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The Siberian winter is coming. The Mongolian army that broke through the city of Tyumen slaughtered all the male Russians inside. To put it bluntly, the war is nothing more than a fight for territory, money, and women.
The women of Rakshasa Kingdom are still very beautiful. The winter in Siberia is very long, and everyone always needs some entertainment. Even Li Ding took one of Marichenkonov's beautiful mistresses into his account.
After Li Ding sent troops to sweep the Tyumen Plain, he unexpectedly received a piece of news: Su Jin's troops were heading towards Central Asia and had captured Turkestan, the capital of the Kazakh Khanate.
Originally, everyone was ready to stay in Qiu Ming this winter and roll around with the Rakshasa woman. After hearing the news, Wu Dongshan was the first to lose his patience and ran to Su Jin and said, "General, this Siberian winter is too long. It's boring for us to stay here and wait for Aobai.
General Su has already invaded Central Asia in the south, so we don't even need to find a reason to start a war. Why should we stay here and suffer? Besides, there are not many Russian women in Qiumen City, and there are not enough for the brothers to share..."
"Damn it, do you still have any future?" Li Ding couldn't help but curse with a smile.
Wu Dongshan smiled indifferently and said, "General, you see, from Qiumen to the south, it's only two or three hundred miles to the Kazakhs' Central Tent. When winter comes in Qiumen, it's covered with ice and snow, and the cold is raging. Why should we suffer the cold here
In my opinion, it is better to leave some troops to guard Qiu Ming. When the severe winter comes, the mountains will be blocked by heavy snow, and the Russians will not be able to cross the Ural Mountains. Why don't we attack the Kipchak steppes in the south? It is much warmer there. Firstly, we can avoid suffering here, and secondly, we can attack the Kazakh Middle and Small Tents from the south and north with General Su, and wipe out the Kazakh Khanate during this winter."
Wu Dongshan's proposal was immediately supported by Xie Yun and other military officers. Even the military deputy Yu Xingguo stroked his beard and said, "General, Dongshan's proposal is good. We can take advantage of this winter to sweep the Kipchak steppes. When Aobai and his men arrive next summer, it won't be too late to cross the Ural Mountains and attack Moscow."
The Qin army's staff system was already very sound, and most matters, big or small, were planned by the military staff and submitted to the commander for reference. As soon as this proposal came out, more than a dozen staff officers quickly sorted out various matters, including the general route of the march.
"General, you see, we start from Tyumen and go south along the Ishim River, one of the tributaries of the Irtysh River. After about a thousand miles, we will reach the Central Ziyu of the Kazakh Khanate, which is the central tent, Astana.
A thousand miles away, at our speed, we can reach the destination in five days at most. However, after traveling a thousand miles south, the temperature there is much warmer, dry and cold with little snow in winter, and the temperature is similar to that of Beijing in our Great Qin. "
Li Ding looked at it and laughed, "Since everyone wants to go south to spend the winter, let's go. Pass on my order, leave Bart to lead 2,000 troops to guard Qiu Ming. The rest of the troops will follow me and set off today to Astana."
“Yes!”
Soon, nearly 20,000 Qin troops, led by Li Ding, rushed southward;
With Su Jin's army in the south, going south felt like going home; everyone suddenly felt that Siberia was not so far away;
Especially Li Ding, who had been Su Jin's deputy general for a long time, and the two had fought together for many years. When he heard the news about Su Jin, even he felt like he had heard news from his hometown, which made him inexplicably happy and excited, and he even forgot that today was Mid-Autumn Festival... ... .
Over the palace gate in Nanjing, the moon was high in the sky, the sweet osmanthus was fragrant, and the lights were bright. Qin Mu, with all the civil and military officials, as well as Chinese and foreign envoys, climbed up to the palace gate tower to enjoy the moon together and have fun with the people.
On the city wall, the sounds of flutes and drums were heard, floating into the clouds. Qin Mu was wearing a twelve-Yu crown. On his left sat civil officials such as Sima An, Lu Zhenfei, Li Yuan, and Yang Tinglin, and on his right sat military generals such as Meng Ke, Liu Meng, Ma Yongzhen, and Yan Yingyuan.
On the small table in front of each person, there are moon cakes, fruits, fine wine and other delicacies. Everyone is in high spirits and celebrates the festival together.
This was a relatively relaxed occasion, with civil officials reciting poems and composing essays, mostly praising the emperor's civil and military achievements, or praising the Qin Dynasty's peaceful and prosperous era.
As for the military generals, they are not good at these and can only listen.
Every time Qin Mu heard a good poem, he would turn around and have a drink with the generals, and he did not ignore them.
Yan Yingyuan traveled thousands of miles to attack the western desert and had just returned to Nanjing. Qin Mu rewarded him for his merits and conferred on him the title of Prince's Guardian, sitting just below Ma Yongzhen.
After Hanlin scholar Gu Yanwu finished his poem, Qin Mu praised it highly, then turned around and said to Yan Yingyuan with a smile: "Mr. Yan, I heard that you are good at both civil and military affairs. In this beautiful time, we can't let the civil officials take over. How about you represent our military officers and compose a poem?"
Yan Yingyuan had a dignified appearance, a sturdy body, prominent eyebrows, thin and long curved eyes, a red face and a beard, giving him a feeling of being Yun Chang reborn.
After hearing Qin Mu's words, the civil officials on the left fell silent and looked towards Yan Yingyuan. This Marquis of Jiangyin, who had crossed the vast desert and attacked the west of the desert, had made great military achievements and was famous throughout the world. In particular, his integrity of leading the soldiers and civilians of a city to defend Jiangyin to the death was very respected.
Yan Yingyuan was being watched by everyone, and he quickly declined, saying, "Your Majesty, you are all well-educated and talented. How dare a crude warrior like me show off my skills in front of an expert? Your Majesty, please don't embarrass me."
His embarrassed expression made people like him even more. Liu Meng and other generals started to make a noise, saying something:
"Marquis Jiangyin, you are talking about vulgarity in front of me, Old Liu. Isn't this just showing off your skills in front of an expert?"
"That's right, man, what are you afraid of? Come and compose a poem."
"As the saying goes, if you have an order from the Lord, you dare not refuse. Your Majesty has spoken, how can Marquis Jiangyin refuse?"
"Yes, yes, yes. No matter how well it is chanted, we will definitely support it."
Qin Mu, Sima An and others couldn't help laughing after hearing what Liu Meng, Han Gang, Jin Shenghuan and others said. Yan Yingyuan was held by a group of generals and had to say repeatedly: "No, no, I'm really not good at writing poetry, I accept the punishment, I accept the punishment, bring me some wine..."
"No, no."
"Hey, generals, please listen to me. Your Majesty's achievements in civil and military affairs are unprecedented in the history. As for poetry, you chased the Chanyu for 80,000 miles at night and flattened the highest peak of Qishan Mountain. How magnificent it is. Generals, why don't you ask Your Majesty to give you poems, but instead pick on me, Old Yan..."
Yan Yingyuan was unable to defend himself and had to divert the blame to others. When the generals heard this, they all looked towards Qin Mu without saying anything. Not only the military generals but also the civil servant on the left were no exception.
Qin Mu quickly spread his sleeves and sternly rebuked: "How shameless, how shameless!"
The civil and military officials of both classes were puzzled. What was so improper about this? What did the emperor mean by this
Seeing them staring at each other in bewilderment, Qin Mu immediately waved to the Ryukyu King Shang Zhi, and then said to his attendants, "The Ryukyu King has come from afar, and it would be disrespectful for you to make such a fuss. King of Ryukyu, come, come... I want to ask you, is this moon brighter than the moon in Nanjing or the moon in Ryukyu?"
Even the dumbest person would know that the emperor was using the King of Ryukyu as a shield.
Only the Ryukyu King Shang Zhi was flattered. He came up to him and said, "Your Majesty, this moon is definitely the brightest in the Qin Dynasty. I remember reading a poem like this when I was a child, "The moon is bright in the Qin Dynasty and the pass is in the Han Dynasty." I thought at that time that this moon must be the brightest and largest in the Qin Dynasty, otherwise the poet would not write about the moon in the Qin Dynasty alone. Now that I have seen the moon in the Qin Dynasty with my own eyes, I know that my old friend is not lying to me."
"Hahahaha... Well said. Someone, give me some wine."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the wine. Thank you, Your Majesty, for the wine..."
Shang Zhi bowed repeatedly and was very respectful. He received the wine and regarded it as nectar. He drank it carefully without leaving a drop.
"Shang Qing, drink slowly. You are loyal. I give you this wine with pleasure, and I hope you will enjoy it too. If you want to go back to Ryukyu, I will send a military ship to escort you back. If you want to stay in Nanjing, it doesn't matter how long you stay. Shang Qing and I get along well, and I want to invite you to drink a few glasses with me from time to time."
"Your Majesty's grace is so great, and you have treated me with such kindness. I have no way to repay you. I just hope that I can always see your face. I wish your Majesty good health and a long life."
Qin Mu saw that Shang Zhi was deeply moved, and immediately struck while the iron was hot and said, "Shang Qing, I guess you have been away from Ryukyu for more than a year and a half, and you must be homesick. Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and I specially asked someone to compose a Ryukyu song and dance to relieve your homesickness."
Qin Mu raised his hand to signal, and Han Zanzhou, who was waiting behind him, shouted: "Your Majesty has ordered us to present Ryukyu songs and dances!"
The Ryukyu dances were not very good to watch, but they were novel and different after being artistically processed by the Qin court musicians. When the bright moon was hanging in the sky and the sweet-scented osmanthus flowers were floating all over the city, the whole city was lit up and thousands of people were watching and enjoying the performance. The atmosphere was very lively.
At the gate of the Qin Empire, the musicians from the Imperial Academy danced gracefully, and the people watching on the Imperial Street cheered. When the song and dance ended, Shang Zhi was so moved that he burst into tears.
He walked up to Qin Mu and bowed deeply, saying, "Your Majesty has shown me great kindness. I only wish to stay in Nanjing so that I can always admire His Majesty's face and listen to His Majesty's teachings.
Your Majesty, I have an unwelcome request. I have long intended to submit to the emperor, but Ryukyu is a small and wild island, and I am afraid that Your Majesty is unwilling to govern it. Today, I beg Your Majesty to include Ryukyu in the Celestial Empire, so that the people of Ryukyu can also enjoy the emperor's benevolence and grace. "
"Shang Qing, please get up quickly. No need to be so polite. Shang Qing, please get up first, and we'll talk later."
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ps: I checked today and it finally got 200 votes. Okay, I will add another chapter at noon.
To be honest, I started saving up manuscripts on the 3rd, but it's only today that I've reached 200 votes. I can only say, everyone, take your time!
Brothers and sisters, I proudly announce that after a few days of hard work, I have three drafts saved. Feel free to vote for me. I will update as many as I want, without delay or in arrears. Please give me your monthly votes!
.(To be continued..)
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