Watching the fire from the other side became playing with fire. This was the best description of the defense line at Liyang North Pass.
As the gateway to Ji Bei, Silver Sparrow Hawk and Horizontal Water both fell at the same time. Beimang's fifty thousand cavalry pointed at the south, causing everyone in Ji Zhou to feel threatened.
For a moment, the imperial court in the capital was bustling. Some people suggested that the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War, Xu Gong, should take over the position left by Tang Tieshuang and 'assist' Gu Jiantang in handling the military affairs in the north. Others suggested that Jiaodong's Prince Zhao Sui, who was in charge of Liaoxi, should reinforce Liaoxi and force the fifty thousand cavalry to return to the east to prevent the situation in Ji Zhou from deteriorating completely. There were also people who accused Ji Zhou's General Yuan Tingshan of not managing the situation properly, causing the flames of war to spread in Ji Bei. He could not take up the heavy responsibility and should let the Deputy General Han Fang take charge of the military affairs in Ji Zhou.
When the west line of Guangling Road was deployed by Xie Xi, not only did they successfully stop the hundred thousand Southern Border troops that had already crossed the river, they even sent a group of soldiers to attack a dangerous pass on the south bank of Guangling River, causing the Southern Border troops to have no place to advance or retreat. Under the pressure of West Chu's navy, the Southern Border infantry and Qingzhou Navy almost shrunk into a ball and retreated. Under such an urgent situation, the civil and military officials of Great Peace City became more and more worried. They finally could not stand the two Liao Border troops not moving. The Beimang barbarians were attacking the northwest with all their might. Gu Jiantang did not move at all. However, even the east line of Beimang that he was keeping an eye on ran to Ji Zhou. Obviously, they wanted to bypass the two Liao Border defense lines that cost half the country's taxes to build. They wanted to use Ji Zhou, which was empty due to the absence of Ji Nan's old soldiers, as a breakthrough point for the south to enter the central plains. How could General Gu not do anything?! Are you not afraid that Beimang's fifty thousand cavalry will attack the west of Jingji? Although you, Gu Jiantang, are the only remaining pillar of the dynasty, your heart is really too big, isn't it?
There was a town called Taiping near the border of Ji Zhou in Liaodong. Most of the residents in the town were from the border army, and some of them were officials who were exiled by the imperial court. Occasionally, there would be traveling merchants passing through the town, and they would do some small business on the way. In the past four to five years, the cheap and good Green Ant Wine was in high demand here. Unfortunately, after Gu Jiantang left his post as the Minister of War, he held the title of Pillar of the Country and served as the Governor of the two Liao Provinces. The border army knew that General Gu did not get along with the Beimang, so the Green Ant Wine produced in Beimang was not sold by many merchants these years. Although Taiping Town was small, it had all the essentials. There were three to four restaurants, and even a proper brothel. There were even more private prostitutes in the small kilns. The generals of the border army also turned a blind eye to this. It was better to let it go than to block it. The Liaodong Border Army was known as the stabilizing force of the Liyang Dynasty. They were all young and strong men. However, they had been in a stalemate with the Beimang barbarians for many years. They had always lived in peace and rarely fought with each other. How could the soldiers of the border army vent their anger? Could they find other men for other men? Therefore, small towns like Taiping Town sprung up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. Some of the generals of the border army who had a lot of connections and connections had the ability to buy young women from the areas around the capital and even the central plains and the Jiangnan area. They could bring hundreds of people to the two Liao Provinces at one time.
In Taiping Town, Changshou Restaurant was the most popular restaurant. It was the private property of a military officer with real power. Except for the Green Ant Wine, almost all the famous Liyang Wine, such as Jian Nan Chun, could be bought here as long as you had money. There were all kinds of women playing music and singing in the restaurant all year round. Their appearances were nothing more than average. However, it was a rare scene in the remote border. In the past two days, a pair of brother and sister came to Changshou Restaurant. The young woman held a pipa and told stories. The older brother was responsible for shouting and collecting money. This was not strange at all. However, the woman kept telling stories about the King of Beiliang, Hsu Fengnian. She told stories about how Hsu Fengnian walked across the Liyang River Lake, how he entered Beimang alone, and how he won the hearts of the soldiers in Beiliang. This angered the residents of Taiping Town. However, a group of people took the opportunity to bully the beautiful woman. They did not expect to be beaten by the ordinary-looking young man. Changshou Restaurant was happy to see this happen. They proposed that the woman be allowed to tell stories in the restaurant. They wanted her brother to fight in the arena every day. After ten days, all the military experts near Taiping Town lost. The young man from outside won ten rounds in a row. The Changshou Restaurant, which was good at making money, started to become the banker again. It was estimated that they earned at least a thousand taels of silver. The prostitution business in the brothels in the town decreased sharply.
In the evening, the battle in Changshou Restaurant was over. A group of distinguished guests walked into the restaurant. The four of them asked for a table by the railing on the second floor. The woman downstairs was preparing for the second round of storytelling. Her brother had changed into a new set of clothes that were washed to the point of turning white. They were mended very hard. The brother and sister had traveled from Liangzhou to Lingzhou, and then from Lingzhou to Hezhou. They passed through Jizhou and arrived at this small town. Unlike the blind storytellers commonly seen in Li Yang, the woman only had a pipa. When she was telling a story, she never shook her head, laughed, or cursed. When she talked about the characters' sorrows or the intense emotions, she only raised her voice slightly. Most of the time, she spoke in a flat tone, as if she was just telling a story. As for whether the audience liked to hear it or not, and whether they were willing to reward her, she didn't care at all.
The four guests sitting by the railing on the second floor ordered a jar of Jian Nan Chun Wine, which was known as "one catty can break the throat and two catties can burn the intestines". They also ordered a jar of Ancient Well Immortal Brew, which was easy to drink and had a small after-effect. Only two of the four people sat down. The younger one had a simple and unadorned long saber on his waist. He looked around with self-satisfaction and was in high spirits. The man who looked like the elder of the young man had an indifferent expression. After opening the jar of Immortal Brew, he drank by himself. The other two standing had two Liao border army standard war blades hanging from their waists. Although they didn't have the same status as the two seated here, others could tell with a single glance that they were extraordinary figures who led troops all year round. Otherwise, the aura of the battlefield on their bodies wouldn't be so strong.
The young man stretched his neck and glanced at the people downstairs. He was a little impatient and frowned. "Why isn't that Ji guy here yet? Looking at his posture, he really thinks that he's one of the top ten masters in Great Snow Plateau."
The older man with gray hair on his temples did not bat an eyelid.
A burly man who was standing seemed to dislike this arrogant young man. He said with a fake smile, "General Yuan, Ji Liu 'an is one of the top ten masters in Great Snow Plateau of Mount Hui. What's there to be proud of?"
The young man called General Yuan drank a mouthful of liquor and sneered, "Only a country bumpkin would take a martial arts evaluation made by a little girl seriously. In the end, only the old master of the Wu family's Sword Tomb can barely be called a master. As for the others, Chai Qingshan of the Sword Pool of Dongyue has little ability. It's fine if he can shut himself up in Guangling Taoism. As for this Palace Master of Nanjiang Dragon Palace who sneaked into Liaodong, who is he?"
The young man slowly spun the wine cup with two fingers. He glanced at the person who exposed him and said with a smile, "There's also that number one master of Nanzhao, Wei Miao, and the others. When they reach the jianghu of the Central Plains, they will probably be beaten to a pulp. Haha, there's also that number one swordsman of Great Peace City, Qi Jiajie. He's the funniest. Flying swords for thousands of miles, what a great lineup. What happened in the end? The swords did reach Hezhou, but there's no more news of Qi Jiajie. Of these top ten masters, even if the other five were added together, they would probably not be worthy of any one of the four people in the martial arts evaluation. "
The burly man was about to retort when his colleague pulled his sleeve. In the end, he swallowed his words and only snorted coldly.
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