Flying snow all over the sky, one after another.
In just one month, people continued to die, and the death was tragic. There were rumors in the holy city, and all kinds of speculations were rampant.
All evidence points to the regent Sultangu.
Bi Suo and Mobido made an unannounced visit, but couldn't find the real culprit. Every time they found some clues and followed the investigation, they always cut off the clues in the middle, and both of them were anxious.
People in the city were panicking, and the people did not dare to go out when it was dark.
On this day, the monks in the temple rushed into the main hall in panic: "King, the master of the temple is dead!"
Bi Su was shocked and went to the temple owner's house to check it out in person.
There was no sign of fighting in the house. The corpse of the temple owner fell in front of the Buddha statue, his face was calm, and there was no trauma on his body.
Yuanjue stepped forward to check, and whispered, "I was shocked by the internal force and died..."
The two exchanged glances, their hearts were heavy, and they returned to the main hall.
The guard lifted the felt curtain, Tan Moraga was pale, and sat in front of the couch. After listening to the report of the two, he covered his lips and coughed.
From the time he asked the doctor how long he had left, he knew his time was short. When Yaoying was there, he tried his best to cover it up, taking medicine and dressing in coordination to suppress the pain. During the days when her eyes were injured, he lost weight quickly and was emaciated, but fortunately she could not see, and did not know that Munda Deva's words were coaxing her.
He didn't want to fall because of the strong support before, but after she left, he seemed to have a muscle and bone taken away, and he soon fell ill.
He is tired.
"Have everyone around you checked?"
He frowned, his breath weak.
Bi Suo sighed inwardly, and said, "While being interrogated, the little novice said that the temple owner has been out a lot recently and has close contacts with people outside. It is likely that he has attracted enemies from outside."
Tamara shook his head.
These are directed at the ancient Sudan. The death of the caravan, the death of the children of the aristocratic family, and the people who had a festival with Sultan Gu all died violently. That's all, the temple owner is a monk, why is he also murdered
"They will only stop when the regent appears."
He said calmly.
Bi Su raised his head: "King, let me go!"
Tamara was so ill that he couldn't stand it any longer, and he couldn't be exposed.
"You can't, they'll hold you back... let Bamir go."
That afternoon, Bamir put on the regent's clothes and appeared in the palace instead of Tamara.
Since the king's temple was also killed, and people kept jumping out to say that they saw Sultan Gu commit the murder with their own eyes, including several highly respected monks, when they were interrogated, their expressions were firm, and they repeatedly ensured that they were not lying. Ask Sultan to be interrogated. He enforces the law strictly. Now that he has become a suspect, he should avoid suspicion and let others try these major cases.
Bamir was placed under house arrest.
Moviduo thought of a way: "We also forged a few cases, can the regent be able to clear the suspicion?"
Bi Suo thought for a while, then shook his head: "They deliberately made things difficult, even if we faked it again, they would not let Bamir, and we can't kill innocent people indiscriminately wherever we go to find the body... evidence."
If you find the evidence, you will know who is behind the trouble.
The two discussed it for a while and then acted separately.
In the king's temple, Yuanjue stayed by Tanmaraga's side, unfolded a letter sent from Gaochang, and read it to him. The letter was sent back the day before yesterday, and he had already read it.
Yaoying said in the letter that the weather is getting colder and colder and he is not in good health, so he should remember to add clothes. He also told him that on her birthday, Li Zhongqian cooked her birthday noodles with his own hands.
Tamaroka leaned halfway, listened to him read, took the letter, and rubbed his fingers on the letter paper.
The wind was blowing outside the window, and suddenly, a burst of hurried footsteps sounded like drums.
Tamara raised his eyes.
He made the personal soldiers pay attention to the movement of the barracks, in order to beware of several armies that originally belonged to the family.
The Central Guards are loyal to the royal family, and almost all of his personal guards are from the Central Guards, and they are his most trusted subordinates.
Yuanjue stood up, his face full of horror and trembling: How could the guards of the central army betray the king? !
Outside the Holy City.
Moviduo galloped on horseback with his entourage, chasing after a few suspicious people. He suspected these people for several days and waited for the rabbit. Finally, he caught the opportunity. This time, he must catch them all and ask the mastermind behind the scenes!
Horses hooves like thunder, slush splashes, and when the two groups of people pass through the canyon, a group of horses suddenly jumps out from both sides of the mountain road. The knights on the horse are in blue shirts and white robes, all dressed as Chinese army guards.
They stopped the man being chased by Mobido without any effort, tied him by his hands and feet, and brought him up to him.
"Prince, we've been in ambush here for a day, and you're checking these people too?"
Moviduo nodded yes, and said hello to the captain of the guards who led the team, turned over and dismounted, and walked in front of the few people.
A gust of wind blew behind him.
Moviduo reacted quickly, and immediately backhanded the knife to block, with a crisp sound, the captain's long knife rested on his saber, and sparks shot out.
With a puff, a dagger plunged into his arm.
Morbido lost his strength, his saber fell to the ground, and the other knights of the guards flew over, slipped ropes from their sleeves, tied his hands and feet, and pressed him hard on the snow.
"Prince, I'm sorry."
The Colonel sighed, raised his head, and looked back towards the Holy City.
Blizzard.
…
It has snowed heavily for several days, the earth is covered in silver, the Gobi desert is a vast silvery white, the forest sea and snowfield stretches to the sky, and the wind roars and roars.
Under the gloomy sky, the towering snow peaks still stand quietly, majestic and majestic.
Yaoying did not return to Gaochang, but went straight to a border town that was close to the country of Gazi. As soon as he entered the city, he ordered the defenders to build fortifications and dig trenches.
A few days later, Yang Qian led his troops to arrive, gearing up, and couldn't wait: "Wait until I lead the troops to capture Gaz, and see if they will let them go!"
Yaoying stopped him and asked, "How many tribes like Gaz are there?"
Yang Qian calmed down and replied: "There are dozens or hundreds of such small tribes and states. They are different from us. They are still divided into tribes. They not only pay tribute to us, but also depend on other powerful suzerain states. Pay taxes to the suzerain, and sometimes send troops to go on expeditions with the suzerain. These small states have a loose system and are barbaric. Once a powerful foreign enemy invades, they often surrender the whole country.”
Yaoying pondered.
The living method of a big country is the living method of a big country, and the survival method of a small country is a small country. Gaz is just a small tribe, with no scruples, relying on the convenience of the location, stealing one side, and using a set of rogue methods to perfection. Great powers will not use their troops to attack them: too many troops, not enough food and grass, and too few troops, they cannot defeat Gaz.
Such small tribes, on the one hand, pay tribute on a regular basis, and on the other hand, they violate the law. If they lead the army to conquer, they will immediately surrender the whole country. And the Xizhou soldiers are currently insufficient, and it is impossible to divide their troops to garrison on the business road.
"Send a few more orders to Gaz, and we can double the gold and silver to redeem the population..." Yaoying frowned and said, "As long as they release the people."
Yang Qian said angrily: "The king of Gaz Kingdom favors wizards, and his cravings are overwhelming. We sent an envoy to him to ask him to buy the population, and he agreed immediately. After accepting the money and silk, he repented! They condoned the Rong people looting our caravan, forcing the dependents. The tribe dedicated all the girls to him and the wizard. In order to escape his grasp, many tribes were forced to migrate and were captured by him as slaves. The lion opens its mouth!"
Yaoying smiled lightly: "Send another mission to Gaz to raise the ransom."
Yang Qian was puzzled: "Is this too cheap for Gaz Country?"
Yao Ying shook her head: "After the mission leaves, spread the word about it and issue a decree to let all the tribes and nations on the business road know about it. The scouts in the caravan are responsible for delivering the information, and it's best to spread it all over the world. every corner."
Yang Qian was silent.
Listening to his shortness of breath, clearly suppressing his anger, Yao Ying explained, "Let's do the rituals before the soldiers, so we can reduce casualties. Today is the country of Gaz, and tomorrow it may be other countries. We can't attack the tribes one by one, and think of a solution once and for all. Row."
Yang Qian clenched his teeth, and said in a deep voice.
Half an hour later, dozens of light cavalry scouts, bearing the edict of the Western Army requesting the redemption of the exiled population from various tribes, rode their horses into the vast snowstorm and ran in different directions.
The edict of the Western Army quickly spread to all countries, big and small, and the King of Gaz was as greedy and short-sighted as Yang Qian said. The caravan drew a full half of the tax.
Yang Qian was furious, wishing he could immediately lead his troops to level Gaz and invite troops to fight again.
Yaoying dissuaded him again and ordered several caravans loaded with goods to go to Gaz to exchange fur and meat with local tribes at high prices.
She specifically instructed: "Trade with silver coins, the country of Gaz collects taxes in silver coins, and you try to use silver coins."
The caravan was instructed to go to Gaz, and soon came back news that the local tribe who had exchanged silver coins from the caravan had been looted and looted, and the tribal herdsmen were filled with grief and indignation.
After Li Zhongqian read the letter, Yaoying called in his personal soldiers and instructed: "In my name, invite the chiefs of the tribes and tell them that we are going to hold a meeting in Liuhe City to discuss tax matters."
Six Rivers City is where the major tribes trade goods every year.
The Western Army has now controlled most of the commercial roads, and the nearby tribes, no matter what they do in private, do not dare to offend the rising Western Army on the surface. The tribes either wanted to come to explore and take advantage of it, or they did not dare to offend Yaoying, or out of contempt, they brought their troops and horses to the call.
On the day of the conference, the city of Liuhe was crowded with people, and the twenty-eight tribal chiefs and the envoys sent by the twelve small states gathered in Liuhe City.
Someone asked in a low voice, "Isn't the King of Gaz not here?"
"I didn't come, the king was arrogant and only sent one of his favorite ministers to the meeting."
There was a lot of discussion.
When Yaoying with cloth strips on her face appeared in the tent, the tent became quiet.
Everyone was intimidated by Yaoying's face, and stayed for a while. The envoy of the country of Gaz deliberately humiliated Yaoying, took a few steps forward, and joked: "Princess Wenzhao is more beautiful than our king's favorite geisha."
Xie Qing drew his sword and chopped it down.
The messenger screamed back while covering his bloody face.
Xie Qing returned the knife to the sheath, and said with an expressionless face: "If someone speaks disrespectfully to the princess again, I will pull out his tongue."
Everyone was heartbroken.
The envoy of the country of Gaz became angry, his face turned purple, and he was waiting to step forward. One person opened the big tent and sent an urgent report: "Princess, the messenger of the country of Gaz is here."
Everyone looked at each other, and the messenger of the country of Gaz was also blank: he is the messenger appointed by the king himself, who else is coming
A series of hurried footsteps came, and several young people in Gaz country uniforms entered the tent, first bowed to Yaoying, handed a document, and then walked to the confused Gaz country messenger. Not to mention, the long knife is unsheathed.
In an instant, a cold light flashed, blood splattered everywhere, and the messenger of Gaz fell to the ground and died.
Everyone was horrified, they pulled out their weapons one after another, and shouted to surround the young man.
The young man wiped off the blood on his face, clasped his fists at the crowd, and said, "I beg your pardon, I am the personal guard of the King of Gaz, this man is a treacherous villain, not worthy of being the envoy of Gaz, and the king ordered me to kill him so as not to His nonsense is detrimental to the face of our country of Ghaz, and the king has appointed a new messenger."
After speaking, he withdrew, respectfully.
Two officials from the Gaz Kingdom in brocade clothes stepped forward and greeted everyone.
One of them asked, "Are you really the new messenger appointed by King Pilu?"
The two had a look of pain on their faces, and said, "King Pilu was reckless, cunning and deceitful, and he has already died violently in the palace. The eldest prince succeeded as king, rebuilt the old friendship with the Wei Dynasty, and paid tribute to the Wei Dynasty."
Everyone was stunned, their thoughts turned, and countless eyes converged on Yaoying.
She looked as usual, as if not surprised at all, waved her hand to signal everyone to return to their seats, and looked around slowly, although her eyes were blindfolded, everyone felt that her gaze swept past them.
"In the past, when the North Road was peaceful, the trade routes were unobstructed, the tributaries of all countries paid tribute, and the merchants and merchants converged. Later, after several wars, the Central Plains and all the tribes were cut off. Now my Wei Dynasty has calmed down the troubled times, the population is prosperous, the things are rich and the people are prosperous, and the world is blessed. , I should restart the trade route, resume trade with the various ministries, and facilitate the various ministries, as well as the convenience of our Wei Dynasty. I hope that the ministries conform to the people's hearts and guard the business road together with our Western Army."
Yaoying said word by word, her tone suddenly sank: "If there are people who loot caravans and kill civilians for no reason, the Western Army will invite divisions to ask the guilt."
Everyone looked at the corpse of the envoy of the Gaz Kingdom on the carpet, sweating coldly, and then thinking that the King of the Gaz Kingdom was already dead, it was even more frightening. How could he still look arrogant when he entered the tent? One by one, they wiped their sweat quietly, thankful that they didn't make a fuss about Princess Wenzhao just now, and echoed her aloud.
"What the princess said is very true."
"My department has long been in contact with Han, and I have been looking forward to resuming trade with Han! Never dare to disobey the emperor's order!"
Yaoying smiled slightly, ordered someone to take out the alliance book, and agreed with everyone on the tax to be extracted.
The tribes were surprised to find that the conditions she gave were very fair, and after a moment of stunned, they secretly applauded in their hearts.
Yaoying didn't ask the ministries to give an immediate answer, she clapped her hands, ordered the music class to play a piece of music, and let her servants accompany her, and left the tent by herself.
The tribes quickly inquired about what happened to the country of Gaz, and after listening to the messenger's description, their hearts froze.
…
Just a few days ago, a civil unrest broke out in the country of Ghaz.
The tribes in the country of Yifuz are deeply oppressed by Gaz, and they have already turned against them. Seeing the winter, if the tribes cannot save enough food, they may not survive the next year. , they do not want to starve to death, they simply rebel.
After the Western Army pacified the Western Regions, some great lords of the Gaz Kingdom were going to send the exiled population of the tribe back to Gaochang in exchange for money and silk. When the tribe rises, they revolt.
The nearby tribes heard that the country of Ghaz had extorted a lot of money from the Western Army, and when they saw the civil unrest in Ghaz, they immediately sent troops to attack, taking advantage of the opportunity.
The war swept the entire Gaz country, the wizard of Gaz country was beheaded by angry herdsmen, the king hid in the palace, the prince fled the city in embarrassment, and sent several urgent letters to the suzerain and nearby countries for help, but the suzerain ignored it.
The Western Army also received a distress letter. Princess Wenzhao ignored the previous suspicion and sent Yang Qian to lead troops to rescue.
Yang Qian brought hundreds of elite troops to press Gaz Country, and within two days, the predicament of Gaz Country was relieved.
The rebels withdrew, the king died violently, and the prince succeeded the king.
Those revolting tribes knew that they had nowhere to go. They heard that the Western Army was buying the exiles, and the taxes were extremely low. They surrendered and asked for surrender. Yang Qian brought them back to settle them properly.
…
In just one month, the country of Gaz was turned upside down.
Creepy.
In this battle, there were almost no casualties in the Western army. A king died in the country of Gazi, the palace was looted, and a large number of tribal herders fled to the Wei Dynasty. Thanks Dade, since then, I will never dare to follow the yin and the yin.
And all of this seems to have nothing to do with the Western Army. Everything is the insatiable greed of the King of Gaz and his own destruction.
The ministries were trembling.
In the next few days, Yaoying asked merchants and officials proficient in languages of various ethnic groups to lead messengers and nobles from various ministries to the assembly.
On the last day of the conference, the ministries and Yaoying signed a letter of alliance, promising to resume trade, set taxes, and agree to send envoys to each other.
Since then, the North Road has been completely connected.
…
Yaoying's eyes are almost better after she is busy with Gaz country. The day when the cloth strips were removed happened to be a sunny day, and the snow was shining in front of the hall.
She rested in the temple and took up a pen to write a letter to Tamara.
The letters she wrote to him a few days ago were all dictated by her, and Xie Qing helped her write them. He recognized her handwriting, and when he saw her handwriting, he could tell that her eyes were healed.
As soon as the letter was sent out, Xie Qing came into the house holding a letter: "Princess, a letter from Princess Manda of Malu Kingdom."
Yaoying took the letter and read it, put away her smile, and her face was tense.
"Princess, what happened?"
Yaoying turned around, looked at the snow-covered mountains in the distance, and said, "Haidu Aling may be coming."
Li Zhongqian and Yang Qian hurried over, "Haidu Aling is coming?"
Yaoying nodded: "Princess Manda said in the letter that Haidu Aling went to Samadan, and Wakhan Khan had sent someone to do business in Samadan before his death. He joined the Beirong people there and married a local one. The princess of the suzerain country, borrowed a large number of soldiers and horses, and vowed to lead the remnants of the east to return to the country."
"Where is Haidu Aling now?"
"Princess Manda doesn't know either, we have to prepare early."
Li Zhongqian nodded and ordered all places to strengthen vigilance. The news was quickly sent out. Suddenly, the city gates of the border towns were closed and the guards were heavily guarded.
Yaoying wrote a letter to Tamara.
The persimmon picked up the soft pinch, Haidu Aling was eager to restore the country now, and he would definitely not dare to attack the royal court rashly, but it is not a bad thing to take more precautions.