Firmament

I used to be a small tadpole.

- Korean proverb

When the Seljuk Empire, the Khorezm Empire, the Qarakhanid Dynasty, the Western Khitan Empire, the Ghazni Dynasty and the Ghor Dynasty fought each other, the land of Northeast Asia was also full of war drums and gunsmoke. A great war broke out between the Khitan Empire, the Eastern Empire, and the White High Xia Kingdom.

In 979, the Eastern Kingdom eliminated the remnants of the Han state of the Northern Dynasties with Jinyang as its capital and unified the Central Plains. The king of the Eastern Kingdom was very angry at the stubborn resistance of the Jinyang army and people, and was extremely afraid of its reputation as a dragon city, and angrily ordered the burning of Jinyang City. He also brought in the water of the Fen River and the Jin River, razed the long-standing Jinyang City to ruins, built a new city and merged the state in Tangming Town, more than 40 miles north of the ruins, and established the state government.

There is a family surnamed Wang in the city of Bingzhou where the Han and Hu people are fused.

The Wang family were small merchants who had lived in Jinzhong for generations. Whether it is the Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties ruled by the Han people, or the Huyi countries of the Xianbei people, the Xianbei people, and the Di people, the Wang family is dedicated to doing business and making money, and has never participated in political disputes.

In the early years of the Eastern Kingdom, the more prestigious person in the Wang family was a person named Wang Chen.

Wang Chen was nearly 50 years old, had three sons and four daughters, and ran a silk cloth shop. He has been pondering how to find business opportunities and achieve a breakthrough in the family business, and when he saw the king build a new annexed city, he felt that the opportunity to make a lot of money had come. He enthusiastically mobilized his family members to move to Bingzhou to seize rare business opportunities.

Jinzhong people have always been nostalgic for their homeland and do not easily move to other places. Under the persuasion of the royal ministers, only a small part of the family moved to Bingzhou.

At that time, the national defense task of the eastern countries was very arduous, not only to eliminate the remnants of the former dynasties that had resisted stubbornly, but also to defend against strong enemies in the west and north of the country. As a result, the king issued an edict to recruit new soldiers from the people on a large scale.

The king summoned his son to a family meeting.

Wang Chen asked, "King, conscription, defend the country." Which of the three of you would like to be a soldier?".

The eldest son, Wang Yanshou, said: "Father, Yangui and Yanwen are still young. I'm the boss, so I'll go. "

Wang Yangui and Wang Yanwen are cowardly by nature and don't like to play with knives and sticks. When they heard the elder brother's words, they immediately nodded in agreement.

Wang Chen said solemnly: "Since ancient times, when people go to the battlefield, life and death are difficult to estimate. Since you take the initiative to ask for longevity, let's go to the battlefield to kill the enemy bravely and glorify your family. Since then, Yangui and Yanwen have each taken out 30% of their profits to support Yanshou's family. "

Wang Yangui and Wang Yanwen agreed again and again.

A few days later, Wang Yanshou joined the army of the Eastern Kingdom and soon went to the front.

At the south gate of Tokyo, the capital of the Eastern Kingdom, lives a family surnamed Gong.

When it comes to the Gong family, we have to start from ancient times. In ancient times, the western part of the Central Plains was occupied by the Qiang people. The appearance and lifestyle of the Qiang people in the east are very similar to those of the Chinese people. The Qiang people in the west are white-skinned and blond, which is basically the same as the Indo-European peoples of the Western Regions. Later, Dongqiang and Xiqiang achieved a great alliance and gradually became stronger. The Qiang Gong led more than 3,000 cavalry to invade Longxi, the western part of China, plundering and killing, leaving the notoriety of the Gong Qiang people in the history books.

As the Chinese grew stronger, the Qiang began to decline. Some of the Qiang people were assimilated into the Chinese people, including the Gong Qiang people.

At the end of the Tang Empire, there was a "Anshi Rebellion" in which the Hu people rebelled. Gong Shixiang, the patriarch of the Gong family, left Shanyang, near the capital, and moved his family to Tokyo to settle in order to escape the war.

Gong Shixiang discovered that Tokyo's Bian embroidery was ingenious. Whether it is the landscape figures, or the flowers and birds of the building, the needle and thread are fine, the edges are not exposed, the abundance is like a god, the colors are rich, the layers are clear, and the three-dimensional sense is very strong.

Gong Shixiang thought about it, this is a handicraft stunt, relying on it to support his family and worry about food and clothing. He took out the silver pressed at the bottom of the box and opened a bian embroidery workshop, making clothes and embroidering for a living.

Later, the capital of the Oriental Kingdom was Tokyo. The market here is prosperous and rich. The city is magnificent, and the pavilions are dotted with pavilions. At one point, the population exceeded one million. Tokyo was not only the political, economic, and cultural center of the Orient, but also one of the most prosperous metropolises in the world at the time. The history books describe Tokyo's authority as "Eight Wildernesses Contend, All Nations Conquer". Zhang Zeduan's "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" depicts the bustling scene and beautiful natural scenery on both sides of the Bianhe River.

In the early years of the Eastern Kingdom, the head of the Gong family was named Gong Huaizhou. He and his wife raised two sons and two daughters. The eldest son's name is Gong Yan, with a burly figure, thick eyebrows and big eyes, a loud voice, he likes to practice martial arts, and he punches and kicks with a group of young people all day long, practicing martial arts. The youngest son's name is Gong Yuan, who is elegant by nature, loves poetry and books, and mainly teaches literacy to children from large families to earn some living expenses.

One morning in the midsummer of 979, Gong Huaizhou sat on a wooden couch and bamboo mat, holding a thick book of poetry, shaking his head and reciting Li Bai's famous work "Near Wine".

Suddenly, Gong Yan, who went to Daxiangguo Temple to donate sesame oil money, ran home like a black whirlwind.

Before Gong Yan's heels could stand firmly, he said to his father in a hurry: "Father, the king issued an edict to recruit 100,000 troops to go to the north to guard the border and defend against the invasion of the Khitan Kingdom. I'm a five-foot man, and I'm supposed to wear armor and armor to defend my country. "

Gong Huaizhou listened to his son's quick words, and asked thoughtfully, "Speak slowly." Do you know the dangers of joining the army?".

Gong Yan replied dryly: "A soldier's duty is to protect his family and defend the country, and life and death must be put aside. If the son encounters an accident in the field, there is still a younger brother to support his parents, and he can inherit the Gong family. Please rest assured, father!".

Gong Huaizhou usually disliked Gong Yan's rough and arrogant, but now listening to his words, he has some truth about his family and country, so he agreed to his request.

The northern neighbor of the Eastern Kingdom was the Khitan State established by the Khitans. The Khitans maintained the fierce personality of the nomadic people, and with their strong soldiers and horses, they often went to the border to plunder grain and grass and harass the people.

In July, Gong Yan and other 100,000 troops, under the personal leadership of the king of the Eastern Kingdom, rode their horses north from Zhenzhou majestically, broke through the interception of the Khitan army in the area of Shahe, and pursued the victory, besieging Youzhou City.

Gong Yan originally thought that the Khitan people were strong but simple-minded, brave and strategic, but he did not expect that the Khitans not only fought bravely, but also used good tactics to defeat the Eastern army at the Gaoliang River.

This is the first defeat that Gong Yan has suffered since joining the army.

After a moment of respite, Gong Yan couldn't help but wonder: The king of my dynasty is the true son of heaven, not to mention that there are 100,000 troops, which should be "the right time, the right place, and the right people" as stated in the book of war. Why did it collapse in the blink of an eye?

Gong Yan couldn't figure it out for a while, and he didn't dare to ask others. He knew the rules in the army: suspecting the king was a great disrespect to the Son of Heaven, and he must be pulled out and beheaded.

In April of the following year, the Khitan army attacked Yanmen.

Wang Yanshou followed the commander to attack from the north and south, and defeated the Khitan army that came to sneak attack.

The Khitan State was unwilling to be defeated, and its troops attacked Mancheng, Yanmen and Fuzhou in three ways.

Wang Yanshou's army was waiting for work in Yanmen. Gong Yan's troops were waiting in the city. They followed the chivalrous generals into battle and killed the enemy bravely.

The battle ended in victory. Wang Yanshou and Gong Yan were rewarded by the generals respectively, and they were also promoted to junior petty officers in the army.

In 986, Gong Yan followed the 100,000 Eastern Route Army and stormed Xiongzhou. Wang Yanshou belonged to the West Route Army and went north out of Yanmen Pass.

On the eve of the war, Gong Yan found that the army was running out of food and grass, and hurriedly reported to the commander-in-chief.

Unexpectedly, the commander-in-chief was anxious for quick success, and he was lucky, and arbitrarily ordered the lone army to advance and fall into the encirclement of the enemy.

Gong Yan was brave and tenacious in the battle, and was hit by several arrows. Fortunately, the wound was not deep, it was all on the arm and leg, and it was not a hindrance. He asked the soldiers to bandage them briefly and continue to lead the troops into battle.

Gong Yan led the army to the north to Yongqing City, only to see that the city was in disrepair, the city walls had collapsed in many places, and most of the people had moved south, with ten rooms and nine empty. They relied on dilapidated houses to hold back the Khitan army.

In the heat of battle, Gong Yan is surrounded by a group of enemies. He quickly led his squad to break through. He went into battle shirtless, rushed to the front of the ranks, brandished his broadsword and slashed several enemies in succession, and blood spattered his robe. In the end, Gong Yan was martyred at the age of 23.

In the autumn of 1004, the Eastern Kingdom concluded a peace treaty with the Khitan Kingdom. The war ended.

At this time, Gong Huai's anniversary passed the sixtieth birthday. When he saw that the war that had lasted for many years had finally ended, he thought of Gong Yan who had died on the battlefield, and he was happy and sad, and he couldn't help but cry silently.

Gong Yuan has entered middle age. He raised children with his wife, served his parents, and provided for his eldest brother's wife and children, and lived a life of fear.