In the seventh year of Yuan Sui's reign, on March 11, Lucheng of the State of Ye was at dusk.
It was past midnight, and the intermittent sound of the watch could be heard faintly outside the palace wall. A black horse with white hooves followed the sound of banging and entered from outside the palace gate, galloping past on the imperial street.
Passing through three palace gates, they stopped at the foot of the stone steps in front of the Zichen Palace. The imperial guard guarding the gate recognized the horse named Mo Yun Taxue, and knew that the person coming was the general who had entered the palace overnight, so he did not stop him at all.
The man on the horse looks like he is in his early forties, with a short beard on his lips. He is dressed in blue clothes, blue pants, and a green cloak. He is not wearing any armor, and his hair is disheveled. He looks like a
A wandering wanderer.
The man lifted up the hem of his robe and climbed up the steps. The two swords hanging on his waist, one black and one red, swayed with the steady pace. As the chief military and horse guard in front of the Yeguodian Palace, which commanded tens of thousands of forbidden troops in the city, he also served as the boat master.
Commander, he is the only general among the hundreds of officials who can carry a sword into the palace.
As soon as the man's muscular figure appeared, a short and fat figure immediately came forward outside the door of Zichen Palace:
"General Baili, you are finally here. The king has been waiting impatiently for a long time!"
"I have met the Lord Governor."
The green-robed general bowed slightly.
The Marquis of Jinghai Qi Shouyu across the street is the elder brother of the current leader of the Ye Kingdom. His original name was Qi Heguang. He was born smart and handsome, but due to a serious illness when he was nine years old, his face was pockmarked and he was taller than ordinary people.
Much shorter. But his nature is open-minded. Even when the old king decided to pass the throne to his concubine brother before his death, he did not show the slightest dissatisfaction. He even changed his name to "Shou Yu" and tried his best to assist the new king.
Your Majesty, you are dedicated to your work. Because of this, Duke Qi and Yin of the state of Ye also confidently handed him the seal of command of the governor of the boat division.
Ye State is the third largest vassal state in the Dasheng Dynasty. It is located on the west bank of Wanzhou, adjacent to Fu State, Huaiyou and Weiliang Kingdoms. Its original name is Ye, but because of the abundance of talented people in Wanzhou area, it has been over a hundred years.
During this time, no less than a thousand people came to Beijing to serve as officials. And because there were many large plains and rivers in the territory, there was abundant sunshine and luxuriant vegetation. Therefore, the late Emperor Bai Jiang Linran wrote a poem in praise with a stroke of his pen: "The one who bathes in the sun is the beautiful night."
Therefore, the country's name was changed to "Ye", which is still used today.
Ye State is located on the lower reaches of the Yanjiang River, the largest river in the south. Its navigation technology is also quite exquisite. It has the largest fleet in the world and uses the black falcon flag as its flag. It also uses the Tiannu Strait in the southwest of the mainland as a natural moat.
It blocked the main route from the southern states to the north by sea and land. Therefore, even though the six southeastern countries had been fighting for more than ten years, there was never a single attack on the territory of Ye State. Instead, it became a refuge for refugees from all over the world.
The two people in front of the hall each clasped their fists and saluted, and stepped into the Zichen Hall one after the other. At the moment, Ye Guozheng, wearing a crown, wearing a crown, black clothes and a red belt, was sitting in the brightly lit hall, but his face was not clear.
There was no vitality, and there was a bit of dark blue color on the lips. I don't know whether it was due to lack of rest or other reasons. His face was tired and frowning.
Qi Heyin was busy with everything, and many silver threads had already grown in his hair. He looked much older than the Marquis of Jinghai who was several years older than him. In his hand, he held tightly a scroll of silk books sent by Mo Crow overnight.
With specks of blood.
In the main hall, there was still a faint fragrance of expensive powder. I am afraid that the eldest princess, who had received the news from somewhere, had already cried bitterly in front of her father for a long time because her husband who was leading the army was uncertain about his life or death.
Seeing that the person he was urgently announcing had arrived, Duke Ye went straight to the point: "General Baili is working hard, I wonder what the situation is like in the Yugu Lake camp now?"
"My condolences to the king. Among the thousands of people marching in the camp, no one survived."
"No one survived? That prince-in-law also... Even though our country, Ye, has not waged war for a hundred years, it is absolutely impossible to be as vulnerable as the country of Yu! Could it be that this time Wei Liang and Cheng Guo secretly colluded and planned to cooperate with the West
Intrusion?"
The general's answer was obviously beyond Duke Ye's expectations, causing his body to become tense while sitting on the throne.
"This is absolutely impossible. Wei Liang and Cheng Guo have always wanted to be the overlord of the four southern states. They are wary of each other and do not hesitate to deploy tens of thousands of troops on the border. If Cheng Guo's Green Harrier cavalry wants to reach Yugu Lake,
Then we must go through the Guannan Hills, which will directly pose a threat to Jingshu, the capital of Wei Liang Kingdom. That Luqiu Borong is not stupid and will not make such a low-level mistake."
General Qingpao's tone was very certain. However, Marquis Jinghai, who was standing aside, couldn't help but remind him:
"General Baili, don't speak so absolutely in everything. It's not so easy to guess people's thoughts under the influence of interests."
"Master Governor, please listen to me." General Qingpao shook his head and continued to answer loudly, "Actually, Wei Liang and Huai You had a fierce battle at the foot of Qinglan Mountain yesterday, but they did not hear any news from any country.
Good news. Therefore, I sent a fast horse to investigate again overnight. And the facts have proved that my judgment just now was not wrong."
"What is the situation that the general discovered?"
"More than 10,000 troops on both sides were wiped out. It is precisely because of this that it is absolutely impossible for Wei Liang, who has just suffered a defeat, to regroup his forces and attack our Yugu Lake camp in just one day."
"General, are you saying that both warring parties will be completely destroyed? But now Huaiyou is no longer Wei Liang's opponent. Even if they both die, it is impossible to kill the other side without leaving any one alive, right?"
Duke Ye could not help but lean forward.
"This is what the general finds strange." The green-robed general nodded, but did not continue. Qi and Yin immediately narrowed their eyes when they saw this:
"General Baili, you seem to have something to say."
"It's all my conjecture, and there is no solid clue to support it. It's better not to say anything." The green-robed general hesitated and shook his head.
"It's a good idea to take a guess. Based on my understanding of the general, you may be worried that the person who destroyed the more than 10,000 troops in Weiliang and Huaiyou was also the one who attacked our camp at Jade Bone Lake?"
"The Lord clearly knows that this is the case. Moreover, I am worried that the other party is not looking for our country's land, but is looking for something important."
"How do you say this?"
"After the attackers captured the camp, they set fire to the entire camp and burned it to ashes. Most likely, their purpose was to cover up their murderous intentions and to leave some traces in the camp that they did not want others to notice.
"
The green-robed general said, but turned to look at Marquis Jinghai, who fell into silence beside him, "If I remember correctly, in the middle of winter last year, a tiger-headed flying fish boat sailed thousands of miles under your instruction, Lord Governor.
Traveled all the way north to Whale Bay, only to sink for no apparent reason on the way?"
Qi Shouyu responded without any hesitation: "The general remembers it well. So, a warship of the navy that went to sea a few days ago also happened to be docked at the Yugu Lake camp that was attacked this time. Could it be the general's?
You mean, there is actually a connection between these two things?"
A trace of imperceptible surprise flashed across General Tsing Yi's eyes, as if he didn't expect that the other party would guess what he was going to say:
"According to the reports from the scouts who returned from Dankou at that time, the wreckage of the ship that washed ashore did not look like it had suffered an ordinary shipwreck. The Tiger Head Flying Fish ship is the elite of our navy, and it is not something that ordinary pirates can easily do.
Destroy. If there is indeed a connection between the two things that happened several months apart, the opponent we have to face will probably be much more difficult than Wei Liang or Cheng Guo..."
The words fell, but no one answered. The atmosphere in the palace suddenly became depressing, and the three monarchs and ministers just looked at each other in the flickering firelight.
"Forget it, even if there is a connection, it cannot be found out in one night. But if the group of people who attacked the camp go down the Yanjiang River, they may soon enter the garrison range of the cities along the coast -
—”
After a long time, Duke Ye broke the silence again, "I order you two to start immediately and deploy the boat commander Wei Yu's camp to set up checkpoints at key roads along the coast from Mulu to Xiyin to prevent the enemy from taking the opportunity to come ashore and plot evil. At the same time,
, the remaining battalions must also send additional manpower to patrol the Huai River, Pheasant River and other places along the upper reaches of the Yan River. If there are any suspicious persons, they will be immediately detained on the spot and interrogated strictly."
As soon as the order was given, General Qingpao immediately pressed down the hilt of his sword and half-knelt on the ground. Marquis Jinghai followed closely and kowtowed, expressing their obedience to the king's orders, and then respectfully exited the gate of Zichen Palace.
After they got out of the palace, the two of them walked all the way outside the palace. After walking for a long time, Marquis Jinghai opened his mouth again and sighed:
"General Baili, I have never seen my brother's face look so sad since I have been assisting the government and discussing affairs. When I received the silk letter last night, my heart also beat for the whole night. I don't know if it is because of our relationship over the years.
Life is too easy because we are old and have lost the spirit of the past."
"Your Majesty, the Governor, is speaking harshly. In the final analysis, it happened suddenly and too strangely. However, worries are worries. Just now, everyone in the palace still had reservations about the king. Now that I think about it, it seems that it is my fault as a minister."
"What do you mean by the general's words?"
"To be honest, no matter at the foot of Qinglan Mountain or in the camp in Yugu Hunan, the scouts were not able to find the body of any sneak attacker. Not only was the opponent able to break into our navy division's camp without spending a single soldier, but he could also
After killing people without leaving any trace, I can't help but worry a little. If they can really defeat thousands of elite soldiers of our navy in one night, it is impossible to imagine how many enemies Ye Guo will face next.
horrible……"
As the green-robed general spoke, he took out a wine gourd that had already turned white on the surface. After taking a sip, he handed it to Marquis Jinghai. However, he did not turn his eyes to look at him, but just stared at the sky.
Twin Moon's eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of haze.
Qi Shouyu was stunned for a moment, and then the smile froze on his face. He stared at the solemn-looking man in front of him, and finally raised his head and took a big gulp of strong drink, unable to say another word.