Cangzhou beacon fire

Chapter 2
When the Luo Kingdom and the coalition forces invaded Jian'an City, the [-]-year chaos in Cangzhou came to an end, and the remnants of the former overlord Qi Kingdom withdrew westward to Minyin.

Liu Ting, the king of Luo State, appeared as the new overlord, abolishing the Bianxi calendar and changing the Anping calendar, and the dark rule of Qi State that lasted for more than two hundred years officially ended.

Envoys from various countries signed a peace agreement in the ruins of Jian'an City, drank the alliance wine and shared peace.

However, the struggle did not stop...

In July of the first year of the Anping calendar, the Sanyuan Kingdom and the Yue Kingdom to the east of the Luo Kingdom were in a stalemate over the ownership of the land of Jinyue. After that, the Sanyuan army quickly took over 1000 cities more than 21 miles west of Jinyue. This action caused Yue people to be furious, and they mobilized an army of [-] to fight back quickly.

Then there was the ghost king mountain fire attack that was recorded in the annals of history. This fire of purgatory burned away the last hope of Yue people. One hundred thousand Yue soldiers were buried in the sea of ​​flames. He ordered Yue to close the country and stop contact with any country.

But the disaster of the Yue people is far more than that. Hundreds of thousands of Jinxi Yue people did not want to be slaves of the Three Yuans, and moved east to return to Yue.

On the way back to Yue, bandits and horse bandits are rampant, and famine and plague are rampant.

On the journey of thousands of miles, hunger and death are everywhere, just like purgatory on earth.

Time flies, and ten years is just a blink of an eye. Although other countries in Cangzhou have constant friction, under the rule of the new overlord, it is generally peaceful, and no large-scale war broke out.

All living beings in Cangzhou pray for the grace of heaven, and give them a little peace and breath.

And in the land of Cangdong, Yueguo is like an abandoned baby, hiding in the lonely east, silent and silent.

Orphans always grow up...

In May of the 11th year of the Anping calendar, Dianzhou City, the capital of Yue State.

Yue Wang Zhao Yan sat on the king's couch, holding a porcelain pot in one hand and a bamboo stick in the other, playing with the crickets in the porcelain pot with great interest.

Zhao Yan was about forty years old, with a fair complexion. Since he succeeded to the throne, the Zhong family and his younger brother Zhao Kong have been responsible for all affairs of the court. His only interest is eating, drinking and having fun.

"Your Majesty, are you satisfied with this one?" The obese servant beside him complimented him. The servant's name was Wei Yu, and Zhao Yan's pet servant.

King Yue didn't take his eyes off the porcelain pot, nodded in satisfaction and said, "Hey, this one is fine! This one is fine!"

Zhao Yan couldn't help but feel a pain in his heart when he thought of Brother Wang's full of complacency a few days ago. That Optimus Prime lost so badly... It's only big enough and fierce enough to win!

Seeing the king smiling all over his face, Wei Yu was secretly delighted, thinking that the bounty would definitely not be less.

"The king has to give it a name."

"Brother Wang's name is Hercules, but this one... how about calling it Great Supernatural Power?"

"Your Majesty's literary talents are extraordinary, and his supernatural powers are very good! Very good!" Kua, what can be called a boast, Wei Yu's ability to get into this position is due to his flattery.

Zhao Yan teased the treasure in the pot in satisfaction, and asked casually, "By the way, has the construction of the Southwest Palace been completed?"

After all, Concubine Li just asked about it a few days ago.

With this question, Wei Yu's smiling face disappeared, his eyes rolled in panic, and finally he could only reply tremblingly: "This... I heard it's not finished yet..."

Zhao Yan stopped what he was doing, the smile on his face disappeared, and he asked angrily, "Not yet? Didn't the surname tax increase? Isn't it enough?"

Wei Yu was so frightened that he quickly knelt down and said in a panic, "This... is mainly due to the lack of manpower. The king's sea palace on the coast of Yueqiu has not been completed yet, and the manpower is currently on the sea palace."

"Oh, I even forgot that there is a sea palace, well, let them hurry up, it must be completed before October, get up." Zhao Yan patted his head and realized, after all, the sea palace is the favorite of Concubine Yu. , waving for Wei Yu to get up.

"Yes, yes, the little one must be in place." Wei Yu stood up tremblingly, wiped the cold sweat off his face, and dared not say anything about the invitation to reward.

At this time, the sound of pattering footsteps came from the outer door, and a servant from the outer door walked in quickly, knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Zhong Lin and Zhong Lin have an audience."

Zhao Yan's expression turned serious, the hand that teased the cricket stopped, and he frowned and said, "Zhong Lin? What is he doing here?"

Wei Yu wiped the sweat from his forehead, and echoed back: "Maybe it's about sending troops to Jinxi again." The government and the opposition have already mentioned the matter of sending troops to Jinxi no less than seven or eight times, and the king also pushed it back seven or eight times. Now Zhong Lin See you in person, nothing happens.

"Trouble... Forget it, let him come in." Zhao Yan's mood for playing with crickets disappeared, and he put down the porcelain pot containing the crickets, and Wei Yu ran over to cover the pot with interest.

In front of the Xixu Hall, an old man dressed in blue pheasant bird court clothes stands in front of the hall gate. He is over sixty years old, with white hair and beard, and his face is full of traces of time. An ordinary old man has already hunchbacked and bowed at this age. , but he is tall and straight, full of energy.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Zhong, has an audience..." The servant's announcement came from inside the door, and then the door slowly opened.

Zhong Lin straightened his court clothes, stroked his white beard by the way, and strode in.

Xixu Hall is the sleeping hall of King Yue, and normal court affairs are not here to ask for instructions and report, but today's things are different.

Yue Wang Zhao Yan has put away the porcelain pot, put it aside, and is sitting on the king's couch waiting for Zhong Lin.

Zhong Lin walked in with his head held high, and knelt down in front of the king's bed to salute: "Your servant Zhong Lin, pay homage to my king."

King Yue pretended to stay enthusiastically and went to help Zhong Lin, and said politely: "Old Zhong, how many times have I told you that you can just perform a brief ceremony in the bedroom, and get up quickly."

There's no way, the old man has put in a lot of effort to be able to sit on the throne.

After helping Zhong Lin up, Zhao Yan glanced at the servant and said, "Quickly give the prime minister a seat."

Zhong Lin bowed hurriedly and said, "Thank you for your kindness, my lord is fine, you can just stand up."

"Mr. Zhong really doesn't need it?"

Zhong Lin smiled and said: "It's worth killing the enemy on the battlefield, why should I give you a seat?"

Zhao Yan didn't force himself, went back to the king's couch and sat down, took a sip of tea, and asked with a smile: "Mr. Zhong said something important, come, tell me, what is it?"

After Zhao Yan finished speaking, there was a sound of crickets in the porcelain pot, and his mind could not help being attracted to it.

Zhong Lin, who was sitting on the wooden stool, saluted with both hands in front of him, and said solemnly: "I think the time is ripe for sending troops to recover the land of Jinxi."

Zhao Yan's attention was all on the porcelain pot. After Zhong Lin finished speaking, he asked absent-mindedly, "Oh, Mr. Zhong seems to be very confident."

The previous few times Zhao Yan used excuses to evade, but the government and the public were unprecedentedly enthusiastic about sending troops to Jinxi. This time, Zhong Lin came forward in person, and Zhao Yan knew that he couldn't push it away.

"Although I dare not say that I will win, I still have confidence!" Zhong Lin Zuoyi said frankly.

Zhao Yan's fingers circled around the porcelain pot, thinking that he could beat Zhao Kong tonight, he couldn't help laughing, seeing Zhong Lin's words, hurriedly said perfunctorily: "Uh, good! Good good! Yue Zhirui This king is very pleased. Jinxi is the ancestral land of our people, so it must be taken back."

Zhong Lin saw that the king was absent-minded, and a look of disappointment flashed in his eyes, but he didn't show it on his face, and continued: "The plague broke out in the Sanyuan territory, and the people of the epidemic revolted, and the border conflict between Luanzhou State and Qi State expanded. Troops have been sent to support Qi State. The Domo barbarians in the south are also ready to move, and Luo State is distracted. This is a good opportunity to recover the lost land, and I hope Your Majesty will allow it."

"Oh, since that's the case, it's doable!" Zhao Yan's thoughts were all in the porcelain pot, and he couldn't help feeling a little nervous when he heard the silence in the pot.

Are the crickets silent?Isn't it suffocating?
"Since your Majesty agrees, I would like to ask for an additional [-] troops." The [-] increase refers to the transfer of [-] troops from the troops directly under King Yue to Zhong Lin.

Zhao Yan was slightly stunned, his thoughts turned from the crickets in the pot, he thought for a moment and replied: "Old Zhong, my army is lacking in strength and training, and the internal border is full of bandits, so it is really difficult to divide them." The implication is: Bing, there are no doors!
Zhong Lin looked troubled, and then said: "Since the king can't send troops, can you transfer one or two of the food and grass after the arrival?" Well, if you don't have soldiers, you can also provide food.

Zhao Yan still had a dark expression on his face and said: "Mr. Zhong, it's not that this king doesn't support it, but this year's harvest is not good, and this king's treasury is hard to pay for it." .

Zhong Lin looked troubled, and continued: "Your Majesty, Jinxi's withdrawal is the last thought of the late king. It is really difficult to do it with the strength of my subordinates."

Zhao Yan rolled his eyes and said, "Mr. Zhong, it's really hard for me to continue now. How about this? If Mr. Zhong takes back Jinxi, all the income will belong to your Zhong family, how about it?"

When Zhong Lin heard this, he was so frightened that he quickly knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, you can't do this. The old minister's expedition to Jinxi is to fulfill the wish of the former king, and the gains from the conquest must belong to the king."

"Oh, why are you kneeling again? It's alright, alright, get up."

To be honest, Zhao Yan really didn't have much interest in this land of Jinxi, mainly because it was far away from his own territory. In addition, Jinxi was a land of hundreds of battles, with few people and poor land, so it was worthless. One of the reasons for agreeing to send troops to Jinxi.

Seeing Zhong Lin get up, Zhao Yan went on to say, "Sending troops to Jinxi Benwang is also powerless to help him, why don't we put it aside and discuss it later."

Zhong Lin was stunned, bowed and saluted and said: "This is a god-given opportunity, we must not miss it, I can devote all my strength to the Zhong family to take down Jinxi to honor the king."

I still have to fight... Forget it, anyway, there is no need to send troops and food, so the old man can make troubles if he likes.

Zhao Yan sighed slightly: "Okay, then follow the Prime Minister's will." Then he shouted to the servant next to him: "Bring me the king's rice paper!"

Coming out of the Xixu Hall, Zhong Lin stared at the imperial decree in his hand and then looked back at the hall. Hearing the faint sound of crickets, he shook his head and sighed, and walked away.

Maofeng Mountain is the tallest and largest mountain in Yue Kingdom. It is located in the east of Jinyue, only ten miles away from Yunshui City, the home city of Zhong.

The Orion's hunting range is only below the mountainside, and there are heavy guards above the mountainside. The old Orion vaguely remembers that the blockade began ten years ago.

Going up along the mountain road, after passing through three guard posts, it is another scene.

In the middle of the mountain, a huge flat land was dug out, on which tents, stables, training grounds, and canteens were all available, and a large cavalry training camp gradually appeared in front of it.

Accompanied by Uncle Fu and his bodyguards, Zhong Lin pushed open the wooden door of the training camp on the mountain. At this moment, he could vaguely hear the loud slogans and roars in the camp.

The guards at the gate had to check the password again. Each sentry had a different password. If the password was wrong in one round, they would be caught on the spot. Many hunters were arrested in a daze. call sin...

The password was correct, the guards gave way to pass, and what caught everyone's eyes was a bloody scene. Teams of cavalry in the central open space took turns to conduct mobile hacking training, and there were also a group of people in the wooden training ground next to them. In the hand-to-hand combat, several cooks in the cafeteria are lighting a fire, and the smoke is lingering, making people look forward to today's lunch.

Zhong Lin and Fu Bo slowly passed through the middle, and all the camp personnel were minding their own affairs. They should train, fight hand-to-hand, cook and cook. It's as if they, a bunch of newcomers, don't exist.

"Keep your eyes straight, um, not bad!" Zhong Lin nodded, since ancient times, he kept his eyes straight and his ears seldom heard.

Fu Bo echoed, "This is all taught by the young master."

Zhong Lin was relieved and quite satisfied with the training atmosphere.

"Father! Why are you here?" Entering deep into the camp, a magnetic male voice sounded, Zhong Lin and others heard the sound and looked.

At this time, the camp was at its deepest point, a road leading to the top of the mountain. A young man in his 30s rode a horse down the top road slowly, and the soldiers following behind him were piled full of prey on their mounts.

The 30-year-old young man who spoke was Zhong Lin's eldest son, Zhong Yao, who was known to the world as an unlucky man with bad luck. However, at this time, he was the commander of the secret new army of the Yue Kingdom, serving as a four-leader Yanqi in the court.

Zhong Yao has a long face and a straight nose, full of heroic spirit, and the silver armor is tightly attached to his strong body, especially the sand mole between his eyebrows that attracts people's attention.

　There is no system, no tricks, no one punch to overwhelm millions of soldiers, I am really sorry.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)