Bodhisattva Tuoba nodded. To him, this battle of life and death between the two of them had already ended when the sword flew over. Bodhisattva Tuoba was able to accept defeat but he was also able to let it go. At most, he could just change the game and fight again in the future. After this battle, Tuoba could use the stones of other mountains to polish jade. Whether it was his state of mind or cultivation, he had benefited greatly. Of course, at the same time, he had become a whetstone for Hsu Fengnian to temper his martial arts. It was inevitable that the battle to the death in the future would only be more dangerous. Tuoba was well aware of this. However, since Li Mixi had saved his life, Tuoba would follow this Shadow Prime Minister's wishes all the way down south. He would not deliberately raise a tiger for the sake of the battle for the number one person in the world. If he could kill Hsu Fengnian early on, Tuoba would not have any knot in his heart. Just as he had said to Hsu Fengnian before, in his eyes, Jianghu was nothing. Leaping into the Central Plains, he became the number one contributor to the founding of the new Beimang. Subsequently, he became the undisputed number one martial artist in the history books of later generations. In the past 800 years, the Great Qin Dynasty had lost its tripod and the various countries were vying for supremacy. The masters of the art of war and famous generals of the Central Plains were innumerable. The outstanding ones were the Three Generals of the Great Feng Dynasty, the Twin Annals who had almost succeeded in turning the tide before the Great Feng Dynasty was destroyed, the twelve generals who hung portraits in the Qingyun Pavilion after the founding of the Da Chu Dynasty. The Nine Kingdoms of the Spring and Autumn confronted each other for supremacy. The Hundred Schools of Thought and the School of the Military took advantage of the situation and flourished. In the early stages, there was the War God Li Gonglin, who was known as Da Chu's War God, Han Yufu, who had led the cavalry into the desert several times. Then there were the Four Great Generals of the Spring and Autumn Period: the Butcher Xu Xiao, West Chu Soldier Ye Baikui, East Yue's Prince Consort Wang Sui, and Gu Jiantang. Now, there were people like Cao Changqing, Dong Zhuo, Lu Shengxiang, and the others who began to use hundreds of thousands of soldiers as chess pieces in their hands, leading the situation of the country while talking and laughing. Even young people like Zhong Tan, Xie Xibian, and Kou Jianghuai were rising rapidly.
Li Mixi raised his head and looked up. It was the moonlight of a high-rise building. The two lights were competing with each other. The old man suddenly laughed softly and said, "I heard that the King of the Northern Courtyard has never liked to pretend to be cultured. The only thing he collected was a copybook by Yuan Fengshen, the founding hero of the Great Feng Dynasty. Yuan Fengshen, who was known as the 'Great Wall of the Frontier' by the founding emperor of Da Feng Empire, died young. Compared to the generals of the same generation, his reputation was not prominent in history. Therefore, his ranking was extremely low. Huang San Jia, who was more ambitious than the sky, once said that Yuan Fengshen and the Prince Consort Wang Sui, who held the lifeline of the country in his hands when he was only twenty years old, were listed together as the 'destined' martial artists who did not wait for me. "
Tuoba did not have any good or bad impression of Li Mixi. There was no need to fear him, and there was no need to curry favor with him. In Beimang, there were only a handful of people who could have Tuoba's mentality. The former King of the Northern Courtyard, Xu Huainan, and the two successive Kings of the Southern Courtyard, Huang Songpu and Dong Zhuo, could not do it. The old man, who had devoted half his life to Beimang's great cause, sighed with emotion, "I have never liked Jianghu. It probably has something to do with what I saw and heard when I was young and traveling to study. The Nine Kingdoms of Spring and Autumn attracted Jianghu people within their jurisdiction. Da Chu saw them as sparrows in a cage. Southern Tang saw them as Tang Qianyan. Later on, Li Yang also gave those Jianghu people a bag of embroidered carps. The meaning is clear. You are nothing but the carps in the pond of the Zhao family. "
The old man let go of the reins, rubbed his hands, exhaled, and said with a smile, "All these years, I have been like a fisherman, helping His Majesty look after the small pond in front of the court. It is no wonder that the people of Li Yang are conceited and always say that there is no Jianghu in Beimang. It is because they have Li Chungang, Wang Xianzhi, Đồng Thái, Cao Changqing, and now they have Hsu Fengnian leading a large group of rising stars. We indeed do not have any real Jianghu people in Beimang. Four of the Five Major Sects are all His Majesty's subordinates. You, the King of the Northern Courtyard, are a military general. Hong Jingyan is the Rouran Lord. It was not easy for Huyan Grand Monastery and Luo Yang to come out, but they all ran to Li Yang. Even you, the Beimang God of War, had to make a special trip to Li Yang before the great battle of Liang Mang to take a look at Mount Hui. "
Tuoba was somewhat surprised. In his impression, Li Mibi had always been a person who believed that a hundred words were not worth a hundred words. When Tuoba entered the palace for the first time by virtue of his military exploits, he saw two gray-haired elders sitting on the steps outside the hall nibbling on dates. Xu Huainan, who controlled half the country's military, was no stranger to him. When Tuoba was young, he was able to rise in the ranks of the Norland Army and stand out among the nobles with the surnames of Murong and Yelu. Xu Huainan's impartiality played a huge role in Tuoba's success. That time when he had an audience with His Majesty, he had spent most of his time patiently waiting outside the hall. The one who left the deepest impression on him was the old man who swallowed dates with Xu Huainan. After seeing him, the old man's gaze was like a snake coiled in a dark corner, hissing. It was especially cold. From the beginning to the end, it was Xu Huainan, who was second only to one and above tens of thousands of people, who exchanged pleasantries with Tuoba. The other old man, Old Snake, who rarely slipped out of the trenches to bask in the sun, was expressionless as he nibbled on dried dates. When Tuoba was summoned into the hall to meet the Emperor, he still felt a chill run down his spine.
Li Mibi probably did not know that he had once shocked the future Beimang God of War. He turned his head and smiled. "When Hong Jia fled north at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, our Beimang reaped the benefits. However, many of the survivors thought that they were rootless duckweeds and only wanted to return to their homeland. Even if they could not do it while they were alive, they wanted their descendants to bring their ashes to the south. I, Li Mibi, am the same as Xu Huainan. It's just that they wanted to return to their roots, but I have never had such thoughts. There is a plant in the medical books that can treat venomous insects and snakes. It's called the dandelion. After the seeds leave the branches and leaves, they will drift far away with the wind and take root as soon as they land. Wherever they land, that is where their hometown is. "
Although Tuoba had never been involved in the "family affairs" of the Beimang and Beimang and was trusted and valued by the Empress, Tuoba was not unaware of the movements of the Beimang and Southern Dynasties over the years. Bodhisattva Tuoba could roughly guess the meaning behind Li Mixi's words. In fact, for the past twenty years, the Norland had mostly used such tricks to suppress the Hua people in the Southern Dynasties. They were very familiar with making groundless accusations and slandering the Hua people. However, since Li Mibi was the ancestor of the Beimang spies, Tuoba had no choice but to take it seriously.
"Over the years, I've only done two things. On the surface, I've taken care of the fish pond, but in the dark, I've been sweeping the fallen leaves in the courtyard. The latter is like catching butterflies that have broken out of their cocoons in foreign lands and putting them into cages one by one. I've always enjoyed it, but unfortunately, it hasn't been very effective. In the end, even His Majesty thinks that I'm making a fuss over nothing. Although he doesn't suspect that I'm raising bandits for his own sake, he's been losing interest in it over the past few years, especially after Xu Huainan's death, which made His Majesty very sad. I know that His Majesty feels guilty and resentful about this matter. He feels guilty because he and his minister didn't end things well and let Xu Huainan die an unnatural death. His resentment is directed at me because it was my vigilance and suspicion that gave the young man surnamed Xu the opportunity to take away Xu Huainan's head and bring shame to the entire Norland. However, I have a feeling that even if I have not found a single bamboo whip after 20 years of digging, there are definitely a few fish that have escaped the net with ulterior motives in the Royal Court and the Southern Court. They are hidden very deeply and are bitterly waiting for a certain opportunity. "
Tuoba frowned and said, "Since even you can't find them, even if there are a few fish that have escaped the net, it has been 20 years. How can they succeed?"
The old man relaxed his tone and smiled. "I can't compare to the Prefect of Peace, nor can I compare to you, Tuoba, or Dong Zhuo. I am an outsider to both military and political matters, and I don't have any great foresight. However, doing the dirty work that seems to happen right under my nose all year round has developed a good habit of not too big nor too small. That is to first understand the people and matters that are close to me. Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep and eat in peace. I have focused all my attention on the great clans that rise and fall. I am not like many of you who are still fighting to the death with the Beiliang cavalry. You have already set your sights on the Great 'an City further south, the Central Plains, and the Guangling River. I have something that I have always wanted to ask, but I can't. Today, there is only the King of the Northern Court and me. Can you enlighten me? "
Tuoba said in a low voice, "Sir, please ask."
Li Mibi's tone was particularly stiff. "Has no one other than me thought that Beiliang would win and Beimang would lose?"
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