Jianshui City is not a majestic city. As the first-line city facing northern Xinjiang, there are only a few thousand people here and an army of 5,000. The ratio of military to civilians is almost one to one.
A river winds like a jade belt and flows past Jianshui City. It is called Jianshui, which is why Jianshui City got its name.
From the city's founding to the present, Jianshui City was only severely beaten by a group of arrogant generals at the beginning of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, and the city was directly destroyed. Since then, there have been several dangers, but at least it has been defended.
Nowadays, the Northern Liao Dynasty is becoming more and more powerful. With the power of one country, the suppressed Northern Xinjiang dare not raise its head. Under the good situation, the soldiers and civilians in Jianshui City are also quite leisurely and relaxed.
The city gates are opened every morning, allowing the people in the city to come in and out... either to find firewood, to graze, or to do business...
Carts came and went from time to time, and the people on horseback galloped after leaving the city gate.
The weather is not good, a bit cloudy.
When it rains in this weather, it is basically the same as winter. If you don't have rain gear in the wild, such a rain can kill you.
In the distance, four people squatted and looked at Jianshui City.
"The city gate defenders are lax. If they have a hundred cavalry, they can break through." Yang Xuan felt that the opportunity was really good.
"A hundred riders will be discovered before they get close." Liao Jin squinted in the direction of the city gate.
"That's right." What Yang Xuan thought of was disguise.
But the target of one hundred cavalry was too big, even in disguise it would be difficult not to arouse the vigilance of the defenders.
"You can't get in during the day." Liao Jin looked at it for a while, then stood up and said, "Go back and find a place to rest."
After the four people left, several herdsmen passed by.
"It is said that two nobles of the Tang Dynasty were captured, one of whom is the governor."
"No, one of them is a prince."
"Prince? That's all right."
"You are the prince. Didn't you see that as soon as the city gate opened the day before yesterday, a messenger went to Ningxing? This is to ask for merit."
"Xiang Wen will be promoted and make a fortune now."
"Xianwen seems to have no wife."
"That's just right! Getting promoted, getting rich, and marrying a wife are the three great joys in life."
The two of them left, and several scouts slowly returned.
"How?" asked the sergeant at the city gate.
The scout did not dismount and said lazily: "They all ran away, faster than the fastest horse on the grassland."
"Tang Jun is a dog!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Everyone laughed.
The atmosphere is extremely comfortable.
No one thought that the Tang people would dare to sneak into Jianshui City, not even the most daring imagination.
The scouts went to the city guard's mansion.
Yeluxi is interrogating.
"To my son, do you know the recent resolution of the Tang Dynasty regarding the Liao Dynasty?"
Pan Zheng lowered his head: "I don't know."
Yelu smiled happily, "This is Daliao, I advise you to be honest."
Pan Zheng raised his head, "I'm just a playboy who has been playing around for the past few years."
Yeluxi smiled and said, "Do you want me to play with you?"
Pan Zheng shuddered, "I swear I'm not telling lies."
"If a man doesn't suffer, he won't know how high the sky is." Just as Yeluxi was about to get someone to take action, the scouts came.
"The Tang army fled far away."
Yeluxi smiled and said, "It seems you are not important."
"Because we are traveling with the deputy envoy from Northern Xinjiang, otherwise they will definitely risk their lives for us." Chen Zimao was worried that the other party would underestimate the two of them, so he became ruthless and hurriedly explained the reason.
"Deputy envoy to Northern Xinjiang...Liao Jin?"
"yes."
"Why did Liao Jin come in person?"
"It's just because our family is a noble one."
"I see."
Yeluxi suddenly realized it, and the logic behind it all became self-consistent.
"What about you!" He pointed at Chen Zimao.
Chen Zimao said sternly: "I don't have any important positions in my family, but there are many dignitaries among my relatives."
"So...you are useless?" Yeluxi stroked his riding crop.
Chen Zimao looked ugly.
"take into custody!"
Yeluxi waved his hand, and someone escorted the two of them down.
The generals under his command held their hands in congratulations.
"Xiang Wen has captured the son of a prominent figure in the Tang Dynasty. This time he is going to make his mark."
"If you give it to the son in trouble, Ning Xing will definitely find a treasure."
"But don't torture, otherwise you will die."
"External injuries can easily lead to death, but they can cause internal injuries!"
"How to injure yourself internally?"
"Put a mat on your chest and beat it with a stick. Also, use a stick to beat your body. Be careful not to break any bones. There will be no external injuries and you won't die."
“Excellent.”
"You can also fill it with manure water."
"Good means."
"It's uncomfortable to hang upside down."
"If you let a few ugly girls in, these young men will definitely cry and beg for mercy."
"Ha ha ha ha!"
There was laughter in the lobby.
Since returning three days ago, every interrogation has brought everyone a lot of fun.
…
Thirteen-year-old Xiao Jing's biggest wish is to become a general, that is, to be stable.
Aniang said that he was still young and would be sent to the army after he turned fifteen to hunt with His Majesty in the Tang Dynasty.
Yes, every Bei Liao person looked at Datang with green eyes, as if looking at a fat sheep.
"Auntie, I'm going to practice martial arts."
Xiao Jing's home is a three-room earthen house. The middle room is where the family spends their daily activities. On both sides are the bedrooms of Xiao Jing and his parents.
"Come back early."
"oh!"
Xiao Jing went to the city gate first and looked at the soldiers' armor and weapons with envy.
The sergeants were also accustomed to the envious looks of the children, lazily leaning against the wall to rest.
In Daliao, the first-class career was to join the army. If you want to be an official, it was a dream only for the best people.
If you join the army, you won't have to worry about food and clothing. If you are brave and brave in the military, you will be promoted and make a fortune. Moreover, women also like to find soldiers to marry.
The next level are merchants, and the next level are herdsmen and hunters.
Xiao Jing's father is a hunter, and autumn is his busiest time. He went out a few days ago and has not returned yet.
Xiao Jing was envious for a while and practiced swordsmanship behind the city wall.
The knife was cut by my father from wood and was a little thick. My father said that it needs to be thicker and heavier to be close to a real long knife. Otherwise, once you get a long knife in the future, all the knife skills you have practiced before will be in vain.
He was sweating profusely from practicing, and then he was ready to go back.
"Xiao Jing, are you finished practicing?" The sergeant guarding the gate also became familiar with this boy and asked with a smile.
"Practice is over." Xiao Jing held his head high and chest out.
"When will you join the army and become our superior officer?" a sergeant teased.
Xiao Jing said seriously: "Two years at most."
His father said he would wait two more years to see if he could be sent to the army when he was fifteen.
"Hahahaha!" the sergeants laughed.
As night fell, Xiao Jing had dinner at home and couldn't sit still.
"Auntie, I'm going out for a walk."
"There's curfew!" Mother didn't look up.
"It's been useless for a long time." Xiao Jing said proudly: "Many people come out to play at night."
Like the Tang Dynasty, after a long period of peace, any ban will become a piece of waste paper.
"Come back early."
Children from poor families are raised free-range. They only have two meals a day and bed time at home, and their parents are too lazy to take care of them at other times.
Xiao Jing rushed out of the house with a cheer and blended into the night.
There is a market in the city, and the lights are brightly lit at the moment. The only brothel in the market is doing a booming business.
There are many tribes in the grassland, and Daliao has to clean up a lot every year. The men are slaves and the women are prostitutes. Those women will be sent to various places, either as female prostitutes or as wives for soldiers.
There is also a class of women who are criminals.
The intensity of internal struggles in the Liao Dynasty was not much greater than that in the Tang Dynasty. Every year, there were many unlucky people, and the men were either killed or sent away. The female family members were in dire straits and would become slaves or female prostitutes.
There is such a group of old snake skins in Daliao. Whenever they know that a high-ranking official and powerful person has been captured, they eagerly guard the news. As soon as they hear the news of a house raid, they immediately go to establish connections and buy some women. They are still very proud.
He said: A noble woman looks different when she sleeps.
Xiao Jing had not yet developed feelings for a man and a woman, so he walked around the market and was disappointed not to find his friend before he came out.
As soon as I came out, I saw four men.
"Hey! Xiaolangjun."
A man waved to Xiao Jing.
"You called me?"
"yes!"
"You guys are a little strange!"
"The businessman who just arrived."
"oh!"
The young man at the head looked very kind, and the middle-aged man behind him had a fake smile, which overlapped with the evil businessman his father said; an old man looked thief, and a young man looked a little stupid.
"What do you want to do?"
"We are engaged in the business of wealthy people, and we want to find out who is the richest in the city."
The young man smiled and took out a copper coin, "If you say it well, this is your reward."
The money is copper coins of the Tang Dynasty, but this is very common in the Liao Dynasty.
Although Daliao was prosperous in martial arts, its economy was at the bottom of the Three Kingdoms. Not to mention the poor, the life of the lower class people was not easy, otherwise Xiao Jing's parents would not have eagerly wanted to send him into the army.
From this we can see that the economy in Northern Liao was so poor that the people considered soldiering as a profession.
However, Daliao lacked circulating currency, its people were poor but their ambitions were short, and their horses were thin and hairy. Therefore, copper coins of the Tang Dynasty became the legal currency of Daliao.
Xiao Jing looked at the copper coins and couldn't help but salivate.
You can buy a lot of candy in the shop in front of you for one penny, so you can take it home and sweeten it for your grandma.
"We are married. His house is in the front. Turn to the right and there is the big house."
"The motorcade that entered and exited today belonged to his family?"
"That's right! The pasture that the married couple has is so big. They are all going to come back in the next few days. There are more cattle and sheep every day!"
The big truck is used to pull things and comes in and out every day.
The young man smiled and handed the copper coin to Xiao Jing, "What do you want to do in the future?"
Xiao Jing took the copper coins and felt his palms were hot. He thought about the candy in excitement, "I want to join the army in the future."
"What do you do in the army?"
"Go to the Tang Dynasty to plunder."
"Young man, your ideals are great!"
Xiao Jing went to buy a bunch of candy and ran home happily.
"Aniang, Aniang!"
The mother heard the sound and scolded, "What are you calling?"
Xiao Jing ran into the house. Because his family was poor, he didn't light the lamp at night, so he used the faint starlight outside. When Xiao Jing saw his mother sitting on the edge of the bed in a daze, he rushed over and held the candy high.
"Auntie, look!"
"Caramel? Where did it come from?"
"Just now someone couldn't find the place. I showed them the way. They gave me some money and I bought some candy. Mom, you can eat it."
"Oh! It's really good that you can still work and earn money. Mom, I'll eat it later and leave it for now."
Xiao Jing got a small piece and kept it in his mouth, reluctant to chew it until he went to bed.
"Mom, my clothes are torn."
Xiao Jing opened the wooden box at home to look for clothes, but unexpectedly found the remaining candy inside, "Mom, why don't you eat it?"
"My grandma has a toothache."
After lying on the bed, Xiao Jing gradually fell asleep.
Half asleep and half awake, he suddenly remembered that when he ate dried yellow lamb legs at home the day before yesterday, his mother chewed the hard meat very hard. Why did he get a toothache?
At the same time, the four of them, Yang Xuan, appeared at the Marriage House.
The family is not small, but it is only relative to the size of Jianshui City.
"here."
The old thief found an abandoned house.
Four people go in.
"Just take a rest." Liao Jin sat down and said softly: "Those two are in the prison behind the city guard's mansion. The guards are not very strict, but if you want to rob the prison, how to deal with them is a big problem."
Breaking the prison is easy, but how to get out of the city is a big problem.
"Deputy envoy, a family's motorcade."
"What happened to the family's fleet?"
"You can follow me out."
"Once something is found to be wrong, the city gate will be closed. Even if it is not closed, a strict inspection will be carried out. The chances of getting out are too low."
"The official is talking about us, not those two people."
"What's the meaning?"
"Deputy envoy, Jianshui City is under the jurisdiction of Jinshan City, which is fifty miles away. I learned that Yelvxi had captured a noble man of the Tang Dynasty, and sent someone to check..."
"Of course. Maybe it will come in a few days."
"They can come earlier!"
"You mean...disguise?"
"That's right."
"The document can be disguised, but the seal cannot be found."
"In fact, seals can also be made."
"Who can make it? You mean forgery?"
"yes!"
Yang Xuan pointed at the old thief, "Xia Guan, this incompetent follower, used to hang out in Bei Liao."
"Has he seen the seal of Bei Liao before?" The seal of Bei Liao is not a piece of cabbage. During the last great victory in Bei Xinjiang, some were seized from the bodies of the generals of Bei Liao who died in the battle, but they are not around at the moment, so there is no way to forge them.
"I've seen it before." The old thief nodded. Even in the darkness, Deputy Liao still felt the aura of an expert coming towards him.
"Which first-class seal?"
"I've seen them all."
Liao Jin, "..."
The old thief said calmly: "Back then, I traveled in the Northern Liao Dynasty, and happened to visit the Imperial Tomb of the Northern Liao Dynasty. It was very glorious. Among them were pottery figurines with seals held by ministers. I have a hobby of collecting, so I took some of them.
.”
Liao Jin asked: "Traveling? What did you do for a living?"
The old thief smiled slightly and said, "The villain used to do Feng Shui for the nobles."
"Tsk!" Liao Jin had a toothache, "He is a talent. But who can forge seals?"
"Still a villain." The old thief nodded gracefully.
Liao Jin couldn't help but said in surprise: "Do you need to know this to understand Feng Shui?"
hehe!
The old thief chuckled, "Looking at Feng Shui is revealing the secrets of heaven. In order to avoid heaven's punishment, it is necessary to learn how to carve seals. Forging seals can be used to practice magic and redirect heaven's punishment. This is a compulsory course for Feng Shui masters. It's ridiculous."
Cheap laugh!
Yang Xuan's eyelids twitched.
Liao Jin asked: "Now there is no carving knife or stone, how can you forge it?"
The old thief stood up and said, "I'll go check out the kitchen later."
The old thief disappeared into the night.
When he came back, he had an extra piece of paper in his hand.
"The study in this house is good, and the four treasures of the study are top-grade."
The old thief praised.
"Where's the seal?" Liao Jin asked.
"Deputy envoy, please take a look."
Liao Jin took the piece of paper. At this moment, his vision had already adapted to the environment, and because of his advanced cultivation, he squinted and took a rough look.
This is an introduction document. Jinshan City sent an official named Yi Mu and three followers to verify the identities of two Tang nobles.
There is nothing wrong with the whole text, the wording is gentle but reserved, and it conforms to the rules of officialdom.
Finally, there is the seal.
Jinshan City keeps the seal.
The seals of Beiliao were basically all in the same style. When Liao Jin saw them, he almost thought they were genuine.
He raised his head, suppressed the surprise in his heart, and asked: "In just half an hour, you got the seal and documents. The documents are okay, but the seal is so fast. Where did the carving knife come from? Where did the stone come from?"
"No need, just a knife."
"What about the forged seal?"
"Been eaten by a villain."
"have eaten?"
"The radishes this season are still a bit green and not tasty."