Jiuxi

Chapter 1 001 [Xiongguan Road]

It was the ninth day of March in the 12th year of Jianwu's reign in the Southern Qi Dynasty.

The Shuo Feng crossed the vast plains of Beiyan and went all the way south. It was blocked by the complex terrain rising north of the Hengjiang River. It could only stay outside the border of Huaizhou in the Southern Qi Dynasty, blowing the newly sprouted twigs in the mountains and fields, and making people cry like they were complaining. The sound of whimpering.

More than ten miles northwest of Huaizhou, a caravan was traveling through the mountains.

In the sturdy carriage in the middle, a young man of eighteen or nineteen years old was leaning on a soft pillow, holding a history book in his hand, with three powerful words "Hou Liang Shu" on the cover.

His name is Lu Chen, and he is the only son of Lu Tong, a wealthy businessman in Guangling Prefecture, Huaizhou. Two months ago, he transported a batch of goods to Yan State on behalf of his father.

According to the established arrangement, after delivering the goods, the Lu family caravan will purchase a batch of cloth at Tieshan City in Beiyan and then return to Southern Qi.Unexpectedly, Lu Chen fell ill the night he arrived at Tieshan City. His condition was very strange, and he was in a coma all day long, as if he had lost his soul.

The accompanying servants were as anxious as ants on a hot pot, and they spent a lot of money to hire local famous doctors, but to no avail.

Just when everyone was in despair, Lu Chen inexplicably regained consciousness and improved in the morning half a month later.

But no one knew that the original young master Lu had passed away before dawn that day, and now the soul in this body came from a distant world.

Lu Chen closed the book and raised his hand to pinch his eyebrows.

For him, the impermanence of fate can be said to be the most appropriate annotation of the more than thirty years in his previous life.

When he was young, he determined to join the military. From a young and immature military academy student to being promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel at the age of 31, he moved from an instructor in a special operations brigade to a military adjutant in an embassy abroad, step by step. Be extremely solid.

Just when he spread his wings and soared, fate played a cruel joke on him. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with a terminal disease.

That day, he looked at the crying people beside the hospital bed and felt the vitality in his body draining faster. It was difficult for him to squeeze out a smile, comfort them not to cry, and then wait for death to come.

Despite all kinds of unwillingness, he finally left that world, but when he opened his eyes again, he came to this strange world.

When they heard that the young master had woken up, the servants of the Lu family and the guys in the business were all overjoyed.

While they were sending people back to Guangling Mansion to deliver the good news, they were packing their belongings. After Lu Chen regained his strength, they set off back to Southern Qi.

After seven days of long journey, the caravan was very close to the Panlong Pass guarding the west gate of Huaizhou. At this moment, Lu Chen had also left the carriage and put on his mount. Accompanied by Li Chengen, the leader of the nursing home, he was looking at the majestic pass ahead.

Panlong Pass faces Shuangfeng Mountain in the south and the corner of Qilin Mountain in the north. It looks like a dragon crouching and a tiger perching on it.

This pass is the only gate into Huaizhou from the northwest. It is extremely dangerous and dangerous. Since ancient times, it has been said that "one man can guard the pass, but ten thousand people cannot open it".

When entering the pass, walk slowly up the slope and look up at the pass tower and the majestic Qilin Mountain. It is like a coveting tiger guarding the northwest gate of Huaizhou, and you suddenly feel a sense of majesty and danger.

During the Yuanjia Incident 13 years ago, the three northern kingdoms jointly sent troops to attack Heluo, the capital of Da Qi. The emperor and the prince of Qi were forced to burn themselves in the palace. Da Qi, which had been a country for more than 130 years and had the largest territory in the world, was in danger of overthrowing.

At the time of crisis, the seventh son of the emperor Li Duan ascended the throne in Yongjia, a large southern city, to continue the great Qi state.

However, nearly half of the once vast territory has been lost. The new imperial court can only settle in a corner south of the Hengjiang River. In the north of the Yangtze River, only Huaizhou on the edge of the East China Sea and part of Jingzhou in the middle reaches are left.

The reason why the Southern Qi Dynasty was able to defend Huaizhou across the river was due to its dominance of the dangerous Panlong Pass.

For a long time, Southern Qi and Northern Yan were in a state of isolation. Communication between the two countries tended to stagnate. Panlong Pass also strictly prohibited civilians from entering and exiting.

This situation began to loosen seven years ago. The two courts finally no longer prohibited legitimate business exchanges, so private merchants became more frequent in exchanging goods.

The Lu family caravan was a frequent visitor to this trade route, and they were very familiar with the customs clearance procedures. Lu Chen did not need to worry too much, as the accompanying shop owner Song Yi could take care of it very well.

Song Yi took the vouchers issued by the Ministry of Household Affairs, the list of purchased goods and the tax money prepared in advance, and ordered the clerk to drive twelve carts filled with goods through a road south of Panlong Pass under the guidance of the defenders. Corridor.The caravan came to an open space behind the customs and waited for the inspection procedures to be completed before starting again.

This made Lu Chen slightly disappointed. He originally wanted to see the majestic beauty of this magnificent pass up close, but he also understood that no caravan could directly enter Panlong Pass.

The inspection here is completed jointly by officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs and customs officers. The former is responsible for collecting commercial taxes, while the latter checks whether there are prohibited items in the goods.Not far away, under a simple pergola, Lu Chen was chatting with Li Chengen.

Just like what he had done along the way, he explored various information from the side, and then combined it with the remaining memory fragments in his mind to understand the overview of this new world.

"...The imperial court established the Metropolitan Governor's Office in Huaizhou, commanding nearly [-] troops of the Jiangbei Seventh Army. The Metropolitan Governor Xiao Wangzhi is a veteran on the battlefield. He has made many military exploits and is famous before the Yuanjia Revolution. With him sitting here, The whole Huaizhou feels at ease. Young Master, in fact, having said that, the real enemy of Huaizhou is not the Puppet Yan, but the Dajing Dynasty who stands behind the Puppet Yan court."

Li Chengen was talking eloquently. He was about four or five years older than Lu Chen. He looked energetic and energetic, and his bright eyes showed the unique energy of young people.

Lu Chen said calmly: "The Pseudo-Yan Dynasty is just a puppet court after all, because the Jing Dynasty has risen too fast and cannot digest the land of Jiangbei with its own strength. Using a puppet court to control the people of Jiangbei is a cunning choice. This shows that the Jing Dynasty The emperor's palace is very deep, and he is not a warrior who only knows how to march and fight."

Li Chengen said with some emotion: "What the young master said is absolutely true. The rapid rise of the Jing Dynasty is staggering. Before the Yuanjia Revolution, the Jing Dynasty was only one of the three northern countries. In terms of strength, it was not able to crush the other two countries. However, in just a few years, Jinglian Iron Cavalry was able to dominate the world. Not only was it superior to the other two countries, it also created a pseudo-Yan court after capturing Heluo City, and methodically absorbed the hearts and minds of the wealthy lands in the north. "

Lu Chen looked at the towering city wall of Xiongguan in the distance, and said with a slight gaze: "Jing Chao supported the Puppet Yan not only to appease the hearts of the Qi people in the north, but more importantly, perhaps because they did not want to sit back and watch Huaizhou in the north of the Yangtze River be under the control of Da Qi. "

Li Chengen was slightly startled, looked around subconsciously, and then whispered in agreement: "Young master, although the two sides have become more peaceful on the surface in recent years, they still fight fiercely in private. In the past, every time the master took us north to do business, he would We have been repeatedly told that we are not allowed to have any contact with the local officials in Puppet Yan except for the normal sale and purchase of goods."

"It should be so." Lu Chen smiled slightly, skipping the topic of Yuan Lu, and said, "I heard that there are many fake Yan crafts in Huaizhou?"

Li Chengen nodded and said: "Yes, but the master once said that there are many Daqi men in Pseudo-Yan territory, and it is difficult to distinguish between the two sides. I still remember that the master was not in a good mood at the time, but I don't know why."

Lu Chen sighed in his heart, Yan State was just a puppet erected by Jing Dynasty, and Southern Qi could only fight equally with it. The weakness of its military equipment was evident.

At this moment, the east gate of Panlong Pass in the distance suddenly opened, and then more than a hundred riders roared out and galloped straight into the open space.

Li Chengen and the nursing staff of the Lu family all changed their minds, and Song Yi, who was talking to officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs over there, also suddenly became nervous.

These more than a hundred cavalrymen were obviously the elite of the garrison within the Pass. The leading military general, who was nearly forty years old, looked cold and stern, with a faint evil aura on his angular face.

When something unexpected happened, everyone in the caravan, the officials from the Ministry of Revenue, and the soldiers responsible for inspecting the goods were inevitably in a daze, watching helplessly as this group of fierce cavalry surrounded everyone.

The dust slowly subsided, and the general was heard asking in a cold voice: "Where is the person in charge of the caravan?"

Lu Chen had already arrived at the venue with a group of guards. Hearing this, he stepped forward to greet us and said, "Lu Chen, a common man from Guangling Prefecture in Huaizhou, is the person in charge of this caravan."

The general leaned his upper body forward slightly, and a majestic and powerful aura rushed towards him: "Are you Lu Tong's only son?"

Lu Chen's face didn't change and he responded calmly: "That's right. May I ask General Gao's name?"

The general snorted softly and narrowed his eyes: "A bit brave, better than you. I am Ning Li, now the captain of the Panlong Army."

According to the military system of Qi State, the border governor's office has a varying number of troops, with the chief general commanding the capital.Below the army are regiments and battalions, and the chief general positions are captain and school captain respectively.

Lu Chen heard from the other party's tone that this person seemed to be an acquaintance of Yuan Lu, but his attitude did not seem to be the result of a worldly acquaintance, so he immediately asked calmly: "I wonder what advice the captain has here?"

Ning Li raised his right hand, and more than a hundred riders immediately dismounted, and then he said in a cold voice: "Recently, fake Yan operations have been rampant, and some local businesses have been found to be secretly collaborating with fake Yan. I am commanding the capital to make your Majesty Military order, come and strictly inspect your Lu family caravan."

These words were like a bolt from the blue. Except for Lu Chen and Li Chengen, everyone else's eyes were filled with fear.

Ning Li looked at Lu Chen with great interest, as if he wanted to see the young merchant's son in a panic, but what caught his eye was Lu Chen's handsome face that was calm and unfazed.

As the wind became more and more urgent, Lu Chen neither bluffed nor lost ground.

After a brief thought, he said calmly: "Captain Ning, the Lu family has strictly adhered to its duties for many years and never dared to do anything that exceeded the rules. However, since this is a military order from the commander-in-chief, the Lu family should do its best. Cooperate."

He paused, bowed his hands and said, "Please."

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(End of this chapter)