In the evening, in a corner of Yecheng, Wu Ming was translating the ciphertext in a private house, and the note with the ciphertext came from the flying pigeon's biography, and the pigeon came from Xiyang, Huangzhou, thousands of miles away, each of which was one out of a hundred, and could fly more than 1,000 miles a day. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

Early this morning, five carrier pigeons set off from Xiyang with the same note, flew to the manor on the outskirts of Yecheng in the afternoon, and then were copied and sent into the city before closing the city gate in the evening, and came to Wu Ming's hands.

And the five carrier pigeons, in fact, only arrived two, the remaining three wanted to come to the accident on the way, maybe caught by birds of prey, maybe shot by hunters, it is precisely because of the danger on the thousands of miles away, so every time the flying pigeon is transmitted, it is carried out according to the scale of five people.

This is to ensure that the pigeon is smooth and effective, ensuring that every time the communication is carried back to the pigeon nest with a note, but at the same time, the side effect is a huge 'operating cost'.

The distance between Yecheng and Xiyang is more than 1,000 miles, and the carrier pigeons that have been carefully bred and selected can fly to their destination in one day, but it takes more than half a month to transport these pigeons to the place of departure.

If you want to send a message from Yecheng to Xiyang with carrier pigeons, you must first transport the carrier pigeons living in Xiyang to Yecheng, and vice versa, with the increase of communication distance, the greater the manpower and material resources consumed to maintain this communication network.

In order to keep the secret of the pigeon communication, the team of transporting the pigeon has been low-key, the scale of the transport of the pigeon can not be too large, and the size of the pigeon nest must also be controlled, once the number of pigeon reaches a certain number, then it is necessary to buy a manor to raise pigeons in a few miles away.

As there are more pigeon nests, so do the number of pigeon keepers, and there is no shortage of manpower to maintain large and small estates, so there are more and more 'workers' involved, and the expenses are getting bigger and bigger.

In order to keep the pigeons as secret as possible and not to be noticed by outsiders, the nests can only be dispersed as much as possible, so this further increases the 'operating costs'.

The carrier pigeon communication network of Xiyang Wangfu is not only the line of Yecheng - Xiyang, but also the carrier pigeon flight between Xiyang and Anlu, Jiangling, Xiangyang, Suicheng, Luoyang, Jiangzhou's Huangkou, Jiangnan's Jiankang, and Chang'an in Guanzhong.

Even since last year, there are "communication lines" from Jinyang to Chang'an and Yecheng to Chang'an, and the stalls are getting bigger and bigger, and the cost is getting higher and higher.

Everyone says that the industry of Xiyang Wangfu is making money every day, but most people don't know that Xiyang Wangfu spends money like flowing water, and many of the money that has just been received has been spent before it is hot.

Wu Ming knows that the big stall he manages also costs a lot of money, and he has to buy eyeliner a lot of expenses, and he has to buy real estate in various places as a 'safe house', that is, the second and third caves of the three caves of the cunning rabbit.

If it weren't for the idea of Xiyang Wang coming up with the idea of making fake landscapes and strange stones and fake gold products, and letting the cat team 'operate independently' to be 'self-financed', then the huge annual expenses would not have been able to make up for it.

The 'operating costs' of the carrier pigeon communication network will only be higher, but the benefits are also obvious, because the speed of news transmission in a day has made many impossible things possible.

On that day, the Son of Heaven got married, and the result was a great change, Wu Ming sent the news to Xiyang and Chang'an on the same day, and he began to receive news from the two places one after another, good news.

Qi Wang Yu Wenliang, who was in Chang'an, Guanzhong, destroyed the Pujin River Bridge in time, so that the attempt of the Bingzhou army to raid Guanzhong failed; Yuwenwen, the king of Xiyang, who miraculously rushed to the mouth of the river, first stopped the conspiracy of the marching marshal Shi Cui Da, and then rushed to Xiyang and Anlu and began to preside over the overall situation.

And Yu Wenming, the king of Qi, who was in Linxiang, Xiangzhou, had to pass through the urgent letter of Yuwenwen in Nanchang in advance, and learned that the situation had changed, so he immediately went north with elite soldiers lightly.

When he arrived at the mouth of Dongting Lake, he learned that Jiangling was besieged upstream, and after Yu Wenming made arrangements, he rushed to Ezhou overnight and then went north to Anlu, and it would take at least ten days for these things to reach Yecheng, and Wu Ming already knew it now.

The unexpected attack of the Wei Chi clan did not receive too good results, and the Yuwen clan's reaction was also very fast, but the real duel had not yet begun, and the situation in Guanzhong and Shannan was still precarious, so Wu Ming, who was in Yecheng, had to do everything possible to send useful news back to Shannan in time.

Provided that they evade the big manhunt.

The atmosphere in Yecheng is tense now, and people from Shannan are unlucky, because the government has begun to arrest people on a large scale, and the first to bear the brunt are merchants and dart practitioners from Huangzhou, Shannan.

Huangzhou merchants, who finally opened the market in Yecheng, all the shops were sealed, whether it was the shopkeeper or the guys, they were all put in prison, and the dart head and dart master of the dart store were no exception.

Shopkeeper Liu dotted the Xiyang Wangfu's property in Yecheng, along with other shopkeepers and guys, and was the first group of people to be arrested, because the government judged that they were the eyes and ears of the Xiyang King in Yecheng and must be arrested.

The people on the bright side were all arrested and imprisoned, and only Wu Ming and other people who had been hiding in the shadows escaped the first round of arrest, but this was only the beginning.

All the households began to be checked, and all the black households that were not local residents, who were not related to the family, or who did not have the guarantee of the lizheng or the owner of the village, were all 'cleaned up', and those who obviously had a southern accent were all arrested and interrogated.

Only eight days later, the situation was getting worse and worse, but this was not a big deal for Wu Ming and the others.

Shopkeeper Liu and others took care of the palace industry in Yecheng, knowing that once the situation changed, they would be the first to be unlucky, so their wives and children stayed in Huangzhou, and only the concubines accompanied them in Yecheng, and they did not forget to find helpers in recent years.

The Sogdian merchant Anturo, who has a wide range of contacts in Yecheng, has a lot of backers, and has always been an important partner of the Xiyang Wangfu industry.

The prison is to squat, but it will not be abused by the jailers, and the food is okay, but the prison environment is really poor, and it is better to be happy in your own mansion.

Other Huangzhou merchants opened shops in Yecheng to do business, including the dart shop, and the local wealthy merchants and big families joined forces, so although the shops were closed, most of the goods were still there, and although the people were put in prison, the jailers were not too embarrassed by people.

All this is thanks to the precautions, and the king of Xiyang, who laid out earlier, has already arranged for people to go to Yecheng to 'take root and land', weaving a big net, this net has several layers, the first layer is on the bright side, that is, Liu shopkeeper and others.

The second is a group of people in the secret, that is, Wu Ming and the people he knows and can mobilize, and there are 'nests' and connections that Shopkeeper Liu and others don't know.

There is also a third one, which is a net that Wu Ming vaguely guessed but has never been able to touch, and I think that in addition to the King of Xiyang, only the housekeeper Li Sanjiu has come into contact.

On the third net, Wu Ming can ask for help in an emergency, but he doesn't feel the need because he has a very special resource.

His biological father Liu Taozhi, who was the royal executioner of the Gao Qi royal family, had ears, eyes and eyeliner everywhere in Yecheng, although it has been more than ten years since the fall of the Qi State, Liu Taozhi's former subordinates have long gone their separate ways, but there are always some reliable idle chess players.

Wu Ming came to Yecheng for a 'business trip' this time, and Liu Taozhi specially handed over this precious resource to him, so that he could try his luck in an emergency, and to 'wake up' these idle chess players, he needed a certain token.

Wu Ming has not changed back to the surname 'Liu', but the relationship with his biological father has eased a lot, the token given to him by Liu Taozhi, Wu Ming has always carried it with him for safekeeping, he has already used it once, in all fairness, he doesn't want to use it as a last resort.

These people have been idle for more than ten years, no matter how loyal they were back then, but people's hearts will always change, not to mention that things are wrong for more than ten years, and the other party may have a new allegiance, and it is very likely to betray the old master.

But if some people use it well, they will have the effect of getting twice the result with half the effort, so Wu Ming is struggling with whether he needs to take the risk of using these idle chess pieces or rely on the palace's own manpower to do things.

While thinking about things, he translated the ciphertext, and after the translation was completed, Wu Ming checked it again to make sure that there was no mistake.

In Yecheng today, there are only three people holding code books at most, Wu Ming is one of them, he probably knows who the other one is, as for the existence of the third person is just speculation, but according to the style of the King of Xiyang, there must be a double backup.

Re-translated, Wu Ming made sure that there was not a single word wrong and looked seriously, according to the specific phrase in the text, he knew that this was the content written by King Xiyang himself, and the other party's explanation in the letter was very simple, there were four things in total.

First, ensure your own safety and lurk in Yecheng.

Second, since the war, the road is cut off, and the carrier pigeon cannot be replenished, so if it is not particularly important news, there is no need to use carrier pigeons to deliver the message.

Third, find a way to get in touch with the princess, don't ask for frequent news, at least have a contact channel.

Fourth, the widow will lead the troops to Yecheng to save people.

The content of the fourth article, if others say so, Wu Ming will definitely scoff at it, but since the King of Xiyang said it, Wu Ming is convinced that the King of Xiyang wants to kill Yecheng to save people, that is the biggest good news.

Burning the paper to ashes and crushing it, Wu Ming got up and stretched his muscles, carefully put away the code book and then turned out of the room, looking at the sunset and thinking a lot.

Sima Zhang Dingfa of Xiyang Palace, after leaving the city with the guards, there was no news coming, and now in Yecheng, except for another group of people who don't know if there is, Wu Ming is the ears and eyes of King Xiyang in Yecheng.

Limited by the problem that the carrier pigeon could not supplement, Wu Ming had to judge by himself which news was important, so Yuwen Wen specially told him about the current situation in Shannan and Guanzhong, just to give a reference.

But the most important task is to protect Princess Xiyang and the prince, which is very difficult to complete, because Wu Ming and the others are not safe.

But he likes to play cat and mouse tricks the most, Wu Ming is a cat in Huangzhou, but a mouse in Yecheng, but the bigger the challenge, the more excited he becomes, just like when he followed the master along the way to fast, he fought wits and courage with the vicious dogs.

While thinking about it, there was a sudden bell in his ears, Wu Ming felt quite strange when he heard it, because the curfew was about to start in the evening, so the bell and drum sounded to remind the people in the city that it was a daily thing, but this bell was a little different.

It rang in only one place, and that was in the direction of the palace, and the bell rang unhurriedly, without the slightest intention of stopping in the short term, as if it was a sign that something big was happening.

Looking in the direction of the palace, Wu Ming only felt a bad premonition welling up in his heart.

。。。。。。

In the early morning, outside the gate of the palace, there were carriages of different ranks, and the officials in court clothes got off the car, which was slightly different from the past, and the officials were all filial piety regardless of rank.

The car gate, as the name suggests, "the vehicle stops at this gate", so the ministers of the previous dynasty have to get off here, continue to walk north, pass through the main gate outside the palace - the end gate, and then enter the main gate of the palace - the gate of the palace.

The north of the gate is the Taiji Palace, the hall where the Son of Heaven meets the civil and military officials.

You have to walk all the way from the stop gate to the gate of the long gate, but for one person it is an exception, that is, the prime minister of the Chinese and foreign military governors, the king of Shu Wei Chi Dan, just when the hundred officials walked north, the carriage of the prime minister did not slow down at all, and went directly to the stop door.

In the queue of hundreds of officials, a man suddenly rushed out, ignoring the danger of being trampled by the horses, waving his arms wide and shouting loudly, like a praying mantis to block the carriage.

The man was also wearing filial piety, dressed in official clothes but not court clothes, and when he was about to be trampled into pulp, the carriage stopped, and the guards guarding the carriage rushed up and pressed him to the ground, but he could hear him shouting:

"Prime Minister!! The prince of Xiyang is the eldest son, why is he the heir to the throne! This move is not in accordance with the patriarchal law, and it is not in line with the etiquette system!! ”

"Bold fanatics, dare to disturb the prime minister's car! Drag it away! ”

"Prime Minister!! The act of taking the eldest son is against human ethics! ”

Shi Ligang, the governor of Xiyang Palace, whose official hat fell to the ground, his official uniform was torn, and his cloak was scattered, and he was not qualified to go to court without an edict, so he could only make this decision outside the car door, and before being dragged away by the guards, he was desperate to make the last effort to try to save the situation.

It's just that the shout was just a fly in Wei Chidun's ears, and he snapped his fingers, and the guards outside the car leaned forward.

"Don't embarrass him, just drive him away."

"Yes, my lord."

The annoying voice gradually disappeared, Wei Chidun's expression did not fluctuate in the slightest, everything was under control, and a little ghostly spirit could not stop him from moving forward.

The plan can't keep up with the changes, he originally planned to let the Son of Heaven 'continue to recuperate', but recently rumors have spread, many people claim to have seen the Son of Heaven in distress, and there are nursery rhymes being sung everywhere, saying that the Son of Heaven is now in trouble and urgently needs the help of loyal ministers and righteous people.

It seems that Yuwen Qiankeng and his party did the ghost, and they got the help of others, trying to muddy the waters, Wei Chidun smelled the smell of conspiracy from it, and realized that things had changed and could not be delayed any longer.

So he didn't do anything and did another plan.

On the day of the wedding of the Son of Heaven, he was assassinated and seriously injured, and the imperial doctors tried their best to rescue him, but it was beyond the power of manpower to recover.

The coffin stopped in the Taiji Palace, and the prime minister and the king of Shu Chi Chi dun cried in front of the civil and military officials, and then read out the emperor's edict.

There are three contents of the edict, one of which is to take Yuwen Weicheng, the son of the king of Xiyang, as the new monarch, and the queen Wei Chi as the queen mother.

Second, with Xiyang Wang Yuwen Wen as the king, with Xiyang princess Wei Chi as the queen, his second son Yuwen Weiqian, is the prince of the country, with Huangzhou as the fief of the country, with 50,000 households.

Second, with the king of Shu Wei Chi Dan and the Duke of the State of Shu Chi Shun as the order, to assist the queen mother and the new monarch.

Third, the funeral and mountain tomb system should be frugal.

Fourth, he ordered the world's soldiers and horses to crusade against the traitors who attempted to kill the king, the king of Qi Yu Wenliang and his son Yu Wenming, and those who got the head of Yu Wenliang were crowned the Duke of the Kingdom, and those who were the first of the Yu Civilization were named the Duke of the County.

In the Taiji Palace, Wei Chi led the civil and military officials to get ready and bowed to the two people on the throne.

Chi Mingyue, the pale face of the Empress Dowager, sat on the throne, and beside her sat the young Yuwen Weicheng, who was wearing the crown of the Son of Heaven at this time, trembling, and holding his aunt's hand tightly with his right hand.

The two of them stared blankly at the steps, watching the civil and military officials bow to themselves under the leadership of Wei Chidun.

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!"