In the imperial garden, birds were singing and flowers were fragrant, and the breeze was blowing. Among the undulating flowers, guards could be seen at lower and higher levels. They were all nervously watching Su Lu and Wen Jing, with their swords at war and full of murderous intent.
Wen Jing sat down slumped, his face fell.
"Your Majesty is right. If the Han State kills you as you said, the outcome for our Qi State will only be even more miserable."
"Hey, I Wen Jing claims to be a genius, but in front of the prince, I am like a child who doesn't understand. The prince is a great talent."
Su Lu waved his hand, signaling Su Yun to come over, poured tea for the two of them, and took the little princess from Su Lu's hand.
"Last time I saw you, you were a high-ranking official of the Qi State who was still arrogant even though you were old-fashioned. Why did you become so weak-willed this time? You thought about breaking the pot and killing me to end it all."
Wen Jing watched Su Yun take away the little princess, and watched Mrs. Xiao sit down on the stone bench on either side of them, her eyelids drooping.
"Is this Mrs. Xiao? After Grand Master Gao Zhan left, the masters of the Han Kingdom were led by Mrs. Xiao. From this point of view, if it were not a coincidence just now, I am afraid that I would not even be able to get close to the prince."
Mrs. Xiao didn't take Wen Jing's flattery seriously, her eyes were slightly closed and her expression was indifferent.
Su Lu also smiled and said:
"Mrs. Xiao is a hero among women. I, Su Lu, also admire her. Wen Jing, you brought Qi's credentials. Please take them out."
Wen Jing reached out and took out a brochure from his arms and presented it to Su Lu with both hands.
"Your Majesty, this is the credential of our State of Qi. Please take a look at it."
Su Lu read it carefully, put the document on the table, squinted his eyes and said:
"The conditions are not unreasonable, and the requirements are not high. Your Queen Mother is so generous."
Wen Jing shook his head:
"Your Majesty is wrong. It's not that the Queen Mother is generous, it's that he thinks that both the Tang and Han Dynasties were big countries, and it's impossible for a fisherman to make a profit. It's not easy to get back the land that our Qi Kingdom lost to the Han Kingdom."
"There is no one in this country. I only want to get back my lost land and nothing else."
Su Lu nodded, "Okay, your Qi State will send out troops to attack the Dongting Protectorate and the heart of the Jiuzhou Protectorate. This land of joy will belong to your Qi State."
Wen Ding nodded: "In that case, the foreign minister will sign his credentials and return to the country to resume his duties."
Looking at Wen Jing's back, Mrs. Xiao opened her eyes with her eyes closed and said sarcastically:
"There is no one in Qi."
Su Yun came over with Su Yi in his arms. Hearing this, he smiled and said:
"It's hard to say. This is a great master of martial arts. Although Qi is weak, it has the most great masters among all the countries. There were originally three in Tang and two in Chu, but Qi has six.
."
Mrs. Xiao shook her head:
"It's not a good thing to have too many great masters."
Su Yun was a little shocked. He looked at Su Lu with doubts on his face. He didn't understand why Mrs. Xiao, a martial arts master, would say this.
Su Lu took Su Yi, who was making noises to find him, and said with a smile:
"Xia used martial arts to break the ban and the martial arts flourished simply because the government was incompetent and could not deal with the people. In order to survive, the people could only rely on their fists and fight bravely, which is why many martial arts masters were trained."
When Su Yun heard this, he suddenly realized that this was the case.
Mrs. Xiao's face was full of memories: "When I was living in Qi State, I saw several villages fighting for water, young and middle-aged men fighting with weapons, and the martial arts passed down in the family were all similar. Some were born to fight.
He is even more skilled, and given time, he might be able to be promoted to martial arts master."
"But looking at the territory of Qi State, the people are in dire straits and the officials are corrupt. If you want to survive, you can only rely on fighting with your fists. There are deserted villages everywhere, dead people can be seen everywhere on the wild roads, and wild dogs eat human flesh."
"What is the need for such a country and such a court to exist?"
Mrs. Xiao's eyes almost wanted to burst into flames.
Li Qing came in from the pavilion with several female officials and said with a smile:
"Mrs. Xiao, you are cynical again. General Xiao will scold you again for talking nonsense when he returns."
Mrs. Xiao saluted Li Qing and said with a smile:
"Now he doesn't dare to talk about me. The last time my niece returned from Nanchu and came to see us, her rank was already from the fourth rank to General Mingwei. She will soon catch up with him."
"According to my niece, the life of the people of Chu State is not easy. There are heavy taxes and levies. Because the Lu family fled to our country of Han, many people are now following that road to escape to our country of Han."
Mrs. Xiao mentioned that there were people dying of hunger in Chu State, and her eyes flashed with sadness.
Su Lu shook his head: "The Tang State has a large army. Even if our Han State can defeat it, it will definitely suffer a heavy loss in strength. Don't think about the Chu State's land."
Mrs. Xiao suddenly stood up and saluted Su Lu.
"Your Majesty, I beg you on behalf of the people of the Chu Kingdom. I beg you to send troops to attack Chu, relieve the people of the country, and save all the people from the fire."
Next to him, Su Yun straightened his hair.
"Madam, the people of Chu do not have enough to eat. If there is a war, more people will die. Wouldn't this be worse than not having enough to eat?"
Mrs. Xiao shook her head and looked south.
"The princess has been taken care of by the prince since she was a child. She doesn't know the sufferings of the people. A temporary lack of food is nothing. However, it has been one hundred and twenty years since the founding of the Chu State. Three generations of kings have gone through it, but none of them can satisfy the people of Chu State.
meal."
"If the people of Chu want to have enough to eat, they cannot rely on the Lord of Chu. Only the prince can feed them and save them from dire straits."
Li Qing teased her daughter and said with a smile:
"Madam, I'm here to promise you that if we, the Han State, still have some strength left after conquering the Tang State, we will immediately attack the Chu State and save all the people."
After hearing this, Mrs. Xiao stood up and did not stay.
"Okay, I'll set off right away, go to Chu State, call on them to revolt, and strive to destroy Tang State as soon as possible."
After saying that, he hurried away.
Looking at Mrs. Xiao's back, Li Qing shook his head.
"Wooden-wheeled vehicles can travel thousands of miles a day and night, which is convenient for transporting goods and people. Zhang Lu wrote a letter proposing to build a stone rail line in the north to advance the rule of Han Dynasty over Thule and Rouran."
"Zhou Yuan disagrees, saying it costs too much money and is a bottomless pit."
Su Lu shook his head:
"Tell Zhou Yuan, if the stone rail line can be built to Rouran, and we build it a little further forward, we can reach Jiameng Pass. If we build the stone rail line from Yanjing to Jiameng Pass at the same time, then it will be
Once connected, special gold from western Liaoning and even barbarian tribes can be transported to Yanjing."
Li Qing raised his eyebrows. In this case, the construction of stone rail lines is very necessary.
Special gold is an important metal for making inner energy conversion cabinets. If the quantity is enough, the Ordnance Mansion can make enough birds, wooden wheel carts, and strong crossbows.
Su Yun said happily:
"In that way, the Bird Battalion can expand its army and create more birds. If we fight against the Taixi people again, we will be able to overwhelm them in numbers."
Su Lu reminded Su Yun and said:
"There is an Academy of Science in Taixi, which is dedicated to improving the bird's ordnance. You also have some snacks, but don't be dragged down by the Taixi people. Over at the General Staff Office, don't just focus on the war in Tang Dynasty. For countries like Taixi and Yingte, we should also come up with complete sets of
