There was also a charcoal fire burning inside the tent. The young man had a neat bun, dark eyebrows and eyes, and a layer of light blue stubble on his well-defined jaw. He was wearing a thick dark blue cloak, which made his figure look more upright.
Chang Sui'an stepped forward and handed over a piece of letter with both hands: "Here is a secret letter, please have a look at it, Grand Commander."
When Cui Jing took it, Chang Sui'an stepped back a few steps, took off the heavy helmet on his head, held it in one hand, and waited on the side.
Cui Jing unfolded the letter in front of the lantern, his eyes first swept to the lower left part where the signature was written, and he saw the three characters "Wei Shuyi" written on it.
After checking that there was nothing unusual in the handwriting and private seal, Cui Jing went to read the contents of the letter.
Wei Shuyi and his entourage of imperial envoys, escorted by 500 imperial guards, set out from the capital. After nearly twenty days, they crossed Mount Tai and were heading for Qingzhou.
This letter was written by Wei Shuyi when he left Mount Tai. Mount Tai was about 400 miles away from Youzhou where Cui Jing was at the time, and a letter could be sent by express horse in two days.
Wei Shuyi said in the letter that he did not want to continue his journey north.
To go north, one needs to travel by land along the coast of Bohai Sea and bypass the entire Bohai Sea before reaching the Andong Protectorate - and on the way, one needs to pass by Jizhou and Yingzhou on the north. As we all know, these two states are now occupied by Kangding Mountain and Mohe.
Although there were some strong troops stationed in several places along the coast on this road, the coast was empty and it was winter, so there was no need for heavy guards, and the military strength was relatively weak.
Especially when passing by Yingzhou, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a gamble with one's life. Yingzhou is the base of Kangding Mountain. The risk is so great that Wei Shuyi feels that this road is quite similar to the Yellow Springs Road.
So Wei Shuyi decisively gave up the option of going north and bypassing Bohai Sea.
He wanted to go straight east and take the water route at Dengzhou Port. Opposite Dengzhou was the Andong Protectorate, which was less than a hundred miles away by water. This area of water was the border between the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea.
He had sent people to investigate and find out that although there was sea ice blocking the way this winter, it was mostly floating ice fragments. As long as they could borrow at most three sufficiently sturdy ships from Dengzhou and have the Dengzhou navy escort them, they would be able to reach the other side in two or three days, even if they went slowly, on the less than 100-mile sea route.
This way, in addition to avoiding most of the dangers in the north, it can also be considered a shortcut, equivalent to going straight east through the waterway.
Across the street is the Andong Protectorate, and after crossing the Yalu River, you will reach the doorstep of the Dong Luo family.
At first glance, the difficulty of this route seems to lie only in the dangerous sea route of less than a hundred miles. However, Wei Shuyi's group is not large, and they have experienced sailors and a few emergency boats. As long as they observe the wind direction in advance and do not encounter strong winds and waves, they will not make any big mistakes.
But if that were the case, Wei Shuyi would not have specially written a letter to Cui Jing. He made a special trip to Youzhou to send the letter, obviously not to tell Cui Jing that "I can't wait beyond Youzhou, so there is no need to wait any longer."
After all, Cui Jing had no intention of waiting for him to come over to reminisce about the past - Wei Shuyi had always been very aware of this unrecognized friendship.
Wei Shuyi wrote this letter to ask for help.
Cui Jing was familiar with the surrounding terrain, and he had made his judgment before reading the rest of the letter.
Even though he has a rebellious nature and an indelible arrogance, Cui Jing is never one to neglect important matters.
After a moment, he picked up his pen and wrote a short reply letter and asked someone to send it to Dengzhou first. Wei Shuyi had sent the letter two days ago. Calculating the distance, his reply letter could be delivered before Wei Shuyi and his party boarded the ship in Dengzhou.
Afterwards, Cui Jing summoned Deputy General Yu and ordered him to select a thousand light cavalry and set off after daybreak.
Deputy General Yu agreed and went to prepare the troops immediately.
After seeing Cui Jing arrange the matter properly, Chang Sui'an, who had been waiting beside him, spoke up: "Grand Commander, today I heard from the scouts that Kang Dingshan and his men are staying put in Jizhou. I guess they won't dare to attack Youzhou easily in the short term, right?"
Ever since the news spread that Cui Jing led his troops to Youzhou for support, the people in Kangdingshan dared not act rashly and were watching and discussing with their advisers.
"Kangdingshan will soon know that I only led 30,000 Xuan Ce troops here--" Cui Jing said, "plus the troops previously dispatched by the court and the Youzhou garrison, a total of 90,000 people. Kangdingshan has 37,000 elite soldiers and more than 50,000 Mohe cavalry, which is comparable to our army's strength."
Therefore, Kangdingshan was destined not to wait and see for too long, and the ambitious Mohe would not allow Kangdingshan to wait and see for too long.
Therefore, there must be no slackness.
Leading 30,000 Xuan Ce troops here was not an order from the emperor, but Cui Jing's own decision.
During this year or so, he led 80,000 Xuan Ce troops to garrison the northern border, station troops and build border defenses. Although he never relaxed for a single day, the northern border's defense line facing the Beidi was extremely long, almost stretching across the entire northern part of Dasheng. If he transferred all 80,000 Xuan Ce troops, the northern border might be in danger.
At such a critical juncture, he must not let anything happen in the northern border. If he allows the Northern Di cavalry to enter the border of Dasheng, the chaos at that time will be more difficult to stop than Kangding Mountain.
Cui Jing was unwilling to lose sight of the big picture, so after weighing the pros and cons, he decided to lead 30,000 troops here in person.
In the north, a forced march in winter is a very risky thing. In order to prevent Youzhou from falling, his soldiers rushed all the way. Nearly a thousand people fell ill on the way due to the severe and cold weather. Now that they are waiting in Kangding Mountain, it is also time for them to rest and accumulate strength.
At this moment, he needed to first defend Youzhou, the key throat, and then try to take back the two lost states.
Cui Jing is usually not a talkative person, but whenever he has the chance, he will always analyze the pros and cons of the war with Chang Sui'an - he promised Chang Sui'ning that he would teach her brother carefully and protect him.
Chang Sui'an was very studious and often studied military tactics and battle formations in private. He never relied on his status in the army. He was not afraid of hardship and treated people frankly and sincerely. He had an approachable air and was therefore very popular.
After Cui Jing analyzed the current battle situation and terrain on the sand table, Chang Sui'an listened carefully and raised a few more questions, which Cui Jing answered patiently.
Finally, Chang Sui'an said, "Although Jizhou is only a hundred miles away from Youzhou, the road is mostly covered with ice and snow. It will be the New Year in ten days or so. They should not dare to mobilize troops rashly before the New Year."
Cui Jing: "It's common sense, but we should not be careless."
Chang Sui'an nodded seriously, and then hesitated for a moment before trying to say, "Grand Commander, Ningning is in Dongluo now. I don't think she will return to Jiangdu next year. I think..."
"Want to go to Dongluo?"
"No, no!" Chang Sui'an shook his head quickly. In the face of a war, how could he be the kind of person who would leave his post without permission and not distinguish between the important and the unimportant? "I was wondering if anyone has gone to the east to investigate recently? If so, can someone send a letter to Dong Luo so that it can be delivered to Ning Ning before the New Year... If it's inconvenient, it doesn't matter!"
Cui Jing nodded without much hesitation.
This place is different from the northern border. The messenger going to Dongluo has to avoid the eyes and ears of Kangding Mountain. If he makes a separate trip for a letter, it might be considered as wasting manpower and hurting people. Knowing that Cui Jing has always cherished his soldiers, this is why Chang Sui'an hesitated.
But Deputy General Yu and others happened to be going to the vicinity of Dongluo, so delivering the letter became a matter of convenience.
Seeing Cui Jing agreed, Chang Sui'an was overjoyed.
Although they were still separated by the Bohai Sea, he had not been so close to his sister for a long time. He had not exchanged letters with his sister for at least four or five months!
"Go back and write the letter. Just send it here before daybreak."
As soon as Cui Jing finished speaking, he saw Chang Sui'an take out a letter from his arms.
Chang Sui'an smiled and said, "I finished writing it a few days ago!"
Cui Jing took the letter and felt that it was quite thick.
Chang Sui'an's letter filled five full pages and took him three full days to write. His mood was different every day he wrote the letter.
One was written with tears in her eyes, describing her father's injury; one was written with excitement, describing her sister's great victory; one was written with seriousness, describing her recent situation in the past few months; one was written with heavy thoughts, and another was written to express her respect and gratitude to General Cui.
At this moment, seeing Grand Commander Cui looking at his incredibly thick letter, Chang Sui'an scratched his head a little embarrassedly and said shyly: "I have said too much nonsense..."
Cui Jing: “…Not bad.”
After Chang Sui'an left, Cui Jing also picked up his pen to write a letter.
Unlike when he wrote back to Wei Shuyi just now, he changed to a better pen and even carefully selected a few pieces of the most neatly cut writing paper.
Like many people, he also congratulated Chang Suining on his great victory in the fight against Japanese invaders when he started writing.
But he was different from many people. He not only shared Chang Suining's joy, but was more worried about Chang Suining's exhaustion after the war. He could empathize with him, and the exhaustion was not only on the outside, but also on the inside.
He did not directly offer words of comfort, useless words of comfort would only evoke more sadness, he just said -
【In the depths of winter, the year is coming to an end, and it is the time when all things hide. You have made many great achievements this year. In this cold winter, you should also hide your heart and strength, eat and rest peacefully, listen to more music that heals the disease, and allow your mind to be empty and hibernate, waiting for the arrival of spring next year, when you will be revived and flourishing with all things.】
He started another line and told her that the world was vast and the mountains and rivers were shaking, but he was with her. Even if he had no outstanding qualities worth mentioning, with him stationed in Youzhou across the sea, she would not have to worry about the war here. He would guard Youzhou well and take back Jizhou and Yingzhou as soon as possible.
At the end, thinking of the fact that she had addressed him as Ling'an in her last letter, the young man's originally noble and cold features softened a little, and he picked up his pen and carefully wrote the three words [Cui Ling'an].
Cui Jing put down his pen, folded the letter carefully, put it into the envelope, and sealed it himself. Then Deputy General Yu came into the tent and asked for an audience: "Grand Commander, everything has been arranged. We will set off at dawn!"
"It's not easy to travel in the severe winter, so you must be careful on this trip."
Deputy General Yu responded solemnly: "Yes, please rest assured, Grand Commander!"
Cui Jing: "In addition, you can give these two letters to them and ask them to take them to Dongluo and pass them on to Governor Chang."
Deputy General Yu's eyes lit up and he quickly stepped forward to take it.
Although this letter from Cui Jing was not as thick as the one from Chang Suian, it should not be underestimated. When Lieutenant General Yu left with the two letters, he felt that he was just asking someone to deliver the letters. If he used a carrier pigeon, it would probably die of exhaustion before it could carry the letters. At least he would have to hire a vulture or a flying eagle or something.
…
Knowing that Dasheng was sending an envoy, in order to ensure that the envoy had sufficient time to travel in winter, the date of Jin Chengyuan's enthronement was discussed again and again by Dongluo officials. Finally, the latest day was chosen among several days - the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, which was close to the Dasheng New Year.
Time quickly came to the 22nd day of the twelfth lunar month. There were only six days left until Jin Chengyuan ascended the throne, but there was still no news of the arrival of the Dasheng envoy.
The Eastern Roman officials were inevitably a little anxious.
All preparations for the enthronement have been completed, and we are only waiting for the envoys from Dasheng.
If the envoys could not arrive in time, the new king's coronation ceremony had already been announced to the whole of Dong Luo, and it would not be a good idea to postpone it any further. However, if they did so, they were afraid that the grand ceremony would make the Dong Luo feel that they were being neglectful and contemptuous.
There's nothing we can do about it. It was all their damn short-lived new king's fault.
At the same time, the officials of Dongluo were also worried that the envoys might encounter some accidents along the way. The rebellion of Mohe and Kangdingshan had a wide impact.
An envoy of a country often represents the monarch of that country, which has extraordinary significance and can easily attract the attention of rebels and enemies.
Jin Chengyuan was also somewhat uneasy, so he sent a military guard to go abroad to investigate.
Chang Suining knew about this, and found Jin Chengyuan, saying, "I will go with you, and let your army and guards accompany me, so that it will be more convenient for us to cross the border."
In order for the Dong Luo army to leave the country and set foot on the territory of Da Sheng, they needed the permission of the Andong Protectorate and the issuance of customs clearance documents. At this juncture, the Andong Protectorate was overwhelmed by the rebellion in Kangdingshan, and the issuance of the documents might be delayed.
But as long as there is peace and tranquility, things will be much simpler.
Jin Chengyuan nodded and said, "In that case, I will trouble Governor Chang to go there in person."
But Chang Suining said, "I was going to go out for a while too."
She had been recuperating in Dongluo for more than half a month. During this period, she learned a lot of intelligence about Kangding Mountain and Mohe through Meng Lie's secret agents in the northeast.
In the past two days, she made a decision.
This time when I leave Dongluo, I can also pick up Wei Shuyi and others on the way.
On that day, Chang Suining selected a thousand trusted men and set off with a group of Dongluo soldiers.
…
Wei Shuyi and his entourage finally reached the shore safely after several days of tossing and turning on the sea.
After getting off the boat, some officials walked unsteadily.
Many of them were sailing across the sea for the first time. Although they had only been drifting for a few days, it was enough for them to vomit yellow bile. Unfortunately, water freezes into ice here. Before they had finished vomiting above, the vomit below had already begun to freeze...
Wu Siqing was also retching, and Wu Chunbai, who was acting as his father's attendant and had lost weight, was patting his father's back.
Since leaving Beijing, they have spent too much time on this journey, because what they have seen along the way is far more difficult than they have imagined.
If Wu Chunbai had not seen it with his own eyes, he would never have imagined that the scene outside had become such a mess.
They had encountered soldiers suppressing rebellious armies, and refugees blocking the road to file complaints. One day, she saw two bodies, one large and one small, lying in the dry grass beside the official road. She didn't know whether they starved to death or froze to death.
Wu Chunbai also felt like retching, but it was not because of the boat ride, but because of the images of suffering that kept hitting her mind, making her feel helpless and dizzy in this cold place.
Not only Wu Chunbai, Song Xian and others were also shocked. Tan Li, who was usually optimistic and open-minded, was silent most of the time.
During this trip eastward, they all felt unprecedented confusion, even powerlessness and frustration.
But the dangerous situation did not leave them too much time to remain confused. Not long after they got off the boat, they encountered an encirclement and killing. (End of this chapter)
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