Chapter 1 The Prefecture Seat of Chu

The prefecture seat of Chu was the city of Chuzhou.

A funeral procession, with its clanging and banging, was preparing to leave the city.

Who would have known that the poles used to carry the coffin would break just as they were about to pass through the city gate, injuring two coffin carriers and killing one outright.

The funeral procession was thus stuck at the city gate.

The heir to the Prince of Fu, also the filial son who was about to inherit the position of Prince of Fu, knelt beside the coffin, wailing and shouting. The Princess, surrounded by her female attendants, was also crying her heart out.

They weren't crying for the coffin carrier who had been crushed to death; they were crying because the late Prince of Fu had departed in such an unsettling manner.

Outside the city gate, the group that had left the city earlier could only wait on the side.

Old Xiao, the suona player, sat on the ground beside the official road, while his apprentice, Little Pockmark, busily prepared his water pipe.

Opium hadn't yet been invented in this world, but things like tobacco had already spread among the common people.

The cigarettes that Blindman Bei made for Zheng Fan were merely innovative in terms of craftsmanship and production methods. In reality, the tobacco was readily available for purchase.

Of course, the upper echelons of the Qian Kingdom didn't smoke tobacco. Compared to Five Stone Powder, the kick from tobacco was just a drizzle.

Carefully using a fire tinder to light his master's pipe, Old Xiao took two puffs, exhaled two plumes of smoke, and then gagged, spitting out a large mouthful of thick phlegm.

His apprentice, Little Pockmark, immediately patted his master gently on the back.

Old Xiao turned his head to glance at the situation at the city gate but showed no impatience whatsoever. Instead, he said to his apprentice,

"Go call over your Great-Uncle Kang."

"Alright, Master."

Soon, an old man with a large gong hanging from his waist approached and leaned in close to Old Xiao.

Old Xiao whispered,

"The snag at the city gate won't be cleared up anytime soon, I reckon."

"Of course not. The most taboo thing on a funeral procession is a snag. This is really an evil turn of events. The frame broke, and someone was even crushed to death, with blood spilled.

"Look, that sir over there says he's from the Ministry of Rites, sent by the imperial court to oversee the funeral arrangements. Judging by his anxious look, I doubt he knows what to do."

"I'm telling you, Old Kang, don't just stand there watching the show. Go spread the word: this delay is bound to last a while, so we definitely won't be able to get back on the road anytime soon.

"When we finally get things sorted out and set off again, tell everyone to take it easy and save their strength. If the higher-ups ask, just say we missed our meal and are too hungry to work.

"Either we get a meal from the Prince's mansion, or we get some extra coins."

"Got it, I'll do as you say. I'll go tell them."

"Tell them to be quick-witted and say they're hungry."

"I know, I know."

To outsiders, it might seem incredibly audacious for these white-affair professionals to dare to shake down the Prince's mansion, but they had grown up eating funeral rice. They had seen too many dead people, and their courage had been forged.

So what if it's the Prince's mansion?

Does the Prince's mansion stop people from getting hungry?

Old Xiao picked up his water pipe again and puffed on it a couple of times.

Just then, his apprentice, Little Pockmark, leaned in close and whispered,

"Master, I heard that the prince in the coffin doesn't have a head."

Old Xiao frowned and immediately grabbed his apprentice, asking,

"Who told you that?"

"Hua Cui'er told me. Her mother is a nanny in the Prince's mansion. She said that after the prince's coffin was transported back from the north, her mother helped with the encoffining. Her mother didn't originally tell her, but that night, after she shared a room with her mother, her mother had a nightmare, shouting that the prince's head was gone, the prince's head was gone..."

"Slap!"

Old Xiao slapped Little Pockmark on the head and scolded in a low voice,

"You must never tell anyone about this, or heads will roll!"

Little Pockmark was startled by his master's sharp gaze and immediately stammered,

"Master, I only told you, I didn't tell anyone else, I didn't tell anyone else."

"You little turtle, you keep this matter buried deep inside you!"

"I understand, Master, I understand."

Old Xiao lowered his head and took two more puffs from his water pipe.

For those in the white-affair business, taking advantage of the bereaved family's misfortune to get an extra meal or ask for more reward money was only natural.

But some things were absolutely not for small folk like them to meddle in.

Damn it,

The Prince of Fu returned without a head!

This Prince of Fu didn't have a very good reputation. In the Chuzhou city area, when you talked about the Prince of Fu, everyone would "heh" and then casually gesture to compare how fat the pig next door was and how it should be slaughtered for the New Year.

But if you insisted on saying how bad this Prince of Fu was, it was hard to say exactly.

In any case, in the eyes of the common people, a fat-headed, big-eared fellow was never a good thing.

The year before last, a scholar cursed the Prince of Fu in front of the Prince's mansion, saying, The flesh on your body is all the fat and grease of the people!

Little Pockmark once asked him what "the fat and grease of the people" meant.

Old Xiao didn't actually know either.

But how could a master reveal his ignorance in front of his apprentice?

So he told him it was like pork skin jelly.

Later, when a private school teacher's mother died and he helped with the funeral arrangements, Old Xiao specially asked the teacher what "the fat and grease of the people" meant.

The teacher nodded and replied,

"It really is very much like pork skin jelly."

Old Xiao handed the water pipe to his apprentice and reached into his waist belt to pull out a dry stem, which he chewed on, bit by bit.

A few days ago, the Prince of Fu had gone out as an imperial envoy. Perhaps because he was fat, the Prince of Fu didn't usually leave the mansion very often, but this time, the Prince of Fu's departure was quite a spectacle.

Because on that occasion, a group of Wolfish soldiers had come to Chuzhou city.

Old Xiao had specially taken his apprentice to see them. Wolfish soldiers were rare. In earlier years, these soldiers had caused great trouble in the southwest of their Great Qian!

However, soldiers were just soldiers. These strangely dressed fellows looked like a bunch of uncivilized monkeys.

And they were all unworldly. When they bought the same things, they always got charged forty to fifty percent more, yet they were still overjoyed.

Heh, a bunch of bumpkins.

On that day, Old Xiao saw the Prince of Fu head north with the Wolfish soldiers, because the Prince of Fu was really too easy to recognize, too obvious.

What were they going north to do?

Those in the white-affair business talked about things when they had things to do, and when they didn't, they gathered to chat and gossip, and they came into contact with all sorts of people, from the elite to the lowly, because no matter how rich or poor they were in life, they would always die.

Therefore, Old Xiao had heard some rumors that Grand Commandant Yang of the Three Borders was a little afraid of the Yan dogs. This time, the Prince of Fu was ordered to rebuke him in the capacity of a prince.

Of course, that Grand Commandant Yang was a eunuch. He didn't have any jingle bells down there, so how could he stand firm?

As for the Yan people, Old Xiao had seen many Yan merchant caravans. In earlier years, he had also seen many Yan scholars come over.

The Yan people looked no different from the Qian people.

Old Xiao didn't know what it would be like to fight the Yan people. It was said that they had fought the Yan people a hundred years ago, but after all, a hundred years had passed, and those who had seen the fighting were long gone.

But it was said that the Yan people were quite capable fighters.

Old Xiao agreed with this.

The Yan people were poor.

They were barefoot and not afraid of those wearing shoes, poor and fierce!

Whether in the city or in the countryside, these poor and fierce guys were even people that ruffians didn't dare provoke.

But, it was best not to have a war.

This was Old Xiao's most simple idea. He hadn't thought about how people would die in a war, that he might die, that many people might die, but rather because the people in these surrounding villages had already been suffering from the war.

Old Xiao was still alright; he had a skill. As the saying goes, a craftsman won't starve in a famine year. No matter what, he could still make a living.

But the lives of the farmers were already difficult.

In the past few months, first the Wolfish soldiers and then the Western Army had come in succession. The Wolfish soldiers were alright, a bunch of bumpkins, but those soldiers of the Western Army who spoke with a Western twang had done a lot of forced buying and selling, often beating people and smashing stalls, eating without paying, and pilfering things.

After that, the Zu Family Army came. The Zu Family Army was good, committing no offenses, and they looked orderly when they walked.

But after that, the Imperial Guards who came over were really a bunch of animals!

Old Xiao wondered, logically speaking, the Imperial Guards were from the capital, the place where the officials lived. It was said that gold foil would occasionally float on the Bian River in front of the capital.

But this group of Imperial Guards had done a lot of things like forcibly taking women and even killing people for their goods. The Chuzhou Governor had taken the initiative to go to their military leader, but he had been kicked back.

Which family didn't have some background to be able to become an official in the Imperial Guards?

After causing trouble for a while, the Imperial Guards finally also went north, and everyone could finally breathe a little, but every time the troops came, the local area had to collect grain.

Usually, the most difficult time for the farmers was spring, but this year was good. Before winter had even passed, they were already struggling to make ends meet.

But people would still die as usual, and after they died, they were all fellow villagers. You still had to help with the funeral arrangements, and after they kowtowed to you, and there were no objects left in their homes, you couldn't force anything.

Old Xiao spat out the grass clippings from his mouth,

And sighed in his heart,

This year,

Was going to be hard.

The funeral procession stopped for most of the day. Many people came to persuade them, and several groups of monks and Taoists came.

Finally, the coffin containing the Prince of Fu was lifted up again.

Old Xiao stood up,

Everyone, whether blowing, beating, or shouting, was listless. This wasn't acting; they were really hungry. The sun was already setting!

The people in the Prince's mansion were more particular than ordinary people, and had actually made such a fuss for so long.

In reality, it was already an extremely serious matter for an accident to occur with the coffin during the funeral procession. At the same time, as the son who was about to inherit the title of Prince, just like a crown prince before inheriting the throne, even if he was very happy in his heart, he had to express this grief and let everyone see his filial piety.

At the same time, the imperial court's methods for dealing with the princes were really varied. Every now and then, they would find fault with you. If the imperial court learned that an accident had occurred with the coffin, they would inevitably take the opportunity to make an issue of it, such as the son's filial conduct being flawed, etc.

Most importantly, the son and the princess were actually aware that the Prince of Fu had returned without a head, but they couldn't find out the reason. They were only warned by the commander of the Silver Armored Guards stationed in Chuzhou not to ask too many questions.

All sorts of reasons and emotions were intertwined, and taking advantage of this incident, they directly erupted, so it had been delayed for so long.

Old Xiao suddenly felt his calves trembling,

And quickly reached out and said,

"Apprentice."

"Master?"

"Help me, I'm so hungry that my legs are starting to tremble."

"Master, I'm so hungry too, my legs are also trembling."

"You little rascal, how dare you..."

"No, Master, I'm not hungry, it's the ground, it's trembling!"

Old Xiao was stunned for a moment, and carefully felt it, and it seemed that the ground was really trembling.

Then,

Old Xiao raised his head,

And in his sight in front of him,

Appeared a dark mass!

"Dong, dong, dong! Dong, dong, dong! Dong, dong, dong!"

"Apprentice, get out of the way!"

Old Xiao's reaction was quite quick at this time, and he directly reached out and grabbed his apprentice and rolled to the side.

Behind them, the sound of iron hooves rumbled like thunder, and the dust raised almost buried the master and apprentice in a layer.

Immediately afterward, screams and wails came from the surroundings.

Old Xiao didn't hear anything else clearly, only one sentence:

The Yan dogs are here!

Little Pockmark seemed to want to get up, but Old Xiao pressed his head down hard.

Damn it,

The Yan people are here?

How could it be the Yan people who came?

The troops of the Three Borders are finished?

The Western Army is finished?

The Imperial Guards are also finished?

The Zu Family Army is also finished?

Old Xiao was very puzzled. He had heard people calculate that their Great Qian had a million troops on the border!

Damn it, even if it was a million pigs, it would take the Yan people a long time to catch them, so how could they suddenly have stormed Chuzhou City?

Old Xiao had countless doubts in his heart, but he could only continue to press his apprentice down on the ground, not daring to look up or get up.

He only felt that the sound of hooves on the avenue behind him seemed to never end, and large groups of cavalry kept passing behind him.

Old Xiao felt a burst of despair in his heart. He didn't know where this despair came from. Maybe it was just an instinct, and he even found it a little funny.

This despair was:

Damn it, the Prince of Fu's coffin is still blocking the city gate!

At this time, he was still worried about this? Was this the thing he should be concerned about!

He didn't know how long he lay on the ground eating sand, so long that Old Xiao was a little dazed and dizzy.

He didn't even realize that the sound of horses' hooves behind him had been sparse for a long time.

Until,

A pair of boots appeared in front of him,

And that boot even stepped on his shoulder.

Old Xiao wanted to continue playing dead, but he didn't dare...

He raised his head and saw a young general in black armor standing in front of him. Behind him stood a giant made of iron, as well as a person in armor with his eyes closed.

"Hey, get up."

Zheng Fan urged.

Old Xiao immediately scrambled to his feet, and Little Pockmark also scrambled to his feet,

The master and apprentice were just about to stand up,

When their legs went weak at the same time, and they fell to the ground with a plop.

This scene looked very comical and very funny.

Zheng Fan laughed,

But Zheng Fan wasn't laughing at these two in front of him,

But at this Chuzhou City, which was many times larger than Mianzhou City, the capital of Chuzhou Prefecture of the Qian Kingdom, which had actually been stormed directly through the gates just like the first time he had attacked Mianzhou City!

The only difference was that last time, in Mianzhou City, because he had too few troops, he had only had time to chop off some heads before leaving immediately.

And this time, although half of Li Fusheng's town had been left behind in Beifeng Prefecture, together with his cavalry from Cui Willow Fort, there were nearly 30,000 cavalry in total!

With 30,000 iron cavalry pressing the陣, and having directly entered the city, this city could no longer make any waves.

Yes,

Zheng Fan had appeared under the city of Chuzhou,

The iron cavalry of Great Yan had ignored the important towns of the Three Borders of the Qian Kingdom, ignored the terrifying military village defense lines constructed by the Western Army, ignored the third line of defense of the Qian Kingdom,

And headed south, south, and further south,

Now, it had skipped over the three lines of defense set up by the Qian Kingdom with its 700,000 troops, and had already crossed the three northern prefectures of the Qian Kingdom and arrived in the hinterland of Chuzhou Prefecture, adjacent to the three prefectures.

The time spent was actually quite a lot, although they had basically not fought along the way, and had been purely on the march.

Perhaps later generations couldn't empathize with the speed and itinerary of cavalry. They always felt that cavalry could gallop very quickly.

In reality, for cavalry to march 100 kilometers in a day and night was already a very high-intensity march. If most of the Yan Kingdom cavalry weren't equipped with double horses, it would be difficult to even achieve this speed.

The express delivery of a post station was the speed that could only be obtained by changing horses from one post station to another. If the cavalry troops ran and marched as frantically as that, it was estimated that before the battle even started, most of the warhorses would have been crippled, and the Yan iron cavalry would have been transformed into the Yan infantry.

As for the kind of general who often appeared in novels and operas leading his army to march 800 li a day, it wasn't impossible, of course, provided that the cavalry were all riding not horses, but the high-blooded Pixiu beasts under the crotches of the Marquis of Zhenbei and the Marquis of Jingnan.

When they were approaching the territory of Chuzhou Prefecture, the Yan army began to split up, forming a fan shape, like hungry tigers pouncing on their prey, pouncing on various parts of Chuzhou Prefecture.

Li Fusheng's force advanced directly towards the hinterland of Chuzhou Prefecture, and picked up this great bargain.

"Blindman, do you think the troops on the border of the Qian Kingdom will return to support?" Zheng Fan asked.

Back then, the first Marquis of Zhenbei had been able to break through 500,000 with 30,000 iron cavalry, but that was a special case. Neither Fatty Xu compared to the first Marquis of Zhenbei, nor those tens of thousands of mixed troops compared to the real elite of the 30,000 Yan army a hundred years ago, were comparable.

Therefore, once the Qian people became ruthless, without even the troops of the three lines of defense moving together, just sending out the troops of the Three Borders of Wei Town, Liang Town, and Chen Town, or the Western Army, would be enough to push aside the mixed troops of Xu Fatty and the others, and directly enter the Yan Kingdom, even with the military force pointing directly at Yanjing.

Blindman then said:

"Master, it's not a question of whether they will, it's a question of certainty." Blindman smiled, "Honestly, I really didn't expect this kind of tactic of exchanging homes before, but now that I think about it afterward, it seems very reasonable.

"The emperors on both sides are different, and the generals on both sides are also different. The two Marquises dare to leave His Majesty, the Emperor of Yan in Yanjing, and the Emperor of Yan must have known about the strategic arrangements beforehand, but he also dares to put his life and his capital in such a situation at the same time.

"But the Emperor of the Qian Kingdom, the imperial court of the Qian Kingdom, the officials of the Qian Kingdom, and the army of the Qian Kingdom, which has been suppressed and tamed by the civil officials for so many years, don't dare to really gamble on who can exchange homes faster. They will definitely return to support, and they must return to support."

Zheng Fan closed his eyes,

And began to recall the road south, mostly plains, most of which were extremely open plains.

The Qian Kingdom's border army will leave their strong cities, leave their stable military villages, and rush back to support, and then, waiting for them, will be...

"Blindman, have you noticed that the solution we have been thinking about day and night is actually so simple?"

Blindman Bei sighed, "Master, it's still that our current altitude is not high enough."

"Yes, the altitude is not high enough."

Zheng Fan shook his head and looked in the direction of the city. The sounds of fighting inside had gradually weakened.

In fact, after the iron cavalry successfully stormed the gates, the remaining resistance in this city was really just a formality;

Moreover, this formality seemed to be going through the motions, not taking it too seriously.

At this time, Old Xiao and Little Pockmark had stood firm, and were looking tremblingly at Zheng Fan and the others, looking at these... Yan dogs.

Zheng Fan then pointed to the suonas in the hands of the master and apprentice,

And said:

"Play a tune for me to listen to."

"Yes, yes, yes! To be able to play the suona for distinguished guests is a blessing that the little one and the little one's apprentice have cultivated for eight lifetimes."

Saying this, Old Xiao slapped Little Pockmark, who was still in a daze, on the head.

The master and apprentice puffed up their cheeks and began to play.

At first, it was a happy and lively tune,

But after playing for a while, tears appeared on the faces of both master and apprentice, not because they were worried about the future of the country, but purely a true expression of fear.

The tune of the suona naturally began to become desolate.

Zheng Fan wasn't angry at all, but instead said to Blindman beside him:

"This tune is a bit interesting, it has played out both functions of the suona."

Blindman Bei nodded.

Fan Li didn't understand and continued to stand there.

Zheng Fan took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

"Plop! Plop!"

Old Xiao didn't dare to play anymore, and immediately knelt down, kowtowing and saying:

"Distinguished guest, spare me, distinguished guest, spare me, Old Man, I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to."

Little Pockmark saw his master kneeling, and immediately knelt down and began to cry.

Naturally, distinguished guests wanted to hear something happy, but the master and apprentice had actually played a tune for mourning.

It's over, it's over, I'm going to die, I'm going to die...

"Get up, you played very well, I'm very satisfied."

Zheng Fan said,

And looked at the sun, which was close to dusk,

And sighed:

"At first, I didn't know the meaning of the suona, but now that I hear it again, I'm already in a coffin."

Zheng Fan was very satisfied with this mood and tune,

But,

Liang Cheng, who was riding over from afar, directly broke all of Zheng Fan's mood with one sentence:

"Master, Li Fusheng wants to massacre the city!"

"Crap!"

——————

I'm going to sleep, good night everyone.