The Book of Troubled Times

Li Si'an didn't bother to investigate the tax and bank robbery. He was really loyal to his status as an agent of the Zhenma Division, but he didn't intend to help his colleagues in Bashu. Besides, Zhao Changhe was here.

Judging by the sensitivity of Li Si'an's fellow thieves, maybe this guy is an accomplice of the robbers...

He accompanied Zhao Changhe, who was pretending to be a king, to continue southward, and said in a low voice: "Actually, the tax money of the Southwest Xuanwei Division was lost once at the beginning of spring... Originally, the imperial court let this batch of money go directly down the river to support the suppression of Maitreya in the south of the Yangtze River.

Zhao Changhe narrowed his eyes.

Is it all done by Li Shentong?

Or is it that if I don't grab it anyway, someone else will grab it, why don't I come?

"At that time, the chief was in Taihu Lake and was about to fight against Maitreya. He couldn't spare himself to investigate the case here. The imperial court sent other important officials to investigate the matter here. In the end, it was said that it was robbed by bandits, so it was left alone..." Li Si'an said: "Anyway, the local town magician had a clue pointing to Li Shentong and reported it to the chief.

Zhao Changhe nodded: "I see..."

"Oh, it is said that the investigation did not do anything, but it actually did something. It is an excuse to search for the name of the bandit. Whoever dares to resist is a silver robber. Family ruin and death are light." Li Si'an said: "Situ Xiao once killed several officials because of these things. Now the so-called travel, it sounds good, it is better to say that it is to avoid the limelight."

Zhao Changhe felt extremely disobedient. Is Situ Xiao making up for the disaster he caused?

After thinking for a while, he asked again: "Shentong Li cares about Zhai Muzhi? Or is he simply concerned about the court?"

"How do I know? Will Li Shentong tell me?"

"...Then is there any governor of Yizhou here? I don't seem to have heard of it."

"The governor of the imperial court only has the power of supervision, and the chief official of Fengjiang is actually the prefect. But it depends on the situation... Well, do you think the power of the prefect of Kuaiji is as powerful as Tang? Not to mention Qinghe Langya."

"...Then who is behind Zhai Mu? I never heard that Bashu has a family of King Cui's level."

"Not at all. If there is, it might be Bashan Sword Cottage... Didn't I tell you before that many people in Bashu have gone to Jian Cottage to worship swords, and many people from Zhai's family have been there."

Zhao Changhe nodded, then shook his head again.

A master may not be able to support a great power, but a great power cannot be without masters. In many cases, masters can really determine the outcome of the overall situation. Without the support of top masters, a big force is easily weakened.

The Lord of the Sword Cottage is uncertain, and Maitreya has been promoted to sixth place after his death. There are only a dozen people stronger than him in the world, and he is fully qualified to be the backing of one party.

But Zhao Changhe still thinks that Li Shentong is either far away from Xia Longyuan, and if he has scruples about the immediate affairs, he will not be so scruples about the rank of the list, unless there are hidden characters in Bashu or the soon-to-arriving Miaojiang who can restrain Li Shentong's violent temper.

For example, No. 6 on the Tianbang, no one knows who it is, listen to Xuexiao, the landlord.

That's the real six.

…………

Miao Jiang is just a general term. In fact, what Li Si'an and the others called "Bailiao" is more correct. There are all ethnic groups. Many ethnic groups are not the same as what Zhao Changhe knows in this world, and many of them have never heard of it.

The folk customs are not necessarily full of singing, dancing and hospitality. The barbaric beliefs of various primitive tribes and the fighting of various ethnic groups are not uncommon. It is not too much to say that they are not fully civilized.

The region is also not fully developed, and it is not the same as the tourist province in Zhao Changhe's memory. There are poisonous miasma, mosquitoes, beasts, primitive jungles everywhere, and rugged and narrow roads. The various ethnic groups are not very friendly to the Xia people, and robbery is a very common thing.

The Xia people can only be called "Xuanwei" here, and there is no real governance. The self-government of each ethnic group is the main thing, and there is no Tianbang fierce person in each ethnic group to rule the Quartet, but there are some local people, people, and Qianlongbang.

Ordinary caravans would not dare to trade here easily, only businessmen based on brilliant warriors like Li Si'an would dare to come here. It is very suitable for Yue Hongling to take refuge here. Even Xia Longyuan has such a headache in such a place. After conquering it, he will not be able to cure it. How can a mere Jianlu control this place? Isn't it possible that he can only rely on familiar forces to find it slowly...

After half a month of hard work, Zhao Changhe and his party finally passed through various deep mountains and old forests and arrived at the flat land. I was lucky along the way, I didn't encounter robbery, but I encountered a lot of poisonous insects and beasts, and many people in the convoy were bitten by mosquitoes and became Buddhas.

It gave Zhao Changhe a lot of experience in using the Rejuvenation Jue. Given his current level of control over the Rejuvenation Jue, it is particularly effective for this thing. Accumulating experience in the treatment of various poisonous insects is also beneficial to the progress of the Rejuvenation Jue.

Arriving at the place without any surprises or dangers, I felt that the whole team had lost weight, and was even more dirty and smelly. Wu Zhi could hardly ride, which reminded Zhao Changhe of the state of a certain heroine uncontrollably.

All the romances in the rivers and lakes are deceiving...

Zhao Changhe was sniffling, and a large lake appeared in the distant sky.

Under the sun, sparkling, clear as a brocade, beautiful as a fairyland.

The lake is long, narrow from east to west, boundless from north to south, with thousands of hectares of blue waves, just like the sea.

To the people of this place, this is the sea.

Erhai Lake.

Looking from a distance, there are herdsmen grazing horses on the plains on both sides of the strait, and suddenly it is as if two worlds separated from the previous ruggedness. It feels like this is a secret realm, and there seems to be nothing wrong with it.

Just surrounding the sea alone, I don't know how many ethnic groups can be supported. And this is just a small area of ​​Bailiao in the southwest. There are other vast areas, countless mountains, rivers and lakes. It can really take a few years to find someone here.

Li Si'an let out a sigh of relief: "Here we are. There is a town in front of us, where all ethnic groups live and trade together. Do you think of Huangshaji? Oh, the grassland before Huangshaji."

Zhao Changhe was indulging in the beautiful scenery, and was amazed: "I thought that when I came here, I was going to visit various cottages. Unexpectedly, the world is so similar, as if the creator broke the same thing in half and separated it into north and south."

Li Si'an waved his whip and laughed loudly: "The sea is vast, the sky and the earth are boundless, maybe China is only a drop in the world, so what is north and south?"

Huh?

Zhao Changhe twitched the corners of his mouth, and Lao Tzu was playing with the ancients, but the ancients showed off a modern pattern. Of course, this is not modern cognition, but the imagination of the thinking people in this world to the world, which is not easy.

If you want to pretend, who doesn't know: "It's up to me to define whether it's south or north. Whoever has the right to define is the master of the world."

"Huh..." Li Si'an also glanced at him, but finally said nothing.

Zhao Changhe ignored him and thought about taking a bath.

Seeing that Zhao Changhe was eager to jump into the sea, Li Si'an grabbed him and said, "It's inconvenient in the open air in the wilderness. Do you encounter horse bandits who swing your hammer and beat people? First enter the town, and you will wash it."

Zhao Changhe: "..."

The town is called Xizhou, but it was actually cheated by Li Si'an, and it's not close. It's all along the coast and didn't arrive until dusk.

Of course, since it is a town, it is naturally bigger and more beautiful than Huangshaji.

Why is the land surrounded by mountains and rivers surrounded by mountains and rivers, where birds are singing and flowers are fragrant? Rather than saying that it looks like Huangshaji, it is better to say that it has the shadow of Suzhou and Hangzhou.

The town is extremely lively, and the various costumes of different races are dazzling. Unfortunately, Zhao Changhe can't tell which costume belongs to which race. They all look the same at a glance... Some of the girls are wearing short clothes and showing their small waists. They walk on the street indifferently.

But when people saw Zhao Changhe and others leading their horses inside, the peaceful atmosphere became a bit strange. Many people exchanged winks, not knowing whether it was to convey vigilance or malice towards the Xia people, which made Zhao Changhe frown slightly.

"Hey, Lao Xia didn't do any massacres here, did he?"

"No. But I once killed a celestial list that is the king here, causing the newly integrated ethnic groups to be divided into seventeen or eighteen." Li Si'an looked at him even more strangely: "Hey, didn't you learn a lot of historical anecdotes? It is said that the first person taught you personally, why did you go to class?"

Kiss the teacher on the mouth.

Zhao Changhe burst into tears, and felt sleepy every time he took culture class and history class. Is it my fault... well, the teacher didn't teach well. This kind of thing should be told vividly as a story about an acquaintance. What kind of history is told, people just want to shut their mouths, that's it.

"Just because they killed the king they admired, so the people here are not friendly to us?"

"Killing the Hei Miao King, at most, the Hei Miao people are unfriendly, and the other ethnic groups are able to govern themselves, and they are overjoyed." Li Si'an lowered his voice: "Besides, it is an old grievance. It should not be... The only thing that can cause the current unfriendliness is of course the only issue of comfort now."

Zhao Changhe nodded slightly, and asked, "What's the background of that Lei Ao?"

"He's a hero... He was originally just an ordinary tribal leader in their clan, and his practice has not been on the list of heaven, earth and people. It's not bad. He probably has eight or nine layers of entrances. In the early years, he did some things of the three religions and nine schools in this kind of market town. Because of his boldness and loyalty, he was able to make friends with the leaders of various tribes. Gradually, he became big in the city, like a local tyrant, known as Thunder Tiger."

Zhao Changhe was complaining about why the local tyrant named Lei is called Leihu. The convoy just happened to be outside a big tent, and someone came out with a loud voice: "Ha... I was thinking that the fourth brother should arrive soon, and sure enough. Uh... this is..."

Zhao Changhe looked at the person, his face was full of gills, mighty and majestic, like a galloping horse, he really looked like a "thunder tiger".

But with Batu in the lead, Zhao Changhe dared not underestimate these seemingly reckless men, who might be more doggy than anyone else.

With a reserved smile, he slightly arched his hands, and responded calmly: "I am the king of Langya."