Zhou Ziru came to the imperial study room. There was no change here. The only change was that the memorials in front of the imperial desk had piled up like a mountain and there was nowhere to put them.
The young eunuch apologized apologetically and ran away in a hurry. Zhou Ziru knew that he was going to call Zhao Yizhi.
Zhou Ziru looked around and saw that the Qilong Sword was still hanging there on the wall, but it was covered with dust. It looked like it had not been used for a long time. Zhou Ziru stepped forward and gently wiped the dust on the sword, sat back on the chair, and waited quietly.
"You're back earlier than I thought." Zhao Yizhi's voice came from outside the door and he immediately stepped in. The dragon robe was no longer smooth at this time. It looked like it had not been changed or cleaned for a long time. The face was even thinner and the eyes were deeply sunken.
Zhou Ziru stood up and said with a smile: "Your Majesty came earlier than I thought."
Zhao Yizhi raised the corner of his mouth slightly, smiled, and sat back in front of the imperial case. Before he could speak, Zhou Ziru first said: "King Xigui..."
"Dead." Zhao Yizhi replied calmly.
Zhou Ziru nodded. It was expected. How could Zhao Yizhi let him go?
Zhao Yizhi saw Zhou Ziru's expression and said, "I didn't kill him. When Zangyun and the others brought him back, he was killed in front of the main hall."
"Oh?" This was beyond Zhou Ziru's expectation.
"Aren't you the best at perceiving psychology? Tell me why?" Zhao Yizhi asked.
Zhou Ziru thought for a moment and said: "He is a prince after all. Among the eight princes, he is the only one who came to the capital as a prisoner... I feel ashamed of my ancestors..."
Zhao Yizhi nodded: "I think so too, sit down."
Just as Zhou Ziru sat down, Zhao Yizhi said again: "I heard that you had a good meal on the way back. Why did you vomit blood?"
"Have they also reported such trivial matters to Your Majesty?" Zhou Ziru chuckled, whether he felt funny or happy.
Zhao Yizhi said nothing and looked at Zhou Ziru quietly.
"Xigui has been pacified, and the next thing is the matter in the north. I just think that maybe the matter in Xigui should not be settled so early." Before Zhao Yizhi could ask questions, Zhou Ziru continued: "If the king of Xigui is here, , the Northern Yi might want us to fight internally, and not be so eager to raise our troops to go south. But now that Xigui has been decided, the Northern Yi... must be at the border of Chen Bing."
Zhao Yizhi casually pulled out a memorial, and with a thought, he sent the memorial to Zhou Ziru out of thin air. Seeing this strange scene, Zhou Ziru just blinked and said nothing more.
Opening the memorial, there was a battle report from the north. It was about the Northern Yi troops raising 150,000 troops and marching south in three groups.
"Your Majesty, by randomly picking out a book, you can draw out the battle report and memorial of the North. It seems that my worries are unnecessary." Zhou Ziru closed the memorial with a smile and handed it back to Zhao Yizhi's imperial case.
Zhao Yizhi put away the memorial and said, "You can always think about the next step in advance."
"Your Majesty, what do you think?" Zhou Ziru was more concerned about the situation in Beiyi.
"I don't know much about Beiyi. I think you know better than me. These 150,000 soldiers and horses..."
"It's just a test." Zhou Ziru knew what Zhao Yizhi wanted to ask and answered in advance: "The Beiyi live as nomads, their children grow up on horses, and everyone is good at fighting. Even their women are like Men are generally tough, and cannot be compared to the weak women from the Central Plains."
"All the people are soldiers?" Zhao Yizhi also knew some characteristics of the northern nomads in later generations, but they were called by another name, not Beiyi.
Zhou Ziru nodded: "Even the elderly can participate in the logistics supply of the army. The Central Plains has little chance of winning against the Northern Yi..."
Zhao Yizhi grasped the key point in Zhou Ziru’s words: “It’s not big, but it’s still there.”
"Yes, Bei Yi is good at riding and shooting, but not good at attacking cities. It's a pity that the three kings of Bei Fan have abandoned all the sand cities outside the border..." Zhou Ziru said regretfully.
Zhao Yizhi remained silent, and all the sand cities outside the country were abandoned, which meant that the Northern Yi soldiers and horses could reach the city directly without any buffer. If the three northern kings cannot stop them, the northern Yi soldiers will be able to move forward unimpeded across the thousand-mile plain of the Central Plains.
"Are we going to send troops?" Zhao Yizhi and Zhou Ziru said at the same time, and then the monarch and his ministers laughed out loud at the same time.
"It's time to do it." Zhao Yizhi thought for a moment and said slowly.
Zhou Ziru nodded slowly: "However, after years of fighting, not to mention the lack of support from the national treasury and the hard work of the people, even the army sergeants are already exhausted... If we send troops again... I am afraid there will be a lot of opposition in the court."
"I know that troops must be sent. But they can be sent more slowly. Aren't the three northern kings afraid that the court will attack them? Since they are so afraid of the court, let's appease them. Send them some money and food first, and let them Stop the Beiyi first."
"Then Duke Wu Dinggong... also has hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, and the cost of food and grass..." Zhou Ziru asked Zhao Yizhi what he meant.
Zhao Yizhi's face was uncertain, and finally he breathed out slowly and said: "If he sends someone, just call him."
Zhou Ziru understood in his heart that there was already some rift between the two, perhaps because of Guan Chenzi's incident. Zhao Yizhi had high hopes for Yi Xiaodao, but Yi Xiaodao failed to save Guan Chenzi. It is impossible to say that Zhao Yizhi did not complain at all.
This is fine, Zhou Ziru is also happy to see this situation. Yi Xiaodao's achievements are not inferior to him. If he has the emperor's favor again, sooner or later he will be a powerful official in Daqi. By then, he will have hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in the capital. Who can control him?
After talking about the business, Zhao Yizhi began to look tired while sitting on the chair. He shrank under the chair and lay back on the chair: "Have you seen Tong Weizi leave Beijing today?"
Zhou Ziru shook his head. There were so many people going in and out of the capital, and he just bumped into them. How could he know who was passing by outside while sitting in a carriage.
"He received a message from Zhenyang Mountain and wants to go back and become the head teacher."
Zhou Ziru stared at Zhao Yizhi's face and was a little surprised when he saw that what he said didn't sound like a joke: "That Zhang Zongbai..."
"Dead, but Zhenyangshan said that he ascended. It doesn't matter. Anyway, the person is gone." Zhao Yizhi looked at the ceiling of the imperial study room, not knowing what he was thinking.
"In terms of cultivation and state of mind, it can be seen that she is slightly better. Even..." Zhou Ziru paused and decided not to mention this sad incident: "Then she should be the head teacher..."
When Zhao Yizhi heard Zhou Ziru's words, he couldn't control his emotions and burst into tears: "But I really miss her..."
…
"Brother, how are you? Do you feel better?" Li Dingxing opened the door and entered the room with Yi Xiaoling to visit Yi Xiaodao.
Yi Xiaodao somersaulted from the bed and jumped out of bed: "I feel so refreshed! Xiaoling, do you still have the medicine? Give me another two or three kilograms."
"Two or three kilograms! You can eat it! One is enough!" Yi Xiaoling covered her chest with both hands, fearing that Yi Xiaodao would come and snatch it away.
"How can one or two pills be enough? Okay, okay, I won't rob you if you don't...don't glare at me." Yi Xiaodao no longer had that irritability and was in a good mood. As soon as he saw the two of them, he took the initiative to start driving. joke.
He Yue'er came in from the door with a basin of water: "Hey, you are here. Hey, you are not recovered yet, what are you doing getting up? Lie down quickly!"
Yi Xiaodao came over with a smile, took the water and started to wash up: "I've been fine for a long time, don't worry. By the way, is there anything to eat? I'm starving to death."
Seeing his lively appearance, He Yue'er felt relieved: "Okay, wait, you guys chat, I'll get it."
"Brother, you are so lucky to meet such a good person as my sister-in-law!" Li Dingxing saw He Yue'er busy in and out from the side, and couldn't help but feel emotional.
Yi Xiaoling glanced over, and Li Dingxing quickly closed his mouth, not daring to continue speaking.
"By the way, how is Wang Xuan...now?" Yi Xiaodao asked softly.
Although he was unbearably angry before, he still clearly remembered everything he had done, it was just that he was out of control for a moment. Thinking about it now, Yi Xiaodao felt very guilty.
Even though he had the urge to attack Yi Xiaoling, and even Li Dingxing drew the star bow, they were still a family, and things happened for a reason, and there was no overnight feud. But Wang Xuan was different. Yi Xiaodao was only worried that Wang Xuan would be resentful of him and leave.
Li Dingxing and Yi Xiaoling looked at each other and said, "He is busy arranging manpower in the city now. He is very busy!"
"Well, with him guarding the city, I feel relieved." Yi Xiaodao said happily.
"He is guarding the city? If he was guarding the city, would he be so busy? He said it depends on what you mean. You have to guard the city personally. You have to personally check every place in the city before you can rest assured." Yi Xiaoling added at the side.
Yi Xiaodao was startled: "I defend the city? How can I defend the city? Isn't this nonsense?" After saying that, he got up and went out to find Wang Xuan.
Li Dingxing and Yi Xiaoling grabbed Yi Xiaodao and pulled him back to the chair: "We originally thought it was most reasonable for him to defend the city..."
"But?" Yi Xiaodao knew that the two of them must still have something to say.
"But what he said later made sense to us!"
Yi Xiaodao asked: "What did he say?"
"He said that the situation is not clear when we go to Anxi. If there is a fight and we are defeated, these soldiers and horses will just escape. With you in charge and a place to go to Anxi, we will not suffer too much loss. But if you lose, it's uncertain whether these soldiers will come looking for Wang Xuan." Li Dingxing explained simply.
"He thought about defeat before winning, and arranged everything very properly." Yi Xiaodao said with emotion.
"Who did it take for a father-in-law like you to fall in love with me?" Yi Xiaoling said angrily.
Yi Xiaodao smiled sheepishly: "If we don't talk about this anymore, when will you set off?"
"Of course, the sooner the better. You are fine now, so of course we don't need to stay in the city."
"Okay then, you set off immediately!"
