Castle of Black Iron

Chapter 2014: The city of storm

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The drizzle began to fall from the sky in the morning, and at noon, the drizzle turned into heavy rain. The heavy rain was like pouring water, covering the entire Xuanyuan Hill in a layer of rain and mist.

Because of the rain, there were far fewer pedestrians walking on the streets of the Imperial City. There were only a few who were walking in a hurry, wearing raincoats, and rarely stopped.

In recent months, with the overwhelming offensive of the demons in the west, and the news that Lizhou and Xianzhou have been lost one after another, the atmosphere in the entire Xuanyuan Hill has been just like the weather in the past few days, full of gloom and haze. His heart felt like a heavy weight. Things were better in the Great Emperor's Imperial City, but outside the Great Emperor's Imperial City, the business of restaurants, restaurants, singing, dancing and music studios suddenly became deserted.

In the midst of a national crisis, how many people still have the desire to have fun

In order to support the frontline soldiers, it is said that even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has ordered a reduction in various expenses in the palace. Everything in the entire palace has been simplified. All diplomatic receptions between Honglu Temple and the embassies and ministers of various countries have been cancelled. When orders are issued from above, the subordinates naturally do not dare to go too far. Even if there are luxurious people who spend a lot of money, if they want to enjoy it at this time, they can only close the door in their own yard, keeping everything low-key and not daring to make any publicity.

The entire Great Emperor's Palace was also shrouded in a bleak, cold rain and fog.

The rainwater pouring down from the lead-like clouds flew down, washing the red-gold glazed tiles on the majestic palaces of the Great Emperor's Palace, and then turned into streams of pure white water. The curtains flew down from the eaves, like thousands of small waterfalls, filling the entire palace with a layer of water vapor.

Outside the Jiuji Hall, a circle of armored and sharp-wielding knights were standing on the eaves and steps of the corridor outside the hall, guarding the Jiuji Hall. They remained motionless amidst the water vapor and heavy rain in the sky. At this time, even if Even outside the palace, these knights holding Jinwu could still hear the angry roar of His Royal Highness coming from the Jiuji Palace.

"What does it mean to have no time to care about others? Is this how the three major sects responded? Now that the country is facing a national crisis, it is the time when the major sects are serving the country. Tianji Sect and Demon Killing Valley have already sent out strong masters of the semi-saint level to lead their subordinates. The knights rushed to the Western Region, but just because of a cloud neutron, the three major sects were unable to escape and stood idly by while the demons attacked. It is really unreasonable!"

In the Jiuji Palace, Xuanyuan Changying, who was standing on the imperial steps, was out of anger and roared at a minister who was talking to him. His eyes seemed to be spitting fire, "Don't the three major sects know what skin is?" If Taixia dies, how can the generals survive? How can the three major sects be spared?"

The voice of Prince Changying was heard throughout the Jiuji Palace. The minister who had just replied looked sullen and speechless. The civil and military officials in the court were equally silent. Everyone knew that the so-called Yun Zhongzi was just an excuse. If the major sects were really worried about Yun Zhongzi, they would pull all the knights from the three major sects to the west. No one believed that Yun Zhongzi could still go to the battlefield to cause trouble for the three major sects. The real reason was that the three major sects were already too big to lose. , and even did not take Prince Changying who was overseeing the country at all. Since the battle of Yinhai, the behavior of the three major sects has become more and more arrogant, but Xuanyuan Hill still has no way to deal with the three major sects.

After being extremely angry, the panting Crown Prince Changying slowly calmed down. He knew that no matter how angry he was here, it would be of no use to the three major sects. Instead, he might be defeated by the three major sects. The sect ridiculed and even used it as evidence to undermine his authority. The prince was incompetent, so he lost his temper in the Jiuji Palace and yelled at the ministers. If he got angry again, it might not take a few days for such rumors to spread throughout the world. The whole Taixia.

"Li Yunji, is there any news about Yun Zhongzi in Tingwei Mansion?" After slowly calming down, Prince Changying waved his hand and asked the minister who had just replied to retreat back to the ranks of ministers, and then turned his attention to Jiu Ying. On the body of Li Yunji, one of the ministers.

"Well... Yun Zhongzi is a saint-level powerhouse, and his whereabouts are erratic. The Tingwei Mansion has issued a wanted order, but there is no news about Yun Zhongzi yet!" Li Yunji replied with some guilt.

Hearing Li Yunji's answer, Prince Changying's eyes darkened, "Other than that, Taixia Tingwei's Mansion is completely helpless against Yun Zhongzi. There is no other way to deal with it. We can only let Yun Zhongzi think about it." Just do whatever you want?"

"This..." Li Yunji was speechless for a moment.

Seeing Li Yunji's appearance, Prince Changying's suppressed anger almost burst out again, but he glanced at the silent Great Situ Meng Shidao and suppressed the anger in his heart.

Li Yunji was recommended by Meng Shidao. He had to save some face for Meng Shidao. Logically speaking, a person who can become a Phantom Knight is definitely not a weak person. However, although this Li Yunji is not weak, his ability is... For Ting Weiqing, one of the Nine Qings, it was still too much. He could only be said to be quite satisfactory. Li Yunji was helpless when encountering something a little out of the ordinary. There was nothing he could do. The dignified Ting Weiqing had so many subordinates. There are so many people and so many resources, but at this time, they can't share their worries at all, and there is absolutely no way. This makes Prince Changying very disappointed.

At this time, Prince Changying actually regretted that he had listened to Meng Shidao and convicted Yun Zhongzi early and made him a wanted criminal in Taixia. If Mr. Qingming's opinions at that time were followed, Xuanyuanzhiqiu would not be in a hurry to convict Yun Zhongzi. Zhongzi was labeled as a wanted criminal, but he deliberately wanted to follow Yun Zhongzi's line and make a fuss about the massacre of the Dahuang Sect with great fanfare, defining the matter between Yun Zhongzi and the three major sects as a grudge in the world, which is tantamount to With a sharp sword hanging over the heads of the three major sects and stepping on the tails of the three major sects, how could the three major sects dare to be so arrogant.

The current situation is completely opposite to Meng Shidao's judgment when he made the speech - Yun Zhongzi has become a wanted criminal. Instead of accepting Xuanyuan Zhiqiu's favor, the three major sects have no scruples at all. Xuanyuan Zhiqiu has no regard for the three major sects. The influence of the door is getting weaker and weaker.

Thinking of this, Prince Changying glanced at Meng Shidao again. After the battle of Yinhai, Prince Changying gradually felt that he could not see through his master more and more, and Meng Shidao's appearance became more and more obvious in front of him. It has become increasingly blurry. In just a few years, the relationship between the two is no longer as close as before. Now above the court, Da Sima Zuoqiu Mingyue is leading the army to resist the demons. Faced with rumors that there may be an attack Meng Shidao, who is in the rank of Saint, and Da Sikong, who is a knight of the sky, often acts as a good person in front of Meng Shidao. Da Situ Meng Shidao has almost said that he can swallow the party in the local area in the Nine Great Palace. The expansion was also extremely rapid, which made Prince Changying a little afraid.

"What else do you have to say?" Prince Changying asked the civil and military officials of the court a little tiredly. If not, today's court meeting will be over. These days, due to the unfavorable war situation, the daily court meeting is very long. It was open for a long time, sometimes even until night, and the pressure of the entire empire seemed to fall on Xuanyuan Changying.

"I have not invited you to report!" A general from the Fourth Army came out from the ranks of generals and said in a deep voice, "The battle situation on the front line is critical now. The demons are pressing forward step by step. The Taixia and Hua tribes have reached the stage of life and death. The demons Once the clan army breaks through the Tongguan line, Taixia's situation will be completely corrupted and difficult to deal with. Although Da Sima is now on the front line, in the rear, Taixia's entire country's material and human resources have not yet fully devoted themselves to the jihad. This is like two people who have In a life-and-death fight, Taixia still has one hand that cannot use its strength. The last general asked His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to immediately issue a military control order in all Taixia states. The Grand Sima and the Shangsi Army will coordinate all the war needs and let go of the demons. Give it a try!"

As soon as the general of the Fourth Army spoke, he was immediately echoed by many generals. Before Xuanyuan Changying could speak, Da Sinong, one of the Nine Qings, glanced at Meng Shidao who was silent in front of him, and for the first time, he One person jumped out to object, "It's ridiculous. The demon army has not yet reached the Tongguan line. How can we say that the Tongguan line will be lost? It's alarmist. Now within the western war zone, several states are already dominated by the Upper Fourth Army and Lord Zuoqiu. Isn’t this enough? If all states in Taixia implement military control, I’m afraid all states will be in chaos before the demons come. The Sinong Mansion firmly disagrees with military control in all states... "

Da Sinong jumped out, and many civil servants immediately agreed.

Once military control is implemented in Taixia, the power of the Grand Sima and the generals will skyrocket, while the Grand Situ and many civilian officials will be completely reduced to mere foils, which will naturally cause a backlash.

The two sides immediately started quarreling in the Jiuji Palace, and it was completely difficult to unify their opinions. This was not the first time that this proposal had appeared in the court, and it was not the first time that all the same disputes and quarrels had occurred.

"Let's discuss this in the future..." Seeing this situation, Xuanyuan Changying could only wave his hand and shelve the proposal for the time being.

Just when Xuanyuan Changying was about to announce his resignation, Meng Shidao, who was standing at the front of the line of civil servants and had been silent for a long time, suddenly took a step forward and said to Xuanyuan Changying, "A few days ago, the Jinzhou governor wrote, The Youzhou rice that His Highness introduced to Jinzhou two years ago went through one year of breeding and planting. This year’s autumn harvest in Jinzhou has brought a bumper harvest to the first batch of more than 400 million acres of Youzhou rice planted. The more than 400 million acres of rice fields are more abundant than in previous years. The harvest increased by more than 20%, and the whole Jinzhou was shocked. The wealthy people of Jinzhou rushed to tell each other, and they were overjoyed. Jinzhou planned to expand the rice planting area of Youzhou ten times this year. The governor of Jinzhou and a group of officials By submitting a letter and inviting His Highness to preside over this year’s spring festival in Jinzhou, the morale of the entire people in Jinzhou will definitely be greatly encouraged.”

This was almost the only good news that Xuanyuan Changying heard in the court today. After seriously asking a few questions about the situation of Youzhou rice grown in Jinzhou, Xuanyuan Changying laughed and said happily, " Agriculture is the foundation of the country, so it should naturally be encouraged. Since everyone in Jinzhou has this intention, then I will go to Jinzhou to host the spring festival for them this year!"

The one who was really inspired was Xuanyuan Changying, because hosting a spring festival for a state was something that was exclusive to Emperor Xuanyuan in the past. When Emperor Xuanyuan was still alive, every year he would select a state among the states that had a great harvest. , and then personally went to that state to host the spring festival for him in the coming year, so as to encourage farming and stabilize the country. Since the supervision of the country, this was the first time that a governor took the initiative to write a letter inviting Xuanyuan Changying to host the spring festival.

Youzhou rice is the best in the world for its high yield and high quality. In the past two years, Xuanyuan Changying personally promoted Youzhou rice and brought Youzhou rice to Jinzhou for trial. Unexpectedly, only two years later, it really had great results. But it was a real achievement, and Xuanyuan Changying was extremely happy.

Just when Xuanyuan Changying was about to announce his resignation, suddenly, the sky and the earth outside turned pale, and a bright electric light penetrated from the clouds, followed by a "boom" of thunder that exploded over the entire Imperial Palace. , shocked everyone in the Jiuji Palace, and even the water in the two pools under the imperial steps where Xuanyuan Changying was located was shaken by the thunder, causing ripples in circles...

There were few winter thunders to begin with, let alone such a powerful one that resounded throughout the heaven and earth.

"who is it?"

"bass"

Just before the bright white light of the lightning dissipated, a figure suddenly stood at the door of the Jiuji Hall amidst the thunder. The knight who was guarding the Jiuji Hall immediately shouted loudly.

With the sound of the sword being unsheathed, everyone in the hall turned their heads to look at the door of the hall at the same time. Xuanyuan Changying also raised his eyes and looked at the door of the hall.

A young man with a calm and calm face was standing at the door of the Jiuji Palace, looking directly at Xuanyuan Changying.

Xuanyuan Changying was stunned, dumbfounded, and rubbed her eyes...

"Brother Changying, long time no see..." Zhang Tie let out a long breath and walked into the Jiuji Hall...