Song Qing immediately pinned the wine bag in his hand to his waist, picked up his horse and headed towards Young Master Liu.
"Brother, I specially waited for you outside the palace gate."
Liu Mingzhi looked at Song Qing with a puzzled expression: "Waiting for me? What's wrong? Is there something going on?"
"Yes, there is something I need to tell you."
Liu Mingzhi gently let go of the horse's rein and turned around to observe the situation around him.
"Brother, is this a business matter or a private matter?"
Song Qing let go of the horse's reins, took out two documents from his cuffs, and signaled with an envelope.
"Business matters, about the Western Expedition Army."
Liu Mingzhi looked at the documents and envelope in Song Qing's hand, and nodded solemnly.
“Brother, there are so many people coming and going on the street, it’s not convenient to talk about these things.
Let’s go back to my little brother’s house first, and then we’ll talk about this in detail after we get to my little brother’s study.”
Song Qing quickly put the documents and envelopes into his sleeves, grabbed the horse's reins and got on his mount.
Mr. Liu immediately got on his horse, nodded and exhaled a few big breaths of warm air into his slightly cold hands.
"drive!"
"drive!"
Following the soft shouts of the two brothers, the two strong horses raised their hooves and hurried slowly towards the street.
Young Master Liu faced the cold wind and kept rubbing his hands while shrinking his neck and looking at the wine bag on Song Qing's waist.
"Brother, give me some of your wine. The weather has been getting colder and colder these days."
Song Qing immediately took off the wine bag from his waist, raised his head and threw it towards Young Master Liu.
"Brother Wei, this is not fine wine. This is the wine that Brother Wei bought from the restaurants of Bizhu, Lingyi and the others after he left the palace not long ago."
Young Master Liu raised his eyebrows and directly pulled out the stopper on the wine bag.
"Strong liquor, that would be better."
Young Master Liu drank several large gulps of strong wine, and his face gradually turned rosy.
"Phew, it's so happy, it's so damn happy.
In this kind of weather, it would be more enjoyable to drink the strong liquor poured by cows and horses.
After a few big gulps of wine, my body immediately started to heat up."
"Hehehe, then you should drink more, and then go to the restaurant to get a new one after you drink it.
Anyway, your wife owns the restaurant, so you don’t have to spend any money on it."
"Screw you, Bizhu, Lingyi and the other two sisters. They get up early and finish their work every day. Is it easy to earn so much money?
It's a good thing for you, as all the little calculations have been done to your two younger siblings."
Song Qing shook his head angrily, grabbed the wine bag from Young Master Liu's hand and drank heavily.
"Good guy, as you said, it's not easy for the two siblings to earn some money.
Let's buy some wine for my brother and me, so I don't have to spend any money."
Young Master Liu took off the wine bag from his waist, grabbed the wine bag from Song Qing's hand again, and poured half of the wine bag into his own wine bag.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, look at how stingy you are. Chitose, the majestic King of Wuyi of the current dynasty, is he reluctant to even spend some money on drinks?"
"You're grand. You're grand, so don't drink from my brother."
Young Master Liu grinned and happily returned the wine bag to Song Qing.
"Here you go, I'll make it look like I've finished your drink."
Song Qing weighed the wine bag with only half of the wine left in his hand, and said helplessly: "Oh, you are so shameless, I really don't know what to say."
Young Master Liu took a sip of the wine, grabbed a corner of his cloak and rubbed his cheeks vigorously a few times.
"The cold wind is so strong today, it's like a knife, and it can cause pain on people's faces."
Song Qing tightened the cloak around her body and breathed in silently.
"How about the twelfth lunar month of winter, when the wind is as cold as a knife?
The Chinese New Year is only half a month away, and it would be really weird if the weather wasn't cold at this time."
"Alas, I have lived in peace and quiet for too long, and my body is no longer what it used to be.
I remember the time when we brothers and soldiers fought together on the battlefield.
I, the young master, led the soldiers, braved the oncoming violent storm and snow, and galloped their horses and whips across the endless snowy fields, charging for most of the day.
“At that time, I didn’t feel anything at all.
Nowadays, when the weather is a little bit bad, I feel a little uncomfortable."
"It's not just you, as a brother, why don't I do the same?
The past is like smoke, you can’t go back.”
"Hehehe, big brother, little brother respects you."
"Drink together."
Young Master Liu and Brother Song Qing were chatting with each other, and before they knew it, they had returned to the mansion.
When Liu Song heard the sound of horse hooves, he immediately opened the door and came out.
"Master, come back."
"Well, I'm back."
Liu Mingzhi got off his horse and threw the whip directly into Liu Song's hand.
"Master Song, you are here too."
"Yeah, brother Liu Song."
"Willow Pine."
"The little one is here."
"Just take the young master's horse to the stable, and the elder brother's horse to the yard."
"Yes, I understand, little one."
"Brother, please."
"coming."
"Willow Pine."
"Master, do you have any other orders?"
"Master, where are the documents I asked you to bring back from the palace? Are they still with you?"
"Go back to the young master. As soon as I got back, I gave the documents to Mrs. Ying'er. I guess Mrs. Ying'er should have already sent them to your study."
"Okay, I understand, go ahead and do your work."
"I'll take my leave, little one."
·Major Liu put the wine bag on his waist and waved to Song Qing with a faint smile.
"Brother, please give me the documents and letters first."
Song Qing nodded slightly, and immediately took out the letters and documents from his sleeves and handed them to Young Master Liu.
Young Master Liu slightly put his hands on his back and hurried towards the study room in the inner courtyard.
"Brother, let's go to the study first."
"OK."
It takes about a cup of tea.
Young Master Liu opened the door lock and walked into the study first.
"Brother, you can sit wherever you like."
Song Qing closed the door and went straight to sit opposite Young Master Liu.
"knew."
Liu Mingzhi lifted the teapot from the stove, chuckled and walked to the desk to make two cups of tea.
"Brother, drink tea."
"good."
Liu Mingzhi looked at Song Qing who was holding the teacup, and continued to ask with a faint smile: "Brother, what is the situation with these two documents and letters?"
Song Qing blew the tea in the cup and leaned on the chair with a comfortable expression.
"The two scribes are Uncle Zhang Kuang and Uncle Nangong Ye. The two marshals together sent a message to the golden eagle at the imperial court.
As usual, Brother Wei read through the contents of the letters and immediately sorted out two documents.
By the way, the original letter between the two uncles was also included on the last page of the document.
As for the content of that letter, I don't know.
The bottom of the envelope is specially marked as this letter, which is a private message to your third brother, so it is naturally inconvenient for me to open it."
Liu Mingzhi nodded clearly, first put the letter aside, then leaned on the chair and opened one of the documents.
After reading the contents of the document carefully, Mr. Liu's face gradually became excited.
"Okay, okay, okay!"
Song Qing saw Liu Mingzhi's excited expression and repeated good wishes, and took a sip of tea with a calm face.
He seemed to have already guessed that Mr. Liu would definitely have the reaction he had now after seeing the contents of the document.
Liu Mingzhi picked up another document and read the contents with excitement.
"Great, great."
Young Master Liu placed the two books on the desk, picked up the tea beside him, stood up and walked towards the huge map next to the bookshelf.
Seeing this, Song Qing also got up and followed him.
Liu Mingzhi stared at the map in front of him in silence for a long time, then looked at Song Qing aside with a faint smile.
"After more than three years, our elite Dalong soldiers have finally established a firm foothold on these two vast territories.
After the foundation was solidified, Uncle Zhang Kuang and Uncle Nangong Ye led the left and right armies of the Western Expedition.
As well as the Second Route West Expedition Army commanded by this guy Dingbang, if you want to continue marching westward and use troops in the future, you will have no worries."
Song Qing gently chewed the tea leaves in his mouth, and glanced at the map in front of him sadly.
“In the blink of an eye, more than three years have passed.
More than three years have not been easy for the soldiers of the Western Expedition!"
Liu Mingzhi put the tea cup aside, raised his arm and clicked on the map, and his fingertips gently wandered over the territories of Tianzhu, Dashi, and Rome.
"Tianzhu Kingdom, Dashi Kingdom, and Roman Kingdom, the combined territory of these three countries covers an area of several million.
In just over three years, the soldiers have opened up a territory worth millions of dollars for our dragon. It is indeed not easy.
However, it's all worth it."
"Third brother, I have a question that I want to ask you. I don't know if I should answer it?"
"But it doesn't matter."
"Aren't you afraid that the history books will leave you with a reputation as a foolish king who went to war and wasted money and people?"
Liu Dashao's body trembled, and his fingertips lightly roamed around the map for a long time.
"Brother, we can decide for ourselves what is right and wrong.
However, I believe that our descendants will give us a fair review."
"Maybe that's the case. From a long-term perspective, brother Wei is far behind you.
I hope what you say can come true."
"Yes, I will."
Liu Mingzhi put away his finger that was pointing at the map, picked up the tea cup cheerfully, turned around and walked towards the desk.
"If this situation continues to develop, in a few years, my name, the dragon, will be completely written on those three territories."
Song Qing lit a pot of dry smoke next to the stove, walked to his seat and sat down with a slight frown on his face.
"Why wait a few more years, according to the contents of the two uncles' documents.
We can now replace the territories of Dashi, Tianzhu, and Rome with the name of our Great Dragon Celestial Dynasty."
As Song Qing spoke, he opened his tobacco bag and gestured to Young Master Liu.
"Third brother, would you like a pot?"
"No, I already smoked it when I was chatting with this guy Li Tao in the palace."
"Okay, I'll put it away for my brother's sake."
Liu Mingzhi sipped the tea leaves at the corner of his mouth and gently fiddled with the tea lid in his hand.
"Now, although our Dalong soldiers in the Western Expedition have established a firm foothold in those vast territories, there is one thing we can do but have to admit.
That is, the people living in those territories are still mainly barbarians from the three kingdoms of Tianzhu, Dashi, and Rome.
In that vast territory, only the number of Yi people still occupies a dominant position.
This means that the Great Dragon Heavenly Dynasty has not truly brought that vast territory under the governance of the Great Dragon Heavenly Dynasty.
In this way, anything can happen!"
Song Qing took a long puff of dry cigarette, and a cold light flashed through his slightly narrowed eyes.
"Third brother."
"Huh? Big brother?"
Song Qing was silent for a moment with a hesitant look on his face, then raised his hand and made a horizontal motion towards his neck.
"Why don't you send a letter to Uncle Zhang Kuang, Uncle Nangong Ye and the two old marshals, and order them to directly..."
Young Master Liu saw Song Qing's actions and instantly understood what he meant.
Liu Mingzhi shook his head silently, crossed his legs casually, and leaned on the chair with a lazy expression.
"Brother, judging from the current situation, this is certainly the best way.
However, in the long run, doing so is tantamount to digging your own grave."
"Third brother, what you mean is that acting like this may break the current stable situation and arouse the resistance of the Yi people."
"This is just one of the reasons, not the main reason."
"Huh? Is there any other reason?"
Liu Mingzhi folded his hands in front of his chest and said decisively: "Food, this is the main reason.
Whether it's killing people or slaughtering cities, it's not a big deal at all to my Dalong soldiers who have experienced hundreds of battles in the Western Expedition.
To put it simply, it's just a matter of picking up the knife and dropping it.
But what happens after killing people and massacring the city?
I, Dalong, have soldiers from the two western expeditions to my left and right, soldiers from the Anxi Protectorate and the allied forces from the countries in the Western Regions, and soldiers from the second western expedition army commanded by this guy from Dingbang.
The combined strength of the four armies is more than one million soldiers!
Looking at it from another perspective, they are not only my Dalong soldiers, but also my Dalong people.
More than one million soldiers, plus various war horses, ox carts, horses, etc. were consumed.
How much grain does a person need to consume in a day if he eats horse chews?
Big brother, you are also a soldier, so I don’t need my little brother to talk to you."
Song Qing's body trembled, and he nodded with a frown.
"Brother, I understand this."
"So, it is easy to kill the barbarians and common people.
And then, where will more than a million people go to get food and grass?
Should we mobilize it from our treasury? Or order the kings of the Western Regions to support us?
In a short period of time, the difficult situation was overcome.
But what about a long battle?
Such a long journey, even if it completely consumes our treasury and the treasury of dozens of countries in the Western Region, we will not be able to supply it.
Brother, tell me yourself.
What will happen if more than one million people have no food to eat?
In the end, what will happen to the great cause of the Western Expedition?"
Song Qing leaned over and knocked out the ashes in the brazier at his feet, shaking his head with a complicated expression.
"Oh, forget it, forget it, don't think about it anymore.
Your eldest brother and I are not the material."
"Brother, brother, I am more anxious than you.
But no matter how anxious you are, things like opening up territory and expanding your territory must be done slowly and step by step."
"Third brother, no matter what, I will always be your pawn.
As long as you give the order and you let the eldest brother lead the soldiers to charge into battle, I will never retreat even a step."