Biganchun

The first year of Kangding.October.

The mountains are rolling and undulating, and the last trace of greenness has completely faded in the new wind, and the color of the vast Gobi is once again merged into one like fate.The setting sun is slanting, casting lonely shadows of different shades in the gap between the mountains, as if waiting for the dark night to engulf everything in the world.

At the foot of the mountain, the dry river meanders and crawls in the old riverbed, like a dead snake.Thousands of gravels in the riverbed hundreds of years ago have already been turned into powder-like fine sand under the wind and sun.

Hundreds of years ago, it was still the prosperous Tang Dynasty.In the Daming Palace in Chang'an City, there is a silk-painted map of the Celestial Dynasty, which is more than ten feet long and wide.The silk curtain swayed with the wind, like a light blue sky, like morning stars emerging from the frontier, and reflected in Tian Khan's deep eyes.Among them, the most dazzling and unforgettable one is here.

An important town in the northwest, Kuanzhou.

With a population of 20, merchants gather here and flourish.And all of this is no match for the invasion of time.However, after a hundred years of work, as the last drop of water in the Kuan River dried up, it was abandoned by the people and businessmen, and has since become the old Kuanzhou.

The west wind spreads wildly, urging the lonely city.

At this moment, standing at the foot of the mountain and looking at the ruined ruins, looking up inadvertently, it seems that there is a high city not far away, which reflects the prosperity of the past, and is faintly discernible like a dream.

But if you raise your cuffs to wipe your eyes, and then look hard, your heart will thump, no matter how unbelievable——

There, there really is a city!

A city is like a dream, like a rebirth from Nirvana after a hundred years of awakening.

Backed by the wide valley at the foot of the mountain, the tall and wide city walls are surrounded by moats that are about ten feet wide.The city wall is based on boulders and built with mud. It is not very neat, but it is strong enough.The turrets at the four ends of the city wall are dangerously erected, with a dysprosium tower every thirty feet, and a horse face every ten feet.The sergeants stationed on the walls of the city towers stood still like guns, like the crenels of the city walls, solid and cold, without a trace of life.

Outside the main gate tower, a half-moon shaped urn city was built as usual.If there is an enemy invasion, the archers can shoot arrows on the tower of the Wengcheng to defend against the enemy.If the enemy invades the urn, the archers can also turn around and encircle the defenders of the main gate tower on all sides, forming a situation of catching turtles.Under the urn city, a door was opened to the side, not directly facing the city gate, in order to slightly delay the enemy's attack on the city, so as to prevent the enemy army from driving straight in if the urn city gate was broken.

At this moment, under the east outer wall of Wengcheng, a team of servants are repairing a hole in the wall.This hole reaches to the ground, and it is extremely high. The soil that was supposed to be tightly rammed between the stones has loosened at some point, and the surrounding stones are barely supported.The servants waved their shovels, mixed wet mud with crushed stone chips, and were trying to refill the gaps between the stones.

"Squeak - squeak"

A half-foot-long gerbil came out of nowhere from the sandy soil under its feet, and happened to scurry to the feet of the old captain.

With a "clang", the shovel swung down mercilessly, and the gerbil was instantly bloody.The veteran captain wiped his shovel on the sand, wiping away the faint blood: "You rats ran out again before the sun set, you are so tired of work!"

The embankment of a thousand miles, destroyed by ant nests, is not uncommon in the rivers and lakes of the Central Plains.In this northwest land, no matter how strong the city wall is, it is hard to escape the harm of gerbils.These thousands of rats seemed insignificant, but the shocking hole in the city wall at this moment came from their claws.

The setting sun was on the mountain, illuminating the tip of the shovel in the hand of the old servant.He raised his head and folded up the front of his sheepskin jacket, just in time to see that the youngest of his team of servants had just come out of the city with a load full of water.

The young man has just entered the city, and he has only been in this team for more than ten days.Although it was the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, he was only wearing two layers of old linen shirts, walking among a group of northwestern men, he looked extraordinarily thin.He put down the pole not far behind the trowel, unloaded one of the wooden barrels, and slowly mixed the water in the barrel into the mud.

The old servant looked at the figure of the young man, and slowly lowered his head.He thought of his eldest grandson.The child is also of such a figure, and is also of such an age.At this time last year, the eldest grandson kowtowed farewell to him at this place, and the Deputy Commander of Fu Yan deployed Lord Liu Ping's men to patrol the road of Yan Yan, and he never came back.

In the battle of Sanchuankou, the eldest grandson died before the battle.When the bad news came back, he was offering incense in front of the spirit of his eldest son who died a few years ago.I still remember that day, when the incense ash in the furnace overflowed, and all of them fell to the ground in an instant.

The deceased is dead, if the children and grandchildren are still alive, I am afraid that at this moment, I don’t know where to watch the sunset from the city gate... The old captain sighed deeply, his eyes filled with tears.

A wooden gourd full of clear water was stretched out in front of him. He raised his head and saw the boy in sackcloth standing in front of him.The young man looked at the old man quietly, his eyes were calm and peaceful, as if he had penetrated all the sorrows in the world.

"Xie Bo, drink some water."

The old servant nodded and forgot what was on his mind in an instant.He took the wooden ladle and took a few sips silently, the water in the ladle soaked half of his white mustache.As the dry new wind passed by, he reached out to wipe a few drops of water from his beard, stopped and raised his eyes to look at the towering Urn City, a melancholy smile slowly appeared on his lips.

"At this age, at this age, being able to live in this city is considered a blessing accumulated by our ancestors."

He was right.The three characters deeply engraved in the stone beams on the top of the urn prove that what he said at this moment is true.

Qingjian City.

In the northwest of Mangmang, there are only a handful of rivers and lakes, and water sources everywhere are extremely scarce.There are countless lands that have been abandoned due to the depletion of water sources, such as the gravel of the Ganges.Old Kuanzhou is an example.Qingjian Chengxi is like a dream in the sky, unreachable.What kind of person can realize this dream and get this beautiful city?

A vigorous figure seemed to slowly emerge from behind the city wall.

The lord of Qingjian City, who was in charge of the inner hall of the Great Song Dynasty, and Zhong Shiheng.

Since the Song Dynasty used troops in the northwest, the defense of Yanyan Road has always been insufficient.A year and a half ago, it was he who led [-] elite Zhongjia troops to Kuanzhou, two hundred miles northwest of Yanzhou, and built a brand new fortress on the ruins of the old city.Here you can go directly to Kou Chong, to the right you can consolidate the power of Yanzhou, to the left you can reach the millet in the east of the river, and to the north you can draw the old of Yinxia.Xixia is well aware of the key points, and has repeatedly sent troops to harass.Zhong Shiheng led the army while fighting and building, never giving up.

When the foundation of the city was first solidified, Zhong Shiheng ordered thirty masons to dig the ground and dig the spring.The stonemasons dug to 150 feet, but still saw only stone layers, and they all said that there was no spring here.Zhong Shiheng pondered for a long time, and ordered the stonemasons to continue digging. Every time a dustpan of stone chips was dug out, he would be rewarded with a hundred coins.If you don't see the spring, don't stop digging!

Money is a thing, and it can serve as a ghost.The originally indestructible stone layer gradually shattered and cracked under the iron awl and iron pickaxes of the stonemasons.On the day when the clear spring gurgled out, Zhong Shiheng picked up the first handful of ice-cold spring water, looked up to the sky and laughed, and his voice spread far beyond the city and into the vast wilderness.

Qingjian City, the name resounded throughout the northwest overnight.

The spring is high and the water is clear, and the canal is as clear as promised.In just one year, [-] hectares of fields have been opened around Qingjian City, and the corn is abundant, and the fields are self-sufficient.Zhong Shiheng borrowed capital from merchants and asked them to bear their own profits and losses to trade in Zhubian City.For a while, Qingjian City became more and more prosperous, catching up with the prosperity of Kuanzhou in the past.

Such a situation has naturally become a confidant of the party.Yuan Hao ordered Gou'er, the owner of Suizhou Xiang, to build a fortress opposite Qingjian City, named Zhelu City.At first, Zhong Shiheng stood still, and when the city was completed, he sent his youngest son Zhong Yi to lead a thousand light cavalry to break into the city in one fell swoop, slaughter all Xia's soldiers, and burn Zhelu City to white ground.From then on, Yuan Hao had nothing to do with Qingjian City, he just instigated the pro-party and other tribes of the surrounding Xiqiang tribes to wait for the opportunity to harass and invade, and never made a large-scale attack.

But Zhong Shiheng's way of defending the city is that the whole city is full of soldiers, including old and young, women and children.Every few days, bonuses are hung out outside the big tent of the commander-in-chief in the city.The silver ingots are placed far away in the bull's-eye, and whoever can shoot them with an arrow will belong to them.

A gentleman is a metaphor for righteousness, and a villain is a metaphor for profit.But in this isolated border city, the theory of a saint seems to have been completely subverted, and no one cares about it anymore.Zhong Shiheng has been in charge of the army for half his life, and has never been entangled in justice and morality.When soldiers meet, life and death are judged.In everything, we only seek the result, not the way.

For many years, in order to solve the embarrassment of the Song army guarding the village alone, he won over the Xiqiang tribes around the four sides, and various stories have been circulated in the northwest.

There are rumors that one day when Zhong Shiheng was having a banquet with distinguished guests, the chief of the Ge Luo tribe sent a secret report saying that Yuan Hao had provoked the Chawa tribe to attack the Song army.He immediately gave the wine glass in his hand to the messenger who reported the news.The wine cup is a Hetian jade cup bestowed by the imperial court, and its value is no less than a hundred gold.

There are also rumors that Niu Nu, the chief of the Xiqiang tribe, was so stubborn that he never went to see him on his own.Zhong Shiheng and Niu Nuye wrote a letter and agreed to go to the tent of Niu Nuye tribe one day to comfort the border people.Unexpectedly, the night before, the mountain was covered by heavy snow, and the snow was more than three feet thick.The attendants on the left and right persuaded Zhong Shiheng to go another day because of the danger of the road.He insisted on walking in the snow.After arriving, Niu Nu was very surprised, saying that he had lived on this mountain for generations, and no Han officials had ever dared to come here.So he led the whole clan to salute to Lord Zhong, and then submitted to the jurisdiction of Zhong Shiheng.

There are even rumors that more than ten years ago, when Zhong Shiheng was still dealing with Li Jiqian and his son on Huanqing Road, in order to regain the strongest Muen family, he did not hesitate to give him the most beautiful concubine by his side.Mu En was very grateful and devoted all his efforts to help the Song army until he died in a battle with another Xiqiang tribe who was pro-party Xiang a few years later.

Most of these rumors are passed on by word of mouth, and no one has ever seen it with their own eyes.But this time, it is an indisputable fact that Zhong Shiheng built Qingjian City, and it was mostly thanks to the open and secret help of the surrounding Qiang people.To this day, except for the Mingzhu and Sunu tribes who are still allied with Yuan Hao, most of the other tribes have joined the Song army.

The old servant drank the clear water from the ladle in a few sips, and returned the wooden ladle in his hand to the young man. Before the two of them spoke, they only heard the sound of horseshoes in the wind.They followed the sound and turned back, only to see two riders like dragons looming on the road to the southeast, galloping towards Qingjian City with bridles.In just a split second, the two horses passed the two of them and galloped to the bottom of the urn city.

The riders on horseback are all very skilled in riding, seeing that they are about to crash into the gate of the Wengcheng, they only lifted the reins, and the horse stopped neighing.

The boy in sackcloth looked coldly from the side, and saw that the pair of horses were all pure black, only a few white spots appeared on the fur of the four hooves, they were extremely rare horses in Dawan.Immediately, everyone is wearing blue helmets and plain armor, which is obviously the color of the Song army's uniform.It's just that although the two men had bows and arrows hanging on their saddles, they didn't hang heavy weapons, they just had a long sword on their waists.

This morning, a huge hole was discovered in the south wall of Wengcheng, and the servant team was ordered to repair it urgently.The matter is extraordinary, although the city gate is not closed, merchants and people are no longer allowed to pass through, and soldiers and servants come and go with tokens.Seeing the two horsemen arriving unexpectedly at this moment, the defenders of the city clenched their halberds and shouted sharply, "Who are they?!"

The person on the first horse looked calm and said loudly: "Master Fan of Yanzhou is a messenger, please see Mr. Zhong." He raised his hand on the horse and threw something into the guard's hand.The defender took it and took a closer look, and saw it was a bronze token, said in a deep voice: "Wait a minute." Then he ordered his companions to guard the gate of the city, took the token and ran into the city to report back to the general on duty.

The messenger turned back immediately, smiled at his companion behind him, and said in a low voice: "Qingjian City is famous in the northwest, and its defense is well-deserved... I came all the way from Yanzhou in the afternoon and galloped for more than two hours. , did not rest, can you still eat it?"

The man on the horse behind him smiled faintly at him, but didn't answer, his eyes turned and met the eyes of the boy in sackcloth.The young man only felt the brilliance in that person's eyes, which he had never seen in his life, and his heart couldn't help but move.

Hearing the sound of armored horseshoes in the city, a group of commander-in-chief cavalry rushed out, among them was a cavalry cavalry with a light robe and a high spirit, unexpectedly it was Zhong Yi, the son of Zhong Shiheng, who came out to welcome him.Zhong Yi went straight to the two messengers, and wanted to address them, but the messenger in front shook his head with a smile.Zhong Yi knew it, and immediately cupped his hands and said: "My father is in the commander's tent, you two please follow me." The two messengers followed Zhong Yi and others and rode straight into the city.

The sound of horseshoes gradually faded away, and the old servant and the boy in linen started working with the servants again.The sun set and went down the mountain, the twilight was dim, and the chill in the wind became a little bit heavier.

Suddenly, there was a low-pitched sound from the turrets on all sides. Although it was not very harsh, it shook the hearts of everyone under the urn city.

Horn alert, there are enemies!

The veteran chief suddenly raised his head.In the dimness, one can vaguely see that the defenders on the urn city have put their bows in place, and the general on the city is waving a large vermilion banner, echoing the four corners of the city gate.Behind him, a thunderbolt soared into the sky, bursting into a glamorous spark in the evening sky.

"Su Nu invaded! Go back to the city!"

There was continuous shouting and shouting from all over the top of the Wengcheng Tower.The old servant frowned tightly.The Sunu tribe is the most powerful branch of the Western Qiang.But more than ten days ago, he came to provoke him. Could it be that he made a comeback so soon?He had no time to think about it, so he raised his arms high and shouted to the team of servants in front of him: "Quick, go into the Wengcheng!"

The servants are all people who have seen the battle for a long time. Although they are in a hurry, they have packed up in the blink of an eye and retreated to the city in a group. The old servant leader is still the last one.He rushed into the gate of the Wengcheng, suddenly remembered something, looked back, and saw the boy in sackcloth still standing blankly at the hole in the city wall, lost in thought.

The old captain shouted loudly: "Son, come into the city!" But his voice was drowned out by the increasingly dense sound of horns.He stomped his feet, trying to rush out of the city to pull him in again, but the city gate was pushed tightly shut by the guarding soldiers.Seeing the figure of the boy in sackcloth being cut off by the closed city gate, the old man could only let out a long and speechless sigh.

In a blink of an eye, the gate of Wengcheng was firmly blocked by soldiers with rolling stone chariots.Amidst the slow sound of war drums at the top of the city, the sergeants gathered from all over the city like a tide, rushing past the veteran chief.The old man and the servants curled up inside the city wall according to their orders.He clung to the cold stone wall, looked up at the stars in the sky, and still missed the boy in sackcloth in his heart.

Night has engulfed the world outside the city.The sound of horseshoes shook the whole field, and hundreds of flames emerged, approaching the edge of the city moat in an instant.

The young guard climbed up the tower of the Wengcheng, and the flames on the crenels at the top of the city were blazing, illuminating his clear eyebrows and the long sword in his hand, which was a kind of friendship.He has just passed the weak crown year, but he already has a lot of experience in defending the city.Usually these hundreds of Qiang tribes invade, and their intention is often not to attack the city, but to consume the defenses in Qingjian City.When the defenders are exhausted and their weapons and supplies are insufficient, the Zuojin Xia army can take the opportunity to gather elite troops and storm the city.

Zhong Yi leaned over from the city and saw the enemy was temporarily stationed outside the moat. They were all cavalry archers, all in red uniforms, and covered with thin bronze armor. They were the Qiang soldiers of the Sunu tribe.This family is known as the toughest division among the Western Qiang tribes, and it is also the Qiang tribe that Zhong Shiheng most wanted to subdue for many years.

There was a heavy and slow sound of drums from the top of the city, and it gradually became more and more urgent. The archers of the defenders on the top of the city lowered their bodies, and aimed at the enemy behind the crenel with their horn bows behind the crenel.The moat is one foot wide and nine feet deep. No matter how elite the cavalry is, they are bound to slow down when crossing the moat.

The vast dark night makes people faintly uneasy.The Qiang soldiers' cavalry and archers team suddenly flashed a passage in the middle. Against the light of the torches, the leader of the Qiang soldiers leaped out on horseback. It was only one man riding one horse, but it seemed like a gust of wind whizzed in, tearing the peace completely.

A light flashed in Zhong Yi's eyes, and a faint smile appeared on his lips: "Su Nu, good time!"

The tall green horse came out of the Qiang soldier formation like lightning, and immediately rushed to the front of the trench, but it didn't slow down at all.Immediately, the silver-armored warrior leaned over and yelled, tightly gripping the horse's belly, and the horse leaped into the air, like a blue rainbow, across the zhang Xu wide trench like lightning.

Qing Zou fell to the ground with all four hooves, and the silver-armored warrior kept going. He held up a thunderbolt with his right hand, and hit three times with his left hand on the Jiegu on the horse's back behind him.The Qiang soldiers behind him shouted in response, holding torches and riding their horses down the trench, and rushed towards Qingjian City.

Zhong Yi suddenly raised the long sword in his hand and shouted: "Shoot the arrow!"

The arrows were like locusts, shot down from the tower of the Wengcheng, and landed inside the moat, blocking the Qiang soldiers for a while, but none of them landed on the silver armored warrior.The silver-armored warrior galloped on his horse, and in a blink of an eye he had rushed to the bottom of the Wengcheng City.He steered his horse towards the east wall, just before the hole in the wall.He squinted his eyes and took a look, reined in his mount and retreated more than ten steps. Suddenly, he slammed the horse's butt with his left hand, held up the thunder shield and rushed straight towards the city wall.

The silver-armored warrior is exceptionally talented and has amazing physical strength. The thunderbolt he holds is nine feet long and weighs more than sixty kilograms.At this time, he charged the city with his horse, and if the damaged part of the city wall was hit by this blow, it would surely collapse.

Seeing that Qing Zou was still seven steps away from the city wall, a figure suddenly flashed out from the dark place under the city wall of Wengcheng, and rushed towards the silver armored warrior on horseback.The silver-armored warrior was taken aback, the thunderbolt he had swung towards the city wall sank slightly, and he slashed at the sneak attacker with all his strength.

The strong wind whizzed past, and the moment the thunderbolt was about to hit the man, the man's body suddenly jumped out, almost touching the cold sand on the ground.It was just a flash of lightning, while avoiding the lightning shock, he suddenly swung a wooden stick in his hand, and directly hit Qing Hao's right front leg!

There was a thunderous sound, Qing Yu hissed in mourning, and fell to his knees with a plop forward. The silver armored warrior fell off his horse, unable to hold the thunder shield in his hand, he let go of his hand, and flew a few feet away.

The silver-armored warrior rolled over and stood up. Under the light of the urn tower, he finally saw clearly that the sneak attacker who knocked him off his horse was just a thin boy in sackcloth.What he held in his hand was originally a shoulder pole stick, but the moment it hit the horse's knee, the wooden stick was broken by the force of the horse, and now there is only a two-foot-long piece still in his hand.

Just now he risked his life for a blow, but the boy in sackcloth seemed to have exhausted all his strength.At this moment, his chest was heaving heavily, and his eyes were fixed on the silver armored warrior.

The silver-armored warrior was frustrated for a moment, and a violent air was born in his heart.With a roar, he pulled out the lightning awl in his boots, and thrust towards the boy's chest.Seeing him attacking head on, the boy turned his body sideways, but he didn't dodge the stab.

With a plop, the lightning awl pierced straight into the boy's left shoulder!

The moment he stabbed the young man, a sense of panic flashed in the silver-armored warrior's heart. He seemed to understand something, but it was too late.He raised his head, but before he could meet the eyes of the sackclothed boy, there was a tingling pain on his neck, and the sharp stubble on the half stick in the sackclothed boy's hand stopped at his throat!

"you lose."

The boy in linen said lightly, as if the decision between the two was not about life or death.

Cheers like a tide came from the top of Wengcheng.The astonished eyes of the silver armored warrior looked up to the sky.After the thunderbolt, another thunderbolt rose, the light was like snow, illuminating an old face that just appeared on the top of the city.Under the cyan handsome helmet, there are wrinkles around the corners of his eyes like knives.Under his deep gaze, the silver armored warrior finally surrendered completely.

The silver-bearded old man stood in armor in the cold wind, covering the city like a god.

The owner of Qingjian City, Zhong Shiheng.

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