The big boss of Hetian Zhai, Qin Shucai, known as the "No. 1 Jade Craftsman in Western Xinjiang", slowly opened the brocade box in front of him with his pair of slender and dexterous hands.

Everyone standing around them held their breath at the same time, their eyes staring at the contents of the brocade box without blinking.

Boss Qin's calm face revealed an elegant confidence. He gently took out the contents of the box and held it in front of Kuliban with both hands.

The little prince of Shenhua took a deep breath, and also took it carefully with both hands, and it was difficult to hide the excited expression on his face. He held the fist-sized jade in his hand, studied it carefully for a long time, and then turned around and handed it to the old doctor Samor and Metasequoia on the side.

The expressions of the two old men were more excited than those of Kuliban at this time, and they looked at the jade stone upside down and meticulously.

Du Jian was a little impatient, and asked with concern, "How is it?" Like? ”

Samour and the old doctor looked at each other and muttered, "What do you say? From the old man's point of view, it can almost reach the level of being fake......"

"No, no, no, it's not a fake thing," the old doctor felt that Samoor's description was not appropriate enough, and waved his hand again and again: "Lord Samor, I can't tell the difference between one being true and which one is false." ”

"Oh—" Hearing this, everyone in the room cheered at the same time.

Effantia was especially pleased, clapping her hands and giggling.

Li Jiangyao and Xu Youchang smiled at each other, and at the same time they both saw the light of joy in each other's eyes.

"With the Black Crystal Jade Sacred Stone, what should I do next?" Lin Feng was most concerned about this issue.

Although Kuliban is the little prince of the Shenhua family, he is young and has little experience in this matter, so he has to look at Samore with an inquiring gaze.

Old Samor carefully put the "new version" of the black square jade into the brocade box, handed it to the old medical officer for safekeeping, and then replied unhurriedly: "According to the tradition of our Shenhua family, before the heir ascends the throne, he must first send multiple messengers to various parts of the Western Xinjiang to meet with the clan elders of the seventy-two tribes, and invite them to the family holy place to witness the enthronement ceremony of the patriarch prince. As long as His Royal Highness signed his name with his own blood on the golden parchment scroll brought by each clan elder, and then stamped it with the Black Crystal Jade Holy Stone, he could obtain the allegiance of the seventy-two departments. The core and most important part of the entire succession ceremony is completed. ”

"Family Sanctuary? Isn't that in the Chechi royal court? Li Jiangyao frowned and said, "You have to be there?" ”

You must know that now except for Metasequoia City, the entire territory of Chechi Kingdom has been controlled by the rebels of Gelhan, and it is impossible to ascend the throne in the Holy Land.

"Not necessarily," said the old medical officer, stroked his white beard, "According to the records of our clan's Divine Codex, there have been three princely enthronement ceremonies in history, and because of wars and plagues, they were completed outside the family's holy land. Now that the ghost desert in Western Xinjiang is in turmoil and turmoil, we will hold the ceremony in Metasequoia City instead, and I think the clan elders can understand it. ”

Samour nodded in agreement and turned to Kuliban, "Your Highness, what do you mean?" ”

Kuliban replied without hesitation: "The enemy may attack Metasequoia at any time, Lord Li and the entire city are looking forward to the help of the Shenhua family, what else do we have to consider?" Uncle Samore, please work hard, and immediately send a messenger to inform the people of the Seventy-two Divisions that I will hold a succession ceremony immediately! ”

When Samore heard this, he simply shouted, "Yes! The old minister arranged for manpower and invited the elders to come to Metasequoia. ”

In order to ensure that nothing goes wrong, Xu Youchang suggested that a part of the elite soldiers from his former army be selected and accompanied to escort the envoys of Kuliban to the seventy-two divisions. Everyone felt that this arrangement was more secure and expressed their approval.

Ma Mu looked a little worried at this time, and couldn't help but say: "My lords, let's invite the elders of the seventy-two clans to Metasequoia City with such fanfare, and then we will hold the enthronement ceremony of the prince of the Shenhua family here, will this attract the attention of the Turks and rebels?" I'm afraid that the city may have been infiltrated by enemy spies now, keeping an eye on us in the dark. ”

"This worry of yours is very reasonable," Li Jiangyao nodded and said, "So, we must make some preparations at the same time in order to divert the enemy's attention and ensure that the ceremony of the Shenhua Family can be completed smoothly." ”

When Huo Liya and Du Jian heard him say this, they guessed that there might be a military action, and they couldn't help but ask excitedly, "What action?" ”

Li Jiangyao smiled confidently and said to everyone: "According to Effantia, there is a big contradiction between Gelhan and Alekjiang, which may be used by us. ”

"Yes, yes," Effentia interjected, "those two are so obsessed that they are going to propose marriage to me, and they are fighting over it. Gelhan also cheekily said that he would give the black jade holy stone in his hand to my father as a gift. It's a pity that I have a lot of this stuff in my house! ”

Li Jiangyao bowed slightly, and continued to say to his subordinates: "Not only that. Although there is indeed a jealousy between Gelhan and the Alec River, what is more important is the dispute over control of the western frontier. According to my analysis, the goal of the Turks is probably not just to occupy the western frontier, but the great rivers and mountains of Shengtang are the fat in their eyes. If we want to invade the Central Plains on a large scale, then the ghost desert in Western Xinjiang, which is the rear base, must maintain a minimum of stability. ”

Xu Youchang then analyzed: "That's right, the Western Frontier has a vast territory and many vassal states, which can provide a large amount of war resources, including population, food, war horses, minerals, and countless funds. In this way, the best option for the Turks is to let the Western Xinjiang people manage the Western Xinjiang themselves, and they hide behind the scenes to command the puppets. ”

"Therefore, whoever sits on the throne of the leader of the Western Frontier Alliance will be able to get the strong support of the Turks, and then suppress the other Western Xinjiang vassal states," Li Jiangyao continued: "Gelhan worked hard to grab the seat of King Chechi, and he was not willing to have another emperor on his head to take charge of him. Or maybe he himself even dreams of becoming the leader of the alliance. ”

Horia sneered, "Gerhan thinks of beauty. Almost all of his team members come from horse thief gangs, and Che Chiguo's national strength has always been inferior to Loulan, so why should he challenge the murderous Alecjiang? ”

"Here's the problem," Li Jiangyao nodded: "If I'm Gelhan, since I can't confront Alikjiang head-on, I must make some small moves behind my back." And my three strategies are from this perspective. ”

"Three strategies? How many of them? Du Jian was surprised and said, "Boss, tell us about it." ”

"Although it is said that it is three strategies, it is actually the same thing." Li Jiangyao showed a sly smile on his face: "The first plan is to attack the east and the west." We will next make various deployments to divert the enemy's attention as much as possible; The second plan is to hide from the world. Through disguise, the elders of the seventy-two departments came to Metasequoia unnoticed; The third and most important plan is the counter-strategy. I'm going to provoke the two guys Gelhan and Alikjiang to do it with real knives and guns, as long as they bite the dog's mouth, there will be no interference in the succession ceremony. ”

As a classmate of the Imperial Capital Yanwutang, Xu Youchang is naturally most familiar with Li Jiangyao's idea of using troops to fight, and it is not difficult to guess just by looking at the evil smile on his face that Gelhan and Alekjiang are going to be unlucky this time.

-

In the ghost desert of western Xinjiang in early spring, the weather is often changeable. Wearing thin pants during the day and fur and cotton clothes at night, just when the sun is shining and the sky is clear, there may be strong winds and torrential rains in an instant, so that people always don't know how to dress and go out.

At this time, the weather was a little gloomy and dreary, and a round of white sun was hanging among the dense and sparse clouds, lining the earth to be extremely cold and gloomy.

The Loulan soldiers stationed in the small city of Sedang, some wearing cotton robes, some wearing single clothes, sat on the head of the city in twos and threes, chatting leisurely.

The war in the western Xinjiang, which lasted for several months, had basically come to an end by this time. Being lucky enough to survive on the battlefield without being injured or sick is really the most gratifying thing for these soldiers. At present, there is no war to fight in the entire western Xinjiang, and the distant Zijin Pass and Shengyu Pass are guarded by Turks, so it can be said that it is time to enjoy life to the fullest.

The city of Sedang, which was guarded by these Loulan troops, was one of the twelve military towns in western Xinjiang designated by the Turkic Command.

Sedang was originally a small town in Chechiguo, with a small area and a small population, but its location was very important. Therefore, the Turks decided to use this place as a supply base for stockpiling grain and grass for military supplies, which was used to feed the troops operating nearby.

The other eleven military towns are also similar to the situation of Sedang, distributed in various parts of the ghost desert in Western Xinjiang.

After the end of the war, the Turkic army was ordered to move eastward, but the logistics and military needs still needed to be provided by the countries in western Xinjiang, so all the military towns were retained and handed over to the Loulan army and the Shule army to take care of them respectively.

Gerham had objected to the alliance about this. At the very least, the military towns in his own territory should be in charge of their Che Chi army.

However, the leader of the alliance, Alikjan, expressed his disdain for King Che Chixin's thoughts as always. Under the banner of the Turkic Command, the Loulan army continued to stay in Sedang, making Gelhan so angry that he was angry.

But anger is anger, and Gerhan is helpless about it. As long as the Turks don't speak, he can't force the Loulan soldiers away.

At this moment, the Loulan soldiers, who were lazy at the head of the city, suddenly saw a team from a distance, appearing from the mountains and forests in the east, and marching towards the place of Sedang.

The sharp-eyed warrior quickly discerned from the banner that the passerby should be the Chechi army of His Highness Gelhan.

It didn't take long for the team to go to the city of Sedang. When all the soldiers and horses stopped, an old officer rode out and shouted loudly to the city, telling the Loulan army to quickly lower the drawbridge and open the city gate, so that they could enter the city to rest.

Seeing this, the Loulan army defending the city was a little worried for a while.

The Western Xinjiang Alliance was originally a loose military system, they had neither a unified military system and regulations, nor did they lack the means of verification of communication and coordination, and they were far less rigorous and thoughtful than the Shengtang army and the Turkic army in taking care of each other. Therefore, when a country's military meets the army of an ally country, it is difficult to obtain even the most basic identity verification, and can only be judged simply from the flag and clothing to which the other party belongs.

Because of this, in the face of the Chechi army that suddenly appeared in front of him, the commander of Loulan in the city was quite hesitant: Should they be let in?

It stands to reason that the establishment of the military town is to provide supplies and rest for all friendly forces, and all alliance teams that encounter them passing through this place should open the door and let the other side enter the city to rest. However, there were too many chariots and horses in front of them, and a rough count showed that there were actually 3,000 cavalry, which was larger than the scale of their garrison.

Will there be any problems with just putting it in so hastily?

Unexpectedly, Commander Loulan hesitated so much, and the veteran Che Chi below was suddenly dissatisfied, and pointed to the city and scolded angrily. And the Chechi cavalry behind him also became irritable, constantly shouting loudly, and some even drew their swords and waved them in the air.

Seeing that the car below was about to run away, Commander Loulan was suddenly startled, and his heart couldn't help but feel empty. This place originally belonged to the country of Chechi, and I heard that for the sake of garrisoning, the king of Chechi also had a very unpleasant quarrel with their Royal Highness Alikjang. Therefore, when Chechi's army mentioned the town of Sedang, they were holding back the evil fire from top to bottom. Now, if there is any big trouble because of the ban on Che Chi's friendly troops from entering the city, then this black pot will be settled.

Thinking of this, the commander didn't dare to hesitate any longer, and hurriedly ordered the drawbridge to be lowered to welcome Chechi's friendly troops into the city to rest.

Seeing that the city gate opened, the veteran Che Chi let out a sigh of relief, turned his head and whispered to the people behind him: "Lord Captain, it's okay." ”