In the first year of Dali Qingyuan, there was a forest frost and fog in Bailu, and the weather suddenly became cold.

At the beginning of August, outside the capital of Shangjing, on the official road leading to Yanzhou, a cavalry of more than 100 people escorted a two-horse exquisite carriage, and was galloping towards Ningwuguan in the south.

The knights were dressed in yellow armor, wore four-foot-long sabers at their waists, and rode on tall and majestic horses, staring ahead without squinting, with a chilling killing aura. In front of the team are two bright yellow flags waving in the wind, and the huge word "Yan" clearly reveals their identity.

They are the elite iron cavalry belonging to the Great Yan Feather Forest Army.

At that time, the world was divided into six parts, and the north was a powerful departure country, and he entered the Central Plains as a nomad, and established the Dali Dynasty of half agriculture and half herding with strong force, and it has been more than 350 years since the founding of the country. It is the greatest threat to the Great Yan Dynasty today. In the south of Dayan, the eight southern Xinjiang Yi tribes finally ended their own affairs and killed each other in the face of the powerful force of the Baiyan tribe, established the Southern Xinjiang Alliance, and aimed their greedy eyes at the Great Yan Yizhou and Luzhou. At the same time, Rongdi, located in the northeast, since its rise 40 years ago, has been under the leadership of the Great Khan Ashina 61 Nuhachi has continued to encroach on the surrounding tribes, developed and grown, and invaded the three states of Shang, Yun and Xing of Dayan several times in the south, and has formed a north-south confrontation situation with Dayan for more than ten years.

In addition, the remaining Western Shu and Eastern Wilderness, which were originally the princely kingdoms of Dayan, were small princes attached to Dayan, but due to the successive wars of Dayan in recent years, the country has suffered huge losses, and there are three strong enemies looking around, and the control of the two countries has declined, so that the two countries have faintly had the intention of breaking away from Dayan.

Therefore, in this situation of internal and external troubles coexisting, Yu Linlang of the Great Yan Kingdom appeared outside the capital of Shangjing, which left the country, and there is only one way to say that they are the envoys of the Great Yan who left the country to mourn and congratulate the new monarch on his accession to the throne.

But it was a simple envoy of state relations, and the envoy beside the Great Yan envoy was completely the Great Yan Yulin Ride, which was a little puzzling.

Dayan Yulin Cavalry is the Han general in front of the palace of the Emperor Dayan, and is the best person selected from the 300,000 elites of Dayan. The appearance of a small messenger this time made people have a lot of speculation. Could it be that the identity of the envoys in this mission is unusual, or that the purpose of their envoys leaving the country is not just to participate in the national funeral and the enthronement ceremony of the new king?

Seeing the wide and sturdy cart of the accompanying horse team made people even more puzzled.

Because the workmanship of this carriage is not only exquisite, but also the color of the umbrella cover at the top of the canopy is bright yellow, Dayan has been established for 800 years, abiding by the ancestral training and etiquette system, and the bright yellow is the exclusive use of the royal family, how can it appear in a carriage ridden by a messenger? What is really shocking is the black pattern on the car and the inscription "Temple Worker", people who don't know it don't think that this car is special, but those who know know know that this is the sign of the Dayan royal workshop.

This carriage is for the exclusive use of the royal family, ordinary people, and cannot be used.

Therefore, the smart people immediately guessed that the people in this carriage were not just the Great Yan Envoys.

But recently, no one has heard of Yan has any noble status in Shangjing, who in Shangjing will use a carriage that only the Dayan royal family can ride? Could it be...... Everyone's hearts suddenly thought of a person, Ji Qingchen, the ninth prince of Dayan, who had been away from the country for ten years.

Thinking of this Nine Emperor Princes of Dayan, who had been hostage for ten years, people couldn't help but start to sigh. They had also heard some rumors in the palace that Dayan had a deep affection for the prince and Princess An Le, and Princess An Le had already secretly agreed to this proton His Royal Highness. If you want to say that the old emperor is still alive, with the old emperor's heart, he will definitely not hinder the two. But now that the old emperor has died, and now the new monarch has just succeeded to the throne, the throne is not stable, and he needs the support of the queen mother, and the queen mother just doesn't like this His Royal Highness the proton of the Yan country. Presumably, the life of His Royal Highness Proton is also quite difficult now!

So when they saw the horse team galloping south in a hurry when they left the city, everyone muttered in their hearts, the Nine Emperors of Dayan sat in the carriage of the Dayan mission, and went out of the city in such a hurry, and after getting on the official road, the horse team began to gallop to the south, and walked in such a hurry, did he want to follow the Yan delegation back to Yan?

At this time, the horse team had already stepped on the official road under the escort of Yulin Cavalry, and then accelerated the speed of the march, and in a few moments, they disappeared outside the capital city.

The horse team stepped on the official road, and Shangjing City had gradually disappeared at the end, at this time, Ji Qingchen gently lifted the curtain of the carriage and quietly stared at the direction of Shangjing City in a daze. He has a white linen robe, a pair of ordinary steps under his feet, his long hair is neatly tied up in a bunch and tied behind his back, there is no crown belt on his head, there is no jade on his body, his figure is not tall, he is not short, he is not fat or thin, his complexion is a little pale, there is no beard under his chin, there are no moles on his face, he is pure and elegant, and his whole body is calm and peaceful.

Next to him was a middle-aged scribe with a red coat and a high crown and an elegant temperament, named Ye Qingchen, who was the envoy of this envoy to leave the country, and the official worshiped the Shaoqing of Dayan Honglu Temple.

Ye Qingchen saw that His Royal Highness the Ninth seemed to have a faint nostalgia for Shangjing, and his eyebrows showed a worried look.

Ji Qingchen just watched the Shangjing City disappear from his sight far away, and his heart was full of emotion. He has been away from the country for ten years, and he has only been able to return to China today, and there is a faint sadness in his heart at this time!

Ten years ago, Beirong could not bear the cold and hunger of winter, and suddenly invaded the south, raided Yanmen Pass, the gateway of Dayan in the northeast, and fought fiercely with the Dayan defenders stationed in Yanmen Pass for three days, resulting in the supervision of the Liao Xing camp in the north of Dayan, and Ji Chengqian, the prince of Dayan, was killed in battle, and all 100,000 elites were annihilated.

This battle greatly damaged Dayan's vitality, and he had to abandon the defense line of Yanmen Pass and shrink his troops to the Yunzhou line.

And at this moment, the Liguo and Southern Xinjiang Yi took the opportunity to attack Dayan, respectively, under the leadership of Li Qingyi, the god of the Liguo Army, and the patriarch of the Baiyan Clan, the southern general, 600,000 troops joined forces to attack Yan, coupled with the strong front of Beirong, the Yan army was demoralized, and it collapsed for thousands of miles, resulting in the fall of the country, hundreds of thousands of troops were wiped out, and the country was in danger.

At the critical moment, Bai Jin, the famous general of Dayan, and Pei Wenju, the prime minister, conspired together. Leave the country and seek peace with southern Xinjiang, pay tribute, host the prince, and marry the princess. Only then did the danger of Dayan being embattled be relieved, and then the Yan army joined forces to force back the army of Beirong and solve the situation of the country.

And Ji Qingchen was sent to leave the country that year and became a proton under the fence.

Ten years have passed, time has changed a lot of things, and the upper echelons of the country are intoxicated with the fragrance of victory under the subtle influence of Emperor Lishun. The people are miserable, the contradictions are becoming more and more acute, and the national strength is melting and melting; It took ten years for the Emperor of Dayan to finally cancel the annual tribute set at the beginning, and claim back the protons sent to various countries.

Ji Qingchen knew that he returned to Yan this time because Dayan made a request when he saw that the new monarch had just succeeded to the throne, experienced a coup d'état, and the country's politics were unstable. Although the national strength of the country has declined, and the Yan State has canceled the annual tribute, there is constant friction between the two countries, and if such a request is made in normal times, the country may not be agreed.

It's just that he thinks that after returning to China, he will have to face a more complicated and dangerous battle for the storage position, and in the face of the brothers who have already blushed for the position of the prince, Ji Qingchen's heart is a little irritable. Now the information that Ye Qingchen told him was not enough for him to sort out his mind and figure out how to deal with the delicate court relationship after returning to King's Landing.

Sighing slightly, he found that his thoughts were a little confused, so he stopped thinking nonsense, put down the curtain of the carriage, and said to Ye Qingchen, who was sitting on the side, "Qingchen was sent to leave the country as a hostage at the age of seven, and it has been ten years now, I thought that I would die of old age in leaving the country, but I didn't expect that there would be a time to return to China." I was able to return to China this time, thanks to my uncle's full mediation. ”

"His Royal Highness was able to return to China this time, not because of the merits of Wei Chen, but because of His Majesty's personal will. If it weren't for the fact that His Majesty wrote this letter to the new monarch who left the country at the Taiji Hall court meeting despite the opposition of the ministers, I am afraid that Weichen would not have had the opportunity to leave the country, and His Royal Highness would not have been as smooth as he is now when he wanted to return to Yan Kingdom. Ye Qingchen, the young secretary of Honglu Temple, who was sent by Dayan to leave the country, said very seriously.

"Didn't you tell your uncle that it's okay to call me Qingchen in private?" Ji Qingchen glanced at his uncle and said dissatisfiedly.

Ye Qingchen was slightly stunned, his heart warmed, and he nodded.

And Ji Qingchen listened to Ye Qingchen's answer, there was no trace of gratitude in his words, but there was some indignation in his tone, "Ten years ago, my father ignored the opposition of the ministers and ordered Qingchen to be sent to leave the country as a hostage, and now he is calling Qingchen back to China despite the opposition of the ministers, what is he doing this for?" ”

Ye Qingchen saw that his nephew didn't have a good impression of today, so he said seriously, "Qingchen, since you call me uncle, we are a family, and my uncle doesn't want to lie to you here." Uncle didn't know why His Majesty would insist on sending you to leave the country as a hostage ten years ago, but this time His Majesty let you return to China, it must be for the examination of the kings to be held at the Yulin Military Academy in March next year. ”

Seeing that Ji Qingchen was a little dazed, Ye Qingchen continued, "At this year's New Year's court, His Majesty has already issued an order to set up four major metropolitan governors in the border towns of Yan State, and the major governors of the metropolitan governors can be in charge of several state soldiers and horses, armor, city gods, town guards, and grain endowments, and judge state affairs. It's just that on the issue of the selection of the governor of the four major prefectures, His Majesty is obviously very cautious, he doesn't seem to want the foreign minister to hold this important position, and he doesn't want Dayan to repeat the embarrassing situation of Kyoto when the emperor died four hundred years ago, and he is ready to select four talented children of the royal family from among the children of the clan and the princes. That's why it was decided to test the skills of your highnesses in August, and I wanted to select a few capable clan disciples to serve as the governors of the four major metropolitan governors. ”

At that time, in order to win the praise and laughter of the beauties, Emperor Yan played the princes with fire, fooling the army of King Qin in the world, resulting in the army of King Qin not coming when the Qiang people went south to break through the northern capital. If it weren't for the fact that Emperor Ping, who was still the crown prince at that time, resisted vigorously at the critical juncture of the national crisis, and went to Xishu to ask for reinforcements and lifted the siege of the northern capital, I am afraid that Dayan would have been wiped out by the Qiang people long ago! With the lesson of this annihilation, Emperor Ping attached great importance to the central government's control over the garrisons in various places when he moved the capital to Junshi, and over time, this attention became an ancient precept that the emperors of the Great Yan dynasties must follow.

"My father actually decreed the establishment of the Governor's Palace? Didn't he know that it was easy for the border towns to have too much power, and there was a situation in which the capital's troops were weak and difficult to control? Besides, let the children of the clan take on this important position, as long as the power is in hand, with my few ambitious brothers, how can they let go of such an opportunity to strengthen their strength? At that time, the battle for the storage position will reach a white-hot stage, and the harm caused to Dayan will probably be much more terrible than that of the foreign ministers' rebellion. Ji Qingchen was a little surprised.

"If you don't, what can you do? His Majesty's body is deteriorating, and it is impossible to continue the battle. Now Dayan is still under attack from all sides, and if you want to change the situation in front of you, you must focus on prevention. It's just that if the army doesn't fight, the current position of the chief of the military will have no effect. Only by setting up a Governor's Office and letting the Governor's Office control the military affairs of several nearby states can it better defend the surrounding countries. It is better for a few of your highnesses, or the children of the clan to be the governors of the capital, than to let the foreign ministers be competent, that is, if something happens in the future, at least there will not be a delay in the division of the emperor Shiqin Wang, who has ruined the 800-year-old country of the Great Yan Ji clan! Ay! Light dust! Your Majesty can't do this! Ye Qingchen said with a sigh.

"So, my father let Qingchen return to China just to let Qingchen participate in the Zhuwang examination school in March next year? Running for the post of Metropolitan Governor? Ji Qingchen asked in a calm tone.

"That's right! Otherwise, why would Your Majesty summon you back to China at this time? Qingchen, what my uncle wants to tell you is that this is His Majesty's hard work for you, and my uncle hopes that you will not live up to his expectations. Do you know that at the court meeting last month, when His Majesty proposed to let you return to China, he was immediately opposed by most of the ministers in the court, they didn't want you to return to China, because they were already supporting several highnesses, as long as you return to China to participate in the school examination, there will be one more person competing for the position of the four major governors, and for other princes, the pressure will be greater, so your return to China this time is a blessing and a curse, and I hope that Qingchen can have a psychological preparation. Ye Qingchen said earnestly.

"Dayan's establishment of the four major governors is equivalent to handing over two-thirds of the country's army to the governors. In this way, the Metropolitan Governor has become a veritable prince, and his power is only higher than that of the current camp manager, do you think it can not attract a few imperial brothers in Qingchen? Ji Qingchen sneered, "Father Emperor summoned Qingchen back to China at this juncture, not just to let Qingchen compete for the position of the Grand Governor!" He is forcing Qingchen to compete for the position of prince with several imperial brothers! ”

Ye Qingchen subconsciously glanced around, and then asked cautiously, "Doesn't Qingchen mean this?" ”

"Yes! What is not? Ji Qingchen suddenly said in a fierce voice, "If you keep staying in the country, maybe Qingchen still wants to die peacefully, but now it is impossible, as long as you set foot on the land of Yan Kingdom, Qingchen is the prince of Yan Kingdom, no matter which brother of Qingchen succeeds to the throne, does my uncle think that Qingchen still has a chance to live?" Or there is, but it's just a lingering breath, just a trembling way to spend the rest of your life. Qingchen has been thinking about when he can return to China when he left the country as a hostage, and he can compete with several imperial brothers for the throne, and now that he is going to return to China, if he has not made such a decision, wouldn't he have lived this life in vain? ”

"It's just that Qingchen wants to compete for the throne, but you have to think clearly, now several princes in the court have been operating in King's Landing for decades, and their henchmen are all over the government and the opposition, various states and garrisons, you are only returning to Yan now, and if you want to compete with them for the position of prince, it is difficult to guarantee a miserable end!" Ye Qingchen solemnly reminded.

Ji Qingchen's eyes suddenly flashed with a cold gaze, and he said in a firm tone, "Uncle! Light dust is the inscription on the stele that would rather die than be forgotten to live. ”

When Ye Qingchen heard this, his expression suddenly shocked, his expression was very serious, and he said with a straight face, "I didn't expect you to leave the country as a hostage, not only did you not abandon your studies, but also had such ambitions." Good! Since you have the idea of saving, your uncle will not oppose you, your uncle only has one word, as long as your uncle still has a breath, he will definitely go all out to support you. ”

"Thank you, uncle!" Ji Qingchen was a little moved by his uncle's frankness.

"However, Qingchen, Your Majesty has been fighting the world for decades, and now your health is getting worse, and the ministers of the DPRK and China have also written several times to suggest the establishment of the prince, but Your Majesty has never agreed, presumably it is also the mind to check the princes on the school field of this Eight Kings Examination! So at this critical moment, the princes of King's Landing will not miss such a great opportunity to perform? We may encounter some twists and turns on the way back to China, so you have to be mentally prepared! Ye Qingchen said.

"Uncle is saying-" Ji Qingchen was stunned for a moment, as if he understood something, and stopped talking. After half a sound, he sighed faintly, "Uncle, you don't know if you don't say Qingchen." Born in the emperor's family, Qingchen's life is no longer his own. In this world, the victor is born, and the loser dies, and before the victory or disadvantage of the world, life and death are only inevitable cause and effect. Hehe! Mastering the world, these four words do have too much magic, for these four words, I don't know how many people in Ludao have worked hard, even sacrificed their dreams and dignity, and lost their lives, but isn't there anyone who still keeps chasing after him? Even Qingchen himself can only think about it, but he can't avoid vulgarity! ”

After saying that, he slowly closed his eyes, as if he was in deep thought.

Ye Qingchen knew what his nephew was thinking, and wanted to persuade a few words, but he didn't know what to say, so he could only remain silent.

Just as the two of them were silent, there was a sudden slight tremor on the ground, and the sound of horses' hooves rushing from far and near.