A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

Unlike his high-profile visit to Wei Jingyuan, the military governor of Shannan East Circuit in Xiangzhou, Li Bi chose to visit Wei Chengqian, the military governor of Jiannan East Circuit, in private this time.

Even Li Bi didn't expect that he would encounter someone who would surprise him so much here.

Li Bi outwardly appeared to be heading east, but in reality he secretly traveled west and arrived at Jiannan Road.

Li Bi arrived near the residence of Wei Chengqian, the military governor of Jiannan Dongchuan. He randomly picked up a boy on the road, gave him a letter, and ordered him to deliver it to the guards in front of Wei Chengqian's residence.

Seeing the guard's eyes gleaming with golden light, his body muscular, and his extremely cautious examination of the child, Li Bi was visibly surprised.

According to the intelligence they were involved with, Wei Chengqian, the military governor of Jiannan Dongchuan, was a subordinate of Xiao Chongyue, the military governor of Xichuan, and most of his income came from the assistance of Xichuan.

However, the guards in Wei Chengqian's residence were so elite, which seemed to contradict the rumors.

He found a tavern and sat down, waiting for Wei Chengqian to arrive.

To his surprise, he waited until sunset but still didn't see Wei Chengqian.

Could it be that Wei Chengqian has made up his mind to follow Xiao Chongyue and betray the court?

But does Wei Chengqian really have that much courage?

This matter has once again taken him by surprise.

If Wei Chengqian has truly made up his mind to give up, and Xiao Chongyue has already begun to take action, then he is probably in some danger now.

Although Wei Chengqian did not want to break with the court and take action against him, it was hard to guarantee that Xiao Chongyue had not placed people in Wei's residence.

Li Bi's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly blended into the crowd and disappeared.

About an hour later, Wei Chengqian hurriedly arrived at the tavern, only to find that Li Bi had already left. Wei Chengqian was so frightened that his face turned ashen.

He specifically instructed me not to disturb him in any way today because a distinguished guest had come to his residence.

Moreover, Li Bi was acting mysteriously; the gatekeepers dared not open the letter he sent, unaware that he was an envoy of the imperial court, and naturally did not inform Wei Chengqian.

This is why Wei Chengqian only saw the contents of the letter a moment ago. He quickly changed into casual clothes and left his home through a secret passage to arrive at the tavern where Li Bi had arranged to meet him.

However, due to the passage of time, the place has long been deserted.

Wei Chengqian is now somewhat worried. Could it be that this angel has directly labeled him as a rebel?

He's been wronged!

No, we need to go back right away.

Wei Chengqian quickly turned around and went back to his residence, as only his distinguished guest could save him now.

"Sir, are you resting?"

Wei Chengqian ordered his men to bring a large amount of money, gold, silver, jewelry, and beautiful jade to an extremely luxurious courtyard.

He stood respectfully at the door and called out, but no one answered.

A maid with flawless skin and alluring eyes opened the door and came out. "Lord Qibing, the master has already rested. Should we wake him?"

Even though Wei Chengqian was extremely anxious and desperately wanted to wake Li Bai up, he restrained himself.

"No need to wake the gentleman, I'll wait here."

Wei Chengqian waited, and a whole night passed.

It wasn't until the sky began to lighten that the distinguished guest of his mansion, with the help of maids, began to dress and learned that Wei Chengqian had been waiting at the door all night.

"I am a guest, how can I keep the host waiting all night? Next time this happens, just wake me up."

A figure, ethereal and otherworldly, instructed the maid beside her, "Quickly, invite Lord Wei in."

After receiving permission, Wei Chengqian entered the residence with numerous gifts. "Wei Chengqian greets you, sir."

"Lord Wei, there's no need for such formality. I am but an old man with no official position; how could I possibly accept such a courtesy from you?"

The figure waved to stop Wei Chengqian, but to his surprise, Wei Chengqian came to his side and knelt down directly before him.

"Lord Wei, what do you mean by this? Please rise, please rise."

He quickly helped Wei Chengqian up, and Wei Chengqian was also shocked by the strength of the person in front of him.

He had fought his way to his current position on the battlefield, yet he couldn't stop the person in front of him from helping him up. Keep in mind that this person was once a civil official.

Wei Chengqian ignored those around him and told them what had happened yesterday with a wry smile.

The mysterious figure chuckled, never expecting that he would cause such a misunderstanding.

"Lord Wei should know that I have long since left the court and no longer concern myself with worldly affairs."

"Well, this matter ultimately started because of me."

Li Bai sighed softly halfway through his speech, feeling reluctant to let war break out again in his hometown of Jiannan Road because of him.

"Lord Wei, you should also know why the angel has come here."

"May I ask what Lord Wei's thoughts are?"

Who else could this ethereal figure be but Li Bai, who has returned to the Shu Road once again?

Yesterday, Wei Chengqian was busy receiving Li Bai, which is why he missed Li Bi's letter and his meeting with Li Bi.

"This humble official is naturally loyal to the court, but in recent years I have been constrained by the poverty of Jiannan Road and by Xiao Chongyue of Xichuan."

"I also need to consider the entire Jiannan Circuit. I implore Your Majesty to make the right decision."

Li Bai nodded. He was well aware of the situation in Jiannan Road.

However, the geographical factors of this place left him with no choice; without good transportation, the local economy could not develop.

"It has been many years since I last visited Jiannan Circuit. Lord Wei, as the local official, is there anything Li Bai can do to help?"

Li Bai asked Wei Chengqian.

"Sir, to be honest, our Jiannan region also has specialties such as silk brocade, high-quality tea, angelica, notopterygium root, and musk. If these can be transported to the Central Plains and other places, they will surely sell very well."

"The only problem is that the roads are impassable and the sea routes are blocked. If there were a railway that could pass directly through, all the problems would be solved."

Wei Chengqian looked at Li Bai with longing in his eyes.

"Impossible, don't even think about it."

Li Bai shook his head vigorously, "Do you know how many resources it takes to build a railway in Jiannan Road? It's dozens of times more than in other places."

"There is absolutely no way the imperial court would invest so many resources here. Forget about it."

Wei Chengqian smacked his lips. He knew it was impossible, but what if it was?

"If that doesn't work, the only option is canal transport. However, Jiannan Road has a unique terrain, and canal transport is somewhat taboo by the imperial court. In addition, the terrain is steep, making canal transport extremely costly and not very economical."

"I wonder if the imperial court could include the Three Gorges east of the Kuimen Gate in Jiannan Circuit?"

Three Gorges?

Li Bai considered the geographical location of the Three Gorges. It is indeed an excellent location, bordering Dongchuan to the west and Jingxiang to the east.

However, for military reasons, this place belongs neither to Dongchuan nor Xiangzhou, but directly to the imperial court.

If the Three Gorges were given to Dongchuan, and in the event of unforeseen circumstances, the two Dongchuan regions could unite and move eastward, directly attacking Jingzhou and Xiangyang, and controlling the entire upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River, posing a tremendous threat.

"I'll write you a letter first and try to deliver it to the imperial envoy to solve your immediate problem."

"Regarding the matter of Jiannan Road, allow me some time to consider it. The Three Gorges cannot be ceded to Dongchuan; that is the bottom line."

"You can brainstorm other methods together. If you can accept them, I will submit a petition to the imperial court on your behalf."