"The subordinate obeys." Zhao Xingde was already in his heart, and Feng Mi and other staff members could only bow down to receive orders.

"Brother Feng, this ...... Is it really Chu Gong Chude? Retreating from the White Tiger Hall, Xia Cunliang said in a low voice.

Several other civil officials also stopped, and a faint circle headed by Feng Mi stood on the side of the ship. The partition wall has ears, but if you are to discuss things, it is not as open as this deck. The sea breeze is cool, and from a distance, except for the lanterns at the head of the military city, the entire Yuntun Island is submerged in darkness, and it is hard to believe that this was once the largest trading port in Annam.

"Lord Zhao is right," Feng Mi was silent for a moment, and said in a low voice, "The reclamation of the South China Sea is a hundred-year plan, however, after all, the foundation is shallow, the road is far away, and the imperial court can't count on too much, whether it is soldiers, horses, money or food. At present, the dispute over the Central Plains is fundamental. He sighed, "If the Northern Expedition is successful, the momentum of Zhongxing has been achieved, even if Annan is the territory of the Xia State, the Southwest Sea is dominated by our dynasty." If the Northern Expedition fails, it will even ......" His face was slightly gloomy, and he paused, everyone knew what he meant, and they couldn't help frowning together, Feng Mi continued, "These overseas territories are of no help to the Central Plains, just wait for the two dynasties to have a result, but it is a matter of transmission." Xia Guo doesn't care, we just manage it with our hearts, in short, it will be beneficial to our dynasty at the moment. ”

His words were vague, but they were clear in the hearts of the staff.

Since following Zhao Xingde, the more they learned about the military and political system in Kansai, the more frightened they became. The imperial court opened up the state and county recruitment group training, and encouraged the people to organize the bow and arrow club and the loyalty and righteousness society, all of which had elements of learning from the military and political affairs of the Xia State. However, like Luoyang, the imperial court forcibly bought all the land, abolished the imperial examination system, and most of the officials were promoted to the rank through the sergeants, and the gentry of the Kwantung region could not agree to it anyway. However, they also knew that it was an almost public national policy that Xia Guo would win two tigers with one blow. With the current situation of the Song Kingdom, whether it is the Northern Expedition or internal affairs, if there is a slight difference, there is only one way to lose the country.

Thinking of this, everyone's mood inevitably became a little depressed.

Zhao Xingde mentioned Chu Gong Chude's words, and he was very confident in persuading Yuntun Port to carve out the autonomous area of the Chamber of Commerce, because there were precedents such as Chang'an, Chengdu, and Luoyang, and the staff members heard it in their ears, but it was a different taste. Everyone knows it, and looking at the current situation of Yuntun Port in Annan, they know that in the future, most of the autonomous areas of the Chamber of Commerce will be maritime merchants of the Song Kingdom. If Xia Guo agrees, it is not so much about magnanimity as it is about self-confidence, because he is extremely confident in the unification of the world, so he doesn't care which country the power of the chamber of commerce's autonomy is in the hands of the people of the country.

"The South China Sea is just a corner," Feng Mi sighed in a low voice, "The general trend still depends on Yue Shuai's Northern Expedition, if it is ...... There is still room for manoeuvre. ”

Everyone nodded slightly, looked at the Big Dipper Xingchen, and secretly had a sense of anticipation for the upcoming Northern Expedition. If the Liao army can be forced to withdraw from Hebei, even if Yanyun cannot be recovered, as long as the three passes are restored, the situation in the north will be very good. Although the Xia State occupied Luoyang, the Song court was not directly threatened as long as it did not return to Bianliang. After several years of operation in Henan, there were fortresses and camps everywhere, and under the pressure of both the Xia and Liao countries, the Tokyo Left-behind Division immigrated to the cantonment while greatly promoting group training, but most of the group training was controlled by the gentry and village elders, and was not controlled by the hands of the sergeants like Kansai. In the past two years, the Tokyo Left-behind Division has blocked both the Xia State and the Liao State, proving that as long as there are good generals and elite soldiers, the plains can be defended, and as long as the Northern Expedition is successful, the situation will be stabilized.

"Northern Expedition ......" Feng Mixin suddenly remembered, "There is no other day, and it is done, how to deal with the old monarch?" ”

……

After July, the grass on the grassland gradually turns yellow, and the weather in September is as cold as a day.

Waves of nomadic tribes drove their cattle and sheep back to the pastures and valleys near Shangjing for the winter. The North Courtyard also began to count the personnel of each department to prepare for the upcoming big war. Since Zhao Zhifu, Qin Hui and others were executed by the Southern Dynasty for the crime of intemperance and meticulousness, the Liao people have not paid much attention to the imprisoned Zhao Kejunchen, on the one hand, these wastes can neither be blackmailed by the Southern Dynasty, almost completely useless, on the other hand, the food and clothing treatment given to them is getting worse and worse. The three liters of millet per day for the concubines of the clan was reduced to one and a half liters, and the one and a half liters of millet for the captured ministers was reduced to one liter. However, for the captured Southern Dynasty monarchs, the biggest blow is still psychological, after the news of the killing of Zhao Zhifu, Qin Hui and others came, Zhao Ke has always been dead-faced, and the others have also lost their souls, and the sky above the prisoner camp seems to be shrouded in a layer of death.

Zhu Yingji finished washing her clothes, wiped her hands as red as ginger on the cloth skirt, and stood up, the stream became colder and colder with the weather, however, an expectation in her heart was getting hotter and hotter. During these days, the nomadic tribes returned to the vicinity of Shangjing one after another, and she came to the bank of this stream to wash clothes almost every day, but she never saw the person she was looking forward to.

"Qingqing, you should be back soon."

Thinking of him, Zhu Ying felt warm in her heart. When Li Ruobing came back, he would take her away, and the two of them returned to the Southern Dynasty, and since then they have been incognito and never separated again. The words he said that day were like the words of the sea and the mountains, as if they were yesterday. Zhu Ying's heart darkened slightly, this day came too late. Why couldn't you have put all this aside and fly away with him earlier? After accepting Li Ruobing, she has put aside all her identity, and her only regret is that she feels that she is really not worthy of him. With his character and talent, he should make great achievements in the court, he should marry a woman who is clear and jade, and he should be famous in history. But he threw it all away for himself. Every time she thought of this, Zhu Ying felt as uncomfortable as a knife.

The cold wind was cold, and Zhu Ying stood by the water, biting her lower lip tightly, as if enduring indescribable pain.

Li Ruobing saw Zhu Ying's figure from a distance, felt a pain in her heart, and quickly stepped forward to hug her in her arms.

"Huh?" Zhu Ying exclaimed, her body stiffened, and she was about to struggle desperately.

"Ying'er." Li Ruobing's deep voice came from behind.

"You're finally here." Zhu Ying's tears couldn't help but burst out of her eyes, she gave up the struggle, and her body softened.

She let Li Ruobing hold her. After not seeing each other for months, both of them breathed heavily at this time, and their breath smelled each other, and they couldn't help but forget each other. Both of them have left everything behind, and she is the person he cherishes the most. Li Ruobing seemed to use all her strength to hold Zhu Ying tightly in her arms, as if she wanted to rub her whole body into her body.

Li Ruobing looked at her haggard face, with purple tooth marks on her lower lip, and frowned: "What's going on?" An obvious anger emanated from him, for most of the past half a year, Li Ruobing followed the Khitan tribe around the nomadic herd, eating and sleeping in the open air, and after being weathered, the former Sven was introverted, and he tempered a strong temper. Some people in the tribe originally looked down on this outsider, but in the past few months, Li Ruobing has used his hands and knives, and after he has kept watch and beaten wolves overnight, the people of the tribe no longer dare to despise him. In the past, he could endure many things, but now, when he saw Zhu Ying's haggard complexion and faint tooth marks under his lips, Li Ruobing seemed to be stabbed in the heart by a knife, and an evil fire surged up, almost furious.

"Nothing." Zhu Ying shook her head and said in a low voice, "I bit it myself." ”

Whenever she was heartbroken, she couldn't help biting her lip and replacing the pain in her heart with such pain.

"The more uncomfortable it is, the heavier the bite, and yesterday I didn't know it, and I bit it off."

Zhu Ying explained in a low voice, and Li Ruobing caressed her cheek lovingly: "Ying'er, I'll take you away!" ”

"Take me away?" Zhu Ying's heart was shocked, and she couldn't believe it: "Now ......"

"It's now." Li Ruobing let go of her arms slightly, "Let's go now." ”

Li Ruobing looked at Zhu Ying's eyes, and her face was extremely solemn. Although his emotions were excited, it was not a whim. For seven months, he traveled around with the Khitan tribe, familiar with the customs and habits of the Khitan people, understood the terrain near and far, and listened clearly to the road to the south. Although he believes in Zhu Ying, after all, she is a woman, if she is asked to wait for another day or two nights in her heart, I am afraid that she will be exposed, but it is better to prepare herself, and then take her away by a quick knife to minimize the risk of exposure.

The two looked at each other, Zhu Ying bit her lower lip, nodded and said, "I'll go with you." ”

"Follow me!" Li Ruobing did not hesitate, the time was urgent, and he wanted to flee as far away as possible before the Liao people found out. He took Zhu Ying's hand and led her to walk quickly to the back of a hill not far away, where three horses were hanging their heads and nibbling on the dry grass, and the tallest horse raised his head, stretched out his tongue and licked it. His hands. Li Ruobing took advantage of the situation to hold the reins of the horse with one hand, and stretched out to Zhu Ying with the other: "I'll help you up!" ”

Zhu Ying gritted her teeth, nodded, stepped on the stirrup with one foot, supported her waist with one hand, and held the reins with the other.

Zhu Ying's body shook slightly after she got on the horse, and then Li Ruobing got on the horse and sat behind her, hugging her whole person in her arms.

Zhu Ying's body trembled slightly, even when she was with Zhao Ke in the past, she was always dignified and self-controlled, and would not walk so intimately, at this time, she was slightly embarrassed, her cheeks floated a drunken red, and in an instant, she was red over her ears, as if she had no strength in her body, Zhu Ying gently leaned her head in Li Ruobing's arms, feeling his breathing, his heartbeat, his increasingly powerful arms, his heart seemed to be melted by his embrace, and it seemed to be floating to the clouds that did not know where to go, and the corners of his eyes were a little moist.

"Drive-" Li Ruobing held Zhu Ying's slender waist with his left hand, and lifted the reins of the horse with his right hand.

The two horses rode with four hooves, and the reins of the other two horses were tied to the saddle of the horse, and they galloped briskly together. Zhu Ying leaned on Li Ruobing's arms, her face was soft, and her mood suddenly became light, no matter the ends of the world, she would never leave him again. The north wind blew, and the long grass of late autumn swayed with the wind, surging southward like ocean waves, and the two rode together on the sea of grass, like a light boat undulating at the head of the tide, slowly drifting southward.