Han Shizu

Chapter 858

Youzhou, Changping County, leans against Jundu Mountain in the north, overlooks Youzhou City in the south, and Huairou and Yuyang counties in the east are both important places for defending the Liao Kingdom.Of course, this important place is only in relative terms. With most of Yanshan almost 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 King Yan's jurisdiction, they have always lacked a sense of security.Under the governance of King Yan's Mansion, the people of Youyan basically have the ability and awareness to support the plow and plow and kill the enemy with a knife.

Fortunately, it has been almost seven years since the peace talks between the Han and Liao Dynasties, and the soldiers and civilians of Youyan have enjoyed almost seven years of peace.In the exchanges and exchanges between the three forces of the two countries, 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 court's pacification of Sichuan and Shu spread northward, the atmosphere in Youbei has changed significantly. On the border, conflicts between the Liao people and the Han people have increased significantly.

Although it is only some lower-level Liao people who are hostile to the big man who are making troubles, we can also see some changes in the attitude of the Khitan upper class towards the big man, even the Liao Lord who has always held a "weak" attitude towards the big man and took the "peaceful" route Yelujing may not be willing to see the big Han really unify the south.

In particular, not long ago, a small group of Khitan cavalry brazenly crossed the border, plundered a small town in Huairou, and killed 23 Yan people.After the incident, Zhao Kuangzan, King of Yan, was furious. On the one hand, he played Tokyo and reported the abnormal situation in the north.

Because of the peace treaty between the two countries, or because they didn't dare to intensify the conflict rashly, causing a war between the two countries, Xiao Siwen still gave an explanation in the face of Gao Fang's door-to-door accountability.Arresting and killing the low-ranking officer of the Liao Kingdom who led the team to attack Caogu was an explanation.However, since then, the border defense of the Liao Kingdom on the front line of Miyun, Tanzhou has significantly increased its defenses and heightened its vigilance.

Afterwards, the commercial markets and towns all over the border gradually became deserted. The trade between the Han and Liao Dynasties, which had flourished for several years, began to decline.This also led to the fact that in less than half a year, more than half of the Youbei market and bazaars were closed, and some transactions that still continued were also officially endorsed.

In response to the changes in the frontier defense of the Liao Kingdom, the King Yan Mansion also raised the defense level accordingly.Apart from strengthening the defense, Zhao Kuangzan went to the imperial court to ask for support to guard against Khitan.

While the upper echelons of the two countries are still in "friendly" exchanges, there are frequent conflicts at the border between the Han and Liao Dynasties. The two countries have turned from harmony to conflict, and once again formed a hostile situation, which seems to be irreversible.

A small group of knights were cruising in the wilderness in the outskirts of Changping. Each of them was lightly dressed, but they all carried weapons and had a vigorous figure. The most important thing was that each of them had a scar on their face, especially the leading man was the most ferocious.

This team is naturally the well-known "stabbed army", the most elite army in the Yan army, known for being brave and fearless, and under the command of Yan army general Zhao Siwan.

This time, it was Zhao Siwan who came out hunting with his own soldiers.Finally found a stupid grass rabbit, Zhao Siwan raised his bow and shot at it, one shot was not heavy, the grass rabbit was startled away, and then he aimed the bow and arrow, piercing through the rabbit's body.

"General's sharp shot!" A soldier followed up, leaned over and picked up the rabbit carcass, brought it in front of Zhao Siwan, and said with a smile: "This beast is quite heavy!"

"After all, I'm old, and my eyesight is not good!" Zhao Siwan seemed dissatisfied with not being able to hit it in one shot, the scars on his face were like ravines, revealing a gloomy meaning.

Today's Zhao Siwan is more than 40 years old, not considered old, but he is indeed no longer strong and strong. It is not difficult to fight with a knife like in the past, but it is almost impossible to maintain the vigor and courage of the past.

A confidant officer beside him heard this and complimented him: "The general is too humble. The rabbit is still and cannot be hit. It is startled away, and the general shoots it with one arrow. It can be seen that the general's archery skills are as good as before!"

After being told this, Zhao Siwan's slightly gloomy expression was finally relieved, he, Zhao Siwan, who spent half his life as a soldier, crawled out of the dead to be a ruthless character, how could he really serve the old.

Looking at the grass rabbit that was still dripping with blood in the hands of the soldiers, Zhao Siwan said in a slightly depressed tone, "It's been almost an hour since I came out, and I have hunted this rabbit. Are all the prey in the wild hiding?"

"I see, it's because the wild animals are afraid of the general Huwei and dare not show up!"

"Haha!" Zhao Siwan smiled, it seemed to be very useful.

Looking around, he saw a figure on a forest hill in the northeast direction.It was a little far away, but it was recognizable. It was a farmer from a nearby village, carrying firewood on his back, and holding a machete in his hand.

Zhao Siwan immediately led others to press forward, approaching about fifty steps, and the farmer was obviously shocked when he noticed the movement of this officer army, and hurriedly avoided.

Looking at the embarrassed figure, he took the arrow and wound it, braving the cold light, aimed the arrow at the man.The corner of Zhao Siwan's mouth curled into an arc, and he joked with the soldiers: "You say, can I shoot this person?"

The soldiers all looked at the fleeing figure with great interest, but before they could reply, there was a "whoosh", and the arrow, with strong force, left the string and precisely pierced into the farmer's vest .

Seeing him fall, a group of people cheered and rode forward, circling around the fallen farmer.Blood gushed out from the arrow wound, soaking the sackcloth, the poor man twitched a few times, and gradually became silent.

A soldier got off his horse and looked around, raised his head and shrugged his shoulders, and said, "General, he was shot in the heart and died!"

Hearing this, Zhao Siwan raised his eyebrows, a cruel smile appeared on his face, and said with a bit of pity: "I didn't aim at the vital point, so he was unlucky. He dared to run around, and he can only blame himself if he lost his life!"

"Bury it!" He ordered in a relaxed tone, as if what he shot was an ordinary prey.

"Yes!"

Zhao Siwan is cruel and easy to kill, and he has done such tiring things not only once. In his words, the prey is not as interesting as the hunter.This is a person who regards human life as nothing. For a person like him, how are ordinary people different from prey?
However, he still pays attention to it. They are all hunting when there is no one in the wild, and the soldiers around him are all the soldiers who have followed for many years.Otherwise, he would have been dealt with by Zhao Kuangzan long ago.

After killing one person, Zhao Siwan's mood improved a lot, as if the anger accumulated in his heart had been released.After the disposal of the corpses was over, he greeted people: "Go, continue to the north!"

"General, further north is the range of Juyongguan!" The subordinate reminded.

Zhao Siwan smiled faintly: "So what about Juyongguan, what else can we do?"

Juyongguan is an important pass connecting the inside and outside of Yanshan Mountain. It is controlled by the Liao Kingdom and is almost adjacent to Changping.Of course, these years have also been an important communication window between the Han and Liao Dynasties.

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 related to his life and death.

In the past two years, Zhao Siwan's life has been difficult. He is still an important general under the command of King Yan, holding the military power in his hands. Zhao Kuangzan still trusts and respects him.

But at the same time, in this kind of preferential treatment, Zhao Siwan also felt that something was wrong compared with previous years.For example, the King of Yan promoted Zhang Zangying, Gao Yanhui and other generals of the Yan Army, and they went to the imperial court, held the title of governor, and jointly took charge of the army with him.

Even if Zhao Siwan is only a martial artist, he can't see such an obvious act of dividing power and checking and balancing him.Although she didn't understand why she had caused King Yan's dissatisfaction, Zhao Siwan was also not angry about Zhao Kuangzan's arrangement.

And with the passage of time, this kind of dissatisfaction has gradually accumulated, making him alienated from the king of Yan.Zhao Siwan is ruthless, not a person who sits and waits to be killed, and is submissive on the surface, but she has been thinking hard about how to solve her own problems and find another way out.

In fact, there are not many choices for him. The only thing he can rely on is the Khitan in the north.In the past six months, the border conflict between the Han and Liao Dynasties gave him room to imagine.

(End of this chapter)