Hearing the sound of the door opening, Chen Xuan, who was standing in front of the window, turned around. "Prime Minister, what kind of wind is blowing you?" There was no tiredness on his face, only a gentle smile. As the emperor, Chen Xuan would never show tiredness and gaffes in front of his ministers. This is his responsibility, just like Liu Yi said, even if everyone in the world is asleep, he has to be awake. At least, it can't be seen that he's tired.

Liu Yi walked to Chen Xuan's side, overlooking Shou Changze with him, his expression was leisurely, but he asked: "The General's Mansion has seen the upper, middle and lower three strategies for attacking Lumei, has Your Majesty seen it?" ”

"Well, I've seen it."

"The minister thinks that since this battle is inevitable, then we should prepare early."

"You didn't come to see me because you wanted to ask Ying to lead the troops on the expedition, did you?"

Liu Yi smiled slightly, if he followed his previous temperament, the battle of Lumei would definitely not be missed. Now nearly fifty years old, he is no longer the young general who was brave in his flesh and blood, ashamed of his master, and desperate for his military exploits, and kidnapped a woman from Kanto.

"Your Majesty, do you still remember Emperor Lumei's secret letter to borrow troops from our court?"

"Well, you mean, play a chess piece in Lumei City first." Chen Xuan frowned slightly, the sergeant of the Xia Kingdom has no precedent for being a mercenary for another country. The blood of a sergeant is not to be traded. Even if it's nominally, think about it carefully.

"Long live the Emperor!" "Long live the Emperor!" "Long live the Emperor!" On the other side of the river, on the bank of Shouchangze, dozens of sergeants looking at the palace seemed to see the figure of the emperor and the prime minister, and shouted excitedly. Chen Xuan also waved his right hand at them in response. Although the sergeants could not see his smile, he still had a smile on his face, which was the responsibility of the emperor to make every sergeant feel valued.

"What the minister means, now there are tens of thousands of people living in Lumei City, in case of war, our army can not arrive in time, this strange army can stabilize the overall situation, retreat can protect the people from being harmed, evacuate safely."

Chen Xuan frowned and asked in a deep voice, "Is the battle of Lumei already inevitable?" ”

Xia and Lumei, one country controls the eastern section of the long east-west trade route, and the other country controls the western section, and they have been cooperating in trade for hundreds of years. If it weren't for the fact that the state of Lumei was too weak, and such a superior position would be occupied by Ross or Da Shi, it would lead to a strong enemy sitting on the throne and pose a threat to the western part of Xia Guo, and Xia Guo would be very willing to continue doing business with Lumei State. The Lumei people also realized the goodwill of the Xia State, and successive Lumei emperors have issued a request to hire the Xia army to fight for it, and once proposed that the Lumei army had flanked the Turks together with the Xia army, but they were all rejected by the Xia State.

"According to the news of the Military Intelligence Department, the emperor of Lumei Kingdom, Ali Kesai, is nearly seventy years old, and his body is extremely weak, and he may die at any time in the past few years. The emperor's eldest son, John, is weak, but the emperor's eldest daughter, Anna, is extremely tough, like the two princesses of Taiping and An Le in the Tang Dynasty, and Lu Mei is likely to fall into civil strife. The Rus in the north and the great food in the south will take advantage of the situation, these two countries have always been enemies of our country, and then they have obtained the geographical advantages and wealth of Lumei, but they are afraid that they will be like a tiger with wings, so that there will be no peace in the middle of our river. ”

"Well, the battle of Lumei seems to be inevitable."

"The minister thought that he was in a hurry to follow the power, and sent out a battalion of sergeants to be stationed in Lumei as a mercenary of Emperor Lumei, in order to prepare for future changes."

"What do you mean?"

"You can select 500 elites from the four armies of Dragon Tooth, Tiger Wing, Jiaorong, and Lian Rui, and form the seventh battalion of the Chengying Army, and go to Lumei as a mercenary to protect our people and respond to the western expedition." Liu Yi said in a deep voice.

The Chengying Army, which is rumored to be miraculous outside, actually has no fixed establishment, and every time according to the need, the elite is selected from the Praetorian Guard and sneaks thousands of miles away to safeguard the interests of Great Xia. After the mission is completed, the battalion may continue to be sent elsewhere or may be disbanded and returned to its original army. But the sergeants who have experienced fighting alone, even if they are scattered thousands of miles away, the love of the robe is often more than ordinary.

"Okay, now that I know about it, you can discuss it with the marching division again." Chen Xuan nodded, and then asked, "Is there anything else?" ”

"Borrow Your Majesty's Imperial Seal and write a reply letter to Emperor Alexei of Lumei, telling him that my country has promised to send mercenaries." Liu Yi said in a deep voice. Emperor Lumei believed in the divine authority of the monarchy, and in order to show respect, the letter of reply from the Xia State could only be issued in the name of Emperor Chen Xuan.

Liu Yi and Chen Xuan stood in front of the window of the palace by the window, and in the opposite side of Shou Changze, the two monarchs and ministers had a leisurely demeanor, as if they were talking about the rare and exotic beasts in Shou Changze, or the arrangements for festivals and ceremonies.

"Depending on the situation, it must be Prime Minister Liu." Yang Lu's eyesight was very good, and he suddenly exclaimed in surprise. At that time, Liu Yi led the army to break through the blockade of the Song army in Kwantung in one fell swoop, besieged Luoyang, and deterred the Song court from daring to mention Jingluo Guanzhong for many years.

"Really?" Li Ruoxue exclaimed in shock, since she became a fairy family with White Peony, Liu Yi is infinitely close to perfection in the minds of Luoyang girls. She peeked at Yuan Zhi beside her, and a hint of blush appeared on her face.

Zhao Xingde was a little sour out of thin air, and scolded secretly: "This old guy is almost fifty." ”

"You can't be wrong. There are a few people who can stand side by side in front of the window with His Majesty. With such a chic and casual demeanor, it can't be someone else. Yu Boyan, who has always been taciturn, also blushed with excitement, "Prime Minister Liu and His Majesty once served together in the Northern Xinjiang Hussars, and their feelings are extraordinary. ”

Qiu Shiliang and Xin Xingzong didn't urge everyone, but looked at them with a smile on their faces and shouted excitedly, "Everyone was once young." Xin Xingzong couldn't help but be a little envious of these young people. I hope that the vicissitudes of the world will not let you lose your vitality today. "The words of the first emperor who inspected the Prime Minister's Mansion and encouraged the coordinator Cao Xiaoguan seem to still echo in his ears." Xingzong is a county order, has never been greedy for a penny, has never wronged a person, has never shirked a thing, the first emperor Quanxia knows, should be happy. ”

When Chen Xuan and Liu Yi were no longer in front of the window, everyone in the Anton Military Division got on the horse and left with happy faces. Leaving Shouchangze, everyone only felt that the spring breeze was proud, and they had arrived at Dunhuang, the western capital, in a short time. In Dunhuang City, Huaiyuan Station, which can accommodate thousands of people, is specially designed to entertain passing merchants, and Zhao Xingde and others live in the official post specially prepared by Lu Cao. Qiu Shiliang and other lieutenants took their waist cards to report to the Protectorate Mansion on the same day, reported to the General's Mansion the next day, and had to attend the meeting of the Protector's Mansion on the third day.

In the post station, Zhao Xingde inquired clearly, if he was selected as a sergeant by the Tiger Wing Army, his family could be assigned a separate house and placed next to the camp outside the city of the Tiger Wing Army near Linquan Palace, which was the beautiful scenery of Shou Changze.

After settling down, Zhao Xingde and Li Ruoxue toured in Dunhuang City. Zhao Xingde estimated that the western capital of the Xia Kingdom, if placed in the Central Plains, was only enough for the size of the state city, and the population of Bianjing was at least more than one million. The vast territory of the Xia Kingdom, the capital is so small, "No wonder Chang'an is the eastern capital, otherwise it is really impossible to say that it is such a small capital in such a big country." ”

Under the planning of Cao, the co-ordinator of the Prime Minister's Office, Dunhuang was simply transformed into a political capital. The Prime Minister's Office limited caravans to stay in the city for more than two days. There are not even a few restaurants, and the Qinglou Casino and the like are even more extinct. Even the past merchants with thousands of dollars in their pockets could not buy an inch of land or a piece of tile in Dunhuang. Dunhuang City belonged only to the Xia court. The shops opened in Dunhuang are all old shops that have been in business for hundreds of years. The shops are large and sell more miscellaneous goods, so the number of shops has decreased considerably.

Therefore, although the city of Dunhuang is not large, it appears spacious and neat. The red sun hung high in the sky, and more than 2,000 officials from the five prefectures were working in the yamen. Many of the people who walked the streets were sergeants, scribes, and vendors from outside. Because of this, Dunhuang, the western capital, is less prosperous than Chang'an, the eastern capital, and more of a purging atmosphere.

"Even if the enemy army attacks Dunhuang City, I'm afraid I will be disappointed." Zhao Xingde said on a whim.