Chapter 3: Great Qing Pass
On the carriage, the other two youths were named Li Yu and Li Shan. They were only around eleven or twelve years old. Being able to go and become apprentices naturally meant their families were a bit more well-off than Li Yan's family.
There were only about a dozen households in their village, so the three youths were naturally very familiar with each other. As the scenery along the roadside kept changing, their youthful nature gradually revealed itself.
The low spirits they had been feeling were slowly replaced by the novelty of the changing views flashing past, and Li Yu and Li Shan began chatting.
As the scenery kept shifting, the two of them grew more and more excited. Their moods heated up like the increasingly warm sunlight in the sky, and they began speaking loudly, full of dreams and hope for the future.
Meanwhile, Li Yan mostly remained silent, only occasionally responding or agreeing with some of their topics.
His heart was a tangled mess, countless thoughts crowding in, sometimes thinking about the future, sometimes about his family at home, until he quietly made up his mind:
"After I arrive, I must work hard, earn more silver, and once I return to the village, I'll build two big courtyard houses. One for Third Brother, so he can marry a wife;
Another for myself and my parents, so they can live out their days in comfort;
During the New Year and festivals, we'll bring the three elder sisters back home too, so the whole family can be together and never be separated again."
This was indeed the manifestation of a youth's nature, he thought about his third brother getting married, but forgot that he himself would also eventually need to start his own family.
For a while, various messy thoughts flooded into his mind.
Along the way, Li Guoxin found an opportunity to quietly instruct Li Yan, telling him that after joining the army, he must perform well and strive to earn the favor of his commanding officers. That way, he might be assigned to a better battalion.
He also mentioned that the Imperial Guards might sometimes be tasked with defending the city, so he must not be careless.
Of course, he emphasized that it was just a possibility and mostly unlikely, he said it this way to warn him without frightening Li Yan too much.
Interrupted by Li Guoxin, Li Yan also shook off his confusion and nodded quietly in agreement, making Li Guoxin feel a little more at ease.
After finishing his advice, Li Guoxin raised his voice a bit and continued:
"Li Yan, if you're assigned to the Imperial Guards, you probably won't have a chance to visit home for the first few years, unless you achieve some military merit.
But right after joining the army, earning merit is a slim chance. If there's anything you need to send home such as goods or letters, you can leave them with Li Yu or Li Shan.
Our village often has people coming into town; just have them bring it back when they visit. Also, although others from our village work or apprentice in town too, we probably won't have time today to show you the roads.
However, you can still first follow Li Yu and Li Shan to their places and have a look.
Their arrangements will be handled quickly, only paying fees to the employers and signing contracts, but for your situation, it will likely take a bit longer to settle."
Hearing this, Li Yan said:
"Uncle Guoxin, when villagers come, can't they just drop by my place too? It shouldn't be hard to find the army camp, right?"
Li Guoxin replied with a laugh:
"Child, how can you think it's that simple! But… I can't blame you, you just haven't seen much of the world yet.
Those military camps aren't places ordinary folks can just stroll into. Being questioned is the lightest outcome; if they suspect you of being a spy from an enemy country, you might get thrown into prison."
"Oh, I really didn't know that," Li Yan scratched his head awkwardly.
Li Guoxin joked:
"But after you've been in the army a few years or become a high-ranking officer, we'll come openly to find you then! Just don't forget your Uncle Guoxin by then!"
Before Li Yan could reply, Li Yu eagerly chimed in: "Uncle Guoxin, once I master cooking, whenever you visit, I'll cook you the tastiest meals for free, guaranteed to be fragrant and mouthwatering!"
Li Shan also jumped in: "Uncle Guoxin, when the time comes, I'll forge the best sickles and hoes for you and for every household in the village! Also knives and spears for hunting!"
Li Guoxin roared with laughter:
"Good, good! In the future, our Li Family Village will depend on you younger ones.
When we're old, we'll just warm a pot of wine every day, eat wild game, watch the sunrise and sunset over Great Qing Mountains, and live carefree days."
After that, the atmosphere on the carriage became lively. Li Yan also joined in from time to time, full of youthful longing.
The county town was located south of Li Family Village, and their carriage turned south after passing the foot of Great Qing Mountain.
Li Family Village sat near one of the main peaks of Great Qing Mountain, while its branch ranges stretched endlessly to the north and south.
Around noon, they found a shady spot by the roadside and stopped. Li Guoxin took out some food and called the others to rest and eat.
Li Yan and the others also took out their dry rations and sat together. Though it was just coarse grain, pickled vegetables, and a bit of preserved wild meat from home, they chatted and ate happily.
By late afternoon, around the Shen Hour(around 3–5 PM), they finally arrived outside the county town.
From a distance, a large expanse of open land came into view, with a town sitting in the middle. The city walls on the east and west sides were built against the mountains.
As the carriage got closer, they could see that the city gate and walls were more than thirty zhang high. Looking up at the walls, there were vague shadows moving about, likely the patrolling soldiers.
A large golden flag stood tall atop the city, bearing the character "皇" (Emperor), fluttering in the wind. Above the city gate three large characters "青山隘" (Great Qing Pass) stood out prominently.
At this moment, Li Yan and the other two fell silent, mouths agape, staring dumbfounded at the towering city gate. Unlike the adults in the village, they had never been here before.
Growing up in the village, the farthest they'd ever traveled was to the nearby village areas, they had never seen anything as grand and majestic as this. Their hearts were filled with awe.
At this time, there weren't many people coming and going at the city gate, perhaps because it was already afternoon.
Li Guoxin lightly tugged the reins to slow the carriage, turning back to remind the three of them:
"This city is built connected to mountain ranges on the east and west, with only a northern and southern gate. The northern gate is relatively relaxed with inspections, but the southern gate, which faces Meng Kingdom, is extremely strict.
The southern gate is usually only open for about six hours during the day.
Even after exiting the southern gate, you're not immediately in enemy territory, you have to travel several dozen li south through a buffer zone to reach Meng Kingdom's border.But for cavalry, that distance can be crossed in a flash.
The good thing is that with high mountains on both east and west sides, the enemy can only attack from the south, making this county town easier to defend. The mountain slopes are steep and the ridges narrow, barely wide enough for a few men or horses at a time.
Even if someone climbed up, launching an attack downhill would be a problem; they'd be discovered before they even descended, and shot dead by the city's crossbows."
Li Yan and the others followed his words, looking up at the towering city walls.
But the wall was too high, and since they were standing beneath the northern wall, they could only faintly see rows of black objects pointing toward the east and west mountain peaks, like the fangs of a fierce beast.
Li Yan mused to himself:
"Uncle Guoxin said the northern gate inspections are looser, probably because everyone entering from this side is a citizen of our own country. Those rows of black things on the walls must be crossbows.
The mountain ridges really are steep, there's hardly room for more than a few people at once. I wouldn't be able to climb that at all, maybe only Uncle Guoxin and a couple others from the village could manage it, and even that would be extremely difficult.
Walking on those mountains would be hard. One slip, and you'd fall to your death. Even if someone did climb up, any movement would trigger falling stones, alerting the soldiers on the walls below immediately.
One volley of crossbow bolts would turn you into a porcupine... truly a natural fortress."
At this time, Li Yu and Li Shan also snapped out of their amazement. Listening to Li Guoxin's explanation, Li Yu asked:
"Uncle Guoxin, with such strong walls and soldiers guarding them, the people of Meng Kingdom wouldn't be able to break in, right?"
Li Guoxin's expression grew serious; "That's hard to say. I heard that over the past few years, there were several times when Meng Kingdom's bandit soldiers attacked. One time, they even managed to scale the southern city walls.
Fortunately, Marshal Hong personally led the soldiers in a bloody battle, pushing back the enemy. People in the city said blood flowed down the walls into the city, covering the streets. The streets were soaked with blood and flesh of the enemies.
Outside the southern walls and beyond, corpses piled up like mountains.
Although most of the dead were enemy soldiers, some were also our own imperial soldiers."
Hearing this, Li Yu and Li Shan turned pale with fear. Their hearts were filled with unease, worrying that being an apprentice here might mean living in constant fear. Their worry deepened as they looked toward Li Yan.
Seeing their fear, Li Guoxin realized he had gone too far and quickly changed the subject with a laugh:
"Those are just rumors, probably exaggerated. If it were really that bad, the city wouldn't be so prosperous today."
In reality, as the village head, Li Guoxin knew the truth very well: because of frequent wars along the borders, the imperial court had issued decrees forbidding the people in border areas from easily migrating elsewhere. This was to bring out the people's patriotism, treating every inch of land as home, allowing them to live and work in peace despite powerful enemies.
Although he didn't know the situation at other borders, he had personally received secret orders from the government: any villagers attempting to migrate would be severely punished.
Luckily, Great Qing Pass had indeed repelled many enemy invasions, securing peace for the villages behind it, allowing them to enjoy their current peaceful lives.
(Chapter End)