Taiping Inn

No matter which king he goes through, the prerequisite is to enter the inner city. After all, the kings live in the inner city. Li Xuandu wants to see them, so he has to visit them instead of asking them to come to the outer city to see him.

As for entering the inner city, it is simple. With Yue Libie coming forward, even the Qiexue Army will not stop him. Of course, Li Xuandu can also sneak into the inner city directly, but Li Xuandu does not want to do that. The inner city is where Nayan, the kings, the Khan and the shamans are. It is not an exaggeration to say that there are many masters. Li Xuandu has just arrived and is not clear about the depth of the virtuality. If he acts rashly, if there is any mistake, it will be difficult to end.

Although Li Xuandu will take risks, it is mostly because taking risks can get huge rewards. Now it is just to enter the city, it is not worth taking risks, so he naturally seeks safety.

Yue Libie's life was in Li Xuandu's hands. She didn't dare to gamble with her life unless she was in a desperate situation with no way out. She submitted to Li Xuandu in everything and took Li Xuandu to the inner city.

Although there is a saying of outer city and inner city, in fact, the inner city is the real royal court. The royal court was built in imitation of the city in the Central Plains. It was just because of the lack of craftsmen that it was not as good as the imperial capital with nine gates. There were four gates in total. These four gates were guarded by the Qiexue Army. Anyone who wanted to enter the city had to pass through the Qiexue Army.

The captain of the Qiexue Army was Ili Khan, who was the younger brother of the old Khan. It can be seen that the old Khan trusted this brother. However, the old Khan was an emperor after all. The emperor was destined to be lonely and it was impossible for him to put his safety in the hands of one person. Therefore, the old Khan also controlled the Qiexue Army layer by layer. The captains responsible for guarding the royal court directly obeyed the old Khan. The troops that Ili Khan could really mobilize were really limited. He was more often responsible for external expeditions, rather than guarding the old Khan.

According to Yue Libie, the captain in charge of the four gates of the royal court is named Hale Leng. He has no surname and has no relationship with the kings and the Nayans. He was originally a slave. Because of his bravery in battle, he was promoted to a guard by the old Khan. Later, he fought meritorious and was continuously promoted. Now he has become a thousand households of the Nayan. Only such people can be trusted by the old Khan.

In the eyes of the kings and traditional Nayans, the ruthless Hale Leng is a complete mad dog. The kings and the Nayans hate him but can do nothing about it. Hale Leng doesn't care about it at all. He claims to be the most loyal servant of the old Khan and is willing to sacrifice his life for the old Khan.

When Li Xuandu and Yue Libie entered the city, they didn't know whether it was bad luck or other reasons, but they happened to meet this loyal servant of the old Khan who was patrolling the city in person.

Haleleng was as tall as a bear, and he looked very oppressive. In the winter, he just put on a piece of leather armor casually, and hung a scimitar on his waist. Unlike those pampered Nayan, this scimitar had no decorations such as gems, but was scarred, just like its owner, who had been through many battles. In front of Haleleng, even the tall Yue Libie was a head shorter and looked frail. Haleleng looked at Yue Libie and his voice was like thunder: "Yue Libie Nayan, you followed the order of the old Khan to go to Liaodong, what happened?"

In the royal court, there are two factions, one for war and the other for peace. There is no need to say much about the pro-war faction, which is nothing more than the southward plundering. The pro-peace faction is not about reconciliation between the two countries, but has a bigger plan. The Golden Horde's support for the Northwest Zhou was the work of the pro-peace faction. Although the two groups advocated peace and war, they disliked each other privately. The peace group believed that the war group was brave but not wise, and that every time they went south, they achieved little success and only lost the lives of the Golden Horde warriors in vain. The war group believed that the peace group had learned the cunning of the Central Plains people, forgotten the bravery of their ancestors, and had fallen.

Haleleng was a well-deserved war group, while Yue Libie was a peace group. He did not approve of the Khan sending Yue Libie to Liaodong. Although he did not dare to object to the Khan's decision, he would not be polite to Yue Libie.

Yue Libie's face darkened: "Since it is the Khan's order, it is not something you should ask about."

Haleleng was stunned. In his mind, the Khan was like a god. Hearing Yue Libie say this, he could not refute it.

Yue Libie said again: "This is not the old Khan's Golden Tent. If this matter is leaked out, can you bear the guilt?"

Halereng looked around and sneered: "These are all my men. They are loyal warriors who are willing to give everything for the old Khan. If the news leaks out, I will tear that bastard into pieces with my own hands, and then go to the old Khan to apologize."

Since Halereng has said so, Yue Libie can't say anything else, so he wants to take Li Xuandu into the city, but Halereng's palm like a palm fan stops him.

Yue Libie frowned: "What else are you going to do?"

Halereng's eyes fell on Li Xuandu, and his eyes revealed undisguised suspicion: "Who is this person?"

Although this captain looks like a reckless man on the surface, he can only jump from a slave to the Nayan Qianhu by virtue of his bravery in battle and his loyalty to the old Khan. However, Yue Libie knows very well that this reckless man is actually a man of finesse, otherwise he would not have been entrusted with the important task by the old Khan to guard the four gates of the royal court.

According to the early plan of Yue Libie and Li Xuandu, Li Xuandu's identity at this time should be Yue Libie's guard, who defected from the Central Plains. However, after the two got to know each other, Yue Libie gave Li Xuandu another suggestion. The risk was greater, but the gains were also greater. As the saying goes, wealth and honor are sought in danger. If you don't dare to gamble, how can you take it? Yue Libie's suggestion was to let Li Xuandu reveal his identity and act as an envoy of Zhao Zheng, the governor of Liaodong, to meet the old Khan. The reason why Yue Libie made this proposal was related to Yue Libie's mission. She went to Liaodong this time just to meet Zhao Zheng. Some people may find it strange that while a war was going on, an envoy was sent to meet Zhao Zheng. Isn't it contradictory? The fundamental reason lies in the division within the Golden Horde. Some people advocated war, and some advocated peace. The two sides had their own wins and losses. When the Golden Horde army captured Liangzhou and Qinzhou, the pro-war faction had the upper hand, and the pro-peace faction could only lie dormant. When Qin Xiang led his army to recapture Qinzhou and Liangzhou, the pro-war faction lost again, and the voice of the pro-peace faction became louder, and later on, the Northwest Zhou Dynasty was supported. Now, the pro-peace faction and the pro-war faction are deadlocked, and the old Khan simply takes a two-pronged approach, sending generals to the south on one hand, and sending Yue Libie to the south to meet Zhao Zheng, the governor of Liaodong.

After meeting Zhao Zheng, Yue Libie promised to support Zhao Zheng and help him enter the pass and go south, even if it means borrowing troops. In contrast, Zhao Zheng wanted to cede Yanzhou, Jinzhou, Liaozhou and other places, and pay tribute to the Golden Horde, which Zhao Zheng naturally refused. Yue Libie then made a second choice, saying that Zhao Zheng did not have to pay tribute, and the two sides formed a brotherly state, and promised that the Golden Horde could lend troops to Zhao Zheng, and Zhao Zheng would open up mutual trade, and help the Golden Horde purchase tea, salt, copper and iron from Jiangnan through the sea trade in the North Sea. Zhao Zheng refused again, making Yue Libie return in disappointment after coming with high hopes.

However, the only people who knew about this matter were Yue Libie and several of Zhao Zheng's confidants. Now that Yue Libie's personal guards had been silenced by Li Xuandu, and Zhao Zheng had never publicized the matter, there was room for maneuver. Yue Libie could claim that Zhao Zheng had agreed to this matter and sent an envoy to meet the old Khan. As for the future, she also had an excuse, saying that the people of the Central Plains were cunning, and Zhao Zheng would at most be punished by the old Khan if he changed his mind, but he would not lose his life. To say something heartbreaking, whether the old Khan could live to the day when Zhao Zheng "changed his mind" was still a question. If the old Khan died and the kings went to war for the Khanship, who would care about this "small matter".

After listening to Yue Libie's advice, Li Xuandu felt a sense of sudden enlightenment. No wonder Zixuebie Khan, as one of the kings, also cared about Yue Libie's itinerary. It turned out that she had such a relationship, and at the same time, she also paid more attention to this noble lady of the Golden Horde. This method could not only protect Yue Libie herself, but also not anger Li Xuandu, which shows her astuteness.

Compared with Li Xuandu's previous plan, Yue Libie's proposal was bolder and more direct, and it was easiest to see results. So after a day of careful consideration, Li Xuandu approved Yue Libie's proposal.

Now, Li Xuandu's identity is Qin Xuance, the secret envoy of Zhao Zheng, the governor of Liaodong. He was born in the Qin family, a wealthy family in Liaodong. In this way, he can be more trustworthy by being related to Zhao Zheng and Qin Qing at the same time.

Yue Libie pretended to hesitate and did not speak immediately. In Haerleng's eyes, he also had doubts. Yue Libie went to Liaodong and brought back a person from the Central Plains. He couldn't help but think of the envoy as an envoy.