The content of this chapter has probably been read by many book lovers. The beginning of the book has been changed three times, and this is the original. However, some changes have been made to the content.

Ask for collections, ask for recommendations; Thank you all for your tips.

……

New Year's Day passed early, and it was warm and pleasant.

Under the cover of night, the vast continent is covered with undulating mountains and rivers. Since the fall of the Western Tang Dynasty and the relocation of Yu Xu to the left of the Dingjiang River, the heroes of the Six Yi have galloped and competed in the vast land of the Central Plains, attacking endlessly, and they all regard other tribes as pigs and dogs, and slaughter them wantonly. There are no three out of ten in the people. In the past, the lights of thousands of homes in the peaceful years were only scattered from the sky.

At this time, in the territory of Qin State in the east of Dingxi Kingdom, the west palace of Fengdu was brightly lit and lively.

The young Qin lord Pu Changsheng was feasting his clan and his ministers here.

Fengdu was the ancient capital of several Tang dynasties, with a population of hundreds of thousands at its peak. After a hundred years of turmoil, even if you add the Xiyi who have migrated in large numbers over the years, there are only more than 100,000 people. Although the population has decreased sharply, the imperial city, which has been built by the Tang Dynasty for several generations, has been preserved. The earth is ruthless, and they probably don't care if they change to another race as their master.

The imperial city is in the south of the city, and there are three large palace districts. The West Palace is the largest and most magnificent of them all.

The banquet began in the afternoon, and it has been two or three hours now. The night was getting darker, and the emperor and his courtiers were still not happy.

The thick lacquered pillars neatly crisscross dozens of times, like the arms of giants, supporting the splendid and spacious hall.

The blue-black floor tiles are carved with quaint patterns, and the walls are painted in red and black.

Six or seven feet tall lampstands of all colors or like dragons hovering, or like danques with their heads high, some like kneeling and holding high in the form of girls, and some like the heroic posture of military generals with false arms in their arms, placed in various places in the main hall, reflecting the hall as if it were day.

The small eunuchs who deliver delicacies on food plates are endless; The palace maids who covered their skirts and carried spoons first took out the wine from the Yi urn decorated with gold, and then poured it into the Xiyi nobles.

The nobles present were old and young, most of them stout and bearded, and unlike the bearded people of the Northland, they either braided their hair and coiled behind their heads; Either they put their hair on, tie up their knots, and put horns on their heads. Two different hairstyles represent their different families.

The braided ones are the nations that established the Qin state; Those who bind their hair are subordinate tribes of the nation.

There are also more than a dozen people in Tang costumes scattered in the palace, and most of these are Tang people who belong to Xiyi and serve as officials in the Qin court.

Pu Changsheng braided and embroidered his robe, standing high in the hall, sitting barefoot.

He grabbed the wine lord, drunkenly looked at the chaotic scene below, and said happily: "Thanks to the martial arts of our fathers and ancestors, it is all the blessing of the gods, so that we can beat away the Tang people and enjoy such wealth!" From the few people sitting nearby, he found the one he was looking for, and waved the order, "Old sheep! Go dancing and cheer me up. ”

In the direction he was pointing, sat a subordinate tribe of Da Sui. The subordinate tribes belonged to the same Xiyi as the Qin state, but at the beginning, they were engaged in herding for the country, so Pu Changsheng called him "old sheep"; That's why they wear horns for decoration.

The man had already overdosed, stood up with his body propped up, stumbled and did not take a few steps, and one of them fell to the ground, and the horns on his head rolled to the ground. He tried to climb twice, but he couldn't get up, and he got on all fours, and he was paralyzed in the mud, and for a moment, he actually started to snor.

Pu Changsheng laughed, raised the wine jue and threw it over, the jue was not hit, the wine was scattered, and he said to the left and right: "This old sheep is really useless!" ”

Everyone laughed.

The palace maid who was on the side cleaned up the wine stains, replaced it with a wine lord, poured it full and re-offered it to Pu Changsheng. Pu Changsheng picked it up, motioned to the nearby ministers to drink together, and inadvertently saw that one of the people was sullen and silent, as if he was depressed.

This man was in his twenties, with a short round face, small eyes, and a sparse jaw beard, and unlike the "old sheep" who wore his hair and the braided people, he adopted the Tang people's habit of knotting his hair, tied his hair in a bun, and wore a high crown. He hadn't drunk much and was still sober.

Pu Changsheng stopped the wine lord and asked him, "Brother, why are you unhappy?" ”

Called "Brother", this person is not Pu Changsheng's own brother, but his brother, named Pu Mao.

"Your Majesty gives a banquet, how dare Chen Mao be displeased!" Pu Mao replied.

Pu Changsheng shook his head and said, "That's not right. I see that you have something on your mind. Holding on to the food table, he leaned his face over drunkenly and asked, "I heard that Brother Ah is close to a good girl, but do you miss her?" ”

In the laughter of the nearby ministers, Pu Mao's face turned red, and he said abruptly: "In front of the ministers, how can Your Majesty make such a floating speech!" ”

"Then you say, why aren't you cheerful?"

Pu Mao pointed to His Highness and said, "Your Majesty, please see, the ministers under the palace, in front of the Supreme Banquet, are actually profligate and naked, and even insult the palace maids, without any etiquette, where do they look like ministers?" It's clearly a bunch of drunkards! What kind of system. ”

His Royal Highness's civil and military officers of the Qin State drank until they drank at this time, and they gathered in twos and threes, some shouted and bragged, some lay down and shook birds, some snored at the desk, and some chased and dragged the palace maids around the pillars. All kinds of ugliness, it's really not like words.

Pu Changsheng didn't care, and said with a drunken smile: "Brother, no wonder when I was young, my grandfather said that you were an outlier in my clan. Isn't it a pleasure for kings and ministers to drink together and sit together for joy? Why bother talking about Tang'er's etiquette. Looking left and right, he said, "If Tang'er's things are useful, they will not be killed by our fathers and ancestors and flee in embarrassment, and the south will be left in the river!" Asked Pu Maodao, "Brother thinks, is my words right?" ”

Pu Mao bowed his head and was silent.

As Pu Changsheng said, Pu Mao is indeed an outlier among them, he likes to read Tang books since he was a child, and begged his father to find him a few Confucian teachers of the Tang Dynasty, and he is tireless in learning.

All the ministers on the left and near raised the wine lord and shouted: "Thanks to the wisdom of our fathers and ancestors, we can enjoy today's wealth!" "Boom.

"Brother, do you think I'm not right?"

"Although our fathers and ancestors are wise, the so-called wealth may not be able to say that they can enjoy it today."

"Oh? What do you mean by that? ”

Pu Mao got up, stood up and looked forward to Pu Changsheng and the others, and said loudly: "The world has collapsed, and it has been nearly a hundred years, and the sea is still boiling. Although my Great Qin has mountains and rivers as solid, but looking at the world, the pseudo-Wei Mu Liuyi in the east is one million, the cattle and Tang people are farming, the grain is abundant, and the iron cavalry is good at fighting; The Tang Dynasty is in Jiangzuo, although his life hangs by a thread, it can be used as a call for the Tang people, and he still protects himself. These two enemies can be described as strong. In addition, there is Shu in the south of our country, and there are Ranxing and Dingxi in the west, which are all small thieves, and they should not be underestimated, and they all have strong soldiers. ”

Speaking of this, he paused for a moment, made sure that Pu Changsheng was listening carefully to himself, and then he was in high spirits, and continued, "'Sailing against the current', this folk proverb is also, and so is the country!" If you only rely on the dangers of Lai Shanhe and take the steps to be sealed, the ministers are afraid that today's wealth will disappear in a blink of an eye. In today's policy, Chen Mao thinks that His Majesty should inherit the remnants of his father and ancestors, fight for the courage of the Wu people, do his best to the ministers, and lead the soldiers to move forward, so as to achieve immortal feats! Only in this way can we not only keep our wealth and wealth alive, but also be the real king! ”

Pu Mao's eyes were not big, but when he said these words, his whole body flashed brightly.

Pu Changsheng sat up straight and said, "What Brother said is true. But how can I obtain this immortal achievement? ”

Pu Mao replied: "Linghu clan of Longdi, uncle and nephew cannibalism, Linghu Feng rebelled a month ago, and the following usurped it, although it was successful, Chen Mao expected it, and the people in his country must be panicked now, and this is the opportunity for my Daqin to use troops!" ”

Pu Changsheng said: "However, there is a strong Wei in the east, but I am afraid that it is not good to rashly raise troops to attack Long." ”

Qin is in the middle of Wei and Dingxi, and if an army is raised to Long, it is very likely that Wei in the east will take the opportunity to attack.

"The rebel chieftain of the puppet Wei is old, and the ministers heard that his puppet Tianzhu general He Hun is self-respecting and has no subservience, although the chaos in his country has not yet arisen, and the suspicion has existed. If the monarch and the minister are not in harmony, where will they have the spare strength to the outside world? If you think of it, you will not be able to offend me. ”

"Oh?"

"Longdi is in civil strife, and the pseudo-Wei is not in harmony. Your Majesty, Chen Mao thinks that this is the destiny of heaven favoring me Qin! ”

Pu Changsheng woke up for a while and said, "Really? ”

"If Your Majesty raises troops to the west at this time, he will first take Longdi, take the power of victory, and then collect Ranxing; Ranxing is the ancestral land of our people, and Longxing produces good horses; In this way, you can collect the sharp pawns of Ranxing, take the good horses of Longshang, and use them for His Majesty. Xing, Long has Ke, the west is worry-free, the momentum is soaring, you can Guanzhong as the real foundation, the horses and horses, waiting for the pseudo-Wei to change, and then cut it, you can achieve immortal great feats! ”

Ranxing is the ancestral land of the Pumao family, with the reproduction of the population, some of them took the initiative to move to other places, and some were forcibly moved out by the Tang people after the Tang people opened a county here. Pumao's colony moved out very early, and they moved out on their own initiative.

Pu Changsheng was so excited when he heard this, he stood up, picked up the sword that was placed beside him, and pulled it out suddenly, frightening the Tang Dynasty palace maids on the side, and fell to the ground softly, not daring to look at it.

Pu Changsheng staggered to Pu Mao's food table, waved and slashed, and shouted: "The fathers and ancestors have already achieved the cause of the overlord for our clan, so the cause of this world will be completed by me!" As he spoke, he stabbed his sword to the side as if he mightily, and slashed back at his hand, cutting the edge of the table.

Pu Mao left the table, took off his clothes and bowed, and said: "Now that spring is coming, after the civil strife in Longdi, the green and yellow are not accepted, the army and the people are short of food, and the time to use the soldiers is also. Chen Mao is not talented, dare to ask His Majesty to give 10,000 foot riders, beg for His Majesty to be loyal and brave, drink horses on Longshang, and return to Keranxing. ”

Pu Changsheng was overjoyed, and was about to agree because of the wine, when a person next to him got up and said, "King Yunyang is ambitious." However, in recent years, there have been small changes in the Tang Er in the country, and there are also untamed miscellaneous people. ”

King Yunyang is the knight of Pu Mao.

The person who spoke was Pu Guang, the prime minister of the Qin State.

Pu Guang is not only the minister of state, but also Pu Changsheng's father, Pu Changsheng listens to him very much. Since he didn't approve, Pu Changsheng could only regretfully refuse Pu Mao's request, and said: "Since Father Xiang thinks it's impossible, brother, then you can let it go for a while." After I have killed those dishonest Tang Er and Yi captives, I will give you a strong trip, and personally send you to the west to open up territory for me. ”

Pu Mao pressed down in disappointment and knelt down to promise.

The banquet didn't end until midnight, and Pu Changsheng went back to the harem. The ministers dispersed.

Pu Mao left the palace and ordered the car to return home.

At some point, the night became heavy, the clouds were accumulating, and the wind was blowing the curtains of the car, and there was a loud sound.

Although Pu Mao was in the car, he also felt that it was damp and it was going to rain.

The palace is in the south of the city, and the residences of the princes and nobles are also mostly in the south of the city, not far from the palace. In a short time, he was back at home.

Entering the back house, Pu Mao just sat down indoors, and a person came in through the outside door.

Seeing him come in, Pu Mao hurriedly got up and said, "Why hasn't Master Meng slept yet?" ”

This person's name is Meng Lang, a Tang man, a native of Laizhou along the coast, living in Qin, one of Pu Mao's teachers when he was a teenager, and he is very talented, and he is very loved and respected by Pu Mao. Pu Mao's father died a few years ago, and Pu Mao succeeded to the throne and asked him to make his long history.

Meng Lang sat down on the couch and said slowly: "The wind rises in the middle of the night, the fragrance of flowers is permeated, and I can't sleep for a while. He looked at Pu Mao's expression and said, "I drank until midnight, and I didn't get drunk." The kung fu of self-denial, you have grown. ”

Pu Mao sighed and said, "The hall is full of absurdity, and the monarch and the minister have no manners. The indecent feast, the wine is really difficult to eat. ”

Although he is a Yi person, he has been influenced by the classics of the Tang Dynasty since he was a child, and under the careful teaching of Meng Lang, Pu Maoshi is not much different from the Confucian scholars in the Tang Dynasty. He hated the unsightly scenes in the banquet hall from the bottom of his heart.

The two chatted a few words, and Pu Mao talked about taking the opportunity to invite Ying in the palace and begging for soldiers to go west, and after speaking, he said: "I just didn't get it." If it weren't for the prime minister's dissuasion, the lone soldier would have been in hand, and the great cause might have been accomplished. There was regret in his tone.

Meng Lang said: "Don't rush. The king has a reputation for bravery, and in recent years, he led the troops to suppress most of the rebellions, and the people were strong and strong, and he won the hearts of the people. Slow it down. First immigrate the heart, gather the heroes, and then act well. ”

Speaking of "Immigrant Heart", Pu Mao was a little worried and asked, "Can the folk songs written by the teacher really be used?" Will it arouse suspicion in the imperial court? ”

After Pu Changsheng's father, the first emperor of the Qin State, collapsed, Pu Mao couldn't get used to Pu Changsheng's "no monarchy" attitude, and under Meng Lang's persuasion, he gradually developed the heart to seize the throne. In order to win public opinion, Meng Lang composed a ballad and planned to release it at an appropriate time, so that children inside and outside the city could sing it to create public opinion. The words said: "The sycamore is full of birds for the phoenix, and the man is the king for three years and two years." The four words "Wutong Yin" allude to Pu Mao, and Pu Mao's name is "Mao". The sycamore leaves are luxuriant, shading the tree, and it is naturally shaded.

Nursery rhymes and proverbs have a long history, not only the Tang people believe in it, but also the Zhuyi who have entered the inland believe in ghosts, gods and witchcraft, and they also believe in it.

Meng Lang said indifferently: "The king is already the king, how can the king doubt the king?" It's best to be in doubt, and you have your own captain to answer it. ”

Taiwei Buqi was one of the few ministers left to him by Pu Changsheng's father, and he was a great loyal minister. The name of his tribe is Que Ge Ge, "the sycamore is full of birds for the phoenix", isn't the finch just the bird? Pu Changsheng was suspicious, so he led him to kill Buqi, killing two birds with one stone, which not only created public opinion for Pu Mao, but also chilled the hearts of loyal ministers.

Pu Mao stopped talking, and after a while, he got off the couch, stepped in front of the couch, and pushed the window to look out.

In the night, the dark clouds have gathered, the wind is shaking, and the rain is coming.

He looked at it for a while, let out a long breath, and said: "Our clan is prosperous, and now there are nearly a million people, if you are not one of them, in this world of the Warring States, you will be martyred, and you will be afraid of everything!" If it weren't for the king's light fruit, he would not be the good lord of my clan, and Lone would not have done such a retrograde. ”

Meng Lang disagreed, and said: "The artifact can only be inhabited by the virtuous. When the king was born, he heard that there were clouds like a dragon, red light filled the sky, and the bell of Lourdes was self-evident, how could he 'reverse the move'? Ying De obeys his orders and takes it! Where the destiny of heaven is, even if the king refuses, he will not be able to do it. ”

"Is Destiny really lonely?"

A bolt of lightning thundered in the gloomy night sky, instantly illuminating Pu Mao's young face.

The sudden wind hit the room, the candle flame swayed, Meng Lang sat like a tiger, standing still, letting the wind come.

Thunder rang out in the night sky in the distance.