In mid-February, when the snow and ice had melted and the land was covered in new green, Xiao Hong's two envoys arrived in the northwest as scheduled to meet with Xiao Diyuan, and brought a batch of jewelry and specialties from the Southern Regions as requested in Xiao Diyuan's letter.

Xiao Diyuan sent a letter to Long Long, the leader of the minority areas in the Northern Regions, saying that he would visit the Northern Regions on February 20, with a letter of appointment from Emperor Xiao Hong.

Two days later, when Longlong received the letter, he was very surprised and immediately called a tribal meeting.

Long Long's younger brother Long Cha said thoughtfully: "The imperial court has not sent anyone to visit for many years, and now that it has suddenly come, I am afraid that there is fraud in it." ”

A deputy tribal steward also immediately seconded: "Yes, and it turned out to be the second prince who sent it, we have to be careful." ”

Although they had never seen the face of the second prince Xiao Diyuan, they had long heard of his deeds, and of course they had to be cautious in the face of such an outstanding young man.

Long Long nodded and said, "The letter didn't say how many people would come, so in case they suddenly attacked, we had to be fully prepared." ”

"Yes. The others replied in unison.

Now there are only 5 days left until February 20, so Longlong gathered more than 10,000 elite soldiers to drill on the same day, and concentrated the weapons scattered in various mechanical warehouses in Chiha City overnight.

There are three cities in the northern region under the jurisdiction of Longlong, Chiha City is the central city, Longlong mainly handles affairs here, and he walks around the other two cities every half a month.

Now that Xiao Diyuan is visiting, he naturally receives him in Chiha City.

In addition to quickly concentrating his weapons in Chiha City, Long Long also divided the soldiers into five teams, one team was placed in Chiha City, and the other four teams were ambushed outside Chiha City, ready to deal with the second prince Xiao Diyuan at any time.

On the morning of February 18, Xiao Diyuan and his entourage officially set off for the area under the jurisdiction of Longlong.

Before leaving, Xiao Diyuan held a meeting with everyone and made detailed arrangements for the trip. He knew that Longlong might set up an ambush, and he also knew that there would be a danger of never returning, so he took into account all kinds of possible situations and gave corresponding countermeasures.

Everyone was amazed at the thoughtfulness of his thoughts, and with the countermeasures he gave, their original worries were gone, so they were very united.

It was a rugged and difficult road from Shuangzhu City to the ethnic minority tribal areas in the Northern Regions, so the group did not walk fast.

When they entered the area under Longlong's jurisdiction, Longlong sent people to observe the hillside.

The observers saw that Xiao Diyuan only brought a dozen people, and they couldn't believe it, so they immediately went back to report to Longlong.

"Only a dozen or so people with you?" asked Long Long with a look of disbelief.

The subordinate hurriedly nodded and said, "Well, I've been observing for a long time, and I haven't seen anyone behind me." ”

Long Long didn't dare to take it lightly, and said: "Continue to observe, don't be negligent in the slightest." ”

"Yes. The man walked out quickly.

Long Long closed his eyes in contemplation.

He took such great pains to arrange an ambush and arrange elite soldiers, but the second prince only brought more than ten people, which made him feel a little funny.

Maybe they're really just here to visit.

However, he has made trouble all these years because he wants to establish himself as the king, will the court really ignore these?

Long Long felt that it was better to be cautious.

Xiao Diyuan and his entourage arrived at Chiha City near noon on February 20, and Long Long, together with his two younger brothers and several elders in the clan, went out to greet him, and arranged for many people to welcome him.

When Xiao Diyuan approached, Long Long saw a handsome young man of sixteen or seventeen, and his heart suddenly had a good feeling.

Longlong received Xiao Diyuan with the highest local etiquette.

After that, the two entered the reception hall.

After sitting down, Xiao Diyuan said: "When I came to this palace, I saw green grasslands everywhere, presumably cattle and sheep don't worry about food, right?"

Long Long hurriedly said: "Don't worry, don't worry." ”

"The Northern Regions are located in the north of the Akebono Kingdom, and the environment is relatively harsh, and you can manage the people here well, and let everyone have no worries about food and clothing, which is very good. Xiao Diyuan said again.

Long Long thought for a moment and replied: "The environment here is indeed relatively harsh, but it is the birthplace of the minister, and the minister loves it here, so he is naturally willing to do his best to protect it." ”

Xiao Diyuan nodded and said, "But what else do you want to do but don't have the ability or resources to do?"

Long Long glanced at him quickly and replied, "There are some." ”

"Which ones?"

Long Long listed a few.

Xiao Diyuan listened and said, "After the palace goes back, I will report the problems you said to Your Majesty." ”

Long Long hurriedly said, "Thank you, Second Highness." ”

He poured tea for Xiao Diyuan as he spoke.

Xiao Diyuan took a few sips and asked, "Besides, what else are you not satisfied with?"

Long Long hesitated.

Xiao Diyuan said: "This palace is here to see if there are any problems on your side, if there is, you might as well say it." ”

Long Long was silent for a moment and said, "There are no other problems. ”

Xiao Diyuan said: "Your Majesty wants to appoint you as the ambassador of Beiha, and set up a mission to comfort here, which you are responsible for managing and enjoying the court's fortunes.

That is to classify Longlong as an official of the imperial court. That would make his behavior more constrained in the future, which was not what he wanted.

Long Long was silent.

Xiao Diyuan said: "The annual salary is 1,000 taels (equivalent to 600,000 yuan)." ”

Long Long, his brothers, and his clansmen couldn't help but be shocked again. The annual salary of 1,000 taels is a very considerable amount for Longlong, and the richest people here have an annual income of less than 100 taels.

With this thousand taels every year, many problems in the ethnic group can be solved.

For the first time, Long Long gave birth to a glimmer of willingness to submit.

Xiao Diyuan saw that he was already slightly moved, so he continued: "Life is only a few decades, isn't it just the peace of the family and the country?" and said: "There are only three cities in the northern region, accounting for less than one-fiftieth of the total area of the country, and the population only accounts for one-eightieth of the total number of people in the country.

This was a completely unexpected turn of events for Long Long, Long Long heard it, Xiao Diyuan was suggesting that he should not think about becoming a king all day long, otherwise he would be easily swallowed by his neighbors without the protection of the imperial court.

"We have a very strong fortress here, which is not something that our neighbors can easily attack. Long Long said.

"It is not necessary to use guns and artillery shells to siege the city. Xiao Diyuan said meaningfully.

Long Long glanced at him, then at his two younger brothers, not knowing how to respond.

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