Chapter 471 Sharpening the Knife
The team returning to Beijing is not too bloated;
First of all,
the original imperial envoy team must go all the way back, and this group of people When he rushed to Snow Customs to announce the decree, he had already demonstrated his ability to rush.
Then, it’s Uncle Zheng’s side.
Three carriages,
in one carriage were the princess and Uncle Zheng, and in the other two carriages were goods.
Although there was a delay of several days due to the military parade, overall, the time for returning to Beijing is still extremely generous. You can stop where you should and rest where you should;
As long as Uncle Zheng doesn't follow the example of Emperor Qianlong who went out on patrol incognito to tease Xia Yuhe,
there will definitely be no problem of missing the deadline.
Accompanying them were Blind Man, Fan Li, Sword Maid, Gou Moli, Sword Master, Chen Daxia, and three hundred personal cavalry led by Gao Yi.
This afternoon,
the team camped by the Mingchi Pool early.
It’s only a little over two days’ journey from Wangjiang here. After crossing Wangjiang, we reach Yingdu and connect to the border of Yan State from Yingdu. There is already a newly renovated official road. The team's traveling speed will be greatly improved, and the complete station system will also save everyone a lot of time for supplies and rest.
The most difficult section to walk is actually the road from Xueguan to Wangjiang, because the entire eastern half of Chengguo was the area that was most severely poisoned by the Savage Rebellion.
Not to mention looting in the early stage, it was a one-shot deal, clean and tidy;
But in the later period, when the Great Yan Eastern Expedition came to the west side of Wangjiang River and the two sides began to stalemate, it was no longer a simple robbery. , but dig deep into the ground to search for supplies, it’s like digging for roots!
After that, the Marquis of Jingnan defeated the main force of the barbarians, and the Qingluan army in Yupan City surrendered and was massacred. Although the war was decided, the entire Jin land from west to east was baptized by the flames of war within two or three years. It takes time to recuperate;
Secondly, Zhennanguan and the big country of Chu A war may break out at any time. According to Jingnan Hou's wishes, if the two countries officially start a war, if they cannot defeat the main field force of the Chu people in one fell swoop and burn the flames of war to the Chu land, they will have to retreat and do the next best thing. The Yan army will take the initiative to retreat and let Chu The army's entry into Jin opened up the battlefield pattern and width, thereby giving the cavalry a greater range of activities and initiative.
Therefore, neither Dayan nor Yingdu will choose to develop or immigrate to this area that has been pre-demarcated as a "battlefield" at this time.
Mingchi is a beautiful place, especially now, with rippling lake waves and green grass, giving people a relaxed and happy feeling.
It takes two hours less to travel and rest here, which is a rare comfort during the long distance.
There was a long blanket with some food, wine and drinks on it. The princess sat there and stuffed some food into Uncle Zheng's mouth from time to time.
Uncle Zheng rested his head on his hands, lying on the grass, admiring the sunset.
Not far away, the Sword Master in white sat on the bank of the lake, and beside him, sat the Savage King.
The Savage King has been imprisoned for such a long time, and he has also suffered from the evil aura of the Sha Tuo Que Stone Zombies, as well as the fact that he had disfigured himself in order to evade capture, making him completely different from his original self.
No need to disguise or wear a mask, there is no need to worry about being recognized.
Furthermore,
Among the Great Yan, there are only a few who have actually seen the Savage King.
Logically speaking, there should be a life-and-death relationship between the Sword Master and the Savage King.
But when he was at Snow Customs, the Sword Master would also ask the blind man to help him take the Savage King out of the prison from time to time to talk and chat.
The Juggernaut will talk about Liu Dahu’s time in the school, and also talk about his wife’s diligence and thrift in running the house.
Then, the Savage King, who was stuffed with dog food, had to deliberately attack several times each time to increase the pleasure of the Sword Master;
After all, he was eager to come out and have a look at the sky. Look at the clouds and breathe in the fresh air;
At this time, the Savage King is peeling chestnuts and roasting chestnuts with sugar. They are very tasty and delicious.
The Savage King not only eats them himself, but also specially peels some of them and places them in front of the Sword Master.
The sword master was not polite either,
appreciating the scenery and the lake breeze, he would pick up a peeled chestnut from time to time and put it in his mouth and chew it slowly.
“When I left the city on the first day, I saw you in the team. To be honest, I was really shocked.”
“Are you afraid that I will kill you with one sword?”< br>
"Yes."
"If I wanted to kill you, I would have killed you long ago when we were at Snow Customs."
When we were at Snow Customs, the Sword Master didn't even have to do it himself, he only needed to ask Uncle Zheng If I show it to you, Uncle Zheng will definitely take the head of the Savage King and place it in front of the Sword Master.
It is said that Fan Zhengwen is good at doing business, but Uncle Zheng has never lost money in this kind of business.
“It’s different.” The Savage King shook his head and continued to peel chestnuts. “It’s different in the snow customs and outside.”
"It's different." The sword master nodded.
“I’m right.”
“Well, inside the city, you are a prisoner, outside the city, you are a prisoner worker, more than 20,000 savages were captured more than a year ago , how many are left alive now? "
The infrastructure and recovery of Snow Customs, including the tens of thousands of savage captives that were able to maintain stability after absorbing so many people last winter, It can be said to have made a great contribution.
They did the most tiring work, they ate the worst food, they lived in the coldest nests, and batch after batch of savage slave workers died on the construction site.
Now, only a few thousand people can continue to do hard labor, and the rest are either dead or disabled and have been disposed of after losing their labor force.
At this point, the Hirano House can be said to be extremely cruel.
Of course, this is what they deserve. Those who come out to fool around always have to pay back. They broke into the Snow Customs, burned, killed and looted so happily. After they were happy, they had to atone for their sins.
Uncle Zheng has never recruited troops from those savage slave workers because there is no need.
First of all, Xue Customs has always followed the route of elite soldiers. This is a tradition and must be maintained.
Secondly, although Xueguan has absorbed many barbarians, the majority of the people at the bottom are still Jin people. Most of these people have been tortured by the barbarians. The punishment of these barbarian slave laborers can win over their hearts. .
Erecting a savage as a target of common hatred, with this external contradiction, then the possible contradictions caused by the common people of Yan and Jin and Ping Yebo's identity as a Yan person can be minimized as much as possible The ground blurred.
The Savage King thought for a while and said:
"That's really what I mean, but I still want to live a good life. You know, I am not afraid of Uncle Hirano now, because Uncle Hirano and I are The same person can sell everything for profit;
But you are different. I am not sure whether you want to see me live a good life. ”
The sword master had no intention of answering this question.
He did not resent Zheng Fan for dragging the Savage King out to the capital together, because he could see that Zheng Fan seemed a little worried about going to the capital to receive the reward.
The Savage King did not ask any more questions, but clapped his hands,
said:
“This is Mingchi, right? It was the Situ family that expelled our holy clan. The place where a monument was erected after a great victory.”
Many place names and historic sites in Jin are actually related to the Jin people expelling the barbarians.
In the past, a certain head of the Situ family led an army to defeat the barbarians here and pushed the battle line across the Wangjiang River, which further reduced the barbarians’ strategic maneuvering space in Jin. At the same time, it also paved the way for the final and complete expulsion of the barbarians from Jin. The ground sets the tone.
The head of the Situ family once ordered the carver to erect a monument here to commemorate the war.
As time goes by, too many things have been blown away by the rain and the wind. The beautiful scenery of Mingchi has drowned out the fact that it was an ancient battlefield, and it has become a place for Jin people to visit and a holy land of flowers and plants.
In the early years, the lake was dotted with flower shops, not only red tents that made a living in the flesh business, but also many good family sons and daughters who spontaneously and proactively came here to make their beds.
In another world, it is a tourist attraction with the theme of "love, beauty, and encounter".
But now,
the flower shop is gone,
and there are not even many people nearby.
Flowers used to be romantic in the past, but only flowers are no longer romantic.
"Where is the inscription?" Sword Master asked.
“I asked people to dig it out and smash it.” The Savage King said.
The Juggernaut nodded.
The Savage King also sighed, with a trace of reminiscence in his eyes.
A long time,
The sword master said: "Spoil things."
"Haha." The Savage King smiled.
Actually, he really wanted to say that eight hundred years ago, the land of Sanjin was full of temples, inscriptions, and murals of the savage saints, but now, can they still be seen?
But he was too lazy to argue, because he knew that the Zhuxia people had always been self-centered. Their own things were things, their own music was the sound of nature, their own ancestral hall was sacred, and Other ethnic groups, whether savages, barbarians or Shanyue, are not worth mentioning. Even looking at them will make your eyes dirty.
At this time,
Zhang Yuanshan walked to Uncle Zheng, knelt down slowly and said:
"Uncle, here are really beautiful mountains, water and scenery."
Uncle Zheng didn't do anything. Voice.
Zhang Yuanshan did not realize that he had become a fly, but continued: "Uncle, tell me, if we want to completely pacify this area of Jin, how many more troops are needed?"
Uncle Zheng Ye opened his eyes, glanced at Zhang Yuanshan, and smiled.
Zhang Yuanshan also smiled.
Then,
Uncle Zheng closed his eyes again.
“………” Zhang Yuanshan.
"Uncle, do you think it's boring to talk to my subordinates about this?"
Uncle Zheng nodded.
Zhang Yuanshang pursed his lips and said: "But I still have a question. I hope Uncle can help me clear up my doubts. This is also something that His Highness is thinking about.
That is, Uncle Zheng thinks, the next step I, Dayan, should I take Chu or Qian first?”
Actually,
Zheng Fan’s attitude toward Zhang Yuanshan became so cold because he finally received Xiao after the team set off. A letter from Liuzi.
Xiao Liuzi's messenger first went to Xue Customs separately from Uncle Zheng. Then Xue Customs sent three knights to catch up with the team and handed the letter to Uncle Zheng.
In the letter, Xiao Liuzi felt proud that he had given birth to a son.
Then he talked about some recent things about him, including his recent trivial mood. Well, he also wrote two poems.
Actually, Uncle Zheng and Xiao Liuzi are more like a pair of pen pals.
The gossip is at the top, but the serious words are below.
At the end of the letter, Xiao Liuzi highlighted three things.
One is the plan to import money and grain from Xue Customs in the first half of the third year of Yongping.
One thing is that his father, Emperor Xuan, expressed some of his opinions on Uncle Zheng's visit to Beijing, and his opinions were very reserved.
And this implicit means a "hint", because this is supposed to be a very beautiful thing, why should you be reserved?
The third thing is that Feng Guan is a young eunuch who has recently become favored in the palace and is very utilitarian. Then the description of Zhang Yuanshan is:
I don’t know if he is mine?
It is very simple for a smart person to speak;
It is also very simple for a smart person to write a letter.
The sentence "I don't know if he is mine" actually contains a lot of content.
Xiao Liuzi couldn't see through him, so Uncle Zheng didn't bother to look at him.
However,
Faced with Zhang Yuanshan’s question,
Zheng Uncle replied directly:
“Take Chu first.”
The two chatted When talking about this topic, he didn't care at all about Princess Dachu sitting next to him.
"Why?" Zhang Yuanshan looked like he was listening.
Uncle Zheng glanced at Zhang Yuanshan,
Of course he said:
“Because I have nothing to do with the Qian Kingdom.”
“… ..." Zhang Yuanshan.
The blind man came over at this moment and said to Zhang Yuanshan:
“Brother Zhang, is there something poetic about this beautiful lake?”
Obviously, it was the blind man. Come over and help Uncle Zheng take over this hot potato.
Zhang Yuanshan wanted to blurt out,
What does the scenery here have to do with you, a blind man?
But I still held back and could only accompany the blind man to recite poems and compose poems.
After the place became quiet again,
the princess whispered:
“I don’t like that person.”
"I don't like it either."
"Yeah." The princess nodded, seeming to be very happy that she and her husband had the same dislike.
Immediately,
The princess asked tentatively:
"My husband, can you give it to him on the way..."
Uncle Zheng looked at the princess and said with a smile: "Why are you so brave? He is an imperial envoy after all."
The princess looked at Uncle Zheng who had several styles of royal robes at home,
Biting his lip.
Seeing this, Uncle Zheng thought it was quite cute. He reached out and touched the princess’ chin,
said:
"There is no need to get rid of everyone you don't like, and you can't get rid of them all. Just treat them as if they don't exist and are just a fly."
......
In The rest in Mingchi was a small break for the team. For the next two days, the team moved quickly without any delays.
Under Zheng Fan's instructions, the team headed slightly north, avoiding Yupan City and passing Wangjiang River upstream.
After all, she is his woman, and it is "forced by life" that she needs to come out to help him support himself, but there is no need to deliberately let her get into trouble.
"Jade City" should be the sad place for most Chu people now.
After crossing Wangjiang River, the team entered Yingdu late at night without taking any rest.
Yingdu is a big city, and it is the largest central city in the entire original country.
Because Marquis Jingnan led his army to Fengxin City, it is not considered a military center, but it does not fall behind any other centers.
But whether it is Feng Guan’s identity as an imperial envoy or Uncle Zheng’s identity, it is not a big problem to open the city gate late at night.
In this way,
the team entered Yingdu City and stayed at the inn in the city.
Because the team was moving very fast, no messenger was sent to notify them of entering the city in advance, and they entered the city late at night. Therefore, even if many dignitaries in Yingdu were alarmed, no one would choose to visit at this time of night.
So,
In the inn,
Seems very quiet.
In the courtyard of the inn,
Gao Yi, who had just arranged internal and external security, saw the blind man walking towards him.
"Mr. Bei, what's the matter?"
The blind man tied his hands and walked in front of him,
Said:
“Pass the uncle’s order!”
Gao Yi and the two lieutenants around him immediately knelt down,
“The last general is here!”
"The end is here!"
The blind man breathed a sigh of relief and said slowly:
"Sharpen the knife."
————
The next chapter is a big one, so Let’s stop here for a moment. Let’s get up and watch it tomorrow.
Well,
Please give me a monthly pass for the next big chapter. (End of this chapter)