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At noon, the sky was unusually gloomy, and the weather was like this for the past few days, and it seemed that it could rain at any time, but God seemed to be joking with the world, and the heavy rain was always hidden.

This kind of weather makes people always feel very depressed, and there is a feeling of breathlessness.

On the official road, Qiao Mingtang, the governor of Xishan Road, sat in the grass hut on the side of the road, the grass hut was built very casually, within a few miles nearby, the Xishan Janissaries were scattered, and in the past, it was an official road where people came and went, but now it is difficult to see pedestrians.

Since three days ago, this official road has been blocked, and pedestrians can only turn around.

In addition to Qiao Mingtang, there were dozens of other officials, large and small, all dressed in official uniforms, gathered in groups of three or five, whispering.

A fast horse galloped over, Wei Tianqing, the commander of the Praetorian Guard beside Qiao Mingtang, had already strode forward to meet him, and walked to the grass hut, the fast horse had galloped closer, a soldier stepped forward to take the reins of the horse from the rider's hand, the rider on horseback turned over and dismounted, and when he saw Wei Tianqing, he had already knelt down on one knee, and said: "Lord Qiqi, the holy driver has diverted to Changshan!" ”

Wei Tianqing was stunned, hurriedly turned around, and walked quickly to Qiao Mingtang, Qiao Mingtang had already stood up, and asked anxiously: "Wei Tong, is there any news from the saint?" ”

"Lord Qiqi, the holy car will be diverted to Changshan and will not pass through here." Wei Tianqing said immediately.

Qiao Mingtang was stunned and frowned slightly, but he still quickly ordered, "Hurry up and prepare your horse and go to Changshan!" ”

"My lord, Changshan is a hundred miles away from here......

Without waiting for Wei Tianqing to finish speaking, Qiao Mingtang had already said: "It's thousands of miles, then it can't be delayed, hurry, start immediately!" ”

Changshan is located in the eastern part of Xishan, bordering Yuling Road, and belongs to the land of wealth in the territory of Xishan Road.

The emperor's northern tour, as a governor, Qiao Mingtang, naturally knew the news early, although he had already known a few months ago that His Majesty the Emperor was going to go to Hexi through the territory of Xishan Road, but the holy car had never set off from the capital.

In the past few months, Qiao Mingtang has naturally been paying attention to the emperor's northern tour all the time.

Although there are many roads leading from Luo'an Capital to Hexi, there are only two roads that can allow the Holy Driver to pass.

The emperor's team went out of Beijing to inspect, and the road they traveled was bound to be smooth and wide, and these were the few two feasible official roads, one of which was from Hebei Province, and the other road was to pass through Xishan Road.

Hebei Province, naturally, does not need to be considered, and now it is full of Qingtian Righteous Army.

Therefore, Qiao Mingtang knew very well in his heart that if the emperor wanted to tour north, he must pass through the Xishan Road, and he naturally had some connections in the court, so as not to make mistakes when receiving the emperor, he also always wanted to inquire about the specific time and specific route of the emperor's departure.

However, the emperor was obviously quite cautious about this northern tour, and before leaving, he did not disclose to anyone when he would set off, and Qiao Mingtang even once inquired that the emperor attached great importance to this northern tour.

When the emperor's team left Beijing, Qiao Mingtang naturally got the news very early, and Xishan was also trying his best to prepare.

There was no emperor's palace on Xishan Road, so Qiao Mingtang gathered the gentry of Xishan and selected a grand and luxurious manor to be used as the emperor's resting place.

After the arrangements were made on the Xishan side, Qiao Mingtang stared at the day of the emperor's arrival, although the emperor's team had left Beijing, but what was strange was that the imperial court did not send any will to Qiao Mingtang from beginning to end, the date of the emperor's arrival and the accommodation arrangements, it stands to reason that the Ministry of Rites should come to discuss with the local officials, but the Ministry of Rites did not send a person to negotiate and discuss.

Although Qiao Mingtang was strange, he didn't dare to slack off, the imperial court did not have a clear decree, but he was the governor of this place who could not help but make careful preparations.

The imperial court did not inform the emperor of the itinerary, but Qiao Mingtang himself had to inquire, before the northern tour team was about to enter the territory of Xishan Road, Qiao Mingtang already knew the specific location of the northern tour team.

He calculated according to the average speed of the Northern Patrol team all the way, and knew that the emperor would enter Xishan Road within three or two days, so he brought a cadre of officials from Xishan Road to greet him early.

I have been waiting here for three days in a row, according to the normal itinerary, it should have passed through Qingliu County, but now I got the news that the northern patrol team actually went around to Changshan County, which is nearly a hundred miles away from Qingliu County, Qiao Mingtang was surprised, and he didn't dare to delay for a moment, and led the officials to hurry over to Changshan.

There are old and young officials, and the younger ones are fine, but the old ones are really struggling.

It wasn't until midnight that Qiao Mingtang and other Xishan officials rushed to Changshan County, and someone had already heard that the emperor was camping on the bank of the Liunu River in Changshan, and Qiao Mingtang and others immediately rushed to the Liunu River.

The Liunu River is a large river that runs through Changshan County, the river surface is not wide, but the water is clear.

When Qiao Mingtang and the others rushed to the Liunu River exhausted, they saw starlight on the banks of the Liunu River from a distance, and there were fires for ten miles, and the road ahead had been blocked, and the royal guard warriors in armor were closely guarded.

Although it was a governor, Qiao Mingtang did not dare to be rude to the guards of the guards, and reported his name, and the guards warriors entered the camp to report, and it didn't take long for an official to come over quickly, and the warrior in front of him was carrying a delicate lantern in his hand, and under the light, Qiao Mingtang had already seen the person's appearance clearly, and hurriedly stepped forward and arched his hand: "Qiao Mingtang, the governor of Xishan Road, see Xue Butang!" ”

This one who came quickly was none other than Xue Huai'an, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites.

Xue Huai'an was already smiling and said, "Governor Qiao, you guys are coming quickly." ”

Qiao Mingtang said respectfully: "Xia Guan was originally waiting for the holy driver in Qingliu County, but he heard that the holy driver came to Changshan, so he hurriedly led his colleagues from Xishan to serve the holy driver!" ”

Xue Huai'an said with a smile: "The Holy Lord didn't want to alarm the local government on this northern tour, so he didn't make an order to inform the local officials in advance. ”

"The saint patrols the north, works hard along the way, and the lower officials should serve them wholeheartedly." Qiao Mingtang said softly: "Xue Butang, but I don't know if I can go to meet the Holy Lord now?" ”

Xue Huai'an shook his head and said: "The Holy Lord is still sitting on the road, and there is still an hour left before he can get out of the customs, so he can only wait for the Holy Lord to go out of the customs before he can report it." ”

Although it was late at night, Qiao Mingtang came all the way, but he was also dusty, and when he heard that the emperor was still sitting, he raised his sleeves and wiped the sweat on his forehead, and said, "Xiaguan has already settled a place for the saint, here...... How could the Holy One set up camp in the suburbs? ”

"The saint is originally born with iron blood." Xue Huai'an said softly: "Since leaving Beijing, the saint has always camped in the suburbs, just to not disturb the place. Glancing behind Xue Huai'an, he saw that there were as many as thirty or forty officials, large and small, and said in a low voice: "Governor Qiao, all these officials are here, I'm afraid the Holy Lord will not receive them...... It was still important to have official business, except for the chief officials of the Sixth Division Yamen and the governors of the states of Xishan Road, the other officials still asked them to go back early, so as not to delay their official duties. ”

Qiao Mingtang said softly: "Everyone is here to be able to see the face of the sky and listen to the teachings of the saint. ”

"The Holy One doesn't care about that." Xue Huai'an lowered his voice and said: "The Holy Lord just doesn't want to alarm the local officials, lest you neglect your official duties, if the Holy Lord sees Governor Qiao leading so many officials here, I'm afraid that I will ......!" He didn't continue, but Qiao Mingtang naturally knew the afterglow of Xue Huai'an's words, and his eyes showed gratitude, and said, "Thank you, Lord Ministry." Turning around, he gave a few words of advice to the officials, and the officials looked at each other, and soon, many officials arched their hands to Xue Huai'an's side, and then retreated one after another, and in the end, there were no more than a dozen or so people.

"Governor Qiao, go first and have a cup of tea, and wait for the saint to come out, and then report to you." Xue Huai'an smiled.

Qiao Mingtang bowed deeply, "Thank you, Lord Ministry!" ”

It's just that to enter the camp, but it's not a simple matter, including Qiao Mingtang, all the officials who entered the camp were searched from top to bottom by the warriors of the Guards, Wei Tianqing was originally a saber, but he was also taken off his saber at this moment.

Of course, the officials also knew that it was an extraordinary time for His Majesty the Emperor to tour the north, and the Royal Guards were responsible for protecting the Emperor's safety, so they naturally had to be cautious and cautious.

After entering the camp, Qiao Mingtang knew that the scale of the emperor's northern tour was far larger than he imagined, and the camp patrol was actually a cavalry and horse team, and the endless tents were like stars holding the moon, protecting the emperor's dragon chariot in it.

said that it was a dragon chariot, but Qiao Mingtang felt that this was inappropriate, or that the dragon chariot of the emperor's northern tour was not a dragon chariot at all, but a separate courtyard.

Although there is still a long way to go, the dragon chariot in the courtyard is already dazzling and gorgeous.

"It was made by the Ministry of Industry with 200 skilled craftsmen and took more than two months to make." Xue Huai'an put his hands behind his back and looked at the dazzling dragon chariot from afar: "In addition to the hall, there are six rooms of different sizes, and there is a special monastery room, the top is glazed tiles, and the edge is inlaid with night pearls, that is, in the night, it is also as bright as day, and Governor Qiao also saw it, this is a big dragon chariot that has never been seen before, and it must be a great dragon that has never been seen before!" ”

Qiao Mingtang was already shocked.

The area of the dragon chariot is very large, the year of the dragon is surrounded by a railing surrounded by white marble, the corridor is also very wide, the night pearl exudes a faint light in the night, in front of the dragon chariot, there is even a rockery erected.

The officials behind Qiao Mingtang were also dumbfounded.

"Lord Budo, this ...... With such a huge dragon chariot, I don't know how many people it takes to carry it? ”

"Eighty-eight!" Xue Huai'an immediately said: "Front, back, left, right, including the bottom of the dragon chariot, it takes at least eighty-eight strong and powerful men to be able to lift it, and not one less can do it." After a pause, he said: "In order to select the sedan chair man, the Mabutang of the household department took great pains, and finally selected two hundred strong and powerful men, divided into two shifts, and made up for them, so that this dragon chariot was carried here. ”