Yan Guo.

Somewhere near the capital.

The gray-haired Yan Huang, riding on a horse, wearing light armor, holding a longbow, aimed at the sika deer that was gnawing on the buds not far away.

Behind.

The civil and military officials and the guards all held their breath and did not dare to make a sound.

Minutes and seconds passed.

A moment later.

Emperor Yan let go of the bowstring.

Just listen to the whoosh.

An arrow rushed towards the sika deer like a cheetah and pinned it fiercely!

The sika deer let out a terrible wail and ran wildly.

Blood gushed out, staining the new seedlings red.

The air was filled with a surging smell of blood.

Seeing this, Emperor Yan smiled on his face, picked up the horse rope, and pressed his legs slightly.

"Drive!"

The horse immediately understood and followed the sika deer.

Seeing this, the guards and officials behind him hurriedly followed.

The group chased the sika deer and ran wildly all the way.

The other side runs, they run.

The other side stops, they stop.

I don't know how long it took.

The sika deer that was hit by the arrow finally couldn't hold on, whimpered, and fell to the ground.

The guards behind him hurriedly stepped forward and lifted the body of the sika deer.

Came to the front of Emperor Yan and held it high.

Side.

Some ministers complimented:

"Your Majesty is really brave, in just one hour, he hunted the second deer, which is really admired by the ministers!"

Emperor Yan looked at the sika deer, his old face showed a satisfied smile, but he said: "After all, I am still old, and I can't do it." ”

On the side, the minister wanted to say something.

Emperor Yan stretched out his hand to stop him, with a breezy look: "Go back to the camp." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The group returned to the camp with their prey.

Emperor Yan, dressed in light armor, sat on the dragon chair, looked at the princes and ministers on both sides with deep eyes, and said slowly: "Today's hunting, I have prepared a reward. ”

"Whoever performs the best, I will give this reward to whomever I want!"

The voice fell.

Several princes looked at each other, and they could see the meaning of competition in each other's eyes.

Emperor Yan sat on the dragon chair, looked at them, a smile appeared between his eyebrows, and then said:

"Let's get started!"

"Yes! Father! ”

Several princes bowed, took their bows, turned on their horses, and left the camp.

Meanwhile.

The two sika deer that Emperor Yan had just hunted had been made into roasted venison and served on the table.

Emperor Yan picked up the fast son, picked up a piece of venison, put it in his mouth, and looked into the distance while chewing.

Several princes rode horses, looking for prey in the woods, splashing dust, which could be seen from afar.

The crown prince sat not far from Emperor Yan, not knowing what he was thinking, bowing his head and not saying a word.

A moment later.

A carriage approached slowly.

A gray-haired minister stepped out of the carriage, walked in front of Emperor Yan, stood upright, and saluted respectfully.

"Your Majesty!"

Emperor Yan looked at him, a little surprised, and asked:

"It's not that the right minister is not interested in hunting, why are you here today?"

Liu Yuan, the right minister of Yan Kingdom, saluted and said: "The minister is not here to participate in hunting, but to have an important matter, to tell Your Majesty!" ”

Emperor Yan was slightly stunned, then his eyes froze, he realized the seriousness of the matter, and asked: "What happened, I actually made you run from Jingshi to the hunting ground regardless of the fatigue of the carriage and horses." ”

Liu Yuan raised his eyes to look at Emperor Yan, his expression was solemn, and said:

"Your Majesty, there is news from Qianguo that the prime minister of Qianguo, in the name of the eldest princess of Zhou, sent 30,000 soldiers to King Qin of Zhou!"

Emperor Yan's brows furrowed slightly, and he asked suspiciously:

"Why can the prime minister of Qianguo be the king of Qin in the name of the eldest princess of Zhou?"

Liu Yuan said: "Li Yingyue, the eldest princess of the Zhou Kingdom, just married into the Qianguo Prime Minister's Mansion not long ago. ”

Emperor Yan was stunned at first, then seemed to have figured out something, and said with a smile:

"So, the prime minister of Qianguo married the eldest princess of Zhou just so that one day, he can justifiably invade Zhou State?"

Liu Yuan was silent for a moment and replied, "I think, it should be." ”

Emperor Yan laughed twice and sighed: "This prime minister of Qianguo is also a talent, and he can come up with this method. ”

A touch of helplessness flashed in Liu Yuan's eyes, and he saluted:

"Your Majesty, no matter whether the Qianguo invasion of the Zhou State is justified or not, the imperial court should not sit idly by."

Emperor Yan looked at him, raised his eyebrows, and asked:

"You mean, you want me to send troops to support the Zhou State?"

Liu Yuan thought for a while and said in a deep voice:

"The minister thinks it's okay."

Emperor Yan sneered and said:

"Qianguo is the smallest country, Yongzhou was just occupied by Zhou last year, if it weren't for me, maybe they would have become vassals of Zhou, how could Zhou be easily defeated by it?"

In the opinion of Emperor Yan.

The reason why Qianguo sent troops to the Northern Expedition was just to take advantage of the civil strife in Zhou to recapture Yongzhou and fight for himself.

It's not a threat at all.

In less than half a year, they will withdraw their troops.

It's human nature to have such thoughts.

After all, no one would think that an ant can sting an elephant to death.

Although the gap between the Qianguo and the Zhou State is not as big as that of ants and elephants, it is the same reason.

When Liu Yuan heard this, he was silent for a while before he said:

"Your Majesty, this time is different from the past, after this year's development, Qianguo is no longer the smallest country it used to be."

Emperor Yan looked at him and questioned:

"How much can change in just one year?"

Liu Yuan opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

Before he could speak, he heard Emperor Yan say:

"I know what you want to say, it's nothing more than sweet potatoes, glass, monosodium glutamate, sugar......

In my opinion, except for sweet potatoes, there is some value, and the rest of the things are just tricks and tricks, and you can indeed earn some silver in a short time, but what is the use?

To compete for the world, after all, we still have to rely on bow horses!

As for those rabble in the Qianguo, as soon as the tiger army of the Zhou State appears, they will scatter the birds and beasts, what threat can they have? ”

Liu Yuan hesitated for a moment, his expression was serious, and he said in a deep voice: "I heard that the Qianren have recently invented a new type of weapon, which can exert great power with gunpowder. ”

"Oh?"

When Emperor Yan heard the words "new weapons", his eyes showed a touch of curiosity, and he asked, "If I remember correctly, gunpowder is the raw material of fireworks and can be burned."

What new weapons can use gunpowder?

Tremendous power...... How big is it? ”

Liu Yuan said: "The cadres keep this kind of weapon very closely, and the minister has never seen it, but I heard that it is a hundred steps apart, and it can penetrate the armor." ”

Can you penetrate the armor after a hundred steps?

Emperor Yan was slightly stunned, then let out a sneer, and said disdainfully:

"Do you know what it means to pierce armor at a distance of 100 steps?"

"Even if I am the first divine archer of Dayan, with the best bow and crossbow, I may not be able to do it!"

"Don't think about it, I also know that this news must have been a bluff and deliberately released to confuse me!"

Liu Yuan heard Emperor Yan's analysis, and he didn't know what to say for a while.

Although he didn't quite believe that such a weapon existed in the world.

However, the spies buried in Qianguo attached great importance to this matter, and sent back several letters in a row, all of which described new weapons, which made people have to believe it.

"Hey......"

Liu Yuan sighed in his heart, looked at Emperor Yan, and continued:

"No matter what, the minister still hopes that His Majesty can issue an order and send troops to relieve the siege of Zhou.

After all...... The state of Zhou fell into civil strife, and the Huben army stayed in Beijing, giving the Qianguo an opportunity.

If the Qianguo captures the Zhou State, the west and north of our Dayan will be surrounded by the same country and fall into a passive situation. ”

Emperor Yan glanced at him deeply, his expression suddenly became serious, and he said solemnly:

"Don't you think that the competition between the two countries of Qian and Zhou is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for my Dayan?"

Liu Yuan lowered his eyes:

"Your Majesty, but you want to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight?"

Emperor Yan looked light:

"Zhou Guo can barely be called a tiger, and Qianguo is a sick cat at most."

After a pause, he added:

"There are only eight words I want to say, the snipe and the clam compete, and the fisherman profits!"

What Emperor Yan said also has some truth.

But.

Liu Yuan's instincts told him that things were not as simple as he thought.

After being silent for a while, he said:

"Your Majesty, the minister still thinks that the army of Qianguo may not be as vulnerable as His Majesty said."

When Emperor Yan heard this, he stood up, walked in front of Liu Yuan, and said:

"So, I'll make a bet with you."

"Within three months, Zhou Guo can repel the army of Qianguo, even if I win, from now on, I will live in the hunting ground, and you will not be allowed to go up and admonish."

fo

"Within three months, if the Zhou State cannot repel the army of the Qianguo State, even if you win, I will take your advice and reduce the number of hunts, how about it?"

Liu Yuan was slightly stunned and thought about it for a moment.

Gritting his teeth, he nodded:

"Good! Promise Your Majesty! ”

I got the answer I wanted.

A smile appeared on Emperor Yan's face and he returned to the dragon chair.

Pick up the venison, put it in your mouth, and chew it slowly.

It looks like it's going to win.

After all.

In his eyes, the army of the Qianguo State was nothing more than a rabble, and when it entered the Zhou State, it could only hold out for a month at most.

"It's all here, it's better to stay and accompany me to see which prince has the most prey."

Liu Yuan thought for a while, arched his hand and said:

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness."

"The minister still has something to do, and he needs to rush back to the capital."

"The minister retired."

After saying that, he turned around and got into the carriage.

Emperor Yan glanced at him, didn't say anything, and continued to enjoy the hunting of several princes.

............

Meanwhile.

Qianguo.

Chang'an, in the Imperial Palace.

Wu Mingkong sat on the dragon chair, looking at the music in his hand, his brows furrowed slightly.

"The army of the Yan Kingdom is constantly moving these days, and in less than half a month, it has already hoarded 50,000 people at the border pass!"

"These 50,000 people can enter Yongzhou at any time!"

"If they really do this, won't they be in a dangerous situation of being attacked on their backs?"

Opposite side.

Fang Xiu picked up the teacup, took a sip lightly, and said lightly:

"They're not going to do that anytime soon."

Wu Mingkong was slightly stunned, looked at Fang Xiu, and asked, "Why are you so sure?" ”

Fang Xiu smiled and asked rhetorically, "If Your Majesty is Emperor Yan, what choice will you make in the face of this situation?" ”

"It is to immediately send an army to form a front and rear attack with the Zhou army to annihilate Bai Qi's army."

"Or sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and after a while, the troops on both sides are almost consumed, and then stand up and enjoy the benefits of the fisherman?"

Hear the question.

Wu Mingkong's eyes lit up, and he replied: "I must choose the latter!" ”

Fang Xiu said: "The minister thinks that Emperor Yan will definitely think so." ”

Wu Mingkong's eyes showed joy, but he didn't know what he thought of, frowned, and said:

"According to what you say, am I still a sandpiper?"