The location of Maolin, a small country, was originally nothing worthy of attention.
The total population of this small country may be less than two million. Because Lou Fan has always suppressed it, the number of prime-age men is far less than the normal proportion.
Whenever Lou Fan went on an expedition, even though he would not recruit troops from these small countries, he would recruit a large number of civilians.
Loufan's racial hierarchy is extremely strict, and soldiers in the regular army must not be from such a vassal country.
Even people from lower-level tribes in their country cannot become real Loufan soldiers.
Of course, those noble soldiers cannot do hard work, so they have to recruit civilian husbands. And those who are recruited from these small countries to become civilian husbands will most likely not come back.
At the beginning, the Loufan court would also give each country a casualty figure, regardless of whether it was true or false, it would still be given.
Later, I simply didn’t say anything. No matter how many people I took, I wouldn’t let anyone go.
Even if he did not die in the battle, he would be taken back to Loufan and become a slave.
These civilian husbands will be sold to Loufan merchants at low prices. Such cheap and easy-to-use slaves are very popular.
There is no need to pay wages, and food may not be enough, but no one can do less hard work.
Over time, the national power of these small countries is actually being weakened.
The Loufan Empire adopted a coercive policy and would never allow any of its vassal states to muster an army of more than 100,000 people.
Let alone 100,000, most small countries cannot even raise 50,000.
Not all of them couldn't find 50,000 strong men, and they were too poor to scrape together 50,000 sets of leather armor and 50,000 sets of weapons.
Most of these small countries were built by nomadic tribes and had a severe shortage of iron tools.
Maolin is the more powerful of these small countries. The reason for this is not that Maolin is qualified to negotiate terms with Lou Fan, but because they are in southern Xinjiang.
If those small countries outside the northern Xinjiang were suppressed by the people of Lou Fan's Nine Banners and Eighteen Divisions, they would be countless times more miserable than here in the southern Xinjiang.
After all, Lou Fan's regular border troops cannot go out often, but the private soldiers of the Nine Banners and Eighteen Divisions do not have so many restrictions.
The king of Maolin is called Keya. She is a woman and the only successor of the old king.
Keya is just twenty-five years old this year. She is tall and there is no trace of weakness on her body.
She knew that it would be more difficult for a woman to be the ruler of a country, so she never let herself relax from the beginning.
Her martial arts skills ranked among the top five in Maolin Kingdom. When she was a princess, she participated in Maolin's annual horse racing meeting, and she won the first place by beating the crowd.
Now her mount is the one she won for herself at the conference that year. It is all white and majestic.
Moreover, Keya has another outstanding feature, and that is courage.
Her greatest courage is to secretly have a beautiful woman as her husband.
She has learned the language and writing of the jade people since she was a child, and has also read many books about the jade country.
In her heart, Jade Country is a symbol of civilization.
But as a monarch, she also knew that these things must not be known to the Loufan people. Once they knew, her family would suffer disaster and her people would suffer the disaster of war.
Another late night, she stood on the terrace of the palace, overlooking the darkness in the city.
Maolin is indeed poor, so poor that not many people are willing to light oil lamps for a long time.
Soon after dark, the capital will fall into darkness, and the people will blow out the lights early, either trying to fall asleep or fighting against boredom in the darkness.
A middle-aged man who looked about forty years old walked slowly to her side. After stopping, he put a large cloak on Keya.
"gentlemen."
When Keya turned back and looked at this middle-aged man, her eyes were filled with undisguised admiration.
"Your Majesty, the night breeze is cold. It's time to go back after standing here for a while."
"I know."
Keya tightened her cloak and seemed to feel the warmth she trusted. "Sir, you said yesterday that the beauty's messenger should be arriving soon. Is it true?"
The middle-aged man nodded.
He looks like such an elegant man. Although there are some wrinkles on his face, his eyes are still as pure and clear as a young man.
His clothes are also very simple, just a cotton robe. Perhaps because he has worn it for a long time, even under the not-so-bright wind lamp, it can be seen that it has turned white after washing.
"I know sir will not lie to me, never will."
Keya breathed deeply, and for a moment, she really wanted to open her arms and embrace something.
"Dayu, will you accept us?"
she asked.
The middle-aged man was silent for a long time before answering. He said: "The messenger of the beautiful lady will come, but it will bring disaster to Maolin."
When Keya heard this, the anticipation and longing in her eyes suddenly disappeared.
"The people of Loufan will guess Dayu's strategy, Dayu will send envoys, and Loufan will send people."
The middle-aged man said: "Moreover, the Loufan people will come faster than the Jade people, but they will not come to see Your Majesty first, they will..."
He pointed at the darkness in front of him.
"They will blend into this darkness, massacre, intimidate, and do everything they can to prevent Maolin from becoming Dayu's vassal state."
Keya said: "But I'm not afraid."
The middle-aged man shook his head: "Your Majesty should be afraid. I once told your Majesty that as a king, no matter when, your Majesty should also fear a more powerful force."
Keya asked: "If Maolin becomes a vassal state of Dayu, then Dayu can't protect us?"
The middle-aged man replied: "Dayu will do his best to protect Maolin, but Dayu is too far away, thousands of miles away..."
He took several deep breaths.
"I know that Your Majesty yearns for Dayu. That's because Your Majesty has learned too much about Dayu from me..."
He said seriously: "But I have told Your Majesty more than once that Dayu is not perfect, nor is he selfless."
"Dayu needs a vassal state like Maolin, but not because of Dayu's fraternity, but because Dayu wants to compete with Lou Fan for supremacy."
"If you invest in Dayu, you will become the front line of Dayu and you will bear the revenge from Lou Fan."
He looked at Keya: "I am a beauty, so I must tell Your Majesty clearly that the emperor can win or lose, but Maolin does not have this qualification."
Keya was speechless.
"Then, are we going to be Loufan's slaves all the time? Tens of thousands of lives are taken away by Loufan people every year, or even more."
Keya shook her head: "I don't want to be like this. My father cried and begged me to stay, just because I wanted my husband to help me escape from Lou Fan's clutches."
The middle-aged man fell silent again.
After a long time, he looked at the night sky.
"Your Majesty, please do not leave the palace easily these days. I have asked the Chief of Guards to send more manpower. Your Majesty must listen to his words and do not take risks."
Keya was surprised: "Where are you going, sir?"
The middle-aged man pointed into the darkness: "Your Majesty wants to invest in Dayu, so I will do my best to help Your Majesty, but I also regret that Dayu was too perfect in Your Majesty's heart..."
"The moon god bless your majesty."
After he said these words, he jumped directly from such a high place. When he fell into the air, he unfolded his cloak and slid forward like a black bat.
Keya watched him disappear in the darkness and said to herself: "The moon god will also bless you."
Guard Chief Gold appeared from behind, leaned over and said, "Sir, I have told you that Your Majesty will not leave the palace in the next few days, and do not come to such a dangerous place again."
Keya looked back at her loyal subordinate, which was another fortune left to her by her father.
The 1,800 warriors of the Palace Guard are her shield, her armor, as well as her spears and fierce horses.
At the same time, less than twenty miles away from the Maolin border, Chen Weiwei's motorcade stopped.
It was already late at night, and even if they were in a hurry, they would not be able to get in when they reached the border.
At this time, people and horses were exhausted, so it was better to take a short rest and then set off at dawn. It would take at most half a day to reach the gate of the border city.
Chen Weiwei got off the carriage and moved his arms. The biggest test for him during this long journey was Cui Fanye.
He wanted to learn more from Cui Fanye, but he was afraid of exposing too much.
Cui Fanye is different from Song Shisan. Song Shisan is simply smart. He is similar to Chen Weiwei. All his smartness is used in wild ways.
Cui Fanye was different. He was rich in knowledge, extraordinary in bearing, he was from a famous family, and he was also a master in the martial arts realm.
Chen Weiwei is eager to learn from Cui Fanye those things that come from the heritage of a large family.
But he also knew that the gap between himself and Cui Fanye was too big. He had not read many books. Sometimes Cui Fanye's quotations from scriptures were a humiliation to him, because he could not understand these words. Where does it come from and how many layers of meaning it has.
The longer the contact lasted, the more inferior he became.
In fact, a long time ago, when he was a boy, he envied those children who came from big families.
He has a cowardly and incompetent father, and a ruthless and passionate mother. He is the laughing stock of many people, just like his father.
Although his aunt took him away, what he wanted more was for his father to stand up and say that no one could take him away.
This experience made him envious of those well-dressed children from well-known families.
Because in such a family, every father looks elegant and wise, and every mother looks virtuous.
Cui Fuye respects Chen Weiwei very much. This respect is not fake, because Cui Fuye is very aware of his own situation.
However, Cui Fanye's knowledge, conversation, perspective on problems, and mind for analyzing problems all made Chen Weiwei feel inferior.
He would always think of when he was a child, he followed his aunt to set up a candy stall and sell candy. Every one of those children getting off the carriage made him afraid to look directly at them.
Later, he was sent to a martial arts school by his aunt because his aunt was keenly aware of his inferiority complex.
Therefore, even though his aunt's family is not rich, she still hopes that he can practice martial arts to strengthen his body and stand out.
However, when his aunt held his hand and walked towards the martial arts studio, a carriage passed by them.
The aunt pointed at the carriage going away and said... Weiwei, if you practice martial arts hard and become a powerful person, we can make money from those big shots. Their money is the best to make.
This is his aunt's greatest expectation and hope for him, and it is also his aunt's most long-term vision.
Young Chen Weiwei asked, if I go to make their money, do I have to obey their orders?
The aunt said, what's the matter? Isn't it enough to make a lot of money? You kid is really big-hearted. Look at those people who work in the homes of big people. Even if they are just a boy, when they go out and walk on the street, they are not everyone. Are you all envious of them?
She said, aunt believes in you, and you will become a person that everyone will envy in the future.
At that time, Chen Weiwei thought in her heart, if I become that kind of person, I still can't make that cruel woman regret it.
Chen Weiwei now faces Cui Fanye just like he faced the children getting off the carriage when he was a boy.
But he was more ruthless than that time.
He will tell himself now, what I want to be is one of those children who get off the carriage and bow sincerely when they see me.
He took a deep breath.
"What is the sect master thinking?"
Cui Fuye asked behind him.
Chen Weiwei, who was filled with pride, immediately turned around and said with a smile: "I'm not thinking about anything, I'm just a little distracted. What do you want to say, sir?"
...
...
[It’s a new month, please vote for me]
[Remember, starting at 12:30 noon, post screenshots in the book review area, and the first ten people will receive peripheral gifts. However, the delivery time of the express delivery cannot be determined, because it is not convenient for me, and everyone can understand. 】
