Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

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More than thirty Western Xia cavalrymen nodded.

Li Cunhui then asked, "Do you want your family members to live?"

The Western Xia cavalrymen continued to nod, and one of them asked, "Commander, have you defected to the enemy?"

Li Cunhui laughed and said, "I was originally one of the Liangshan Emperor's men. Don't think that just because I've been far away in Western Xia all these years, I've already risen to the rank of a sixth-grade military officer."

"If I make a great contribution this time, I might be promoted three or four ranks."

"If you follow me, you'll have plenty of good days to enjoy in the Ming Dynasty."

"Think about it," I said, "whether it's more worthwhile to be buried with the Western Xia or to surrender to the Ming Dynasty with me?"

The group looked at each other, hesitant and conflicted.

Li Cunhui's deputy guard suddenly knelt down: "I am willing to follow my brother and surrender to the Ming Dynasty!"

"We are willing to follow the escort and surrender to the Ming!" More than thirty cavalrymen knelt down one after another.

Li Cunhui turned to the Ming officers surrounding them and said, "Quickly inform General Yue that Wang Cunli may let the people into the city tonight."

"Tell him not to rush. There are over 100,000 people, hundreds of thousands of livestock, and other belongings. It's not something that can be brought in all at once."

"It's not too late to wait until noon tomorrow. Of course, it would be best to do it before dawn tomorrow."

……

Where is Yue Fei now?

He's debating Buddhist scriptures with the monks in the temple.

Yue Fei, holding the hilt of his sword, won the argument, and the virtuous monk immediately brought out grain to reward the troops.

This temple is called Gaotai Temple, located fifteen li east of Xingqing Prefecture.

Chapter 3798 The Temple Has Grain!

It's easy to find this place because there are several pagodas inside the temple, the tallest of which is several tens of meters high.

It was built by Li Yuanhao with great effort, who used a fine horse to exchange for Buddhist scriptures from Mount Wutai, and then went to Xinjiang to hire a Uyghur monk as a translator.

It occupies a vast area and has a large grain reserve.

This morning, Yue Fei raided Xingqing Prefecture at night and then withdrew.

When Li Yu saw the pagoda in the distance, a sudden idea struck him: "Protector, there should be plenty of food in the temple, right?"

"How could I forget this!" Yue Fei slapped his forehead.

So Yue Fei led his army to Gaotai Temple to worship Buddha and also to beg for alms from the monks.

Unfortunately, although the monks were wealthy, they did not have much food stored up.

A few years ago, due to natural disasters, grain prices soared during the lean season, and Kodai-ji Temple took the opportunity to sell a lot of grain.

This year, the Western Xia army lacked provisions and had no choice but to borrow grain from temples.

Gaotai Temple lost most of its food reserves, and even some of the young monks were conscripted into the army to fight.

All things considered, the grain stored in the temple was only enough to feed Yue Fei's six thousand soldiers for about ten days.

Yue Fei was grinning from ear to ear, having received ten days' worth of provisions for free.

Then another officer came to report that when they went out to scout two days ago, they also discovered a large temple in the southwest of Xingqing Prefecture.

Yue Fei immediately dispatched three thousand cavalry, one man and three horses, to rush towards Chengtian Temple of Western Xia.

At dusk, six thousand horses returned laden with grain—the monks of Chengtian Temple had all fled.

In their haste to escape into Xingqing Prefecture, they left behind a large amount of grain as a "free gift" to Yue Fei.

Even without Li Cunhui's spy suggestion, the grain obtained from the two temples alone would have been enough to feed Yue Fei's troops for half a month.

The temples of the Western Xia were so wealthy that they still had so much left after the grain was requisitioned.

If Western Xia hadn't faced the threat of annihilation, it's unlikely they would have levied grain from temples, since Buddhism was the state religion of Western Xia.

Furthermore, the three major temples in Xingqing Prefecture—Gaotai Temple, Chengtian Temple, and Jietan Temple—were all built by order of the imperial family.

Without the emperor's decree, no one dared to touch anything in the temple, let alone ask the monks to collect military provisions.

In order to obtain Buddhist scriptures for Gaotai Temple, Li Yuanhao directly offered many top-quality warhorses in exchange with the Northern Song Dynasty.

This was not because Li Yuanhao was a devout Buddhist, but because he used Buddhism to establish the legitimacy of the Western Xia regime!

"Protector, Li Cunhui sent a message that Wang Cunli may move the people into the city tonight. He said it wouldn't be too late to attack tomorrow at noon, but it would be best to arrive at dawn."

"Keep a close eye on all the monks at Kodai-ji Temple!"

Yue Fei was quite civilized; he did not massacre monks in the temple.

Only some of them were tied up, while the remaining monks cooked for the bound monks, and soldiers were sent to keep an eye on them and prevent them from moving around freely.

The provisions for Yue Fei's army were temporarily stored in the temple.

……

Outside Huaizhou City, the sky was completely dark.

Wang Cunli dispatched a large number of light cavalry to scout and confirmed that there were no enemy troops within a radius of fifteen miles before opening the city gates at dusk to allow the people who had been settled in the suburbs to enter.

Before the outsiders arrived, the local residents living near the city had already started to move.

They knew that the Ming army was marching south and had long wanted to hide in the city; now they finally had their chance.

The soldiers intended to stop them, but a riot quickly broke out.

Although the riot was successfully suppressed, several city gates were blocked for two hours. As more and more outsiders entered the city, local residents from surrounding areas also came to join them.

Chapter 3799 Surrounded on All Sides

After the commotion started, the city gates were blocked again!

Wang Cunli, exhausted from watching from the city tower, reluctantly ordered, "Let them all in."

The Yellow River flows to the east of Huaizhou City, while torches are lit everywhere on the west, south, and north sides.

People drove their livestock and carried their grain, helping the old and leading the young, all flocking to the city. Many families even brought cooking utensils, firewood, and fodder.

They not only want to cook in the city, but they also want to feed the cows and sheep there.

Wang Cunli did not stop it, nor could he stop it.

Anyway, if there's not enough fodder, those herders will definitely slaughter sheep and cattle.

While making the city stink, it also drives down meat prices, which is just what the city's food-starved residents can buy.

Chaos! Chaos! Chaos!

It's a complete mess!

Many people started pushing and shoving each other even before they entered the city.

Some people's livestock got lost, and they cried out and searched everywhere, only to find themselves squeezed into a narrow space and unable to move.

Gradually, families became separated, children couldn't find their mothers, stood in the crowd crying and screaming, and some were even trampled to death.

Things got even more chaotic after we entered the city.

Wang Cunli forcibly ordered the residents of the city to accommodate a certain number of outsiders in each house.

But everyone wanted to move into the house, and even after the homeowner closed the door, people kept banging on it and trying to break in.

Many homeowners didn't have time to close their doors, and people kept squeezing in, which led to conflicts and arguments.

Even fighting!

There were also fights in the streets, with people claiming that a certain animal belonged to them and even arguing about going to the authorities to confirm ownership.

The officials in the city had no time to care about such things.

Soldiers have disregarded military orders and abandoned their posts to search for relatives in the streets and alleys.

They have been separated from their families for many days. Although they are so close, they cannot see each other and do not even know if their families are still alive.

Soldiers were calling out the names of their families on every street, and the whole city was noisy, chaotic, and completely out of control.

Wang Cunli stood on the city wall, looking at the city inside and outside, his mind completely numb.

If the Ming army were to attack at this time, he would be unable to command his troops.

"Come back!" Li Cunhui shouted.

The soldiers under his command said, "Commander, we're going to find our relatives. If we don't find them now, our families will be trampled and killed when the Ming army arrives."

Li Cunhui asked, "There are people everywhere in and around the city now. How are you going to find your family? Are you just going to keep shouting along the streets?"

"Many Tanguts share the same name; how long will it take you to find them?"

"Most people haven't even entered the city yet. Your families might still be outside the city. You can shout until dawn and no one will answer."

The soldiers stood there, unsure of what to do.

Of this group, only Li Cunhui and his adjutant's family were initially settled in the city.

Li Cunhui continued, "Stay here and help me make contributions. The sooner we finish the war, the more peacefully you can search for your families."

"What's the difference between searching for it now and finding a needle in a haystack?"

Another city gate was blocked.

Because there were too many people entering the city, the Western Xia soldiers were unable to maintain order, and a large-scale stampede suddenly occurred in the city gate.

More and more people fell down, and there were even quite a few livestock blocking the way.

The people outside the city gate had no idea what was happening.

They continued to push their way in, but found they couldn't get in no matter what they tried. So some people suspected that the city was full and that the remaining people were not allowed to hide inside.

Chapter 3800 Archery

This kind of rumor is very popular, and those who were blocked outside started shouting and roaring.

Gradually, anger and panic spread beyond the moat.

And it evolved into various rumors, which spread further and further when people talked about it in private.

The Western Xia soldiers responsible for maintaining order outside the city were so crowded with civilians that they were pressed against the city wall, unable to even raise their weapons, let alone draw their swords to intimidate the people.

Wang Cunli roared in fury: "Shoot the arrow! Shoot the arrow!"

The Western Xia soldiers on the city wall shot arrows at the gate, frightening the local people into crying and fleeing.

After a lot of fuss, the place was finally empty.

Wang Cunli then sent troops to clear the corpses inside and outside the city gate and let the people back in.

This time, things were much more orderly, and no one dared to push or shove anymore.

But it's still very noisy, especially in families with a lot of livestock. Some of the animals are disobedient and will run around if they are disturbed.

When driving large numbers of livestock into the city, it often takes a long time, causing those behind to curse and complain in frustration.

The chaos continued until dawn, when only half of the more than 100,000 people had entered the city.

To be precise, it's more than 100,000!

The people living near the city took the opportunity to flee into the city, and the local people in the suburbs did the same.

The Yinchuan Basin was the most densely populated area of ​​the Western Xia Dynasty.

none of them.

The population density here is almost comparable to that of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

The able-bodied men and women near Huaizhou City were all conscripted to fight on the front lines, leaving countless elderly, weak, women and children at home.

They also wanted to go to the city.

Not only the people of Huai Prefecture, but also Yue Fei, upon realizing that he could not conquer Xingqing Prefecture, immediately dispatched cavalry to disperse the people.

Because Huaizhou was closest to Xingqing Prefecture, at least half of the people driven away by Yue Fei fled to Huaizhou.