Pinglang City occupies a very large area, the city wall is high and broad, the seven city gate caves facing the south are also magnificent, the city gate building is blue brick and blue tile, bright and magnificent.

According to the law of Daqin, where the county can open three gates, the county can open five gates, the government or the prince's fief can open seven gates, and the capital Yongning can open nine gates.

There are very few cities that have been built by concession, and Pinglang City is one of them, and there are seven gates just where the county is located.

The central gate is not opened as usual, and the two doors on the left and right of the gate are for pedestrians to come and go, which are the same as those in ordinary counties, and then there are more roads for goods to pass on the left and right, increasing from two to four, one through rickshaws and one through oxen, horses and wagons, respectively in and out.

This special case is due to the fact that Pinglang is located on land and water, and is one of the important hubs for travel between Guanzhong and Lingnan.

Only one door in and out is used for cargo turnover and moving, which is not only disorderly, inefficient, but also extremely congested, often staggered, and frequently conflicted.

The whole territory of the Daqin Dynasty seems to be close to the Ling, there is a towering and huge Vermilion Bird Ridge in the center, which stretches the territory of the five provinces, which is composed of five mountain ranges of the head, wing, tail and foot, and has the reputation of the respect of ten thousand mountains and the source of a thousand waters.

Pinglang County, where Yuzhou Mansion is located, is the 'tail vein' of the five major mountain ranges of Zhuque Ridge, named Cangyu Mountain.

Cangyu Mountain winds and lies in the northeast and southwest direction, resembling the north side of the jurisdiction of the Yuzhou Mansion of the pea, so that the territory of the Yuzhou Mansion is full of high mountains and dense forests, and then the terrain is slightly slower to the south.

Pinglang is the northernmost of the seven counties in the central part of Yuzhou, and is a small plateau surrounded by many water systems and mountains, with the famous Yanlang and Jinhuan lakes in it.

Yanlang Lake leads to two rivers, that is, the big and small Wujiang River, take the Wujiang River to the southeast, you can enter Gu'an, Tiannan, Nangui three mansions, take the Xiaowu River to the southwest, then enter the Nanyu Mansion, connect the waterway of the whole area south of the Zhuque Ridge.

Jinhuan Lake is connected to seven waters, not only can take a boat to all parts of Yuzhou, but also can take a boat to the north, access to the middle and upper reaches of the Cangjiang River, can enter Qinnan Mansion, and can go to Wuzhou, Wuguan, Chujiang, Jiangnan, Jiangdong, Yuzhou, Dingwu, Donghai Eight Prefectures, including the entire southeast region.

In addition, there is also a Gucci Road in Pinglang County, which goes northeast along the mountain, can go straight to the middle of Qinnan Mansion, and can enter Zhongzhou Mansion through Que Yu Pass, which leads directly to the capital Yongning.

This gallop road was originally built by the previous dynasty to conquer all parts of Lingnan and resist the Yu and Li dynasties that were defeated and left the Central Plains at that time and avoided to the southwest, and it was all used for transferring troops and transporting grain.

Now, the land of the Yu Dynasty has been Nanyu, Xiling, Xihai, Yonghe four mansions, Lingnan land, has also become Gu'an, Tiannan, Nangui three mansions.

Although the Li Dynasty is still there, hundreds of years have passed, the Central Plains has risen and fallen several times, and the dynasty has changed, but the Li Dynasty is still only a corner of peace, separated from Xiling Mansion by the water, separated from each other, and does not interfere with each other.

Gucci Road and Pinglang County Zhenxi Pass, there is only the role of guarding against the rebellion of the vassal kings and guarding the eastward road of Yonghe Mansion, which is mostly used for freight transportation in ordinary times.

Take Pinglang City as the hub, take the Gucci Road through Zhenxiguan, cross the Cangyu Mountain, arrive at the territory of Yonghe Mansion, go north to Jinzhou Mansion, Qingzhou Mansion, go west to Xihai Mansion, go south to Xiling Mansion, pass the east and west goods or not.

In terms of prosperity and wealth, Pinglang City, which has many advantages, is far better than most of the capital cities in Daqin, and can be among the top five in the country.

The city has a long beard and shaved sideburns, only the hair on the top of the head, and the new barbarians who are braided into braids, and the people of the Rin Dynasty.

To the west of the Canglan Sea, the Rong people in the land west of the Haixi, such as the Shuoshuo people and Sule people who wear felt hats without hair; Tuo people who shave sideburns and braided beards, etc.

There are also scribes of the Five Kingdoms of the Western Dynasties with wide sleeves and robes; the Li Dynasty people who were short and thin-clothed; Even the people of the Law Dynasty who have curly hair draped behind their heads and do not wear crowns are not uncommon.

People from various provinces in Daqin, talking with each other in the south and north, and the business travelers with local characteristics in their clothing can be seen everywhere in the city.

Entering the city gate, Ning He was attracted by a group of people wearing short robes with sword sleeves, sheepskin boots, and swords hanging from their belts, and asked Mu Bai, who had not yet separated, "Sir, is that the Lingbei swordsman?" ”

Mu Bai glanced at it and nodded, "The Southwest Swordsman started in Xiling, and now it has been divided into seven branches, scattered all over the four western prefectures, each with its own characteristics, the most obvious is their knife, these people should be the three branches of Yongnan." ”

Saying that, Mu Bai introduced Ning He to the swordsman in detail, after all, Ning He will often be in Yonghe Mansion in the future, and he will be in charge of military affairs, so it is indispensable to deal with these people in the rivers and lakes.

The so-called Lingbei does not refer to the northern part of present-day Xiling Province, but the northern grassland north of Lingshui, which occupies most of the area of present-day Xiling Province.

These swordsmen were originally horse bandits, but some of them were suppressed, some of them were recruited by the Yu Dynasty at that time, and some of them were engaged in escorting caravans along the way, and they no longer robbed houses.

This is how the seven branches have survived.

Among them, two are generations of soldiers, occupying nearly half of the Pingmo Army under the command of the Annan Army, the southwestern border army of Daqin.

Three of them have been engaged in business for generations, raising caravans and horses by themselves, and also doing the business of escorting and transporting, going back and forth to the provinces west of the Vermilion Ridge, and even the land of Haixi and the Rin Dynasty and the Li Dynasty.

The last two branches entered the rivers and lakes, nominally to help the weak, but in fact they were still bandits, but they were not as vicious as before, and most of them were just collecting money.

It's just that the good and the bad are uneven, and many new horse bandits also use the reputation of these two gangs to act recklessly, causing a lot of infamy and trouble.

It seems that these swordsmen seen by Ning He are one of the three branches of the business, and the knives they make are long and curved, the arc is not small, only the blade length is three feet, and most of them are horizontal grids, and the helmet head is curved to the handle, and it is easy to identify.

"I'm going to get acquainted, sir."

After understanding what he wanted to know, Ning He turned his head, paced quickly, chased behind those people, and said: "Can a few brothers wait, in Xia Ning He, the word Shujing, I don't know how many brothers are from Yonghe Mansion?" ”

The eight or nine swordsmen stopped when they heard the sound, bowed their hands to the first brocade-robed young man, and said, "In Xiahe Lanqi, I have seen Brother Ning. We are indeed Yonghe people, I don't know what Brother Ning has to say. ”

He Lan is handsome and handsome, a handsome guy, his age and crown are the same as Ning He, and his temperament is much quieter than Ning He, not like a martial artist, but like a scribe, very elegant.

Although he was puzzled by Ning He's intentions at the moment, he didn't have any dissatisfaction.

Ning He had already turned over and dismounted, bowed his hand, and said with a smile: "It's just that Brother He Lan and others are like Yonghe swordsmen, and He is also about to go to Yongnan, and he wants to make friends with him for a long time. ”

"Hey, it's just to make a friend, what is there to forgive, we don't have those vanity." A tall and majestic young man beside He Lanqi replied with a big grin, and then beckoned: "My name is Cheng Chen, you can call me San Lang, our brothers are preparing to find a place to drink, Brother Ning might as well be together." ”

Ning He looked at He Lanqi and the others when he heard this, and saw that none of them meant to deny Cheng Chen, and said happily: "Thank you Brother Cheng for the invitation, I can't ask for it." ”

"Oh, you don't have to talk to me like that, it's hard work, it's tiring to listen to." Cheng Chen rolled his eyes and waved his hand impatiently.

"Well, I'm actually tired when I talk about it." Ning He happily complied, so that He Lanqi, who was going to open his mouth to apologize for Cheng Chen, shook his head helplessly and closed his mouth again.

The other people looked at the two who were gradually hooking up together, and they also shook their heads, feeling that these two were looking for each other's company.

“…… Shujing, you also served as a border soldier! In five years, I have made a lot of northern barbarians. ”

Talking all the way into a restaurant on the street, He Lanqi and a few people wrapped up the entire second floor with great wealth, and everyone sat down at will, talking and laughing.

After a while, I heard Cheng Chen's loud voice, and they all looked at Ning He, obviously interested.

"Five years ago, there was a battle in Yanbei Pass, and three years ago in the battle of Wolf Mountain, but I was all there, and I mixed up some military exploits." Ning He said with a word, without the meaning of detailing.

However, He Lanqi's expression became solemn, and he raised his glass to Ning He and said, "This glass of wine is for Brother Ning." ”

Ning He looked at He Lanqi unexpectedly, and also recovered his normal color, and drank a cup with him.

The others looked at He Lanqi in confusion, waited for him to put down the cup, and hurriedly asked him to explain a thing or two.

"Five years ago, the Great Sima of Beilu ascended to the throne, and directly from Beilu Tokyo, hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers went south, of which the vanguard was 30,000 Beilu elite cavalry, all the way down, and hit the third army in the north of Zhenbei by surprise, and was besieged in the city of Yanbei Pass.

It happened that King Ning sent someone to escort the winter grain to the halfway point, so he heard the news and came to help.

At the same time, the wolf cavalry army in the north of the town was ordered to rush to the aid to block the enemy's army in the area of Wolf Mountain, fifty miles outside Yanbei Pass.

Then the third army in the north of Yanbei Guanzhen, echoing with the inside and outside of Ning Wangfuwei, attacked the vanguard of Beilu, broke the enemy under the city, killed nearly 8,000 enemies, and the rest were defeated.

On the seventh day of receiving the enemy, most of them went straight into the Beilu Central Army, beheaded 13 enemy generals, captured the enemy commander alive, beheaded more than 10,000 enemies, and captured 30,000 enemy troops after most of the enemy army collapsed.

But things were unpredictable, he defeated the enemy's vanguard army, and after fleeing far away, he met the overseer sent later, who was also the second son of Sima Da of Beilu.

This northern barbarian is quite powerful, after rectifying the defeated army, he personally led five thousand light cavalry to disperse and plunder, catch up with the retreating wolf cavalry, and feigned to be invincible after suddenly casting cold arrows, retreated to Yanbei Guancheng, induced Guancheng to send troops to intercept, more than 10,000 foreign enemy cavalry took advantage of the situation to come again, two down the town, after the remnants of the enemy followed up the siege, the enemy cavalry combined forces besieged the wolf cavalry on the side, after a few days of bloody battles, and then pretended to retreat, showing the act of plundering Xiaoguan County, in fact, led the wolf cavalry into the city and fought again.

And he ordered people to carry out an empty camp outside Yanbei Pass, confusing the soldiers guarding the pass, and secretly dispatched 20,000 elite soldiers to attack the wolf cavalry inside and outside Xiaoguan County.

If it weren't for the fact that Xiaoguan County ordered Mu Bai to govern the land in a good way, the people's reputation was very high, and the people in the border areas were all brave and brave, not afraid of swords, and they responded to the call of Mubai County to cooperate with the wolf cavalry to fight together, even with the strength of the wolf cavalry, I am afraid it will inevitably be damaged.

In the end, General Long Hu personally went to Yanbei Pass, saw through the emptiness of the enemy camp, and ordered the third army to break through the enemy, and led his personal guard battalion to kill Xiaoguan County quickly.

So far, there are more than 10,000 soldiers in the wolf cavalry army, and they have gone to six or seven, but they have also killed the enemy several times, and none of them have fled, which is really brave.

It's a pity that this battle was unwon, and the fallen soldiers were only given half of the pensions, even if they won a small victory in the battle, they still gave a certain amount of merit, but because of the involvement of King Ning, and the feeling of shamelessness, the details of this battle were not spread, and there were a few people in the four northern prefectures. ”

He Lanqi incarnated as a storyteller, and told the story of the battle in Yanbei Pass five years ago, and Ning He was a little dumbfounded when he heard it, feeling that this product was more like a witness than himself.

"Oh, I remember, you went to Beijiang Mansion with your eldest brother at that time, but when you were in Xiaoguan County, you were not accustomed to the water and soil, and you were also infected with the wind and cold, and you were thrown in the cellar, right?" Cheng Chen said with a sudden expression after hearing this.

Seeing that He Lanqi's face was getting darker and darker, Ning He said, "Brother He Lan was actually in Xiaoguan County at that time? ”

After glaring at Cheng Chen, He Lanqi said to Ning He: "It's a shame to say that I learned martial arts, but I couldn't kill a few Northern Barbarians back then, which is really a big regret in my life!" ”