor, deprive you of all titles, and take back your position as the Great Ghost Lord of Baimandu!"

Jumeng laughed and said, "The great ghost master of Baimandu was snatched by my grandfather himself. What does it have to do with the emperor of Song State? If it wasn't for my grandfather's help, how could that Han official named Sun Gu do it?" Can you defeat the barbarian army?"

The contradictions among the barbarian tribes were not small. Jumeng's grandfather belonged to the usurper, and he killed the master and became self-reliant during the Qingli period when the Song Dynasty sent troops.

Li Jien immediately translated Jumeng's words, and added more embellishments and said: "Xianzun, this person doesn't pay attention to the imperial court and is disrespectful to the emperor of Song Dynasty."

Zhu Ming said: "Ask him if he will return the population and food of the two forests."

Sun Shu quickly translated and advised in a low voice: "The Lord of the Ghosts, these two Linman princes are sowing discord, trying to attract the imperial army to attack us. Although the Han soldiers in Lizhou are weak, there are even more powerful troops in Song Dynasty , and can send hundreds of thousands of troops. Don't provoke this Han official, pretend to agree for the time being, and return a few old and weak, a few sick horses, and a few stones of rice. The Han officials in Lizhou have face, and they will not pursue it This matter."

Jumeng developed the Qiongbu Sichuan Man to its peak state, and looked down on Han officials and Han soldiers from the bottom of his heart. In recent years, he has become a little drifting.But the basic sense is still there, so he said: "Tell this Han official, I will return the population and food."

Sun Shu didn't give Li Jien a chance to provoke, he quickly translated and said: "The county is respectful, the big ghost master has already known his mistake, and is willing to return the population, horses and food of the two forests."

Zhu Ming said: "Let him prepare immediately, within ten days, I will watch him return it!"

After Sun Shu's translation, Ju Meng was very angry when he heard it.

He felt that he was already saving face, and he could get rid of it by just returning a little bit, but Zhu Ming insisted on watching him return it within a deadline.

Forcibly holding back his anger, Ju Meng said: "I will return it within ten days, please invite the county magistrate to eat meat and drink at night!"

Eating meat and drinking alcohol is fake, but showing strength is real.

There is an open space in the city, and as night falls, torches are lit.

Jumeng recruited many tribal warriors, each with armor.

He wanted to scare Zhu Ming, but he just gave Zhu Ming a chance to observe the barbarians.

These elite barbarians are all wearing leather armor, their weapons are mainly spears, bows and arrows are homemade clay bows, and a few carry shields and short knives.

As the great ghost master of Baimandu, Jumeng personally presides over the ghost sacrifice ceremony.

A human animal was brought to the altar, disemboweled alive, the heart was taken out, the head was cut off, and the bloody sacrifice began.

"vomit……"

A Lizhou cavalry soldier next to Zhu Ming vomited because of nausea.

Li Bao said disgustedly: "It really is a barbarian, and they even kill people to sacrifice."

Zhang Tong said: "When you send troops to suppress, and if you continue to educate, the century-old achievements may be reversed."

Jumeng kept staring at Zhu Ming's side, and when he saw someone under Zhu Ming throwing up, he felt even more complacent, and felt that the Han people were weak, and they were even afraid of killing lives and offering sacrifices to ghosts.

At the end of the ghost sacrifice ceremony, the barbarians present cheered in unison, as if they had been blessed by ghosts and gods.

"Dong dong dong dong!"

A tribal priest beats a leather drum.

More than a dozen elite barbarians began to dance around the bonfire, dancing the war dance of sacrificing ghosts and gods and celebrating victory.

Ju Ming watched the whole process with cold eyes.

After the battle dance, there was another martial arts competition. The barbarians caught each other and wrestled in pairs.

Ju fiercely pointed at those barbarians: "How about my warriors?"

Zhu Ming nodded: "It's okay."

Sun Shu translated: "Han officials say he is very brave."

Li Ji'en immediately exposed it: "The Han officials said that the warriors of Wudeng's tribe are not very good, and they can barely see it."

"Ok?"

Ju Meng suddenly widened his eyes and said angrily: "The Han people are weak, and the Han officials are even weaker. They actually look down on my warriors. You Han officials came with weapons, how dare you compete with my warriors?"

Li Jien and Sun Shu rushed to translate the former deliberately provoking, while the latter tried to moderate it, but the general meaning is the same.

Li Bao was furious when he heard the words: "What kind of status is Mr. Xianggong, how can he fight bravely with the barbarians? Let me teach these bastards a lesson!"

Zhu Ming smiled and said, "Zhang Tong will go to the weapon competition first."

Zhang Tong's battle skills are mediocre, but his single-handed combat skills are top-notch.

Zhu Ming said to Sun Shu: "Wrestling with horns is not very interesting. If you want to compete, you should try your weapons, regardless of life or death!"

Li Jien rushed to translate and said: "The Han officials said that children only wrestle, and real warriors fight with weapons. If they are beaten to death, they deserve it!"

"That's not what the Han officials said." Sun Shu quickly corrected him.

Li Jien asked: "Did the Han officials say that life and death should be compared with weapons?"

Sun Shu defended: "It's for such a comparison, but I didn't say that children only wrestle!"

Jumeng understood, and called a warrior: "Aji, go to a weapon competition, kill that Han man, and let the Han officials see my bravery!"

The barbarians who were wrestling retreated one after another.

Zhang Tong walked into the arena holding a sword, and Ah Ji also walked over, holding a short spear and a shield in his hand.

There are many barbarians around to watch the excitement, and there are also many women with disheveled hair.

"Dong dong dong dong!"

The barbarian priest began to beat the leather drum again.

Ah Ji bent forward and slapped the shield with his short spear, as if hunting wild animals.

Zhang Ting has two swords, long and short. The short sword is stuck in his waist and has not been drawn.

Ah Ji bent forward and began to move around Zhang Tong. Zhang Tong just stood still and adjusted his direction.

"drink!"

Ah Ji roared, trying to scare him with his voice, and at the same time, the short spear made a fake attack.

Zhang Tong was unmoved, but stood with his sword in hand.

After probing for a full half a minute, Ah Ji finally couldn't bear it, and rushed forward holding the shield, hiding the short spear behind the shield and stabbing.

Zhang Tong is used to the ranger-style heads-up, immediately opened the distance and went around to the side.

Ah Ji thought that his opponent was afraid, so he immediately attacked more fiercely, pressing forward step by step to catch up.

This barbarian warrior was quite difficult to deal with. Although the shield was not big, he kept shrinking his body to hide his vital parts. A spear was like a poisonous snake waiting for an opportunity.

If it was Zhu Ming, just smashing it with a mace, even if it didn't break the wooden shield, it would still make the opponent's mouth go numb!

The two sides quarreled for a while, and Zhang Tong deliberately sold an opening to lure Ah Ji to attack with a spear.

The moment the short spear thrust out, the shield finally showed its gap.

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Tong swung his sword and spear with his right hand, and drew out his dagger with his left hand and threw it.

The short sword flew into Ah Ji's exposed thigh, Zhang Tang took the opportunity to step sideways, and wiped the long sword towards Ah Ji's neck.

Ah Ji was in shock and pain, raised his shield and backed away, a hole was cut in the leather armor on his right shoulder.

Zhang Ting was so powerful that he swung his sword and attacked continuously.

Ah Ji was hit by a sword in his thigh, and his footsteps became more and more messy. Finally, Zhang Tong led him away from the shield, and stabbed his sword accurately into his throat.

The drums stopped, and so did the barbarian shouts.

Ah Ji fell to the ground, blood gurgling from his throat.

Zhang Tong drew back his dagger, put it back into its sheath, walked up to Zhu Ming, cupped his hands and said, "Toring is not a disgrace!"

(End of this chapter)