Outside Liangzhou City, the Qian Yue delegation led by Pei Jian was camped outside the city and had not been allowed to enter Liangzhou City. It was said that the posthouse in the city had not been cleaned yet, but in fact, who knows the reason?

After waiting for about a day, Pei Jian saw a team whose clothing style was obviously different from that of Hexi Longyou, slowly coming from a distance.

When I got closer, I saw that it was none other than the Southern Tang Dynasty envoy who was next to Qian Yueguo.

The envoy of the Southern Tang Dynasty wore a very colorful and well-trimmed robe, which made him look very elegant and luxurious. It is said that this robe was designed by the sage of Shaoming Dynasty as a gift, and it was called a python robe.

Pei Jian immediately knew who was coming, because in the whole world, apart from the top nobles of the Zhou Kingdom, the only people in the world who could obtain this gold, red, green and white python robe were the Lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Li Jing, and

Li Jing's third brother Li Jingsui and fourth brother Li Jingda.

As the leader of a country, Li Jing naturally had no reason to be the envoy himself. Li Jingsui was the crown prince of the Southern Tang Dynasty, so it was naturally impossible for him to come, so the only one who came was Li Jingda.

Pei Jian hesitated for a moment, but still took the initiative to pay homage to him. He was still a member of the royal family, and both countries were vassals of the Central Plains. Li Jingda was also canonized as the Governor of Jiangnan West Road by Emperor Shaoming, and his official position was far above that of Pei Jian.

When Li Jingda saw Pei Jian, he came down to answer with a smile, as if he was very happy to be wearing this blue python robe.

This left Pei Jian speechless.

The whole Jiangnan knew how the Li brothers got their python robes.

It was when Emperor Zhou was pacifying Nanping and Ma Chu, he was afraid that the Southern Tang Dynasty would send troops, so he ordered people to reprimand and frighten them first, and then deliberately rewarded them after Jinghu was about to be pacified.

This is a routine of hitting them with a stick first and then giving them a bone! They are simply treating the Li brothers like dogs.

At least Li Jing and Li Jingsui have never put on this python robe, because it is too shameful. Who knew that Li Jingda was so complacent? Who is he?

Li Jingda pretended not to see the look in Pei Jian's eyes, but actually felt very sad.

This man was a man of upright nature. Compared with Li Jing who loved wine and fun, and the somewhat cowardly Li Jingsui, he was the only clan in the Southern Tang Dynasty that strongly advocated sending troops to rescue when the Zhou Dynasty conquered Nanping and Nanchu.

But when Emperor Shao Ming engulfed the two countries with thunderous force, Li Jingda was the first to urge his brother Li Jing to serve the Central Plains.

Because Li Jingda, who knew a little bit about military affairs, knew that after the Zhou State captured Nanping and Machu, and had two river fortresses in Jiangling and Yueyang, as well as the naval forces of the two countries,

Southern Tang has no chance at all!

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties in the past, the Southern Dynasties included Jiangnan, Bashu, Lingnan, Lianghu and Huainan, and they could only barely compete with the Northern Dynasties.

Now the Li family in the Southern Tang Dynasty only had the eastern capital of Yangzhou in the north of the Yangtze River, and Qian Yue in the south of the Yangtze River had half of it. The rest of the country was in the hands of other countries, and it was impossible to fight against the Central Plains anymore.

Although Li Jing was a bit mediocre in governing the country, he was not completely unable to see the situation clearly.

Especially after hearing that Meng Shu was defeated by the Zhou army in a single battle within ninety days, the three brothers held their heads and cried in the ancestral temple for half a day.

Now let alone the three brothers, most ordinary people in the Southern Tang Dynasty also know that Zuo Zuo of the Southern Tang Dynasty did not live long.

You must know that not only Meng Shu's natural dangers are unmatched by the Southern Tang Dynasty.

From the military point of view, Meng Shu still has a group of elite soldiers and generals from Daibei and Hedong who followed Meng Zhixiang in the past. Their combat effectiveness is actually stronger than that of the Southern Tang Dynasty, which basically destroyed the Black Cloud Sword during the Xu Zhigao period.

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Li Jing told his ministers more than once in the past that Meng and Shu relied on natural dangers and were the best country to survive under the pressure of Zhou.

If he could move the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty to Hongzhou (Nanchang) and then rely on the natural dangers of the river and the mountains of southern Jiangxi for cover, he would surely be able to deal with Zhou.

Before she finished speaking, Li Jing was severely slapped in the face and lost all face.

The three brothers cried bitterly in the ancestral temple, so they thought of a way.

That is to say, Li Jing continued to "bear the humiliation and bear the burden", while Li Jingda, a clan member with a reputation for being upright, wore the python robe given by the Zhou State to paralyze the Zhou State and buy time for the Southern Tang Dynasty to accumulate strength.

The relationship between Southern Tang Dynasty and Qian Yue has never been very good. In the past, Yang Xingmi and Qian Liu were rivals for Wuzhong, and disputes continued after that.

Qian Yue was weaker, so he chose to serve the Central Plains and borrowed the help of the Central Plains court to attack the Southern Tang Dynasty.

Especially during the war of the Southern Tang Dynasty to destroy Wang Min, the Southern Tang Dynasty was about to swallow Wang Min. Qian Yue suddenly sent troops and tore the piece of meat from the Southern Tang Dynasty's mouth.

As a result, the Southern Tang Dynasty spent a lot of money on military expenditures, but in the end they only got Jianzhou. There were serious grievances between the two sides.

But now that Li Jingda and Pei Jian met in Hexi, a place where the folk customs were very different from those in Jiangnan, they actually felt like they were in the same boat.

The two exchanged a few awkward words, then heard the sound of horse hooves in the distance, as if thousands of troops were coming.

Both of them were shocked, especially Pei Jian, who felt a little uneasy when he thought of what happened that day.

The area near Liangzhou Prefecture is quite flat, especially the place where the Qianyue Mission temporarily camped. It is a small hill. Looking down from here, the field of vision is even wider.

The members of the two countries' missions followed the sound and felt the ground trembling, dust flying, and at least dozens of flags suddenly appeared in the distance as if they were the horizon.

Behind these flags, at least tens of thousands of horsemen are rushing towards them.

"Why are there so many knights at the emperor's feet? Did they come from somewhere?"

Li Jingda had a look of horror on his face. He was a little nervous, because that was how he sat on the hill in Yizheng, east of Yangzhou, and watched as he was defeated and then caught by Murong Baipao.

Pei Jian was also a little panicked by Li Jingda's words.

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This is because we have too little experience. If so many cavalry suddenly appeared in the capital area in other places, there would definitely be a problem, but in Longyou, Hexi, it was just the norm.

Here, on average, each household can produce close to one qualified cavalry. Zhang Shengren has a total of 45,000 pro-military households in Longyou, Hexi. As a substitute for pro-military households, there are 110,000 Yicong Xiaoqi, United Archers and other households.

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In addition, there are 20,000 households of the Forbidden Army. They are remnants of the fact that their household registration was in Longyou, Hexi Province before the introduction of the policy of recruiting the Imperial Guard.

Taken together, not counting the recruitment of people from various prefectures and counties near Qingtang, there are nearly 200,000 households in it alone.

With such a huge base, the so-called ten thousand knights are nothing at all.

The thundering sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer. Li Jingda's pale face showed the appearance of these cavalrymen, and then everyone heaved a long sigh of relief.

Because the flags of the cavalry teams that came almost all had words such as 'The Third Children's Regiment Camp of Tumen Township, Changsong County', 'The United Jianer of the Wucheng Inspection Department', 'The Forbidden Army of Guangwu County Yangwu, Yangwei Town Children's Regiment Camp'

'Yicong Xiaoqi, Department of Heyuan Inspection, Huangshui Prefecture' etc.

This was determined by the unique political and military structure of Longyou in Hexi Province. Due to the large number of pro-army, forbidden troops, and paramilitary Yi Cong Xiaoqi and united archers, the traditional Han prefecture and county model could not fully meet the needs of governance.

So in Longyou, Hexi, a disciple group similar to the Tang Dynasty Fu Bingzhe Chongfu was established.

All the relatives of the pro-army and the forbidden army, the outstanding cavalrymen and united archers of various righteousness, and the outstanding heavy-armored soldiers were all under the management of the disciples' regiment, and the regiment camp was set up as a personal guard captain.

The status of the regimental guard captain was higher in the county. Although his political status was lower than that of the county magistrate, he was not under the jurisdiction of the county magistrate appointed by the court in his jurisdiction, but was directly managed by Luantai of Zhongshu Province.

However, the regimental guard captain is only responsible for military discipline, military status, training, recruitment and selection, and cannot interfere with other matters.

The rest of the next-level affairs are all under the management of the county captains of each county.

Then, at each key pass and thoroughfare, an inspection department was set up to take charge of local athletes except pro-military households and forbidden military households. The imperial court would also recruit athletes to serve in each inspection department every year in accordance with regulations.

So when Li Jingda and others saw the flags held by these people, they knew that these people were not rebels, but armed forces from various places.

Pei Jian got a little closer to Li Jingda, and then whispered: "Your Majesty, there are as many as ten thousand horses here, but they are only governed by more than forty flags. This means that in every township in Longyou, Hexi, there are at least

Hundreds of fine riders."

Li Jingda felt very uncomfortable looking at the neat and mighty knights in the distance. After hearing Pei Jian's words, he felt even more uncomfortable.

But he didn't dare to answer casually. Who knows whether Pei Jian is worried about Qian Yue Guo Zuo, or is he a traitor Wu who has long been thinking about "selling" Qian Yue to the Central Plains court in exchange for his high official position and generous salary?

After a while, Li Jingda suddenly remembered that the role he played should be towards the Zhou Kingdom, so he immediately replied with excitement: "The imperial court is full of martial virtue, which is enough to clean up the country, and the restoration of the dynasty is just around the corner!"

Pei Jian took a deep look at Li Jingda and let out a long sigh in his heart. Li Jingda was very wary of Wu Yue officials like him, and of course he was even less likely to have a heart-to-heart relationship with the King (Wu Yue).

If the Tang and Wu countries can work together, they still have a chance of survival. If they can't, they will be swallowed up sooner or later.

After thinking about it, Pei Jian slowly shook his head, that's all, serving someone is not serving someone!

He wants to come forward to bring the two countries together. If he fails, he will be exterminated, which is what a wise man will not do.

Moreover, the world has been in chaos for two hundred years, and people have settled down. Now that the Holy Lord of the Central Plains has appeared, why do you need to do something that goes against heaven?

"Today it is my turn that I, the athlete from Guangwu County, will go to Xijing to pay homage to the saint. Where are you from, a pig or a dog, and you dare to compete with a certain family!"

"Blind Yak, you thief slave, others are afraid of you because of your brute strength, but they are not afraid of you. If you dare to fight for it again, a certain master of marksmanship will not spare you!"

"I heard that you call yourself Longyou Sai Zilong? You are really bragging. A certain family has made a special trip from Lintan Mansion just to meet you and see who is the first shot in Longyou."

All kinds of obscene words, mixed with various ancestors and various reproductive organs, followed these cavalrymen and rushed to the envoys of Southern Tang and Qian Yue, and then turned a blind eye and rushed past them.

The splashed mud sprayed everywhere, and the stench of livestock carried by the wind almost made people vomit.

At least two to three thousand war horses rushed past Li Jingda's eyes, and the noisy sounds of people and horses also followed. Even the horses under Li Jingda's crotch were infected, and some were eager to run with them.

Li Jingda was so frightened that he shouted for help. The Southern Tang guards around him tried their best to help him hold the reins, and a tragedy was avoided.

"vulgar!"

"rude!"

Amidst the noise, Pei Jian and Li Jingda cursed almost simultaneously.

At the south gate of Liangzhou, Zhang Yan also came over with more than a hundred guards. He knew very well the virtues of these fools and idiots under his command. If they were not controlled, they could go to heaven.

However, the situation was better than Zhang Hao thought, although Yi Cong on both sides was indeed confused and still quarreling.

But in the middle, the group of pro-military disciples showed good discipline. They had clear banners and basically uniform uniforms. No one ran around and screamed, showing extremely high combat qualities.

Zhang Gao nodded slightly and said, "Let the pro-army disciples enter the city first. Order the county lieutenants and inspection departments who brought people to inspect and rectify military discipline immediately."

Outside the city, after seeing Zhang Yan's yellow umbrella from a distance, the crowd immediately became quiet. No one continued to shout or argue. Everyone almost unanimously shouted enthusiastically "Long Live".
To be continued...