Shanma County.
Shanma County was a county town under the jurisdiction of Jingwu Prefecture, in the southern part of Beiyuan Road. It was only about six miles from the Nong River, and a man-made canal connected the town directly to the river. This waterway was the main route for transporting goods from the Southern Region of Beiyuan Road to Shangjing City.
Because of the war, the waterway had not been used since the Spring Festival. As the military situation took a sharp downturn, the wealthy families of the county town had long since moved north of Shangjing City, leaving behind only the common folk and slaves.
That day, the commoners had planned to take advantage of the heavy rain to plant sweet potato seedlings, a crop that had only been introduced in recent years. They had been working in the fields with their slaves since early morning, but they had barely begun to loosen the soil when scouts started galloping back and forth on the nearby main road.
