"Good boy, the Monkey has finally been taken." The Guangzhou front-line command received a message from the southwest, which made Wang Houchun clap his hands and smile, "Now there is a powerful force in the southwest." ”

"Now there are only three forces left: Pang Juzhao, Ye Guangluo and Qu Chengmei, and they will return to Chang'an for the New Year." Yang Tiancheng smiled while looking at the map: "The rest of the Nanzhao can be slowed down for a while, and we will discuss it after the Imperial Conference next year." ”

"But Xue Yang killed the Great Chieftain of the Moon." Wang Houchun came over and said with a wry smile: "And Tianyi burned Mazhou into a white ground with a fire attack on the battlefield, and the people of the Qi tribe suffered heavy casualties and suffered great injuries. ”

"None of these guys are worry-free, the slaughter of Xue Wanli on the Eastern Front is too heavy, this has not been solved yet, there is another fire attack, okay, this is lively." Yang Tiancheng was stunned for a moment, then turned his head to look at Wang Houchun and frowned: "I'm afraid that there will be a lot of trouble in civil affairs in the future, and we are afraid that we will be scolded by Mr. Cen again when we go back to Chang'an." ”

In fact, when Yang Tiancheng was worried about how to carry out the follow-up government affairs, Xue Yang, who had just won Massachusetts, was also worried. Although the Tiance army tried its best to extinguish the fire, the Mazhou water village was still burned to the ground, and even the mountains behind it were burned to the ground, which was the result of the Tiance army and many surviving people working together to extinguish the fire, otherwise in this weather, the weather is dry and rainy, and I don't know when it will burn.

After the war, Xue Yang found a reason to transfer Li Tianyi and the cavalry corps back to Yongzhou, otherwise he was afraid that there would be some conflict between these people and them at that time.

"Two brothers, I have a solution that may be able to solve the problem." Li Yang pondered for a long time and suddenly spoke: "People can't be resurrected after death, and since the Great Chief of Qiqi has chosen to fight against the Tiance Army, the people of Qiqi should have the consciousness of dying in battle." Although our methods are a bit cruel, there is nothing wrong with the killing field duel. Since we burned the water village, I think it is better to take advantage of the army's rest here to help them build a city. In this way, it can resolve grievances and facilitate management. I don't think it will cause trouble for the Cabinet in this way. ”

Li Yang's method made Xue Yang and Xu Ying both groan for a while, and they both nodded. Xu Ying said: "This is good, at least it shows that my Tiance Army treats the local people with great care." Send for their Great Elder, and take counsel with him. ”

Soon, the Great Elder was approached by the Tiance Army, but the Great Elder was followed by a young woman dressed in black, which made everyone very strange, but they didn't ask too much. Instead, the woman looked curiously at everything in the tent of the commander of the Tiance Army. Xue Yang didn't make a detour, and directly explained what he meant. Help the Qiqi people build the city, move to the open flat land next to it, and really establish the city of Massachusetts, and promise that the Tiance army will leave them with enough supplies to help them tide over the difficulties until the cabinet civil affairs officials arrive to take over.

The Tiance Army helped build the city, which was naturally a good thing for the Qiqi people at this time. It has traveled from Yunnan for thousands of years, and so far there is no city that really belongs to itself. If Massachusetts is really established, then the people of Massachusetts can also migrate out of the mountains and live a better life. It's just that Xue Yang's last sentence made the Great Elder suspicious, but before he could speak, the woman in black beside him suddenly asked, "According to the general's meaning, I will be directly included in your territory?" ”

Her words made several people on the side change their complexions, but Xue Yang suddenly understood what she meant, and looked up at the Great Elder beside him, who hurriedly explained: "General, this is my High Priest - Lan Hibiscus. She did not mean to offend the general, please forgive the general. ”

Xue Yang waved his hand, although he was a little curious about this Lan Hibiscus, but he still said solemnly: "The founding of the Tang Dynasty was separated from the military and the government, but there is one thing that everyone must be clear, the land of the Tang Dynasty must be managed in a unified manner. It was originally the old land of the Tang Dynasty, and this time it was naturally to be included in the management of the central court to return to orthodoxy anyway. If we let it go any further, then what's the point of waiting for us to fight for life and death? ”

"Then may I ask the general, how does the Tang Dynasty treat my subordinates?" The high priest saw Xue Yang staring at him with blazing eyes, his face turned red for no reason, and he shook his head and said: "I have existed for thousands of years, and since ancient times, Mazhou has been my old land, when did it become the territory of the Tang Dynasty?" ”

"According to the high priest's meaning, you intend to divide and stand on your own? Under the whole world, it is not the king's land, and the shore of the land is not the king's minister. I, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, inherited the unification, and the world naturally belongs to the Tang Dynasty. Any force that vainly tries to secede and stand on its own feet and break away from the imperial court is the enemy of our Tiance Army. The high priest should not take the life and death of hundreds of thousands of people as a child's play and force me to take action. Xue Yang was a little strange about the tone of the high priest, but he couldn't help but sneer at her words: "If you don't integrate into the mainstream society of the Tang Dynasty, you will inevitably be eliminated by history, and then I'm afraid that the high priest will become a historical sinner in Qiqi." ”

The high priest was about to retort, but was stopped by the great elder on the side. When Xue Yang spoke just now, several people around him were seriously excited, and they were afraid that they would make a move if they didn't agree with each other, and that murderous aura made the Great Elder's heart tremble, and he didn't dare to have any other thoughts. So after he stopped the high priest, he took over and said: "It is natural that the old land belongs to the Tang Dynasty, and we must not dare to have other thoughts, but the people of my Qi are also the old ministers of the Tang Dynasty, although there are big chiefs who are not filial and arrogant to compete with Wang Shi, but I hope that the general will have good intentions and not implicate innocent people." ”

"Great Elder, please rest assured, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty and the imperial court will treat them equally and will not discriminate against them. At that time, the civil affairs officials will give all the people who have landed as citizens and issue vouchers. Xue Yang waved his hand and said, "These affairs are not within the scope of the commander's authority. It would be good for the Great Elder to connect with the civil affairs officials when the time comes. As for helping you build the city, if the two of you have no opinions, the Tiance Army will start exploring the foundation in the open space west of the Qingshui River starting tomorrow, and the follow-up team will also assist, hoping that the Great Elder will mobilize the people of the Qi tribe to work together to build their own homes. ”

After sending away the great elders, Xue Yang summoned Yang Hu and his construction brigade to arrange the construction of the city, and instructed the rear to transport some necessary building materials.

After the Great Elder left the tent of the Tiance military camp, he began to discuss with the high priest how to mobilize his troops to participate in the construction of the city. However, the high priest seemed to be thinking about something else, a little absent-minded, and after being shouted by his grandfather, he suddenly asked, "Grandpa, what do you think of the young general of the Tiance Army?" ”

"Ambitious, extraordinary. What's wrong? The Great Elder didn't understand what his granddaughter meant for a while, but apparently the High Priest took over the conversation and continued: "Grandpa, now that the Great Chief is dead, according to the rules of the Tang Dynasty, I am afraid that the Great Chief will not be set up in the future, and without the Great Chief, I, the High Priest who communicates with the gods, will lose its effect, and I think I will be able to gain a little bit of myself in the future." ”

Seeing his granddaughter's smile after a long absence, the Great Elder also reacted, nodded and smiled: "The Great Chief is gone, but the High Priest still needs it, you go back and find a suitable successor to pass on the position of High Priest to her." It's just that he's the generalissimo who commands the army—"

"Grandpa, don't talk about it. I'll do my own thing. What's wrong with him being the Generalissimo, I'm still the High Priest. Lan Jin's fair face showed a hint of redness, and he left his grandfather and left by himself.

"How can you not let grandpa take care of it? It's a big funeral, I'm afraid that you will marry for the sake of the clan's sacrifice. It's up to me to find a way out. The Great Elder looked at his granddaughter's distant figure, sighed, and turned around and walked over quickly.

Yang Hu's construction brigade sent the prisoner of war brigade back to the rear before, but the basic technical workers have not left, at this time, the use of the army and the people of the Horse and the prisoner of war of the Monk, more than 100,000 people at the same time to start building the city is naturally very fast, and Yang Hu also built a bridge on the Qingshui River, the straight road directly connected to the new Mazhou City, so that the passage of Mazhou to the outside world for generations has also become developed with the opening of the straight road.

"Great Elder, in the future, you Qi people can trade with other tribes along this straight road, and you can also follow this road to the interior to do business with the Han people. The emperor said before that only with a road can there be wealth. Xu Ying and others are basically urging soldiers and prisoners of war to hurry up the construction, the end of the year is getting closer and closer, they have received orders from the headquarters, there will be no new combat orders before the end of the year, and the Western Front will stop the troops on the spot after taking the Qiqi, and wait for the decision after the imperial meeting. Therefore, after repairing this city, several of the high-ranking officials of the Western Route Army had to rush back to Chang'an to wait for the meeting of Tiance Mansion.

Xue Yang took the Great Elder to explain the importance of road construction while explaining to them the city he had built. Originally, according to the plan of the cabinet and the Tiance Army, the future inland city basically no longer emphasizes the protective function of the city wall, but considering that it is a mountainous area, there may be other dangers, so Xue Yang still asked Yang Hu to add the city wall to the city this time. It's just that this is bitter for Yang Hu, and there are no bricks here, so he hurriedly built a brick factory next to it to burn red bricks. Fortunately, in the past few days, the Great Elder has called on more people to join the construction tide, and under the almost endless supply of labor, the siege has not received much impact. And these days, the high priest also appeared in the barracks from time to time, with various questions to find Xue Yang, the two of them were discussing problems in the tent, yes, and went out to supervise the progress of the construction, and coordinate the relationship between the military and the people, because the two have a special status, the high priest has a high prestige in the minds of the people, so the original grudge between the two sides of the bloody war has been resolved a lot in the tense labor.

"The general looks very young, not only can he fight battles, but he also knows all these things about building cities, which is really amazing. I don't know if the general is expensive this year, is there a girl he likes? I can't eat when I see the figure of the general these days, why don't I introduce you to one or two? "The Great Elder has gradually become familiar with the high-level of the Tiance Army in the past few days, and through side inquiries, he also knows that Xue Yang has not yet married, thinking of his granddaughter's appearance, he gritted his teeth and asked this question.

"Great Elder, what are you busy with? I've heard that your high priest has changed? What's wrong? Did something go wrong? Xue Yang's face was stunned and before he could reply, Xu Ying's voice came from behind him, and he and Li Shenfu walked over together and said with a smile.

"Isn't this the will of the gods, and there will also be a new atmosphere when the Emperor returns to the Tang Dynasty, so the selection of the high priest was carried out in advance. Hibiscus has now stepped down from his position as high priest. The Great Elder's face froze, he finally seized an opportunity, and before he could reply, he was disturbed, and he was suddenly a little helpless.

However, Xu Ying looked at the Great Elder and said with a smile: "I heard that Miss Lan Jin is in her youth in her twenty-eighth year this year, so it is better to go back to Chang'an with me and others to meet the emperor at the end of the year, maybe the emperor will reward her with something." What does the Great Elder think? ”

"Oh, I said, can you stop talking and going around? Dashuai, I think you are suitable for marriage this year, and the high priest is now free, and people are interested in you, do you want to consider it? Li Shenfu saw that Xu Ying had something to say, but he never broke it, and couldn't help laughing: "If the marshal is interested, how about me and the deputy marshal tell you the matchmaker?" ”

Li Shenfu's words made Xue Yang's face red, he, the commander, commanded the soldiers and horses to charge into battle, and he was not inferior to others, and even superior in tactical command, but how could he speak about this kind of thing? In the past few days, he and Lan Jin have also gotten along for a few days, but they only have a good impression of the sky, and when Li Shenfu said this, it seemed that nothing would come to him, but he couldn't get off the stage for a while, so he couldn't help but say: "I'm just a rough man in the military, the high priest is young and moving, and I'm a high-level person, it's not something I can deserve, or——"

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Xu Ying, Li Shenfu's voice made all his previous plans come to naught, so after glaring at the other party, he picked up Xue Yang's words and said: "This matter, since you don't object, then do as I say, let's not argue, the high priest will go back to Chang'an with us on a pilgrimage anyway, why don't you let the emperor decide when the time comes?" Besides, I am your brother, this matter is a private matter, although you are a handsome, but you have to listen to me, so it is decided. If the Great Elder has no opinion, how about informing the High Priest and asking him to step down as High Priest after returning from Chang'an? ”

Originally, Xue Yang's words made the Great Elder's heart sink, but after Xu Ying said this, although Xue Yang's face turned red, he surprisingly did not object, just stood there and bowed his head and was silent, and suddenly felt that there was a play, and hurriedly nodded and turned around to inform him.

"Brother, aren't you Lalang a match? In case people don't want to, what extraordinary actions will the emperor have to do at that time, how do you let the high priest pick it up? As soon as the Great Elder left, Xue Yang immediately complained about Xu Ying, and by the way, even Li Shenfu was glared at.

"How could it be unwilling? You haven't seen the High Priest come looking for you these days, and you haven't seen anything about our brothers? After Li Shenfu muttered, he suddenly found that both of them were looking at him, and he was so frightened that he ran away.

"Although Shenfu is muddy, what he said is not unreasonable. The high priest is a good person, good-looking, and a good match for you, and besides, people have affection for you, we can all see it, otherwise the great elder will not have nothing to say to inquire about your private affairs. Xu Ying patted Xue Yang's shoulder, and the two of them said as they walked: "Besides, I am afraid that the marriage between you and Qi Qi will also be good for stabilizing the southwest border, which is a good thing to count in one fell swoop, I think the emperor will give you a marriage directly, and then even save it before the wedding." ”

"You're going to sell me like that?" When Xue Yang heard Xu Ying's words, he immediately frowned when he thought of his proposal just now, "Are you asking me to go and kiss?" ”

"You're not happy, aren't you? I'm your brother, and there's no one in your family, so I'm naturally in charge of this matter. Xu Ying glared at him and scolded with a smile: "You won't really be unwilling, right?" If I really don't want to, I'll go to Li Yang, this kid hasn't got a family, so he really can't-"

"Forget it then." Xue Yang dropped an inexplicable sentence and turned away, but Xu Ying was full of smiles and laughed in a low voice: "I know that you kid is reserved, what did you do earlier, the high priest has been upside down these days, okay?" ”