"It's related to Yanling, it's related to Yanling... This is a breakthrough." Qi Shan walked back and forth holding the piece of paper, and heard him murmur in a low voice, "I have heard of similar secret hiding methods before. It is used to convey messages. It is very rare and not many people know how to do it.”
"So advanced?"
Shen Tang was really stunned for a moment.
She said it casually, but she didn't expect that there really was an encrypted speech spirit.
Seeing Qi Shan moving his literary heart and condensing his literary energy in his palms, with a solemn look on his face, Shen Tang vaguely felt that something was not right in the atmosphere.
"Yuan Liang, are you too worried? He's just an ordinary hussy boy from Goulan Washe... Even if he is a top reserve, it would be difficult for him to come into contact with such a rare spirit, right? To say the least, even if he could come into contact, it would be What breaking news deserves its place?”
Qi Shan put his palms on the paper, and the cyan literary energy condensed in his palms, slowly sensing it, not forgetting to deal with Shen Tang's questions.
"Where do you think Xiaocheng is?"
Shen Tang shook his head honestly: "I don't know."
She really didn't know.
Yuanliang's problem obviously involves the current situation. But her current understanding of the world comes from Qi Shan, his spiritual scroll and what she has seen along the way. That is just the tip of the iceberg of this extremely limited world.
No matter how hard she tried to understand, the people she came into contact with were mostly the people at the lowest level. Most of them could not even provide food and clothing. They did not care about the names of local governors or their achievements, let alone the general trend of the world. No way of knowing.
They only know that the world is difficult and they can no longer survive.
Shen Tang's answer was expected by Qishan, so there was no disappointment or other emotions. If Shen Xiaolangjun suddenly became aware of everything, he would instead wonder whether this person was pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger. So Qishan said for the first time Once I revealed something to Shen Tang.
The tip of the iceberg about the overall situation of this world.
He said: "I said before that Zheng Qiao, the commander of the Geng Kingdom, will destroy himself within five years. This is not only because this person is violent and vicious, and is accustomed to using unscrupulous and vicious methods. There is also another important reason - he wants to drive away To devour a tiger is to seek its skin."
Shen Tang subconsciously sat upright and listened attentively.
After a little thinking, I can guess a little bit.
"Yuan Liang means... the Xin Kingdom used to be a 'wolf'. Now that the 'wolf' is dead, that 'tiger' has become Zheng Qiao's biggest concern? Who is the 'tiger'?" Shen Tang thought of Qi Shan. There are also small-scale maps in that pile of books, including descriptions of the Geng Kingdom and the fallen Xin Kingdom.
The geographical location of both countries is not very good.
All on the edge of the continent.
However, it is precisely this that allows the two countries to avoid the hinterland of the mainland where the fighting is the most serious. Compared with the Geng Kingdom, which is surrounded by neighbors on all sides and is beaten every now and then, the Xin Kingdom is slightly better off, with its northwest territory covered by endless steep mountains. , the dangerous pass is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Qishan replied: "This 'tiger' is Shiwu."
Shen Tang said: "Ten Crows?"
Shiwu is a barbarian force outside the continuous mountains of Xin Kingdom.
They believed that the Golden Crows fell here, lived and multiplied here, and their descendants continued to grow, so they called themselves "Shiwu", which simply means "descendants of the ten Golden Crows". Shen Tang suspected that they were dreaming of crossing the ocean - they thought Wide, Pengci touches the head of the sun.
Because before the Thief Star landed, Shiwu was not called by this name at all. They just accidentally learned that there was such a mythical story about the speech spirit contained in the Thief Star, so they raised their profile to try it. The key is to pass it down for a hundred or two hundred years. , the effect really came out.
Whether outsiders believe it or not is second, but they believe it anyway.
Descendants of the Golden Crow, so noble!
Shen Tang guessed part of the truth after just a moment's thought, and murmured: "If Shiwu is a 'tiger'... In this way, Zheng Qiao's victory over Xin was not due to the terrifying national power of Geng, but because of the help of heaven and earth. The location is favorable and the people are harmonious? Taking advantage of the natural and man-made disasters and political turmoil in the Xin State, secretly unite with Shiwu and have Shiwu send troops to harass and attract the Xin State's troops, and the Geng State will send troops to make a surprise attack?"
Xin State was already suffering from constant internal troubles, and Shiwu was constantly harassing and causing trouble at the border. It was inevitable that it was a precaution against Geng State.
This ultimately led to the current situation.
Qishan nodded approvingly.
Shen Tang asked again: "But what does this have to do with Xiaocheng?"
Xiaocheng is the county seat of Sibao County. It is not connected to the border mountains and has nothing to do with Shiwu.
Qi Shan sighed: "Because the parents of the governor of Sibao County were from Shiwu. They were dissatisfied with the power struggle within the tribe, so they decided to take their young children away from their homeland, hide their names, and finally settled in Xin State. Although they grew up in Xin State, That child still thinks of Shiwu in his heart. By chance, he got in touch with the tribal forces on his parents' side, and became one of Shiwu's informants."
Shen Tang was stunned when he heard this: "The county guard didn't even have time to hide this secret, which is related to one's wealth and life. How could you know?"
From this point of view, Qi Yuanliang is really not an ordinary "guiding NPC". The secrets in this guy are like the old sow wearing a bra, one set after another, layer after layer. If we dig deeper, He was afraid that it was a deep hole. Shen Tang observed Qi Shan's expression with his peripheral vision and saw that he didn't have particularly big mood swings, so he said, "If it's not convenient for you to tell me, then I won't ask."
Qishan said: "It's not that I don't want to say it, but it's a long story that can't be explained clearly in a short while. All you need to know is that the governor of Sibao County is not a good person. He doesn't know that I still have it. Alive. On the surface, he is a loyal minister to Zheng Qiao. He is used to flattering Zheng Qiao. He will do anything to please Zheng Qiao, but secretly he still does things for Shiwu."
As he spoke, Qishan brought the topic back.
He said: "The geographical location of Sibao County is quite special. It can be attacked when advancing and defended when retreating. It is a prefecture and county at the junction of Xin State and Geng State. It is also the only way for nearby countries to go south, and there are waterways. In other words, if you want to If you want to plot the hinterland of mainland China, Sibao County is the springboard."
Shen Tang took a breath of air.
"Is Shiwu's plot so big?"
The mountains blocking their way south had not yet been conquered, so they were thinking about how they would go after conquering the northwest countries.
"They really dare to plan such a big plan. It used to be a daydream, but now -" Shen Tang glanced at Shen Tang, who had his head lowered, and said quietly, "It may not be impossible. The national seal of the Xin Kingdom is lost, and Zheng Qiao is a violent master. , cannot appease the people, and the national energy and destiny may not be able to maintain the national border barrier on the other side of the mountain range. Coupled with Shi Wu’s painstaking efforts over the years, he may really be able to seize the opportunity to cross that mountain range."
