Song Yi

Chapter 598 Escaping from the Troubled Times
Just a few days after the excavation of the basement was completed, another shocking earthquake occurred, this time even more violent.At that time, Song Huizong and all the princes, Wang Gui and other ministers who were paying homage to Song Zhezong were all killed, and the empress dowager Gao Taotao, the eldest princess, and Queen Xiang disappeared.

Taking advantage of the chaos, King Cao raised troops and seized the imperial power.

On the day of the earthquake, Pang Yuqin's family, shopkeeper Song, Pang Jinghui, Zhuang Jimou and their families all set up a sacrificial shed on the side of the road outside the city to prepare for the funeral of Emperor Song Zhezong. The strange thing is that the earthquake mainly occurred in the capital. Inside, the outside of the city is very small, so all the people escaped the big earthquake.

After the earthquake, they returned to the city only to find that the entire capital was destroyed.After inquiring, I found out that the new emperor had died in the earthquake, and King Cao had proclaimed himself emperor.Then it was discovered that King Cao's men blocked the city gate and began to arrest people everywhere.Then I received a letter from Jiao Gonggong, saying that Prince Cao wanted to arrest Du Wenhao and his family, including Zhuang Jimou and other relatives and friends.

Pang Yuqin immediately moved everyone to the basement of the haunted house.Fortunately, the ground fissure of the earthquake did not damage the well and the dug basement. They did not even dare to return home, and fortunately they did not. Although their mansion was in ruins, King Cao's men still took it away. Gathered all valuables and waited there to sit on the sidelines.

Pang Yuqin sent Wu Cong and Shapang out to inquire about the news, and when he came back, he learned that King Cao had issued an order to dismiss Du Wenhao from all his posts, and issued a sea arrest notice to arrest him and his whole family on the grounds that he colluded with the White Clothes Club in an attempt to rebel.

At this time, the whole city was under martial law, and he could not leave the city at all, so he could only live in the basement of the well in fear.At the same time, she sent people to wait near the ruins every day, waiting for Du Wenhao to come back. She knew that Du Wenhao would definitely come back to find them.

During this period, King Cao decreed to replace the military command of the Huainan West Road Observer. The observer took advantage of the two major earthquakes in the capital, the capital had been razed to the ground, and the victims were everywhere. The soldiers rose up and killed the eunuch Cao Wang Chuanzhi.

King Cao was furious and sent troops to conquer.The two armies faced each other, Cao Wang Wenchen led the troops, and suffered a disastrous defeat.Had to return to the capital.

At this time, the Jurchens of the Daliao Dynasty had captured most of the territory of the Daliao like a storm and began to harass the border of the Song Dynasty. King Cao had no choice but to mobilize troops north to resist the Jurchen tribe.

The commanders from all walks of life saw that the observer succeeded in the uprising, and the new emperor had nothing to do with him, and the rest of the walks followed suit, announcing their separation from the imperial court and establishing themselves as kings.King Cao was helpless, unable to conquer and suppress, and people from all walks of life fought against each other for their respective spheres of influence, and the world was in chaos.

Du Wenhao also narrated the dangers they encountered in Xixia. Everyone was surprised when they heard that two major earthquakes occurred in the capitals of Song, Xia and Liao at the same time. The emperors and important ministers of the three places died almost at the same time. stunned.I also heard that Daliao has been swallowed by Jurchen, and Dal Song is also torn apart, and I am even more worried.

Du Wenhao thought of the kindness of the Empress Dowager Gao Taotao to him, and now her whereabouts are unknown, not only felt sad.Although Gao Taotao is much older than himself, his feelings for him are sincere, and he always feels a little guilty in his heart, but now he has nowhere to look for her.I hope she didn't fall into the crack, but was waiting for her somewhere.

There are so many people in the basement that it is impossible to arrange it according to the family, so all men live in one room, women in one room, one in public places, and there is also a toilet and storage room.

After discussing with each other, they felt that it was obviously inappropriate to live in the basement like this. It was better to leave the capital as soon as possible and go to the south to escape King Cao's control.

Du Wenhao sent Xu Huaqiang to go out in disguise with guards to investigate, and found that the interrogation at the gates of each city was still very strict.It is almost impossible for so many people to get out of the city.We can only wait patiently for the opportunity.

After Wang Runxue found out about his father's tragic death, the emperor granted him permission to be buried with Song Shenzong, and kept crying, thinking of offering sacrifices to the spirit.But now the investigation is very strict, for everyone's safety, we can only give up.

Finally, Xu Huaqiang, who went out to investigate that day, came back and told Du Wenhao pleasantly that many refugees had come from the north and the city was crowded.

Du Wenhao immediately decided to take advantage of the chaos and leave the city.

After putting on makeup, everyone discussed where to meet after leaving the city. They left the haunted house one by one at dusk, mixed in with the influx of refugees entering and leaving the city, and walked out of the city.

From the ghost house to the gate of the city, you have to pass through the armory.The armory was in ruins, and the military craftsmen no longer knew where they had fled.Only the stench of rotting corpses filled the air.

This is the place where Du Wenhao entrusted his dream of a rich country and a strong army. Now the dream has been shattered, and only ruins remain.

After walking a short distance, I could already see the gate of the city. As a result, the flow of refugees stopped moving. I found out that there was an interrogation at the gate of the city. Although the interrogation was relatively loose, it still prevented the refugees from leaving the city.However, there were more refugees who wanted to enter the city, and the gates of the city were blocked on both sides.

Du Wenhao was anxious, when he heard yelling and avoiding voices from far behind: "Go away! Go away! The emperor is here, if you don't go away, you are courting death!"

Then there was the scream of the whip whipping.The refugee tide suddenly became chaotic, and people crowded to both sides.Then, from a distance, I saw a large group of cavalry rushing over, and the people who couldn't escape were trampled by the horses, causing many casualties.

Xu Huaqiang and his guards had already formed a human wall, surrounding the women's family members and the young and old, and leaning towards the side of the road.

Seeing this, Du Wenhao secretly cried out that it was not good. King Cao withdrew from the capital, which meant that the Jurchen army had already approached the very capital. A dozen guards are simply not enough to protect so many people.

Fortunately, they were not far from the haunted house, so Du Wenhao immediately ordered to squeeze out the crowd and return to the basement of the haunted house!
Everyone didn't know why they wanted to go back again, but Du Wenhao had made up his mind and could only obey.Under the escort of the guards, they squeezed through the crowd and left the main street.Climb over the ruins, return to the haunted house, and return to the basement in turn.

Du Wenhao asked Lin Qingdai to be in charge of guarding and told everyone not to come out. He took Xu Huaqiang and other guards and returned to the street again.

Hide in the rubble on the side of the road and check the situation on the street.

At this time, the street was already full of soldiers, standing in rows on both sides, squeezing the refugees to the ruins on both sides, crying and shouting one after another.The bodies of the refugees who were trampled to death because they couldn't dodge the crowd were scattered on both sides of the road.

Obviously, King Cao has not come out yet.

Du Wenhao took his guards to the ruins of the armory, and found the firearms testing ground according to the location in his memory.

What is gratifying is that there are seven or eight iron-cast cannons on the fire test field!Next to it were several large boxes of shells, both iron and clay.There were also boxes of gunpowder.Apparently, when the big earthquake happened, the new artillery was being tested here.

Since all the craftsmen died in the earthquake, Cao Wang's people didn't know what these cannons were used for. They had never seen them before, and they were too heavy, so they just threw them there and ignored them. I couldn't move it, and I didn't have much interest, so it just stayed there.

Du Wenhao ordered the artillery to be mounted on a high place in the ruins. From here, one can overlook the streets in the distance.

Although there were guarding soldiers in the distance, because the artillery hadn't appeared at this time, these soldiers had never seen the artillery, and they didn't know what they were doing. There were refugees rummaging around for food, and they thought they were the same refugees, so they watched from a distance and did not come to interfere.

After setting up several cannons, Du Wenhao personally stuffed the gunpowder into the cannons.Aim for the street below.

Just when he was ready, he heard the sound of yelling to avoid, and saw a group of soldiers approaching from a distance. The guard of honor had bright swords and majestic.

Du Wenhao cursed secretly in his heart, his grandma, this Cao Wang proclaimed himself emperor, and he had to show off when he fled.I tell you to put it on!
Du Wenhao adjusted the muzzle of the cannon again, held a torch, and waited.

Finally, the yellow umbrella chariot appeared, which is the only symbol of the emperor!
Cao Wang was sitting inside at the moment, he was very nervous, he just got a report that the Jurchen army was marching south, his own army would collapse at the first touch, and fled in all directions.And the hearts of the imperial guards around the capital were fluctuating, and they might not be able to withstand the attack of the Jurchen army.King Cao was also self-aware, and immediately ordered out of the city to seek refuge in the south.

When the team came here, for some reason, Cao Wang's heartbeat accelerated suddenly, and he always felt that something was wrong.Maybe it was the cries of the refugees on both sides, or the loud scolding of the soldiers, but he felt uncomfortable anyway. He frowned and lifted the curtain of the car, and looked outside.

At this moment, he saw a flash of fire on the ruins not far away!There was an earth-shattering loud noise, and a mass of things flew towards him head-on at high speed!
He screamed, and subconsciously raised his hand to block it in front of his eyes, but he didn't know that this thing couldn't be blocked by his hand!

With a bang, this mass crashed into the outer wall of his ultra-luxury car!It rushed in, exploded with a bang, and immediately, the entire carriage was filled with raging flames!

It turned out that the shell fired by Du Wenhao was an incendiary bomb developed by Li Hong and the others according to Du Wenhao's request!
Cao Wang's body was covered with flames. He screamed and jumped out of the car, waving his hands to the sky. The flames engulfed him completely, and the soldiers around rushed forward to save him.

But at this moment, there were several loud bangs on the connection, and several shells flew towards them, exploding around the chariot, and the surroundings of King Cao became a sea of ​​flames!
Du Wenhao laughed. He originally wanted to use iron eggs, but if the iron eggs were not hit correctly, they would not be able to hurt King Cao. He smashed a clay bomb and found that there were sulfur, oil and other igniters in it, so he knew This thing is likely to be an incendiary bomb, and it was immediately decided that all the guns should be equipped with clay bombs. I haven't tested it before, and I don't know if it will work, so I can only gamble.Unexpected success in one fell swoop!
The loud sound of the connection was never heard before. The horses were frightened, neighing for a long time, rushing around, and the incendiary bombs fired one after another made the ministers, soldiers, and horses who followed around them all burnt by the flames. He also took care of coming to save King Cao.

Because it was already cold, King Cao's silk and satin imperial robe was flammable, and he was wearing a cotton coat and trousers, which he couldn't take off. The eunuchs and soldiers who rescued him couldn't find water to put out the fire.Soon, King Cao became a burning torch that could dance.

At this time, the whole team was in chaos. When Cao Wang was covered in fire, dancing, screaming and screaming, a startled horse fell down on the soldiers on its back, flew all fours into the air, and ran towards him screaming.Kicked him down with his front foot, and stepped heavily on his chest with his back foot!
King Cao screamed and screamed, which was the result of being trampled on by horses and burned by fire.

Following this horse, several more frightened horses galloped forward along the street. Under the kicks, King Cao was bloody and bloody!
I don't know who called out: "The Jurchens have entered the city! Run!"

The whole street suddenly became chaotic. The wave of refugees who were blocked on both sides of the road could not be controlled. They squeezed away the blocking soldiers and began to rush out of the city like crazy!

Countless feet stepped on King Cao's dying and charred body. After the refugees dispersed, the terrified soldiers discovered that King Cao's body had been trampled beyond recognition, beyond human form!
Du Wenhao was very happy, he left the ruins of the armory with his guards, and sneaked back to the basement of the haunted house.

That night, from the dry well, they heard the screams and screams outside, which lasted all night.

The next day, the sound disappeared. Du Wenhao didn't take the risk to go out to check. After waiting for two more days, he sent Xu Huaqiang and two guards carefully out of the dry well to check.

They came back soon and reported happily that there were almost no people in the city, except for dead bodies and old and disabled refugees. After asking, they learned that the Jurchen army broke into the city and entered the city. Fighting, countless casualties, the Song army fled, and the refugees in the city also ran away.There isn't a single good house in the city.There was no property left, so the Jurchen army abandoned the city and hunted south.

Only then did Du Wenhao decide to evacuate.

Coming out of the basement, sure enough, there were many corpses all over the city, and they had already begun to rot. The stench of the rotting corpses in the city became stronger and stronger, making people almost unable to breathe. Du Wenhao asked everyone to cover them with wet towels. nose and mouth.This can relax a little bit.

There were no soldiers in the city anymore. Walking through the streets full of dead bodies, Du Wenhao went out of the city. When Du Wenhao came to the place where the horses were stored, but there was no one there. It must have been killed by the Jurchen army. The special forces guarding the horses had no choice but to fled.

Now that the Jurchen army has controlled this piece of land, they might meet the Jurchen army if they take the main road. Du Wenhao decided to take a small road to avoid towns and go south.

Along the way, I also encountered bandits and bandits, but there were many of them, and there were guards and special forces, so there was no danger along the way.

They are a group of fleeing refugees, the oldest and the youngest, and the youngest three children, Pang Yuqin's younger brother (the son of his father Pang Jinghui's concubine Yu'er) is two or three years old, and the younger sister is five or six years old. , Zhuang Jimou (Zhuangzhi County)'s son is one or two years old, and he can climb mountains with his back. But the old lady Pang's mother is already old, and Pang Yuqin is seven or eight months pregnant, so climbing mountains and wading is very hard.The special forces team members made two pairs of sliding poles, and helped them climb slowly when the road was difficult, and carried them when they reached a slightly flat road.That's not too tiring.

After helping the old and the young trekking hard for more than a month, they finally left the area controlled by King Cao and arrived at a place where the Jurchen army had not yet invaded.I bought a few more carts, and then drove to the southwest direction of Dali Kingdom.

When passing Jing South Road, when I passed the intersection to check, I learned that the people who controlled this road were actually people from the White Clothes Society!Moreover, the coach is the dozen or so that he released at the beginning.

Du Wenhao didn't want to show his face, but he remembered the most precious golden volume of preaching that the White Clothes Society had kept in his place, so he asked Du Wenhao to take the gold scroll, sneaked into the residence of the leader of the White Clothes Society, and put the gold scroll on the desk. Scroll, full of surprises, sent out to check, and then quietly disappeared.

They continued to travel south, and on the way they heard the news that King Cao was assassinated and died, and the roads under his jurisdiction were torn apart and each was in charge of their own affairs.After the Jurchen raised troops and killed the plains, and occupied the capital of Kaifeng and other northern areas of the Song Dynasty, they were blocked by the mountainous areas, so they stopped going south and attacked Xixia instead.

That is to say, the Northern Song Dynasty has perished, but there is no shadow of the Southern Song Dynasty, because the entire history has been chaotic, and it is unknown whether the Southern Song Dynasty can be established in the future.

Du Wenhao and the others went south all the way.

There is no coincidence in the world, and it happened to hear the news of Li Pu. His team has grown to tens of thousands, and he has controlled a large area.And the journey here is only a few days away from Dali, so Du Wenhao asked Xu Huaqiang to take the special forces and guards to join them and make a career, so don't follow him to Dali.

Xu Huaqiang and the others disagreed at first, but Du Wenhao insisted on letting them go, saying that his two concubines, Lin Qingdai and Wang Runxue, could completely protect everyone, and the road was already very safe, orderly along the way, there were no rogues and bandits. There is no need.Their future cannot be delayed.

Xu Huaqiang heard what Du Wenhao said firmly, and at the same time they also wanted to work hard for their future, so they kowtowed and said goodbye, and took all the remaining special forces and guards to join Li Pu's army.

Du Wenhao's family, Pang Jinghui, Zhuang Jimou and other families continued to travel southward, without talking all the way, and finally entered Dali.

There are many people fleeing from the border and entering Dali. Dali does not block refugees, because many places in Dali are not developed, and what is most needed is manpower. There are so many refugees coming, which greatly increases the population and also increases the number of refugees. Therefore, not only do not stop them, but also give them the necessary care and assistance, and designate areas for land reclamation and farming.

Fortunately, Pang Yuqin had the foresight to dig the basement when the momentum was not right, and at the same time transferred a large amount of gold and silver, so the three families came to Dali with ample luggage.

From the turbulent Song Dynasty to Dali, where the country is prosperous and the people are peaceful, watching the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers, men plowing and women weaving, shepherd boys playing the flute in the fields, and village women washing yarn by the river, the idyllic scenery makes the group feel very comfortable.

(End of this chapter)