Five Immortals Gate

The other two young men on the carriage were named Li Yu and Li Shan. They were only eleven or twelve years old. Naturally, they could become apprentices because their families were wealthier than Li Yan's. There are only twelve or three families in their village, and the three teenagers are quite familiar with each other. As the scenery on the roadside continues to change, the boy's temperament is revealed, and his mood is gradually depressed by the scenery passing by on the roadside. Replaced by a sense of freshness, the two began to talk. As the scenery on the roadside continued to change, Li Yu and Li Shan gradually became excited. Their moods began to heat up like the warmer sunshine in the sky, and they began to look forward to the future. , kept talking loudly.

Li Yan basically remained silent, only occasionally responding or echoing some of their topics. His mind was in turmoil, with all kinds of thoughts running through his mind. One moment he was thinking about the future, another moment he was thinking about his family, and finally he secretly made up his mind, "I will do a good job this time, earn more money, and build my second family after returning to the village." There is a large courtyard, one for the third brother to marry a wife; the other is for him and his parents to live in, so that the second elder can live a good life; during the Chinese New Year and the holidays, the three sisters are also brought back, and the family is reunited. nor shall they be separated.”

This time it was a manifestation of the young man's character. He only considered his third brother's wife, but he spent time alone with his second brother. He did not consider that in that case, he would also have to start a family independently. He was still confused with all kinds of thoughts.

On the way, Li Guoxin found an opportunity to explain to Li Yan in a low voice, telling him that after joining the army, he should perform well and strive to win the favor of the commander in the army. In this way, he might be assigned to a better barracks, and the Guards might also participate in the defense. Of course, he only said that it might happen, but basically it wouldn't happen. These were considered as reminders, but at the same time, they were afraid of frightening Li Yan if he said something too harshly.

Li Yan was interrupted by Li Guoxin, and he woke up a lot from the confusion. He nodded in a low voice, which made Li Guoxin feel a little more at ease.

After explaining these precautions to Li Yan, Li Guoxin's voice became louder and continued, "Li Yan, if you had joined the Guards, you probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to visit your family in the past few years unless you had achieved military exploits. However, It is estimated that there is a small chance of making meritorious service when you first join the army. If there are things or letters that need to be sent back, you can leave them with Li Yu or Li Shan. There are often people in the village, so go there every time you ask them to come. Go there and ask the villagers to pick up any letters or whatever and bring them back to the village to give to your parents. In addition, although the same is true in the village.

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There are other people working or serving as apprentices in the city, but I don’t think I have time to take you to find the way today. However, you can go where Li Yu and Li Shan go first. They will pay the fees to the master where they go. After signing the contract, it will be done quickly. Yours should take a longer time to finalize. "

Li Yan heard this and said, "Uncle Guoxin, if there are people coming from the village, just ask them to leave my place. The barracks should be easy to find."

"You kid, how can you think so simply? However, I can't blame you. Those garrison barracks are places where ordinary people can go. It is inevitable to be interrogated in the past. If you are treated as It would be bad if the enemy's spy is caught in prison."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Li Yan said in embarrassment, scratching his head after hearing this.

"However, when you have been in the army for a few years, or become a senior official, we can go find you bright and clear, but by then, you have to know your uncle Guoxin," Li Guoxin said jokingly.

Without waiting for Li Yan to answer, Li Yu rushed to say, "Uncle Guoxin, when I learn how to cook well, every time you come here, I will cook the most delicious food for you for free. It is the most fragrant."

Li Shan also rushed to say, "Uncle Guoxin, when the time comes, I will give your family, um, and every family in the village, the best sickles, hoes, knives, and guns for hunting."

"Haha, okay, okay, from now on our Lijia Village will rely on your generation. With you, when we are old, we can make a pot of wine, eat game, watch the sunrise and sunset on Daqing Mountain, and be happy. "Li Guoxin laughed loudly.

After the topic started, the carriage suddenly became lively, and Li Yan would say a few words from time to time, eager to participate.

The county seat is to the south of Lijia Village, turning out from the foot of Daqing Mountain, and the carriage travels all the way south. In fact, Lijiacun is located near the main peak of Daqing Mountain, but the mountain range stretches continuously to the south and north with no end in sight.

At noon, he found a shady place on the roadside and stopped the carriage. Li Guoxin took out the food and greeted them.

After taking a break to eat some food, Li Yan and the others also took out dry food and other things from their packages, spread them on the ground and ate together. Although they were coarse grains, pickles and a little pickled beast meat brought from home, they chatted while eating. But also happy.

Finally around midnight in the afternoon, they arrived outside the county town. Looking from a distance, they saw a city sitting in a large open land, with the east and west walls of the city built against the mountains. The carriage got closer and closer, and when I looked closer, I saw that the city gate and the city wall were more than thirty feet high. Looking towards the city wall, I could see shadowy black figures walking on it. I think they were soldiers patrolling the city. There was a big golden pole. The flag has the word "Emperor" written on it, fluttering in the wind, and the three characters "Qingshan Pass" on the city gate.

Li Yan and the three people in the car also stopped talking at this time, opened their mouths, and stared blankly at the towering city gate. They had never been here like the adults in the village. They had grown up in the village since childhood, and the farthest place was I have been walking around the village, but I have never seen such a majestic building. When I saw this scene for the first time, I was amazed.

At this time, there were not many people going in and out of the city gate, probably because it was already afternoon. Li Guoxin reined in the horse lightly, slowing down the carriage, and turned around and said to Li Yan and the others, "The east and west of the county city are connected to the mountains. There are two city gates in the north and south. The inspection at the north gate is much looser, but the south gate is adjacent to Mengguo, and the inspection is extremely strict. Moreover, the south gate is generally only open for about three hours during the day. Although it is still possible to go south after exiting the south gate. There is a buffer area of ​​about ten miles to reach the Bangladesh border, but for the cavalry, this is almost a matter of minutes. Fortunately, the Qingshan Pass connects high mountains to the east and west, so that the enemy's attack direction has only one route to the south. , which makes the county town easier to defend and harder to attack. The mountains on the east and west sides are steep and the ridge is narrow. It cannot allow several people and horses to go up at the same time. Even if someone can go up, it will be a problem to attack down the mountain. It is estimated that they will be discovered before they come down. , was shot by the city guard’s crossbow.”

Li Yan and the others looked towards the towering city wall as they were told, but the wall was too high, and they were in the north of the city. From this angle, they could only vaguely see a row of black objects on the east and west sides with their heads raised to the sky, pointing respectively. At the peaks on both sides.

Li Yan secretly thought to himself, "Uncle Guo Xin said that the inspection at the North City Gate is loose, so most of the people coming here should be..."

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It's all because of the people of this country. The rows of black objects on the city wall should be crossbow arrows. Seeing that the ridge is so upright and steep, there is really no room for several people to be on it at the same time. I can't go up this kind of mountain. I guess there are only a few people in the village. It would be very difficult for two or three people like Uncle Guoxin and the others to go up. If you were to miss the mark on that mountain, you would probably just roll down and turn into a pulp. Even if someone can climb this mountain, if they attack from the top of the mountain to the two walls, as long as there is a slight movement, there will be a sound of gravel falling under their feet, and the soldiers on the city wall below must have known it in advance. It only takes a row of crossbow arrows to shoot at it, and the people above will be shot into hedgehogs. It is really a dangerous place."

Li Yu and Li Shan also recovered from the shock at this time and heard Li Guoxin's words. Li Yu asked, "Uncle Guoxin, the city wall is so solid and guarded by soldiers, so the Meng people must not be able to break into it, right?"

Li Guoxin's expression became concentrated but he said, "It's hard to say. I heard that Meng's traitors have invaded several times in the past few years. In one of them, the enemy soldiers had already attacked the city wall. Fortunately, Commander Hong personally went to the city to fight in a bloody battle. Fang killed the enemy soldiers and later heard from the people in the city that the blood flowed all over the city along the city wall. The streets were covered with blood, water and flesh, and there were piles of corpses on the city wall and outside the county seat. Although most of them were The enemy troops attacking the city include only half of our dynasty’s people.”

When Li Yu and Li Shan heard this, they couldn't help but look pale. They thought that if they were to be apprentices here from now on, they would not have to worry. They looked at Li Yan worriedly, thinking in their hearts, isn't Brother Yan also going to fight? Wouldn't that be more dangerous?

When Li Guoxin said this, he also felt that something was wrong. He immediately stopped the topic and said haha, "These are just some rumors that I heard and they must not be true. Otherwise, the county would not be so prosperous now. "

In fact, he knew it well. Due to the frequent wars in the border areas, the dynasty had long issued a decree that local people were not allowed to migrate in the border areas, in order to show the patriotism of the people and make every inch of land their home. Even if you have strong enemies, you can live and work in peace and contentment. Li Guoxin didn't know the situation in other border areas, but at least Qingshan Pass really blocked the enemy soldiers and ensured the current peace of their villages and towns behind the county seat.