The low military horns resounded across the prairie fire. The soldiers of the Wei Dynasty, who could not be seen in front or behind, were encamped on the deserted plain. Because they were all dressed in uniform dark-light military armor, from the sky, they seemed to be entrenched on the ground without gathering.
A black cloud dispersed.
In the center of the black cloud, there was a bright yellow fire, surrounded by countless black and red dragon flags, surrounding a golden tent, with countless generals running around.
The empress of the Wei Dynasty, wearing a black and red dragon robe, stood on the general stage, looking at the endless campfire. Her eyes were as idle as usual, but there was expectation hidden in the dark, just like a wife waiting outside the door for what was about to happen.
The man coming home.
Behind the empress were the accompanying civil servants and generals. In addition to her eldest cousin Wang Chihu, Chen Hezhi, the minister of etiquette who had accompanied Ye Jingtang to receive the envoys from Beiliang, and others were all looking to the northwest, waiting for their supreme Tianlang.
His Royal Highness arrived at his loyal Wei Dynasty.
If it were another vassal king who had to go out in person to wait with the emperor and his courtiers after returning from the outside world, then this vassal king would probably be close to death.
But Ye Jingtang is obviously different from ordinary vassal kings. Although he has all the foundation and personal ability to change dynasties, and is even very popular among the people, he is not a descendant of the Dongfang clan, and the emperor of Wei is still a woman.
If the emperor is a female emperor, then the queen must be a male.
The only people in the world who are qualified to sit in this position and will not cause disputes about the choice of crown prince in the future are Prince Liang and Ye Jingtang, because only these two can marry a country's territory and achieve a win-win situation for both parties.
, other people simply can’t stop the mouths of all sentient beings.
Emperor Liang would definitely not give the territory of Northern Liang to the Wei Dynasty as a dowry, but Ye Jingtang was from the Wei Dynasty and could do this.
This has led to the fact that Ye Jingtang has reached this point, and it is no longer possible to be a 'queen' even if it doesn't want to be.
After all, if Ye Jingtang is not the queen, the Wei Dynasty will not be able to obtain the legal authority of the Western Sea Territory; the empress does not have this legitimate reason, and she cannot withstand the pressure of the clan and pass the throne to her son, and the situation will become deadlocked again.
At this time, the mentality of the courtiers was actually to accompany the emperor and wait for the return of the empress who was good at fighting.
As the Minister of Rites, Chen Hezhi even considered how to marry the empress in the future. After all, Ye Jingtang is a man, and it would be a joke to be canonized as a 'Queen' by the Eight Classics. There is no precedent in history.
After Chen Hezhi stroked his beard and pondered for a moment, he secretly approached Wang Chihu and whispered:
"General Wang, if Lord Ye enters the palace to assist His Majesty, he should have a reasonable identity. Has His Majesty discussed this with Duke Wang?"
Wang Chihu's father, the Empress' uncle, was more concerned about these matters than the Empress herself; after all, once the Empress returned the throne to Prince Dongfang, the Wang family's relative would have to finish it on the spot.
After hearing Chen Hezhi's words, Wang Chihu thought about it for a moment and whispered:
"My father has never told me this, but there is no precedent in history. In history, a queen mother who was in power was granted the title of Marquis, and unofficial records even gave birth to a son..."
"That's a face head. The children he gave birth to were illegitimate, and they were all thrown to death afterwards. How can this be the same?"
"Also...how did the matrilineal clan pass the throne in ancient times?"
"At that time, when a child was born, he might not know who his biological father was, but he definitely knew who his biological mother and uncle were, so the maternal line was respected. It was different from now..."
…
While the two were whispering like this, there was a sudden movement in the military camp outside, and someone climbed to a high place to take a look.
Chen Hezhi and others stopped talking, frowned and looked around, and soon found a 'rumbling...' beneath their feet, as if there was an earthquake in the distance.
Although Wang Chihu was a bit uneducated, he was born as a general and his military quality was not bad. Just by listening to the sound, he knew that a large group of people were coming towards the military camp. He looked to the northwest:
"The Duke of Ye is back."
"Qiang——"
At the same time, the loud cry of an eagle also sounded from mid-air.
When the empress saw the fat concubine rushing over in a hurry, a smile appeared in her eyes, and she led many courtiers to the outside of the military camp...
———
Rumble…
At the end of the wasteland under the moonlight, an overwhelming yellow cloud moves slowly towards the south.
Ye Jingtang rode a white horse with a spear hanging on the side of the horse, walking at the forefront of the cavalry. On the carriage behind him, there was a black flag of the sun, and further behind, there were the flags of the various ministries in the West Sea.
After staying in the Wuma tribe for three days, Ye Jingtang set off with the young men from the nearby tribes.
Although the men in the West Sea are all warlike, and there are many people who signed up, including many women, war is not a child's play after all. The Tianlang Cavalry only needs elites who can fight one against five, so when they left, they only took more than 6,000 people with them.
, plus more than 7,000 Shatuo tribe soldiers, and many tribal warriors who heard the news along the way, there are currently nearly 17,000 people.
Although there were less than 20,000 people, there were nearly 40,000 horses in the team.
There are no passes to defend in the West Sea, but there are large areas of grassland-produced war horses. For this reason, the 'Tianlang Cavalry' has always been equipped with two or even three horses per person, relying on its maneuverability to deal with the well-equipped Northern and Southern Dynasties.
There are not many horses in the Wuma Department, but they have enough horses. Since Ye Jingtang is recognized as the leader, these war horses are basically from the Wuma Department, and only a few are brought by each department. Even the soldiers of the Shatuo Department and the Wuma Department
The horse department made a big move and got more than 7,000 horses to use as mounts. Although they were not good-bred war horses, they were enough for the second-line troops.
Compared with the strength of the soldiers and horses, other aspects of this army are not impressive.
Because of the strict control imposed by King Zuoxian for twenty years, all cavalry wore commoners, and only a few had leather armor, rattan armor and other armor.
The weapons were even worse. Most of them were pewter spears. Crossbows were extremely scarce. Some of them were homemade hunting bows with a short range. The heavy cavalry of the Northern and Southern Dynasties might not be able to break through the defenses even if they stood and let them shoot.
Because the equipment gap is too big, as long as they encounter Beiliang's regular army, most of them will be reimbursed on the spot.
For this reason, Ye Jingtang walked extremely carefully, and it took him seven or eight days to follow the Huangming Mountain around the Liaoyuan and arrive at the meeting point with the Wei army.
Seeing that the firelight could be faintly seen on the wasteland, Ye Jingtang breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to look at the carriage behind.
In the carriage, Luzhu was holding a telescope and looking towards the Wei military camp.
After Shui'er resisted the severe punishment, she had to rest for three days before she recovered. At this time, she was obviously back to normal, and she was leaning in the carriage, fisting with Hua Qingzhi.
Because Hua Qingzhi was being dragged by Sister Lu every day to drink away her sorrows, she was really pretending to have something on her mind. She basically didn't wake up along the way. At this time, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were drunk.
Compared with the three of them, Qinghe is much more unsociable.
At this time, Qinghe was sitting alone on the other side of the carriage, leaning against the window and seeming to be looking out, but his peripheral vision was always focused on Shui'er, and his eyes were still a little distracted.
Ye Jingtang was not surprised by this. After all, the last time he gave Qinghe flowers, Shui'er ran in midway, and he didn't even taste it. So Qinghe completed the celebration ceremony in front of him, and he was so embarrassed that he almost lost his temper.
Afterwards, Qinghe wanted to take revenge and gave Shui'er a taste, but Shui'er was too weak and failed.
After Shui'er had rested, the army set off. While on the way, Ye Jingtang must not mess around, so Qinghe still hasn't found his place, so it's normal that he doesn't want to talk to Shui'er.
When Qinghe noticed that Ye Jingtang was looking into the carriage, he glanced at him, his eyes were like those of a heartless man who was looking at one thing but not the other.
Ye Jingtang smiled helplessly, but because there were soldiers all around him, he didn't say anything.
When they were about to arrive at the military camp, Ye Jingtang definitely couldn't rush into the camp with tens of thousands of cavalry. When there was still five miles away, he ordered Yao Cishan, who had come with him, to order the troops to camp on the spot; then he took the carriage and headed for the camp.
Wei's military camp.
After walking a certain distance, Ye Jingtang saw Yu Hu wearing a dragon robe in the distance, waiting outside the camp with a group of generals and officials.
Ye Jingtang knew that social gatherings were unavoidable, so he turned around and asked:
"Qinghe, let's go, let's go to meet the Holy Spirit together. Fairy Lu, are you going?"
Xuanji didn't like the atmosphere of formal occasions, so she immediately turned her head and said nothing, as if she had lost her innocence and didn't want to talk to the culprit.
Although Hua Qingzhi was a little dizzy, she still managed to make things right:
"Sister Lu drank too much, I'll send her to rest."
Ye Jingtang didn't say much when he saw this. After Qing He came out of the carriage, he got off his horse and walked to the camp with the leaders of the Xihai tribes...
——
The night was getting darker, but the lights were brightly lit in the big tent in the middle camp, and the sound of cups being pushed and cups being replaced could be heard.
The empress sat on the main seat, looking at the ministers who were talking with the leaders of the various tribes in the West Sea, while Ye Jingtang sat on the left side and glanced at Huniu Niu, who was not angry and proud from time to time.
Several tables were set up in the big tent. The ministers and generals of the Wei Dynasty sat on the left, and Yao Cishan and other leaders of the ministries sat on the right. Although they were drinking and chatting happily, it was not a family dinner at the moment, but an exchange between envoys from the two countries.
.
This trip of the tribes in Xihai was not to submit to the Southern Dynasty, but under the leadership of their leader Ye Jingtang, they met with the Emperor of the Southern Dynasty and discussed with each other how to assist Xihai and jointly resist Beiliang.
The tribes in Xihai are extremely xenophobic. They can accept Ye Jingtang as their father, but they will not accept the Southern Dynasty as their son unless the emperor of the Southern Dynasty is Ye Jingtang or the heir of Ye Jingtang.
Since Ye Jingtang has become the leader of the Xihai tribes, he must act from the position of the Xihai tribes, otherwise the leader will not be able to sit firmly.
For this reason, even Mr. Yuhu from Ye Jingtang could not consider himself as a minister at this time. Instead, he could negotiate with Yuhu, the emperor of the Southern Dynasties, as the leader of the various tribes in Xihai.
But what is the relationship between the two people, whether they are ministers of the Wei Dynasty or the leader of Xihai, they all know clearly in their hearts.
As long as Ye Jingtang and the empress can give birth to an heir, in the eyes of the Xihai tribes, their emperor will still be of Xihai blood, not worthy of his ancestors, and worthy of a granary as big as the Southern Dynasty.
In the eyes of the Wei Dynasty, the son of the empress inherited the throne, and it was legitimate. A large territory like the West Sea was considered a free dowry.
This is obviously a very profitable business for both parties.
In a situation where a win-win situation can be achieved while the conflict of sovereignty can be eliminated, the two sides will naturally get along very well.
As the leaders, the Empress and Ye Jingtang had special status and relationship, so they did not speak at this time and allowed the ministers on both sides to talk.
As for the content of the conversation, it was nothing more than that the Southern Dynasty provided food, armor, ordnance, etc. to help the various ministries recover; while the various ministries in the West China Sea sent troops to attack Beiliang, take back the horse farms and mines in the territory, and provide the Southern Dynasty with war horses, mineral deposits and other resources, and choose the opportunity to attack together
Entering the interior of Beiliang and so on.
Because there are so many things that need to be negotiated, the exchanges cannot be completed at a banquet. Tonight is just a reception banquet.
After chatting for an hour and everyone having enough food and drinks, the empress arranged for the envoys from each ministry to rest in the camp. Qinghe, as the representative of the Dongming Tribe, naturally left.
After Ye Jingtang sent the people out, he came back again. After Yao Cishan had gone away, he came to the center of the tent and bowed his hands:
"Wei Chen is frightened at night in the hall and pays homage to His Majesty."
After the envoy left, the empress returned to her usual lazy posture, leaning half on the dragon chair and raising her hands slightly:
"Ye Aiqing, no courtesy. It's been a hard trip."
None of the civil servants and generals of the Wei Dynasty left at this time, because they were accustomed to the empress's character, and no one said that the empress was not dignified enough.
Chen Hezhi stood up, saluted and praised:
"Duke Ye is truly an astonishing talent. He single-handedly wiped out the bandits in the desert and gathered all the tribes in the West Sea. If he hadn't seen the 7,000 surrendered soldiers outside, Chen would have thought that the scouts were exaggerating..."
"Yes, you are really brave..."
…
Wang Chihu was the one who pulled Ye Jingtang into the black government office back then. He also had a good relationship with him. He relaxed at this time and said with a smile:
"It's not the first day you know Brother Ye's abilities. What's the fuss about? Now we should discuss how to reward him."
Chen Hezhi smiled and did not start discussing, but looked at the empress.
The empress must have been ready before returning from the Night Terror Hall. At this time, she raised her hand slightly, and a female official next to her stepped forward and unfolded the imperial edict:
"Gong Wu'an was frightened at night and received the order."
Seeing this, Ye Jingtang bowed his hands and listened quietly.
"On the first day of the sixth lunar month, in the eleventh year of the reign of Emperor Jianwu of the Great Wei Dynasty, the Holy Emperor issued an edict: Mr. Wu'an was frightened at night. He was loyal, courageous, brave and good at planning. In the early spring, he went to Beiliang, went deep into the enemy's territory to retrieve the dragon map, and destroyed the enemy's conspiracy.
He traveled thousands of miles to the desert, destroyed the rebellious feudal states, and brought the Wei Dynasty into good relations with the Western Sea...
"Such a miraculous achievement has no precedent in ancient times. Today, I will confer Yejingtang as the 'King of Lang' and grant the land north of Liangzhou as a fief, which will be inherited by my descendants from generation to generation. I will also grant him swords and shoes to go to the palace. He will not rush to the court and will not be praised or worshiped."
The right of name..."
"..."
The civil and military officials present did not show any surprise when they heard this series of awards.
After all, this reward sounds scary. It grants a real power to a king with a different surname, but the fiefdom is north of Liangzhou, which is the territory owned by the tribes of Xihai and Ye Jingtang itself.
The reason for the title of 'King of Lang' instead of 'King of Tianlang' is because King Tianlang is on the same level as the monarchs of the two countries. No one would recognize the empress' title, so she could only grant the title of 'King of Langzhou', which did not exist among the twelve states of the Wei Dynasty.
', speaking of which, he secretly included the Western Sea into the territory of the Wei Dynasty, which is quite shameless.
But this is also a helpless move. The conditions of Night Terror Hall are set here. If other places are sealed, it will not be able to radiate to the West Sea. Shazhou is a rotten place and of no use. The only suitable location is to seal the 'Prince of Liang'.
Ye Jingtang's ancestral home is in Liangzhou, and its sphere of influence is also in Liangzhou. It is justifiable to seal it.
But there is a flaw in this move, that is, King Liang himself may not be very happy.
The King of Liang has not rebelled, and is still fighting for the country outside. If the imperial court gives Liangzhou to Ye Jingtang, the King of Liang will probably be so angry that he directly seizes the tribes in the West Sea, and exchanges tactics with Ye Jingtang.
For this reason, it is the most reasonable way to make Ye Jingtang the legal ruler of all tribes in the West Sea, whether in the West Sea or in the Southern Dynasties, by naming him the 'King of Langzhou'.
In fact, Ye Jingtang didn't feel much about these false names. After listening carefully, he raised his hands and said:
"My lord, thank you for your grace."
The civil servants and generals present laughed immediately when they saw this, and quickly raised their hands to congratulate:
"The title of King Lang is well deserved, congratulations..."
"From now on, I can no longer call you Brother Ye. I have to change my name to Your Highness. Alas, I'm envious..."
"Brother Wang, don't joke..."
…
Ye Jingtang was busy with various entertainments and returning gifts to the civil servants and generals who came to congratulate them. After a long time, everyone dispersed one after another.
The empress sat on the dragon chair until all the courtiers left, then she asked the maid to go out, closed the curtain of the big tent, and said:
"I know you are not interested in these. If you want any reward, just tell me."
Ye Jingtang waited for everyone to leave, and he breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and came to the front, and took a look at the back tent:
"Where are Liren and the others?"
The empress lay on her side on the big chair with soft eyes:
"What, you want to reward me for sleeping with you?"
Seeing that Da Benben was not there, Ye Jingtang sat down beside him:
"Um."
"?"
The empress narrowed her eyes slightly. She didn't expect Ye Jingtang's promise to be so straightforward, so she stopped pretending. She put her leg on Ye Jingtang's lap and sighed softly:
"Li Ren took the Queen Mother and the others to Shazhou for fun. It will take a while for them to come back. It's a pity."
"Shazhou?"
When Ye Jingtang heard this, he looked surprised;
"I found records left by the First Emperor in Huangming Mountain. It said that he had received a heaven-given stone tablet, which recorded the 'Nine Arts'. I guess the Nine Arts are related to the Nine Singing Dragon Pictures."
In fact, the empress has always been worried about Ye Jingtang's physical condition. After all, if the flaws in her own deduction of the Minglong Diagram are not exposed, she will always be a thunderbolt.
Seeing Ye Jingtang talking about this, the empress calmed down her cynical expression and sat up:
"Xue Baijin said he was looking for Minglong Tu, but there has been no news for so long. In the end, it's up to you to figure it out yourself... Are you sure it's related?"
Ye Jingtang shook his head: "I'm not sure, I'll have to find it to find out. Once the soldiers and horses in Xihai are settled, I'll go over and have a look."
The empress was a newlywed after all, so she didn’t want to have night terrors and went out, so she said:
"How about I send a message to Lu Taiqing and ask him to handle this matter?"
Night Terror Hall actually has selfish motives. He went to Shazhou to play with the hand-warmer, and he definitely wanted to go to Crescent Bay, which happened to be his destination. If he didn't go shopping together when he had the chance, he would probably miss the hand-warmer for several years.
He shook his head and said:
"Taoist Master Lu may not be able to tell the secrets of things like the Minglong Diagram. It's safest for me to go."
When the empress saw this, she didn't say anything more and turned to look outside:
"Where is Master? Why haven't you come here yet?"
Ye Jingtang guessed that Shui'er was being held by Qing He, holding her legs with her hands and kneading them gently:
"I just drank a lot, I guess I've fallen asleep. Well..."
When the empress saw Ye Jingtang extending her hand under her skirt, she didn't resist. She just raised her face and said:
"Presumptuous~ I was respectful just now, but now I can't control my ambition and want to deceive the king?...Eh~?!"
Before she finished speaking, the empress was dragged by her ankles and lay down on the chair, with her feet in the air.
Ye Jingtang put her legs on her shoulders, and then pushed Yuhu's knees onto her shoulders, causing the moon to tilt up. Looking at the soft and charming face close at hand, she lowered her head and said:
"Who is presumptuous?"
The empress's posture was very strange, and her face recalled the previous scene where she was bullied to the point of giving up, and her face turned a little red.
But the last time was the last time. How could a majestic emperor surrender without a fight? The empress looked as strong as ever:
"You are presumptuous."
Pa~
Ye Jingtang raised his hand and took a picture of the full moon, his eyes darkened slightly:
"I'll give you another chance. If you answer wrong, don't say I don't care about you later."
The empress snorted lightly and turned her head:
"I don't know who just came back from Beiliang last time. When he saw the girl, he wanted to crawl under the bed. I have to let you..."
"?"
When Ye Jingtang saw Yuhu mentioning the unforgettable time of recovering from his injuries, he didn’t say much more, lowered his head, and began to teach Hu Niuniu a lesson for not wasting his time in the house for three days...