Coming back with snow, returning with mud everywhere, the convoy drifting away, and the people who saw them off at the pier were still looking forward to the riders looking back again.

The dark clouds walked steadily, and the heart of the high wall on horseback fluctuated, and he couldn't bear to bury his head in the road.

This way is long, the border pass life and death at a loss, when leaving the cottage, the young boy thought that he could go home to reunite if he became a samurai, but now he is getting older, how do he not know that since he put on this military uniform, most of this life has been sold to the imperial royal, the military order is like a mountain and the military law is ruthless, how dare and how can he leave the team in battle.

In a short time, Fang tasted the warmth of home, and experienced the sadness of parting, open-minded and cheerful, and became silent on the way back.

Mei Ying wanted to comfort everyone, but she didn't know where to start. Let them face death indifferently and win the glory of the samurai with their young lives, how can the high-sounding reasons be said. The team in this wind and snow is just an inconspicuous snowflake in the 81st Fubiao Battalion, and at this moment, on the way to the six cities of Biansai, how many students have the same thoughts. Imperial warriors, border soldiers, glory and bitterness are like twin brothers, the fortress outpost with a murderous environment and a harsh environment, how long can glory shroud loneliness.

At the teleportation station in Evergreen City, the gentle instructor and Mei Ying said goodbye to everyone, saying that they were going to Kyoto to handle official business, Mei Ying was silent with tears, Gao Yuan was speechless to see him off, and the atmosphere next to the teleporter was depressing and weird.

"Jicui City, I will fight side by side with you!"

The smoke and dust of the teleportation rose up, Mei Ying's firm voice came from the fog, the dust fell and the beauty was far away, Hua Yue took the lead and walked up to the teleportation platform, and everyone silently followed behind her.

"Believe in her, she will definitely return to the team as scheduled, samurai glory, she values more than life. ”

Far away in the interior of the empire, a huge city stands majestically on the vast plain, with 36 acropolis dotted within a radius of 600 li, 60 miles away from the city, surrounded by six huge stone walls and iron-water fortresses, and guarded day and night by the most elite cavalry of the six battalions, this is Qinghui Kyoto, the political, military and cultural center of the empire.

The three-zhang high city wall is full of arrow tower forts, and a group of city guards with bright armor and bright swords and guns patrol back and forth on the city wall, and their vigilant eyes sweep to the endless crowd at the city gate from time to time, in their eyes, everyone may be a spy and a traitor.

The guards at the gate of the city looked grim, the city guards were ordered to enter a state of alert a few years ago, although it was only the lowest level of alert order, but even the officers could not remember how many years Kyoto had not implemented military control, in the past opened thirteen city gates, allowing pedestrians to enter and exit through the wide doorway, occasionally checking a few words, but also those patrolmen in Kyoto Prefecture who were bored, and took the handsome big girl and little daughter-in-law to have fun.

The teleportation platform to and from Kyoto is located in the Acropolis, only the royal family and the military department are kept in the city two, and they are closed all the year round, and they are not allowed to be used for non-emergency military situations.

The gentle instructor and Mei Ying drove six hundred miles in three days, so that the horses were also tired, and the two walked straight to the city gate, and the guards who blocked the road caught a glimpse of the token in the hand of the gentle instructor, and consciously put away their spears and let them go, until they were stopped by the captain of the guard in front of the city gate.

"Qianlong Ling, are you from the Prince's Mansion?"

One side of the token is carved out of undulating mountains, a five-clawed flying dragon in the central abyss looks up at the sky, surrounded by clouds and mist to cover the body, and the other side is beautifully embossed palace, and the four small characters on the plaque on the palace gate Dragon Flying Phoenix Dance, Qinghui supervises the country, it is the prince's hidden dragon order, second only to the identity token of the king's flying dragon order, and there are few pieces in the entire empire, how do these two women have it, the captain of the guard couldn't help but ask more when he returned the token.

The gentle instructor took the token, and the two got on their horses and walked away, ignoring the captain's questioning, and the mud contaminated with the hind hooves of the war horse splattered onto the armor, as if blaming him for not inadvertently exposing the identities of the two, the captain of the guard touched his neck, and really wanted to slap his mouth, what more mouth, fortunately it was these two women, if it was those secret guards of the prince's mansion, this sentence was enough to make the head move.

"Lonely for a long time to live in order to seek the way of immortality, but the state affairs and customs are entangled, it is difficult to achieve the wish, and now the people of the four seas are happy, and the smoke and dust of the soldiers are not shocked, on the occasion of the peaceful years, in order to get the long-cherished wish, the prince benevolence and filial piety should also share the worries, from now on the regent of the country, in addition to the national war and the appointment and dismissal of officials above the third grade to play the lonely ruling, a should be punished at the discretion of the government and military aircraft. ”

Six years ago, the old king did not reveal the slightest tone in advance, and suddenly said something surprising at the court meeting, regardless of the obstruction of the important ministers and nobles, ignoring the prince's kneeling and kowtowing and bleeding, and handed over three tokens to him in public as a certificate of supervision, and then issued an edict to spread throughout the nine counties.

Six years of handling state affairs, government affairs and military affairs are all inappropriate, the prince's prestige is growing, and he has faintly become the lord of the country, but his character is more cautious than before, and major affairs are played by his father and the king. Government affairs dare not slack off the military plane can not be missed, the prince tremblingly performed the duty of supervising the regent, how could he have imagined that one stone would stir up a thousand waves, a few crossbow machine drawings caused the threat of war, the Sunset Empire deployed heavy troops on the border, and put on a posture of not handing over the murderer and not hesitating to go to war, intelligence showed that the Cuihua Empire was also ready to move, and the Three Kingdoms War was about to break out.

At the court meeting, the old king who was over sixty years old was silent on his high seat, the silver-haired child's face was in good spirits, and there was a faint glint between his eyes closed, the prince was in his prime, his long hair was black and white, and his face was anxious and unspeakably tired, sitting in front of the throne, looking a few years younger than the king, and his spirit was even more different.

"Your Majesty, soldiers are murder weapons, decades of peace between the two countries have not come easily, the old minister still insists, must not be lightly moved, swords and soldiers together at the border into a river of blood, decades of recuperation, savings turned into smoke day and night, it is not the blessing of the empire. The 81st Fubiao Battalion went to the border area, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs acted too hastily. ”

The person who spoke was the Minister of Military Affairs of the Empire, dressed in a black military uniform tightened on his body, and his loud words echoed in the main hall, adding a bit of authority.

"The military department has lost the top-secret drawings, if it is not for the scholars to take it back, how can the empire be blessed! Now that bandits are rampant in the three areas, and the sunset mercenaries are mixed in, the caravan is not only unprofitable, but also has suffered heavy casualties in a short period of time, if it is not given a thunderous blow, not to mention the loss of the interests of the empire, the prestige of the glorious country will not be insulted. The old minister thought that the war was not provoked by my Qinghui, and if he did not face the war, it would damage the national body. ”

The Minister of Military Affairs was difficult to refute for a while, and shouted angrily: "Charging into battle is either dead or wounded, do you think that relying on tens of thousands of soldiers, you can resist the sunset hundreds of thousands of tigers and wolves, iron horses, jokes, civilian officials are not enough to speak of soldiers." ”

"Then according to the meaning of your military department, do you really want to tie up the apprentices and send them to the enemy, so why do you hold the crossbow machine diagram to the Sunset Empire with both hands, and this war disaster will naturally dissipate. The Minister of Culture and Culture blushed, and his words were no longer merciless: "The crossbow machine diagram was lost by your military department, and after half a month, it was actually said that the archived drawings were intact, and the one that was snatched back was fake, and the big seal of your military department was suddenly covered on it, is that also fake, really when the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty are blind." ”

"The drawings and engineering department have verified that they are correct, and they are indeed the latest crossbow machine samples of the empire, and they are exactly the same as the archives of the military department. The Minister of Industry spoke out to defend his civilian colleagues, but he did not want to offend the Minister of Military Affairs too much, so he said slowly: "This matter is too strange, the map of the military department is intact, who drew this drawing, if it is said that it is copied by a spy, how can it be stamped with the seal of the military department." The minister thought that since the Ministry of Civil Affairs had issued an order to prepare for war, it was better for the Military Department to think of a strategy, and it would be possible to fight or not. The stolen drawings were leaked out of the military department, and it was not appropriate for the military department to track down the spies on its own, so I asked His Majesty to investigate it clearly, so that it would be better for the Inspectorate or the Criminal Department to take over. ”

"The Minister of Industry proposed very well, to investigate the leak, the military department self-examination has no results, hehe, it is not very suitable to look at the inspectorate and the criminal department, the real drawings, but also stamped with the main seal of the military department, hehe, this hidden spy makes Lone very curious, deep and high-level enjoyment, there is no shortage of jewelry beauties, why take risks. ”

The old king finally spoke, his tone was like an old man's homely style, and he couldn't hear the slightest royal momentum, but the two faint laughter came into the ears of the civil and military officials, and the hall was silent for an instant.

"The Imperial City Inspection Division, this matter will be revealed to Lone, for half a year, either the spy will have his head on the ground, or your inspection envoy will come to see Lone. ”

The Imperial City Inspection Department is directly under the king, and even the crown prince of the supervising country has no right to transfer, and the duty of the surface is to protect the safety of princes and princesses, relatives and nobles, and ruling ministers, but in fact, they secretly supervise the actions of hundreds of officials, and the Praetorian Guards are bright and dark, constituting the last and strongest security line of defense of the royal family. After entering the prison of the Criminal Department and the Inspectorate, it is possible to come out alive, and the secret prison of the Inspection Division, in history, there are the king's sons and sons and the county kings who are divided, and there are no bones left.

"Since the military generals are the main war, the civil officials are peaceful, this time I have been transferred, the military department wants to avoid the war, but the civil department is not afraid of death, and I don't ask about state affairs for six years, I can't understand this Qinghui Empire, prince, or you can solve the confusion for Lonely. ”

The crown prince was about to get up and reply, but the old king raised his hand and pressed down, and smiled kindly: "Sit and say, if it weren't for the importance of this time, Gu would not want to sit on this cold and lonely throne again." ”

"Father Xie, Erchen still stands and replies, and his thinking can be quicker. The prince thanked the old king sideways, insisted on standing up, his figure was long and thin, and his face looked a little similar to Mei Ying's, and his voice sounded a little weak.

"Erchen thought that there was no need to worry about the border war, the sunset was defeated in the past, and he could not recover his vitality in decades, and the reason why he put on a tough posture was nothing more than to ask for high compensation. ”

The prince said that he had a little rest, and looked at the minister of military orders who had not spoken, the old minister was also dressed in a black military uniform, but he was shorter and weaker than the minister of military affairs, and when he saw the prince's general, he walked out of the first place in the military general class with a wry smile, standing between the minister of military affairs and the minister of civil affairs, the three of them were more like civil officials than him, walking on the streets of Kyoto, who could outsiders see that this old man who was not amazing was the chief minister in charge of military orders in the military department, and the famous martial saint of the Luofeng Continent.

"The six cities in the west, Jicui, Fengyun and quicksand are the fiefdoms of the king of Xiangyun County, if it were not for the request of the county palace that the situation was out of control, the imperial army was not allowed to enter according to the rules of the ancestors, and the military department issued a document to solicit opinions, and he also agreed with the prince, thinking that the sunset iron horse was a false threat, and politely refused to send reinforcements, and the old minister could only wait and see the development of the situation. ”

The crown prince bowed slightly, and the old king was expressionless, and motioned to the minister of military order to finish speaking.

"Cangxue, Pingyuan, Tongyi three cities, after the old minister reported to the prince, has been strictly ordered to defend the army to fight, but not easy to attack, the rear two or three lines of defense, the battalion captains are also secretly assembled, once the war breaks out, you can form a corps within three days to go to the border pass, the soldiers are unpredictable, it is a military order without a court meeting, I wanted to wait for the selection of troops to choose the general and then ask for the troop to move, since Your Majesty is in the court today, I hope to choose a good general to lead the military affairs. ”

The Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs secretly breathed a sigh of relief, the military department really had to react slowly, and the soldiers entering the border city were sent to death, these days they were worried, who knew that the old fox had already made arrangements, and the army was secretly mobilized, not to mention the sunset spies, it seems that even the Minister of Military Affairs did not know the details in the dark.

"Why don't I even know about the military order?" The Minister of Military Affairs furrowed his eyebrows into a rope, turned his head and asked his colleagues unhappily, the three ministers of the military department, military orders, military administration, and military quartermasters have their own division of labor, but the ministers of military orders of the two countries to prepare for war avoided the arbitrariness of the two people, which inevitably made him feel that his majesty was provoked.

"Please use the national token, according to the plan to select troops and select generals to secretly prepare for war, it is the duty of the minister of military order, the army has not yet been dispatched, and even the soldiers have not been invited, let alone notify the division. The old king nodded in approval, stood up on the throne, and although he was old and still in good health, he raised his hand to stop the military minister's words, and then spoke to be arbitrary.

"Spread the edict to the king of Xiangyun County, the frontier will not lose an inch of land, he will not violate the ancestral covenant, but if a city is lost, he still does not let the imperial army enter the territory, and he will not forget the old feelings. The edict was sent to the other three counties, reminding and reminding those royal brothers and brothers that they were the county kings of the Qinghui Empire, not affiliated vassal states. ”

"The military department pays close attention to the situation, keeps it leading and does not provoke, and the three are not to be carried out by the civilian army to fight their mercenaries and witch soldiers, which is supposed to be a large-scale military parade. If there are no major changes, all military affairs will still be handled by the prince, and there is no need to disturb the peace of loneliness in every detail. If everything is decided by Lonely, why did the ancestors set up so many divisions, so that the temple was full of civil officials and military generals. ”

The old king stepped down from the throne, looked at the prince's haggard face, and then looked at the red light on the faces of the other princes, and approached him with a long sigh, his tone reproachful, and more heartache.

"It's difficult for the prince to do, and Lone also knows very well that there is a father in the way, and there is no way to retreat in the future, and it may be haggard to be someone else, but why are you so cautious, Wang'er. Your mother died young, and before she died, she pulled Gu with one hand and the other with you, although she had no words to explain, she didn't know her intentions. In the past six years, Wang Er has never made a mistake in state affairs, this change is just an accident, and it is also early in Lonely's expectation, get up and go into the palace with his father, even if the sky falls, Lone will also support you, if someone really wants to bully you childless and have no heart, people often say that the most ruthless emperor family, Lone will make him understand, how sharp the royal knife is. ”

The old king's voice was not small, and his eyes were like needles piercing the other princes, and they were busy bowing their heads one by one to make a humble and respectful demeanor to be taught with an open mind, and the people in the hall were full of fear.

The most ruthless emperor's family, the old king's words are by no means untargeted, the prince is good in everything, but the love is too deep, the princess has been ill for many years, he is no longer close to women, only one daughter is still young under his knees, the empire has been inherited for thousands of years, there has never been a female protagonist in charge of the country, the prince has no male lineage, it is inevitable that the brothers will secretly move, and they will focus on the throne, the relatives and magnates of the family, each with their own minds and their own reliance, these years have really suffered the prince.

The wise ministers warned each other with their eyes, don't act rashly and fall into the whirlpool of royal right and wrong, the old king is in good health, I am afraid that these words are intended to be heard by the Manchu civil and military, in case of mistakes, it will be a catastrophe, it is better to wait and see.