In the blink of an eye, Ye Li had already stayed in Jinzhou City for three days. Because he showed strength at the beginning, the guests spontaneously made friends with him.
Ye Li quickly got to know most of the guests and became familiar with many people from the Bian family.
Bian Yingxiong appeared only on the first day Ye Li arrived, and Ye Li did not see him in the next two days.
After knowing that Ye Li was the genuine first retainer, Bian Lishi's attitude towards him became much more respectful. During these three days, he often came to see Ye Li.
In addition to taking Ye Li around Jinzhou City for half a day to familiarize himself with the environment, he also shared the situation in Jinzhou City with Ye Li.
From him, Ye Li also learned about the situation in Jinzhou City, which seemed to be a little bad.
Jinzhou City has been plagued by constant wars in previous years, but in the past few years, the attacks from the Yuan Dynasty were not too fierce. Most of the time, they were mainly harassing each other. Although there was also the intention to fight for territory, the attitudes of both countries were not firm.
Bian Lishi himself also revealed that the small-scale wars every year are actually very beneficial to the border cities of the two countries, because the continuous wars allow the defenders of the border cities on both sides to continuously request resource subsidies from the country.
In other words, as long as the cost of the battle is not too great, Jinzhou City can still make a small profit by relying on the resource subsidies it receives.
It is because of this that the Bian family has managed to earn a lot of savings in this seemingly turbulent land, which also makes the Bian family stronger than most city-defending families.
However, since the beginning of this year, the situation has changed. The original small-scale frictions have recently begun to intensify, and there is a tendency for a large-scale full-scale battle to break out.
The Bian family didn't know the reason for this, they only knew that the Yuan Dynasty had suddenly become active.
Recently, due to frequent battles, many outposts built within the sphere of influence of Jinzhou City have been attacked. Therefore, Bian Yingxiong applied to the court for support. However, it seemed that the peace in previous years had paralyzed the consciousness of the ministers in the court. They did not understand that the subtle changes in the current situation were foreshadowing the beginning of a major war.
On this day, when Ye Li was studying the talisman in the house, suddenly the alarm bells in the city rang.
The sound of the bell spread out, hitting the eardrums of everyone in the city, stirring up a ripple of uneasiness in everyone's hearts.
“What’s going on!!!”
Hearing the bell, Ye Li suddenly raised his head, and it started to get noisy outside.
“Boom boom boom!”
There was a sudden knock on the door.
"Master Ye, the master asked all the retainers to gather at the west gate. He said that the Yuan army is rushing towards our Jinzhou City. We must defend the city with all our strength!!"
The servants' shouts were heard outside the door.
Upon hearing this, Ye Li rushed to the door and opened it. A servant was standing outside with an anxious look on his face.
"Brother Li, the Yuan army is coming. Could it be that they have already reached the city?"
The servant outside was sent by the Bian family to take care of Ye Li's daily life, and the two of them were quite familiar with each other.
“Master Ye, I don’t know the details, but I heard that the Yuan army is coming soon, and they should not have reached the city yet.
After all, there are many strongholds outside our city, and those strongholds should be the first to be attacked. They are also the vanguard scouts. Once the enemy has any situation, we will receive the news immediately. "
The servant said to Ye Li.
Ye Li nodded and said, "Okay, I understand. I'll go to the City Guard House right away."
After saying this, Ye Li quickly left the Bian Mansion and rushed towards the City Guard Mansion.
Although he had never been to the City Guard's Mansion before, he knew that it was not far from the Bian Mansion.
In less than half an incense stick of time, Ye Li had already arrived at the gate of the City Guard's Mansion. During the journey, he met many guests who were also gathering here.
Luo Sheng saw Ye Li at once. He was wearing the clothes of a vegetable farmer and even carrying a shoulder pole. If Ye Li didn't know him, he would have mistaken him for a vegetable farmer.
"Brother Luo!"
"Brother Ye, you are here too!
Oh my god, I was selling vegetables in the market when all of a sudden the alarm went off and I got really scared.
This alarm bell has not been sounded for at least ten years. Now it is suddenly ringing. It seems that the situation this time must be very serious. It is estimated that it is at least a situation where the enemy is at the gates of the city. "
After all, Luo Sheng was an intelligence collector, and he had a very clear assessment of the situation near Jinzhou City. From the moment he heard the bell, he had already guessed the situation to a near-ideal level.
Ye Li nodded and said, "The news I received is indeed that the enemy will soon be at the gates of the city. Brother Luo, your guess is correct."
While the two were talking, they had already walked into the city guard's residence together, and the rest of the guests beside them also followed them in, there were about fifty people in total.
Most of these retainers are not very talented. If a battle really breaks out, not many of them can play a role in the war.
At this time, Bian Yingxiong was standing in the center of the City Defense Mansion with a serious face. Beside him, besides Bian Lishi, there were two young men who looked 70% similar to him.
Although Ye Li didn't know them, he could more or less guess their identities. They were Bian Lishi's two elder brothers, Bian Yide and Bian Shouren.
These two people usually help Bian Yingxiong handle military affairs. They spend most of their time on duty in the stronghold outside the city and rarely come back to the city.
Only Bian Lishi, who was responsible for household affairs, spent most of his time in the city assisting Bian Yingxiong.
Yu Zhengqiang was also in the group of guests at this time, and was standing at the front.
Ever since he was defeated by Ye Li, he has remained silent and has not caused trouble for others on a daily basis, which has made the residential area for guests a lot quieter.
Yu Zhengqiang was standing at the front of the team with an arrogant look at first, but after seeing Ye Li coming in, his eyes suddenly began to drift away, and he didn't dare to look Ye Li in the eye. His aura also dropped, and he was no longer as proud as before.
Ye Li was too lazy to care about his reaction. He just walked across the team and came to Bian Lishi's side.
"Brother Bian, Uncle Bian, are the Yuan army coming?"
Ye Li asked directly.
Most of the guests nearby were unaware of the situation. They just heard the alarm bell and spontaneously rushed to the City Guard's Mansion from all over the city.
Hearing Ye Li's question at this moment, most people pricked up their ears.
"Brother Ye, please be patient. I will explain the matter to all of you right away."
Bian Yingxiong said to Ye Li, with some respect in his tone.