There are three convenient ways to lead from Jiangnan Road to Jiangbei Road, but no matter which way you go, you always have to cross the mighty river. In today's world, there are no concrete bridges that Fan Xian is familiar with. Constant ferries to support the heavy traffic along the water.
The three major workshops of the Neiku are in northern Fujian, the transfer office is in Suzhou, and Mr. Fan is in Hangzhou. It seems that the control of the Neiku is loose, but only officials and businessmen who have access to this part know it. After the Overwatch Council joined forces with the Neiku Yamen, the control over the warehouses and special passages all over the south of the Yangtze River was so strict.
In particular, the route to the north deliberately made a detour to the west, crossing the river from Shazhou to the north, crossing the barren hills on Jiangbei Road, meadows on Cangzhou Road, and then passing through Beihai, continuously sending it into the Within the borders of Northern Qi, they brought back abundant silver for Qing to purchase other necessities.
Most of the goods on Xingbei Road are under Xia Mingji's control. With Fan Xian's help, Xia Qifei bid several big bids, and secretly integrated the small businesses and gangs in the south of the Yangtze River, which has gradually become a trend.
And the reason why he chose to cross the river in Shazhou, from the eyes of the officials, is naturally because the Jiangnan Navy is stationed in Shazhou. But only Fan Xian and he knew that Shazhou was chosen because the strength of the Jiangnan water village is here. Although the goods in the inner warehouse can be sent by the imperial court to supervise delivery, but... those things inside are not at ease. watch.
Xia Qifei was sitting in the tea shop outside the city gate of Shazhou, drinking tea while watching the boats transporting goods on the gentle river, squinting his eyes slightly. The second young master in the north suddenly increased his appetite for goods, but it was not enough to make him unable to take it. After all, the door of the inner warehouse is completely open to Fan Xian's cronies like them. To send all the goods there within the specified time without making the imperial court suspicious requires careful arrangements.
Fortunately, according to the court practice, the Overwatch Council is solely responsible for monitoring the operation of the internal treasury. Today, the worries of the ministers above the court have finally become a reality, and Fan Xian monitors himself, how can this not be a problem
Xia Qifei put down the teacup and slowly savored the bitterness in his mouth, but there was no bitterness in his heart. Looking back on the past year and a half, he sometimes felt as if he was dreaming. Ever since he climbed onto the thigh of the imperial envoy, the family feud that had been biting his heart like a poisonous snake for more than ten years, once he got the snow, the Ming family returned to his own hands, and his identity has changed from the shady leader of the Jiangnan Water Village, to He became an official of the Overwatch Council, a well-known wealthy businessman in the south of the Yangtze River.
Things in this world are indeed strange.
It's just that he also knows that the Ming family today is no longer the Ming family of the past. Although the court did not directly intervene in it, if Master Xiao Fan really spoke, he could only follow suit.
Thinking of this, he turned his eyes away from the cargo boxes in Jiangshangzhou, frowned slightly, and couldn't understand something—smuggling goods from the inner warehouse to Dongyi in the Northern Qi Dynasty was undoubtedly the most profitable business in the world. But as Master Xiao Fan, why would he be so greedy? Master Xiao Fan explained back then that the reason why the eldest princess was greedy for money was because she wanted to seek power in the court, lay the foundation for the princes, and buy people's hearts in the army.
But Master Xiao Fan is the prince himself, and it is impossible for him to take over the throne after returning to the Fan family. What does he need so much money for? What's more, His Majesty didn't like the Eldest Princess secretly moving her inner treasury to almost empty. Could His Majesty allow Lord Fan to do so now
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Since the Eldest Princess Li Yunrui lost power, this moderate shock wave has lightly swept over the hearts of the nobles in the world, and has not stirred up any waves. Of course, this is only calm on the surface, and no one knows what people are thinking in the dark.
It's just that people now know how Fan Xian, the power minister of the Southern Dynasty, won the favor of Emperor Qing, and how much power he has in his hands. It's inevitable that everyone will be vigilant and look forward to it—no matter how you say it, Fan Xian is still in the hearts of the people in the world. He is still a scholar, especially his performance on the stage over the years, let people know that he is a little different from the ordinary children of the powerful and powerful in the Qing Dynasty, at least he is not so passionate and belligerent.
Northern Qi and Dongyi naturally hoped that Fan Xian would last forever. Even if the little emperor of Northern Qi wanted to draw Fan Xian to his side to be his prince, he also knew that it would be in his best interest for Fan Xian to stay in Nanqing. Good enough to be strong enough to influence the decision of Emperor Qing.
However, this is just extravagant hope and idealism. No emperor would be so stupid as to pin his hopes for peace on a courtier in a foreign country. Peace between countries is ultimately reflected in strength. The strength of a country is naturally military power!
Since the beginning of spring, in the open wilderness to the north of Yanjing and east of Cangzhou, a heroic general of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Uesugi Tiger, was released from house arrest and parachuted to the south, establishing his absolute authority in the army in a very short period of time. Authoritative, began day and night military drills, maintained a strong deterrent to the Southern Dynasties army, and suppressed the ambitions of the Nanqing people.
Confronting Uesugi Tiger head-on is Yan Xiaoyi, a general of the Qing Dynasty and the governor of the Peking University. Such two great men collided together, how could there be no sparks and bloody smell gradually rising. Although there was no war on the border, some small frictions and a deliberately created tense atmosphere gradually permeated.
Xia Mingji, hosted by Xia Qifei, transported the goods from the inner warehouse to the north. The reason why they had to go to the North Sea in the south of Cangzhou was actually because the situation in Cangzhou had always been tense.
However, all this changed completely during this month. For some reason, Uesugi Tiger suddenly withdrew his troops and returned to the north for more than 50 miles, dispatched troops, and assumed a lazy posture of neither defending nor advancing. Leading 100,000 elite soldiers in the area between Yanjing and Cangzhou, staring like a cow, always wanting to come up and take a bite.
Nervousness suddenly turned into leisure, and the parade of soldiers from the two countries suddenly turned into an outing. The sudden change made Nanqing's military feel annoyed and stunned for no reason.
What are the people of Northern Qi thinking
Yan Xiaoyi knew what the Northern Qi people were thinking. He picked up the cup and took a sip of the strong wine produced on the grasslands north of the North Sea. The wine slightly wetted his beard, and the cold light in his eyes gradually filled.
Ever since the news from Kyoto reached Cangzhou, Yan Xiaoyi knew that he was facing a crisis. When his cronies lowered their voices to give advice at night, he remained calm and did not say a word.
When Uesugi Tiger led the Northern Qi army to retreat slowly and put on a posture of a naked woman leaning on the couch, Yan Xiaoyi was neither surprised nor puzzled, just sneered.
The people of Northern Qi naturally also knew the news of the eldest princess's loss of power, and knew that the emperor would definitely take him down, so at this moment, Uesugi Tiger deliberately showed weakness and took off all the pressure on Yan Xiaoyi in order to allow him to preserve all strength and spirit.
What are these saved for? Naturally, he had to deal with his own emperor.
Yan Xiaoyi slowly put down his wine glass, a sneer appeared on the corner of his lips. If the Northern Qi Emperor suddenly wanted to attack Uesugi Tiger, he would do the same. There are internal problems in the enemy country. As our own side, of course we should stand by and watch, and give the enemy as much space and strength as possible, so that the other party can make troubles on their own.
But Yan Xiaoyi didn't seem to have made any preparations, he seemed to be just waiting for that day, waiting for a few wrinkled old eunuchs to come on horseback, exhausted, hoarse, terrified, but forced to calmly face him. Announce His Majesty's will.
"Yan Xiaoyi...reads..."
The eldest princess has fallen, and as the eldest princess' confidant, he is the greatest help in the army... His Majesty will naturally not allow him to still be in charge of the very elite soldiers of the Northern Army, Yan Xiaoyi knows this very well.
He was already prepared, so he didn't see the anger on the faces of his cronies. However, to his surprise, His Majesty's will has not yet arrived. Anxiety floated on his face, thinking what kind of crime did the emperor want to arrange for himself, why did he delay for so long
Liquor burns Yan Xiaoyi's heart so much, does it mean that His Majesty really trusts him so much? But His Majesty knew that he was just a hunter in the mountains back then. If it wasn't for the eldest princess, he would have been unknown all his life.
What's more, Fan Xian has a vengeance against himself for killing his son. Although Yan Xiaoyi has never found any evidence, he believes that within the Qing Kingdom, apart from His Majesty, there are only two lunatics who dare to kill his son. Besides the eldest princess, of course it is the crazy Fan Xian.
It is impossible for His Majesty to kill his illegitimate son to avenge his son. This is the biggest irreversible contradiction between Yan Xiaoyi and the emperor—and Yan Xiaoyi's fierce character is doomed that he will not be caught without a fight, and die of old age in Kyoto.
But he would not lead his troops to the Northern Qi monarchs who were watching the theater in the north, because it would be a kind of humiliation.
Yan Xiaoyi picked up the wine glass containing the strong wine again, drank it in one gulp, and let out a long sigh, really not knowing what to do. Then he received a letter from someone he had never thought of.
Looking at the letter, his hands holding the letter began to tremble. Those hands that were always as stable as mountains, those hands that controlled the strings like gods, and those hands that were still as strong as Shadow and Fan Xian when they were attacked by two ninth-rank masters. The steel-like hand trembled.
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It is still the end of spring in the Qing Dynasty, and the border in the far south is already scorching hot. The surrounding dense forests are languishing in the high-altitude sun, and they are soft on the rocks. The high temperature on the stone is almost dry.
The heat is not terrible, what is terrible is the humidity in the dense forest. I don’t know why there are so many torrential rains in the south. Although the rain doesn’t last long, the rainwater hits the ground and before it seeps into the soil, it is baked into water vapor by the high temperature, covering the woods, animals and people walking on the road. people, making it difficult for all living beings to breathe.
A mighty team was lazily walking on the official road. The officials of the Honglu Temple of the Ministry of Rites who are in charge of the face of the kingdom of heaven all tore open their skirts, and they didn't care about decency. , The eyes also began to glow with a feeling of fatigue and helplessness.
In the carriage in the middle sat His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Qing Kingdom.
At this time, it has been more than a month since he left Beijing, and the funeral of Nanzhao Kingdom went very smoothly. He held up the coffin and cried a few times in front of the dead king's coffin, and gently talked a few gossips with the child king , After witnessing the enthronement ceremony, His Royal Highness and his party set off for the north.
The reason why he chose to travel under such a bright sun is that it is not easy to get foggy in the forest when the sun is strong, and in the dense forest at the junction of Nanzhao and Qingguo, the most terrifying thing is the poisonous fog.
Prince Li Chengqian knocked on the window lattice of the carriage, signaled the whole team to stop, then got off the carriage with the support of the eunuch, and whispered something to the chief official of the Ministry of Rites.
A tiger guard said respectfully: "Your Highness, go while the sun is shining, so as not to be invaded by the poisonous fog."
The prince smiled and said, "Take a rest, everyone is tired."
"I'm afraid I won't be able to catch up to the inn ahead." The tiger guard said in a difficult way.
"Didn't you say yesterday that there is a small family before the inn?" The prince said kindly, "It would be good to live there tonight."
The official from the Ministry of Rites who was questioned earlier dissuaded: "What is your highness, how can you live in the wilderness casually? The post station in Tiancheng County is too broken. The big post planned last night has been prepared to welcome your highness."
The prince insisted on not allowing it, only saying that the followers around him were exhausted. The official from the Ministry of Rituals couldn't help but asked with a little fear: "But I missed the return date..."
"It is my responsibility that these soldiers cannot be exhausted and sick." The prince said with a frown.
Then there was an order to let a group of hundreds of people rest on the spot, and they should be able to make it in time to spend the night in Tiancheng County tonight. The sergeants and tiger guards breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this, and thanked the prince for their kindness, then deployed defenses on both sides of the road, and the teams rested.
Everyone knew that the prince felt sorry for his hard work, and all looked gratefully, but they didn't dare to let the prince see it. For more than a month, from the capital south to Nanzhao, and then back to the north, the road was long and difficult, but His Royal Highness was not as delicate as people imagined before, and he didn't say a word, and he comforted and encouraged these subordinates a lot, Indescribably amiable.
Along the way, everyone had a new understanding of His Highness the Crown Prince, and felt that His Highness really cared for the people, not only did he have no complaints about His Majesty's will, but he never forgot himself in everything.
The prince led the decree to go to Nanzhao to observe the ceremony. Such a difficult and useless mission, in the eyes of the people in the world, would feel that even if His Majesty did not exile the prince, he was still warning the prince, or punishing him in disguise. However, today's officers, soldiers and officials are a little puzzled, what is there to be dissatisfied with such an excellent prince
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A green curtain was pulled up in the forest for the prince to rest. In fact, everyone knew that it was mainly for the convenience of the crown prince. Although the crown prince shared the joys and sorrows with everyone along the way, it was impossible for a majestic highness to squat naked by the roadside with everyone and shit.
Li Chengqian smiled helplessly at the forbidden soldiers who pulled the green curtain, opened a corner of the green curtain and walked in, but...he didn't unbutton his pants, but just waited calmly and slightly nervously.
After not staying for long, he held a pill in one hand and sent it into the green curtain.
Apparently this kind of thing happened more than once, the prince took it directly, chewed it up and swallowed it, and then licked the gap between his teeth with the tip of his tongue, to make sure that no medicine residue would be left, so that those named servants would secretly monitor The eunuch found out.
"Why can't this medicine be provided to those sergeants?" After a moment of silence, the prince said to the faint shadow outside the green curtain, with a sad tone, "Seven people have died along the way."
There were too many poisonous miasmas in Nanzhao. Although the Imperial Hospital had prepared excellent medicines, there were still several imperial soldiers and eunuchs who accidentally inhaled poisonous mist and died.
The shadow outside the green curtain paused for a moment and then said: "Your Highness, I find that I like you more and more." After saying this, Wang Shisanlang shook his head and disappeared without a sound.
The crown prince squatted down and frowned slightly. He knew that Thirteenth Wang was sent by Fan Xian, but he didn't know why Fan Xian was protecting him so carefully. However, what Fan Xian said was very clear, and he didn't need to lead him. What's the matter, it's just that he doesn't like the feeling of a master being far away from him, and he once tried to ask that person to give him all the medicine.
It's just that he is served by eunuchs every day when he goes to bed, so it would be a big trouble if someone finds out that the prince is carrying medicines of unknown origin.
It's just that there is no medicine around, so he can't save people. Thinking of the people who died along the way, the prince couldn't help but sigh.
During these days, he performed very well, it couldn't be better, because he knew what kind of person his father was. Father is looking for a reason, an excuse to abolish himself. If he can't find an excuse that can not hurt the emperor's face, father will not rush to do it.
Father loves face too much, Li Chengqian thought with a smile, stood up, and threw the used paper on the ground, thinking what is the difference between face-saving and ass-wiping paper
But it is really necessary, at least because of this, Li Chengqian can hold on for a while longer. A stubborn expression appeared on his face, Father, my son will not give you too many excuses, if you want to abolish me, don't even try to keep your face.
He opened the green curtain and walked out, looked at the dazzling sunlight in the sky, suddenly thought of the child next to the coffin of the King of Nanzhao, lost his mind slightly, thought to himself that he was the prince, the father died early, in fact, it was really a child a happy thing.
He immediately thought of staying in Tiancheng County tonight, and felt that the name of this county was really auspicious, so he couldn't help laughing.