The team of Beimo Heqin traveled all the way to the mountains and rivers, and slowly rushed to the Beijing division at the end of September. The Son of Heaven attaches great importance to this harmony and holds a major ceremony to welcome the second prince of the Northern Desert, Liman.

The honor guard of Hanyuan Hall is majestic, the civil and military officials stand solemnly on both sides, in the middle of the main hall, a Northern Desert costume, an old man with a weathered face is reading the Northern Desert National Book, Baduli stands tall and tall, looking around with curiosity, the luxury on the Golden Palace, really shocked him.

The civil and military officials on both sides were disdainful in their hearts, and the savages in the barbaric land of the Northern Desert did not know etiquette, with golden hoops on their heads, their heads were scattered, they were dressed in fur coats, and they were wearing cowhide boots. Wei Yishen was unusual, looking at the deputy envoy of the Northern Desert who was reading the national book in disbelief, and the more he looked at it, the more he looked like an old man in the past.

When Chen Yinguang read out the edict, on the sixth day of October, he held a banquet in Leyouyuan to entertain Prince Liman, and invited the marryable county lord to sing and dance during the banquet, and asked the prince to choose his own wife, there was an accident. The deputy envoy of the Northern Desert stepped forward and retorted: "When Lord Chen sent me to the desert before, he said that he would be a princess and a relative, but I don't know why Da Zheng changed his hexagram, and changed it to the county lord and his relatives. How can the two countries be so childish in their peace and pro-affair. This move insults the prestige of my desert country, please marry the princess of Zheng Anshou to my prince, otherwise the 400,000 iron horsemen in the desert should be humiliated with blood. ”

As soon as he spoke, the court suddenly became nervous, and Wei Yishen stood up and said: "Your deputy envoy doesn't know, Princess Anshou has a marriage contract, and the other princesses of my emperor are still young, so they choose a cousin from the bloodline, and after the prince is selected, he will naturally be promoted to princess, so that he can be close to Beimo, and the two families will always be married." ”

The old man sneered: "Wei Xiang, what a trick to transfer flowers and trees, but no matter what you say, Da Zheng can't escape the name of fraud." ”

Seeing the small black mole on the side of the old man's nose, Wei Yishen exclaimed in surprise: "Brother Chengdao, could it be you, are you still in the world?" ”

The old man's eyes showed a look of grief, and he sneered sadly: "There is no Wu Chengdao in this world, only the Northern Desert Foreign Minister Qu Rebellion. ”

The episode was abrupt, so that the court meeting was unhappily dispersed, and the Ministry of Rites and Guanglu Temple were ordered to negotiate and communicate with the Northern Desert Mission, and the place of negotiation was located in the Sifang Pavilion, where the Northern Desert Mission lived. The Sifang Pavilion, which receives ethnic minorities and foreign envoys from the east, west, north and south, is located in the Buzheng Square outside the Shunyi Gate in the west of the imperial city.

Batu Liman came to make peace this time, brought 200 golden wolf riders, plus some merchants who came to trade, there were no less than 500 people, and the entire North Pavilion was stuffed.

In the lobby, there are large rows of feasts, cups and plates are lined up on the dining table, and delicacies are still delivered like flowing water. Batuli sat cross-legged, directly scooped the dishes with his hands and stuffed them into his mouth, eating the juice drippingly, Chen Yinguang and the others who were accompanying him frowned, secretly disdainful.

"Bang Dang", throwing an elbow bone on the table, Li Man pulled the cloth on the table and wiped his hands, and said with a smile: "I used to hear the master say how fine Da Zheng's food is, and what he said that he does not get tired of eating fine, and he does not get tired of being fine, but this king still doesn't believe it, but now it seems that the master is not exaggerating at all, and the Central Plains cuisine is indeed better than the desert." ”

Chen Yinguang said with a smile: "It's good that the second prince can be satisfied, my Da Zheng and Da Mo have a good heart, if the harmony is successful, the second prince may wish to ask my emperor to marry some imperial chefs, so that the second prince can also eat the food of the Central Plains in the desert." ”

"Hahaha, Lord Chen, you and I are old friends, everything is easy to discuss. It's just that this time I came to make peace, and my father Khan instructed me to obey the master's arrangement, and this king is not easy to decide. Li Man smeared the oil on his short beard and pushed it six two five.

Chen Yinguang and the others could only focus on Qu Zhidao, the second prince's master was looking at Sixi Maruko and muttering, "...... Every Chinese New Year, my mother has to cook it herself, and the meatballs are really fragrant...... The unfilial piety of the mother and child makes you a ghost under the knife...... This hatred is hard to get rid of......"

In the imperial study, Shi Fangzhen said: "Wei Xiang, I rarely see you so panicked, who is this deputy envoy of the Northern Desert?" How did you meet him? ”

Wei Yishen sighed and said, "This person's name is Wu Chengdao, he is a friend of Lao Chen, and he was originally my minister of Da Zheng. At that time, Banzai was still young, and I don't know if I remember the defeat of Dengzhou twenty-six years ago. ”

"Twenty-three years ago, Dengzhou", Shi Fangzhen fell into memory, and suddenly recalled: "Could it be that the Northern Desert entered Koupingyang Pass and captured Luocheng, Jinpan and other counties. ”

"Yes, it is this matter that Wu Chengdao was the county magistrate of Los Angeles at that time."

Shi Fangzhen was furious and reprimanded: "Greedy for life and afraid of death, what is the face of the traitor who seeks glory to return to Dazheng, regardless of whether he is the deputy envoy of the Northern Desert, I will send Long Wei to kill this thief here." ”

Wei Yishen smiled bitterly and said: "Long live the anger, and listen to the old minister slowly." Wu Chengdao was a jinshi in the Xiangqing period of the first emperor, and the minister was in the same department, and the first was less than 20 years old, and was praised as a talent by the people of the time. The minister befriended him, his person was six years younger than the minister, good at talking about military affairs, since he promised Wang Zuozhicai, praised the country, hidden or not, the minister thought that it was good at the beginning. ”

Later, Wu Chengdao was elected as the commander of Nanhe County, Nanhe, and the border in the territory of Yi was not satisfied, and when the turmoil began, after Wu Chengdao arrived, he went deep into the village, preached the decree, and chose his sage to take charge, and two years later, Nanhe County was governed. Three years later, he was transferred to Los Angeles, which was close to the border and was repeatedly plagued by soldiers and dilapidated. After Wu Chengdao arrived, he opened trade, rectified the rule of officials, repaired the city wall, and after three years, the tax of Los Angeles ranked first in Dengzhou, and the city wall was strengthened, and the people served their lives. The minister was in the ministry at that time, so he knew him very well, and he was ashamed of himself. ”

The officials evaluated their performance and promoted him to Dengzhou Sima, but he had not yet taken office, which coincided with the capture of Pingyang Pass in the Northern Desert. Wu Chengdao led the crowd to defend Los Angeles County and waited for rescue. At that time, Lu Yuanqing, the capital of Anbei, was timid and afraid of death to stick to Changhua City, and only sent 2,000 reinforcements after receiving the report, and no longer sent reinforcements after being defeated outside the city, so that the casualties in the city were too heavy, and the city was broken in 68 days, and Wu Chengdao was stopped by his subordinates when he committed suicide, so that he was taken captive by the Northern Desert. ”

In order to escape responsibility, Lu Yuanqing reported to the first emperor that Wu Chengdao was greedy for life and afraid of death, and led the people to surrender. After Wu Chengdao was taken captive, the Great Khan of the Northern Desert heard about his talent and wanted to surrender him, so Wu Chengdao went on a hunger strike to resist. The Great Khan of the Northern Desert was furious and ordered people to pour goat's milk on him. Later, the Northern Desert made a counter-plot, deliberately letting people flee back from the Northern Desert and saying that Wu Chengdao had descended to the Northern Desert, and the first emperor killed his entire family. ”

"Later news, the old minister heard that Wu Chengdao vomited blood and died, and it was also said that he was moved to the ice sea by the Great Khan of the Northern Desert as a slave, the old minister always thought that he was dead, but he didn't expect to meet him again in the court today, and became the minister of the Northern Desert, renamed Qu Reverse Road."

Shi Fangzhen was lonely for a long time, and sighed: "It's Da Zheng who is sorry for him and sent Long Wei to kill him." ”

Wei Yi said worriedly: "Long live, Wu Chengdao has the talent of Wang Zuo, and he is familiar with my Da Zheng, and the subordinate Northern Desert is afraid that it will become a big trouble for my dynasty, so it is better to find a way to leave it." ”

At night, dark clouds cover the moon.

The north hall of the Sifang Pavilion is heavily guarded, and from time to time there are Hu people wearing fur fur to patrol by.

In the main room, the candlelight was bright, and Prince Liman had long since lost his madness, holding his hands and walking in the house, he said: "Master, don't be sad anymore, as long as you are willing to help me, I am willing to avenge the master." ”

Qu Zhidao's eyes were gloomy, looking at the flickering candle flame and said: "Your father Khan killed the Great Khan of the Devil, which can be regarded as avenging me, so I agreed to be your teacher, as for seeking the position of Khan for you, the old man can't do it." ”

Li Man was not in a hurry, and said with a smile: "I know that the only wish of the master in this life is to avenge my family, if the master can help me get my wish, I am willing to swear to the master, serve the master as the sweater, go south with the soldiers of the whole country, avenge the master, and punish the Zheng family and the Lu family." ”

Qu Zhidao's eyes flashed like ghost fire, and he said gloomily: "Second prince, don't say whether you can ascend to the throne of Khan." Since entering Dazheng, you have watched all the way, and the old man asked you, can you destroy Dazheng with the power of the desert? ”

Li Man was silent, Dazheng's prosperity and wealth are not comparable to the desert, along the way, there are hundreds of Xiongguan, which one is the difficulty of the desert iron horse, if you want to destroy Dazheng, I am afraid that the strength of the desert will not be enough, and even Dazheng is not destroyed, and the desert will die first.

The pace was urgent, and Li Man walked quickly in the house, and his eyes were blurred again, and he didn't know what he was thinking?

Li Man stood in front of Qu Zhidao, raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "Master, the apprentice can't think of a way, but it's man-made, and it's better to do it than not to do it." ”

Twelve years ago, Batu Wushi Khan brought the canal back to the Khan from the sea of ice, and three years later, Wushi Khan poisoned the Great Khan during the alliance, and took the opportunity to annex several disobedient tribes, becoming the co-ruler of the desert in one fell swoop. Qu Zhidao knew that he was a Zheng man, and he was not believed, so he simply expressed his unwillingness to listen to it under the Great Khan's tent, and chose to teach his son Batu Liman.

In nine years, Li Man has been cultivated by Qu Reverse Dao to be full of economy, familiar with the rise and fall of the dynasty in the Central Plains, and knows more about the emperor's mental skills, so he is naturally unwilling to let his brother Kunbo inherit the throne, and the brothers fight each other openly and secretly. Wushi Khan was eloquent and strategic, and he was very aware of the battle between the brothers, and he knew that if he dared to intervene during the period, he might not be able to save his life. simply retreats as advances, and refuses to contribute to Liman on the surface, but secretly encourages Liman's ambitions.

This time he came to make peace, and Qu Zhidao took Li Man to watch Da Zheng's flower world everywhere, and sure enough, Li Man had the heart to go south. Hearing Li Man say the words "things are man-made", Qu Guidao's eyes gradually lit up, and he said with a smile: "If the second prince can understand these four words, everything is possible." Alas, success is the destiny of heaven, defeat is in the will of heaven, and there are no regrets. ”

Seeing that the master was relieved for the first time, Li Man was overjoyed and asked, "Master, have you promised to help me?" ”

"Don't be in a hurry, let's do it, the most important thing now is to marry the princess back to the desert." The canal is a quiet tunnel.

Li said casually: "Does the master really want the apprentice to marry Princess Anshou?" For me, any woman is the same, just a plaything, and when I conquer Da Zheng, what kind of woman doesn't have it, take what you want. ”

Qu said with a smile: "On the way, I have already found out the situation, Princess Anshou and Wei Yishen's grandson are married, and it is impossible to marry you." However, let's make a fuss about this matter and get more benefits from the Great Zheng Dynasty. Tomorrow's talks, you might as well do so. ”

Li Man nodded again and again when he heard this, and said with a smile: "The wisdom of the master is unmatched, and I am fortunate to have it." ”