across the Quartet

Longitudinal Chapter One

At the end of the Warring States period, the Six Kingdoms declined, and the strong Qin dominated.In the 13th year of Qin Wangzheng, Qin's internal troubles have been eliminated, the state system has just been established, its government is strict and purge, and its army can conquer and fight; swallowing Shandong and making the heart of the sea have been clearly revealed to the world.

In the second year of Zhao Wangqian, Qin general Huanjue attacked Zhao Pingyang and Wucheng, killed General Hu Zhe of Handan, and beheaded more than [-] people;Zhao Wang appointed Li Mu, the prefect of Daijun, as the general, set up an ambush under Fei, and defeated the Qin army.This is the first decent victory of the six kingdoms of Shandong against Qin in recent decades since Lord Zilingling stole the talisman to save Zhao.

At this time, Li Mu was not only the Lord Wu An of the Zhao Kingdom, but also the last pillar that the six Shandong Kingdoms looked up to.

In order to prevent the Qin army from coming again, Li Mu left the frontier camp of Yunzhong County where he had been stationed all year round, and stationed the army in Dongyuan in the northeast of Shangdang.

It was just dawn on this day, and there was still an earthy dewy aroma on the ground; in the open space outside the Dongyuan camp, many people who had come to join the army had gathered in twos and threes.This group of people looks disorganized and chaotic at first glance, but upon closer inspection, they are divided into two distinct groups: the vast majority of them are no different from the refugees that can be seen everywhere in the Central Plains. There are also elderly people with gray temples, some consumptive patients who cough constantly, and some peasants who are in the prime of life but are sallow and emaciated from hunger, with strange bones; There was a rancid smell.These people knew at a glance that they really couldn't survive, so they simply joined the army to make a living.

The other group of people is completely different, not only well-dressed, but also with high crowns and long swords, and eye-catching pearls are even adorned on the crown belt and scabbard.There are only a few such people here and there, but they are extremely eye-catching; they only salute and greet people who also wear swords, and try their best to keep a distance from the "savages" around them; some people have already covered their mouths with their sleeves impatiently nose.

It turns out that although Feixia's victory repelled the Qin army, the casualties of the Zhao army should not be underestimated.In order to replenish the students, even Li Mu, who has always been strict in running the army, relaxed the threshold for recruiting soldiers.It's no wonder that the people who came here were so mixed.

The sun was getting higher and higher, and suddenly there was a sound of gongs in the camp. Several Zhao soldiers in armor came out in a file.A man with the appearance of a pawn stood behind the table and shouted loudly at the crowd: "Listen up, those who joined the army! Those with swords stand on the right! Those without swords stand on the left!!"

The crowd pushed and shoved, and quickly divided into two piles.Only a young man who has not reached the weak crown stands abruptly in the middle, with a look of hesitation on his face.

The boy was wearing a cotton blouse that is common among country people, but it was not tattered, except for a big patch on his right arm.If it wasn't for the sword in his waist, he could have blended in unremarkably among the crowd on the left.It's a pity that when the people above yelled like this, many needle-like eyes immediately poked him—or rather, his sword.

The sword is about two feet and three inches long, with a bronze handle and a cowhide scabbard. It seems that it has been used too much, and the edges have been worn white and fuzzy. The decorative copper nails embedded in the scabbard are also rusted.Even so, judging from the shape of this sword, it is not suitable for ordinary villager Orion.

"...Who is this kid? How could he have such a sword?"

"...I think it must have been picked up from some dead person."

"Tsk, if I picked up this kind of thing, I would have traded it for a meal—"

There were some faint whispers in the crowd.The young man heard it clearly, and couldn't help becoming more embarrassed. He lowered his head and moved two steps to the right.

This sword was indeed picked up by him from the dead.

Of course, the original owner of the sword was also killed by him, so you can't say it casually.

"Hey."

A rude voice came from beside him.The young man raised his head, only to see several swordsmen in satin on the right staring at him with disgust.

The one who spoke was a man with a goatee beard, big arms, round waist, red complexion, and several emerald jade rings on one hand.He frowned, raised his finger to the left and said, "Boy, go over there."

The boy unconsciously put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Oh? You also use a sword?" Another white-faced and beardless young man raised his eyebrows and looked at him with a half-smile.

——You also have a sword?

The young man seemed to have heard what they said in his heart, but he didn't make a sound. He glanced at them quietly, then turned and walked back to the left.

"What a disrespectful boy, what kind of look is that in his eyes—" The goatee was about to explode, but his companion pulled his sleeves and turned around impatiently; only then did he realize that another person walked out of the camp at some time , dressed as an alchemist, smiling all over his face, bowed to a group of men with swords on the right: "Are all righteous men going to enter the Red Leopard Camp? Please follow me."

This Red Leopard Battalion, also known as the "Hundred Swordsman Battalion", has a lot of background.Zhao's national style is fierce, the common people are martial arts, and fighting with weapons is common in the countryside, so a large number of well-known swordsmen and idle warriors have emerged.In order to make a living, these people used to act as thugs under the princes and nobles, and some traveled around the world to do some desperate activities.At present, due to the fierce battle between Qin and Zhao that aroused the heart of protecting the country, and Li Mu's reputation, it attracted heroes from all over the world to vote.However, these people who throw swords into the army often have high self-esteem, do not listen to the order to march, and look down on robes of low background.Li Mu was also very troubled by this, but he couldn't categorically reject or treat these people harshly, which discouraged the scholars' desire to serve the country.Fortunately, his confidant and lieutenant general Sima Shang came up with a way to divide the camp into two, and specially formed this "Red Leopard Battalion"; all swordsmen who came to join the army did not need to be organized, and directly entered the camp to prepare for battle.Treating them differently in this way, the swordsmen feel that they have a good face, and it is convenient for the commander in the army to command.

The alchemist led a group of swordsmen away, and the remaining people in the open space were not treated so politely.The head of the pawn standing behind the desk asked people to line up and come to him one by one for questioning.Usually you only ask your name and age, and then let everyone bounce around like an animal inspection, look at the mouth of the teeth, and some even take off their shirts to check; Go to the back—that's enlistment.

The young man with the sword stopped and watched for a long time, and found that the recruitment is not very strict. At present, except for a few too thin young men and old men who lied about their age at first glance, and two disabled people, most of the others have no Undoubtedly selected.Even so, those who were dismissed still gathered outside the gate, weeping and begging bitterly.

"... At such an age, do you still want to fight?" The young man stared at one of the old men who couldn't straighten up, and murmured.

"Taiyuan Great Wilderness... If you can't join the army, I'm afraid you'll just starve to death." A thin black man standing in front of him replied casually.

The boy pursed his lips, and clenched his fist on the hilt even tighter.

After another half hour, the line finally arrived in front of the boy.The chief let him trot for a few steps first, then took off his shirt, walked around him, and confirmed that there was no disability or leprosy; the boy was about to put on his clothes when the chief suddenly pointed to a deep scar on his chest. The scar asked: "How did this scar come from? Fighting with someone?"

The boy nodded.

The pawn raised his eyebrows that were as thick as ink blobs, and laughed out loud, patting him on the shoulder vigorously. "I can't tell, at such a young age, you are so desperate to fight. Very good, it's my old Zhao!" He hooked his neck again and said: "Work hard, I think you are a material for the corporal. "

The boy opened his mouth in bewilderment, but he still didn't make a sound.

The pawn went back to the back of the case, grabbed a pen in a dignified manner, and asked:

"how old are you?"

"nineteen."

"What's it called?"

"Genie."

The soldier raised his head, squinted his eyes and looked at the person in front of him again.He had just written down a bunch of names such as "Li Er", "Wang Wu", and "Xiaogouzi", and when he suddenly heard such polite names, he immediately felt uncomfortable.

He twitched the corner of his mouth, and reluctantly wrote Ge Sheng's "Ge" on the bamboo piece.The boy was about to say that the words were not written in this way, but he interrupted him and asked, "Pinch... what?"

"Nie, Nie Zheng's Nie."

The pawn captain swallowed, swallowed the words "what is Nie Zheng?", and asked angrily, "Who is the oldest in the family?"

The boy said: "The longest."

"Okay, I'll call you Ge Dashi from now on." The soldier wrote down the word "big" in a hurry. After putting down the pen, he raised his head and asked, "Do you know the word?"

The boy pondered for a moment.He can only read and write the characters of Jin and Qin, Qi and Yan are not as good, and there are many uncommon characters of Chu that cannot be fully recognized.As for the twelve princes on Sishang, there are many similarities in the writing of characters... Just thinking about it randomly, the pawn leader took his silence as a dilemma, and said with a smile on his face: "It doesn't matter if you don't know the characters, as long as you know your own name." . " As he spoke, he stuffed the bamboo card with the word "Ge Da" into the boy's hand. "Go and wait at the back, someone will lead you to the recruit barracks later."

Holding his new name dumbfounded, the young man stepped into the camp of the new army.

After the first battle, Gai Nie was seriously injured and left Guigu, but he finally couldn't hold on halfway, and spent several months in a mountain village to recuperate.A pair of old hunters who took him in were simple and honest, and treated him very well; Ge Nie was grateful, and after he recovered from his injury, he inevitably helped to do some hunting and skinning work as a reward; He likes the good player even more, and even thinks about marrying his daughter to him, scaring Gai Nie into packing up and running away overnight.

After that, Ge Nie spent a lot of time thinking about his future.Different from his master and Xiaozhuang, Gai Nie was born in a commoner and has no roots in any country; and he thinks it is not his strong point to get the king to be hired by the king through ingenious lobbying.What's more, with the lessons learned from Zhao Kuo, a "colleague", he knows that most of what he has learned in his life is from books, and he has not been trained by putting himself in the situation.

Fortunately, the predecessors of Guigu have always had a fine tradition of traveling around the world and investigating the general situation of the world on the spot.Gai Nie also followed the example of kindness, trekking all the way north to his homeland.Although he has no possessions, and the area around the river is full of refugees and bandits, it is difficult to move in chaos; but who is Gai Nie, he has been honed in Ghost Valley for a long time, and he has unique skills. Catching turtles, raising hands to catch flying geese, leaning over to taste herbs——has the ability to survive in the wild almost ferociously.It is not difficult for him to eat and sleep in the open air; he has hunted larger beasts, and he can exchange some necessities such as dry food and salt blocks with nearby villagers; The fruit was thrown at him—Gai Nie usually didn't suspect him, picked it up and ate it, just thinking that the people nearby were so simple and enthusiastic.

The real trouble came after arriving in Handan, the capital of Zhao.Although Gai Nie has endless customs clearance certificates, once he enters such a prosperous city, no money means no food or housing, and few people even ask for news.Not only the palace city and the mansions of dignitaries and dignitaries are heavily guarded, with their own guards patrolling, and people who have nothing to do with them are never allowed to stay for a moment; Everywhere is difficult.On the first night in Handan, Gai Nie finally found a house with long eaves in a back alley. Although the thatch on the top of the head was sparse, it could barely block the rain and snow, so he planned to spend the night under the base of the wall.As a result, as soon as he sat down with the sword in his arms, he found a dirty little beggar glaring at him - it turned out that he had taken someone else's territory.

Gai Nie moved to one side in a friendly manner, originally hoping to live in peace with this kid; but he didn't want the little beggar boss to come forward unceremoniously, spitting thick phlegm on the ground beside him— —Obviously not wanting to share territory with anyone.

Gai Nie stood up with a long sigh, and sat across the alley.

Handan is located in the north of the Central Plains, and the nighttime wind is cold and fierce, as sharp as a knife. Even Gai Nie has internal strength to protect his body, he still finds it extremely difficult to endure.He survived the night half asleep and half awake.The next day, there was a blanket of white snow on all sides, making it almost impossible to open your eyes.

He rubbed his eyes and found a human-shaped snowdrift on the opposite side.

The little beggar was buried in the snow.Gai Nie went up to feel his pulse and found that he was completely cold.

He looked at the child's frozen livid limbs, and pressed his sword to look around for a moment, at a loss as to what to do.

The law of the jungle preys on the strong, this is the way of survival in troubled times.However, those weak people, those living people like ants, who are listening to their voices struggling in the quagmire of life and death?

The sky sees itself and the people see it, and the sky listens to the people itself.

For a long time, strategists have focused on mediating at the top, deciding major affairs of the state between words; or uniting the weak to attack the strong, or uniting the weak to attack the weak, and ultimately changing the offensive and defensive pattern of the world.However, such a temporary situation will never last long, and the situation changes in an instant, towards Qin Muchu—what good is it for Yu Anguo?What is the benefit to the common people?

For the first time, Ge Nie felt so insignificant and powerless regarding the identity of the Zongheng Chuanren.

At this moment, news of the Battle of Feixia came from Handan.Gai Nie decided to join the army and serve the country with a heartbeat, and he had to start from the lowest level of soldiers and practice in a down-to-earth manner; in this way, if he leads his own troops in the future, he will be able to know the whole army well, and lead the army as easily as he can. .

What's more, the general of Zhao State at that time was Li Mu.

Even in the era when famous generals came out in large numbers, Li Mu could be said to be the god of war with outstanding military exploits and never lost a single defeat in his life.Ten years ago, he kept a low profile and guarded Yanmen, wiped out the [-] Xiongnu cavalry, took over Donghu and Linhu, and saved the rear for Zhao Guo; Added a layer more than others.If he can join Li Mujun, for Gai Nie, it will not only be an excellent training, but also a great honor.

At that time, Ge Nie didn't have a specific plan in mind, how to make a big breakthrough and change the fate of the world.At the moment when he walked into the barracks with the sword in his arms, he only had a vague thought, hoping to finally stop the war and save the common people.Surrounded by recruits who are yearning for the future like him, but anxious about the future; young or old faces are full of anxiety, excitement, expectation or numbness, but no one seems to realize that in this chaotic world, the executive While starting a war, he also blocked a life like a mustard.

Gai Nie received a pair of half-new armor and a long halberd with the word "Ah Qi" engraved crookedly on it.

"It's enough to cut it off with a knife, and then engrave your name on it." The person who issued the weapon said to him.But Gai Nie was slightly lost in thought as he rubbed the small characters with his hands.

Where is the original owner of this halberd now?These two things may be the only evidence that he has lived in his life.

"I can't read? I still have to learn to write my name." The veteran who spoke just now was also very enthusiastic. Without saying a word, he grabbed the wooden pole and carved the word "Ge Da" on it.

Gai Nie thanked him helplessly.He didn't expect that Ge Da would become as famous as Wei Zhuang in the south in a short time.However, "Gai Nie" gradually became known to people, but it was a long time later.

TBC

The author has something to say: the conception and development of this article is about half a year earlier than the fourth part of Qin Shimingyue, so there will be many contradictions in the character setting and plot direction. If you can accept it, it’s not very good. gratitude.

Due to lack of time, limited data, and personal ability issues, it is very likely that a series of historical background, timeline, and plot bugs will appear in this article. People from all walks of life are welcome to criticize and correct orz