Youzhou, Changping County, borders Jundu Mountain to the north and Youzhou City to the south. Together with Huairou and Yuyang counties to the east, it is an important place for the defense of the Liao Kingdom. Of course, this strategic location is only relatively speaking. With most of Yanshan's strategic locations in the hands of the Khitans, the so-called defense can only be described as passive.
Therefore, for the soldiers and civilians of Youyan under the jurisdiction of King Yan, they have always lacked a sense of security. Under the governance of Prince Yan's Mansion, the people of Youyan basically have the ability and consciousness to work with plows and kill enemies with swords.
Fortunately, it has been almost seven years since the peace talks between Han and Liao, and the soldiers and people of Youyan have enjoyed a peaceful life for almost seven years. In the exchanges between the two countries and the three forces, although contradictions and conflicts are inevitable, the overall situation is relatively good.
However, most people have no idea how long this peace and stability can last. In particular, since the news of the imperial court's pacification of Sichuan and Shu spread to the north, the atmosphere in Youbei has obviously changed, and conflicts between the Liao people and the Han people on the border have increased significantly.
Although it is only some lower-class Liao people who are hostile to the Han who are causing trouble, we can also see some changes in the attitude of the Khitan upper class towards the Han, even if the Liao leader has always had a "weak" attitude towards the Han and followed the "peaceful" line Yelujing may not be willing to see the Han Dynasty really unify the south.
In particular, not long ago, a small group of Khitan cavalry crossed the border brazenly and plundered a small town in Huairou, killing 23 Yan people. After the incident, King Zhao Kuangzan of Yan was furious. On the one hand, he sent a report to Tokyo to report the unusual situation in the north. On the other hand, he sent the observation envoy Gao Fang to Miyun in person to negotiate with Xiao Siwen, the Southern Privy Envoy of the Liao Kingdom who was stationed in Tanzhou.
Because of the peace treaty between the two countries, or because they did not dare to rashly intensify the conflict and cause a war between the two countries, Xiao Siwen still gave an explanation when faced with the high-defense police coming to hold him accountable. The low-level Liao officer who led the team to clear the grass valley was arrested and killed, which was an explanation. However, since then, the Liao border defenses on the Miyun front line in Tanzhou have significantly increased their preparedness and heightened vigilance.
Afterwards, the trading markets and towns along the border slowly became deserted. The trade between Han and Liao, which had been prosperous for several years, began to decline. Many merchants and people who sensed the danger no longer dared to take risks to colonize goods. This also led to the fact that in less than half a year, more than half of the Youbei market and markets were closed, but some of the transactions that were still ongoing were officially endorsed.
In response to the changes in Liao's border defense, Prince Yan's Mansion also raised its defense level accordingly. In addition to strengthening defense, Zhao Kuangzan also reported to the court to ask for support to prevent the Khitans.
While the upper echelons of the two countries were still having "friendly" exchanges, conflicts occurred frequently at the Han-Liao border. The transition from harmony to conflict and hostility again seemed irreversible.
A small group of knights were wandering in the countryside of Changping. They were all lightly dressed, but they all carried weapons and had strong bodies. The key was that each of them had a scar on their face, especially the big man who led them.
This group of people is naturally the famous "Stinged Face Army", the most elite army in the Yan Army, known for its bravery and fearlessness, and is commanded by the Yan Army's general Zhao Siwan.
This time, it was Zhao Siwan who came out hunting with his soldiers. Finally finding a stupid grass rabbit, Zhao Siwan opened her bow and shot an arrow at it. The shot was not heavy, and the grass rabbit ran away in fright. She took aim with the bow and pierced the rabbit's body.
"General, great shot!" A soldier followed up, leaned forward to pick up the rabbit carcass, brought it to Zhao Siwan, and said with a smile: "This beast is quite heavy!"
"After all, I am old and my eyesight is not good enough!" Zhao Siwan seemed to be dissatisfied with not being able to hit the target with one shot. The scars on his face like ravines showed a gloomy meaning.
Nowadays, Zhao Siwan is in her forties, so she cannot be considered old, but she is indeed no longer strong. It is not difficult to pick up a sword and fight like before, but it is almost impossible to maintain the vigor and bravery of the past.
A close officer next to him heard this and complimented: "The general is too modest. The rabbit was still and could not be hit. It frightened away and the general shot him with one arrow. It can be seen that the general's shooting skills are still as good as before!"
After hearing this, Zhao Siwan's slightly gloomy expression finally felt relieved. He, Zhao Siwan, had spent half his life in the army and was a ruthless character who climbed out of the dead, how could he really accept his old age?
Looking at the grass rabbit still dripping with blood in the hands of the soldiers, Zhao Siwan said in a slightly depressed tone: "We have been out for almost an hour and we have hunted this rabbit. Are all the prey in the wild hiding?"
"I see, the wild animals are afraid of the general's power and don't dare to show up!"
"Haha!" Zhao Siwan smiled, seeming to be very pleased with it.
I looked around and saw a figure on a forest hill in the northeast. It was a little farther away, but he could be identified as a farmer from a nearby village, carrying firewood on his back and holding what should be a machete in his hand.
Zhao Siwan immediately led his men to press forward, approaching about fifty steps. When he noticed the movements of the army, the farmer was obviously frightened and hurriedly ran away.
Looking at the embarrassed figure, he unstringed his arrow, braved the cold light and pointed it at the man. The corner of Zhao Siwan's mouth curled up and she joked with the soldiers: "Do you think I can shoot this person?"
The soldiers looked at the escaping figure with great interest, but before they could reply, there was a "swish" sound, and the arrow left the string with strong force and accurately pierced the farmer's vest. .
Seeing him fall, a group of people cheered and rode their horses forward, circling around the fallen farmer. Blood gushed out from the wound of the arrow and stained the linen clothes. The poor man twitched a few times and gradually became silent.
One of the soldiers dismounted, looked around, raised his head, shrugged his shoulders, and said, "General, he was shot in the heart and is dead!"
Hearing this, Zhao Siwan raised his eyebrows, a cruel smile appeared on his face, and said with a pity: "I didn't aim at the vital point, so he is unlucky. He dared to run around, and he can only blame himself for losing his life!"
"Bury it!" He ordered in a relaxed tone, as if what he was shooting was an ordinary prey.
"yes!"
Zhao Siwan is always cruel and easy to kill, and he has done this tiring thing more than once. In his words, prey is not as interesting as a hunter. This is a man who regards human life as nothing. To a man like him, how are ordinary people different from prey?
However, he still paid attention to it. During the hunting, there was no one around, and he was surrounded by soldiers who had been following him for many years. Otherwise, if he did what he did, Zhao Kuangzan would have dealt with him long ago.
After killing one person, Zhao Siwan's mood improved a lot, as if the anger accumulated in his heart was released. After the body disposal was completed, he greeted people: "Let's go, continue north!"
"General, if we go further north, we will reach the Juyongguan Pass!" his subordinate reminded.
Zhao Siwan smiled faintly: "So what about Juyongguan, can you still do anything to defeat us?"
Juyongguan is an important pass that connects the inside and outside of Yanshan. It is controlled by the Liao State and is almost adjacent to Changping. Of course, it has also been an important window for exchanges between Han and Liao over the years.
Of course, Zhao Siwan's trip to the north was not to cause trouble or create friction. The main purpose was to have a meeting, a meeting that affected his life and death, honor and disgrace.
In the past two years, Zhao Siwan's life has been somewhat difficult. He is still an important general under King Yan, holding military power, and Zhao Kuangzan still trusts and respects him.
But similarly, in this kind of preferential treatment, Zhao Siwan also felt something was wrong compared with previous years. For example, the King of Yan promoted several generals of the Yan army, including Zhang Zangying and Gao Yanhui, and reported them to the court to be given the title of governor and to jointly command the army with him.
Even if Zhao Siwan was only a martial artist, he would not be able to see such clear separation of power and checks and balances. Although she didn't understand why she had caused King Yan's dissatisfaction, Zhao Siwan was also very dissatisfied with Zhao Kuangzan's arrangements.
As time went by, this dissatisfaction gradually accumulated, causing him to distance himself from King Yan. Zhao Siwan was ruthless and ruthless. He was not a person who would just sit back and let people prey on others. He had been thinking hard about how to solve his own problems.
In fact, he was not given many choices. The only ones he could rely on were the Khitans in the north.
