"Hell!"

Ruhl muttered on horseback, wiping the snot from his mouth that had been blown by the cold wind.

The horse team was still galloping on the road, and every cavalryman was already exhausted, and even the horsemanship and profound strength of Ruer Jīng Zhan were really a little unbearable for such a long journey in a row.

Fortunately, this journey is almost at the end, but it is just ......

I am afraid that what greets these people is not a delicious hot meal, but a cold sword......

Shit, what a fuck!

Ruhl cursed fiercely in his heart, and then sprayed all the most vicious curses in the world on the name that he had cursed hundreds of times in his heart.

That stupid, deserving emperor with a thousand cuts!

How stupid do you have to be to do such a stupid thing!!

&&&

When it was getting dark, the advancing horse team was finally stopped, and a group of cavalry met it and blocked the way. After receiving Ruhl's orders, his guards did not make drastic moves, but first sent two cavalrymen to meet them with banners to negotiate.

Ruhl finally stopped his horse, rested a few breaths, and looked at the blocking cavalry from a distance, not knowing what it was like.

This group of cavalry was obviously wearing Imperial armor, but the subtleties had been changed, and the banner was no longer the Imperial Eagle Banner, but the family emblem of the Minas family.

(Teacher, it seems that he is determined to start anew.) ）

Ruhl sighed in his heart, and he had little hope for his trip south.

It's just a few months, and his talented teacher has swallowed the entire army of the Southern Expedition, tens of thousands of troops, plus the expansion of the past few months, now the old duke has sat on the land of the four southern counties, with more than 100,000 armor, although a large number of them are newly recruited new troops, as well as private armies served by nobles from all walks of life, but the comprehensive strength has undoubtedly far surpassed the small zhōngyāng of dìdū.

At such times, they also make moves that provoke the other party...... Ruhl was skeptical that he would ever have a chance to return from his trip south.

Before the trip, Ruhr had already told Adric about his concerns, but Adric's answer was very honest:

"I know there's little hope, and even if I'm in the same mood as you right now, I want to kick the man in the palace in the ass with my boots, but...... Ruhl, please understand, we have no choice! We can't afford a civil war! Even if there is only one in 10,000 hope of saving peace, we must do it! If I could, I would like to go to the south to see the teacher in person, but I can't leave at all! If I didn't sit here, the one in the palace might have done something stupid, so ......"

So only Lao Tzu went south to wipe his ass on this matter!!

Why did that damned emperor send someone to kill the little grandson of the Duke of Minas!

How much of a threat can that kid have? Magician? Cut! The current national fortunes of the empire are no longer something that a few people can control! Not to mention another magician from the Minas family, even if there is another strong man, what can it do?

These chaotic thoughts were swirling in my head, and I had already negotiated them before.

A cavalry officer of the Southern Army was brought to Ruhl's horse, and although the other party was only a minor officer, he obviously did not have much respect for Ruhr, who was wearing the general's uniform, and did not even dismount and salute, but raised his hand on the horse's back—it was clear that the Southern army had long since taken Dìdū seriously.

"Your Excellency. The indifferent southern officer stared into Ruhl's eyes: "I have come here to meet you on the orders of the Duke, and to take you to meet the Duke." ”

Ruhl raised his eyebrows: "Lord Duke...... Know I'm coming?"

The officer's face showed a little pride: "On the fourth day of your departure, the Duke received the news. ”

The content exposed by this sentence made Ruhl frown more and more.

It was clear that the Duke of Minas had more control over the territory than he had anticipated.

"The Duke has learned of your arrival and has set out from the capital to greet you, and now your Lord is waiting for you in the city of Nolan in front of you. The officer said, raising his hand and making a gesture of please.

Ruhl shook his head at the people around him, and the group slowly rode along the road.

&&&

Nolan City is not a big city in the south.

But when Ruhl came outside the city, he already understood one thing: Duke Minas obviously didn't come here to meet him!

The entire city of Nolan has almost turned into a huge military camp!

The city is no stranger to the Ruhr, having traveled with the army to this small southern city many years ago when he was only a mid-level officer, and one year when he was a mid-level officer. It has a population of less than 10,000, but its location is on the main road to the south, and most importantly, it is not too far from dìdū.

If you are marching on horseback, you can reach dìdū within ten rì.

At this moment, there are large and small military camps everywhere outside Nolan City, although I don't know the specific number, but just looking at the flags, there are at least twenty or more flag regiments.

This is already more than half of the forces under the control of the Duke of Minas.

There was a busy and murderous atmosphere inside and outside the barracks outside the city, and the city defense was obviously much stricter, even with the greeting team sent by the Duke of Minas, when entering the city, the soldiers defending the city also strictly checked the warrant and the Ruhl's team.

The armor is obviously a newly issued good sè, and the swords are sharpened very brightly.

Obviously, this is a tense atmosphere before the war!

Ruhr met the Duke of Minas in the temporary commander's palace in the city - this former garrison palace was converted into a temporary commander's palace, there was a tense atmosphere, and the officers of various military ranks, as well as clerical officers, were all nervously busy.

Military supplies, food and grass, ordnance, supplies, logistics......

When he finally met the old duke, Ruhl's heart chuckled even more!

The Duke of Minas looked like he was a god, his hair was already gray, but it seemed to be half-black and half-white, and the old man looked at least ten years younger than when he was in Dìdū.

And...... He's wearing a military uniform!

Tight-fitting cowhide light armor, bright red cape, riding boots...... The sword hanging from the waist is definitely not a commodity used by the nobles to decorate, but a genuine weapon.

Ruhl took a deep breath and leaned down to salute.

"Teacher!"

The Duke of Minas stood there, without any expression on his face, and after Ruhl leaned over and saluted, the old man stared at Ruhl's eyes for a long time, and the corners of his mouth finally slowly, slowly, a trace of laughter appeared.

"Ruhl, I've always wondered how you have been running around fighting in the army, but you have not been able to lose weight for so many years. ”

Ruhl seemed stunned for a moment—the old duke's affectionate greetings seemed to make him unresponsive for a moment.

The Duke of Minas had already slowly walked to Ruhl's side and patted the fat man on the shoulder: "All the injuries on his body are healed?"

“...... Can't die anyway. Ruhl muttered and said with a wry smile: "But you, my lord, are getting younger and younger." ”

"Oh?" Duke Minas glanced at Ruhl and smiled meaningfully, but the words that came out made Ruhl's heart tremble!

"Are you young, you mean my hair?" the old duke's tone seemed calm, but it seemed to contain some deep meaning: "When I was dìdū, I often secretly dyed my hair - not black, but black beard and hair! Only an 'old' Duke of Minas can reassure the Lancer Emperor and the young little fellow! If I had been in Dìdū all these years, I would have been like this lively and jumping, I am afraid that I would not have lived to this day!" I'm afraid that before the death of the Lancer Emperor, he will send someone to quietly give me a cup of poisoned wine. ”

Hair coloring ...... Deliberately dyeing black hair white......

A chill ran through Ruhl's heart.

He didn't answer the sentence, just smiled bitterly.

Duke Minas looked at Ruhl's smile and slowly shook his head: "Ruhr, you are much less daring than before. ”

He turned and walked inside, and Ruhl immediately followed with his head down.

Walking into the hall, as soon as the two sat down, the old man almost made Ruhl stand up again.

"When you entered the city, did you see what it looked like outside?"

"Look, I see. Ruhl took a deep breath and raised his eyes to meet the piercing gaze of the Duke of Minas.

"How's my army looking?

"Uh......" Ruhl thought for a moment and decided to tell the truth: "It looks good, but it's still a little worse than the zhōngyāng army." ”

"Huh. The old man didn't mind at all, and said with a faint smile: "The little old foundation left in the zhōngyāng army is indeed very good in the hands of Adric, but the number, if you can make up a corps, it will already be up to the sky." Although these people in my hands are a little worse now, if it is a duel between the two armies, the siege can also surround him to death. ”

“...... Yes. Ruhl nodded.

Duke Minas is a famous general, and Ruhr naturally will not doubt his ability to lead troops. In just half a year, it is already quite good to integrate the army in the south, if you wait a few more months......

"The chūn ploughing has passed. The old man said lightly: "When the autumn harvest comes, the food hoarded in my hands is enough to supply 100,000 troops for half a year." Although the grain production in the south is not as much as that in the northern grain-producing areas in Char's hands, the south has not experienced wars, and the wealth and grain hoarded by the local governments are a lot...... I don't know how many chips Adric has in his hand now?"

In total, there were less than 20,000 troops, of which 10,000 were the old sons of the zhōngyāng army. Armament and food were to be aided by the Landis by sea......

Ruhl muttered inwardly.

Then the fat man suddenly felt a chord in his heart, and decided that he could not continue to be passive like this, so he raised his head and asked, "Teacher, what do you ......mean by saying this to me?"

"In that case, why would that kid of the Krenma family do such a stupid thing to provoke me?"

The Duke of Minas's face immediately sank.

The boy of the Krenma family, Ruhr, savored the title.

Obviously, the old duke was not even in the mood to pretend. The little emperor of dìdū, in his mouth, is nothing more than "that kid".

"You know, some people's stupidity is always immeasurable. ”

Ruhl's answer made the Duke of Minas laugh.

He looked at the fat man, "So, didn't you come to see me on behalf of that stupid boy?"

"I'm here on behalf of Adric!!" Ruhl sighed, but his answer was unambiguous and crisp, not daring to hesitate.

"Good. The Duke of Minas nodded, looking quite satisfied, but then his words showed a hint of murderous intent without concealment: "If you were here on behalf of that stupid little emperor, you wouldn't have seen me at all, and your head would have been hung on the city wall!"

In the face of this murderous remark, Ruer snorted: "Teacher, you don't have to do this to me, right? ”

"Oh?" the old man glanced at Ruhl, but there was no smile on his face: "Ruhl, how many years have you followed me?"

"Uh......" Ruhr thought for a while, and said very sincerely: "When I was young, I was a cook in your house, and later you favored me, cultivated me, and sent me to the military academy, I entered the army step by step, and it was all your teachings, and it has been more than twenty years." ”

"Well, it's been more than twenty years. Duke Minas said lightly: "It's a pity, it's been more than twenty years, although you little guys have grown up well, and you Ruhr is also one of the most famous generals in the empire now, but just what you just said is not qualified." ”

"Huh?"

"Hmph. The old man sneered: "Don't say that you are my disciple, if you really want to stop in front of my road today, I will not hesitate to cut off your head!

The muscles in the corners of Ruhl's eyes twitched.

"In order to achieve great things, we must not hesitate to kill and decide. The Duke of Minas said categorically: "If it is necessary, whether it is you or Adric, I will not hesitate to kill it! And that guy Adric obviously still has a bit of woman's kindness! Hmph, if I were in his position, there would have been more than a dozen ways to end up in war, and I would never let this situation collapse to the current situation!"

"Teacher, Adric is just loyal to the Empire. Ruhl sighed.

"Loyalty, loyalty to a country, or loyalty to a family?" the Duke of Minas sneered, but then his tone became calm!

"The Krenma family has been sitting in the Byzantine Empire for hundreds of years, and it's time for a change. ”

When Ruhl heard this, he couldn't help but stand up!

If all the old man's previous actions can be reluctantly explained by self-reliance, then this sentence now clearly exposes his mind to replace him!!

"Teacher, you ...... Are you really determined to do this?"

Ruhl's forehead was already sweating, and his face was turning iron-blue.

The Duke of Minas was silent for a while, and he didn't seem to care about Ruhl's questioning, and was silent for a while, before he suddenly whispered: "Ruhl, you have followed me for so many years...... You can see it one by one, how loyal is my Minas family, how loyal is my Empire, and how loyal is my Krenma family?"

"......" Ruhl was silent.

"My Minas family has been serving the country for generations, and my old man's father died in battle in the northern frontier of the empire. I joined the army before I was twenty years old, and when I joined the army, the Lancer Emperor had not even inherited the throne!

The Duke of Minas continued slowly: "In the old days of the army with the same qualifications as me, many of them became governors of the first district, and they were worthy of the title of king of the land! If I wanted to take this step in the past, I had already become a warlord governor decades ago, and I was in power, so why should I sit in dìdū for so many years and be suspicious of the emperors of the father and son! I was full of talent, but in the prime of life I had to give up military power, and returned to the old mansion as an old fellow, pretending to be deaf and dumb, and confined myself in that cell in Dìdū! For the sake of loyalty to the country! I also gave my most beloved daughter to the Klenma family! But what did I get later?"

"More than twenty years! How many twenty years does a man have in his life? If I can continue to command the emperor's ** army when I am forty years old, with my jīng strength and talent, I am seventy percent sure that I will be able to recover the rivers and mountains, and which one of those governors will be my opponent? If the old emperor is willing to trust me, just as the founding emperor trusted tulips, why would this country become so torn apart today! Give me ten years, and I will have the confidence to make this empire prosperous!"

"But, no! The Khlenma family has always believed only in themselves! They will doubt all the people! When I was fighting for power, I also stood closely by the side of the Lancer Emperor and supported him with all my might! But when his throne is secured, he can't wait to kick me out of the army!"

"Before I was forty years old, I was already worthy of such an empire, worthy of his Krenma family!"

Duke Minas slammed Ruhl's heart word by word, and Ruhl was silent.

The fat man knew very well that his trip to the south was in vain.

He didn't even have time to explain to the old duke why the Emperor Dìdūli would order the assassination of the duke's grandson, Little David.

And the Duke of Minas is not even interested in questioning this question at all!

In the heart of the Duke of Minas, he had already made up his mind to rebel.

In dìdū, it doesn't matter whether the emperor kills little David or not, at most it just becomes an incentive for the old duke to do it in advance.

&&&

Ruhl knew he didn't need to say anything more. The old man didn't tie him up and cut him with a knife, which was already very nostalgic.

The Duke of Minas had no intention of negotiating with Ruhl at all, but arranged a dinner party and invited Ruhl to get drunk - Ruhl did not refuse, and after thinking about it, the fat man also realized that this was probably the last time he would drink with the teacher.

But when the dinner began, when the side door of the restaurant opened and a thin figure came out of it, Ruhl couldn't help but exclaim!

"Ahh

Ruhl's eyes widened as he stared at the kid who came out of the door.

"Dai, David!" The fat man immediately turned his head to stare at the Duke of Minas, and then the fat man began to smile bitterly: "I see...... You've already brought the kid here......" Then the fat man gritted his teeth: "What about Lear?

"It's not just Lear. The Duke of Minas summoned his grandson to his side, stroked the child's hair, and said with a faint smile: "Actually, just three days ago, this child was sent to me, but the person who sent him here was not Lear. ”

Two more figures slowly walked out of the side door.

"General Ruhr, long time no see. ”

"Hello, General Ruhr!"

Dax and Dotaro stood in front of Ruhr, Dax smiled with a sinister look, and Dodoro was a little afraid.

"You ......" Ruhl looked at the two of them, and finally smiled bitterly, and then the fat man suddenly slapped the table hard and suddenly laughed out loud!!

"Hahahahaha!!"

Looking at the fat man who suddenly laughed wildly, the Duke of Minas was stunned.

Luer laughed for a long time, then turned to look at Lord Duke, bowed and said, "Teacher, I see! ”

As he spoke, Ruhl grabbed the flask on the table, raised his neck and poured it together, then threw the flask and sighed: "That's it, I understand now!"

He looked at Todoro, then at Dax, and finally his eyes fell on Dax: "Although I am not very familiar with you, but fortunately I still know some things about you, that guy from Totaro is just a sidekick, these things are all planned by you, right?"

Dax bowed down and smiled very proudly: "My lord, I'm just trying to be worthy of the salary of every copper plate that Boss Char gave me." ”

"Good means. Ruhl sneered: "If the balance in the south is broken, your northern army will have a chance to intervene." ”

He turned his head to look at the Duke of Minas again: "It's my teacher, don't you understand that the Northern Army is now the strongest party, and the army and territory under his command are second to none, even if you can swallow the dìdū, he rì The Northern Army goes south, how can you deal with yourself?"

The old man smiled faintly: "It's nothing more than a battle on the battlefield." In this world, the left and right are just a battle between everyone! Whoever wins the fight will belong to whom!"

The old man had already stood up, looked at Ruhl, looked at his legs again, and raised his hand to point to his knees!

"Since I have led the army south, I have sworn in my heart!

The last sentence was categorical, but it made Ruhl suddenly shocked when he heard it!

No more kneeling!

No more kneeling!!

"That's good!" Ruhl laughed three times, grabbed a wine jug again, poured it into his neck in one go, wiped it on his mouth, and laughed: "The teacher is not less arrogant!"

After saying that, the fat man turned around and left, and the Duke of Minas watched the fat man turn around resolutely, and originally seemed to be about to speak, but finally sighed.

It was Dax, seeing that the fat man was about to walk to the door, and couldn't help but say, "General Ruhr." ”

"What?" Ruhl looked back suddenly, "Is the teacher going to leave me here?"

The Duke of Minas shook his head and said nothing.

Dax smiled and said: "General Ruhr, you are also a hero in the emperor, I know that you and our Char boss are in love, if you are willing to go back to the north with us, let alone the position of commander of a corps, why go back to the dìdū of the suffocating man to accompany the emperor to be martyred?"

"Phew!" Ruhl scolded with a smile, "If Lao Tzu wanted to go to the north, he would have gone a long time ago." Lao Tzu didn't go to give a martyrdom to that bullshit little emperor! As early as the night when I helped him to succeed him to the throne and wiped out my Rodria Corps, what I owed to him to the royal family had already been paid off! I replied to dìdū to wonder if I could pull out another person who was going to be martyred!"

Minas frowned and looked at Ruhl: "Adric's xìng zi I know best, I'm afraid ......"

"Teacher, you can kill ruthlessly, I ...... But it can't be done. Ruhl sighed: "As you said, if we meet on the battlefield in the future, it will be nothing more than a fight." It's just, the teacher ......"

Speaking of this, the fat man paused deliberately, with a narrow smile on his face, but his tone was very serious.

“...... Between you and that kid in the north, I'm not optimistic about you!"

&&&

"Come on, I'm optimistic about you, boy. ”

Hesting's tone was full of mockery, and Char sneezed fiercely.

With a bang, a sharp qi came to his face, Xia Ya turned his head slightly, a sharp arrow grazed his ear, Char turned over and jumped on the roof of the carport, pulled up a bow, and heard the bowstring sound, and there was another scream in the forest in the distance, Char scolded: "Old boy, are you just sitting and watching the play?"

Sitting cross-legged in the carport, holding a cowhide wine bag in one hand, the three-edged war gun was hidden in a cowhide holster and placed across his legs, the Odin Valkyrie looked leisurely, took a sip of wine, and then smiled: "What if you don't sit and watch the play, do you still do this boring thing with you?"

"Bah!" Char scolded, "If the convoy is dead, we will have no guide, and we don't know how many more roads we will have to walk to find the holy city of Babylon." ”

Hesting was about to speak, when suddenly a stray arrow flew in, but it just pierced the wine bag in his hand, and the wine immediately dripped out. He was not angry, but he put his mouth to the breach and poured it down, and then he breathed a sigh of relief: "You kill you, don't bother me to drink." ”

Char was helpless, and opened his bow again and again, and the screams in the distant forest were continuous.

In the vast forest, the caravan had shrunk into a ball, using the carriages of horse-drawn carriages to form a formation. The caravans, young and old, were armed with blades and weapons, and the samurai hid between the carriages with bows and arrows.

In the forest, you can constantly see black shadows passing through the gaps in the branches and leaves, and the figures are sharp and fierce.

It was the captain of the caravan, but he was very unlucky to be pierced through the neck by an arrow as early as the first wave of attacks, and at this moment another merchant in the convoy, a guy who was quite familiar with Char along the way, was already lying under the carriage, farting and urinating, and cursing incessantly: "These damn black jīng spirits! These damn jungle bandits!!"