Weiyang County, Qixian City. There is a tall building in the city, which is called the Star Picking Tower. This building is nine feet high and is located in the highest place in the city, facing the river on one side and surrounded by mountains on the other. According to legend, this building existed before the founding of the country, and it has existed for a long time. It is rumored that this building is related to the "Immortal" of the Immortal City.

It is said that the builder of this building was an immortal who was demoted to the mortal world because he moved his mortal heart in the heavenly court. Because he missed his sweetheart in heaven on earth, he built this tall building alone in order to be closer to his beloved. Later generations climb this building at night, look up near the sky, pick up the stars in their hands, and there are poems: dare not speak loudly, for fear of frightening the people in the sky. Thus, the name of the Star Picking Tower came from this.

"Climb high and look far, miss the sages, my generation should still work together and worry about the king" Duan Liang Zhou stood near the river, clapping the railing with his hand, and was full of spirit, "Zhou Taishou, do you say yes or no?" ”

Zhou Chunliang, the Taishou of Weiyang County, is a small man with a black face, and he has no features, but his small and narrow eyes will make people impressed. At this moment, Jiedu made Lord Duan turn his back to him, standing near the river, seemingly nostalgic for the past and the present, but he didn't know where he was, but he was actually beating himself.

The five counties of the Northwest Province are in danger, and the counties are gathering people to go north to support. After many inquiries, he already knew that his Weiyang County was about the least number of troops sent today. Now that the Lord has said this, it is clear that he is dissatisfied with him.

"What the Lord said is extremely true", Zhou Taishou was dripping with cold sweat behind him, and his small eyes turned a few times, "Don't hide it from your lordship, this recruitment is in a hurry, and I have done my best..."

Jiedu made Duan Liangzhou turn around and glance at the black-faced Zhou Taishou, put down the wine glass in his hand gently, and said, "It's not okay to do your best, you should go all out." ”

"Yes, yes, what your lord said is very true."

"This official also knows that the time is urgent, and this recruitment task is quite heavy, Lord Zhou doesn't have to worry about what this official will remember about you" After speaking, Jie Du glanced at a picture scroll next to the table. That was when he just climbed the building, and the county keeper in front of him brought it with him, saying that it was the most appropriate to climb high and look far away to appreciate the painting.

Lord Gunshou has always been observing the words and expressions of the immediate boss in front of him, and although the movements of this lord were subtle just now, how could he pretend not to see it?

So he hurriedly stepped forward, "The adults sympathize with their subordinates, and the ministers are grateful", and the wine glass in his hand was raised, "My lord, the ministers salute you, my lord has worked hard this time to defend the Chaotian Pass and repel the incoming enemy, Your Majesty will definitely be happy." ”

The festival makes the cup rise, "worry about the king, and the courtiers do their duty." By the auspicious words of Lord Zhou, you and I share the worries of Your Majesty. ”

The two adults drank it all, and the county guard saw that the time was right, so he picked up the picture scroll beside him and opened it carefully, "My lord, please take a look"

The envoy took another sip of the glass of wine, and looked up, "What is this?" ”

"My lord, Zheng Ruiming of the previous dynasty, the best landscape, some people say, "climb high and look far away should be accompanied by this person's paintings", this one in the hands of the subordinate is Zheng Ruiming climbed this building and made. ”

"Oh?" Duan Liang became interested on Monday, and it is rumored that Zheng Ruiming has had a bumpy career in his life and has repeatedly failed to succeed, but his paintings are unique. In particular, the works of mountains and rivers are full of charm. Later generations have said that the landscapes in his paintings are all things that he sent to him when he was unhappy in his life, so they are the most moving. Unfortunately, this man died young, leaving behind very few paintings. When Duan Liangzhou was still in Chang'an, he occasionally tasted it in the idle man's mansion.

So Lord Duan wiped his hands, took the scroll in the hand of Lord County Guard, and looked at it carefully. The sky is high and the clouds are light, and the horizontal river is wide, which is no different from the real scenery in front of you. But the beauty of this painting is that in the extreme distance of the painting, where the water and the sky meet, there seems to be a very pale green, looming.

This painting is in the festival to make adults, and it is really appropriate for the present. The festival made Lord Duan amazed, and he couldn't put it down. Seeing this, Lord Shou Zhou was distressed, but he was also overjoyed in his heart.

The envoy said that he would not be concerned about recruiting soldiers, but how could he believe it. Think about it, if there is really no concern, then why would this festival envoy bother to say this in one fell swoop? Now, with a painting of the predecessors, it is probably possible to make the festival a little more satisfying to the adults.

After a long time, Duan Liangzhou carefully put away the scroll in his hand and brought the wine glass, "Come, Lord Zhou, this official toasts you." ”

"Master Xie"

"Lord Zhou, this recruitment is a matter hand-picked by His Majesty. It's not that the official is deliberately embarrassed, if there is the slightest slack in this matter, His Majesty will investigate it in the future, you and I can't afford to be guilty, do you understand? ”

Zhou Chunliang was sincerely afraid, although the festival made the adult's words more severe, and even a little unkind, but Zhou Chunliang knew that at this moment, it was the festival in front of him that made Lord Duan regard himself as his own person.

Duan Liangzhou said again, "Lord Zhou, now there are 25,000 people in the city, and in a few days, there will be 25,000 people and horses in the three counties of Shanyang, Dafeng, and Lianyun. ”

"My lord, my subordinates will arrange the recruitment of troops. In two days, the ministers will surely raise 10,000 horses, and if not, they will come to see them. "How can Zhou Liangchun not know that this is the festival to make the lord remind himself, no matter what the result of this trip to the north is, if it is based on the current number of troops sent by each county, he can't say anything in the future.

The festival made Duan Liangzhou nodded, and the son can be taught.

So in the afternoon of the same day, there was a recruitment order sent to the county seats. This order stated: The Northwest Army is dead, Chaotian Pass is in danger, and the whole county of Weiyang County is recruiting. In this recruitment, Weiyang County has a total of nine counties and 32 townships, and 5,000 soldiers need to be recruited. At the same time as this conscription order, there was another private letter that arrived on the case of the county Chengshu. The letter included the number of people who should be recruited from each county, and at the bottom of the letter was the personal payment of the county warden.

Under the military service system in Daxing, all those who have only children in the family, the elderly in the family, and those who have a wife and no heirs are exempted from military service. Therefore, under the strong pressure of the county guard, the county officials personally supervised the matter, and in order to make up the number of people, there was inevitably a matter of forced requisition. It's just that such a trivial matter as a few people being forcibly conscripted is not worth mentioning compared to surviving in the sky.

When Chen Xun and the four of them went all the way south and entered the Immortal City, it happened to be the time when the new round of recruitment orders from the county guard were posted. This happened to meet Chen Xun's wishes, and he had planned to re-enter the military camp to avenge his brothers in the Northwest Army.