In the twelfth year of the founding of the Southern Qi Dynasty, the ninth day of the third month.

The spring breeze crossed the vast plains of Beiyan and went all the way south, blocked by the complex terrain of the uplift north of the Hengjiang River, and could only stay outside the border of Huaizhou in Southern Qi, blowing the newly pumped twigs in the mountains and fields, and sending out a whimpering sound like crying.

More than ten miles northwest of Huaizhou, a caravan traveled through the mountains.

In the sturdy carriage in the center, a young man of eighteen or nineteen years old leaned on a soft pillow and held a history book in his hand, and the three vigorous words "Houliang Shu" were revealed on the cover.

His name is Lu Shen, the only son of Lu Tong, a wealthy merchant in Guangling Prefecture, Huaizhou, who transported a batch of goods to Yan Kingdom on behalf of his father two months ago.

According to the established arrangement, after the Lu family caravan delivered the goods, it would purchase a batch of cloth in Tieshan City in Beiyan and then return to Southern Qi. Who expected that Lu Shen would be ill on the night he arrived in Iron Mountain City, and his condition was very strange, as if he had lost his soul, he was in a coma all day long.

The attendants were as anxious as ants on a hot pot, and they did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to hire a famous local doctor, but it never worked.

Just when everyone was desperate, Lu Shen was inexplicably awake and improved in the early morning half a month later.

It's just that no one knows that the original Young Master Lu had passed away before dawn that day, and now the soul in this body came from a distant world.

Lu Shen closed the scroll, raised his hand and pinched his eyebrows.

For him, the impermanence of fate is the most appropriate commentary on the more than 30 years of his previous life.

From a young and immature military cadet to the rank of lieutenant colonel at the age of 31, he was unusually promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and from an instructor of a special operations brigade to a military adjutant of a consulate abroad.

Just as he was spreading his wings and soaring, fate played a merciless joke on him, and he was unfortunately diagnosed with a terminal illness.

That day, he looked at the crying people at the bedside, felt the vitality in his body pass faster, and he struggled to squeeze out a smile, comfort them not to cry, and then wait for death to come.

Despite all his unwillingness, he finally left that world, but when he opened his eyes again, he came to this strange world.

Hearing that the young master had woken up, the servants of the Lu family and the guys of the business were all overjoyed.

While sending people back to Guangling Mansion to spread the good news, they packed up their bags and set off for Nanqi after Lu Shen recovered his strength.

After a seven-day long journey, the caravan was already very close to the Panlong Pass guarding the west gate of Huaizhou, and at this moment, Lu Shen had also left the carriage and changed into a mount, and looked at the Xiongguan in front of him accompanied by Li Chengen, the commander of the courtyard.

Panlong Pass is bordered by Shuangfeng Mountain in the south, and the Qilin Mountain Corner in the north, resembling a dragon and a tiger.

This pass is the only gate to enter Huaizhou from the northwest direction, it is extremely dangerous, and it has the name of "one husband is the pass, ten thousand people are not open" since ancient times.

When entering the customs, walk slowly up along the ramp, raise your eyes to look up at the Guanlou and the majestic Qilin Mountain, just like a fierce tiger with a majestic eye, guarding the northwest gate of Huaizhou, and suddenly have a sense of majesty and danger.

Thirteen years ago, the Yuanjia Change, the three northern countries joined forces to attack the capital city of Heluo, the capital of Qi, the Emperor of Qi and the crown prince were forced to self-immolate in the palace, and the Great Qi, which had been established for more than 130 years and had the most extensive territory in the world, was in danger of overturning.

At the time of crisis, Li Duan, the seventh son of the emperor, ascended the throne in Yongjia, a large city in the south, in order to continue the Great Qi Guozuo, which was called Southern Qi by the world.

However, nearly half of the once vast territory has been lost, and the new imperial court can only be located in a corner south of the Hengjiang River, and the only territory still in the north of the Yangtze River is Huaizhou, which borders the East China Sea.

The reason why the Southern Qi Dynasty was able to hold Huaizhou, which was across the river, was to make great contributions to the dangerous Panlong Pass.

For a long time, Southern Qi and Northern Yan were in a state of isolation, communication between the two countries tended to stagnate, and civilians were strictly prohibited from entering and exiting the Panlong Pass.

It was not until seven years ago that this situation began to loosen, and the imperial courts of the two countries finally stopped prohibiting legitimate trade and commerce, so that private merchants exchanged goods and non-profits frequently.

The Lu family caravan is a frequent visitor on this trade route, and the procedures for passing through the customs are extremely familiar, and there is no need for Lu Shen to worry too much, and the accompanying business shopkeeper Song Yi can take care of it very properly.

Song Yi took the vouchers issued by the household department of the imperial court, the list of goods to be purchased, and the tax silver prepared in advance, and commanded his men to drive twelve carts full of goods, and under the guidance of the defenders, they passed through a road south of Panlong Pass. The caravan arrived at an open field behind the gate and waited for the inspection formalities to be completed before resuming its journey.

This made Lu Shen a little disappointed, originally thinking of seeing the outstanding style of this Xiongguan up close, but he also understood that no caravan could directly enter the interior of Panlong Pass.

The search was carried out in coordination with the household officials, who were responsible for collecting commercial taxes, and the customs guards, who checked the goods for prohibited items.

Under a simple pergola not far away, Lu Shen was chatting with Li Chengen.

As he did along the way, he scooped for information from the side, combining it with the fragments of memory that remained in his mind to get an overview of this new world.

“…… The imperial court set up the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion in Huaizhou, commanding nearly 100,000 soldiers and horses of the Jiangbei Seventh Army. Xiao Wangzhi, the governor of the capital, is a veteran of the battlefield, and he has made many achievements and has a reputation before the change of Yuan Jiazhi. With him sitting here, the whole Huaizhou is very relieved. Young master, in fact, having said that, the real enemy of Huaizhou is not Beiyan, but the Dajing Dynasty standing behind the Beiyan court. ”

Li Chengen talked eloquently, he was about four or five years older than Lu Shen, and he looked like Zhou Zheng was full of energy, and his eyes showed the unique sharpness of young people.

Lu Shen said indifferently: "After all, Beiyan is just a puppet court, because the rise of the Jing Dynasty is too fast, and they can't digest the land of Jiangbei with their own strength, and it is an old and spicy choice to use a puppet court to restrain the hearts of the people in the north." It can be seen that the emperor of the Jing Dynasty is very deep in the city, and he is not a warrior who only knows how to march and fight. ”

Li Chengen said with some emotion: "What the young master said is extremely true, the rise of the Jing Dynasty is staggering. Before the Yuanjia Revolution, the Jing Dynasty was only one of the three northern kingdoms, and its strength was not enough to crush the other two countries. But in just a few years, Jing Lian Tieqi was able to dominate the world, not only surpassing the other two countries, but also creating a Northern Yan court after capturing Heluo City, and methodically absorbing the hearts of the people in the rich lands of the north. ”

Lu Shen looked at the towering city wall of Xiongguan in the distance, and said with a slight gaze: "Jing Chao's support for Northern Yan is not only to appease the hearts of the people of Northern Qi, but more importantly, perhaps it is unwilling to sit back and watch Jiangbei Huaizhou under the control of Great Qi. ”

Li Chengen was slightly startled, subconsciously looked left and right, and then echoed in a low voice: "Young master, although the two sides have been calmer on the surface in recent years, they are still fighting fiercely in private. In the past, every time the old man took us to Beiyan, he would repeatedly tell us that we were not allowed to have any contact with the local officials of Yan Country except for the normal sale of goods. ”

"As it should be." Lu Shen smiled slightly, skipped the topic outside Lu Yuan, and said, "I heard that there are a lot of Beiyan's fine works in Huaizhou?" ”

Li Chengen nodded and said: "Yes, but the master once said that there are also many sons and daughters of Daqi in Beiyan, and it is difficult to distinguish between you and me on both sides." The villain still remembers that the old man was not in a good mood at the time, but he didn't know why. ”

Lu Shen sighed in his heart, Yan Guo was just a puppet erected by the Jing Dynasty, and Nanqi could only fight with it on an equal footing, and the weakness of the armament could be seen.

At this moment, the east gate of Panlong Pass in the distance suddenly opened, and then more than 100 horsemen roared out and galloped straight towards this open space.

Li Chengen and the Lu family's nurses all changed color, and Song Yi, who was talking with the household officials, also became nervous.

These more than 100 horsemen are obviously the elite of the defenders in the Guannai, and the military generals at the head are nearly forty years old, with a cold complexion, and there is a faint evil aura on their angular faces.

The sudden change of events made it inevitable that the caravan, the household officials, and the soldiers in charge of searching for the goods would be stunned, and they watched as this group of fierce cavalry surrounded everyone in the middle.

The dust slowly subsided, and only the military general asked in a cold voice, "Where is the person in charge of the caravan?" ”

Lu Shen had already come to the scene with a group of guards at this moment, and when he heard this, he stepped forward and saluted: "In Xia Lu Shen, the people of Guangling Mansion in Huaizhou are the people in charge of this caravan. ”

The general's upper body leaned forward slightly, and his majestic momentum rushed to his face: "You are Lu Tong's only son?" ”

Lu Shen's face did not change, and he replied unhurriedly: "Exactly, dare to ask the general's surname?" ”

The military general snorted lightly, and his eyes narrowed: "A little bold, better than your Lao Tzu." The general Ning Li is now the captain of the Panlong Army. ”

According to the military system of the Qi State, there are different numbers of troops under the border governor's office, and the chief will be the commander of the capital. Below the corps level are regiments and battalions, and the main generals hold the rank of lieutenant and lieutenant respectively.

Lu Shen heard from the other party's tone that this person seemed to be acquainted with Lu Yuanwai, but this attitude didn't look like the World Exchange, so he immediately asked calmly: "Please forgive me for being stupid, I don't know what advice the captain has here?" ”

Ning Li raised his right hand, and more than 100 horsemen immediately dismounted, and then he said coldly: "Recently, Beiyan's meticulous work has been rampant, and some local businesses have been found to be secretly communicating with Beiyan. This general is under the military order of the commander of the capital, and he has come to strictly investigate your Lu family caravan. ”

This sentence was like a thunderbolt from the sky, except for Lu Shen and Li Chengen, everyone else was full of fear.

Ning Li looked at Lu Shen with interest, as if he wanted to see the young son of a businessman in a hurry, but what caught his eye was Lu Shen's handsome face that was not shocked.

The wind became more and more urgent, and Lu Shen neither bluffed nor lost ground.

After thinking for a short time, he said calmly: "Ning Duwei, the Lu family firm has been abiding by its duties for many years, and has never dared to go beyond the norm in the slightest. However, since this is the military order of the commander, the Lu family should do their best to cooperate. ”

He paused, bowed, and said, "Please." ”