The three of them walked for about half an hour, and finally arrived at the bottom of a six-story bamboo building. Prince Li knelt down below, and the maid accompanied Li Xiaofei as they continued to the top of the bamboo building.

When Li Xiaofei reached the sixth floor of the bamboo building, he quickly rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had seen it wrong!

"Uncle Shen? Why do you look so much like Uncle Shen?"

"Good boy, I wonder if you can lift my long sword now! Haha, I haven't seen you for a few years, but you are so promising! Uncle, I admire you very much!"

It turned out that the two hosts sitting and drinking tea on the top floor were Shen De and Cui Ju.

Shen De and Li Xiaofei were very familiar with each other, and Cui Ju and Li Xiaofei had also lived in his house. When the three of them met, they exchanged greetings with each other.

"Go down! This Master Li is an old friend of ours!" Cui Ju ordered the maid.

The maid turned around and retreated. Shen De patted Li Xiaofei on the shoulder: "Why, are you coming to seize this Zangda County from us? Haha"

"How could it happen? I was fooled by the name of King Li and thought this place had fallen! Since it is in the hands of Mr. Cui and Uncle Shen, what should I be afraid of!"

"Haha, what is King Li? There are so many such kings, so I just deceive those sesame officials who don't dare to come and hide in Jiangyang!" Shen De laughed.

"It seems that Uncle Shen's long sword conquered them!"

"No, no, no, we came all the way and only killed less than a hundred people. We didn't have many fights with them. They were really stubborn and robbed us, so we took action! We, Mr. Cui, regard peace as the most precious thing, turned conflicts into friendship, and conquered them.

They! These native tribes are living and working in peace and contentment now!"

"It turns out that King Li is one of Master Cui's many subordinates in the southwest region. Master Cui and Uncle Shen are really good at it." Li Xiaofei looked at Shen De and Cui Ju who were smiling and couldn't help but admire them. These two people have become so successful in the past few years.

He conquered hundreds of tribes in the southwest, and what's even more valuable is that he didn't go to war.

"The whole world is not a royal land. We are just managing these places for the country. In the old days, when the Qin and Han Dynasties were strong, they had already established counties in these places. However, the war in this dynasty lasted for nearly a hundred years, and some officials in these places were involved in the disputes in the Central Plains.

Some people couldn't bear the hardship and took the initiative to run away, so there was a situation where there were many tribal and copycat villages." Cui Ju introduced the situation in the southwest to Li Xiaofei, an old acquaintance.

"It's rare that Mr. Cui, as a wealthy family member, came from the north to the southwest and worked hard to manage this wild land. Xiaofei sincerely admires him!" Li Xiaofei said and bowed to Cui Ju.

"Haha, I, Mr. Cui, can be considered a great enlightenment. I used to be keen on political intrigues and wanted to be king and emperor. Since I met General Shen in Yecheng, I fought several battles with the Mobei people, and most of my tribesmen were killed.

Cui just wanted to come to this southwest land to leave a place for his descendants. You don’t have to admire me. What I did was just a little selfish and happened to do good things." Cui Ju is now a different person from before.

Everything he says is so frank and frank

"Xiao Fei, this southwest is not the wild land you said. The medical skills, medicinal materials and brocades here are quite good. The bamboo houses and bamboo houses you saw along the way were all built by the locals. The native people in the southwest are quite good.

You can get by, but if you stay here for a long time, you will get tired of life in the Central Plains." Shen De told Li Xiaofei about his feelings, and he could see every word clearly on his face.

Li Xiaofei looked at the wooden house in front of him, looked at the furnishings, and nodded: "The natives here are really ingenious. The bamboo and woodware they make are no worse than those in the Central Plains. It seems that Master Cui and Uncle Shen are right.

I'm afraid I really don't want to go back if I stay here for a long time.

.”

"Haha, in the past three years since I've been here, I can't live without their rattan tea, bamboo tube rice, bamboo leaf green wine. When I was in the north, my body was clumsy and dirty after drinking and eating too much meat every day. Now I feel refreshed and refreshed.

Now." Cui Ju picked up the bamboo cup carved with tiger patterns and took another sip of tea.

Li Xiaofei took the bamboo cup handed over by the maid and took a sip: "The water here is very good and the people are smart. I really can't figure out how to cook rice without an iron pot, but here I can cook bamboo tube rice."

They even stew chicken in bamboo tubes, which is really amazing.”

"Haha, I was forced to come out here. Salt and iron are forbidden to be sold by the imperial court. You can cook your own salt here, but this iron is very rare. Of course, after we came here, we also thought of many ways to give it to

They made iron pots, bronze tripods and other cooking utensils. After all, to cook pork and beef bones, you have to have big iron pots and tripod pots. By the way, there is another thing we didn't expect, that is, they also use clay pots to stew meat.

Yes, it tastes very good and can keep the heat in the middle of winter. When it comes to eating, although I have lived through the days when the bells and cauldrons ate and jade dishes were shameful, I still really admire the local natives. When it comes to eating, they are very good at eating.

They are more pious and meticulous than us and are able to use ingredients and never waste food." Cui Ju said that the local natives are very serious about eating and drinking, and it can be seen that he has integrated into the life here.

But Li Xiaofei became disappointed in his heart. Originally he was pointing to Cui Ju and Shen De as being able to send their troops eastward to regain Jiangnan together, but now judging from their intentions, they no longer want to think about Jiangnan.

Li Xiaofei still said what he wanted to say: "Master Cui, Uncle Shen, Bashu has just been pacified, and the Central Plains is still in disputes. The emperor also wants everyone to work together to regain the mountains and rivers, unify the world, and restore peace and prosperity to the world!"

Originally, Li Xiaofei had no hope at all, and these words were just polite words.

Unexpectedly, Cui Ju closed his eyes and thought for a while: "The emperor has given the order, and I, Cui Ju, will support me even if my body is broken into pieces! I, Cui Ju, have already trained 50,000 elite soldiers, and are ready to cross the river and go north at any time, waiting for the emperor's orders!"

Li Xiaofei's eyes widened: "Master Cui is indeed the pillar of the imperial court! The emperor will definitely be very happy. It turns out that the national crisis shows his loyalty!"

"Master Li, wait a minute, it's not my turn to be the pillar of the country, I'm just a little county guard!"

Li Xiaofei was a little puzzled, there was something in Cui Ju's words.

Shen De coughed: "Xiao Fei, it's not me who said that the current court is getting more and more outrageous. Chen Jiajun is on guard everywhere, and those people in the academy are in high positions even though they have no great achievements! By the way, they treat us as if they are

You fools, pretending not to deal with each other, but deceived the prime minister into such a high position! If things continue like this and the villains are in power, when will the world be unified?"

Li Xiaofei was a little surprised by Shen De's accusation, but he soon understood that Cui Ju and Shen De were making conditions to the court.

"As a young boy, I won't comment on the matters above the temple. Both of you are highly respected capable ministers and generals, and also my elders, Li Xiaofei. If you have any grievances, I can go back and tell the story to the emperor!"

What Cui Ju was waiting for was Li Xiaofei's words: "You guys should be considerate of us people. I don't have any other requests now. I just hope that the emperor's dear and virtuous minister Yuanxiaoren can lead the soldiers and civilians of the world to regain the old mountains and rivers! I want to ask you

What the Emperor said has been written down, please take it back and repeat it to the Emperor!"

Li Xiaofei was a little worried about the content of the confession: "I dare to ask Mr. Cui what kind of advice is in this confession, so that I can be prepared!"

Shen De spoke again: "You also know,

Our Lord Cui is a man of extraordinary resourcefulness, why can't he be in charge of the central government? Moreover, Lord Cui now governs a land thousands of miles away, with a population of tens of millions and hundreds of thousands of soldiers, but he still cares about Daliang and wants to be loyal to Daliang. How can he

Shouldn’t the emperor treat this kind of loyalty differently?”

This is already a threat. Thousands of miles away, tens of millions of people, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers. When you are loyal, you will be safe, but what about when you are unloyal?

Li Xiaofei didn't have time to think too much: "Uncle Shen is absolutely right! No amount of reward from Mr. Cui or you is too high! The imperial court really owes you a lot!"

"No, no, no, I am not a person who is greedy for power. It doesn't matter whether I am in charge of the central government, prime minister or minister! I just want to gain the trust of the emperor. I have nothing else to offer to the emperor now. I have nothing else under my knees.

I am a little girl who is willing to serve the emperor as a sign of loyalty!" Cui Ju finally stated his conditions.

Li Xiaofei groaned secretly in his heart. How dare he bring him back with such conditions? I'm afraid it's already written in the letter. But if he doesn't agree now, I'm afraid he will turn into a corpse in a few days.

"Master Cui's loyalty is rare. The emperor will definitely be moved!" Li Xiaofei had to deal with it first.

"Xiao Fei, it's not me who said this. The Xiao family has made the world a mess. How can a woman from the Xiao family still steal the position of queen?" Shen De said even more nakedly.

"Uncle Shen is right. The Xiao family ruined Jinling City and half of Daliang! They are indeed the culprit!" Li Xiaofei said even more gritted teeth than Shen De.

"That's all. I was just excited to see my old friend today, so I talked so much with Mr. Li. Shen De, don't talk about this in advance. Let's have a good drink with Mr. Li! Give him a chance to catch the wind." Cui Ju came at this time

Become a peacemaker

"Okay, okay, it's better to be respectful than to obey. I, Li Xiaofei, am really hungry and want to try the delicacies of Zangda County! Haha." Li Xiaofei finally felt relieved.

This feast was very boring. There were too many dishes. King Li and some of the kings came to toast Li Xiaofei one by one. Cui Ju and Shen De lectured the kings one by one from the main seats. The food was not eaten.

If you don't drink good wine well, you will always hear Cui Ju or Shen De scolding you when the wine is in your throat, and someone will come to toast you as soon as the food is in your mouth.

After the reception banquet, Li Xiaofei managed to stay awake for a rare moment. After saying goodbye to Shen De and Cui, he left the city with the help of several maids. Outside the city, An Cheng was worried and had already brought a dozen soldiers with him.

Waiting at the city gate.

Li Xiaofei fell asleep when he saw An Cheng. When he woke up, it was a mess. Looking back around, he felt even more disgusting.

"Marshuai Li, you drank too much for Daliang. My brothers are all worried about you."

"No, I just feel sick, sick, not drunk!"

An Cheng fetched water for Li Xiaofei to rinse his mouth and wash his face. Li Xiaofei looked at the moon above his head and remembered what happened a few years ago.

Then came another violent bout of vomiting.

Li Xiaofei was very disappointed with Shen De, or the Shen De he knew before was not like this.

Perhaps in his impression, Shen De should always be that carefree and brute-force man, a man who goes straight forward in a fight without fear of death.

How did he become the official and greedy person he is today?
Chapter completed!