Gongsun Sheng smiled and waved his hand, "Langshou and the groom group are the ones who are unknown at the foot of the mountain and are talking to each other. Most of the people on our mountain are people who cultivate their own character. We can't do the groom's business every night."

"Everyone sit down, I'll tell you to serve the food immediately." Huatao walked out of the private room and explained to the attendant standing at the door, then walked in and said, "The moonlight is good tonight, why don't we have a tea while eating and having evening tea?"

"I'm still drinking tea, wouldn't it take a long time?" Pang Xiaonan was worried that something might happen to Sima Ting in the inn alone.

"What? The special envoy has something to do tonight?" Gongsun Sheng asked with concern.

"It's nothing, it's just that my lady is still at the foot of the mountain..."

"This is easy to deal with. I will send someone to bring the prime minister's daughter up the mountain." Huatao Lang immediately stood up and wanted to make arrangements.

"This is not good." Pang Xiaonan was worried that Huota City would imprison Sima Ting.

"Is the special envoy worried that we will put two people under house arrest?" Gongsun Sheng directly expressed Pang Xiaonan's concern.

"That's right, I have this concern." Pang Xiaonan did not hide it.

"The envoy is overly concerned. What are the benefits of house arrest for us? Isn't this obvious challenge to the court? It will only attract more official troops, which will harm us but not benefit us."

Gongsun Sheng had a bright look and a righteous look on his face, "Encourt, I want to put you under house arrest even if I want to put you under house arrest, I may not be able to stop you from escaping."

Pang Xiaonan was surprised. How could Gongsun Sheng see his background when he was so good at qi dysfunction?

"The Lord of the City is very clear and admires it," Pang Xiaonan turned to the flower sprite. "I see the scenery on this mountain is picturesque. It can also be pleasant to stay for two days. I'll have to help the counselor to pick me up the lady and report my name. My name is Pang Xiaonan."

Huatao Lang went out to arrange some things, rescued him and had dinner with Pang Xiaonan and Gongsun Sheng.

As the flower thorn said, the dinner was very rich, and it was full of delicacies and wild game, including deer meat, braised rabbit meat, wild mountain mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, roasted tits, and ginseng stewed pheasant...

"Isn't it a bit of a waste?" Pang Xiaonan felt that these bandits were really extravagant to live. They only had three of them to eat, and there were more than a dozen dishes.

"No waste, let's eat slowly." Gongsun Sheng ate very little, but he kept picking up food for Pang Xiaonan.

"I wonder what important matters are there to explain to our Huota City this time?"

The sage man mentioned the point aside.

"That's right, city lord and counselor, I heard, no, my prime minister heard, you are strong and powerful, but you are not under the jurisdiction of the court. This seems a bit unreasonable to the court, so I want to ask you, do you accept the invitation?"

Pang Xiaonan deliberately pretended to be a court, and wanted to see if the power of Huota City could be used by me.

"Sir, we have not considered this help, but after the help, we will receive, it is difficult to say what kind of treatment we will receive?" Gongsun Sheng expressed his concerns, "Besides, we have not fought against the court. We live our lives and we don't interfere with each other, isn't it great?"

Gongsun Sheng's eyes were full of smiles, but Pang Xiaonan also saw murderous intent hidden inside.

"I understand your concerns, but the greatness of the world is the kingdom. You are on the land of the State of Cent, and you have such a strong armed force. This is like a thorn in the throat for the court."

Pang Xiaonan really got into the role. He was not a movie star in vain. It was no problem to play a prince and minister.

"Sir, do you think this is possible?" Gongsun Sheng picked up a glass of wine. "We also know that the court is in a dilemma. The territory we occupy is indeed the land of the kingdom. In this way, we pay a certain amount of taxes to the court every year. The court will regard us as an independent city, a special autonomous prefecture under the rule of the kingdom."

Pang Xiaonan thought about it, isn’t this the form of a military town?

"Then I would like to ask again, if the kingdom faces foreign enemies and needs to transfer troops from you, will you give it?"

"Well..." Gongsun Sheng looked at the Huateng.

Huataro continued: "In principle, we should send troops to support the kingdom's military operations, but the people living here are all tired of fighting and killing and gathering together. They must send troops, which goes against their original intention and is difficult to mobilize."

"What if someone attacked Fire Tower City?"

"That's a different matter, there's no need to mobilize."

Pang Xiaonan sneered and breathed a sigh of relief, "City Lord, you are like you want to be China in this country!"

"How can this be said to be a country and China?" Huatsang denied, "At most, we are a small city-state in the country. The difference between us and other prefectures is that we do not send troops."

"It's not just not sending troops, but you also enjoy the right to autonomy." Pang Xiaonan was a person who established the city of Horama. He could see through the difference between a city and a country at a glance.

"Haha, Special Envoy, let's not go into the difference. You are a wise man. We hope that you can help us to be compatible in front of the prime minister. Our Huota City will not forget your great kindness."

Gongsun Sheng raised his wine glass again toasted Pang Xiaonan.

"Then this tax..." Pang Xiaonan also picked up the wine glass.

"As long as it is money, it's easy to talk about!" Huatao Lang also picked up the wine glass.

"Okay, both of you are ready-made, but this matter is not decided by the Prime Minister. His Majesty the King is the final decision-maker."

"The envoy is humble. Who doesn't know that although the prime minister of the dynasty is inferior to one person, isn't His Majesty the King also listened to him?"

"It's impossible to say, it's not to say..." Pang Xiaonan waved his hands repeatedly, pretending to be unfathomable.

In fact, he didn't know that Sima Ji, the prime minister of the State of Cent, was indeed powerful. The king was only in his twenties and had already handed over the government to Sima Ji to take charge. In other words, Sima Ji was just the prime minister in his name, but in fact he was the real king.

After Pang Xiaonan heard the huge news from Huota City, he felt that if there was something wrong in the future, it would be the best opportunity to ask Huota City for help.

As long as he helps Huota City and the court negotiate this condition, it will be quite convenient to ask Gongsun Sheng for help in the future.

Pang Xiaonan has been using his spiritual sense to test Gongsun Sheng's strength, but he found that he could not detect it anyway. Huateng Lang had no martial arts skills, but Gongsun Sheng was definitely a master, and he could see it in his eyes.

"Master Lord, I want to take the liberty to inquire about your martial arts level, and why can't I see any foundation of kung fu in you?"

Pang Xiaonan decided to get straight to the point. Once this question is clear, he can estimate the approximate combat effectiveness of Huota City.

"Haha, the envoy, the military strategy is everywhere. It is the best strategy to defeat others without fighting. My martial arts is the same. You see, I am a completely unaware of martial arts, but that's because I don't need to use force in front of the envoy."

"You mean, I can't be your opponent?" Pang Xiaonan was shocked. Although he was at the peak of semi-saints, he was also a leader in the spiritual world.

"No, no, no, envoy, you misunderstood the city lord," Huataro continued, explaining, "The city lord is saying that he has no reason to fight with you, because we are friends."

"Then what is your real strength?" Pang Xiaonan still didn't want to give up and continued to stare at Gongsun Sheng.

"If you have to rating, the city lord should be at the peak of the true saint now, right?" Huatao Lang looked at Gongsun Sheng inquiring.

Gongsun Sheng nodded with a smile, "So that's it."

"The Peak of True Saint?" Pang Xiaonan was stunned, "That would be a god in half a step."

"Hahaha, what gods are not gods? I have no interest in these things, so I will let it go." Gongsun Sheng raised his glass again, "Come on, Special Envoy, we will hit it off at first sight, I will give you another cup."

Pang Xiaonan looked at Gongsun Sheng enviously. In this world, there are very few people who can reach the peak of the True Saint. Pang Xiaonan never thought about it before that he could sit with the peak of the True Saint to drink.

"Master Lord, how did you reach such a high level?" Pang Xiaonan also wanted to learn the experience of cultivation and upgrading. Although it is difficult for even gods to fight with a Vajra mecha himself, he cannot wear it on his body every day.

"I don't have any special experience," Gongsun Sheng was very open-minded, "But I will tell you a secret. My skills have increased greatly, and it started from coming to Huota City, which has a lot to do with the environment here."

"What environment?" Pang Xiaonan looked around. He did not feel that there was no big difference between this mountain and other mountain. Even if the oxygen concentration was higher, it would not have any special benefits for cultivation.

"Stay away from the environment of struggle and a peaceful and peaceful state of mind, these will be helpful to cultivation."

"Oh, I understand."

"I knew the envoy was a smart person."

Pang Xiaonan inferred that since the city lord Gongsun Sheng is at the peak of the true saint, the military strength of Huota City must be very strong, because there are no weak soldiers under the strong generals.

"But Mr. Counselor, I think you don't have any martial arts at all, right?" Pang Xiaonan looked at Huatalang in confusion. The city lord is so powerful that as the person around him, he should at least have some martial arts worth.

"He is better than me," Gongsun Sheng smiled, "He doesn't need to take action, he can plan with this place." Gongsun Sheng pointed to his brain.

"Since ancient times, there is no such thing as a powerful fist. Look at the officials in the court, the military officers who are desperately fighting against the enemy on the front line, will they still be restrained by civil servants in the end?"

"That's true." Pang Xiaonan then saw how harmonious the combination of Gongsun Sheng and Huatalang was.

"City Lord, I want to ask you, are your city defense equipped with thermal weapons?" Pang Xiaonan has seen many state prefectures with cannons on the walls, but he didn't watch it in Huota City.

"You mean guns, are you?"

"Yes."

"We don't deserve it, that thing is not practical." Gongsun Sheng took a sip of tea.

"Improper? How do you say this?" Pang Xiaonan also heard someone say that guns and cannons are not practical.

"You also know that we had many conflicts with the Cente government troops in the past, so many materials were restricted, such as copper and iron, so there was no material to make guns and cannons. Moreover, the structure of the guns and cannons is complex and inconvenient to maintain, so it is not as practical as our bows and arrows and slingshots. There is wood in the mountains, which can be used for local materials."

"But whether it is a bow or an arrow or a slingshot, it is not as powerful as a gun or cannon?"

"It depends on who uses it." Gongsun Sheng glanced at Pang Xiaonan meaningfully.

Pang Xiaonan suddenly understood that most people use bows and arrows to win by relying on the performance of the bows and arrows themselves, but the soldiers in Fire Tower City are different. The soldiers here are not ordinary people, they are all practitioners, which means they can inject Qi energy into the bows and arrows.

"I really want to live here for a while and learn from the city lord. How do you manage a city in the middle of the country?" Pang Xiaonan sincerely admired Gongsun Sheng and Huatalang for being able to manage Huota City in such an orderly manner.

Although he himself built Horama City, it was completely different. Horama City has helped many parties and others are doing things. The Fire Tower City was completely built in a hostile environment, and it is easy to imagine how difficult it is to start a business.

"The Special Envoy is modest. If you want to take care of it, you can take care of it." Gongsun Sheng walked to the window and looked at the moon above his head. The moonlight shone over his head and covered him with a layer of white sand. "As long as the Special Envoy helps us implement this matter, Huota City welcomes you to stay forever."

"Okay, I will do my best to live up to the expectations of the city lord and counselor," Pang Xiaonan stood up and raised his wine glass, "Come on, cheers for the bright future of Huota City!"

"cheers!"

The next day, Pang Xiaonan planned to continue heading to Kyoto.

Sima Ting was a little reluctant, "Hey, look at the scenery here, why don't we rest for two more days?"

Yesterday, Pang Xiaonan did not observe the environment of Huota City carefully. Today, he went out for a walk and found that it was really like a paradise. No wonder these practitioners came here.

However, no matter how beautiful the scenery is, he was embarrassed to stay for a long time, because Gongsun Sheng was still waiting for him to reply to the Prime Minister. If this matter was not done well, the cowhide that Pang Xiaonan had blown by him would be broken, and then this Huota City would look down on him.

"If you do this, if you want to stay, you will stay here alone. I will go to the capital by myself." Pang Xiaonan thought it would be okay to keep Sima Ting in Huota City. If she recovered from her injuries, she could go back by herself.

"That won't work. What if someone makes me think?" Sima Ting didn't dare to stay in Huota City alone. This is the gathering place for bandits in people's mouth. How dangerous it is.
To be continued...