Late that night, Zhao Hou had a night meeting with the three Qingdao chiefs.

"How can this be?" Zhao Hou disagreed.

"Sima Yan is courting Empress Chen, but he still wants to kill his adopted son, this kind of thing can't be, why offend the queen at this time, but now there is one word, which can make Hou Ye win the world." Sanqing said leisurely.

"A word? What do you mean? ”

"Messy!"

"Chaos?"

"Does Master Hou still remember the spirit fairy in Jingzhou?"

"Earth King Spirit Fairy...... It cost a lot of gold and silver! ”

"Master Hou, why do you care about gold and silver? At that time, the world will be Hou Ye's, why worry about gold and silver? ”

"You're saying they're ready for something?" Zhao Hou was surprised and delighted: "So suddenly? I really didn't expect it. ”

"If it's not sudden, what is chaos?"

"The Taoist must have put a lot of thought into it...... This time, Sima Tong is busy! It's a pity that it wasn't in Guanzhong......"

"Jingzhou is a place where soldiers must fight, I don't know how many heroes have died in battle, there is chaos, the world will be shaken, Zhao Hou has heavy soldiers in hand, why worry about big things?"

"That'...... How many people can the spirit fairy contribute to us? ”

"If they can get a corner, as long as Zhao Hou sees the right time and shakes his arms, they will have five or six hundred thousand horses, and there will be no problem."

"Five...... Five or six hundred thousand horses? …… Dao Chief, this is really a miracle. Zhao Hou couldn't help but stand up and compose: "As for Wang Chen, I will promise him tomorrow and send him back...... Not bad...... How many chances will a single word give? ”

******

Jingzhou Mansion.

Jingzhou is too guarded by He Ting, who is over sixty years old, but he still stands upright, standing on the city wall, watching more and more hungry people coming from all directions.

He coerced the big families in the city to sell the grain to the government, thinking that it could solve the urgent needs of Jingzhou, but he didn't expect to attract more hungry people, although Chang'an has assistance to the situation here, but it is far from enough, he can only sit in the city, I don't know what to do!

In his memory, even if he encountered two or three consecutive years of famine when he was young, it would not be like now, and in a few months, there were many hungry people who died of starvation, and once the winter passed, the peasants had no intention of sowing seeds, and left their hometowns one after another to survive, forming waves of hungry people.

The blame was that the official taxes and land rents were too high, so that the peasants did not even have a few months of grain stockpiles.

What's more strange is that the granaries of the government in various places have been leased to large private farmers in the past ten years, and the so-called official grain has long existed in name only. As long as the state capital has gold and copper coins, it is okay to pay tribute to the treasury, which is also based on gold, which is the new policy during the Longding period, and it is also the reason why the major households are getting bigger and bigger.

When the grain harvest failed, the copper money was not enough to collect grain, so they could only put pressure on the large households, but recently, the large households have climbed into contact with Chang'an, and they are no longer businessmen who can let the government fish and meat, and the government can only threaten the small peasants, and finally, in one year, the famine that could only be brewed in the previous three to five years has been formed.

After forty years as an official, he was also caught off guard.

There is another reason, He Ting shook his head and sighed.

During the Longding period, it was indeed very prosperous, until the population soared, many villages, there was no new farmland, many young people had no land to plant, and could only grab the land rent, so that in a year, the work for nothing abounded, and they could only sell themselves as slaves and turn around to oppress the peasants.

Alas! How long can such a world last?

It may not last tomorrow.

The greater trouble lies in the fact that Jingzhou was originally a state capital with developed commerce and trade, but the sudden turmoil that has occurred since the beginning of this year has caused large creditors and large households to begin to force debts from small households, causing many people to lose their homes overnight, and large households are eager to collect debts and want to hoard grain, and the government is also eager to replenish the official warehouse, with the result that more people are forced to run away from home.

He Ting remembered the large amount of money and debts that his family couldn't recover, and he also felt a headache, and at this time, an urgent report suddenly came: "Lord Taishou, someone just reported that the traces of the spirit fairy were found in Qinglian Temple, and many people have gathered. ”

Although Qinglian Temple, which is thirty miles away from Jingzhou Mansion, has a lot of reputation, but it has been in disrepair for a long time, and at this time more than a dozen cauldrons were erected outside the temple, and hot porridge was boiling inside.

It was a large open space, with piles of white rice and some unknown medicinal herbs piled up behind the cauldron.

The air was filled with unknown scents and cacophony of human voices.

More and more people gathered, they had already filled up dozens of acres of land around, and the crowd not only lined up to receive porridge, but also took turns to worship the spirit fairy in the main hall of the temple.

The bodhisattva in the main hall has been removed, and sitting on the altar is a middle-aged beauty, dressed in a thin veil in the cold weather, her figure looming, a pair of jade ankles are exposed, and after the believer kisses her ankles, she will put on a white scarf.

When the county soldiers led by the government arrived to look for the spirit fairy, these believers who drank the medicinal porridge did not let them approach.

After the spirit fairy took out a small drum and led a dozen or so apprentices to beat out a kind of dream-like and rhythmic music, the believers slowly entered a state of half-dreaming and half-awakening, and people also swayed with the rhythm.

The next day, He Ting finally arrived in person and ordered an attack on Qinglian Temple to capture the spirit fairy who "deceived the people with evil words".

The rebellion, known in history as the Qinglian Rebellion, finally broke out.

In the spring of the following year, Emperor Sima Tong issued a call to change the Yuan, and the year name was Tianxi, and the eldest son of Emperor Zhi was born.

******

The Spring Festival in the Central Plains is also very popular in the Western Regions, on this day Murong Ming ate a big bowl of dumplings at home, so he hurriedly got on his horse and went out of the city, galloping westward, he wanted to find Shelun's army before the Dayue City scouts.

Since leaving the Yueban battlefield, Shelun did not immediately return to the Rouran Khan Court, but first used the "Great Moon City" as a trophy as planned to help him in his plan to capture the Khan.

Murong Ming was originally a member of the Xianbei tribe, but he defected to the Great Jin Dynasty because of Chen Yun's appreciation, and then moved to Dayue City, and also served as a patriarch.

He was very familiar with Rouran's marching routine, and at this time, it only took a few days to find Shelun's traces.

The Xianbei Murong clan is the largest tribe, and there have been many people who have drunk on the grassland, Murong Ming's father Murong Bao, and the famous Murong Chui, who is still the big leader of the clan, they did not fully follow Shi Mi when he was alive, and later relied on Wa to command them even more, so when Murong Ming appeared, Shelun still treated him like a guest.

Murong Ming was invited to Shelun's mobile tent.

The two went straight to the point after a pleasant greeting.

"The Great Khan is interested in the treasures of the Great Moon City, and I have the key to open the gates."

"As far as I know, although you are now one of the elders, the Yan soldiers you brought are not under your control for a long time, what power can you do to help me?"

"My condition is the position of King Zuoxian, and Zhuge Xiaomin must belong to me!"

"Huh! It's a good man's job to make a direct request, but there must be something that can be exchanged. ”

That night, Murong Ming left Shelun's camp and went straight to the endless night with a slight drunkenness.

******

A group of Xiao Min's own soldiers rode a group of old horses and ran through a garden in the palace.

Xiao Min and Long Er watched intently in a small building.

Suddenly, the last of the forty or fifty riders fell to the ground.

Xiao Min frowned, led Long Er down the small building, and came to the side of the war horses that fell to the ground and broke one hoof, fortunately, those knights were not injured and retreated.

The dragon ear was inexplicable, just waiting for Xiao Min to explain.

Xiao Min squatted down and dug out a "cup" in the ground, about two palms long, which looked nothing special except for its depth.

"It's going to be longer, so that the rats don't get out so easily. You see, these lids were flipped open by these rats when they escaped from within, and they were made thicker, and the rats didn't flip out so quickly. ”

"You called me here so early to see the rats escape from the pit in fright? Oh, my God! Is this a formation? When a large group of cavalry rushed into this formation, it would be fine at first, so that a larger number of cavalry entered the area full of holes, until the earth rats jumped out and opened the soil cover in fright to the sound of horses' hooves in the hole, and those small holes were revealed, and the cavalry could not rein in their horses in the face of the earth rats scurrying all over the ground, and the hooves of the war horses stepped into these small holes, and the knights were thrown down, and the horses were wasted. Then the arrows rained down, and a large number of cavalry died, and it was a poisonous plan. The dragon said as he thought.

Xiao Min nodded: "First outside the city with infantry in front of the formation, and the opponent's cavalry attacked, it was divided into two armies on the left and right like opening the door, preventing others from rescuing on both sides, the cavalry rushed into the formation, and went straight to the wide open city gate, when the cavalry was already deep in the formation, the earth rat suddenly flashed out of the earth cave like crazy, and then as you said, finally the heavy infantry entered the formation and harvested the enemy who could not die." ”

"Oh my God! How many people can be killed in this way? The larger the array, the more stool, and the area of 200 steps outside the city gate can be combined to kill hundreds of horsemen. ”

"We have to put the infantry farther and the formation bigger."

"It's dangerous for the infantry to get bigger."

"Yes, but killing only a few hundred riders at a time is not enough to shock the opponent."

"Alright! I want to find a way to ......."

"General Xie Long, with General Long here, I really save a lot of heart, this time the leader of the Rouran army, Shelun, I heard that it is by no means comparable to the depression, it may be extremely difficult to deal with, there is no extraordinary plan, extraordinary sacrifice, and I can't hold here."

"Why didn't they call Guzi along? Is this a chance to form an alliance with the turtles? ”

"Shelun came to Dayue City in order to seize the treasures here, he wanted to cheer up his subordinates before going to the Khan Court to fight for hegemony, the Qiuzi people are called Rouran vassals, but in fact, they were still wavering before the establishment of the new Great Khan, so Shelun came to Dayue City directly."

"Humph! Helian didn't get any benefit here, so why didn't he attack the turtles! ”

"Maybe it's also because Shelun wants to prove that he is better than the Rouran of Shimitt's time!"

"Strategist, don't worry! It is not easy to survive in this land, and the people of Otsuki City know that sometimes there must be sacrifices, or that sentence, we are not opposed to escaping in advance, and those who stay are the most iron brothers. ”

******

The auxiliaries in Otsuki Castle were quickly mobilized, even nobles and merchants, those who served in the military as reservists were all gathered in the barracks, and Lucky Star and Old Kuli spoke in the Senate to defend Otsuki Castle to the death, and under strong pressure, Otsuki Castle did not become chaotic.

Chen Yun's caravan entered the city at this moment and was stationed in the compound of the Persian merchants.

At this moment, Chen Yun, Gan Kang and Xiang Yun were looking at the busy Dayue people outside the street from a high-rise building along the street.

Xiang Yun saw that the two of them were silent, and couldn't help but snort: "It's really an inexplicable decision to enter Dayue City at this time and hand over all the weapons to others." ”

Chen Yun was in a trance, and he had to answer: "It's normal to hand over weapons, otherwise how can people let thousands of us in!" Now that the war is imminent, it is the time for our goods to sit on the ground and raise the price, how can we give up? That's why I changed my plan to come here. ”

"Then why don't you negotiate a price?" Xiang Yun was unconvinced.

Chen Yun smiled, "Uncle Gan, this person is a complete piece of wood, what's the use of telling him this?" ”

"Hah! Boy, if you go to them, the price will not be high, and people will come to you to have a price! ”

Xiang Yun was convinced, "Heh! Yes, people don't come to the door, and send another Chen Lihua to go, this is called waiting for the price and selling! ”

Chen Yun was furious, but how could she change the decision of the Chen Family Nursing Home to Chen Lihua? couldn't help but slap the table, pointing at Xiang Yun and shouting: "Xiang Yun! But he couldn't scold anymore, so he could only brush his sleeves away and stubbornly raise his head to Yun.

Xiang Yun listened to Gan Dare to laugh bitterly, he could only spread his hands, Gan was in charge, it was not that I wanted to be angry with her, but she came to Zhuge Xiaomin, do you think this business can be negotiated? ”

"Huh! You kid, I don't know what you think? However, Yan Hou's decision is understandable in business, and we can only ride a donkey to read the account book - we'll see! ”

At this time, someone informed Zhuge Xiaomin, the elder of Dayue City, that he wanted to see Yan Hou. The eyes of the two lit up: it was really here!

These weapons are easy to sell!

It's just that the two can't help but look forward to how the two strong women in this era will fight.

******

Xiao Min entered the inner palace to meet Chen Yun, and the two exchanged pleasantries.

"I have heard the name of Miss Min for a long time, although I have met her, but I have never had the opportunity to talk deeply, and I met today and was very comforting in my life."

"Oh? Xiao Min is just a yellow-haired girl, how dare she be a false praise? ”

"How can it be? Miss Min is a descendant of Zhuge Kongming, since she was a child, she has learned "clever heart", the so-called abandonment of seven feelings, six desires, can be extremely poor in the mysteries of heaven and earth, master the flexibility of personnel physics, enter can help the saint Kuang Ji the world, retreat can eliminate the idle clouds and wild cranes in the rivers and lakes, how can this be comparable to our businessmen? ”

Xiao Min's face changed, "I didn't expect Master Hou to know so much!" ”

"Don't dare, it's the way of business, it's just that you are familiar with the changes in the market, and the information is naturally a little miscellaneous."

"Lord Hou's intention is just that if Xiao Min can't forget his love and give up his love, he won't be able to help the prince become a great cause!"

"No, no, no, Yin Dezhi said, it is from nothingness, just like this, I am afraid that it is not good for Miss Min's body, people's machine and heart activities, all depend on the heart to be quiet, if you can't calm the heart, it will damage the qi and blood, the girl is now young and young, and she will not feel hurt, and it will ......be a few years to come."

Xiao Min was gloomy for a while.

"Don't be surprised, Miss Wangmin, let's talk about our batch of bows and crossbow armor."

"Hou Ye, not a scheming person, you need to suppress desire, you must know that desire is like a beast, the more you want to fill it, the bigger it will be, it will never be satisfied, just like holding a salary to fight a fire, Hou Ye is rich in the world, the power is leaning towards one side, and the partners around him are all dragons and phoenixes among people, and why is the prince alone? If you only see the bright moon in the sky with such eyes, but you don't know the breeze around you, how can it be done by a wise man? ”

Chen Yun couldn't imagine that Xiao Min would be able to return to his own army, and couldn't help but forget to keep the secret, "Hmph! Miss Min can rest assured, there are already people in my family who have cut off this road for me, they will be like the bet on Sima Cheng back then, the pearl of the clan Chen Lihua Xu to the prince, the legend of the princess is the first beauty in the world, but than Zhu Lihua's elegance and refinement, it is still inferior, there are countless people in the Chen family, all say that ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, all the aura, are concentrated in Lihua! ”

So far, Xiao Min can't care about Chen Lihua's affairs in the future, so she can only overwhelm Chen Yun first, "Thank you Lord Hou for telling me such secrets, but even so, can Master Hou jump on the sedan chair to represent the clan sisters?" I think we should negotiate the business well, lest the Hou Ye not only leak the secrets, but also fail to negotiate the business, it will not be good to lose money! ”

"Xiaomin, you are articulate, I can't talk about you, let our shopkeeper talk to you!" Chen Yun walked away angrily.

That night, business was negotiated between the two sides, and the caravan was about to leave, when the horn sounded in the city, all the city gates were closed, and people everywhere were saying, "The people of Rouran have finally arrived!" ”

"There's a big battle going on!"

Chen Yun watched the emergency mobilization in the city and couldn't help but fall into a trance.

******

A girl who is too beautiful to describe with pen and ink is staring at a blooming camellia.

Although the camellia was beautiful, in the eyes of the onlookers, even the flowers of the whole garden were still not as good as the girl's.

"Lihua! Lihua! Finally found you, you idiot, I used to look at the flowers here! A young woman came and dragged the fairy-like maiden with her: "Oops! I haven't seen you for a while, why are you beautiful again? It's amazing, look at these sapphire eyes, hey, God will be jealous! ”

The girl pursed her lips and smiled, "What is Auntie talking nonsense?" ”

"Ah, yes! You're right! Come, come, many elders come to see you! Come with me. ”

The girl reluctantly looked at the camellia, which was at its most brilliant, and felt a sadness in her heart for no reason.

"What are you doing in a daze!" But the young woman ignored her, and led the maiden to another courtyard, where many of the elders of the clan were seated.

"Ahh It's Lihua! It really deserves to be the pearl of my clan! Everyone admired, and the girl was embarrassed, and stood aside with a red face and lowered her head.

"Oops! How did you give birth to such a Peugeot daughter? It's just her, hey, you've seen Princess Sanssouci? Is it comparable to Lihua? And they all turned their heads to each other.

"How dare you...... ...... with my daughter Hehe...... My daughter wouldn't be worse than hers. An old man said with a smile.

"Only this fairy-like character is worthy of the prince, we are not like the scholarly generations of the Xie family, but Lihua is really more generous and decent, and her mother is in the world, she can definitely ...... Definitely can ......"

The girl didn't listen carefully to anyone, only out of her own mind, I don't know how long it took, she was finally released, she couldn't wait, Yahuan could hardly catch up with her, finally, she ran back to the garden just now, to find the camellia.

The flower was still in full bloom, with only one petal, which fell to the ground.

Lihua looked at the petal that fell to the ground in horror, and then looked back at the still gorgeous camellia.

Her tears fell.

Tears dripped to the ground and slowly melted.

The white camellia is still in the wind, blooming lonely.