"Recruit me back to Ctesiphon? Why? ”

Pointing at herself in astonishment, Princess Anna, who had lost the cumbersome court etiquette of Byzantium, shouted loudly: "King Min doesn't know, there are still many things to do in the southeast, and the palace is very busy and can't leave?" ”

Li Rang is the same as Li Jie, very nostalgic, the border guard who was trained together in the Hindu Kush Mountains and some friends of the forbidden army were almost all asked by him to come to his side, and the one who was responsible for bringing the messenger over to deliver the message was Li Rang's team leader Jiao Dalin, even if the eldest son of the living King of Min had seen it, the master who dared to bargain with the King of Min like this, Jiao Dalin saw it for the first time, and couldn't help but be dumbfounded.

However, the forbidden army who came to give the order seemed to have been mentioned in advance, and the young captain Wu Sansi, who looked quite white and looked a little creamy, announced with an expressionless face.

"King Min said, Princess Anna doesn't have time to come back, it's not a big deal."

Coming all the way, it's not a big deal? Jiao Dalin almost fainted again.

"I'm afraid it's not a big deal because Sister Wu said it, right?" Almost didn't even think about it, Anna had already muttered angrily, but fortunately, she didn't have anything to do with Jiao Dalin's heart, and knelt down respectfully to accept the order, which made Captain Jiao feel better.

Assisting Li Rang to establish power in the desert is not something that Anna dares to do alone, she has received Li Jie's clear consent in advance, otherwise she has been trained by Li Jie many times, how dare Anna be so presumptuous?

After receiving the order, Anna really opened Li Jie's handwriting with suspicion, and when she glanced at it, she was already screaming angrily.

"To deprive me of my inheritance? Unless I, Anna, are dead, or he Constantine won't even think about it! ”

Everyone has the deepest psychological pain, Constantine IV is the untouchable wound in Anna's heart, from the original loving eldest brother, to the murderer of his father, and the executioner who is bent on killing himself, Anna can be bullied by Li Jie, and can also be fooled by Wu Meiniang, but she can't forgive her as a big brother.

"Come, prepare your luggage, and the palace will return to Ctesiphon immediately!"

"Little aunt!"

But before Anna got angry and boarded the camel, Li Rang hurriedly caught up, looking at the sweaty appearance, hesitated, Anna still jumped off the horse, pulled Li Rang to the side of the corner, and whispered: "I'm not in these days, hold the turf, be careful of Li Yexu!" ”

"Why?" Li Rang, who came to say goodbye, couldn't help but be confused, and asked in surprise: "General Li Yexu was sent by my eldest father to assist me, and he also told me to listen to his opinions more, why should I guard against him?" ”

"Oh, your father is so shrewd, and the eldest grandson is not stupid, why is it so stupid to give birth to a son like you?" Stamped her feet angrily, Anna simply twisted Li Rang's ears and shouted angrily like training her own son: "It's right to tell you to be careful, it's not so much!" ”

"Oh, it hurts, little aunt, let my son know!"

"It's pretty much the same, your father named you strong, you must be strong, you can't live up to your father's expectations!"

"Yes, little aunt!"

Seeing the dignified king of the county in the river admit his mistake to himself, Anna was a little more relieved, patted him on the shoulder and said a few anxious words, then hurriedly jumped over the camel, and anxiously rushed to the north under the scorching sun.

Seeing Jiao Dalin and Wu Sansi's cavalry sending Anna to each other and quickly disappearing into the wind and smoke, looking at the looming figure of the black-armored cavalry from a distance, Li Rang couldn't help but muttered to himself in doubt.

"Why should you be careful of General Li Yexu?"

Not far from the escort behind Li Rang, behind the tent, Li Yexu, who didn't forget to mumble before Anna left, also pinched a simple Xianbei style dagger in his arms heavily, and sighed heavily.

"Grandpa, I'm also loyal to Damin!"

In the hot desert, Li Rang is full of doubts, and in the cold Himalayas, his brother Li Jin also has his own sorrows.

Himalayan passes, Qiongdui.

The natural geographical location of Tianzhu is very advantageous, there are endless Himalayan passes in the north, isolated from the nomadic Tubo Empire in the northwest, and the vast mountainous area is insurmountable even for birds, so that the great Min who dominates the northern Tianzhu does not have to support the huge northern border wall like the Tang Dynasty, and the Beijing master under the Himalayas can also sit back and relax.

However, at this time, Li Jin would rather have such a strong enough border army, looking at the black smoke wafting over Qiongduili, the immigrant county town of Fujian in the high mountains, Li Jin gritted his neat silver teeth and clucked, and slammed his fist on the big wood beside him.

"It's Tibet again!"

Since he was a child, Li Jin has had a resolute and resolute character, and he is even a little impulsive at times, but the reason why Li Jie finally made up his mind to make him the prince is that Li Jin still has a strong sense of responsibility.

Li Jie entrusted the empire to him when he left, generally in order to protect the power and avoid suspicion of the prince, he would pay attention not to involve too much in government affairs, and he would never have the heart of rebellion in reality, just like Li Jin's tenth uncle, Li Shimin arranged him to supervise the country in Dingzhou when he conquered Goguryeo, and I don't know if it was a coy gesture or a real child who was afraid of ghosts, Li Zhi was stunned and cried day and night for more than ten days, and it was recorded in the historical books.

Li Jin is just the opposite, he reveals the pro-government of a young prince, Li Jie went on the expedition for half a year, and he hardly stayed in one place for a month, either going back and forth between the two capitals, or going back and forth to inspect the border defense.

But as if God is going to fight against him, it is rare that the South Tianzhu, who has always been rebellious and restless, is fine, and there is a problem in the north, a few months ago, Lu Dongzan died of illness, and the Garqin Mausoleum who replaced him obviously had a contradiction with the lord Mangsong Mangzan, and the Gar family without the backbone of the heart was in a state of contraction, Princess Wencheng seemed to be under house arrest, and the movement of Tibetan troops in recent days has become more and more suspicious.

Especially recently, under the pretext of border trade, several large Tibetan tribes have gathered here, and through the rest of the Himalayas, the Tibetans have attacked the border of Fujian more and more frequently, especially three days ago, the county seat of Qiongduli was looted.

In Li Jin's angry roar, from the slope in the north of the county, about 300 vigorous knights galloped back with war horses.

"Prince!"

Turning over and dismounting in front of the half-monarch's car, the two generals, one fat and one thin, saluted Li Jin at the same time, one of them was burly, and immediately hung two axes, his face was full of black hair, but there was some Zhang Fei's posture, but the other person was just another version, although he was slightly thin, he was also strong and burly, and he had this handsome cheek with a slightly exotic flavor.

The bearded man is the eldest grandson of Cheng Biting Jin, Cheng Boxian, the captain of Guangping, as for the handsome and handsome generals like Zhao Yun, it is very surprising that he is actually a descendant of the eldest grandson's family, the nephew of the eldest grandson Wuji, and his name is Changsun Fu.

The two are Li Jin's henchmen, although Yu eldest brother Li Rang has some suspicions, Li Jin surprisingly trusts Changsun Fu, which is also strange.

Seeing the two coming back, Li Jin couldn't help but anxiously urge the war horse to run two steps forward, and asked anxiously, "How?" Caught nothing or not. ”

"Niangniang's Tubo dog ran too fast, leaving no evidence." Full of annoyance, Cheng Boxian roared like thunder as soon as he opened his mouth, so panicked that Changsun Fu hurriedly stabbed him, and then respectfully hugged his fists and saluted.

"Prince, this time the Tubo people should have come prepared, rushed into the county seat and did not loot anything, just burned some buildings and rode away, and also created an avalanche in the mountain pass, blocking the mountain pass."

"Why don't you send someone to Nathula to protest to Brother Tingling?"

Listening to Eldest Sun Fu's tentative question, blowing the icy mountain wind, Li Jin was also annoyed and burst into a foul mouth.

"Thieves, when did my Da Min fall to the point where I needed to make a serious protest."

"Prince, what should we do then?"

After being silent for a long time, the eldest grandson Fu asked with a solemn face, but Li Jin, who asked, couldn't help but sigh, turned around and shouted to his entourage.

"Hasn't Ctesiphon responded to the book of solitude?"

"Back to His Royal Highness, the crown prince Xian Ma Ling Fox is on standby in Beijing at any time, and as soon as there is news, it will be sent immediately!"

Looking at the west from afar, Li Jin couldn't help but shake his head blankly: "What is the eldest father doing?" ”

After only being confused for a while, Li Jin suddenly became firm again, and shouted angrily: "I can't wait, I decided to go to Naitula, no matter what, Da Min can't lose his momentum!" ”

Unauthorized use of troops, there are still some taboos in this matter, looking at each other and hesitating for a moment, Cheng Boxian and Changsun Fu still solemnly hugged their fists: "Obey the prince's military orders!" ”

Three days later, Yadongguan.

Li Yexu once defended here, left a fairly complete city defense, and for this Tianzhu and Tubo largest trade route, the Min attaches great importance to it, there are five military offices stationed here all the year round, now, on the tall and majestic city wall, it is five steps and a post, ten steps and a sentry, it seems to be murderous.

Li Jin is not without soldiers in his hands, in order to express his trust in the prince, before Li Jie left, he assigned Tielin, the king of Fujian, who had followed him for many years, to command, and was an extremely important force in the Gongwei Jing Division.

With such an army garrisoned, even if there were more than 100,000 Tubo people gathered on the opposite side, it still converged a lot.

However, according to Li Jin, who was guarding Xiongguan, he didn't seem to be happy, holding the imperial decree of King Min from Taixifeng, and seemed to be absent-mindedly leaning on the Taishi chair, and it had been a stick of incense for a while, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

Pei Xingjian, Cheng Boxian, Changsun Fu, and the crown prince Xian Ma Linghu who brought back the news were all waiting anxiously.

Wu Meiniang's advantages are like this, she is as careful as a hair, and she is good at figuring out people's hearts, when she married Li Zhi, a cowardly guy who has no opinions, Wu Meiniang played herself as a big sister who could help Li Zhi bear, and the two spent the difficulties together.

Especially what made Li Jie trust her very much was that Li Jie didn't open her mouth to let her move, even if it was to deal with the Wu family, she would never look at the chaos.

Now too, it is obvious that seeing a lot of messy twists and turns must be the source of Li Jie's anger, but after coming in, except for silently comforting Li Jie, she didn't go for a second look.

At this time, his mood was stable, and he finally opened his eyes, picked up a book and handed it over, Li Jie muttered angrily: "You can see it yourself."

This book is still a recital given by the Ministry of Rites, which can be regarded as a curiosity satisfied, opened briskly, Wu Meiniang read ten lines at a glance, but in the end, it is a woman, Li Jie is annoyed by something, looking at it, Wu Meiniang actually laughed out loud.

"Hey, it's Anna, the little vixen, who caused trouble."

Jealous Wu Meiniang never carried Li Jie behind her back, and listening to his schadenfreude made Li Jie smile helplessly.

"You're relieved."

All emotions happen on the surface, this is a family, so even if Wu Meiniang is jealous, Li Jie is helpless and smiles bitterly, and his heart is a little more relaxed.

"Isn't it just an inheritance, anyway, Anna can't go back to Byzantium to be the empress, it's a big deal to give it to Constantine, but you can't let it out so easily, plan carefully, you will definitely be able to peel off the skin of Byzantium!" In the blink of an eye, the image of a good wife was thrown aside, revealing a little wild cat-like personality, holding the fold, Wu Meiniang shook her fist slightly excitedly, and Li Jie, who listened to it, almost didn't vomit blood.

"Can't let it out, my Zhao'er, Anna is in our hands, her heirs, grandchildren can seek the position of Byzantine emperor at any time, once they announce their abandonment, people's hearts are scattered, there is no chance, no matter how much Byzantium is exploited now, it will not be worth it!"

The dignified King of Min actually showed a slightly flattering expression, holding Wu Meiniang's hand, Li Jie said with a smile: "Gu Zao knows that My family Zhao'er is a rare Zhiduoxing in the world, quickly help Gu think of a way to prevaricate this group of short-sighted ministers and send that Byzantine dwarf away."

It's a pity that this time, King Min's sycophants are not easy to use, jealous, the woman is not allowed by anyone, rolling her eyes, Wu Meiniang angrily turned her face to the side, pouted and said with vinegar: "Isn't that little fox spirit shrewd?" Let her solve it herself, where is the need for the concubine to come up with ideas? ”

Wu Meiniang was sour, humming with vinegar, who knew but Li Jie's eyes lit up.

After a crisp snap, Li Jie trotted outside excitedly, shouting while running: "Yes! Anna caused trouble, let her solve it by herself, **** what kind of heart! Or is my family smart, Zanpo, people? Give Gu out, pass Gu an order to go to the Persian Gulf......"

Rubbing her numb little buttocks, looking at Li Jie's departing back, Wu Meiniang was speechless for a moment, she didn't want to come up with an idea, but she still gave it unintentionally.

"That doesn't make this little vixen so easy! Gotta get her in some trouble! ”

The vermilion lips skimmed to the side, and under the stimulation of vinegar, Wu Meiniang was so careless for the first time, and she ran out quickly with the corner of her skirt.

A large number of officials wrote to ask Anna to give up the inheritance, from the Beijing Division, with a purple seal, and Li Jin's urgent military information was pressed alone............

The northern tip of West Asia is still slightly cold, but the endless desert in the south is still so hot, although they are all peninsulas that stretch into the sea, India at the same latitude is prone to rainfall, the land is fertile, but the southern Arabia is a very hot, everywhere is next door and golden sand dunes, nature, is so cruel.

But between the endless yellow sand and the rippling sand of the Persian Gulf, it was not lifeless, and not far from the bay, a new city began to take shape, and merchant ships from Tianzhu or Khorasan on the other side of the Persian Gulf brought timber from the Hindu Kush and white marble from the southern islands of Iran to this desolate shore, and the nearby Arabian oasis tribes were manipulated, and there were already two streets and a large military camp of the city lord's palace on this bone-stricken coastline.

This city, which is still in its embryonic state, will have a resounding name in future generations, Dubai, the city of local tyrants!

It's a pity that there is no era of industrialization, and the oil buried in the land does not have a huge role in later generations, so Dubai in this era is far from being comparable to later generations, but fortunately, nature is fair, giving this harsh environment and some rare treasures here.

*Myrrh.

These two magical spices are more expensive than gold, and only produced in South Arabia and North Africa, Somalia and other regions with harsh climates, and have been rare and genuine products for royal nobles since ancient times.

As soon as this policy came out, the major chambers of commerce in Beijing immediately broke their heads, especially the newly built Dubai port in Damin, and countless people crossed the sea to show their magical powers, it is said that Princess Gaoyang went to the King of Min to intercede for this reason and did not make a good move, and finally a large chamber of commerce specializing in spices in Southeast Asia grabbed this position.

It is not for nothing that Dubai has become the city of local tyrants in later generations, this place has an excellent harbor, opposite Khorasan, from North Tianzhu to the valley of the two rivers, or bypassing the Arabian Peninsula, merchant ships going to the Mediterranean Sea have to pass through here, and other developed coastal city settlements, collected *, myrrh, and other Arab specialties also need to be transported back to Damin from here.

The arrival of the Min people slowly brought about a win-win situation, and the Fujian Chamber of Commerce brought a large amount of food and a large number of job opportunities to the local Arab tribes to bring wealth and peace, and the development of the local area also brought new wealth to the Great Min.

At the time of spring farming, it is the season of * and myrrh harvest, and the two streets of Dubai Port have almost become overcrowded, and the pursuit of money has made the big businessmen from Tianzhu like flies crowding the streets, and maybe a basin of foot washing water can spray seven or eight people who have heads and faces in Beijing, but here, they are like Xiaofan on the stall, holding gold and silver, frantically pursuing batch after batch of goods*, myrrh.

As long as you buy it, you are not afraid of arrears, the major commercial cities of Tianzhu, Manila in the south, Fuzhou in the north, and even Guanzhong are all large distribution centers, even if the trade routes of the Arab Empire are opened, they are still in short supply every year.

It is not uncommon to see the camel caravans of the Arabs striding out of the desert, carrying bags full of myrrh, which were sold out in less than a moment, and the pockets of tribal elders and nobles were stuffed with gold coins.

However, in commercial dealings, there is always a sale, there is always a buy, except for a small part as a surplus by the tribal chieftains, most of the money from the sale of * is exchanged for grain, daily necessities, silk, tea, porcelain, especially tobacco, money comes easily, and the cunning Fujian merchants can always empty the last copper plate of the Bedouins, and by the moonlight, one by one the Bedouin caravans leading the swaggering camels back, almost everyone has a big cigarette pouch in their mouths.

At the height of the market, even these big businessmen didn't have time to notice a few young men in fancy clothes standing on the side of the street watching all this.

The head is also wrapped in an Arab turban, Li Rang even magically smokes on his head, even if the spring is not so hot, the temperature here is twenty* degrees, and the water wrapped in the turban will evaporate after a while.

Around this, Li Rang is still happy, busy with the official affairs of the Marshal's Mansion, Li Rang is always willing to come here to have a look, now he understands why his father Li Jie is so belligerent, pioneering, it is indeed a kind of endless fun.

Beside him, the little aunt Anna is not so idle, Byzantine women seem to be born idle, even if they come out to let off steam, Anna is constantly bargaining with a few Bedouin Tu.

After all, the expeditionary force of the Min people is a minority here, so the Min people who advanced into Saudi Arabia followed the practice of the British in later generations, and this Dubai port was established and ruled by six local Bedouin tribes and the Marshal's Palace, as well as the Fujian Chamber of Commerce, and colluded with the local forces to establish the royal road of colonial rule.

However, not everyone is so happy, following Li Rang to be stationed in Dubai Harbor to fight sand thieves in the desert, at this time, Li Yexu also came out to observe the people's feelings, looking at Li Rang's taller and taller back, Li Yexu's face was always a little worried.

Having advanced into the middle of the desert and gathered hundreds of tribes to recognize his Arab caliphate, he now had no fewer than 40,000 outlaw nomadic cavalry in his hands, relying on trade in the coastal ports to maintain his dominance, and he formed a tight political alliance with Li Jean.

With money and soldiers in his hands, as well as foreign allies, Li Rang has become more and more arbitrary in his actions recently, and even sometimes ignores his own opinions.

This situation is too similar, too similar to Li Jie in Fuzhou at the beginning, Li Yexu is very worried, Li Jie's connivance may have cultivated the next round of disaster for Damin.

Sometimes Li Yexu really can't figure it out, the King of Min is so wise and wise, didn't he see the brothers of Emperor Yang of Sui fighting and the bloody fight of his father's generation?

It's not that I haven't thought of using some means to reduce Li Rang's strength, but it's a pity.

Looking at Anna, who had been tanned a little and was still bargaining with the emir of Turpan in self-taught Arabic and a little tanned, Li Yexu shook his head in embarrassment.

Li Jie was really good to his son, and he also sent this ghost-like girl to take care of him, and she saw through Li Yexu's methods several times.

Just when Li Yexu was lamenting again, between the originally empty northern desert hills, hundreds of black-armored iron horsemen rolled up the sky full of smoke and dust, and rushed towards Dubai, which was still simple.

"The King of Min has a will, quickly recruit Concubine Hui, and the governor of the river is the governor of the province, Anna. His Highness Heraclius! ”

After waiting for a long time, he really lost patience, but the reckless Cheng Boxian took the lead in arching his fist.

"Prince, what does King Min mean? I'm in a hurry! ”

Li Jin's rather tough and handsome face suddenly became a little strange, and he listlessly put the Min Wang Order on the table.

"The eldest father and Aunt Wu ordered me to marry the daughter of the Tubo clan as soon as possible and appease the Tubo with marriage!"