Green Mountain Pass

The other two youths on the cart were named Li Yu and Li Shan, both only eleven or twelve years old. That they could go as apprentices naturally meant their families were somewhat better off than Li Yan's. Their village had only a dozen or so households, so the three youths were quite familiar with each other. As the scenery along the road kept changing, their youthful natures began to show, and their gradually sinking moods were replaced by the novelty of the sights flashing by. The two started chatting, and with the ever-shifting views, Li Yu and Li Shan grew increasingly excited. Their spirits heated up like the sun growing warmer in the sky, and they began to look forward to the future, talking loudly.

Li Yan, however, mostly remained silent, only occasionally responding or chiming in on their topics. His mind was a tangled mess, all sorts of thoughts crowding in—one moment considering the future, the next thinking of his family back home. Finally, he made a silent resolve: This time, I must work hard and earn plenty of silver. When I return to the village, I'll build two big courtyards—one for Third Brother, so he can take a wife; the other for Father, Mother, and myself, so the two elders can live well. During festivals, I'll bring my three older sisters back too, so the whole family can reunite and never be separated again.

This was the mark of a youthful heart—he only thought of finding a wife for Third Brother, while planning to live alone with his parents, not considering that he too would need to start his own household someday. For now, his thoughts remained in turmoil.

Along the way, Li Guoxin found a moment to speak quietly to Li Yan, telling him to perform well after enlisting and strive to catch the favor of his superiors in the ranks. That way, he might be assigned to a better garrison, and the Imperial Guards might also take part in city defense duties—though he only said it was possible, and that basically it wouldn't happen. He considered these reminders while also being careful not to scare Li Yan by overstating things.

Distracted by Li Guoxin's words, Li Yan snapped out of his daze somewhat, nodding quietly in agreement. This put Li Guoxin's mind a bit more at ease.

After finishing his instructions to Li Yan, Li Guoxin raised his voice a little and continued, "Li Yan, if you join the Imperial Guards, you probably won't have a chance to visit home for the first few years, unless you earn merit in battle. But just after enlisting, the chance of that is slim. If you ever need to send something or a letter back, you can leave them with Li Yu or Li Shan. Folks from the village come by often—have them stop by each time, and if there's a letter, the villagers can take it back to your parents. Also, though there are others from the village working or apprenticing in the city, we probably won't have time today to take you to meet them. But we can go to where Li Yu and Li Shan are headed first. Their business—paying the fee to the Main Family and signing the contract—will be quick. Yours will take longer to settle."

Hearing this, Li Yan said, "Uncle Guoxin, if someone from the village comes, can't they just stop by my place too? The barracks should be easy to find, right?"

"Child, why do you think it's so simple? But I can't blame you—those garrison barracks aren't places just anyone can go. If you bumble over, you'll be questioned for sure. If they take you for an enemy spy and throw you in jail, that would be bad."

"Oh, I didn't know that," Li Yan said, scratching his head sheepishly.

"But once you've been in the army a few years, or become a high-ranking officer, we can come find you openly and boldly. By then, you'd better still recognize your Uncle Guoxin," Li Guoxin teased.

Before Li Yan could answer, Li Yu cut in, "Uncle Guoxin, once I've learned to cook well, every time you come, I'll make you the tastiest food for free—the most fragrant!"

Li Shan also jumped in, "Uncle Guoxin, when I'm done, I'll make your family—and every family in the village—the best sickles, hoes, and even knives and spears for hunting."

"Haha, good, good! From now on, our Li Family Village will rely on your generation. With you around, when we're old, we can warm a pot of wine every day, eat wild game, watch the sunrise and sunset over the Great Green Mountains, and live carefree!" Li Guoxin laughed loudly.

With the topic opened up, the cart grew lively. Even Li Yan chimed in now and then, joining in the hopeful talk.

The county town lay south of Li Family Village. Turning off from the foot of the Great Green Mountains, the cart headed south. In truth, Li Family Village was near the main peak of the Great Green Mountains, but the mountain range stretched endlessly both north and south.

By noon, they found a shady spot by the roadside and stopped the cart. Li Guoxin took out food and called for them to rest and eat. Li Yan and the others also pulled dry rations from their bundles, spreading them on the ground to share. Though it was coarse grain, pickled vegetables, and a little salted wild game from home, they ate and chatted happily.

Finally, around the hour of Shen in the afternoon, they arrived outside the county town. From afar, a vast open plain held a city, its walls built into the mountains on the east and west sides. As the cart drew closer, the city gate and walls stood over thirty zhang high. Looking up at the walls, they could see faint dark figures moving about—likely patrol soldiers. A large golden banner bearing the character "Imperial" fluttered in the wind, and above the gate were three large characters: "Green Mountain Pass."

On the cart, Li Yan and the other two fell silent, mouths agape, staring dumbly at the towering gate. Unlike the village adults who had been here before, they had grown up in the village, their farthest travels just the surrounding area. They had never seen such majestic architecture. Seeing it for the first time, their hearts were filled with awe.

At this hour, few people were entering or leaving the gate, likely because it was already afternoon. Li Guoxin gently pulled the reins, slowing the cart, and turned back to the three youths. "The county town is built connecting to the mountains on the east and west, with only the north and south gates. The north gate's inspection is much looser, but the south gate connects to the Meng Kingdom, so the checks there are extremely strict. The south gate is usually open only about three hours during the day. Even though there's a buffer zone of over ten li south of the gate before reaching the Meng border, for cavalry, that's almost no time at all. Fortunately, Green Mountain Pass is flanked by high mountains to the east and west, leaving only the south as a viable attack route, making the town easy to defend and hard to take. The mountain slopes on both sides are steep, and the ridges narrow, allowing only a few men or horses to ascend at once. Even if someone made it up, descending to attack would be a problem—they'd likely be spotted before coming down and shot by the defending crossbows."

Li Yan and the others looked up at the towering walls as instructed, but the walls were too high, and from their position north of the city, they could only faintly see a row of dark objects pointing skyward toward the peaks on either side.

Li Yan thought to himself, Uncle Guoxin said the north gate's inspection is loose, probably because most people coming this way are from our own kingdom. Those rows of dark objects on the walls must be crossbows. Looking at how steep and upright those ridges are, they really can't hold more than a few people at once. I couldn't climb that mountain myself—probably only two or three in the village, like Uncle Guoxin, could manage, and even then with great difficulty. If you miss a step up there, you'd just tumble down and become a pulp. Even if someone made it up and tried to attack the walls from the top, any big move would send loose stones skidding down, and the soldiers below would hear it in advance. A single volley of crossbow bolts would turn them into pincushions. Truly a natural fortress.

Li Yu and Li Shan had also snapped out of their shock, listening to Li Guoxin's words. Li Yu asked, "Uncle Guoxin, with walls this sturdy and soldiers guarding them, surely the Meng Kingdom can't break through, right?"

Li Guoxin's expression turned serious. "That's hard to say. I've heard that in recent years, the Meng bandits have attacked several times. Once, the enemy even made it onto the walls. Fortunately, Grand Marshal Hong personally fought on the walls in bloody combat and drove them back. Later, people in the town said the blood flowed down the walls and flooded the streets—pools of blood and gore. Corpses piled up like mountains on the walls and outside the town. Most were enemy soldiers, but a good number were our own Imperial Dynasty people."

Hearing this, Li Yu and Li Shan's faces turned pale. They thought, If we're apprenticing here, won't we have to live in constant fear? They looked worriedly at Li Yan, thinking, Isn't Yan-ge going to fight too? That's even more dangerous.

Realizing he had gone too far, Li Guixin stopped the topic and laughed it off. "That's just rumors I've heard—probably not true. Otherwise, the town wouldn't be so prosperous now."

In truth, he knew better. With so many border conflicts, the Imperial Dynasty had long decreed that border residents were not allowed to relocate, to show their patriotism and make every inch of land their home. Even with powerful enemies outside, the people could live and work in peace. He didn't know about other border regions, but at least Green Mountain Pass had held the enemy back, protecting the villages and towns behind it for now.