Xiao Ming stayed in Shazhou for a while, waiting for Yang Qizhong's convergence, Alima has taken on all the political affairs of Shazhou, he was born in the army, and worked as a mercenary for others, but he has also been good at calculating over the years, trying to get benefits for his subordinates from his employer, and he can be said to be a person with eight faces.

Xiao Ming often said that Alima is careful, he is too protective, he will try his best to take care of anyone he thinks is his subordinate, or the person who follows him, and he can't tolerate anyone to blame and bully, externally he and his mercenaries are a whole, someone makes a mistake, and no one is allowed to punish him, he would rather punish the commission than protect the people below!

The people under him have followed him for many years, and everyone is willing to give him their lives, such a group is destined to be xenophobic, so there has been no development for many years, and he thinks that the brothers are fighting for their lives, so he never gives half a cent less in commissions, even if he takes less.

A mercenary general like him can only be a mercenary leader of two hundred people, it's not that he has no talent, but he is really tired, Xiao Ming has never heard of his past, but sometimes the mercenaries below say a few words, Alima was a Turkic general, but why did he end up in the Western Regions and became a mercenary? If Alima doesn't tell these secrets, it is estimated that no one will know about them.

When Xiao Ming saw him, he was ready to plan the dredging plan of several rivers in the Hexi area, and showed Xiao Ming the plan of a Hexi oasis, Xiao Ming said approvingly: "You are a person with a heart!" "

"I'm short of manpower, I need you to solve it for me!" Alima was not polite to Xiao Ming.

"Do I have manpower?" Xiao Ming told the truth, he really doesn't have manpower, what should I do? Xiao Ming can't help it for the time being, this is not as good as the Central Plains region, and there are a lot of talents everywhere, this is the Hexi region, the territory of the former Xixia Kingdom, what should I do? You can't take exams to find talents, right?

"Martial artists are born to do things arbitrarily, it's okay in the short term, but it's not okay in the long term!" Alima's analysis is very good, so Xiao Ming also has to admire, there is no government, no official government, no status quo of the imperial court, he Xiao Ming is the king of the Western Regions and the king of Western Xia, naturally he can come as he wants, who can control him?

But things are far from being as simple as others think, Xiao Ming himself knows that the talent problem must be the key factor limiting the development of the entire western region, he can only let Alima deal with it first, let him find a way to solve the talent problem, before solving this problem, Xiao Ming first solve the problem of manpower for Alima.

Yang Qizhong captured and captured the soldiers and civilians of the Western Regions are no longer a few, a large number of manpower are planting trees and building roads, and Xiao Ming also wants to build another road in the Hexi region, this road runs through the entire Hexi Corridor, in Ganzhou Suzhou and other places can bypass the Kongtong Mountains and reach Xingqing Mansion in Western Xia.

This is a big project, the human resources and property required are huge, but the manpower does not need money now, as long as you give food to eat, the rest of the problems will be solved, because it involves the level of the road, so Xiao Ming is ready to build a huge cement factory in Shazhou, there is an inexhaustible supply of raw materials locally, and the prospecting and craftsmen sent by his Xuzhou base are basically about to arrive!

Not only did they arrive, but Yang Qizhong and Qian Baguang also arrived with a team of at least 60,000 prisoners of war! The people of the Western Regions are also a bit difficult to leave their homeland, but the prisoners of war are different, these people's lives are always in the hands of others, so they can only resign themselves to fate, and soldiers will inevitably leave home for thousands of miles to die on the battlefield, and it is already a good treatment to be brought to be a coolie.

Yang Qizhong came on horseback with 10,000 soldiers and horses, these people are basically Xiao Ming's original western expedition, many Khitans, Han and Bohai people, this expedition, everyone is a body of dust, and many people have died in battle! Xiao Ming wants to settle them in Xingqing Mansion first, and wait for the opportunity to return to Yanjing!

Although every soldier has the consciousness of dying on the battlefield, people are still homesick after all, these people don't know if they can return to their hometown in this life, which was originally Liaodi, but Xiao Ming still left them some hope, they came with a full purse and the ashes of their comrades-in-arms, and then followed Xiao Ming back to Xingqing Mansion!

Zhao Yanwen came back with Yang Qizhong, but Han Lingshou stayed in Xizhou, he had to cooperate with Ye Lihong and Sigda Li to manage the vast land of the entire Xizhou, and the capital government could only let Ye Lihong temporarily stay in Yanqi and Qiuzi, and Han Lingshou was stationed in Beiting, and after Yang Qizhong's killing, the Black Han Kingdom was loud and loud, and the control was getting lower and lower, in fact, the entire Western Regions region was now completely chaotic, and the forces of all parties were rising, and there would still be wars in the near future.

Tens of thousands of prisoners of war were enough to solve Alima's manpower gap, he began to rectify Shazhou on a large scale, and some of his mercenaries also came back to join him, and he was very busy every day, Xiao Ming did not bother him, after saying goodbye, he led his troops to the east, and returned to Xingqing Mansion in Western Xia through Guazhou, Liangzhou, Suzhou and other places.

At present, Ganzhou and other places are determined to be occupied by the Great Song Dynasty, the Western Xia currently has no soldiers to defend, Xiao Ming does not want to defend, he has issued a decree before the Western Expedition, and adopted a set of methods of ethnic integration, a large number of Western Xia people fled to the Great Song Dynasty during the war, and now not only returned, but also brought the advanced agricultural technology and preliminary industrial technology of the Great Song Dynasty, and at the same time a large number of Song people also entered the summer land to make a living!

Xingqing Mansion has not changed much, but it is much more prosperous than in the past, which is the credit of Cao Zhi, Cao according not only Xingqing Mansion and Dingzhou are well managed, Xingzhou, Xiazhou and other officials are also obedient to him, Cao according to the prison of the country, a large number of Han people, slowly deprived of the original total number of noble privileges, the entire Xixia region is being sinicized.

He not only learned about Xiao Ming's western expedition, but also knew Xiao Ming's current movements, so after learning the news that Xiao Ming led the army back to Xingqing Mansion, he went to see Bing'er as soon as possible and told her the news.

Li Bing'er, the current Empress of Western Xia, has now returned to normal, but she still washes her face with tears every day, and a wisp of love in her heart is all tied to that person, Cao Ju doesn't know what is going on with her, so the purpose of his establishment of a post station to deliver news is also this, and now he is finally looking forward to Xiao Ming's return to the east, and Cao Ju is also relieved.

Xiao Ming not only came back by himself, but also brought a large amount of finances, how could he not bring the spoils of Xizhou and the Black Khanate? There are hundreds of famous horses in the imperial horse prison alone, Cao believes in Buddhism, but Xiao Ming gave him a statue of Manjushri Bodhisattva cast in red gold, which is a rare treasure.

Of course, Xiao Ming also brought a gift to Bing'er, but when he saw Bing'er, he couldn't help but be stunned! Bing'er's current appearance really makes Xiao Ming's heart ache, she has become shapely, and her face is pale, and her two big eyes are deeply sunken in her sockets, so there is a little bit of the well-behaved and beautiful girl ring in the past?

Xiao Ming was at a loss for what to do, and felt remorse in his heart, Bing'er had a surprised expression on his face, rushed over with tears, and threw himself into Xiao Ming's arms, Xiao Ming hugged Bing'er, and he could clearly feel the thinness of Bing'er's body from his hands, and even became a skeleton! Xiao Ming is sad and uncomfortable.

He pointed at Bing'er and stared at Cao Yi with round eyes: "You! Is that how you take care of her? ”

Cao Yi sighed: "She always doesn't eat, and she vomits it when she barely eats it, how long has it been?" It's been more than half a year, and the old man has done his best! If I hadn't heard that you were coming back, I might not have been able to drink the ginseng soup......"

Bing'er said softly: "It's my chest that is jammed, I can't blame Master Cao, I ......"

Xiao Ming's eyes were sour, and he said to Bing'er: "You have suffered!" ”

Bing'er wept and said, "It's good to see you, Bing'er thought...... I'm afraid I won't be able to see you anymore, I'm afraid you won't want me anymore! "She couldn't stand long after she was weak, and now she was crumbling.

Xiao Ming picked her up and said, "You will always be my maid, how can I not want you!" "I stepped into the dormitory.

Cao Ju turned to leave, shook his head and sighed: "Wronged, ......! ”

Xiao Ming didn't go there either, he served Bing'er specifically, Bing'er still couldn't eat at first, but Xiao Ming asked people to always make some soup such as stews and supplements for him to drink, and then used the golden needle to regulate the acupuncture points of the Zuyang Ming stomach meridian for her, and after seeing some effect, he once again conditioned the spleen meridian and intestinal meridian for her, he thought that Bing'er had symptoms of deep anorexia, but Bing'er knew that the reason why he couldn't eat was because he thought he would never see Xiao Ming again and was bent on seeking death.

The two of them are tired of being together like this, Xiao Ming is almost unclothed and takes care of Bing'er, Bing'er is gradually improving, and her slow eating is also regular, although she doesn't eat much, she can finally eat normally, plus eating stews and supplements every day, it didn't take long for her face to finally blush, Xiao Ming breathed a sigh of relief this time.

On this day, it was angelica stewed pigeon with goji berries from Western Xia, Bing'er pinched her nose and said: "It's stewed pigeon again!" I don't drink it, and if I drink it again, I'm about to grow feathers! ”

Xiao Ming said softly: "You are the empress now, you are not allowed to play with the temper of a child, and besides, how beautiful you are when you have feathers!" ”

Bing'er said: "Don't do it, how ugly it is to have feathers!" ”

"Who said that, you see how cute the pigeon is, it all cries: coo!"

Bing'er suddenly said faintly: "Do you still want me when you have feathers?" ”

His words made Xiao Ming silent, yes, can he still want her? I already have two wives! Xiao Ming really didn't want people to say that he was merciful everywhere, although the ladies had already acquiesced to him that he could talk about Bing'er's being small, but he always thought that Bing'er's princess status, if she was small, she would be really sorry for her.

But now can I be right with such a weak woman's deep affection for herself? Xiao Ming couldn't help but fall into deep thought! , Bing'er reached out and stroked Xiao Ming's stubble face, knowing that he had been for himself for a long time and had not rested, tears fell from his eyes again.

Bing'er is now the empress, and the reason why the country can be so calm in Western Xia is because of Bing'er's royal status, at least psychologically, those nobles and princes have nothing to say, but if she includes Bing'er in the concubine room, it will undoubtedly pour ignition oil into the already calm situation in Western Xia! A fire can ignite at any moment! Could it be that he could bear to let Xixia be in turmoil?

Xiao Ming didn't understand, this kind of trade-off was the biggest harm to a woman who was obsessed with herself, maybe although she saved her, she would kill herself again, Xiao Ming really couldn't bear it, and he couldn't see this result.

But Bing'er's thoughts are very simple, she only wants to be by Xiao Ming's side, as for whether she can be his wife, she doesn't have extravagant hopes, because she has seen Xiao Ming's two wives, what an elegant Jiangnan woman she is! Bing'er herself is a little ashamed, all she thinks is that she can be Xiao Ming's personal little girl ring for the rest of her life, and she will be content!

This matter can not be delayed any longer, it must be decided as soon as possible, Xiao Ming decided to go to Cao Ju and wanted to discuss it with him, but he didn't expect Cao Ju to come over one step ahead of him, and went directly to the empress's bedroom, and Xiao Ming was feeding Bing'er soup at this time.

After seeing Xiao Ming, Cao Ju actually took a straight approach, and he asked Xiao Ming directly: "Doesn't the king want to give the empress an explanation?" ”

Xiao Ming said: "What does this mean? ”

"Marry her!"