The wind is strong and the weather is very cold. Zhu Yun is watching the snow.
The snow in front of her eyes was not heavy, but the snow in her heart was swirling, just like that winter when she dragged Yang Hao to count the stars on the Luhe River.
Whenever she thought of Yang Hao, her face felt hot. As she got closer and closer to Xingzhou, her pretty face was congested all day long, looking very glorious.
She took the initiative to ask for help from Aguli. For this reason, she was able to leave Yang Hao, but the monk could not escape the temple. She had to go back after all. Today, she had received a call from Xingzhou
According to the news, some preparations will be made for her to personally carry out the last step of the snake luring plan tomorrow: beheading.
What happened now, then...then you will finally face him, what kind of embarrassing scene will it be then?
Zhu Yun raised her face and looked at the silent night sky. Her eyes were like two bright stars, her cheeks were flushed, and there were two peach blossoms...
Shameful? Of course she was ashamed. She had never thought that she would have the courage to lie in his arms and boldly ask to give him a child, a child that belonged to both of them. Everything in that drunken state,
She still remembers clearly, he... He seemed to be drunk at the time, he shouldn't remember, right?
The more Zhuyun thought about it, the more embarrassed she became. With a cry, she covered her cheeks and stamped her feet in shame. That kind of daughter's shyness was a touching and charming thing that no one had ever seen. The only one who was lucky enough to witness it was the drifting
snowflake.
"I don't care! My body..., I told you to see it! My man, I slept with you! Besides, you also promised to have children with... and me! If you don't marry me, who will marry me?
?”
Zhu Yun suddenly put down her hands in embarrassment, clenched her hands into fists, gritted her teeth, and tried her best to cheer herself up. Her fighting spirit was instantly full, swelling to an unprecedented height. If Yang Hao stood in front of her at this time, I believe Miss Gu would
He could arrogantly pick up his hooves, carry him into the bridal chamber, and cook the uncooked rice into paste under a blazing fire!
Just then...
"Sir Secret Service."
A soldier's voice suddenly came from behind. With Zhuyun's superhuman hearing and alertness, which she had cultivated as a killer since childhood, she was completely unaware of it.
"Ah! What's the matter?"
Zhu Yun jumped like a rabbit in fright, and the courage she had just inspired disappeared without a trace in an instant.
Zhuyun's actions startled the soldier. He quickly took a step back and said respectfully: "Sir, Mr. Suman Yehu has arrived. I have important military matters to discuss with you."
"Oh? Suleman..., where is he now?"
"We are waiting for you in your tent."
"Okay, let's go there!" Zhu Yun tightened her cloak and walked away.
Suman was sitting in Zhuyun's Chinese army tent and was thinking about his prepared words when he heard someone report from outside: "The Secret Service has arrived..."
Suman quickly stood up to greet her, and saw a beautiful woman walking lightly, floating in with an extremely calm expression.
"Sir Secret Service, I'm visiting you late at night. Didn't you disturb me?" Suman greeted him with a smile, but thought in his heart: "Humph, a little girl can marry me just because she is related to Aguli.
To be treated as equals? When your clan's strength is also weakened, then not only you, but even Aguli will have to look at my eyes and act."
Seeing the sweet-looking He Namuya in front of him, and thinking that she was about to cry without tears after suffering a dumb loss like Xiao Manying, it was like seeing someone who had been taken advantage of, and the smile on Suman's face became wider and wider.
Zhuyun saw the bearded Suman, and thought of the news about the network closure coming from Xingzhou today, her already sweet smile became as sweet as if dipped in honey. As a killer, when she wanted
When you kill someone, the harmless smile on your face is always very touching...
On the upper reaches of Pugan River, it has been snowing heavily for several days. This is an important territory of the Jurchen Wanyan tribe. But at this moment, this place has become a place just occupied by the Anchegu tribe.
The Wanyan tribe in Puganshui was called Shengnuzhen by the Liao and Song Dynasties. They were an uncivilized and ignorant tribe. They had no writing, no government, no laws, and they didn’t even know the year. People didn’t know their exact age. If you
When asked how old a Jurchen is, they will reply: "How many times have I seen the grass green."
Wanyan Aguda was not yet born. His ancestors originally lived in Xianjing Mountain in the southeastern corner of the former Bohai Kingdom. Due to poverty and embarrassment, they had just moved back to their hometown of Puganshui due to poverty and hardship. They had not yet mastered the power of the tribe and used them.
If you use the culture and civilization you have learned and mastered to transform your own tribe, you will have died at the hands of the Anchegu tribe.
There are hundreds of Jurchen tribes, large and small, in the Puganshui (Mudanjiang) river basin. The tribes attack each other with cruel methods. As the larger tribe among them, the Wanyan tribe occupies more territory and resources, and the enemies are naturally
Yeduo. The Anchegu tribe was more civilized than the Wanyan tribe at this time. Since they mastered the exclusive agency rights of the maritime trade route, they have greater prestige and power among the tribes. This means that
It violated the interests of Wanyan Department.
There were contradictions and conflicts between them, and the only solution was force, so the Wanyan Department launched a challenge to the ancient Anche Bone Department. Today, the Anche Bone Department is different from usual, holding the exclusive agency rights for overseas trade.
This is equivalent to strangulating the economic lifeline of each tribe. Many neutral tribes originally sided with the Anche Gu tribe, which was unexpected by the current Wanyan tribe.
As a result, the two sides, who had always been evenly matched in the past, this time the balance of victory began to tilt towards Anche Gubu from the beginning. The battle that took place at the Wanyan tribe station in Puganshui ten days ago was the last battle between the two tribes.
Battle. In this battle, Zhuli Zhen, the young leader of the Anche Gu tribe, was half-naked and half-naked. He was holding a newly purchased Japanese long sword, flying flags and drums, and bravely took the lead.
In this battle, the Anche Gu tribe killed nine elders of the Wanyan tribe. The fall of the Wanyan tribe was inevitable. Once the Wanyan tribe fell, the people of the tribe were annexed by the Anche Gu tribe. Anche in the Pugan River Basin
It is inevitable that the Bone Tribe will become the dominant family.
Today is the happy day for Zhuli Zhen’s father, Anche Gupulit, to marry the wife of the Wanyan tribe leader. People from various tribes near and far have sent people to celebrate. Shuhu, Tudan, Wulinhe and others are not weaker than Anche.
The forces of the Bone Tribe also sent people, and even the Heshilie Tribe, which had a feud with the Anche Bone Tribe, sent people.
They were either riding cars, riding horses, or driving snow sledges, rushing along the road, carrying gifts, and rushing to Puganshui.
There is such a mysterious group of people on their way to Puganshui. They ride on snow sledges. Each snow sledge is pulled by more than a dozen dogs. There are four snow sledges in a row. They look like a relatively powerful tribe.
.
Sitting on a snow sledge in the middle were two men who looked much smaller than the burly men in fur hats and fur robes beside them. They were wearing bulky clothes, their heads and faces were covered tightly, and there was white frost on their brows.
Their appearance was completely invisible. In the evening, as soon as these sledges arrived at the Puganshui Wanyan tribe, they were personally welcomed into the house where the former Wanyan tribe chief lived by the groom, Guan An Che Gu Pu Li Te. Such treatment,
But envoys from other tribes cannot enjoy it.
Piles of blazing fires were ignited in the spacious open space in the tribe. Thick pine trees piled up into a volcano. The flames were flying and crackling, and sparks were flying in the night sky like countless fireflies.
The snowflakes complement each other interestingly.
The two mysterious guests who had been staying in the patriarch's room were personally accompanied by Zhu Lizhen and walked to the open space. Around the fire, simple primitive pine tables had been arranged, and the floor was covered with wolf skin mattresses that could block the cold air.
, the leading figures in the Anchegu Department and the envoys from various tribes were sitting there, feasting and drinking, and no one noticed the arrival of these two guests.
One of the two guests whispered a few words to Zhuli Zhen, who nodded repeatedly. Soon, another table was added in the lower position where the light was relatively dim, and two layers of wolf skin mattresses were specially placed on the floor.
The mysterious guest walked over politely and sat down quietly. Zhuli Zhen rushed to toast the guests on behalf of his father.
“Bah, bah, bah, it’s so fishy!”
A guest frowned and spit out the food that was in his mouth. Her voice sounded like that of a woman, and she spoke in Chinese. Her body and head were wrapped tightly, and only a delicate face was exposed.
The palace ladies of the Song Dynasty who were most familiar with her in the past could not recognize that the woman sitting among a group of rough men in the ice and snow was their Princess Yongqing.
"Haha, this is authentic and original barbecue, but... do you think that everything that is authentic and original is the best? That is not necessarily the case." Another woman who is slightly taller than her is naturally
She was tired of folding. She picked up the knife with a smile, cut off a piece of roast mutton, dipped some salt in the simple small plate made of wood in front of her, put it into her mouth delicately and chewed it.
Yongqing glanced at her unconvinced, grabbed a knife, cut off a piece of mutton, threw it into his mouth, and chewed hard as if he had a grudge against it.
"The barbecue dishes in the palace probably require the mutton to be carefully simmered with various seasonings and spices, and the salt water mixed with spices is brushed over and over again during the barbecue, right? Haha, we don't have such conditions here. They have been here for generations.
That’s how you eat.”
Zhe Ziyu said, and took another sip of the bitter bad tea. Although the food here was very poor, she was calm and content, not at all like a pampered lady. Yongqing almost always compared her with her.
He immediately picked up the tea and took a sip, then drank it down as if drinking medicine.
Looking back, he saw Zhe Ziyu's eyes looking at her with a smile. Yongqing couldn't help but blush. He quickly tried to hide his words, turned to her side, and whispered: "The mistress of the Wanyan Department, is she?"
Isn’t it very beautiful?”
Zhe Ziyu gently sliced the mutton with a knife, glanced at her, raised his eyebrows and said, "Why do you ask?"
Yongqing frowned and said in confusion: "I just killed someone else's husband and immediately married someone else's wife. If this mistress of the Wanyan Department hadn't been so beautiful that she could conquer the country, An Che Gu Pu Li Te As the leader of a clan, how could he be so obsessed that he would risk the world and do such a thing?"
Zhezi Yu smiled and said: "You guessed it wrong. The rules and customs here are different from those in the Central Plains. Killing a husband and taking away his wife is nothing. Women are considered a part of the family's property in their clan. An Che Gu Pu Li Te married the Mistress of the Wanyan Department, it had nothing to do with whether she was beautiful or not, but because of the need to rule the Wanyan Department..."
Zhe Ziyu paused and then said: "The mistress of the Wanyan Department is already over sixty years old. Haha, how can a sixty-year-old woman be so beautiful? An Chegu Pulit is not yet To the age of fifty. In the tribes on the grassland, a long time ago, women held power and served as tribal leaders. At that time, a newborn child in the tribe only recognized his mother, but not his father. Who is.
Wanyan tribe..., there are still some ancient customs like this. The matriarch of the entire clan also serves as the shaman, which is what the Central Plains calls Shanman (shaman) shaman. Whether it is hunting, negotiating alliances , go on an expedition or fight, after the clan leader makes a decision, there must be a witch to divine good or bad luck and make the final decision, so she has greater power than the clan leader. An Chegu Pulit married her, just in name only. Wife, through this method, the Wanyan Department... will disappear from now on and completely integrate into the Anche Bone Tribe."
Just at this moment, there was a burst of noise in the distance. The sound floated down the wind and overwhelmed the laughter in the square. Everyone looked into the distance. He was married in his sixties. He was wearing new clothes and dressed unusually. Anche Gupurit, who was sitting side by side with the terrifying shaman matron, frowned and glanced at her son. Zhuli Zhen immediately stood up with his sword, waved his hand, and walked forward with several warriors from the clan. .
Today was their father's wedding, and they were also on guard that someone in Wanyan's department would disobey and cause trouble. Countless warriors had been arranged around, but they were not afraid of anyone causing trouble. A moment later, Zhu Lizhen came back in a hurry, panting and saying: " Father, it's not...it's not the Wanyan tribe who are causing trouble, it's...it's people from the Liao Kingdom."
"What? Someone from the Liao Kingdom? How could the Liao Kingdom know?" Anche Gupurit stood up in shock. The envoys of all ethnic groups around him were also shocked and fell into silence. The whole place fell silent immediately. Zhuli Zhen said: "The envoy from the Liao Kingdom didn't know that my father had occupied the Wanyan tribe. He...he came to convey an order to the Wanyan tribe."
As soon as Zhuli Zhen said this, he heard a strange voice saying: "An Che Gu destroyed the Wanyan Department? Haha, this is good. The two departments are combined into one, so I don't have to travel to one more place." Then. As soon as there was a sound, a man in official uniform of the Liao Kingdom, accompanied by several guards in bright armor, staggered over, swept the whole crowd in a big move, and rushed to the main seat.
An Che Gu Pu Li Te quickly stood up to greet him. Envoys from various ministries came forward one after another and announced their identities. The Liao envoy was overjoyed when he heard this and laughed: "Haha, I thought this trip was a chore, but I didn't expect it to be like this." It's so cheap. There are actually people from all the tribes up and down the river. This saves a lot of trouble. I'm here on the orders of the Queen Mother and the Emperor. You all should listen to the orders."
The leaders of each department quickly bowed to receive the order. Zhe Ziyu pulled Princess Yongqing and hid in the crowd, bowing politely and shrinking back. Princess Yongqing glanced at her and asked quietly: "Do you recognize him?" "
Zhe Ziyu nodded and whispered: "This man is an official of Honglu Temple in the Liao Kingdom. His name is Mo Hen. He once went to Xixia as an envoy."
The two men were talking quietly below, and Mo Hen stood at the top and said loudly: "I have received news today that the remnants of the traitor Yelu Sanming of the Liao Kingdom are in and out of the Nuzhi territory. I ordered the Nuzhi tribes to immediately start arresting and searching for them. Don't let bad guys hide in the mountains and river valleys. The imperial court has all the eyes and ears in the Nvzhi territory. If each tribe does not do its best and as soon as the truth is found out, the chief will be severely punished. The tribute of his tribe will be doubled, and a hundred northern pearls will be added to it. Two hundred pieces, ten tiger skins added to..."
The heads of the ministries who bowed their heads secretly complained that it was okay to ask them to find someone. The problem was that they had known the style of the Liao bureaucrats for so many years. Every time there was a decree, it was an opportunity for them to plunder. With such a specious order, you Are you trying your best? As long as the person is not captured in your territory, you can be accused of not following the will wholeheartedly.
Like the Northern Pearl, the beads are large and round, and have always been favored by the powerful people of the Liao and Song Dynasties. However, the pearls and mussels of that kind of pearls only mature in winter. At this time, the water has melted and there are several feet of solid ice. It is necessary to cut through the ice to reach the river. You can only get it by fishing out clams, and it takes about a hundred clams to get a pearl. Of course, you need to fish out more clams to get better pearls. You can imagine the hardships involved.
There is also the tiger skin. Although it is said that the three Jurchen warriors can hunt tigers and are extremely brave, the tiger cannot be hunted casually. Besides, this king of beasts can be everywhere. If you want to avoid making things difficult for you, , it was necessary to show some filial piety to this special envoy of the Liao Kingdom. For a moment, the envoys from various ministries immediately started thinking, thinking of sending people back immediately to get some property to silence him.
Mo Hen was talking about hard work. In fact, this trip to the Jurchen territory to convey the decree was really a big deal. He had to work hard to get it. Especially when he met so many tribes here at once. There is no need for him to travel hard. He can just sit in the Wanyan tribe and wait for each tribe to send money. He is even more happy. As for which tribe annihilates which tribe, he does not worry about these things. The Jurchen tribes are here In the eyes of the Liao people, they are like a group of sheep that are free-range. When their wool becomes fat, they are sheared once, and they ignore the disputes among them. The more violent the quarrels among them, the better.
Ink Hen declared his decree, sat down on the main seat, glanced at the female monster next to him with a smile, and said to An Chegu Bullite: "Chief Bullite, I heard that you destroyed the Wanyan tribe, Are you going to marry the mistress of the club? Hahaha, double happiness, congratulations, congratulations."
Bullitt smiled and said, "I don't dare to take it. I don't dare to take it. The angel of heaven is here. Bullitt is honored."
None of the Jurchen envoys sent by the Liao Kingdom were greedy. Those who were greedy were considered to be of good character, but they just extorted some specialties such as ginseng, mink skins, pearls, honey, etc. Those with poor character had to be punished by the Jurchens when they came. When the women of the tribe sleep with them, they are euphemistically called "recommended pillows". No matter whether they are the women of the leader of the tribe or the girls in the tribe, as long as they are beautiful, no one will be spared when he sees them.
There was once a tribal leader who refused to let his beloved wife sleep with him. The Liao envoy turned around and found an excuse to add jealousy in front of the then Liao emperor and sent troops to defeat his tribe. As a special envoy,
The supervisor whipped the leader to death and threw him into a dog pen, while his woman was directly snatched away. From then on, the Jurchens' wives and daughters were insulted, their wealth was taken away, their tribes were separated, and a lot of hatred weighed on them.
In my heart, I was so disorganized that I was unable to resist, so I could only accept the situation.
As for Bullitt..., he was completely at ease with his bride. If it weren't for her special status, Bullitt would have wished that the Liao envoy in front of him would snatch her away, so he had no worries about it and saw him.
He was so insensitive to his annexation of the Wanyan tribe, but he was overjoyed. While complimenting Mo Hen, he took out a delicate necklace inlaid with diamonds from his arms, handed it to Mo Hen's hand respectfully, and said with a smile:
"Since it is the will of the Lord, we will naturally obey it without hesitation, but... the mountains and roads here are high and dangerous, especially when the mountains are blocked by heavy snow, and the wild animals are ferocious. Even the best hunters dare not go deep into it. We must hunt down the culprits.
If we fail to find the person your Majesty wants to arrest, please ask the angels to say a few good words in front of the Emperor. We... really have unspeakable difficulties."
This necklace was one of the treasures that Zhe Ziyu specially selected from the treasures bought from foreign lands by Nanyang merchant ships and brought back to the Central Plains. When he heard that Preet was getting married, he gave it to him as a gift. The necklace itself is already valuable.
It is indescribable, and its artistic value is needless to say. Zhe Ziyu's vision is much better than everyone present combined.
When the ink mark saw that he could take out such a precious collar, it was beyond his expectation. He immediately smiled and said: "Oh, about this, you can rest assured. I have only entered your tribe now.
Of course I know whether the road is difficult or not. Hahaha, it’s really impossible here. It’s too inconvenient to move around. Now the Queen Mother has issued an order to build a road from Shangjing to your Five Kingdoms Department (near today’s Yilan County, Heilongjiang).
)'s royal road was specially built to pay tribute to Hai Dongqing. Once this road is built, it can be passed by fast horses and high carriages. Haha, when I have the opportunity, I will say a few nice words to you in front of the Queen Mother and also build it.
There is a way to you."
"Yes, yes, please take a seat, angel. It's rare for an angel to come. Please drink a few more glasses of wedding wine tonight."
Pu Lite and others coaxed Mo Sheng to sit down, while Zhe Ziyu signaled to Zhuli Zhen. Zhuli Zhen understood and took the time to run over and leave early with the two guests.
"In such a scene, it is really inappropriate for the Fifth Young Master to show up. Please rest early. Tomorrow, I will go to Beijing to pay tribute. I will escort the Fifth Young Master with me and send you back to Xixia."
"That's it, the young patriarch has made you happy." Zhe Ziyu smiled sweetly, turned his eyes, and said casually: "In order to pay tribute to Haidongqing, the Liao people actually opened a royal road that leads directly to the tribes of the five countries. The young patriarch was so surprised.
What do you think?"
In the past, Zhuli Zhen thought that all their misfortunes came from the Liao people's coveting of Haidongqing, but since Zhe Ziyu pointed it out last time, he has become enlightened and thinking about things is no longer that simple. He heard Zhe Ziyu say this
As soon as he asked, he knew that there must be a mystery. After thinking about it for a while, he shook his head and said: "No, there is a ghost in it. How could it be possible that a lot of manpower and financial resources were spent on building such a road for the convenience of sending eagles? Besides, that is the eagle.
, it’s not such a huge thing. If it’s put in a cage and can be sent away by a horse, what kind of road will it need to be built?”
Zhe Ziyu smiled slightly: "Young Patriarch is indeed wise. The Liao people provoked you to fight internally with the excuse of Haidongqing. Now they want to build a road that the army can reach quickly and strengthen their control over you. The excuse is still Haidongqing, haha. , are the Liao people unable to think of a second excuse, or do they think you are all fools?"
Zhuli Zhen was shocked and angry after hearing this, and Zhe Ziyu said again: "When the road to the tribes of the Five Kingdoms is built, the Liao Kingdom will be kind enough to build another road to your place without the kind words of the special envoy. Now that we're on our way, it will be even more convenient to... exploit you later."
Zhuli really hated it and said, "I'll tell my father."
Zhe Ziyu said with a smile: "Why are you in such a hurry? The road is not a paved road. Then again, even if you know the purpose of the Liao people, what can you do? Can you refuse... the good intentions of the 'Liao people'?" ?”
"This...this..."
Zhuli was really speechless, but he was also smart. He already knew that the Fifth Young Master was extremely smart and his wisdom was beyond his own reach, so he respectfully said: "Please give me some advice from the Fifth Young Master."
Zhe Ziyu smiled and said: "Are there any large groups of horse bandits in the territories of your ministries?"
Zhuli Zhen smiled bitterly and said: "What can you rob in this place? There are small thieves occasionally, but only three or two people eat together. The nomadic tribes of the Liao Kingdom often expelled Tiele, Wura and other people for grassland. Sometimes, When they can't bear it anymore and become angry and resist and kill people, they will flee to us. Some of the princes and subordinates who failed to usurp will also flee to us. The Liao Kingdom has always ordered us to repatriate fugitives, but some fugitives carry a lot of money. Silver Treasure, Fifth Young Master knows that we... are very poor, and if we get benefits, we will try our best to help them cover it up, but it is too late for such fugitives to cover up their whereabouts, and they will not deliberately cause trouble."
Zhe Ziyu said with a smile but not a smile: "That's easy to handle. No, you can make something out of nothing. Yes, you can frame the blame. Don't you always have enmity with the tribes of the Five Kingdoms? If there are bandits in their territory, they may be subjected to it. The sheltered fugitives set up ambushes, dug traps, destroyed the roads built by the Liao Kingdom, and shot and killed the people who built the roads in the Liao Kingdom. Not only could they prevent road construction, but they could also..."
When Zhuli Zhen heard this, he already understood. He was overjoyed and said: "Fifth Young Master, Zhuli really understands. I will discuss countermeasures with my father tonight."
Zhe Ziyu nodded with a smile and walked into his dormitory.
As soon as Zhuli Zhen left, Princess Yongqing said to Zhe Ziyu, "Why did you say this to him?"
Zhe Ziyu chuckled and said: "If the east is in chaos, the Liao Kingdom will hope that the west will be more stable. Since we have seen something that is good for us and it is just a casual saying, why not do it?"
"Yang Hao...does he need to use such conspiracies when traveling across Hexi?"
"You are wrong. Sometimes a small conspiracy can play a big role in something that millions of armies cannot do. From ancient times, all the heroes who have conquered the world have powerful weapons, but none of them only have powerful force. Those who rely on powerful force and only know martial arts will only meet the fate of the Overlord of Chu. When you can borrow strength, you must borrow it."
"But the situation of the Jurchens..."
"The Jurchens are not living well, very badly. It's not that they don't want to change, but they haven't thought of how to change. Sooner or later they will think of it. I just told them one step ahead. I'm not harming them. I'm giving them What they want, and at the same time get the results I want, it’s the best of both worlds, what’s wrong with that?”
Princess Yongqing sat down on the table, stared at a small oil lamp made of animal oil on the table, chewed over and over what Zhe Ziyu said, and became fascinated. Zhe Ziyu opened the bedclothes and turned around to look, only to see Yongqing. Princess Qing stared at the lights, her eyes shining like gems, as if... she had realized something...