Through the thick cushion cloth, there were several ecstatic moans. Zhao Tuo's expression moved slightly, but he still stood outside the tent with a straight posture.

Several of the guards on the side were still expressionless, apparently accustomed to it.

The inaudible moaning stopped for a long time, and only then did Ren Huan's slightly tired hoarse voice come from inside the tent: "It's Zhao Tuo, come in." ”

I opened the cushion cloth, and a warmth greeted me. Although it was winter, there was a secret tent with a bonfire around it, so it was as warm as spring.

In the middle of the big tent was a large and surprising cushion, and Ren Huan was lazily resting his head in the arms of a Yue girl, enjoying the grapes peeled by another Yue girl. The two young Yue girls were both beautiful, with only an inch of shame on their bodies, and their wheat-colored skin was seductive when exposed to the air.

Zhao Tuo only felt a dry mouth, and hurriedly looked away from the two Yue women.

Ren Huan paid attention to his somewhat flustered eyes and smiled; "These are the two beauties that the King of Minyue just paid tribute, their backgrounds are not bad, and the bloodline of their royal family, if you are interested, you will take one away."

"Young people don't have a strained face and suffer themselves all day long, what should be enjoyed is still enjoyed."

Listening to Ren Huan's words, the two Yue girls secretly looked at the young general, with an expectant look in their eyes.

Compared with the old Ren Huan, they are of course more willing to serve the young and sturdy Zhao Tuo.

Zhao Tuo regained his signature wooden expression, arched his hand and thanked him, and then said dryly: "Baiyue has not yet calmed down for His Majesty, and Zhao Tuo does not dare to have the slightest idea of pleasure." ”

Ren Huan smiled, sat up, and gently waved his hand to signal the two Yue girls to retreat.

When the two Yue girls walked out of the tent, they scolded with a smile: "I heard it, you are talking about me in a corner." ”

"The last general will not dare." Although Zhao Tuo didn't dare to say it, the expression on his face made it clear that he said yes.

Ren Huan is not embarrassed, in the past ten years of getting along, he has long regarded this young man he likes as his son.

pointed to the collapse case in front of him and motioned for Zhao Tuo to sit down.

"It's good for young people to be strict with themselves, it's good. I think that when I was your age, I also followed General Mengwu in the army. Now that I'm old, I just want to enjoy a few more years of happiness while I still have time. ”

Ren Huan picked up the hot tea on the collapsed, squinted his eyes and took a sip gently, looked at the loose loose flesh on his body, and then looked at Zhao Tuo sitting on the tense body, and shook his head helplessly.

Years of battlefield battles, coupled with his deliberate drunken indulgence in the past few years, his body is not as good as before.

"Tell me, what did you come back from the front for purpose?" Ren Huan put down the teacup and said with a straight face.

He has nothing to worry about, now Baiyue has been basically pacified, the imperial court has set up four counties in central Fujian, Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiangjun, and established a county system.

After ten years of conquest, while the Qin army paid heavy losses, the territory of Xiou has also changed from the largest country in Baiyue to the current isolated city. It was only a matter of time before he calmed down, so he wasn't worried about any bad news that Zhao Tuo would bring.

"Xi'ou sent an envoy, I asked him why he came but he refused to say, I didn't say until I saw the general, I had to bring him."

Princes. Ren Huan was stunned for a while, a little confused.

Translator called on the Song to resist to the death since the Qin army moved south, and never negotiated peace with the Qin army. Several envoys sent by the Qin army before were killed by him to show their determination to fight to the death, could it be that this time the Xiou Kingdom came to beg when he saw that the oil was running out and the lamp was dry?

"What do you think?"

"Let's see it." Zhao Tuo pondered for a while and said; "Although we have surrounded Linchi, the capital of the Western Ou Kingdom, the terrain is precipitous, and they still gather 100,000 people. If you want to force it down, you will definitely have to pay a lot of casualties, and it will take a long time. If the Xiou Kingdom can surrender, it will be the best. ”

"I've brought the messenger, or I'll bring it in now." Zhao Tuo stood up.

Ren Huan shook his head and stopped Zhao Tuo with his words. "Don't rush yet. We've been fighting for 10 years, and they're only coming to the peace talks now, so we're not in a hurry for this time. Dry the messenger first, so that it does not appear that we are in a hurry to make peace. ”

"Tell me about the recent battle on the front line."

Zhao Tuo walked to the map hanging in the tent and pointed to Linchi Road; "Now there is only one lonely city left in Xiou, and according to the strategy formulated by the general, we are surround but not fight, trapping them. In the past few months, most of the food in Linchi City has been consumed, and they have organized a breakthrough several times, but they have all been blocked by me. With 100,000 soldiers and civilians to eat and drink, I estimate that the pond will run out of food in less than three months. ”

After a pause, Zhao Tuo added in a deep voice: "But our situation is not optimistic, there are dense jungles, coupled with the steep terrain, our food and grass supply is often interrupted. Insects, snakes, and wild beasts are frequently infested in the mountains and forests, and many soldiers are infected with diseases. Fortunately, it is winter, and if the miasma is in the spring and summer of next year, we will have to withdraw our troops, so within four months, whether they run out of food or not, we must storm or ......"

Ren Huan suddenly waved his hand to interrupt Zhao Tuo's words, "Wrong, it's not four months, it's two months." He picked up a piece of cloth that had collapsed and handed it over.

"Your Majesty's will just came, you can take a look."

Zhao Tuo took the holy decree, and after reading it, he showed a puzzled look, and said: "The terrain of Lingnan is sinister and good at fighting, Your Majesty has always been wise, and he has always understood our strategy of steady and steady fighting, why did you suddenly tighten the war this time and order us to take Xi'ou within two months?" Your Majesty should know that the rash intensification of the fighting will only increase the casualties of the soldiers. ”

Ren Huan didn't answer immediately, just looked at Zhao Tuo, hesitated for a long time, and finally said, "Actually, Your Majesty also gave me a secret letter."

"It's to urge us to go to Linchi to retrieve something."

"What's that?" Zhao Tuo looked at Ren Huan in confusion and asked.

Ren Huan slowly stood up, walked in front of him, and said in a deep voice: "What do you think our 600,000 army has been going south for the second time, and in the past ten years, 300,000 people have been killed and wounded, and countless food and money have been spent."

Zhao Tuo replied without hesitation, "Territory, population, and Your Majesty's ambitions."

Ren Huan smiled and shook his head, "Everyone in the world thinks so, and I thought so at first. It wasn't until seven years ago that I was appointed to replace General Tu Sui, who died in battle, as the chief general of the Southern Expeditionary Army. Before leaving, His Majesty summoned me to the palace, and after talking to me, I realized that the 600,000-strong army marching south to conquer Baiyue was just a pretense. All we do is to retrieve one thing that His Majesty needs. ”

"What is it?" Zhao Tuo blurted out and asked.

"Jiuding."

"Jiuding?" Zhao Tuohuo stood up and looked at Ren Huan in disbelief. "Isn't Jiuding in Xianyang, after my Great Qin destroyed the Zhou Chamber, wasn't Jiuding moved back to Xianyang from Luoyi by the first king?"

Ren Huan smiled, Zhao Tuo's reaction was completely unexpected. "I asked Your Majesty as surprised as you did, do you know who gave me the answer?"

"Who?"

"An Jisheng."

"An Jisheng!" Zhao Tuo stared at Ren Huan with wide eyes, he was used to marching and fighting on the battlefield, and the general he had always believed in suddenly said so many unbelievable things to him at once, he was a little at a loss, and asked for a long time: "Is that the demon who has always accompanied His Majesty for ten years and bewitched His Majesty to pursue the immortal path?" ”

"A demon?" Ren Huan shook his head, looking a little strange. "Not necessarily, if you see him, you may think that he is really a real person as His Majesty said."

"He told me that the Zhou family has deceived the world for more than 700 years, and Jiuding is no longer in Luoyi."

"It's not in Luoyi, where did it go?"

Ren Huan didn't answer immediately, but asked rhetorically: "What do you think Jiuding is?" ”

He seemed to be talking to himself, and before Zhao Tuo could answer, he continued: "Yu collects the gold of Jiumu and casts Jiuding." People all over the world seem to think that Jiuding is nine big tripods, symbolizing Kyushu, but who has ever seen Jiuding?"

"An Qisheng told me that before King Zhao, the Zhou family, including Xia and Shang, had a rule that except for the Son of Heaven, anyone who dared to spy on Jiuding would be gouged out, their tongues pulled out, and their hands and feet chopped off, even the father and brother of the Son of Heaven were not spared. It wasn't until King Zhao of Zhou drowned in the south that the successor King Mu of Zhou abolished this strange rule. If Jiuding is really nine big tripods, then when Rong Di entered Hojing and the Zhou family moved eastward, how did the nine big tripods come out? ”

Speaking of this, Ren Huan's tone revealed a hint of weirdness, and he said slowly: "So An Qisheng told me at the time that Jiuding is most likely not the Nine Great Dings, and it is not difficult to carry." Since Xia Yu, the sons of heaven have carried it with them. King Zhao of Zhou sank in the river boat in the south, losing not only his own life, but also the Jiuding he carried with him. Since then, in order to cover the eyes and ears of the world, the Zhou Chamber has only shaped nine big tripods in Luoyi after moving east, and the real nine tripods have long been left in the south. It was precisely because of the loss of Jiuding in the Zhou Dynasty that the king's spirit was lost, and there was the later Rongdi Rebellion, the eastward movement of the Zhou Dynasty, and the chaos of the next four hundred years. ”

Zhao Tuo's head was a little confused, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and sorted out some messy thoughts, opened his eyes and nodded: "No wonder General Tu Sui ignored my opposition and blindly attacked Xi'ou without paying attention to other small countries, could it be that he thought that Jiuding was in Xi'ou?" ”

After saying so many words, Ren Huan felt that his mouth was dry, and he returned to sit on the floor and poured himself a glass of wine, smiled a little helplessly, and sighed: "Maybe, he may be in a hurry to ask His Majesty for credit." We are much luckier than him, because His Majesty has given us enough patience to let us fight steadily and divide and conquer the Baiyue countries step by step, so that we can have the current situation. ”

"Would you like a drink, suppress the shock. The fruit wine sent by Dongou Kingdom tastes good. ”

Zhao Tuo shook his head, feeling a little uncomfortable in his heart, he had been fighting for ten years, but he was kept in the dark and fought for some reason, and there were more than 300,000 soldiers killed and wounded in the Southern Expeditionary Army, what was that?

"You said Jiuding is in Xiou?" Zhao Tuo pondered for a while, as if he remembered something. "I did hear the captives say that they had a holy relic that would protect Theou, I thought it was nonsense, but now that I think ......"

Zhao Tuo raised his head violently and thought of something that scared him. "I remember that when the army went south, it suffered heavy losses, and the people of Xiou seemed to expect that we were going south, so they notified other small countries early, united against our Great Qin, and set up an ambush all the way on the way of the army to the south. There is also the death of General Tu Sui, the route before the march is only known to me and him in advance, but they were ambushed by the Baiyue army in a dense forest on the road that must be passed, can they really survey the ghosts and gods? ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Tuo felt a chill in his heart, and he was terrified.

He wasn't afraid of killing, he wasn't afraid of dying in battle, but he was as afraid of demons and gods as everyone else.

Ren Huan nodded with a wry smile and said; "Now you should know, why am I against all the tricks you use, only use the righteous division to fight with Xiou, and rely on our strong strength to consume Xiou Kingdom little by little."

"But now His Majesty can't wait, he's lost his patience." Ren Huan stood up again, walked to the door of the big tent, and said in a deep voice to Zhao Tuo behind him; "I asked the palace people who came to deliver the decree, Your Majesty's health is getting worse and worse, and it is likely that it has only been a few years. Within two months, if we can't get Jiuding and send it to Xianyang, the next batch of people who come to pass the message may be the people who come to take our head. ”

"It's time, let's go and see what good news the envoy of the Western Ou Kingdom will bring us."