Late at night, the moon hangs high in the sky, and the stars are dotted and reflect each other.
This city is a small frontier country with large wastelands and mountains. One of the cities is slightly closer to Dazheng. The suspension bridge gently lowered under the night sky, and a dozen riders entered the city almost silently.
Because it was just a small group of cavalry, still wrapped in cotton, the sound of horse hooves did not even alert the residents near the city gate.
After walking on a street for less than half a day, these people entered a high-gate courtyard. After entering, they all got off their horses.
Cao Yiyan was thinking about what he had seen along the way when he saw an elderly man walking quickly towards him. He was short in stature and had a dark red face. He was dressed as a third-grade military attache from the Wei Dynasty. Although he was over sixty years old, he was still in good spirits. He looked at Cao Yiyan for a moment.
, knelt down directly on the ground and said: "Your Majesty, Cao Pingfang, pays homage to His Highness the Crown Prince - we have been waiting for many years, and you are finally here!"
The Ying State of the former Wei Dynasty did not act in the name of Wei Dynasty, so it was not noticed by Da Zheng in the past thirty years.
But this force has never forgotten the Wei Dynasty. Every year, they send people to search for royal descendants in what is now Dazheng, but the people they find are not suitable. It was only recently that they met Cao Yiyan.
"General Cao, please rise."
Knowing that the military commander now entrenched in the small border country here is actually Cao Pingfang, who was promoted by the Forbidden Army back then, Cao Yiyan also had great expectations for coming here this time.
This General Cao was once a low-level military officer. Because of his loyalty and bravery, he was promoted by the late Emperor of the Wei Dynasty, given a surname, and became a general.
To be fair, the last emperor of the Wei Dynasty cannot be said to be mediocre. It is just that the building has collapsed and there is no way to save it, but he has also made a lot of efforts.
Cao Pingfang, who came from a humble background, was given the surname Cao, and even his name was given by the last emperor. Although he did not adopt an adopted son, he was still very kind. Therefore, when the Wei Dynasty fell, Cao Pingfang would rather die than surrender, even though he was protecting a young prince.
The little prince also died on the road, and the people he led were hunted down many times, but none of them surrendered to Da Zheng, and finally lay dormant.
Now General Cao Pingfang is over seventy years old, with gray hair. Although he looks relatively strong, the look of him kneeling in front of him with tears in his eyes makes Cao Yiyan feel sour.
"This is one of the only remaining generals of the Wei Dynasty, and there are very few people like Cao Pingfang who are as loyal as Cao Pingfang and want to restore the country to the Wei Dynasty."
"God bless me, and my great spirit will never end."
Cao Yiyan secretly rejoiced that he had been observing for a long time before he dared to return to Yingguo. For thirty years, there was no plan or hidden hand that could be relied upon.
There are still people who are loyal to Dazheng. It can only be said to be God's will.
"It's just that now it's a small border country. It's a country, but it's actually a few counties. It has a lot of wasteland and a few sparse tribes and villages. In addition to the mountains, in the wasteland, a lot of fields have been reclaimed and some food has been grown in the past thirty years. Because in these years
His management also left a spark of fire for the Wei Dynasty."
“It has an area of ten counties and a population of three counties, so it’s not too small.”
Cao Yiyan was moved. These thoughts flashed through his mind. He leaned forward, stretched out his hand, and helped up the old general in front of him.
"General Cao, you strongly advocated avoiding fertile lands and coming to the wilderness. Only then did you retain your roots. This is really a blessing to our great Wei Dynasty."
"These people you are bringing with you now are all elite soldiers and generals at first glance, and they are all the elites of our great Wei Dynasty!"
"Thank you for your hard work these years."
Cao Yiyan's words made the old general almost shed tears again. He quickly wiped his tears and choked: "Your Highness, what did you say? It was my dereliction of duty that I failed to protect the Wei Dynasty. Now I am just lingering on the frontier."
Thirty years, how can it be called hard work?"
Naturally, Cao Yiyan couldn't recognize this: "Old General, you are too humble. If it weren't for your actions, how would we have reunited today? You just had the foresight to leave the foundation for the Wei Dynasty."
Hearing this, Cao Pingfang thought of something, her face darkened, and she whispered: "Your Highness, someone is trying to destroy the foundation of the Wei Dynasty."
"The Li family, who were entrusted with political affairs by His Majesty's grace, already had a disobedient heart. Not only that, but also the Chi family and the Kang family are ready to make trouble. They are really rebellious officials and traitors."
"It's just that we veterans still have a lot of old bones, so we can barely suppress it and have to guard against it."
Li family? Chi family, Kang family?
If you were to put it lightly, Cao Yiyan still wouldn't believe it, but after more than half a year of investigation, he had a general understanding of the situation in the corresponding country. After hearing this, a coldness flashed in his eyes and he said: "I already know about this, general, don't worry,
Even if the Li family wants to replace him, it still depends on whether they have the ability."
"Let me meet the old minister first. The late emperor even left an imperial decree."
This decree was obtained from the secret treasury of the Wei Dynasty, but it was an imperial decree to confer the crown prince, but the name was left blank.
Now I naturally filled in my name.
This is naturally useless to those who don't recognize it, but it still has some righteousness to those who recognize it.
As Cao Yiyan spoke, he took out a rolled purple silk edict from the bag he was carrying.
"I respectfully send you your holy greetings."
As he spoke, three old men with the same gray hair appeared in the courtyard. They were all wearing the official robes of the Wei Dynasty. They were just civil servants, or because civil servants had to know martial arts in order to survive in troubled times. Although they were wearing civil official robes, the three of them were intimidated.
They were also very angry. The three of them had not come here before, either to observe or to leave space for Cao Pingfang and Cao Yiyan to talk alone. When they came out now, they also kowtowed to the prince.
"Blessed by heaven, the emperor decreed!"
This is a serious edict for canonizing a prince, using the highest-level "imperial edict" instead of "gao", "zhi", "edict", "edict", and "imperial edict". Just listen to Cao Yiyan's loud voice.
"The importance of the second reserve is to solidify the ancestral system. Once he is a good man, he will be loyal to all nations. His heir, Cao Yiyan, has a great talent and a beautiful talent. He is suitable to take advantage of the tripartite industry. He is allowed to guard the weapon. He is established as the crown prince and takes the throne in the East Palace.
With a ten thousand-year tradition and a heart that binds the four seas, I admire this!"
After thirty years, the four old men couldn't help but choke up when they heard the imperial edict of the Wei Dynasty: "I accept the edict, long live, long live, long live."
Cao Yiyan wanted to comfort him, but he saw Cao Pingfang getting up, and an old man had already brought over a stack of papers half a foot thick, and said: "Prince, this is the situation of the ten counties of Yingguo and the royal court."
"As well as the situation of the Li family, the Chi family, and the Kang family, I have polished it and copied it clearly. Please take a look at it."
Cao Yiyan looked carefully and saw that there were 197,000 households, roughly 980,000 people, and 30,000 soldiers, of which 8,000 were controlled by Cao Pingfang.
The rest are scattered in various counties, and the Li family was originally a civil servant, but in the past thirty years, there have been 5,000 people who have controlled and infiltrated.
As for the civil servants, most of them are under their control, almost two-thirds.
"If I had been a few years later, I'm afraid the situation would have been out of control." Cao Yiyan secretly thought, although this country is small, it has millions of soldiers and civilians, and it is a royal industry.
After winning this country, the mission imposed on me can be completed. Excitement, excitement, joy, and a hint of melancholy filled my heart. I listened to Cao Pingfang ask: "I wonder how the prince is going to bring order to the chaos?"
"It's too late, otherwise there will be chaos. General Cao and all of you must have been targeted. I have 600 soldiers and arrived in a caravan, but I am afraid that they will be discovered in a few days. Therefore, it is better to go to Thunder
One blow, tomorrow morning, what do you think?"
The prince made such a decision, and the four ministers were surprised and happy, and they kowtowed: "I have obeyed my order."