end song

Chapter 268

"The villain Bai Nongchuan came to see Captain Li at the order of Marquis Yue."

"You have worked hard all the way, drink some water and eat something."

"Thank you County Lieutenant Li." Bai Nongchuan didn't sit down in a hurry, he quickly took off the burden on his back, and handed Li Xia a letter and a small purse.

"This was brought to County Lieutenant Li by Marquis Yue and the princess."

Li Xia reached out to take it, without looking at it in a hurry, and asked, "What is your relationship with Mr. Bai Cangshan?"

"He is the villain's cousin."

"Well, it looks somewhat similar. What's your purpose here?"

Bai Nongchuan said: "The villain went north to inquire about Wuliang Hetai's death, and when he learned that it was Li Xianwei who beheaded him, he admired him."

"I'll discuss this matter with you later." Li Xia first asked, "Where did you come from?"

Bai Nongchuan said: "Depart from Tongya City on the 27th of the twelfth lunar month, take a boat from the Yupao River to the Jinsha River, go down the river to Xuzhou, and then rush to Qingfu County. It will arrive on the [-]th day of the first lunar month. I heard that the county captain is not here. Wait. for two days."

"The Jinsha River is in a hurry, so you might not be able to sail?"

"Yes, there are too many dangerous shoals, and I almost hit the rocks several times."

In a few words, Li Xia also had a rough judgment on Bai Nongchuan in front of him. He could see that he was good at swimming, good at martial arts, and his speech was clear.

"Brother Gao said he went back to Jianchuan, why did he go to Tongya City?"

Bai Nongchuan then described in detail Gao Changshou's experience after returning to Jianchuan, and Li Xia asked a few questions from time to time, and also clarified the current situation in Dali a little bit.

At that time, the Gao clan was the actual ruler of Dali. There were also internal struggles among the Gao clan, and they were divided into two factions, the western Yunnan faction and the eastern Yunnan faction.

At that time, the battle between Gao Taihe and the Mongolian army in Lijiang was very tragic, and only a few remnants remained in Shibaoshan in the south of Jianchuan.

Most of these remnants are sick and disabled, women and children, and it is difficult to cause trouble. Therefore, Gao Changshou went north at that time. After returning to Jianchuan this time, he was recognized by others and was soon surrounded and suppressed. He had to flee to Tongya City with his people. .

When Gao Changshou broke through the siege in Jianchuan, six to seven out of ten of the few remaining troops were killed or injured, and there were only less than a hundred people left.

When Bai Nongchuan said this, he couldn't hold back his curse in front of Li Xia.

"At that time, Duan Xingzhi didn't do well being an emperor, but he was very happy being a dog for Meng Da. As soon as he got the news of Yue Hou's return, he would bite him..."

~~
This night is the Lantern Festival, and there is a full moon hanging in the sky.

After Li Xia had a long talk with Bai Nongchuan, he sat alone in the small courtyard of the county government office, seemingly lost in thought.

He held a purse in his hand, and in the purse was a peace amulet.

Gao Mingyue didn't bring him a single word, but Gao Changshou mentioned at the end of the letter that she had eaten Zhaili Buddha every day for several months in order to pray for the success of the amulet.

People say that people in Dali worship Buddhism, but Li Xia never felt that Gao Mingyue believed in Buddhism in the past, but now the peace talisman in his hand is telling him that she has something to worry about.

……

After a long time, Han Chengxu and Han Qiaoer came from the corridor. Han Qiaoer was holding a bowl of glutinous rice balls and placed them on the stone table in front of Li Xia.

"Brother Li, let's eat glutinous rice balls."

"Okay, why didn't you go to see the lantern with the county magistrate's family?"

"I want to be with you and grandfather more. I don't want to guess flower riddles. It's too much brain work." Han Qiaoer looked at the peace amulet in Li Xia's hand, thought for a while, and said in a low voice, "I miss sister Mingyue too."

Li Xia ate the glutinous rice balls and handed Gao Changshou's letter to Han Chengxu.

"Let's take a look, Mr. Han."

Han Chengxu read it, and saw that except for the last few gossips in the letter, what was mentioned above was Gao Changshou's plan. He wanted to take advantage of Wu Liang Hetai's death and ask his cousin Gao Qiong to summon all the ministries to raise another incident.

"It seems that the Dali uprising against Mongolia has never stopped in recent years."

Li Xia said: "I don't think so. It's true that the people of Dali can't bear oppression, but they can't beat them because their strength is far from that. At the beginning, Gao Taixiang brothers were determined to fight. The Mongolian army persuaded them to surrender many times. Gao Taixiang beheaded his envoy. I couldn't fight back then, and I can't even fight now."

"How does Ah Lang think about it?"

"After I asked Bai Nongchuan to go back, I told Mu Ru, don't act too hastily, prepare more horses to trade with me, first secretly accumulate strength, prepare weapons and armor... I will prepare for another month, prepare some tea and salt, and go there Dali."

Han Chengxu was stunned for a moment, and said, "But... Ah Lang going in person?"

"Well, I'll go there myself." Li Xia's tone was firm.

This time he didn't discuss with Han Chengxu, but asked: "Within this month, we will make arrangements for the celebration of the talisman."

Han Chengxu thought for a while, and asked, "Did Ah Lang think it over carefully instead of acting out of emotion?"

"Thinking about it is indeed careful consideration." Li Xia said, "But it can't be said that there is no element of impulsiveness."

~~
In the early morning of the next day, Bai Nongchuan followed Li Xia across the Fu River and entered the Qingfu Army camp all the way.

Now the Qingfu army has just recruited full staff, but there are four hundred generals who have just returned from Junlian. insufficient.

But the soldiers had all put on their red uniforms and looked orderly.

Bai Nongchuan saw the neat array, and saw such a vigorous old soldier.I feel that in front of such a military appearance, the rebel army in Dali is very sloppy.

He also saw nearly [-] Dali prisoners building camps, which were captured after Li Xia defeated Nige.

With this knowledge, Bai Nongchuan really believed that it was this kind of army that killed Wuliang Hetai.

Li Xia recruited Xiong Shan and asked Xiong Shan to choose a few people to go back to Tongshi Mansion with Bai Nongchuan, and told them to stay with Gao Changshou when they arrived, and wait for him to follow up.

After such an arrangement, at noon, more than ten people including Bai Nongchuan embarked on the road going south.

"Li Xianwei, the villain has written down all the words you brought to Yuehou."

"Ah."

"Do you have something to tell the princess?"

"No need." Li Xia said, "I'll go there."

Bai Nongchuan cupped his hands, only felt that Li Xianwei was quick and courageous in doing things, which made people feel at ease.

Li Xia watched it off for a while.

Xiong Shan was still standing beside him. Thinking of the meeting in Xuzhou, he couldn't help but ask: "County captain, the woman you bought silver jewelry for marriage...is the Princess Dali?"

Li Xia didn't answer, and said, "Continue training. By the way, make some arrangements when I'm free. I'll meet your father at Baiyanzhai tomorrow."

"Yes……"

~~
If Li Xia wants to go to Dali within one month, in addition to training soldiers, he also needs to prepare the goods to be smuggled.In addition, he needs Fang Yankai's support.

When he was away, Han Chengxu and his son, Jiang Fan, and Yan Yunyun might be able to guarantee his interests, but Fang Yankai was the only one who could take care of the entire county.

That evening he found Fang Yankai.

……

"What did Feiyu say?"

"I want to re-open the tea-horse trade route by smuggling."

Fang Yankai's eyes were blank for a while, as if he didn't realize it, he said, "You want to take someone to Dali?"

"Yes."

"Can you stop for a day, even just for a day. You just came back yesterday, and you're telling me such absurd proposal today?"

"It's not a suggestion." Li Xia said, "I want to ask the landlord to take on more county affairs after I leave."

"You are a county captain, not a merchant."

"That's right, I'm a county lieutenant, and I have the job of escorting tribute envoys. The so-called 'foreigners pay tribute to the prefectures and counties they pass through, the order will be inspected, and the county lieutenant will escort them'. Today, Dali survivors want to pay tribute, so I need to escort them. "

Fang Yankai pursed his lips and said, "You just said you were going to smuggle."

Li Xia said: "The important thing is that I can always find a reason. You can't object to me as the owner of the house."

"Enough, let me tell you, I have tolerated you too much. Even if you sell salt in the county, I will cover it up for you. Don't make any progress. I am not your subordinate!"

Li Xia said: "I haven't smuggled salt yet."

"Don't fool me, Yan Yunyun is smuggling salt, isn't she one of yours?"

"Is there any evidence that she belongs to me? In addition, what is the standard for the owner to register this 'private salt'? Isn't it based on salt? I remember she has salt."

"If you don't mix sand and sell it at a low price, you can be an official..."

"Ok?"

Fang Yankai opened his mouth, abruptly swallowed the words behind him, looked around in a daze, but was unable to speak.

Li Xia got up, cupped his hands, and said: "Then it's settled like this, thank you landlord."

(End of this chapter)