Chapter 1 Slow March

The speed of the army's march had indeed slowed down. If it was a leisurely stroll at the beginning, it was now a very leisurely one.

It wasn't that no Qian soldiers came to try to fight, to beat the drums on the sidelines, but without exception, they were all mercilessly crushed by the Zhenbei Army.

This was also a helpless thing. General Li Bao had led his troops into the heart of Xishan County, just a stone's throw away from Bianzhou County, the capital region of the Qian Kingdom. The Qian court had placed most of its available combat troops on that front line. No matter what, fighting was fighting. Even if the north was in chaos, as long as the Yan cavalry didn't appear under the capital city, the Emperor's face, the Prime Ministers' faces, the civil and military officials' faces, and the face in the history books would be preserved.

Therefore, Li Fusheng's unit was basically only harassed by the garrison troops in nearby cities. Only generals and civil officials with some dreams and pursuits would do such a thing. Most of them were just burning incense in the yamen, praying that the Yan people wouldn't come to their territory.

One day, the army was stationed at the foot of a mountain called Xiangsi Mountain (Yearning Mountain). Legend has it that a goddess, yearning for the mortal world, descended and stayed on this mountain. She even built a thatched hut with her lover in the mountains and lived a very long, shameless life.

Later, it turned out that the lover was just base and greedy for the fairy's body.

After three years together, the lover went to the capital to take the imperial exam, became the top scholar, and then married the daughter of the Prime Minister. The fairy little sister waited desolately on this mountain until she disappeared.

Therefore, there was also a peak on Xiangsi Mountain called Xiangsi Peak (Yearning Peak). Legend has it that the fairy little sister stood on that peak day and night, hoping for her lover's return.

"This is really a… cliche story."

Zheng, the Garrison Commander, said with emotion at the foot of the mountain.

A faithless man, a fairy, a top scholar, the Prime Minister's daughter…

Well, it seemed that the working people of ancient times liked stories with these elements combined.

"Yeah, why didn't that fairy go to the capital and castrate that lover?" Xue San chimed in.

"Hahaha."

Zheng Fan laughed, reaching out to pat Xue San's head.

There was a temple on Xiangsi Mountain. The monks in the temple didn't recognize this legend, but instead explained that yearning for a long time would lead to cutting off worldly thoughts, hence obtaining great freedom.

However, this kind of explanation would definitely not satisfy the vast working people's need for stories and for a spiritual and cultural world. Therefore, the surrounding people all believed in the fairy sister's story.

This Buddhist temple could only helplessly continue to be located in this mountain with "love stories" as its main theme. However, the incense in this temple was still very prosperous.

Prosperous meant rich.

Therefore, Garrison Commander Zheng personally led his troops last night to forcibly force the monks in the temple to open the mountain gate, and then emptied the grain and wealth inside.

That was really a massive amount of wealth and grain, making Li Fusheng's unit, which wasn't too worried about grain supply to begin with, even more affluent.

Before every meal, Li Fusheng would shout:

"The Qian Kingdom is really damn rich!"

Zheng Fan agreed with this point. Compared to the Yan Kingdom's territory, the Qian Kingdom, except for the three border regions which had a bit of a cold and harsh meaning... well, actually, it couldn't be considered very cold and harsh, after all, that was already the southernmost part of the Yan Kingdom.

Most parts of the Qian Kingdom were actually "treasured lands." Among the four great eastern countries, the Qian Kingdom really had the best geographical location.

But despite this, peasant uprisings in the Qian Kingdom were still extremely frequent. Zheng Fan had even seen Qian immigrants in Yinlang County trying to smuggle themselves over to become Yan people.

The polarization was too severe.

Some died of drought, while others were flooded.

This Buddhist temple didn't just rely on the incense money from pilgrims. In fact, the Buddhist temple had vast fields and many supporters. At the same time, Buddhist temples in the Qian Kingdom didn't have to pay taxes.

In addition, the temple would also offer loan-sharking. In later generations, if you owed online loans, at worst your credit score would be ruined. If you really abandoned all shame and became a deadbeat, and you encountered an official who liked to smooth things over, they wouldn't do anything to you.

But here in the Buddhist temple, if you dared to default on a loan, they would directly seize your fields and help you sell your children. The temple's property grew like a snowball in this way. There was no problem in saying that it was a black society wearing a religious guise.

Of course, in the face of the Yan people's blades, the monks in the temple were still very obedient. They even thought about talking to Garrison Commander Zheng about Buddhism. After Liang Cheng chopped down two young monks, the monks finally understood the meaning of worldly possessions and proactively opened the warehouse.

Garrison Commander Zheng did this very decisively because he really had nothing to worry about. The Yan Emperor and the two marquises were all thorough atheists, so no one would punish Garrison Commander Zheng for insulting the gods and Buddhas.

At this time, the troops began to rest again, anyway, they were just dragging their feet in various ways.

When Li Fusheng first heard Zheng Fan's suggestion, he seemed a bit shy, and then, in the following time, he immediately became a hypocrite.

In the open space in front, a group of soldiers were wrestling. When wrestling, they weren't allowed to use their Qi and blood, and could only rely on their physical strength and skills to cope.

Because once Qi and blood were used, it would easily cause accidental injuries or even manslaughter. At the same time, for martial artists, the importance of physical strength was actually equal to Qi and blood.

Since ancient times, there had never been a case of a weak and delicate martial arts expert.

After Fan Li came on stage, he had already knocked out eight challengers in a row.

There was no way around it. This iron tower-like body gave people an extremely strong sense of shock. In addition, Fan Li was actually not slow at all. Even those centurions and captains, and even Lieutenant General Sun Guyi personally came down to fight, and in the end, they were all thrown out by Fan Li.

Immediately afterwards,

this silly Fan Li took out a big steamed bun from his chest, sat down, and shouted while eating:

"Who's next!"

It could be said that he was extremely arrogant.

"Ah Li wouldn't be so arrogant, would he?" Zheng Fan looked at Xue San standing beside him.

Because usually, Fan Li was very dull and honest, and had no desire to perform. His performance today was too different from his usual style.

Xue San replied, "My lord, Ah Li is waiting for you to come on stage and lose to you."

"..." Zheng Fan.

"My lord, please go on stage quickly," Xue San urged.

"Forget it, no need. Everyone knows he's from my Cui Liu Fort. If I go up and defeat him, it would be too laughable."

Xue San was stunned for a moment, then thoughtfully said, "Right, that would be too ugly of a display."

Just then,

a middle-aged man who had taken off his armor, dressed in tight-fitting clothes, and with his wrists and ankles wrapped, walked up.

Instantly,

the soldiers watching from the sidelines let out cheers.

The one who came up to challenge was none other than Li Fusheng!

"Uh..." Zheng Fan reached out and rubbed Xue San's head, and asked with some worry, "Can Fan Li beat him?"

Xue San shook his head.

"Can't beat him?"

Xue San immediately replied, "No, basically, unless it's a super genius, otherwise, under the same conditions, if everyone doesn't use their Qi and blood, plus Ah Li's body has its own advantages, and in terms of combat experience... it would be really hard to find someone higher than the seven of us, right?"

"So, Li Fusheng can't beat Fan Li?"

"If there are no accidents, he shouldn't be able to beat him."

Li Fusheng walked to the center of the circle, which was equivalent to igniting the atmosphere of the entire venue.

He looked at Fan Li with a smile and asked:

"Who did you learn this skill from?"

Fan Li wiped his mouth and shouted without hesitation in his loud voice:

"I learned it from my Lord Garrison Commander Zheng!"

Zheng Fan's old face immediately turned red.

"Oh, is that so?"

Li Fusheng was a little surprised. Was there anything this Zheng Fan couldn't do?

However, since he was on stage, he had to compete. Li Fusheng shouted to Fan Li:

"Come, as long as you can throw me down, I'll reward you!"

Fan Li stood up and punched his chest with both fists, walking straight towards Li Fusheng.

This was a silly person who even the lord thought about whether or not to slash him with a knife,

so he wouldn't really care about Li Fusheng's identity.

Li Fusheng's eyes narrowed slightly, and his whole body darted forward, directly arriving in front of Fan Li.

Fan Li pressed down with both hands, as if two huge mallets directly struck over, not only anticipating Li Fusheng's intentions in advance, but also taking the opportunity to attack Li Fusheng in advance.

Li Fusheng could only hold his arms up in front of him,

"Bang!"

Only a muffled sound was heard,

Fan Li's fist smashed onto Li Fusheng's arm,

Li Fusheng's figure was still straight, but his feet began to slide backwards, sliding out for four or five meters.

After putting down his arms,

Li Fusheng looked at the big man in front of him again,

and suddenly found that there seemed to be a kind of subtle agility in the other person's eyes.

He, Li Fusheng, was someone who had fought his way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, and his skills had long been trained, but this big man in front of him seemed to be even more experienced than himself.

Interesting, interesting.

Li Fusheng slightly lowered his center of gravity and darted forward again.

When the two sides narrowed the distance again,

Li Fusheng pushed off the ground with one leg,

However,

Fan Li seemed to "see through everything" once again,

and directly knelt on one knee on the ground,

This was a seemingly ridiculous way of responding to the battle,

you actually kneel when the two sides are fighting?

But only Li Fusheng himself knew that his movements had been seen through by the other party in advance again!

Originally, he wanted to directly attack the other party's head, but the other party's kneeling was equivalent to making him jump in vain.

However, Li Fusheng was, after all, Li Fusheng. He clenched his fists and directly smashed them down at Fan Li's head below.

Li Fusheng was confident that his speed should be faster than Fan Li's.

However,

Fan Li simply didn't play by the rules,

only to see his hands suddenly grab the ground, throwing his center of gravity completely forward, and smashing his head forward!

"Bang!"

Before Li Fusheng's fist could hit Fan Li's head,

Fan Li's head had already hit Li Fusheng's chest,

General Li was directly knocked out,

Although he didn't fall when he landed, he staggered backwards before stabilizing his figure.

Fan Li grinned,

stood up again,

raised his index finger to Li Fusheng,

shook it,

and said:

"You are far worse than my garrison commander."

"..." Zheng Fan.

"..." Li Fusheng.

"..." Xue San.

"Hahahaha!"

Li Fusheng laughed loudly,

and shouted:

"Another great general has been found in my army!"

This was an extremely magnanimous expression, which both resolved the embarrassment and showed his demeanor, and could be regarded as protecting Fan Li.

Just when everyone was planning to shout a few times to push the atmosphere up and quickly turn over this slightly awkward scene,

Fan Li's loud voice opened up again:

"If you can't beat me, you can't beat me. Don't say any polite words."

"..." Li Fusheng.

Zheng Fan covered his face.

"My lord, why don't you go up and pull Ah Li back?" Xue San suggested.

"No, I'm not going."

Zheng Fan refused directly.

If he went up,

Fan Li would directly fall to the ground,

and shout in pain:

"Ah, such a strong momentum, I lost!"

Or, even more silly:

"Who are you, so strong!"

"Ah, isn't that Lord Zheng Fan, the garrison commander of Cui Liu Fort in Yinlang County!"

Don't laugh,

Fan Li that guy might really say that.

Xue San was also a bit dumbfounded,

He had instigated Fan Li to go up, the purpose was to create a condition for the lord to show off, but after messing around, it turned into attracting hatred.

"Where's Blind Man?" Zheng Fan asked.

If Blind Man used his mental power to communicate, teach Fan Li a few polite words, the problem could be solved.

"Uh, I don't know, he seems to have taken his wife to see the scenery."

"See the scenery?" Zheng Fan was a little surprised.

"Well, get on the bus first and then buy the ticket, just like matchmaking before, get married first and then cultivate feelings."

Xue San's words were filled with a strong jealousy.

Thinking of those long legs, Xue San still felt a little itchy with hatred.

However, it was just pure jealousy. Third Master still had a lot of character, and wouldn't have other thoughts about his friend's wife.

At this time,

on Xiangsi Peak (Yearning Peak),

Blind Man sat there, holding his erhu (a Chinese two-stringed fiddle) in his hand.

Beside Blind Man, sat a soldier.

"Husband, do you believe in love at first sight?"

Blind Man really wanted to reply:

Are you blind?

However, thinking about it, he was relieved.

Because although Blind Man was blind, his age wasn't really that old, otherwise the wife of the city patrol captain in Hutou City wouldn't have often asked him to relieve her worries.

Strictly speaking, among the seven demon kings plus one lord, a total of eight people, Ah Ming and Liang Cheng were two different styles, and Blind Man belonged to the calm and meaningful type.

But there was one prefix for all of them, these three were all handsome.

Perhaps, it was because they had been marching all these days, and life was inevitably a bit boring;

Perhaps, this clever woman was, after all, a woman. She could calmly accept the family's arrangements for her, but she also hoped that her feelings could be more beautiful and have more embellishments.

Most importantly, after these days of getting along, she confirmed that her cheap blind husband was very flavorful.

"All love at first sight is just lust at first sight."

"..." Yue Xin.

The mountain wind blew around, but it couldn't blow away the awkward atmosphere.

After a while,

Yue Xin smiled again: "Then what about staying together for life?"

Blind Man replied:

"Between husband and wife, most of staying together for life is just because of weighing the pros and cons."

"..." Yue Xin.

For a long time,

Blind Man sighed,

He was a smart man,

but he was really not good at dating,

He had had women, but he had never chased after a woman, nor had he seriously managed any relationship.

However, he knew that what he had just done was very wrong.

"Sorry."

Yue Xin rested her head on Blind Man's shoulder, choosing a comfortable angle for herself,

and replied:

"Husband, you really are different."

...

Two flowers blooming,

Blind Man, who was still trying to date and cultivate feelings, didn't know what kind of awkward scene was happening at the foot of the mountain at this time.

Fortunately,

Li Fusheng wasn't a petty person. He directly ordered someone to bring his saber and gave it to Fan Li, and also pointed out a few martial arts cultivation methods and experiences for Fan Li.

Because, if they fought with Qi and blood, Fan Li would definitely not be his opponent.

This kind of opportunity that ordinary martial artists would dream of, but Fan Li directly took it as wind passing by his ears, because he knew that the change in his strength level was not on himself, but on the lord.

However, the gems inlaid on this saber were quite beautiful and could be dug out and added to his axe.

Li Fusheng seemed to have no way to deal with this silly guy, and directly left the training ground. After coming down, he directly called Zheng Fan over.

Zheng Fan came to Li Fusheng's side and walked out of the crowd with Li Fusheng.

"Garrison Commander Zheng, there are really a lot of talents in your family."

"Actually, thoroughbred horses are common."

"Oh? Is that so?"

"But there aren't many people who know how to appreciate horses."

"Interesting, interesting." Li Fusheng smacked his lips, and then asked: "Garrison Commander Zheng, what about your Zheng Zi's Art of War?"

"My lord, after the war is over, I will present it to you."

The reason was that Blind Man hadn't finished dictating it yet,

Not only did he have to dictate it, but he also had to write a vernacular version, and even apply some war examples. These war examples had to be found from the ancient war history of this world, so the amount of work was not ordinary.

"Okay, then I'll wait."

"I will definitely not disappoint you, my lord."

"Hehe, I've always been relieved when you do things. Oh, by the way, Li Bao that fellow sent someone to send a letter."

"Did he come to ask for help?"

Li Bao's life should be very difficult now. The various armies of the Qian Kingdom were strictly guarding against him there, and they might even surround him.

Li Fusheng shook his head,

and said:

"There are only five words in the letter."

"Five words?"

"You little bitch son."

Li Fusheng even laughed when he said these words. He wasn't angry, because he knew that Li Bao must have been furious when he wrote these words.

The meaning of these words was to ask about your mother being a maidservant.

At the same time, the ancient curse of "You little bitch son" has actually evolved in various local dialects in later generations. Many local dialect cursing sentences have similar pronunciations, but many people think that the literal meaning is "looks like."

"My lord, this..."

Zheng Fan was a little embarrassed, because he was the one who made this suggestion.

Li Fusheng waved his hand indifferently,

and said:

"It doesn't matter."

...

In the following three days,

Li Bao sent someone to send letters,

respectively:

Motherfucker

Shithead

Bastard

Then,

in the next three days,

Li Bao, contrary to his usual behavior, made war command decisions that were impossible to achieve at the cost of losing his troops:

The first day, charge the Qian army's Bianhe Camp!

The second day: attack Xiangzhou City at the junction of Bianzhou County and Xishan County!

The third day: attack the Xifeng Ferry by force with a tired army!