The head of the West Liang City.

The remnant sun was like blood, staining half of the sky red.

Zhu Zhang and Li Mingyi, the two masters and apprentices, stood at the head of the city, quietly watching the team escorting the Vulcan Sect to the east.

It wasn't until the team was about to disappear from view that Li Mingyi opened his mouth and asked, "What's wrong with Uncle Bai?" Why do you have to send these people yourself? ”

Zhu Zhang didn't look at his apprentice, but asked, "You don't know the reason yourself?" ”

Li Mingyi shook his head and said, "I don't know." ”

Zhu Zhang turned his head to look at him and said, "You want to be the king of Xiliang, you don't know the reason yet?" ”

Li Mingyi was stunned for a moment, he didn't know when he said that he wanted to be the king of Xiliang. He looked at Zhu Zhang in confusion and asked, "When did I say that I wanted to be the king of Xiliang?" ”

Zhu Zhang didn't see anything wrong with Li Mingyi's apprentice's face, Li Mingyi's expression was natural. He didn't know if his apprentice was true or false.

Zhu Zhang said: "When Zhou Weiming asked you, you said that you were willing to continue trading. Have you forgotten the content of the transaction? ”

Li Mingyi suddenly realized and said, "You mean this? I didn't want to figure out what else Zhou Weiming had before I said yes. ”

Zhu Zhang no longer tried to see anything from Li Mingyi's expression, it was normal for the apprentice to have his own thoughts when he was older. He looked up at the setting sun and said, "Whether you are sincere or fake, in Bai Wudi's opinion, you are no longer friendly. ”

At this time, Li Mingyi was even more confused and asked, "Why?" ”

Zhu Zhang explained: "Wang Mingren is not familiar with military affairs, if he becomes the king of Xiliang, then Bai Invincible can really become the commander of the Coldcoat Army." But you're different. Once you become the king of Xiliang, you will definitely find a way to suppress those who are disobedient to stabilize your position. Bai Wushu will definitely be the first target of your suppression. ”

Li Mingyi was silent, he never thought that his casual words could lead to so many conjectures from others. He asked again: "The content of my transaction with Zhou Weiming should be a secret, and no one should know about it except me and him." ”

"Silly apprentice, what secrets are there in this world." Zhu Zhang said, "I bet that right now, Bai Wushu is asking those Vulcan disciples about the contents of that deal. And they've already revealed what you thought was secret. ”

The sun had completely set, and Li Mingyi suddenly felt that he might not be able to stay in this Liangzhou anymore. He shook his head, shaking off the cranky thoughts in his head.

Li Mingyi said: "Let him go, the eldest brother should be ......"

Halfway through that, he felt like he was confused again. He has a bad relationship with the Xie family and Lu Gongtang, if the Vulcan Sect really supports him, it will still be a great threat to the eldest brother.

Thinking of this, Li Mingyi slapped his head fiercely. I secretly regret that I just thought too simply.

Zhu Zhang watched his apprentice's movements, knew that he had figured it out, and asked, "What?" Regretted it? ”

"What's the use of regretting, if it goes on like this, Liangzhou really can't stay."

Zhu Zhang said: "If you can't stay in Liangzhou, go to Yangzhou." Haven't you tried to find a way out? I've arranged it for you in Yangzhou. It's not bad to be a rich man. ”

"That's all there is to it." Li Mingyi said helplessly, and suddenly changed his words and asked, "Master, if I really want to be the king of Xiliang, will you help me?" ”

"No, it won't." Zhu Zhang turned around and walked away without looking back. No one could see his expression.

"It's heartless."

Li Mingyi also turned around, looked at the lights gradually lit up in Liangzhou City, and also left the city tower.

Youzhou grassland, less than fifty miles away from the northwest border of the Ming Kingdom. A huge camp appeared here half a month ago. A third of the tribes of the steppe brought their warriors and drove their cattle and sheep.

In the big tent in the camp, more than a dozen tribal leaders were sitting on the ground. At the top sat the little prince Abu and the national teacher Xiao Yanran. An elder of the Wuren tribe knelt below, recounting how they had been overwhelmed by the Coldcoat Legion.

After he finished speaking, he kowtowed heavily and said, "Please ask His Royal Highness the National Teacher and the Prince to avenge the Patriarch and the warriors of the Wuren Tribe!" ”

The little prince Abu was obviously very angry, slapped the table, and scolded angrily: "It's really unlucky, I lost a warrior before the fight started." ”

Xiao Yanran calmed down a lot, and he asked, "You mean, you have encountered the elite of the Five Hundred Coldcoat Legion?" ”

"Yes!" The elder of the Wuren tribe said, "Those people are all wearing paper armor, and each of them carries a bow and crossbow, and their riding skills are not inferior to that of the steppe warriors. A single charge killed the patriarch. ”

As soon as these words came out, whispers began to begin in the big tent. Most of the current tribal leaders in the account have fought against the Coldcoat Legion. Paper armor and winter clothes, one person and two crossbows, are obviously the standard configuration of the Xiliang King Guard.

Could it be that this King of Xiliang didn't go to the Holy Capital City? Xiao Yanran became suspicious.

Xiao Yanran asked again: "What banner are they flying?" ”

Minister Wuren said: "One is a king-shaped flag, and the other is a cold-character flag. ”

These two flags were the flags that Wang Shouyi used when he went out to war. At this time, the people in the account basically thought that Wang Shouyi had not left Liangzhou. Immediately, someone couldn't sit still.

Saihan, the leader of a tribe, stood up and said, "National Teacher, the southerners are extremely cunning, will they deceive you?" In fact, the king of Liangzhou did not leave Liangzhou at all. ”

Immediately someone in the tent chimed in. Many people think that since the cold clothes guard is still there, the king of Liangzhou must also be in Liangzhou.

The little prince Abu couldn't stand it anymore, slapped the table, and said, "What's the noise, what if the king of Liangzhou is still in Liangzhou?" Are you afraid, saihan? ”

The people of the Northern Pastoral Country are the most courageous, and Saihan will admit that he is afraid. If he admits it, he won't be able to raise his head in front of the other tribes at all in the future.

Saihan said: "It's not that I'm afraid, it's just that we came out this time to fight the autumn wind, not to fight with the king of Liangzhou." I can't lose the life of my Beimu warrior in vain. ”

And many of them chimed in. The little prince also knew that although he called a third of the steppe tribes this time, there were still many tribes who did not obey him. If he didn't loot enough goods this time, but fought with the Coldcoat Army, then he would not be able to gain a foothold in Beimu in the future.

So the little prince drank silently and did not refute.

Xiao Yanran waved her hand, signaled everyone to be quiet, and said, "Don't make any noise." Regardless of whether the king of Liangzhou is in Liangzhou or not, we have come from fifteen tribes and more than 30,000 people this time. Could it be that because of the king of Liangzhou, we didn't do anything and went home directly? ”

The scene fell silent. There are many tribes here, but they have to travel for more than a month to come here. You tell them not to grab anything, and they obviously don't do it when they go home.

When the little prince heard Xiao Yanran say this, he instantly came to his senses and said: "The national teacher is right, we have so many people here this time, we can't stop robbing it because of a Liangzhou king." ”

"What the national teacher said makes sense." Saihan said, "So what are we going to do?" ”

Xiao Yanran thought for a while and said, "We can't fight hard with the cold clothes army in Liangzhou. This time, our troops were divided into two routes, one way from the waste pass on the border of Kuntong Mountain to attack Bingzhou, and all the way to attack the Cloud Piercing Fort west of Liangzhou. No matter what way you go, once you encounter the Coldcoat Army, don't stumble and retreat in an orderly manner. ”

The division of troops into multiple routes, taking advantage of the mobility of the steppe cavalry to wander and plunder, is a very traditional tactic of the Northern Herding Kingdom. The border between Beimu and the Ming Kingdom is very long, and it is impossible for the defenders of the Ming Kingdom to hold all of them. Using the mobility of the cavalry to make the defenders of the Ming Kingdom exhausted is Beimu's tactics.

After Xiao Yanran finished speaking, another tribal patriarch stood up and asked, "Then who is going to attack Bingzhou, and who is going to attack Liangzhou?" ”

Obviously, everyone is reluctant to attack Liangzhou with their tribes. Liangzhou is barren, and the king of Liangzhou is over there. It is likely that the gains will outweigh the losses. Comparatively speaking, the annexation states are much richer. As long as the waste pass is broken, it will be a flat river and loot at will.

Xiao Yanran also knew that many people here were reluctant to go to Liangzhou.

So he looked at the little prince Abu, and Xiao Yanran said, "Is His Royal Highness Abu willing to go to Liangzhou?" ”

Abu's tribe is the strongest and the most elite, with more than 10,000 elite soldiers. The other tribes present combined may not be able to defeat his tribe in terms of combat power.

Abu also knew that now was not the time to refuse, and if he refused, then this operation would probably be a separate battle. Then everyone will have to grab a little bit of the village.

Abu patted his chest and said: "Don't worry, I, Abu, am not a coward, I will go to Liangzhou to meet the king of Liangzhou." Let's see if he's as divine as you say. ”

Xiao Yanran knew that he would agree, so he ordered: "Your Highness doesn't need to rush forward, you can wait for ten days." When I broke through the waste pass, I entered the state. His Royal Highness then went to Liangzhou to attack Feiyun Castle. Don't fight against the Coldcoats. ”

Abu nodded and said, "Don't worry, I understand this matter." ”

Xiao Yanran looked at the rest of the tribal leaders again and asked, "Who else is willing to go to Liangzhou, but can act with His Highness Abu." ”

The tribal leaders discussed for a while, and in the end, only one tribe was willing to attack Liangzhou with Abu, but it was the Nasaihan tribe.

Xiao Yanran didn't say anything at the moment, just asked everyone to go back and gather the clansmen to prepare for the attack.

As soon as the tribal leaders left, the little prince Abu directly slammed the cup in his hand to the ground and scolded: "A group of cowards. No wonder someone drove it to this cold two states. It is impossible to defeat the Great Ming Kingdom in their lifetime. ”

Xiao Yanran persuaded: "His Royal Highness Abu doesn't need to be angry. It is a fact recognized by everyone that the king of Liangzhou is strong, and it is reasonable for everyone to be afraid of him. We just need to accumulate strength, and one day we will be able to enter the Central Plains again. ”

The little prince Abu stood up and said, "I'm afraid that when the tiger loses its claws and fangs, it will become a cat, and the Central Plains will not be taken, and it will become a lost dog." ”

The little prince said no more, and walked out of the door, and began to assemble the team.