Pavilion in the middle of the lake.

The old man's hair was neatly combed and he was wearing a very wide robe. He looked at the central officials and the children who were watching, and said calmly:

"The spies stationed in the Holy City in Northern Liang sent me a letter. The barbarians are planning to annihilate Western Shu in one fell swoop."

The atmosphere suddenly became depressing.

The princes sighed and felt the heavy pressure.

"Your Majesty, Western Shu is a barrier to the Central Plains. If it falls into the hands of barbarians, the consequences will be disastrous."

Prime Minister Chen Zhigu stood up and spoke frankly, his face with ravines and ravines showing more and more vicissitudes of life.

"Prime Minister Chen, the coalition forces suffered a disastrous defeat last time and Beiliang has no power to support them."

Le Lian, Minister of the Ministry of War, took the opportunity to answer the call.

"We have to save him!" Chen Zhigu's attitude was very strong.

Le Lian responded tit-for-tat: "It's time for Tang, Yan, and Chu to send out troops for the Western Expedition. The strongest cavalry in Beiliang deserves to charge into the battle? Yumen Pass must be guarded, Mobei must be defended, and the support to Xi Shu is weak!"

"Seven countries work together." Chen Zhi's ancient words are concise and comprehensive.

Facing the stubborn Chen Xiang, Le Lian stood up and said angrily:

"Prime Minister Chen, can't you let Beiliang lose a few withered tombs?"

"Okay." Xu Ting shouted to stop the quarrel, his sunken eye sockets showing no anger.

"Fight."

The voice was calm and unquestionable.

"Yes..." Le Lian shook his head, feeling unwilling to do so.

"The barbarians are discussing the policy of genocide." Xu Ting said in a hoarse voice.

Suddenly, everyone in the pavilion was shocked and horrified.

Le Shangshu, who objected fiercely, said angrily:

"Fight! We must fight!"

How could he not know the truth behind the cold lips? Just because the situation in Beiliang was so bad, he was willing to bear notoriety and even opposed sending troops.

But if the barbarians massacred the Chinese people and Beiliang stood by and watched, it would be a shame for the nation and shame for the ancestors!

The Seven Kingdoms split the Tang Dynasty only because after the Anshi Rebellion, the world had lost confidence in Li Tang and hated the dozen or so short-lived emperors of the Li family who had acted recklessly.

Therefore, they established their own separate regimes and tried to save Chinese civilization in another way and restore its past glory.

But no matter what, the blood of the descendants of Yan and Huang will not change, the ancestors in heaven are watching!

Just when the atmosphere was tense, the one-eyed eunuch walked into the Huxin Pavilion and said softly:

"Your Majesty, the brave general, Liyang Bo Zhang Yifang requests an audience."

Xu Ting's expression suddenly turned cold:

"Xuan!

"

The ministers looked at each other in confusion. Zhang Yifang was only a fifth-grade general. He was familiar with him because he was stationed at the crucial Yumen Pass.

A moment later, Zhang Yifang was approaching the pavilion. Before he could even bow down, he was hit heavily on the shoulder by a kettle, which shattered to the ground with a splat.

"Who gave you the military order to leave the pass without permission? The border was damaged, the barbarians hurt my people, and even if the central government kills you ten thousand times, it won't be enough!

"

Xu Ting was rarely furious, his voice was as thick as a war drum, and his eyes were full of murderous intent.

Everyone was silent, and the generals guarding the border must be calm and strictly observe order. Zhang Yifang's move was reckless at the least, and disobedient to the sacred order at the worst, so he should be executed on the spot!

"I set up a defense line before I left. Besides, Yumen Pass is absolutely safe."

Zhang Yifang was submissive and did not dare to raise his head and look into His Majesty's eyes.

In the past few years, there have been almost no large-scale battles at Yumen Pass. He always thought that barbarians did not dare to covet Yumen Pass.

It turned out that it was that man who endured everything alone, and Gu Changan single-handedly turned the Western Region upside down.

"It's hard to give the most reasonable explanation. I'll kill you!" Xu Ting's expression was indifferent.

"Your Majesty, please take a look at it." Zhang Yifang held the folded rice paper over his head and handed it over to the eunuch.

The important minister frowned slightly. Could it be that the key information involving the barbarians was urgent?

But the next moment, their eyes froze.

Your Majesty will never express emotions such as "horror" and "shock" on the surface, because that means that it is beyond the control range.

But at this time, the muscles on His Majesty's face were tense, as if he was sad?

"Wei Chen resigns."

Zhang Yifang left silently.

He now deeply understands the meaning of "mission".

One person, one city, no matter what desperate situation we face, we must defend the territory of the Central Plains.

A thin scholar spent three years climbing out of the Western Regions. He suffered many tortures on the way but never gave up, just because he had a mission.

And his mission is to lead the Beiliang cavalry to guard Yumen Pass.

The pavilion in the middle of the lake fell into a long dead silence.

"Your Majesty, what's wrong?" Prime Minister Chen Zhigu was the first to break the silence.

Xu Ting's expression was dazed, his eyes seemed to transcend the barriers of the vast mountains and rivers, and he saw a mottled city in the desert, with a lonely figure at the top of the city wandering back and forth, day and night.

He moved his lips and said sadly:

"Shouzheng, for sixty-three years, the banner of the Western Regions has not fallen, and the territory of the Central Plains is still there."

"In the core hinterland of the barbarians, there is still a Chinese candle shining brightly."

Heaven and earth are quiet.

There was no sound from Huxinting.

Everyone was surprised at first, then confused, and finally horrified.

These words are no less than a huge stone falling into the deep sea, enough to cause huge waves!

The strong shock made Prime Minister Chen Zhigu's face instantly turn pale as paper. He lifted up the front of his purple robe and knelt down with a snap, facing the west.

"Dad, my son is unfilial, my son is unfilial!"

The old man kowtowed heavily, tears welling up in his cloudy eyes.

"Dad..." He sobbed.

The young princes felt sour in their hearts. The story of more than sixty years ago was too far away from them. But seeing the Prime Minister and his deputy crying bitterly, the appeal was indescribable.

"Shou Zheng, your Majesty and the 22,000 Anxi generals created an unprecedented miracle. They fell, and their spirits will be immortal."

Xu Ting walked over and pulled Chen Zhigu up, his hoarse voice full of pain and sentimentality.

Chen Zhigu was extremely painful and sad, and the memories that had been buried deep in his heart surged out again.

That was a distant sixty-five years ago, when he was only five years old. He clearly remembers that it was a dimly lit evening, and there was an old yellow dog dozing at the entrance of the alley.

"Xiao Gu, you must listen to your mother and study hard. In the future, you will become a high official and wear purple robes, and don't become a warrior!"

The stalwart figure gently caressed the child's braid, and the father and son finished sharing a piece of crispy and sweet pastry together.

"Daddy, when will you come back?" the child asked happily. At that time, he did not know the pain of separation, and he was even glad that he no longer had to be disciplined by his strict father.

"Next year when the sweet-scented osmanthus blooms." The stalwart figure threw the remaining small piece of pastry to the old yellow dog.

"Okay." The child ran home in a hurry. He didn't even say goodbye properly and didn't let his father hold him again.

Looking back, I only remember that the old yellow dog chased me very, very far away.

How did he know that this was the last time that father and son would meet in this life, that he should give his father a heavy hug, and that he should give his father the best farewell memory.

"Dad, I did what I promised you. I studied hard and I am a great minister."

Chen Zhigu cried heartily, as if he had never let go of his complaints against his father.

Why did he abandon his wife and son, why didn't he even send a single coin home, and why could he just die without hearing anything from him?

It was only now, until he stepped half-foot into the coffin, that he felt proud of his father for the first time.

It was their perseverance in desperate situations that brought such powerful spiritual inspiration to the Chinese nation that is now collapsing and miserable.

"I still hate you, but I also respect you." He murmured in his heart.

"Your Majesty, let me take a look at this." Chen Zhigu raised his sleeves to wipe away his tears and took the rice paper, as if he was holding a heavy piece of national history.

The ministers walked over quietly and looked at the plain and simple words quietly, but behind them were sixty-three years of magnificent struggle, in which one after another died, just for something called the backbone of the nation.
To be continued...