Yinlang County, located in the far south of Yan, bordered Jin State on one side and Qian State on the other. A hundred years ago, Yinlang County was actually nad Yinlang County; this was the na of the first pri minister of Yan State. Due to his ritorious service in helping Mao Tzedong establish and govern the state, his ho county was nad in his honor. A place can be nad after a person, and similarly, its na can be changed because of one. This particular renaming was related to the first Earl of North Border.
A hundred years ago, as the Desert Barbarians, rallied by their Royal Court, prepared for a decisive battle against Yan, the new emperor of Qian State personally led an expedition. An army of half a million from Qian State marched north, placing Yan in the precarious position of facing enemies on two fronts. What followed was the renowned battle where the first Earl of North Border, with only thirty thousand troops, crushed an enemy force of half a million.
That day, after routing the Qian army, the first Earl of North Border composed a poem: "Whip the horse to chase the silver waves, watch peach blossoms by the clear stream."
The ’silver waves’ ntioned here described the half-million strong Qian army, utterly routed and retreating for a thousand li. Along the roads of Yinlang County, corpses lay strewn everywhere. The armor of the Qian soldiers glinted under the sun, resembling rolling silver waves. The latter line depicted the leisure of the pursuit—it wasn’t a battle or a skirmish, rely a spring outing to admire peach blossoms. Whether the Earl of North Border tactically underestimated his opponent is unknown to later generations; what is certain is that the Qian army suffered a devastating defeat, their martial fortune shattered. These two lines of poetry perfectly expressed the first Earl of North Border’s complete strategic disdain for the Qian army.
Furthermore, the first Earl of North Border was originally from ’Yinlang County’—a true southerner of Yan. Consequently, Yinlang County was later simply renad Yinlang County. Conversely, in official correspondence between Qian State and Yan State, any ntion of Yinlang County was replaced with ’Yinlang’. The words ’Yinlang’ were simply too jarring for the people of Qian. Whenever they encountered this place na, they would instinctively recall the first Earl of North Border’s poem, and consequently, the devastating defeat from a century ago and the tragic sight of their own soldiers’ corpses littering the fields.
Seventy percent of Qian State’s border troops were deployed against Yan, with the remaining thirty percent distributed along the borders with Jin State and Chu State. Yan, on the other hand, had brazenly stationed three hundred thousand of its most elite North Border cavalry in the north to deter the Barbarians, while establishing only a single border defense town—Nanwang City—on its southern frontier. Green Willow Fortress was one link in a defensive chain centered around Nanwang City; there were eight other similar forts and stockades. Compared to Qian’s state of high alert, Yan’s posture appeared far more perfunctory.
This was understandable. A century of accumulated prestige, a clear psychological advantage, and imnse self-confidence were on Yan’s side. Perhaps this series of defenses, Nanwang City and Green Willow Fortress included, was more a gesture to preserve Qian’s dignity. After all, the land from Yinlang County all the way to Tiancheng, Yan’s capital, was predominantly open plains. Should any situation arise in Yinlang County, Yan’s iron cavalry could arrive almost overnight.
For a century, countless sons of Yan dread of replicating the first Earl of North Border’s past glory, aspiring to earn titles and high office! Frustratingly, Qian State never provided such an opportunity.
The na of Green Willow Fortress was also said to be linked to the first Earl of North Border. Legend tells that when this fortress was being built, the first Earl of North Border planted a willow sapling here. At that ti, the ambitious Earl of North Border mused that by the ti this willow sapling grew into a verdant tree, he would likely have already led his army to conquer the capital of Qian State.
Unfortunately, fate intervened. Due to urgent developnts in the northern war, Yan State could not dispatch more troops from the front lines of the conflict with the Barbarians to support the first Earl of North Border. The first Earl of North Border had to content himself with leading his troops to conquer the Northern Three Prefectures of Qian State, absorbing their population and wealth for Yan. Later, due to political considerations for balance, the first Earl of North Border, a southerner, was enfeoffed in the north, and thus, he was never able to fulfill his lifelong aspiration of marching south to vanquish Qian.
"I wonder," Zheng Fan, mounted on his horse, asked those around him, "with so many willow trees here, which one exactly was planted by the first Earl of North Border?"
"Is my lord particularly interested in this?" Siniang, riding beside Zheng Fan in disguise, inquired.
"What if the first Earl of North Border buried so treasure under that willow tree? Like, the Earl’s legacy?"
"That’s easy, my lord," Siniang replied. "Give the order. Let Blind Bei use his psychic power to search this willow forest. If he works non-stop for a month, he should be able to find it."
Nearby, Blind Bei coughed softly, interrupting Zheng Fan and Siniang’s fanciful discussion. He pointed ahead. "My lord," he said, "Green Willow Fortress is right ahead."
"Finally, we’ve arrived! Give the order to speed up. We have to rest in the fortress before sunset!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Zheng Fan spurred his horse forward. Behind him, Liang Cheng waved his hand, and the more than five hundred Barbarian cavalryn, clad in armor identical to that of the North Border army, also began to quicken their pace. For a mont, the willow forest echoed with the thunder of hooves and was filled with billowing dust.
However, just as they erged from the willow forest, Zheng Fan had to order his n to slow their pace. Once out of the forest, their view suddenly broadened. Instead of the desolate, dilapidated scene typical of a border fortress, they saw vast, orderly fields of fertile land stretching to the horizon. Even more surprisingly, nurous farrs, both n and won, were busy in the fields. Seeing such a large contingent of cavalry suddenly appear, they instinctively stopped their work and stared curiously at the arrivals.
Zheng Fan couldn’t help but turn to look at Blind Bei behind him and ask:
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