The Beiliang cavalry broke into the hinterland of Gangnam-do. With the example of the tens of thousands of Lianhuai border soldiers as a precedent, this cavalry force that fought to pacify the rebellion was unimpeded. In addition, the cavalry force did not violate any of the places they passed, so it could be considered as giving the Zhao imperial court a way out.
If one looked at the current Liyang territory, Gangnam-do located north of the Guangling River was actually unworthy of its name. However, in the early Spring and Autumn period, the territory south of Guangling was always regarded as a barbarian land full of miasma. Back then, the old Southern Tang occupied most of the territory south of the Guangling River. Other than fighting a few soul-stirring battles under the leadership of Great Ancestor Gu, it caused a lot of trouble for the Liyang army led by the great general Gu Jiantang. Afterwards, the imperial court's Ministry of War and Ministry of Revenue worked together to calculate the loss of military strength and found an extremely comical conclusion. The number of Liyang soldiers who died of disease was actually roughly the same as the number of casualties on the battlefield. It was said that after the old Emperor of Liyang established the world, he said to the Southern Tang monarch who was surrendered to the capital, "The people are in West Chu, the geography is in your Southern Tang, but the time is in my Liyang. Everyone says that the time is not as good as the geography, and the geography is not as good as the people. Therefore, in my opinion, these words should not be taken seriously."
Afterwards, Liyang entered the Dao in Bingzhou under the late Emperor Zhao Dun. When he set up Gangnam-do, it was not that there were no civil officials who objected, saying that the Jiangbei Dao was more appropriate. However, Zhao Dun, who was known as the best of the previous emperors in both political and martial arts, laughed and rejected the idea. The reason was extremely rich in a kind of unofficial legend. Zhao Dun took out a large-scale poetry collection that was recently compiled by the Hanlin Academy at the imperial court meeting. He joked that since ancient times, many scholars and refined scholars had written about Jiangnan's scenery and beauties. Could it be that when the later generations read this book, they had to make a turn? He had no choice but to look at the annotation that said, "In ancient times, Jiangnan was today's Jiangbei." Moreover, the character "Bei" had too strong of a tone. It was too much of a bummer.
In the Gangnam-do, which had a flourishing culture, this Beiliang cavalry with their armor clattered and their horses sturdy looked particularly out of place. Hong Shuwen and his group of young Beiliang barbarians, born and raised in the northwest, were particularly unaccustomed to the environment. They said that the ground here was soft and uncomfortable, so much so that even the hooves of the horses did not make a sound when they stepped on it. Not to mention that they were in the desert outside the Great Pass, where the dust and dirt would rise when the horses whipped their whips, and the charming and gentle scenery of tall grass and flying orioles on both sides of the official road, Hong Shuwen and the others did not find it pleasing at all. They only felt stifled in their chests, unable to move their hands and feet. Compared to these young warriors who were used to the wind and snow of the northwest, Yuan Zuozong and a group of Great Snow Dragon Cavalry who had experienced the wars of the Spring and Autumn Period when they were young were much calmer.
This army of cavalries marched day and night. In Youzhou Province, River Province, and Ji Province, they didn't purposely pursue speed. However, when they headed south to the Central Plains, they moved extremely fast. Nevertheless, the complicated rules set by Northern Liang Border Army were still unshakable. In order to build an invincible army of cavalries, strong soldiers, armors, horses, provisions, military law, and battlefields were indispensable. For the past twenty years, the whetstone for the Beiliang Frontier Cavalry had always been the Beimang Army. For example, the opponents of the crossbowmen in Liangzhou were mostly valiant enemies like Dong Zhuo's Wuya Lanzi. This gave the Beiliang Frontier Army a very interesting misconception, which was that they had greatly overestimated the overall strength of the armies under the heavens. This was precisely the opposite of the so-called elite armies in Liyang, especially in the Central Plains. For example, Yang Shenxing's Ji Zhou infantry had always looked down on Yan Wenluan's infantry. The Prince of Guangling Zhao Yi's cavalry firmly believed that they had the strength to contend against the Beiliang cavalry. The Qingzhou Army of the Jingan Road also never took the Beiliang cavalry seriously. There had once been a leading general who said, "So what if they were Steel Cavalry? Just because they wore a few jin of iron on their bodies, they were Steel Cavalry?" Moreover, in Beiliang, that desolate and impoverished place, how could half of the soldiers wear armor?
Then, when this Great Snow Dragon Cavalry appeared before the eyes of the Central Plains, all levels of society closed their doors, closed their cities, and closed their camps. Of course, they also shut their mouths while they were at it.
In the deep curtain of night, near a scenic spot called Shuangluan Pond in Gangnam-do's Five-Colored County, the cavalry stopped and rested for six hours. Beiliang's roaming scouts were still in groups, casting a net in all directions, returning ten li away. Before they began their reconnaissance, every roaming cavalry commander would receive a topographic map from the hands of a marking officer. The map was extremely precise and rigorous. Not only did it mark out the names of the mountains, rivers, and passes, in many cases, it even recorded the locations of villages and outposts. It was clear that this was definitely not a map that had been gathered at the last minute, and it was even less likely that it had been borrowed from the local government or army. It could only be something that Beiliang had long recorded in the confidential files of the border army. Looking at the age of the map, the earliest it had been made was around three years ago. What did this mean? It meant that the Beiliang Frontier Army, which had been entrenched in the northwest and overlooking the Central Plains for 20 years, had never truly ignored the Central Plains. This kind of clue, which was not obvious in words or on the table, made the entire cavalry, from the scouts to the main force, from the squad leaders to the generals, from top to bottom, feel a suppressed heat that could not be released. It was like a stove in the snow.
The army was quiet and organized, but a group of people moved slowly on this snowy night. They quietly left their encampment and rode toward the famous thousand-year-old Cold Mountain Temple in Jiangnan's Shuangluan Pond. It was Hsu Fengnian, Yuan Zuozong, and Xu Yanbing, as well as two locals. One of them was the spy chief that the Fushui Branch had planted in Gangnam-do. Even Hsu Fengnian only knew that this person's alias was Song Shanshui. He was close to 60 years old and wore hemp clothes and straw sandals. At first glance, he looked like an old farmer who worked in the fields all year round. However, this person was a founding figure of the Fushui Branch and was considered by Chu Lushan to be his trusted aide. The other person's age was similar to the spy's. His surname was Zhang, and his name was Longjing. However, his aura was completely different from the former's. His entire body was filled with the aura of wealth, and he was fully deserving of the title of richest man in Five Colors County. He had connections with both the black and white. His nickname was Grand Secretary Zhang, implying that he was all-powerful in Gangnam-do Five Colors County, no different from a dynasty's Grand Secretary. The Zhang family wasn't considered an outsider in Five Colors County, but they had truly risen to prominence twenty years ago. Before, they could only be considered a wealthy family within a county. Under Zhang Longjing's leadership, they began to soar. After becoming rich and extravagant, they didn't forget to repay their hometown, generously supporting over a hundred poor scholars.
In order to take care of Zhang Longjing, who hadn't ridden for many years, the group didn't walk quickly. This made Grand Secretary Zhang feel very uneasy. He had originally arranged for his trusted retainer to come on a carriage, but the young vassal king suddenly had the idea of going to Cold Mountain Temple to enjoy the scenery. Even the honorable commander of Beiliang's cavalry, Yuan Zuozong, was riding a horse. Zhang Longjing didn't dare to go on a carriage alone. Back then, he had transformed from a brave and strong young military officer in the Xu family's army. After being immersed in the officialdom for more than twenty years in Five Colors County, many of the edges and corners of the battlefield had already been worn away. Moreover, a generation had already passed since then, so Zhang Longjing didn't dare to forget etiquette in front of the illustrious new King Liang.
This time, after revealing his identity and sponsoring provisions for the old master Xu family's Beiliang cavalry, Zhang Longjing, who was full of children and grandchildren, wasn't without misgivings. A slight move in one part would affect the entire situation. In reality, all aspects of the family, both inside and outside, were stirred up. Let's not talk about the recent events, just the Zhang family's humble and concubine-born children who had lent a helping hand in the early years were now officials dressed in green silk. Presumably, letters of severing ties with the Zhang family would be sent to the Zhang family residence one after another. Perhaps in the future, the ones who wanted the Zhang family to be executed the most were these people. When Zhang Longjing, who was familiar with the ways of the world, thought of this, he still felt a bit of bitterness. However, if one were to talk about regret, it definitely couldn't be said. Zhang Longjing knew better than anyone that the reason the Zhang family was able to reach its current status, regardless of whether it was in the officialdom or in Jianghu, was because of this old spy Song Shanshui who had never appeared before him, this old man hiding in the shadows behind the scenes, who had contributed greatly.
Zhang Longjing felt a burst of burning pain on both sides of his legs. For a moment, he was a bit absent-minded. As someone who came from the old cavalry, he thought back to when he followed the great general to the north and south, to the point where he could even doze off on a bumpy horse without falling off, let alone skillfully urging a horse to fight. He never thought that twenty years later, even riding a horse would be so difficult. It turned out he really was old.
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