The Lunar New Year is approaching, the city of Lingzhou in Xixia has already put up lanterns, slaughtering cattle and sheep to prepare for the New Year, although the streets and alleys here are not as lively as Bianliang City, but there are also many shops full of business, wearing leather jackets and leather boots driving chariots and horses, coarse cloth and dressed civilians are on the streets at this time, purchasing New Year's goods.

It has only been less than ten years since Lingzhou City was designated as a royal city by the Li family and his son, but it has begun to show prosperity.

Because of the long-term migration, the Li father and son did not build a palace, and the place where the king of Xiping lived was just a huge tent. This is also to warn future generations that war can come at any time, and be prepared to give up everything to meet the enemy.

In the cold winter months, the snow was already around the big tent, and a woman stood at the door, as if waiting for someone. She was wearing a small jacket, a fur scarf on her shoulders, her hair was tied in a bun, her face was like autumn water, and a pair of bright eyes occasionally flashed with an anxious look.

Whenever a guard passed by, she would stop the guard and ask, "Is there any news from the king?" From time to time, there were maids next to her to persuade her, but the woman just refused to enter the account to keep warm.

Seeing that the sun was setting in the west, and the day was about to pass, suddenly there was a cheer not far from the big tent, and the woman was already shivering with cold, and when she heard the jubilation of the people and horses, she stumbled and ran wildly towards the place where the sound came.

After only running a few hundred meters, I saw a snowflake horse flying on all fours. Immediately, a bearded man saw the woman and immediately threw his stirrup off his horse, shouting as he ran: "Little lamb, little lamb, I'm back!"

The woman rushed over, threw herself into the arms of the big man, and cried with joy: "Your Majesty, this has been going for more than three months, but it can make people worry about death."

The big man laughed: "I know that my lamb is thinking about me, no, we travel day and night, and several of their horses have run to death, so I'm afraid you will worry." ”

This woman is the princess of Xiping, Wei Mu Shuangyang. The bearded man is naturally her husband, Li Deming, the king of Xiping in the Great Xia Kingdom.

Not long ago, Li Deming led the general Liu Renqiao and others to Bianliang, Tokyo, to meet with Emperor Zhao Heng and ask for peace.

This road was a little bumpy, first in Helan Mountain, Wei Ming Valley encountered a mountain yellow beast, many retinue warriors died in battle, to Tokyo Bianliang, when meeting the emperor, it was coincidental and coincidental and killed his father's enemy, the leader of Tubo, Pan Luozhi, in the same hall as a minister, which made Li Deming, who was disguised as an entourage, a little unprepared.

However, Li Deming saw all kinds of signs such as the secret alliance between the Tubo Liugu Department and the Song Dynasty. Fortunately, Pan Luozhi was self-defeating, offering a mountain yellow beast but almost caused a catastrophe, at the critical moment Li Deming made a decisive decision to kill, and tried his best to kill the mountain yellow beast that came out of the cage, which won a lot of favor for the Xixia party.

In the end, Emperor Zhao Heng gave 10,000 taels of silver, more than 60,000 taels of tea and cloth, and allowed the establishment of a field in the security army for trade.

"Your Majesty, seeing that you are so happy, there must be good news for us. Wei Mushi raised his head from Li Deming's arms and looked at her husband expectantly.

Li Deming smiled and nodded, and kissed his wife's cherry lips lightly: "Little lamb, the good days of our Great Xia Kingdom are coming."

"Yes, I want to listen, I want to hear, Lord, tell me quickly. ”

"Okay, well, my lamb is an acute child. Let me tell you, this way south, we will first ...... in Helan Mountain."

Saying that, Li Deming told him about his experiences along the way, and when he heard the tense moment, Wei Mushi grabbed her husband's hand tightly, and her palms were covered with cold sweat.

As they walked, the two entered the big tent, and Li Deming took a bowl of hot milk tea wine handed by the maid and drank it all, wiped his mouth with his hand, and laughed.

"Or is the milk tea wine of my Great Xia Kingdom delicious, by the way, Xiaoyang, what about our Hao'er?"

"Back to the king, Yuan Hao has begun to memorize the three-character scripture, and Mr. Zhang Pu is teaching him. ”

"Well, let him learn the culture of the Han people, know himself and know the enemy, so that he can win all battles!"

As he spoke, Li Deming beckoned to his entourage: "Beat the heavy drum, I have something important to discuss" and then smiled softly at Wei Mushi beside him: "Little lamb, you go to prepare wine and meat first, and when I finish raising the account, I will go to see you two immediately." ”

"You know your militaristic affairs. Wei Mushi reluctantly left.

As soon as she walked with her front feet, the rumbling of drums sounded outside the big tent.

There are three ways to beat the drum in the Western Xia Dynasty, the sheepskin drum sounds, the middle grade division and the lower grade division must arrive immediately, and the general discussion is the distribution of weapons and war horses;

The cowhide drum sounded, and all the high-ranking divisions and licensed envoys must immediately rush to the big tent to obey the orders, indicating that the king of Xiping had military affairs to discuss.

The two drums are beating alternately, that is, it is time to march and fight. At this time, the sound of the cowhide heavy drum sounded, Li Deming opened the leaky pot, the fine sand slowly flowed down, a drum was not finished, the sand only flowed half, and more than 20 people had already rushed to the horse. Li Deming's military discipline and discipline are strict, as long as the drum sounds, before the leaky pot and fine sand flows, the relevant people must arrive, otherwise the military law will be engaged.

These people are either dressed as literati or military generals, and they are all courtiers reused by Li Deming.

Seeing that the people had arrived, Li Deming sat on the throne, looked around and said, "Everyone, I went to the Song Dynasty this time and gained a lot. The emperor of the Song Dynasty accepted our request and promised to give us annual coins and tea cloth. ”

When the ministers heard this, they all applauded loudly. In the bitter cold land of Western Xia, the agricultural civilization is not yet developed, and these coins are very precious to the tribes who are not wealthy.

"However, everything is good and bad, and I met Pan Luozhi in the palace of the emperor of the Song Dynasty. As soon as Li Deming's voice fell, everyone was "Ah?", this Pan Luozhi killed Li Jiqian, the leader of Western Xia, and everyone in the party was eager to eat his flesh and drink his blood.

So, Li Deming told the encounter along the way from beginning to end, and everyone was embarrassed to hear it, saying that the king was decisive and wise, and it was the blessing of the Great Xia Kingdom.

At this time, a person flashed out among the ministers, looking at the clothes, like a party member, but with the Song people's hair bun on his head, looking at his face, he was not like the party person's wide forehead and big face, and his chin was full, but the meniscus had long eyebrows, the bridge of the nose was flat, the big ears were turned out, and the two long mustaches looked a little serious, and he looked at Li Deming deeply.

"Your Majesty, according to the ministers, this Pan Luozhi must have done it on purpose, I am afraid that the Song Dynasty and the tribes of the Six Valleys of Tubo have formed a good alliance between the Qin and Jin dynasties. ”

The person who spoke was Zhang Pu, the special envoy of Zhongshu Province. Zhang Pu is Li Jiqian's most trusted Han man, resourceful and decisive, and very good at using soldiers.

Back then, Li Jiqian sent him to the Song Dynasty to sue for peace, but was taken hostage by Song Taizong and forced Li Jiqian to accept more conditions, but Li Jiqian refused. However, this Zhang Pu was tortured, but finally tried his best to escape back to Western Xia, which moved the Li father and son.

In the era of Li Deming, Zhang Pu was already the head of the ministers, in charge of the Shangpin Sizhong Academy, and at the same time gave him a silver medal. No matter who you are, seeing the talisman is equivalent to seeing the king of Xiping himself.

"Yes, Special Envoy Zhang is like a god. I deliberately did not give a big salute in the main hall, and the little emperor was in trouble with us everywhere, but in fact, he had already recognized my identity. ”

"Your Majesty, the emperor of the Song Dynasty is probably not just as simple as recognizing your identity, and the minister dares to guess that the whereabouts of the king this time are actually in his hands. ”

"Hahaha, Envoy Zhang guessed right. You see......"

As he spoke, Li Deming took out a brocade silk scroll from his arms, shook his wrist, and everyone only saw the word "edict": "Come, Special Envoy Zhang, you can read it to everyone." ”

Zhang Pu bowed down to take the edict, glanced at it a few times, and was about to read it, when Li Deming waved his hand: "Don't read the boastful words at the beginning, pick up the important ones to read." ”

"Do as the king commands!"

Zhang Pu cleared his throat and read, "King Xiping, why do you think this way south is unimpeded? In fact, as soon as you crossed the White Horse River, I received news about you. However, you restrain your subordinates, keep a low profile, and I am very happy and don't want to embarrass you. You disguise yourself as a retinue and go up to the temple and do not kneel, and I am magnanimous and do not care about you. You are so generous, you are in the same hall as the enemy who killed your father, and you can also take care of the overall situation. Hello means, don't kill Shanhuang in the face of danger, save face for me, I already appreciate you a little. I hope you will match your words with your deeds, and stop harassing my border fortresses. I respect you for being a man, give you a year's coin and tea silk, and hope that you will be a minister for generations to resist the Liao State. Otherwise, with a million male soldiers in my hands, and the Tibetans and Uighurs at the same time, how long will your party members be able to fight and resist? ”

After Zhang Pu finished reading, everyone looked at each other, and said in their hearts that this Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty was a neat and neat person, and he didn't talk around the bend at all, no wonder Pan Luozhi called him "Brother Xiao Zhao", and he was not angry. This man is not very old, but he can be informal, open-minded, and far-sighted, but he is a difficult opponent to deal with.

"You are all the king's henchmen, what do you think?" Li Deming looked at the ministers and wanted to hear everyone's opinions.

"Your Majesty, the minister thought that he should kill Pan Luozhi first to avenge the blood hatred of the previous king. It was Wei Mu Shanxi, the younger brother of Wei Mu Shuangyang, who was the princess of his sister, and the Wei Mu family was quite prestigious among the party members.

Li Deming said "um" and was noncommittal.

"This little emperor said that he wanted to fight us with the Tibetan Uighurs, but this has to be guarded against, I think we will not only fight the Tibetans, but also kill the Ganzhou Uighurs, this land west of the river should be ours. "The name of the person who spoke was Yeli Tiandu, and he was the head of the Yeli family, who was quite prestigious among the people of the Dangxiang clan.

Li Deming smiled slightly and didn't say a word.

Some said that they would continue to attack the wild valleys and harass the borders, and some said that they would unite with the Uighurs to deal with the Tibetans. Zhang Pu looked at the edict and was silent in thought. Li Deming asked: "Special Envoy Zhang, in your opinion, how should my Xia Kingdom respond?"

People brushed their eyes on Zhang Pu alone.

"Your Majesty, the Song Dynasty, the Tibetans, and the Uighurs are not difficult things, and the strategic points in the Hexi Corridor will sooner or later be in the pocket of the Great Xia State, and when the time is ripe, the king will also claim the title of emperor and establish the country! It's just that all of this requires a premise. ”

"Oh, what premise?"

"Move the capital to Huaiyuan!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone held their breath and looked at Li Deming together.

Moving the capital is a big deal, and now Lingzhou City has just improved a little, so it's a pity to abandon it.

At this time, a long-haired old man in a green robe sitting cross-legged on the ground in the corner suddenly stood up tremblingly and crutches, he shook his long gray hair, his face was full of wrinkles tightly locked together, and said in a hoarse voice: "King, it is absolutely impossible to move the capital." ”

Everyone knows that this is the Wujun Hall's big guy rewarding the feathers.

The party members attach great importance to shamans, and before major festivals or marches to war, they will ask shamans to perform divination. During the period of Li Deming, the "Wujun Hall" was set up in Xixia, and wizards of various tribes were invited to divinate and sacrifice. This reward is full of feathers, and he is the great servant of Wujuntang, the most prestigious wizard in Western Xia.

"Oh, please make it clear to Venerable Yu Reward. ”

Saying that, Li Deming stood up to show respect.

"Great King, this Lingzhou was fought hard by the first king, and which of the five states of my Xia Kingdom is not soaked in the sweat and blood of the first king? If the king moves the capital, the dragon vein will inevitably be uprooted, and the ancestral foundation will be affected, which is one of them. Second, move away the dragon vein, the demons and ghosts in Helan Mountain will have no deterrence, they will scatter and escape, and the first to suffer from it will be the people of my Great Xia Kingdom. The king's encounter with the ancient giant beast Shanhuang on this trip is just a harbinger, the dragon veins are unstable, ghosts are haunting, and the society is worried. ”

"This ......"

Li Deming has always attached great importance to the opinions of wizards. Yue Qiaman was so strongly opposed to moving the capital that he didn't care for a while. If it is really as he said, moving the capital has caused the dragon vein to be unstable, wouldn't it destroy the foundation of the ancestors in his own hands?

"Your Majesty, the minister has something to say. ”

Everyone followed the sound and looked, and in the other corner of the big tent, an old man in a black robe slowly stepped forward, this person had deep eye sockets, a high nose bridge, a pair of water-blue eyes, a pointed and long jaw, and curly hair, it was the new royal shaman Gesang Weiwei.

The sorcerers of the Western Xia were divided into two factions, and the sorcerers of each tribe were called Guping, which was under the jurisdiction of the Wujun Hall. There are also sorcerers in the royal family, who are mainly responsible for observing the sky at night, astrology and dream interpretation, and blessing and worshipping ancestors. Since the royal shaman is also a shamanic branch of the Tunguska tribe in the Altai region, he was also particularly respected by the Western Xia nobles.

Gesang Weiwei glanced at Yu Qiaman, and said loudly: "I have been observing the sky at night these days, although the guest star is very bright, it is not as dazzling as the main star. In the sky above the Huaiyuan area, there seems to be a dragon flying, which is a great auspicious omen. In the opinion of the ministers, it is time to seize the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and make preparations for moving the capital as soon as possible. ”

"Do you see a dragon flying in Huaiyuan?ha, why do I see the black clouds in the area of Helan Mountain, and the demonic aura is gradually rising?" said Yu Qiaman and shook his head repeatedly, very disdainful of the shaman's words. Wujuntang and Shamanism have always been at odds, and in front of everyone, the two of them have been-for-tat again.

"If, as Lord Yue said, will we give up that auspicious land and stay in Lingzhou?"

"However, once the dragon vein shakes and the demons and monsters are born, isn't the first one to suffer the calamity also be my party member?"

After a pause, Xian Yu Qiaman said again: "I don't know what Lord Gesang is trying to do by ignoring the safety of my party's people and advocating the relocation of the capital?"

"If I say that it is the will of heaven, Lord Zhuyu may not be able to believe it, but how can you know the mystery of this celestial phenomenon if you Wujun Hall fiddles with folk witchcraft?"

"So, Lord Gesang thinks that my Wujun Hall is not as noble as your shamanism?"

"I'm just telling the truth, Lord Yueyu doesn't want to spew blood......"

The two wizards spoke fiercely and refused to give in to each other, and Li Deming didn't want to offend either party, so he could only ask Zhang Pu for help with his eyes.

Zhang Pu smiled, walked between Qiaman and Gesang Weiwei, each bowed deeply to show respect, and then said loudly: "Your Majesty, two Venerables, the five states of the Xia Kingdom are indeed won by the first kings with their lives, and each state is very important.

But today's edict from the emperor of the Song Dynasty makes it very clear that once they collude with the Tibetan Liugu and the Uighurs, they will form a three-sided attack on us.

Lingzhou is located at a strategic point, and it is indeed a natural barrier for the combat defense of the Song Dynasty, but it is a pity that it is too close to the border and has no strategic depth. Once attacked from three sides, our main force will be easily trapped. Huaiyuan is far away from the border of the Song Dynasty, there are Jiuqu Yellow River natural hazards in the east and south directions, and Helan Mountain is a natural barrier in the west, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Second, Lingzhou is a bitterly cold land, the soil is poor, and the people have been requisitioned as soldiers for many years, so how can we have time for production and labor? In addition, there is not much grain stored in the city, and if we clash with the Song army and fall into a tug-of-war, I am afraid we will not be able to hold out for long. But Huaiyuan is different, it is close to the Yellow River, and the land is fertile and suitable for farming. In non-war times, it can allow troops to be reclaimed, and it is convenient and fast to assemble troops in war. As for the dragon vein migration......"

Zhang Pu said, and gave another salute to Qiaman: "I have a plan for both, but I'm afraid of ......."

"But it doesn't hurt to say that. Li Deming nodded again and again, motioning for Zhang Pu to continue.

"The king can leave some of the existing elite troops and Wujuntang in Lingzhou, and first move the people to Huaiyuan one after another, one retains the qi of the dragon vein, and the other is that the disciples of Lord Xiangyu and the elite iron cavalry of my Great Xia Kingdom are stationed together, and it is not a problem to believe in any demons and monsters. ”

When Yu Qia heard this, he became a little anxious: "Now, I have to say this." The king of the good sect knows that since the god of Helan Mountain opened up the land of my five states, there will be a spiritual reincarnation every nine hundred and ninety-nine years, during which major changes will inevitably occur, and the spiritual gate will be opened, and the ancient and modern worlds will be connected. ”

"Spirit reincarnation?" Li Deming was stunned: "Old Venerable, why have I never heard you talk about it?"

"This secret has been guarded by the old slave for a lifetime, this is the old slave master's master passed on from generation to generation, and ordered the disciples to swear to guard the spiritual gate to the death to protect our party members from being implicated. At present, there are only more than ten years left before this spiritual reincarnation, and the old slave thinks, on the day of this reincarnation, something big will inevitably happen, think about it, what else is bigger than moving the capital? No way, the old slave has to mention it today. ”

"Is it? Wu Juntang guards a big secret, but he has not reported it to the king for a long time?

Gesang Weiwei looked at the people around him with a smile, shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and made a very helpless look.

"You ......"

Rewarding Yu Qia was so angry that he trembled: "This is a heavenly opportunity, and the heavenly opportunity must not be leaked." The old man desperately tried to offend Tianyan, so he told the king this secret, how did it get into your mouth, and the words were so ugly!"

"Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that the real heavenly opportunity is that my Great Xia Kingdom will become a hegemon. Once the royal city is built, the five states of Daxia will be stable, and the national fortune will be prosperous, which is a major event for thousands of years. How can the progress be thwarted by an imaginary spiritual reincarnation?"

Xiang Yu Qia said angrily: "Okay, since you don't believe in the reincarnation of the spirit world, the old man will rebel against the way of heaven today, and show you what the reincarnation of the spirit world and the opening of the spiritual gate look like." Your Majesty, please allow the old slave to do it on the spot and demonstrate the reincarnation of the spiritual world. ”

Li Deming had already doubted in his heart whether this spiritual reincarnation was true or false, and at this moment, seeing that the Great Wizard of Wujun Hall was about to demonstrate in public, he nodded and said, "Then there is Old Venerable Lao." ”

Rewarding Yu Qiaman bowed deeply to Li Deming, and then shouted outside the tent: "Someone, where are the disciples of Wujun Hall!"

As soon as the words fell, eight Wujun Hall disciples entered the big tent in response.

Rewarding Yu Qia ordered eight disciples to stand in accordance with the eight directions of Qiangong, Kan Palace, Gen Palace, Zhen Palace, Xun Palace, Ligong, Kun Palace, and Dui Palace, and he came to the position of the Middle Palace, erected the crutches in his hand, chanted words in his mouth, and his gray hair kept shaking, and suddenly a bronze mirror appeared in his hand, and a golden light shot towards the disciples in the direction of Qiangong.

The disciple opened his hands, and a glittering bronze mirror appeared in his arms, refracting the golden light towards the direction of the Kan Palace.

The disciples standing in the Kan Palace concocted according to the law, refracting to the Gen Palace.

The eight disciples connected in turn, and finally, the disciples of the Dugong Palace refracted the golden light back to the reward feather Qiaman, and the nine bronze mirrors flew into the air at the same time, forming a huge mirror.

Everyone looked up and saw that images gradually appeared in the mirror.

"Look, that's Helan Mountain, right?"

"That's right, this is the Tengger Desert?"

"Look, it's Soft Wolf Mountain, and Killing Cow Ridge......"

"Ah...... What kind of place is that? It looks like a town in the Song Dynasty!"

"Tibet, this is the grassland of Tibet"

"Dali is the ...... of Dali Zantuo Temple"

The ministers in the big tent pointed to the places that appeared in the mirror in turn, some had been there, some had not, and in a moment they recognized seven, seven, eight, eight.

Suddenly, a strong white light flashed in the mirror, and an oval arch appeared, and at first glance, it seemed like the sky had opened an eye. Everyone was so pierced by the strong light that they couldn't open their eyes and didn't dare to look directly.

After a few moments, I heard the rumbling thunder in the mirror, the lightning one after the other, the roar of the arch came one after another, and then a large number of beasts swarmed out.

"Ah, that's Shanhuang, right? such a big guy, such a long fang!"

"What's that?...... A python. ”

"Look! It's the 梼杌, the 梼杌 is the four fierce beasts of the ancients......"

"Ouch, the monsters in this water are eating people......"

The picture in the mirror changed rapidly, and everyone held their breath and stared wide, for fear of missing every picture and missing a key piece of information.

Suddenly, there were bursts of thunder outside the tent, as if there were thousands of people beating war drums in the sky, and the thunder became louder and louder from far and near, far more violent than the thunder in the mirror. Seeing the sweat on their foreheads and the eight Wujun Hall disciples, the sleeves of their robes trembled, as if they were gritting their teeth and struggling to support them.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning pierced through the top of the tent and hit the mirror, and the nine people including Yu Qiaman fell to the ground one after another, the nine bronze mirrors were smashed into pieces, and the images in the mirrors disappeared.

"Old Venerable, how are you?"

Li Deming walked quickly to Yue Yuqiaman's side and helped him up.

"Your Majesty, revealing the heavenly opportunity in advance, going against the way of heaven, and damaging Yangshou, the old slave has done his best. ”

"It's my fault, the old Venerable is old, and this king shouldn't let you take this risk again. ”

"Don't say that, the king, it's the old slave who did it voluntarily. Whether the capital is moved or not is related to the king's hegemony. The stakes are the responsibilities of the old slave, but he doesn't dare to hide them, and he speaks bluntly today, and asks the king to be considerate. ”

The ministers were all shocked by the scene just now, whispering, and discussing, only Gesang Weiwei stood alone on the side, sneering on his face, as if everything that had just happened was not worth it.

Li Deming helped Yu Qiaman to sit down, pacing back and forth in the big tent, silent in thought.

Gesang Weiwei's remark that "Huaiyuan has a dragon flying" made the ambitious Li Deming itch and scratch, and coupled with Zhang Pu's strategic analysis, he was already distracted.

Although everyone has heard of the reincarnation of the spirit world for the first time, judging from the demonstration just now, if the capital is really moved by the dragon vein, what if there is an unforeseen situation that causes a disaster?

"The stakes are high, and let me think about it again. ”