The drizzle was pouring down, and the moisture in the air made people feel like they were going to have water in their lungs. The 3,000 cavalry who went north this way was not demoralized, but it did make the water in the rainy season a little embarrassing.

Half a month later, a majestic black city appeared in front of me.

Jiuding City, the most famous city on the Jibei Plain, its area is not the largest, and the population is by no means the largest, but it is definitely the strongest city, even above the capital.

It is rumored that when the True Dragon Emperor Fuming was preparing to divide the seal, he asked the royal widow for his opinion, and originally wanted to place him in Jincheng, southwest of the Great Han Dynasty. The climate is comfortable, material abundance is more comfortable.

But for some reason, the royal widow refused, and finally chose the Jibei Plain.

The reason is unknown, some say that because Jincheng is the fief of the Xiao family of the Vermilion Bird Divine General, living here will depend on the face of the Xiao family, so they are unwilling.

It is also said that the widow of the royal family still has ambitions in his heart and does not want to be corrupted by the comfortable environment. Moreover, the people in the north are fierce, there are many warriors, and the environment in the central part of the Jibei Plain is harsh, even the nominal owner Huangfu's family is not permanent, let alone others, relatively relaxed.

Once the family grows, if there is a chance in the future, it may be able to restore the Great Xia Dynasty.

Although this statement is now viewed, it is just a joke, because not to mention the strong in the old royal family, it is difficult to see even an aspiring person, all of them are greedy for pleasure and oppress the people.

But no matter what, it was decided back then. Because the middle of the Jibei Plain to the north is a grassland, there is no danger to defend, for safety, the true dragon emperor Fu Ming used a huge amount of money to invite a large number of craftsmen, and spent ten years to erect this majestic city on this grassland.

The walls are eight meters thick and sixteen meters high, which is six meters higher than the capital. In order to get the stone, a stone mountain ten miles away was dug and leveled, and the big blue stone was mixed with glutinous rice in the mortar.

It is rumored that as long as there is enough food and grass in it, unless a strong martial arts master enters the city, it can only be broken from the inside. Otherwise, even if there are thousands of troops, it will be difficult to make a difference.

It is said that in a certain era, the nomads once took advantage of the time when the Great Han Dynasty had no time to take care of it, and tried to break through the city, and then occupy the north. As a result, when there were only 8,000 defenders in the city, 100,000 soldiers and horses surrounded it for three months, and they did not even climb the city wall, so they could only return in vain.

After that, if the nomads had the opportunity to cross the border and go south, they would directly bypass the city and never think about anything else.

Because the four corners of the city and the city gate are like a tripod, there is a big tripod built in the city, and the Yu Emperor made nine tripods, so this city is named the nine tripod city.

"This city really doesn't make people want to attack!"

Looking at the city wall in the distance, Qin Shaofu sighed lightly. This is the first time he has seen Jiuding City, and it is indeed as convincing as the rumors.

After being amazed, he couldn't help but smile again: "In order to build this city back then, I'm afraid that the treasury was exhausted, right?"

"It's not just a drain on the treasury!"

Huangfu Changqing shook his head and smiled: "According to the records of Taishi Neishu, this city spent a total of 800 million taels of silver, which is equivalent to the national tax for eight years at that time. Many of them were in arrears, paid high interest rates, and it took 30 years to close the books. I can't help but say that the ancestor of the Ji family back then was really high!"

"High!" Qin Shaofu was stunned: "You mean he did it on purpose?"

"I guess!" said Huangfu Changqing, "because none of the reasons in the legend can be used as a reason for him to choose this location." When Taizu agreed, he chose to be there, and he would make a radius of 500 miles his fiefdom, and he didn't need to look at the face of any god general's family. Moreover, Jincheng is close to the southwest territory, the most dangerous place. ”

"Secondly, although the people of the northern land are strong, the population of the Jibei Plain is more than eight CD in the south, close to the capital, and it is impossible for him to recruit at all. The rest of the population, not to mention that there are not many who can subdue him, even if they all become his people, it is impossible for him to recover Great Xia with this population. ”

Qin Shaofu's thinking is not bad, and he can't think of things just because he doesn't know, when he heard this at this time, he suddenly realized after contacting: "You mean, he intends to consume the national strength of the Great Han Dynasty?"

Huangfu Changqing nodded: "That's what I think." Although you must know that there have been so many wars with the demons, there are only two Demon God Emperors who died in the Eastern Wilderness. One is the one who died with Ji Taihao fifty years ago, and the other died at the hands of Taizu. “

"At that time, the Taizu had no one to match his prestige, and with his strength, he led the remnants of the family to have a great chance of defeating other countries and dominating the world. “

"And with its prestige, after unifying the world, it won't take many years for the people to forget the previous dynasty and only remember that the only royal family is my Huangfu's family. In this case, the last thing to accept is the son. “

"If I were the widow, I would do everything I could to prevent this situation from happening, and the best way was to consume the national strength of the Great Han Dynasty. So he took this promise from Taizu in front of hundreds of thousands of people, and then lived on this ruined construction site for ten years, in a dangerous situation, forcing Taizu not to build it for him as soon as possible. “

Qin Shaofu shook his head: "Some things can only be your own guess, not necessarily serious, if the real dragon is intentional, to make this person unsatisfactory, you can come up with at least ten methods...... Rumors are not true. ”

After reading that book in the past two days, I deeply agree with this point of view.

"That's right!" Huangfu Changqing smiled: "It is also possible that Taizu intended to do this, after all, there were still many people in that era who were eager for him to dominate the world." But at that time, the entire Eastern Wilderness suffered heavy casualties, and if there was another war, it would be a catastrophe. Taizu was merciful and used this excuse to avoid war. ”

“......”

Qin Shaofu didn't say anything, he wouldn't believe this kind of statement.

At this time, the group had arrived in front of Jiuding City, but no one greeted them outside, the city gate was closed, and only someone on the top asked: "Who is coming!"

Flags, armor, and preemptive documents can all explain the identity of their own line, and the other party deliberately did so, making it clear that he wanted to show off the majesty of the old royal family, so that people could know that even if the emperor's family came, they were still royal.

Huangfu Changqing was not angry, ordered the generals to dismount, and said loudly: "Trouble to inform King Xia, I am Huangfu Changqing, and I am here to welcome King Xia south by His Majesty's order." ”

"Wait a minute!"

The guard spoke, and after waiting for a moment, he heard a loud noise, and the gate slowly opened, and the group walked out.

Gorgeously dressed, although it is in the Northland, no one wears leather clothes, and they are all splendid cloth like the Central Plains.

The people who came out were not very old, and the oldest was only in his forties, and Yao Qiang, the head of the guard behind him, scolded in a low voice. There is not even a person with weight, which is to put disrespect for people on the table.

However, Huangfu Changqing didn't care, and let the others stay, only bringing Qin Shaofu to take the initiative to come forward to salute, and then said: "Please also lead me to see King Xia." ”

A man in his thirties said unhurriedly: "King Xia is taking a nap and will wake up in an hour, and please wait for His Royal Highness." ”

Qin Shaofu was shocked by such rudeness, and it was hard to imagine what kind of people this was.

However, Huangfu Changqing was not angry or happy, nodded, and waited.

The gates of the city were silent all of a sudden, as if there was nothing to say, and suddenly, a sharp voice sounded.

"After watching it for a long time, who am I, it turns out to be you, the wild monkey of Tongling Pass!"

Following the sound, it was a young man in a purple cotton robe, and after seeing this person's appearance clearly, Qin Shaofu's eyes suddenly narrowed, and his murderous aura condensed.