Chapter 676: Land of Bondage
Chapter 676: Land of Bondage
The sky is high and the clouds are light.
The flags fell.
The Taiyue Ling played the music to the end, and the Xielü Lang lowered his flag and clappers, and the music stopped.
The panicked goose's feathers heaved violently, and finally it found an opportunity and flapped its wings to escape.
clang!
The gun hit the ground.
Drops of blood dripped down the fingertips, blending into the wet gauze and staining a small pink spot.
Harukhan fell to the ground. Even such a tall man could only fall a few feet.
Batu raised his arms, carried Harukhan on his back and left in silence.
The Honglu Temple announced the victory or defeat.
The emperor raised his wrist to lick the ink and circled the concluding words.
"The roar shook the whole world, and the might shone brightly on all four sides. This is the day, Liang wins!"
New year and a new look.
All the civil and military officials in the court were happy and stroked their beards and laughed.
The envoys from the small country were still not satisfied, and their eyes were filled with only reverence for the Celestial Empire.
The Beiting delegation remained silent, as if their spirits had been shattered by the bullet.
"So damn handsome!"
Meng Qiangyue rushed forward, his excitement beyond words. Just as he was about to pat Liang Qu on the back to celebrate, he realized something was wrong and raised his hand to stop Zhang Shaofan, Hua Qingdu and others.
Sweat was pouring down his broad and powerful chest, soaking his belt. His muscles were twisted together like iron chains, flowing and freehand, just like a strong and powerful leopard. Anyone who saw him would be envious.
Of course.
No breathing.
It was a battle that was not easy. Not only was there no heavy breathing, but how come even breathing stopped?
Pinch the arm.
hard!
so hard!
Dry!
Dead dead!
Meng Qiang suddenly understood what was going on. He pretended to be happy and winked at Zhang Shaofan and the others. They understood what he meant, put their arms around each other's shoulders, grabbed Fu Bo's waist, and carried Liang Qu down.
Turn under the flag.
The Tianyu Guards surrounded them and cheered.
It seems that he is caring and concerned about others, but in fact he is blocking his sight and not giving outsiders the chance to approach.
The envoys from various countries visited for a long time, but were blocked by the human wall and had to sit down again.
"Quick, quick, quick, fill it with water! Fill it with water! Do you have any medicine? Do you have any medicine?"
"No, Boss, I can't open my mouth!"
"Crush it and mix it in the water! Pour it in, and someone bring a straw! Where's Eunuch Li?"
"I'm coming!"
Meng Qiang gave a few instructions, then pulled out a dagger, pried open Liang Qu's teeth, inserted a straw, and poured a gourd of potion into it.
"Commander, it's over!"
"I know it's too much, how about you do it?"
"I am willing, but Lord Liang may not be willing. Should we ask His Majesty to find a beautiful maid?"
"How useless! They are the emperor's personal guards!"
Lan Jicai waved his hands, pushed away the left and right, and pressed several acupoints on Liang Qu's chest. Then he rubbed his neck and pinched it hard, and the muscles in his throat relaxed.
The water in the straw flowed down quickly until the entire gourd was filled with water.
"Ahem! Hoo!"
Liang Qu gasped heavily, opened his eyes wide, and his chest puffed up violently with every breath, his whole body like a broken bellows.
"It's done!"
Meng Qiang threw away the straw.
Seeing that Liang Qu had almost recovered, he crushed a few healing and regenerating pills, mixed them with water and fed them to him, then ran without stopping to arrange the second fight.
Rest until the two-on-two match begins.
The drums, music, and weapons sounded again.
Liang Qu's stagnant thoughts continued to flow, but his whole body was still sore. Every muscle felt as if a whole bottle of old vinegar had been injected into it. He was completely unable to move.
"Liang Heng, how is it?" Eunuch Li was very attentive and noticed that Liang Qu's eyes were much more alert. He bowed and asked, "If you feel uncomfortable, I will go get some medicine."
"It's okay, slow down, slow down." Liang Qu leaned against the back of the chair and looked up at the sky. The sun had a double image in the sky.
The fight with Harukhan was not easy. After using the secret technique, the fat boy's arms were stronger than his. He hit the other man without making a sound, and he felt chest tightness, shortness of breath, pain in his hands and numbness in his feet. It turned out that he had this feeling when others fought with him on a normal day. However, the dragon-slaying skill stored in the [Seal of the God] was an extreme skill. The two skills combined directly drained away his energy and strength until his muscles became stiff.
Apart from that, there were not many external injuries, except for the two hands which had many cracks due to the huge force.
"Can you help me? I want to see what's going on."
Eunuch Li supported Liang Qu and straightened his head.
"Master Liang, how is it?"
"A little more to the right. Okay, okay, don't move."
The arena was filled with the flashing of swords and the shadow of sabers, and the fight was evenly matched.
On the opposite side were Sunar and Baibuhua, the black panther and mastiff of the royal court, using two-handed scimitars and long swords.
The Tianyu Guards had two long spears, and Li Bingzhong was one of them.
The cooperation between the two is obviously much better than that of the opponent, and they have the Tianyu battle formation available.
However, even so, it still only has a slight advantage.
The cooperation on the other side is also not bad.
"When Harukhan went to hunt tigers, perhaps the Khan of Beiting had already arranged today's plan. For at least half a year, it must have been a common occurrence for them to practice and cooperate with each other."
Liang Qu guessed.
The envoys from the small countries first saw the fight between Harukhan and Liangqu and were full of expectations.
After looking at it for a long time, they felt that something was missing and started whispering to each other.
After eating spicy food, if you then try something light, even if it tastes good, it will still seem bland.
Two against two, the situation is not as simple and clear as one against one. There is no wild and arrogant fighting like Harukhan and Liangqu, who are as fierce as tigers and bears and can defeat ten with one force. It is a contest of skills.
Those with weaker cultivation bases cannot follow closely and may not even be able to tell what is happening.
Liang Qu hoped that the two could win, but he was powerless to help, so he had to ask why Harukhan's true energy was so strange. He pretended that he had just received an answer from Lord Mahakala, and then looked at Lan Jicai and asked a question that had puzzled him for a long time.
"Mr. Lan, what is the relationship between the Great Snow Mountain and our dynasty and Beiting? Why is there an ambiguous relationship between the two sides?"
The first time I heard about the Great Snow Mountain was from an old monk.
The thoughts and memories evoked by Liang Qu also came from the so-called evil monk and disaster spirit.
In my impression, it is a lawless place, but it nominally belongs to Dashun. Now it is mixed with Beiting and acts as if it is a matter of course.
"Because the Great Snow Mountain is nominally under the control of Dashun, it is actually a vassal state, unlike the two capitals and eighteen provinces, which are under its complete rule and can collect taxes and appoint and dismiss officials at any time. Do you understand?"
"I understand."
Ji is the bridle of a horse; mi is the bridle of an ox.
The so-called "control" means on the one hand to "control" by military means and political pressure; on the other hand to "tie" by giving benefits and comfort.
Carrot and stick.
Such behavior seems useless. Even though taxes cannot be collected on a daily basis, benefits must be given. The only condition is that the other party recognizes the uniqueness and legitimacy of the rule of Emperor Dashun. In fact, it is of great significance.
On the one hand, it reduces overt friction between the two sides and avoids the consumption of war, which is a valuable asset.
A rain of arrows is worth a fortune.
On the other hand, to win over distant people is to keep them under control.
The degree of control is not always constant.
A dynasty that is undefeated is often able to gradually increase control from shallow to deep.
It started with the exchange of envoys and the development of trade. Gradually, with the cultural assimilation and deepening of influence, officials were sent to gradually gain mid-level jurisdiction.
When it reached its peak, it was to send ministers and local leaders to rule together, or even to completely replace them.
This is called "changing the natives into officials".
Changed chieftains and returned to the royal court.
Give it a little thought.
"We have a low level of control over the Great Snow Mountain?"
"That's right." Lan Jicai nodded. "Except for recognizing the rule of Dashun, the two sides rarely interact with each other. As for the Great Snow Mountain and Beiting... do you know what the people of Beiting believe in?"
"Eternal Life?"
"Yes, because the North is cold and barren, people have a far greater reverence for nature than anything else, so they believe in the Eternal Heaven. However, the suffering in the Great Snow Mountain is ten times worse than that!"
(End of this chapter)