Ang Lee knew that the mountain people surnamed Jiang did not know much about bridge building, and they would not be able to understand a detailed explanation. Therefore, he just gave them a brief introduction and told them that if the Tang dynasty wanted to build a road here, they would definitely not flatten the mountains. Instead, they would build it along the river. In this way, the ups and downs of the road could be better controlled and the cost would be lowest.
After a detailed explanation, the four clan chiefs and the 200 Jiang clansmen already understood the benefits of the road built by the Tang dynasty. Suddenly, they all felt ashamed and said that they would never destroy the road again. Not only that, when the imperial court wanted to build a road along the river in the future, they would do their best to help and help the Tang Empire build the road as soon as possible. Of course, they would not help for free, and they would definitely pay them well.
After persuading these guys, Ang Lee directly let them go back and warned them again that they should never destroy the road in the future. No matter how big the conflict was, they should not do anything to destroy the road. The road played a vital role in improving the living standards of the people.
"Assistant Minister Li, are you going to let them all go like this?"
Chen Long asked.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "Yes, I'm going to let them go. What can I do if I don't? These are just simple mountain people. Is it necessary to stoop to their level? We just need to educate them well. If we punish them, they will be resentful. "
The best way to educate these reckless mountain people was to be gentle. Blindly punishing them forcefully would have the opposite effect. Of course, if they were unwilling to listen, then there was no need to be polite. Whether or not they would be punished depended on their performance.
"Assistant Minister Li, the Jiang clan will not destroy the road again, but Duan Jianhan has run away! Will he run to other tribes and continue to play tricks on us? "
Chen Long said worriedly.
This concern was not unfounded. Since Duan Jianhan could mobilize the Jiang Clan, then it was not impossible for him to mobilize other clans to cause trouble for them. They had to guard against this. If the road ahead was destroyed again, then the situation would be troublesome.
Ang Lee thought for a moment and said, "What you said is very reasonable. Duan Jianhan did run away, but he must have gone to other tribes. We must not let down our guard. We must catch him immediately. It's best if we can catch him alive."
"Duan Jianhan must have run in this direction. I'll send someone to chase him."
Chen Long said.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "You don't need to go. You haven't had dinner yet. Let those who have had dinner go! Send to capture Duan Jianhan as soon as possible.. Tell them not to collude with the people who call themselves Duan Jianhan, otherwise, they will be the enemy of the imperial court. If they can to catch Duan Jianhan to do it, it would be a great merit.
Each of the two groups had five cavalrymen, which was enough to ensure their safety. If too many people went, it would be troublesome.
As for the rest, twenty people were left to guard the wall-hanging mountain road to prevent any accidents from happening. The rest returned to the camp with Ang Lee. Everyone was tired after a day's work, so it was time to rest early.
The four patriarchs and their clansmen returned without a hitch. The first thing they did when they returned was to inform the Great Patriarch and the others about the ins and outs of the matter. Immediately, everyone understood that they had been used by Duan Jianhan. This made them very angry. According to their guess, Duan Jianhan had most likely fled to their mortal enemy's territory. At that time, the road to the core of the Ge Tribe was blocked by the Jiang Clan. Duan Jianhan's only escape direction was the direction of the Lu Tribe's main stronghold.
The Grand Patriarch could not wrap his head around it for a while. He always felt that Duan Jianhan would not lie to him. After a long explanation from the four Patriarchs, he finally came around and said that he believed that the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty would not want to destroy the mountain road again. In addition, they also learned that more troops of the Tang Dynasty were on the way. If the road was really destroyed, tens of thousands of troops of the Tang Dynasty would be stuck in the Jiang Clan's territory and would not be able to go to Dongnu Province. The tens of thousands of people stuck in the Jiang Clan's territory would definitely bring a lot of trouble to the Jiang Clan. When there was a shortage of food, the Jiang Clan's food supply would be in danger. They were very brave not to provide food for the imperial court. But if they provided food for the imperial court, the army of tens of thousands of people would need a huge amount of food. How could they afford it? They were afraid that their own food supply would not be enough.
When they thought that the army of the Tang Dynasty would be trapped in the Jiang Clan's territory after the road was destroyed, the Jiang Clan's people broke out in a cold sweat. They did not think of this at that time, nor did they expect that more troops of the Tang Dynasty would be coming. They also did not expect that Duan Jianhan would be so insidious as to lie to them. Fortunately, the road was not destroyed. Otherwise, if the imperial court's troops were trapped in their territory for a long time, they would not be able to live a good life. If there was any friction, it would be even worse.
"Patriarch, since Duan Jianhan is so heartless, he can't blame us for being unjust. I'll send people to the Lu Clan and the Ge Clan to tell them about Duan Jianhan's bad deeds. It's best to catch this bastard."
The Third Patriarch said.
The Grand Patriarch frowned and said, "I'm tired. You can discuss it later."
After that, he went to sleep. It was already late at night. Old people could not stay up late, not to mention that they were not ordinary old people. They were almost eighty years old, so it was even more impossible for them to stay up late.
Since the Grand Patriarch did not want to continue to get involved in this matter, the Junior Patriarchs had to discuss it by themselves. They decided to go to the Ge Clan and the Lu Clan. Even if there were many conflicts between them, they had to communicate with Duan Jianhan in order to prevent him from sowing discord. After all, since Duan Jianhan could bewitch them to dig up the mountain path of the Ge Clan, how could he not sow discord between the Ge Clan and the Lu Clan? Although the Jiang Clan had more people and strongholds, if the Ge Clan and the Lu Clan joined forces, the Jiang Clan would be at a disadvantage. Therefore, they had to be careful.
On the path to the main stronghold of the Lu Clan, Duan Jianhan and his followers walked fast. However, because they were all walking, their speed was not much faster. Duan Jianhan originally had a mount, but when the Tang Dynasty's army suddenly arrived, he did not have time to find one. Moreover, riding a horse was too conspicuous and easy to be discovered. It was more convenient to escape on foot. Therefore, he decisively gave up the mount and quietly walked away with his followers.
The attendants were all very young, so they naturally didn't feel tired when they walked. Duan Jianhan was older, and his physical functions had declined greatly. Naturally, he couldn't be compared with these attendants. After walking for a while, he was out of breath, but fortunately, he could continue.
"General Duan, there are cavalry behind us. It sounds like there are less than ten of them."
One of the followers said.
"Less than ten people, about the same as us. Are you sure you can kill them all?"
Duan Jianhan asked.
"General Duan, these are the elites of the Tang Dynasty. They are not easy to deal with."
One of the followers said.
Duan Jianhan said, "How can we know how capable they are if we don't try? Let's use ropes to block the way first. As long as we can trip their horses, we can kill them one by one."
"Yes, we'll get ready."
Several followers said and immediately took out the ropes they carried with them. They tied the ropes to the tree trunk on one side of the road and pulled the ropes with their hands. As long as the cavalry of the Tang Dynasty came over, they could trip the horses of the Tang Dynasty with their hands.
Because the sky was dark, even if there were ropes on the ground, they could not be seen clearly. It was difficult for the cavalry who were in a hurry to find the inconspicuous ropes on the road.
However, because the road was difficult to walk on and the road conditions were very bad, the cavalry of the Tang Dynasty did not move fast and the distance between them was not large. When the cavalry at the front was overturned, the four cavalry behind stopped in time and were ready to fight. They even took out their crossbows.
However, the killers who were lying in ambush nearby were more prepared. They had already shot their crossbows and hit two soldiers on horseback. Fortunately, the soldiers were wearing the soft armor invented by Ang Lee. These soft armors could resist the attack of the crossbows, so they did not suffer much damage. The crossbows on their bodies told the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty where the enemy was lying in ambush. The counterattack began immediately, and a muffled groan was heard in the dark.
Although the soldier who was overturned fell down, he was not injured. He also immediately got up to fight back. Because he was lying on the ground, he avoided the attack very well. When the enemy approached, he also got up in time to fight back. With his excellent equipment, he successfully defeated the enemy.
The short fight did not last long. Two of the attackers were killed, and the rest were injured. Because they urgently needed to attack and could not take advantage of the situation, they immediately fled. They did not flee along the road, but into the dense forest. After all, the enemy had horses. If they fled along the road, they would be live targets.
The five Tang soldiers were also slightly injured, but they were able to repel the sneak attackers. This made them feel very fortunate. Fortunately, they were well-equipped. The five of them formed a fighting group. If there were only one or two of them, they would really have to leave their lives here.
Because they did not know whether there were still enemies ahead, they did not dare to send people back to report the situation, lest they be attacked again. They set out more carefully. As long as they reached the main village of the Lu Clan, they would be safe.
Duan Jianhan and his group, who failed to launch the sneak attack, fled for more than a mile. When they saw that no one was chasing after them, they were relieved and stopped to rest.
Duan Jianhan, who was panting, scolded angrily, "You are really useless. So many people launched a sneak attack, but you still can't deal with five soldiers of the Tang Dynasty. How do you usually train?"
"General Duan, the Tang Army soldiers are wearing armor. Our crossbows have shot at the Tang Dynasty soldiers, but they have not been hurt. It's not our fault."
"Yes! General Duan, these soldiers are not only wearing armor, but also soft armor. It can't be seen from the outside. These soft armors not only have high defense, but also don't hinder the body's flexibility. We are all wearing cotton clothes, which can't protect us from the crossbows at all. So, we are naturally no match for the Tang Dynasty soldiers. "
"General Duan, my dagger has stabbed into the chest of the Tang Dynasty soldiers, but it didn't pierce through the soft armor. It has rolled up a little. If you don't believe me, please take a look."
Several followers immediately cried out, feeling that they were wronged. The failure of the assassination was not because they were incompetent, but because the Tang Dynasty soldiers' equipment was too good. Compared with the equipment of the Tang Dynasty soldiers, their equipment was a little too backward, and it was obviously more difficult to complete the fixed combat mission with backward equipment.
Duan Jianhan said angrily, "The Tang Dynasty army has soft armor. Then why didn't your daggers stab their necks? Do the Tang Dynasty army also have soft armor on their necks?"
There was nothing wrong with his words. No matter how good the equipment of the Tang Dynasty army was, there should be no soft armor on their necks, which was the weakest part of the defense. However, the Tang Dynasty army was not made of wood. They would not stand still. In the process of fighting, they would definitely prioritize protecting their necks. Although the crossbows could pierce the necks, it was not easy to aim at the cavalry's necks when the sky was dark, and it was easy to miss. Therefore, in order to increase the hit rate, they naturally had to aim at the body, so that the hit rate would be higher. Who would have thought that the Tang Dynasty army was actually equipped with soft armor that the crossbows could not penetrate?
The followers were angered by Duan Jianhan's words. This guy did not fight himself, but he could still say such unprofessional words. This was far beyond their expectations and made them despise him. If it were not for his blood relationship with his brother, Duan Jianwei, he would not have been able to reach such a high position in any case. He was simply an idiot who did not even have the most basic common sense.
At this moment, the only thing that Duan Jianhan and his followers were glad about was that the Tang Dynasty army soldiers did not chase after them, which allowed them to take a breather. However, they were now trapped in a forest where they could not figure out the situation. There was no village in front of them and no shop in the back. It was very difficult to find something to eat. They were even a little confused about the direction. If they were trapped in this dense forest for a long time, it would be a problem whether they could survive, let alone complete the task.
"General Duan, we are trapped here now. What should we do?"
A soldier asked anxiously.
"Yes! General, the Tang Dynasty army soldiers must be going to the Lu Tribe in front. If the tribes along the way listen to the Tang Dynasty army, won't our plan be ruined? "
"Not only that, I'm afraid that we will be wanted. It will be a problem whether we can go back or not."
Duan Jianhan was also very agitated at this moment. The situation was more difficult than he had imagined. He did not expect that the situation, which was originally smooth, would be reversed in an instant. At this moment, he did not have any good ideas.
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