Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2782 Two-Year Southern Tour, Yangzhou and Jingzhou

During his time overseeing the southern court, Li Xiang also visited Bai Qi, who was bedridden.

In fact, the two of them were not only ruler and subject, but also in-laws.

His son, Li An, married Bai Qi's daughter, Bai Qian.

Unfortunately, perhaps because Bai Qi had been so ruthless during his southern campaign in South Asia, his health had been poor ever since he returned from that battle.

Now that Bai Qi has stepped down from his position as Minister of War in the Southern Court, although he still holds the nominal title of Grand Commandant, he is actually in a semi-retired state.

For the past year, Bai Qi has not gone to the imperial court to pay his respects.

In recent years, Li Xiang has arranged for several of Sun Simiao's disciples to live in the south to take care of his health.

However, there has been little improvement.

Speaking of which, Sun Simiao, the former chief physician of the Great Jin Dynasty, has also passed away at the age of eighty-seven.

Imperial physicians like Sun Simiao and An Daoquan were already quite old when they were born. How can one achieve mastery of medicine without sufficient time and experience?

These renowned doctors were already among the oldest of the medical professions when they were born.

Therefore, these imperial physicians who saved countless lives were among the first to die among the officials of the Great Jin Dynasty.

As for Sun Simiao, the chief imperial physician, Li Xiang not only allowed him to enter the second floor of the Lingyan Pavilion, but also ordered someone to write a biography of him.

He commissioned the compilation of his medical books into ten thousand volumes, which were then distributed throughout the world.

At the same time, the essence of his medical books was also included when he commissioned the compilation of the Qian Yuan Da Dian (Great Compendium of the Qian Yuan Era).

Among the military forces of the Great Jin Dynasty, few could match Bai Qi's outstanding achievements.

He first distinguished himself in the Battle of Yongzhou, and then participated in many other major battles.

He also presided over two major campaigns: the campaign against the Japanese pirates and the southern campaign.

He was one of the most important figures on the southern front during the Qianyuan era.

Now that Southeast Asia has become part of Qiongzhou, he is one of the commanders of the two armies, under the control of the Crown Prince.

However, because he was fighting against the Kushans in the later stages, his achievements were completely surpassed by Yang Su and Chang Yuchun in the later period.

However, the South Asia region under the jurisdiction of the Annam Protectorate was almost entirely conquered by Bai Qi and Qi Jiguang.

Today, the Great Jin Dynasty is vast, encompassing nineteen prefectures including He, Liang, Xi, Si, Yong, Yin, Nan, You, Ji, Tang, Qing, Yan, Yu, Xu, Jing, Yang, Jiao, and Qiong. It also has the extensive regions governed by the two major protectorates of Beiting and Annam, in addition to the Wa Kingdom which is enfeoffed elsewhere.

Of the nineteen prefectures, two counties, and one kingdom, nearly one-fifth of the territory was conquered by Bai Qi; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he conquered half the country.

In September of the second year of Jian'an, Xu You, the governor of Zhongshan Commandery, was reported for offending the emperor with his drunken words.

Xu Ziyuan considered himself to be a man of great talent, but after so many years in Jin, he had only served as a minor prefect. Naturally, he was resentful and often grumbled in his heart.

However, he wouldn't dare to do anything outrageous. He was just drunk and made a careless remark.

It's perfectly normal to have a few drinks when you're feeling down and can't control yourself.

But who would have thought that such a casual remark would be overheard and reported to the authorities!

In a panic, Xu Ziyuan even considered fleeing to the grasslands, but he was intercepted by Yuwen Yue's spy network halfway there.

As for Xu Ziyuan, even if he made a careless remark while drunk and it was reported, the local governor would most likely not handle it directly, but would report it to the central government. Since Li Xiang was involved, the court would probably still leave the matter to him.

It's uncertain whether Li Xiang will take this seriously. To be frank, given Xu Ziyuan's personality, especially his behavior after drinking, he might teach him a lesson, but the probability of him actually taking his life is really low.

However, the fact that they actually fled to the grasslands changed the nature of the matter all of a sudden.

Therefore, when the Crown Prince ordered these matters to be sent to Jiangnan, Li Xiang directly sentenced Xu You to death, but considering his merits, he spared his entire family, exterminating three of his relatives.

In the southern court, Li Xiang remained in charge for half a year until February of the third year of Jian'an, when he continued his southward journey to Jiaozhou.

After years of development from the Qianyuan era to the Jian'an era, coupled with the limited development of Jiaozhou from the time of Xiang Yu to the time of Zhu Yuanzhang, Jiaozhou is now quite different.

The port of Jiaozhou was bustling with merchant ships coming and going from north to south.

In particular, one can still vaguely see some blonde, blue-eyed Western women and tall, dark-skinned Kunlun slaves.

These were slaves transported by merchants from the west.

Western merchants have gradually discovered that Kunlun slaves are favored by Eastern nobles due to their loyalty and physical strength, driving their prices up considerably.

Therefore, the Kunlun slave trade has become quite popular in the south in recent years.

Li Xiang once saw a Kunlun slave servant in Bai Qi's mansion.

In the foreign wars of the Western Roman Empire, the defeated side became their main source of slaves.

However, the merchants discovered that white male slaves were not as popular with the Han nobles as Kunlun slaves; on the contrary, white female slaves were quite sought after.

Many aristocratic families, and even wealthy merchants, were willing to pay high prices to buy back a few out of curiosity and a desire for novelty.

Therefore, compared to white men, Kunlun slaves and white women had a considerable market here.

Even Li Xiang has a sense of curiosity.

However, it was impossible for him to actually go and buy a few slaves.

If he wanted, neither the Sassanid Persians nor the Roman Empire further west would mind sending a few princesses or daughters of high-ranking nobles to befriend him, the Emperor of the Great Jin.

Li Xiang spent three months giving a cursory look around Jiaozhou.

By May, they had entered the territory of Nanzhou.

As a region inhabited primarily by the Nanman people, Nanzhou has maintained their original way of life, with villages and chieftains living there.

Here, Li Xiang not only got close to a group of barbarian officials, but also enjoyed himself with the local residents, making rockets together during the Rocket Festival and drinking rice wine given to him by the local residents during the Folk Festival.

And at song festivals organized in some areas, I enjoyed the singing and dancing of these ethnic minority girls.

After half a year, in November, they entered the Yizhou region.

However, he did not linger in the Yizhou region. After a brief meeting with local officials, he quickly returned to the Guanzhong and Sizhou regions.

This southern tour has lasted for two years.

In fact, if we include the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai, it has been a full two and a half years since we set off from Luoyang.

Having been away from the imperial court for so long, it's time for him to return.