Big food merchants do business here.

Now stationed in Baghdad is Li Siye, who dragged his sick body out of the city to greet him with all the high-ranking generals and officials of Baghdad in tow.

Near noon, there was smoke and dust in the distant sky, faintly rumbling sounds, and soon I saw a golden flag fluttering in the wind, because the Western Qin Kingdom respected gold, the national flag was based on gold, the totem on the national flag was a flying tiger with wings, and the golden flag must be the king traveling wherever it went.

After seeing these golden banners, all the generals and officials at the city gate were shocked, and one official shouted: "The king has arrived!" Everyone cheered up, the guards on both sides paid attention to vigilance, and no idle people were allowed to approach, if there was a forcible break or collided with the king's driver, they would all be killed! ”

"No!" The soldiers in charge of the guard shouted, the weapons in their hands stomped on the ground at the same time, and the murderous aura rushed around, in addition to these officials and generals at the city gate, there were many civilians standing in the distance, these people were ready to enter the city, but they could not enter because of the sudden martial law, and it was too far to go to other city gates, so they could only wait here, and the common people did not know that this time was the supreme ruler of Western Qin.

Although there were only 500 cavalry, the momentum caused by these 500 cavalry running at high speed was terrifying, the dust in the sky was swept back into the sky, and the flags were blown by the wind in the high-speed advance.

On the back of a horse running at high speed, Zhao Ziliang saw that the city gate was full, and there were also many people standing in the distance on both sides, he knew that these people were greeting him after a little thought, but how could such a sensitive matter be greeted with great fanfare? Wouldn't it be tantamount to telling the Eastern Romans that he was going to attack Syria and Canaan?

Zhao Ziliang immediately instructed Zhao Bei, the commander of the Dragon Guard Army: "Send someone to tell the person in charge at the city gate, everyone let go of the city gate, let's go directly into the city, don't do any welcoming ceremonies, let them send someone to lead us to the palace in front!" In the afternoon, the generals and officials went to the palace to meet the king! ”

"Yes!" Zhao Bei immediately sent a lieutenant to deliver the edict to Li Siye.

When the captain of the decree sped up, rode his horse and galloped to the gate of the city, and saw Li Siye tell Zhao Ziliang's meaning, Li Siye secretly scolded himself for being really old and confused, the king came here to lead the army to fight, and before the official war began, he greeted him with great fanfare at the city gate, which would undoubtedly spread the news of the king's arrival, which would make the Eastern Romans prepare in advance.

Li Siye immediately announced that all officials and generals should let the gate of Kaicheng stand on both sides, and sent a general to prepare to lead the way for Zhao Ziliang and others.

Waiting for Zhao Ziliang to rush to the gate of the city with the Dragon Guard, he only slowed down slightly, did not stop, and galloped directly towards the city, and the general who was arranged to lead the way took the first step when Zhao Ziliang and others just arrived, and took some soldiers to open the way in front.

Zhao Ziliang and the others passed through the outer city outline and the inner city wall, and finally entered the imperial city and arrived at the caliphate palace built by al-Mansur.

Jumping off the horse, Zhao Ziliang handed over the war horse to the guards, and walked up the steps with the handle of the sword, walking towards the palace, this caliphate palace was built extremely grandiose, from the outside, Zhao Ziliang thinks that although this palace is not as good as the imperial city of Chang'an, it will not be too small, its construction style is completely different from the Chang'an palace and the Xinjing palace, with a strong Yi Silan style, which can not be imitated elsewhere.

Zhao Ziliang just walked to the gate of the palace, there was an official with a large number of eunuchs kneeling down, these eunuchs from the gate to the depths of the palace, the specific number can not be estimated, the eunuchs are divided into two kinds, one is the white eunuch, the other is the black eunuch, the white eunuch is the white, the black eunuch is the black, these eunuchs are Mansur from Africa, Syria and the Asia Minor Peninsula to collect for castration and then stayed in the palace to serve him and his concubines.

"Wang Ping, the judge of the Marshal Mansion of the Western Expedition, visited the king, long live the king, long live!" Han Chinese officials kneeling on the ground chanted.

The soldiers of the Western Qin Dynasty who were in charge of guarding the palace and standing guard also bowed down on one knee with their weapons and shouted: "Long live the king, long live!" ”

"Flat!" Zhao Ziliang stood still, raised his hand and said.

The soldiers and Wang Ping stood up, but the eunuchs couldn't stand up, Wang Ping stepped forward and bowed and said: "The king, the ministers have ordered someone to clean up the palace, there are soldiers guarding inside and outside the palace, the king can rest assured!" ”

Zhao Ziliang said: "The king's diet does not need to be arranged separately, and there are personal guards in charge!" These eunuchs and palace maids are not at ease, so they are not allowed to come close to the king within ten zhang! In addition, no one is allowed to leave a single step before this king sets out on the expedition! Violators will be killed! ”

Wang Ping was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly said: "Yes, yes, Weichen is not thoughtful, please ask the king to surrender!" ”

Zhao Ziliang was silent for a moment, and then said loudly: "This time this king doesn't blame you, next time there is something similar to it, you have to think carefully, some mistakes can be made once, but you can't repeat them again and again!" There are some mistakes that you can't make once! From now on, the security of the king's side will be taken care of by the Dragon Guards, the inner garden of the palace will be taken over by the Dragon Guards, and these soldiers will be in charge of the periphery! ”

"Wechen understands!"

"This king is going to rest, is the dormitory ready?"

"Ready, Weichen will take the king there!" Wang Ping said that he was about to get up and lead the way in front.

Zhao Ziliang waved his hand and said: "You don't need to lead the way, just arrange a person to lead the way, you go and prepare meals for the soldiers of the Dragon Guard Army and arrange a resting place!" ”

"Wechen obeys!"

Under the guidance of an official arranged by Wang Ping, Zhao Ziliang arrived at the dormitory prepared for him, in this strange environment, Zhao Ziliang did not remove his armor, but he was already a little tired after marching for several days and nights, and now there is nothing important, so he did not remove his armor, and fell asleep directly on the bed.

Zhao Bei, the commander of the Dragon Guard, took more than a hundred soldiers to personally guard outside the hall, and arranged for everyone else to rest, the place where the soldiers rested was not far from here, and if something happened, they could immediately rush to reinforcements.

Zhao Ziliang woke up halfway through the Shen hour, felt that he had delayed the hour, turned over and shouted, "Someone!" ”

A dragon guard soldier walked in and bowed down and said, "What does the king command?" ”

Zhao Ziliang asked, "What time is it?" ”

The soldier replied: "Back to the king, it has already passed the time of Shen, the generals and adults are waiting in the main hall, Marshal Li originally sent someone to inquire, but the commander was blocked out on the grounds that the king has not woken up!" ”

"This Zhao Bei, when the time comes, he doesn't wake up the king, but stops people back!" Zhao Ziliang shook his head as he spoke, got up and walked outside the hall, and asked, "What about Zhao Beiren?" ”

"The Lord Commander knows that the king must be hungry when he wakes up, so he goes to the back kitchen to supervise the cook to cook for the king!"

While he was talking, Zhao Bei walked in with a few soldiers with some food, wine and meat, Zhao Bei saw Zhao Ziliang walking out, and hurriedly said: "The king is awake?" Are you going to the Great Hall? The minister asked people to prepare a meal, and the king will go after eating! ”

Zhao Ziliang was told by Zhao Bei, and he also felt hungry, so it was too late, so he ate something and went again.

After eating, the sky was already dark, although the weather in Baghdad in winter was not as cold as Xinjing and Chang'an, but the temperature at this time was also very low, Zhao Bei immediately ordered someone to bring a big hat for Zhao Ziliang to put on.

Zhao Ziliang came to the main hall of the council, and shouted with Zhao Bei: "The king has arrived!" ”

The generals and officials, who had already been drowsy, suddenly became agitated, and their drowsiness instantly receded, and one by one they cheered up and bowed down one after another, shouting: "Long live the king, long live the king!" ”

Zhao Ziliang lifted the hem of the big man, sat on the throne of the caliphate carved in stone, raised his hand and said, "The Qing family is free of courtesy!" ”

The generals and officials thanked each other, and stood up one by one to stand on both sides.

Zhao Ziliang said: "Let's talk about the mobilization and assembly of the army that went out to fight, where have the people and horses of the various departments who received the order have arrived?" ”

The generals and officials all looked at Li Siye, Li Siye was the marshal of the Western Expeditionary Army, and Zhao Lei had to obey him when he did not leave, and Li Siye was mainly responsible for this matter.

"Ahem······ Ahem······ Ahem······" Li Siye coughed violently, coughing so much that the whole person hunched his back and bent over, and hurriedly took out a handkerchief to cover his mouth, but he still coughed.

After coughing for a while, he stopped, took off the handkerchief but saw a bloodstain on the handkerchief, Zhao Ziliang sat on a high place, saw clearly, his heart jumped, his face changed, and he thought that people were really no match for life, old age, sickness and death.

Li Siye reluctantly stood up and hugged his fists and said: "King, according to the king's requirements, this expedition only brings 10,000 cavalry, 20,000 infantry, and 50,000 servant troops, so the old minister has transferred 5,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry from the slave legion, and 5,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry from the plateau legion, and the 50,000 servant army is in Baghdad, and there is no need to draw it from other places!" According to the regulations, they still have three days to arrive, and the old minister has already sent someone to determine their line, and at their current marching speed, they can reach Baghdad on time in three days! ”

Zhao Ziliang nodded and said: "This expedition has no other requirements for you, just prepare more grain and grass and camels!" ”

“······” Before Li Siye could agree, he fainted and fell to the ground.

The generals and officials exclaimed: "Marshal Li! ”

Zhao Ziliang immediately called a military doctor for diagnosis and treatment, and the results of the diagnosis and treatment made Zhao Ziliang and the generals and officials feel bad, Li Siye's condition was very bad, and the military doctor told him that if Li Siye recuperated in peace, maybe he could live for a few years, but if he stayed in the army, he would die for a year at most, or two months at least.