The west gate of Daliang is opposite the Daliang Gate of the Royal Palace City and is the most important gate of Daliang City.

According to the traditional Chinese royal city layout of "front dynasty and back market", the line from the West Gate to Daliang Gate is the location of the "front dynasty". It is generally the place where government orders are issued, where generals are ordered to order troops, various state ceremonies are held, and the relationship with the lives of ordinary people.

It's not big, and it's heavily guarded, so the crowds outside the west gate are not dense. On the contrary, there are more soldiers guarding the gate.

Zheng Anping vaguely saw the tall city wall and realized that he was almost reaching the beam. He stopped his feet and ran forward slowly, trying to calm his breathing. Looking at the sky, it was getting close. Although it was early winter,

But the intense running still made big drops of sweat break out on his forehead, and his underwear felt wet.

After jogging for a few miles, he could vaguely see the soldiers on duty outside the west gate. His underwear had turned from warm to damp and cool, his sweat had gradually subsided, and his breathing had calmed down. Zheng Anping stopped, tightened his belt, and took out the talisman from his arms.

, raised it high above his head, quickened his pace again, and screamed loudly: "Urgent-urgent-military-situation~! Urgent-urgent-military-situation~!"

The soldiers on duty at the city gate and the few people waiting to enter the city heard a shrill cry in the distance. They all looked in the direction of Zheng Anping and saw a figure running quickly. They began to hear clearly what he was saying.

What is it called? The people immediately rushed to both sides of the city gate, and the soldiers on duty gathered towards the city gate and blocked the door. The west gate guards who were on the city tower also quickly walked down the city tower and stood in the center of the city gate.

The gatekeepers had just taken their positions when Zheng Anping arrived. He handed the talisman to the west gate guard and said: "Urgent military information, General Mangmao has been defeated, and the Qin army is approaching."

The west gate guard took the talisman, checked it was correct, and said to a soldier: "Take this brother to drink some water. I will enter the palace immediately. Stop entering the city here!" After saying that, he turned around and ran towards the direction of Daliang Gate.

A soldier came over and said to Zheng Anping: "Brother, thank you for your hard work, come up and have a drink of water." Another soldier shouted to the people who were still waiting to enter the city: "The city is closed, the city is closed!"

Those people who were waiting to enter the city had already heard the conversation between Zheng Anping and the Ximen Guards. They all left in a hurry if they dared to enter the city again. A few people who lived in the city hurriedly ran along the city wall to the nearby city gate.

I have to get into the city and go home before the city gate closes, so I can tell my family to be prepared.

Zheng Anping followed the soldier up the city wall and stood next to the city gate tower. The soldier went inside, took out a large goblet of water and handed it to Zheng Anping. Zheng Anping drank it all in one gulp, then took off the water gourd from his waist, and together

He handed it to the soldier and said, "Brother, please fill it up." The soldier took it and promised, "Okay, brother!"

The soldiers filled up the water for Zheng Anping and went down to the city for duty. Zheng Anping stood alone by the city gate tower and looked out of the city. He felt like he was condescending and looking down on all living beings. Looking inside, he saw the majestic Daliang Gate.

It was so obvious that it blocked the inquiring eyes. Looking to the north, there were rows of residential houses, and people were walking around in twos and threes. Zheng Anping knew that this peaceful atmosphere was about to end.

Although there are wars every year, in the ninety years since Daliang was established as the capital, no enemy has ever appeared. In the early years, Wei was a big country, and he was the only one to attack other countries, and no one from other countries dared to provoke him; in recent years, although Wei has some backs, Daliang has deep ravines.

The high base and large population are enough to frighten potential enemies. Although the powerful Qin army succeeded in succession in Hexi and frequently attacked Hedong, they were thousands of miles away from Daliang and had no impact on the daily life of the people in Daliang. But

…

Zheng Anping's heart suddenly tightened. He remembered that it was the year when he had just become a soldier. The Qin army, which was an ally of Qi yesterday, suddenly turned against the Qin army and attacked Daliang... He did not really fight the Qin army in that battle.

They fought against each other, but saw with their own eyes the ferocity of Qin soldiers.

There was a bell ringing from the direction of Daliang Gate. It was the King of Wei who was urgently summoning ministers. Zheng Anping saw that the security outside Daliang Gate had been strengthened.

"The West Gate Guard has delivered the news." Zheng Anping thought, feeling a sense of joy as if he had made a successful contribution. In any case, the matter was in his hands.

The wind blew over, and Zheng Anping's sweat-soaked clothes were blown through by the wind. Fortunately, there was a layer of leather armor to protect him from the cold. He also felt a little hungry. Although he had just eaten before setting off,

But during this trip, he had already used up all the little rice. He regretted not bringing any dry food with him, so now he could only hold on.

When Zheng Anping's clothes were about to be dried, the sound of drums sounded in the palace. Zheng Anping almost immediately saw the Ximen guards rushing out from the Daliang Gate, shouting to the Ximen soldiers in an almost exasperated tone: "Close the city gate! Beat the drum!"

"

Zheng Anping flew down to the city and hurriedly waved to the soldiers. The soldiers understood and slowed down the closing of the city gate slightly, allowing Zheng Anping to squeeze out before the city gate was about to close. Just after leaving the city gate, the city gate was upstairs

Then there was the deafening sound of drums, boom, boom, boom... and even the earth shook. Soon, the sound of drums came from all fourteen gates of Daliang City.

Zheng Anping blocked his ears and tried his best to resist the huge impact of the drums. He took steps and returned along the original road. The drums rang for hundreds of times before stopping. Almost at the same time when the drums stopped, various sounds came from both sides of the road.

The sound of drums and bells was heard. People who heard the sound of drums and bells rushed home quickly.

Zheng Anping did not return to the inn. After walking about ten miles, he turned right onto a small road and walked towards a village with dozens of families. This is Donghongli where Zheng Anping lives.

For a long time in Chinese history, townships and li have been the basic administrative units. The original meaning of township is fellow villagers and li, so it has also become a synonym for fellow villagers. In different periods and in different countries, the size of townships is different.

Initially, there should be twenty-five families living in a village. These families should prepare a chariot, an ox cart for carrying baggage, three soldiers responsible for chariot battles, and twenty-five supporting infantry.

One establishment was called "two". As the population increased, the size of the village became larger and larger, successively becoming fifty households, seventy-two households, and finally one hundred households. There were more households, but there were no chariots.

The number of oxen carts increased, and some even couldn't afford a four-horse chariot, so they only pulled out a two-horse carriage to make up for it. There were oxen carts for hauling food and grass, but they were reluctant to use the good ones. Try to use them as much as possible.

The old ox broke the cart.

There are mainly two families living in Donghongli, and I don’t know how long they have lived here. There are also a few outsiders like Zheng Anping.

At that time, most of the houses were "living together", that is, the houses of the same family were built close to each other. For outsiders like Zheng Anping, who had different ethnic groups from anyone in the local area, the houses were left alone.

Let's go, it's clear at a glance who is a household with whom and who is a single household. There are about two or three households thrown out like this. Zheng Anping's house is almost next to a wasteland full of weeds.

There was no one in the square in front of me. It seemed that people had returned home to prepare for the war.

Zheng Anping walked through the rows of ethnic houses and came to his home at the end. He pushed open the creaking wooden door, walked through the courtyard, went up three flights of steps, and entered the hall. All his equipment was hung on the hall.

He took off his turban and put on a leather hat; changed into a pair of boots; put on the other two layers of leather armor and tied his belt carefully; he hung a crossbow and quiver on his belt, and picked up a halberd. He tried it on himself.

Feeling satisfied with everything, he turned around and walked down the hall to a side room.

There were piles of firewood in this side room, which seemed to be a firewood shed. Zheng Anping turned around and saw a mat behind the firewood, on which sat an old man with messy gray hair and a stooped figure.

The old man obviously recognized Zheng Anping's voice and said: "The millet is on the stove. Have a quick drink, you'll have time."

Zheng Anping filled a bowl of millet, sprinkled some salt and dried plum blossoms, knelt down in front of the banquet, and asked softly while eating: "Did you hear the drum sound?"

The old man nodded. Then he pointed with his hand and said, "The millet is ready."

Zheng Anping looked in the direction of the old man's finger. There was a bag made of burlap on the ground, which seemed to contain millet. He picked up the rice bag and weighed it with his hands. The weight was just right.

While tying the rice bag around his body, he asked, "Sir, you have difficulty moving, how do you deal with it?"

"It might as well." The old man said from his deep beard.

Zheng Anping stopped talking, ate two more bowls of millet in silence, put down the bowl, bowed deeply, and turned to leave.

When he walked to the wooden door, he heard the faint sound of drums again, and soon the loud bells rang.
Chapter completed!