Ringing Arrows.

Three years ago, when Zhao Lanjiang passed by Xiangjian County, he was still a penniless down-and-out swordsman, and it was here that he and Yang Xiaoxiao met again.

Three years later, when he came here again, the Yiren had gone, and Zhao Tianci in his infancy had reached the age of one.

Because of taking care of Zhao Tianci, Zhao Lanjiang did not travel west all the way. His own eating and drinking is easy to do, Zhao Tianci is too young to eat, along the way, he can only cook some rice porridge and meat paste for him to eat, and his son is growing up, but he has not lost weight. It's just that Zhao Lanjiang, who has never taken care of the child, suffered a big crime.

In order to improve his son's food, he worked hard, and even bought a sheep to milk it, but when he was on the road two days ago, he met three thieves, and the idea of beating this sheep was very polite and sent them to Lord Yan to play mahjong with him, but the sheep was frightened and could not produce milk.

So he decided to go to Xiangjian County again to buy sheep, and if he was lucky, maybe buy a cow. When I came to the city gate, the big bow that was exempt from the city gate tax had long been removed, and the guards at the gate were obviously much more vigilant.

These are troubled times, and anyone suspicious should be on the lookout for them.

Zhao Lanjiang's burly figure quickly attracted the attention of the city gate officials.

"Stop, where did you come from, where are you going, what are you doing in Ringing Arrow?"

Zhao Lanjiang didn't want to cause trouble, and said, "Come from the capital and go to Yinyang." He pointed to Zhao Tianci in his arms, "I want to go into the city to buy a sheep and milk the child." ”

When the officers and soldiers heard that it was from the capital, they said, "I'm afraid there are not many people who can come out alive." ”

"Luckily, I escaped. ”

The officer and soldier noticed the box on his horse, "What is this?"

Zhao Lanjiang said in his heart that it was not good, he killed Zhu Liye, nitrated the head, and installed it, because he rarely entered the city along the way, he was exempted from a lot of interrogation, but today he forgot about it. If they find out, it will inevitably cause unnecessary trouble.

But he decided to tell the truth, "A human head." ”

"Head?" the officers and men were full of vigilance.

Zhao Lanjiang said, "The head of my enemy's family, this person killed my whole family, destroyed my whole family, I will bring him back to Yinyang to pay tribute to the ancestors." ”

The officers and soldiers let out an "oh", opened the box and checked it, and saw Zhu Liye's head in the box, even if it was the original Ming Emperor, anyone who looked at it was a crime of deception, but now it is just a trophy.

"Your enemy?"

Zhao Lanjiang nodded.

The officers and soldiers spat on the ground.

He interrogated a few more words, and said to Zhao Lanjiang that he was waiting here, and someone came to ask him for a while, Zhao Lanjiang was a little vigilant, and the officer and soldier said, "Nothing else, you came from the east and wanted to inquire about the news. ”

Zhao Lanjiang was stunned in his heart.

This is far away from the capital, after Zhu Liye's death, the court fell into chaos, the forces of all parties were divided, the news came from there, I don't know how many hands were gone, most of them were distorted, there are people from the capital like him, it is not surprising that the other party has this kind of thought.

After a few moments, a man in a gown walked out.

"General Zhao!"

Zhao Lanjiang saw that this person was Ye Erlang of the Ye family, the commander of the fire word battalion of the Western Army, and in the battle of Hengduan Mountain, he led 300 crossbowmen to block the Western Chu army on Shuangfeng Mountain for a day and a night, so as to gain enough time for the retreat of the Western Army.

He didn't expect to meet here again today.

"Night General!"

Ye Erlang stepped forward and gave a military salute, and Zhao Lanjiang returned the salute. He wondered, "Why do you have to respond to the Arrow County, and don't you want to conquer the Western Army anymore?"

Ye Erlang sighed, "The Ming Dynasty is gone, where is there any Western Army?"

"What about them?"

Ye Erlang said, "When the news of His Majesty's death came, the King of Shu, the King of Yu, and the King of Long all proclaimed themselves emperors, and issued edicts to the Western Army, demanding to submit to them, and the army was not unanimous and mutinied. The new Metropolitan Governor was unable to convince the people at all, and was hacked to death by his subordinates. Seeing that I was about to run out of food, I saw that the situation was not good, so I led the Yejia Erlang back to Xiangjian County. ”

"What's going on now?"

Ye Erlang said, "The 100,000 Western Army was divided into several groups to fight separately, some of them were disarmed and returned to the field, and some of them were short of food, and finally took refuge in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and at present, only General Su Zhengyuan of Hulukou is still holding on." ”

Zhao Lanjiang and Su Zhengyuan are neighbors, and the two have a lot of dealings, especially when he controls the border passes between Western Chu and Daming, and often interacts with him on weekdays.

Su Zhengyuan has an advantage, it is not good to fight, but the means of collecting money are first-class, last year he saw that the war between the two countries had subsided, and the grain trade was very profitable, so he ordered all the Hulukou garrisons to reclaim the land and farm, which was originally a military cantonment area, so that they escaped a catastrophe in this extraordinary period.

However, the emperor is dead, and what is the point of them holding on there?

After talking about the affairs in the army, Zhao Lanjiang asked about the situation in Yinyang City, Ye Erlang wanted to speak and stopped, Zhao Lanjiang felt bad and asked, "What's wrong?"

Ye Erlang pondered for a moment, and then said, "I'm afraid the general doesn't know, something happened to Yinyang." ”

Zhao Lanjiang was shocked, "What's the situation?"

Ye Erlang said, "I heard that there is a new owner of your Ghost Fan Tower in Hidden Yang City, it seems to be called Li Changzheng, a few months ago, when he heard that His Majesty died, he led Ghost Fan Tower from the underground to the ground, and took Hidden Yang City as his own. ”

"What?"

Zhao Lanjiang set off a huge wave in his heart.

Li Changzheng is not dead?

When he was in Jinling, Li Chengcheng realized a sword in Allure, and Zhao Lanjiang also borrowed a sword intent from him to kill the owner of the Ghost Fan Building, how could he come out like this now?

"Ghost Fan Lou occupied Hidden Yang City, drove out those people from the City Lord's Mansion, and controlled the trade route, and in the past few months, the trade route between Xiangjian County and Hidden Yang City has been broken. I heard that the king of Shu sent people to negotiate with them and asked them to submit to them. ”

Zhao Lanjiang asked, "When did this happen?"

"Two months ago. ”

Ye Erlang sighed, "It's just that Li Changzheng is waiting for the price to sell now, it seems that some things have not been negotiated yet, and they are waiting for King Yu's offer." Once Yinyang City returns to the King of Shu, we are afraid that Xiangjian County will also have to choose a side. ”

Zhao Lanjiang chuckled in his heart.

If he was still in Yinyang, he would definitely not give Li Changzheng such a chance. It's just that I don't know what Qingluan, Chai Gongwang, and Li Bufan are doing now.

He decided to hurry early tomorrow morning and go to Yinyang to find out the wind first.

He has poured a lot of effort into Hidden Sun City, and now is the time when everything is in ruins, and he will never allow outsiders to wreak havoc.

Whoever wants to make a moth has to ask him about the golden knife in his hand first.

The two chatted for a while, and Zhao Lanjiang noticed that when he entered the city, the guards at the gate were obviously divided into two camps, so he asked, "What about you, I'm a little awkward on the doorkeeper's side." ”

Ye Erlang said, "It's not the car family's business." ”

The Yejia and the Che family, the two prominent clans of Xiangjian County, have been fighting for hundreds of years, but in recent years, the Yejia has obviously pressed the Che family, has there been another change during this time?

Ye Erlang said again, "It's not a secret, now the envoys of the King of Shu and the King of Yu are in our Xiangjian County. They came to persuade us to be obedient. ”

After Zhu Liye's death, the world was in turmoil.

But if you say that the strongest power is still the King of Shu and the King of Yu, one occupies the country of Tianfu in Shu, the other occupies the Central Plains, and there are local forces to support it, control the soldiers and horses, and have food, so they have a great right to speak in the competition for the world.

In troubled times, if you have milk, you are a mother.

Whoever gives the conditions is good, then mix with whom.

Condition?

There are nothing more than two, one is to be promoted to the rank of official, and the other is to provide financial support. The separatist forces in these places were very scattered and loose at first, and in the end, the big fish ate the small fish and the small fish ate the shrimp, merging the big powers of the city like a greedy snake, just like the chaos of the seventy-two countries five hundred years ago.

For small local forces, people like the King of Shu and the King of Yu did not give them a chance to negotiate at all, and directly sent troops to seize them.

For the medium-sized forces, they will move them with affection, understand them with reason, and benefit from them, and it is best to negotiate with them, and if they can't get along, they will also fight directly.

And to the Hidden Yang City, the Western Army, which has become a force of the climate, is far away, if you really send troops to crusade and mobilize the people, maybe the gains will outweigh the losses in the end, then you have to use diplomatic means.

First enlist the support of the other party, and then give the conditions for submission, of course, their submission is only nominal, at least to keep the same pace externally, if they let them help fight the war, then the price is another calculation.

In a sense, these forces are like commodities to be sold, no different from the kiln sisters standing on the street.

Of course, if one side is strong enough to conquer the other, that's a different story.

A medium-sized force like Xiangjian County is now facing the pull of the King of Shu and the King of Yu, no matter which side they choose, it will directly affect Yinyang City in the end.

Because this is the only way from the Central Plains to Yinyang City, and it is an important distribution center of Yinyang Trade Road. And it is with this in mind that Ghost Fan Lou has not given a clear reply.

They were waiting for the Arrows to move.

Thinking of this, Zhao Lanjiang also probably figured out the situation. He asked, "What do you guys think about it?"

Ye Erlang said, "The current trend is unknown, our Ye family advocates independence from the two kings, at least until the two kings divide the victory or defeat, do not make a choice, but the king of Shu and the king of Yu don't think so, if they can't talk, it is very likely to go to war, because if you take Xiangjian County, you will have a chance to take Yinyang City." ”

Zhao Lanjiang snorted coldly, "It's quite beautiful to think about." ”

Ye Erlang said again, "The King of Shu and the King of Yu have no results on our side, and they both went to negotiate with the Che family, and our head of the family has now repented, but the other party ignored us, but made it very passive." He sighed, "The Che family has been suppressed too much in the past few years, and I am afraid that after they take power, they will retaliate against us." ”

Zhao Lanjiang suddenly had an idea and asked, "Can you arrange to meet with your family master?"

Ye Erlang was stunned for a moment and said, "I'll arrange it." ”

That night, Ye Erlang arranged a place for Zhao Lanjiang and sent someone to bring food, and he was also thoughtful, bringing milk and rice porridge to Zhao Tianci.

After months of traveling, Zhao Tianci was finally able to sleep peacefully, thus rescuing Zhao Lanjiang from the torture of coaxing the baby to sleep every night.

After talking to Yejiro today, he already has a plan in his heart.

Now the world is in chaos, but it won't be long before it soon becomes a contention between several major forces.

The King of Shu is counted as one, the King of Yu is counted as one, and although the King of Long is more than the two in terms of blood, he is weaker and younger, which is slightly inferior. King Ning, who is far away in the south of the Yangtze River, has the team of Jinling to accompany the capital, which is the most orthodox, but the shortcomings are also obvious, that is, there is no danger to defend, if you can tie the cash cow of the Li family in Jinling, you also have the ability to compete with the two kings.

And now the focus is on Ringing Arrow.

In the past, Xiangjian County was just a trade route, but now that the Ming Dynasty is in chaos, it has become the only passage connecting the Central Plains and Western Xinjiang, and its military significance is far greater than its economic benefits.

Therefore, the king of Shu and the king of Yu are trying their best to win over this place.

No matter which side the Ringing Arrow County throws to, Hidden Yang City will become meat in a pot, although it can't be said to be slaughtered, but it will definitely not be comfortable.

When it comes to royal blood, who else in the world has a purer bloodline than him?

Zhao Lanjiang is no longer the reckless boy he was back then, even if he has the ambition to compete in the world, all he can rely on at this moment is a Hidden Yang City, and now it is still occupied by thieves.

He is not extravagant, relying on the royal bloodline, raising his arms, all the heroes of the world will come to vote, this is the story in the storyteller's book.

Having been in the rivers and lakes and temples for a long time, he understands that to seize the world, the real confidence comes from the knife in his hand and the soldiers under his command.

Therefore, Zhao Lanjiang secretly determined that he must not let the King of Yu and the King of Shu get Xiangjian County.

As for Yinyang City, although Li Changzheng is powerful, he is just the courage of one person, and on the side of Xiangjian County, it is a "potential" word.

After weighing it, he decided to stay for now.

Footsteps were heard outside the door.

The voice was very soft, and he hesitated at the door for a long time before knocking on the door, "Is General Zhao sleeping?" The voice was a woman.

Zhao Lanjiang opened the door and saw Concubine Yeyu.

Concubine Night Rain stood at the door a little cramped, with nowhere to put her hands, a little overwhelmed.

She is still the same girl as before, and she has not changed in the slightest.

Time has left traces on Zhao Lanjiang's face.

"Night Maiden. ”

Concubine Yeyu looked at him, but her mind drifted to the Yi Arrow Conference three years ago. At that time, for a while, Concubine Yeyu was so angry with Zhao Lanjiang that she wanted to find fault again and again.

After Zhao Lanjiang won the championship, the moment Concubine Yeyu saw him take off his mask, she was tempted, but Zhao Lanjiang didn't have her in her eyes at all, and when she left Xiangjian County, she didn't even say hello, which made her very sad.

However, feelings have been planted.

Falling flowers are intentionally ruthless.

Later, I heard that he killed Li Xiancheng in Yinyang City, and used a sword of the gods in Hengduan Mountain to defeat the Western Chu army, and the hero complex in the girl's heart arose.

On the day when the golden sword was crowned king, Concubine Yeyu deliberately ran to Yinyang City, looked at him from afar, and even wanted to rush out to recognize him, but when she saw the woman beside Zhao Lanjiang, a basin of cold water was poured on her head. After coming back, I didn't think about tea and dinner, and I was sad for a long time.

Concubine Yeyu thinks very highly of herself, and she can't look down on the men in Xiangjian County at all, especially after getting to know Zhao Lanjiang, Li Chengcheng and Xiao Jinyan, she feels that the rest of the men are boring.

She once said that if you want to marry, you must marry a hero.

originally thought it was a joke at the beginning, but she had already gradually forgotten it, and was about to succumb to fate, when suddenly Ye Erlang told him that Zhao Lanjiang had come to Yinyang City!

A heart that was getting cooler suddenly became hot.

Especially when she learned that Yang Xiaoxiao was dead and he was alone with the child, Concubine Yeyu thought for a long time, mustered up her courage, and knocked on Zhao Lanjiang's door.

"Can I come in?"

Zhao Lanjiang turned sideways, "This is your family, of course you can enter if you want to." ”

Concubine Yeyu came to the room, a heart like a deer, when she didn't see it, a thousand words, after seeing it, but she was cramped and uneasy, her eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of Zhao Tianci who was sleeping, walked over, and stared at him for a long time, "It's so cute." ”

She reached out to touch Zhao Tianci's little face, and Zhao Tianci smiled in his sleep. She said, "It seems that I still have a relationship with Ling Gongzi." ”

Zhao Tianci suddenly opened his eyes and saw that Concubine Yeyu was not her mother-in-law, and she cried "wow", which made Concubine Yeyu a little embarrassed.

Zhao Lanjiang stepped forward, held Zhao Tianci in his arms, and slapped him while coaxing him to sleep. Seeing it in the eyes of Concubine Yeyu, it is difficult to associate an invincible god of war with this father who coaxes the baby to sleep.

A word came to her mind.

There is a tiger in the heart, sniffing the rose.

Zhao Lanjiang is the tiger, and who is Rose?

Thinking of this, she blushed.

After putting down Zhao Tianci, Zhao Lanjiang poured her a cup of tea, and Concubine Yeyu stared at him for a long time, wanting to speak, but she didn't know what to say.

"I'm very sad about Mrs. Ling's affairs. ”

Zhao Lanjiang frowned slightly, how could this woman not open any pot, but as a guest, he had to politely greet her.

"How long are you going to stay?"

Zhao Lanjiang said, "Originally, I wanted to go into the city to buy a sheep that would lay milk, but I heard General Ye talk about the Che family, so I wanted to stay for two more days to see the situation." ”

Concubine Yeyu was overjoyed when she heard this, and she could have the opportunity to contact him for a few more days, but she said, "Yinyang City and Xiangjian County are separated by water, General Zhao can work hard for Xiangjian County, Concubine Yu is really grateful." ”

Zhao Lanjiang said, "Although the two cities are far apart, it is a cold situation. If it is not solved now, sooner or later it will be a problem. ”

Concubine Yeyu said, "It's a pity that my family didn't grasp the opportunity in the early stage, and now the King of Shu and the King of Yu have pressed the treasure on the Che family, I don't know what will happen at the gathering of several major families in the city tomorrow." ”

"Party?"

Zhao Lanjiang thought about it, Ye Erlang only mentioned the matter, but he didn't elaborate, it seems that he himself has not completely made up his mind, this is not a good signal.

He originally planned to meet with the night owl, the head of the Ye family, and then test the possibility of the two cities forming an alliance, if it was feasible, it would be the best news for Hidden Sun City.

Concubine Yeyu is different, she wants to get along with Zhao Lanjiang, so she doesn't shy away from speaking, and says: "Tomorrow, the Ye family, the Che family, and several patriarchs in the city will get together to negotiate, and they may force us to stand in line." The King of Shu and the King of Yu are determined to win the Ringing Arrow County, no matter who wins the Ringing Arrow County, our night family will be unlucky. ”

Zhao Lanjiang felt strange, "In this situation, no matter which side you choose, the other side will inevitably do its best to win it, why can you sit together and negotiate?"

Concubine Yeyu said with a smile, "Although the King of Shu and the King of Yu are powerful, they also have a lot of energy involved, and they still have many forces to compete for, and they are all royal relatives, before the general trend is decided, how can there be internal chaos first?"

Zhao Lanjiang understood.

Under the premise that both sides are unable to send troops, they try to offer better conditions to gain control of Xiangjian County, but if it is not possible, then compromise and let the two sides govern together.

No wonder at the city gate, I saw two groups of forces.

And if Xiangjian County did not surrender, the King of Shu and King Yu joined forces to force them, so Xiangjian County had to make a choice.

However, now that Zhao Lanjiang is here, he will definitely not let this happen.

The two chatted for a while, Concubine Yeyu got up to say goodbye, and when she came to the door, she suddenly stopped, her eyes staring at him, a little confused.

Zhao Lanjiang is the one who came over, how could he not see the thoughts of Concubine Yeyu?

It's just that Yang Xiaoxiao has not been long after he died, he has no interest in men and women, and Concubine Yeyu is not the type that Zhao Lanjiang likes, so he has been deliberately avoiding her.

Concubine Yeyu suddenly hugged Zhao Lanjiang, pursed her lips, and sent her tongue in.

Zhao Lanjiang wanted to push her away, but suddenly remembered the identity of Concubine Yeyu's eldest lady of the night family, if he could make good use of it, wouldn't it be one of his trump cards?

If Hidden Yang marries Xiangjian County, then everything will be solved.

It is possible not to love, but it can be utilized.

In the past, Zhao Lanjiang would not and disdained to do so.

But the current Zhao Lanjiang is not the original swordsman.

Thinking of this, Zhao Lanjiang lifted her up, and simply pressed her against the wall rudely, and Concubine Yeyu's feet were hanging in the air, so she had to hug Zhao Lanjiang tightly with her hands.

She seems to be a lonely boat under the storm above the sea, and Zhao Lanjiang is her only support.