At the foot of the mountain in the capital of Baiju County, the mansion of Xihai County.

"At home, Li Xiancheng and Wu County Lieutenant visited together." An old servant in Tsing Yi bent down with his hands down and walked down in the Chasing Yuan Hall.

At home, it was originally the title of the crown prince by the officials of the Han Empire who had the rank ratio and the rank of Lu. After the reform of the Holy Ancestor, the previous title began to change. Many large families are extremely loyal, or have followed their head for a long time, or the family slaves will refer to their master as "family" to show their own distinction and respect for the head of the family.

Although the Xihai County Mansion has a very high prestige and authority in Xihai Prefecture, the mansion itself is not large, only occupying a range of about 1,000 acres at the foot of the Baiju County Fucheng Mountain, which is divided into five into sixteen houses before and after, in addition to Jingyuan, Chaiyuan Hall, Simutang and Shenyuan four branch houses.

The contemporary Xihai County Prince, the head of the Xihai Ma family, Ma Shen, likes to live in Chaiyuan Hall.

Ma Shen has a long body, gray hair, thin cheeks, but not many wrinkles, and a pair of square eyes are also bright, you know, the contemporary Xihai County stallion has been in charge of the Xihai Ma family for thirty-three years, longer than the current son of the reign, this year is sixty-nine years old, and it is extremely rare for the eyes to remain so clear and bright. There are many people who are over 50 years old and their eyes are already cloudy. Ma Shen's ability to maintain his health is not only due to his good fitness habits.

When the servants came to report, Ma Shen was wearing a Chinese-style practice uniform and practicing the five bird operas in the open space in front of the hall. After hearing this, he didn't stop the side flat movement of the bird play in his hand, but just slowly breathed his breath, and waited until the last action of pulling his knees and close to his chest, and then said slowly: "Please go to the front hall to serve tea!" ”

"No!" The old servant bowed and retreated.

Wait for the horse to finish the last set of moves. Immediately, a maid handed over a hand towel soaked in warm water, and another maid held a mink cloak over Ma Shen's body. At the same time, there are maids who bring tea and rinse their mouths...... When this was done, Ma Shen waved at the sword-wielding boy who had been standing under the corridor. "Slave, come!"

The boy called the young slave was eleven or twelve years old, childish, his hair was tied up on both sides of the two buns, he looked quite pleasing, his face was the same as that of a horse, and even the eyes that were not yet formed, but faintly had a square shape.

"Grandpa, please practice swords!" The childish slave said in a milky voice.

This young slave was actually the great-grandson of Ma San. Many heads of big families, when they are old, will choose a few of their valued children and grandchildren to put by their side, saying that it is a tradition to temper or persuade the servants. Of course, this tradition, in the customs of the Han Empire, often meant that the head of the family chose an heir.

For example, this boy named Zhinu, he is actually the eldest grandson of Ma Yuan, the eldest son of Ma Shen. Minghe, milk name childish slave. The word has not been taken yet, and this will not be allowed to be taken by Ma Shen until the boy Shufa enters school.

Looking at this great-grandson who has been with him for four or five years, Ma Shen's eyes are full of pampering. touched the bun on his head and said, "I won't practice swords today, go change my clothes, and go with my grandfather to meet the two of them." ”

The slave nodded obediently: "Oh! ”

Look at his well-behaved appearance. Ma Shen couldn't help but want to test him again, and asked with a smile: "Do you know who you want to see with your grandfather?" What to do? ”

The young slave said: "Go back to grandpa." The grandson who will meet his grandfather later is Li Shiyuan, the fourth-generation son of the Xihai Li family's side branch Jin Shentang (Note 1), who is currently the county of Baiju County, Dingxing Prefecture, Xihai Prefecture, Han Empire. and Wu Jingzong, the sixth generation son of the Xihai Wu clan, is currently the county lieutenant of Wuding County, Dingxing Prefecture, Xihai Prefecture, Han Empire. As for what to do~~" The young slave stuck out his little tongue, but he didn't say anything, just looked at his great-grandfather with shining eyes, and said expectantly: "This grandson really doesn't know, I think it should be some trivial matter in the house!" ”

Ma Shen smiled, patted his little bun, and said angrily: "Little childish slave, do you want to take grandpa's words before the milk stinks dry!?" ”

The young slave grinned and said, "Grandpa don't worry, my grandson really doesn't know, although my grandfather asked my grandfather to show my grandson some of the latest times, but my grandson really doesn't understand it, but I just faintly feel, faintly feel~~"

"What do you think?!" Ma Shen looked at this little great-grandson with expectation.

The childish slave's small chest straightened, and he said crisply: "Grandpa didn't get angry when he said wrong, grandson faintly felt that it was because of the fact that the Marquis of Bohai would come to Dingxing Mansion?!" ”

Ma Shen was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and nodded the tip of the delicate nose of the childish slave, and said with a smile: "Childish slave, childish slave, you have to be born a few years earlier, grandpa and I don't have to worry about our Xihaima family now!" ”

The slave smiled, but did not reply.

This intimate gesture of touching his head and nodding his nose has already revealed Ma Shen's love for this great-grandson. When the maids around them saw it, they would definitely tell the situation, and at the same time, today's conversation would also spread under the inquiry of those who were interested. With these, it was enough for the Mahima.

……

The Chaiyuan Hall of the Xihai County Mansion is divided into the front hall and the apse, as well as the east and west compartments, which are connected by a corridor in the middle, and the open space in the middle is planted with low shrubs that are evergreen all year round, and there is no gold and silver inlay decoration on the doors and windows. Although it is simple and simple, the furnishings and designs of each place all carry the thick and calm atmosphere of wealth and nobility of the Xihai County Mansion for 500 years.

It is not the first time that Li Shiyuan and Wu Jingzong have come to Chaiyuan Hall, but every time they come, they will be extremely emotional. Although the Li family and the Wu family also have wealth in Xihai Prefecture that is not inferior to the Ma family, when it comes to the depth of the heritage, they can't compare to the descendants of this Jin Gong Ma Chao.

Not to mention anything else, just the four-character plaque of "Chasing Far in the End of Caution" hanging on the Chasing Yuan Hall is the title of the Holy Ancestor Emperor, which is the wealth that the other five families cannot match. Not to mention that there are also inscriptions and paintings given by the emperors of the Han Dynasty in other halls!

If it weren't for the fact that this time the matter was really tricky, and they had to come to discuss it with the Xihai County Duke as the spokesperson and pawn of the Li and Wu families in Dingxing Mansion, Li Shiyuan and Wu Jingzong were really reluctant to step into the Ma Mansion.

Without him, there are too many rules, the Zhuma stone in front of the Mafu Gate is the sea rock that Jin Gong pulled back from the edge of the Mediterranean Sea, after they came here to dismount, they also had to salute this stone that symbolized the martial arts of the Han Dynasty, and when they entered the gate, they also had to salute the shadow wall behind the gate. Because it is the wall of "Stop Fighting for Martial Arts" inscribed by Jin Gongma Chao himself! Bypassing the shadow wall, you have to salute the lintel of the front hall, because the couplet is given to Jin Gong by Zhigong Zhuge Liang. to meet the Lord; Gu Xi sealed the public plan for thousands of miles, seeking to defeat the world". Not to mention that when I got to the front hall, I saw the "Chase Far Away" written by the Holy Ancestor himself......

In short, a set of procedures is enough to make Li Shiyuan and Wu Jingzong, the two last generations who are no longer young, tired their waists and kidneys. But it's not okay not to come, because the Li and Wu families really can't make up their minds about this time. The Marquis of Bohai of the Han Dynasty came, and he also brought more than 2,000 flying cavalry guards to a strong army.

If it is placed in normal times, the Marquis of Bohai of the Han Dynasty will come here, and it is a big deal to let the heads of the Xiao, Li, and Wu families come forward to entertain them, and even the Ma family does not need the old man to come forward, and a marquis of the Han Dynasty cannot afford to be invited by the Duke of Xihai. On the contrary, it was only right that he Bohai Marquis would come over to meet him in person. Even if the Marquis of Bohai comes, he may not be able to see the Xihai County Duke himself, maybe it is just Ma Yuan, the eldest son of the County Prince, who can come forward to entertain.

There is no way, although the Duke of Xihai County is not the highest duke title in the Han Empire, the signboard of the Duke of the County is not weaker than the duke's grade. Not to mention a marquis, even if the duke comes, it depends on whether their seniority is enough to greet a duke of Xihai County, who is over the age of old!

However, this is no longer the case. Since the rebellion in Dayuezhou, it has been a full year and six months since the Han Emperor has not sent a single official document or instruction!

Yes. For a whole year and six months, not only did the Emperor of the Han Dynasty not have a single edict, but also the Executive Yuan, the Privy Council, and the Supervisory Yuan did not have an edict, and even the Six Ministries, Honglu Temple, Craftsman Supervisor and other yamen. There was not a single instruction.

It's scary!

Although the rebellion in Dayue Prefecture cut off the communication between the east and the west, is it really impossible to pass on even a little news? This is obviously impossible! Even businessmen know that they can get to Dahan by changing the road, but it is hard and dangerous. And by no means completely out of news.

No matter how bad it is, the Han's Yulin Secret Guard is not an institution that just does nothing. This is a meticulous yamen who usually wants to toss something out of nothing, but even the Yulin Secret Guard has no news. This inevitably makes Dingxing Mansion a little confused about the current situation.

Could it be that the imperial capital also thinks that Xihai Prefecture is reversed? But the edict of the Son of Heaven of the Great Han only pointed out the rebellion of the Yue clan and the Zhang clan, and did not mention the West Sea at all! But if the imperial capital thinks that Xihai has not rebelled, then at least the Privy Council should order Xihai Prefecture to do its best and attack Dayue Prefecture with Yigong's army!

But there is nothing~~ It's as if tens of thousands of officials in the imperial capital have collectively forgotten that the Han Empire also has a huge Xihai Prefecture!

It's a weird situation.

The most bizarre thing is that just when everyone was waiting for the result of the decisive battle between Yigong and Yue, a flying cavalry guard Red Fox Division claiming to be led by the Marquis of Bohai of the Great Han Dynasty suddenly crossed the 800-mile Hanhai Sea from the north and drove directly to Dingxing Mansion.

Before Xihai Prefecture openly merged with the Yue Clan, it was still the territory of the Han Empire, and the second-class army stationed in Longqing Mansion at the northern end of Xihai Prefecture was still the army of the Han Empire.

And after a short day of rest in Longqing Mansion, this flying cavalry guard immediately marched towards Dingxing Mansion, and the official document that came showed that it was actually going to enter Liulian County, Longxi Mansion, east of Dingxing Mansion!

This Liulian County is sixty miles away from Dingxing Mansion, and two hundred miles to the east is the endless mountains, which extend to the Green Ridge, and after the Green Ridge passes are the donations of the Yue's family, which is now the base of the Yue's Zhang's family!!

The Great Han Bohai Marquis wants to enter Liulian County, does he need to ask what he wants to do?!

If it is said that Xihai Prefecture is united in thinking about being loyal to the Han Empire, then of course it doesn't matter, and even Xihai Prefecture can provide the Han Bohai Marquis with a regular army of no less than 100,000 people, and a subordinate baggage army of millions of people, the kind that brings their own rations.

But the question is, is Xihai Prefecture united? The answer, of course, is no.

Only three days after the official document of Longqing Mansion was submitted, Yangyi County, four hundred miles northwest of Dingxing Mansion, sent an official document from the Flying Cavalry Guard to cross the border. That is to say, in just three days, the flying cavalry guard traveled 800 miles, and the fast advance along the straight road almost without rest, according to this speed, the flying cavalry guard can arrive at Dingxing Mansion in three days!

Li Shiyuan didn't know how many days it took this flying cavalry guard to cross the 800-mile barren and waterless Hanhai Desert, but the speed of galloping 800 miles in three days was already worthy of the name of flying cavalry!

Emotions are feelings, but the problems to be faced still have to be faced.

After this Yueshi rebellion, Xihai Prefecture was actually not without a "king division." The voice of "Vabuchen", at least this is how the Xihai Prefecture Muwangdao is prepared. But it's a pity. Xihai Prefecture is not an old state of the empire, and the authority of the state pastor cannot control and influence everyone. "Rebels. Gather millions of people and hunt Chang'an with the Han Dynasty" is also very popular.

As mentioned before, the main tone of the political pattern in Xihai Prefecture is that Xiao, Li, and Wu are in charge, and the Ma family is influencing later, but does not actually participate in decision-making. Zhou Mu Wang Dao was sent down by the Executive Yuan, but the state Cheng and the state lieutenant were surnamed Li and surnamed Xiao, in addition, because Dingxing Mansion was also the seat of Xihai Prefecture, so Dingxing Mansion also had a government order, a government and a house Sima. And because the three counties under the jurisdiction of Dingxing Province all share the same city wall. So there are also three county magistrates, county magistrates, and county lieutenants...... It can be said that the political ecology of Dingxing Mansion is not as simple as that of the imperial capital, and it is even more complicated. At least there is a Son of Heaven who can really call the shots in the imperial capital, and in Dingxing Mansion, the state pastor who can be the master in name is actually listening to the Ma family, and there are as many as Li, Wu, and Xiao who can actually call the shots.

The three families all wanted to lean on the idea of the Yue clan, but they were worried that if the Great Han won, then they would face the fate of the clan annihilation, and the glory of five hundred years would be a passing cloud, so they didn't dare to call the shots in view of this. And the Ma family~~

The situation of the Ma family can only be said to be relatively simple. But it's also incredibly complex. There are regulations in the imperial official system, and the knight is passed down from ancient times to the present generation. In other words, the current head of the Ma family, Ma Shen, must officially pass the title of Duke of Xihai County to the heir next year. And the well-known heir of the Xihai Ma family is Ma Yuan, the eldest son of Ma Shen, who is fifty years old this year. He has been the heir for thirty-three years, as long as his father has been in charge of the Ma family, and he has long had his own will. In fact. Ma Shen has rarely appeared in the past seven or eight years, and most of the things have been handled by Ma Yuan himself. Just wait for the age of seventy to wait for the imperial capital holy decree to officially remove the title of Duke of Xihai County.

And this Ma Yuan, to be honest. is relatively unassertive, this is the consensus of Li, Wu, and Xiao. I don't know if it's because I've been sitting in the storage seat for too long, and I don't dare to take responsibility at all, and I have more time to be sloppy than to make decisions.

On the night of the official document from Longqing Mansion, the heads of the Li, Wu, and Xiao families met with Ma Yuan, but as soon as Ma Yuan heard what happened, he suddenly said that he had a headache and went back to rest. To this day, there is no accurate letter.

When Ma Yuan didn't have an explanation, the heads of the three families of Li, Wu, and Xiao didn't want to rush to the door of the Chaiyuan Hall and ask what the Ma family meant. I had to let Li Shiyuan and Wu Jingzong, two small characters, come to explore the tone.

In fact, there are many ways to probe the mouth, but it is not necessarily to go directly to the door, because it is easy for Ma Shen to catch the weakness of Li, Wu, and Xiao Sanjia who are actually very anxious. But time is really limited, and Li Shiyuan and Wu Jingzong have no other way for a while, so they have to come like this.

Of course, the excuse is very bad: "Since the lower official sat in the court, he has not visited the Xihai County Prince, so I came to greet the County Princess!" ”

A county magistrate of Baiju County and a county lieutenant of Wuding County, when will they be able to come to greet the Duke of Xihai County? Besides, Li Shiyuan took office seven years ago, and Wu Jingzong took office nine years ago, why did he go before? This excuse is really ~~

Li Shiyuan and Wu Jingzong also knew that they had found a bad excuse, and they were even mentally prepared to be rejected, after all, their arrival was just a gesture, so that the real head of the Ma family knew that there was such a matter that he needed to make a decision quickly.

But to their surprise, Ma Jungong actually came out to meet them in person, although the waiting time was a bit long, a full hour later, Li Wu and the others saw Xihai Jungong wearing the crimson court uniform of the Han Empire, followed by a boy wearing a jacket, just appeared in front of them.

Looking at these two county magistrates and county lieutenants without titles, Ma Shen didn't have so many politeness, and there was no need for so many politeness, after he sat down on the main seat, he didn't even let him get up from his seat and salute, and now Li Wu and the others, who had not yet sat down, sat down again, but said straightforwardly, very simply: "Three days later, the Xihai Ma family will go to Dingxing Mansion to pick up the official pavilion, and you can go to arrange it!" ”

In fact, from the moment the Duke of Xihai appeared in front of Li Wu and the others in court clothes, they already knew the decision of the Xihai Ma family. So both of them showed a trace of embarrassment and dissatisfaction on their faces.

But the prestige of the Duke of Xihai County is very high, Li Shiyuan stiffened his head and arched his hand: "Your Highness, does this move allow the official to tell ~~"

"Who?!" Ma Shen unceremoniously waved his hand to interrupt him, "Tell Li Longjing and Wu Anguo that this is the decision of my Xihai Ma family!" By the way, tell the old woman of the Xiao family, my horse is not dead, and it is not up to her to decide which boat this Xihaizhou wants to take. ”

Speaking of this, Ma Shen stood up, pointed to the four-character plaque on his head with his index finger, and said categorically: "Let those vertical sons who want to change the dynasty listen well, the Duke of Xihai County is the title of the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, and the people of our Ma family, even if they die, they must hold this territory of the Han Dynasty!" If my Ma family is in Xihai Prefecture for one day, not an inch of land in Xihai Prefecture will not be surnamed Liu!! Even if the caliph, who claims to be the lord of the world, or even Augustus, the king of all nations, comes!! ”

……

Note 1: Tang, in addition to being used as a special noun for building houses, is also often used as a title for a branch of a family in China. The so-called founding of the sect, this hall name is very important. The Han Empire in this book lasted for thousands of years, and many families were prosperous, with more than 10,000 clansmen, or even more than 100,000. Jinshentang and Yinmutang are branches of the Li and Wu clans. A similar situation will not be explained in the future. (To be continued.) )