Chapter 101: Clear tea, strong wine, straw paper, general trend

There are three convenient ways to get from Jiangnan Road to Jiangbei Road, but no matter how you go, you always have to cross the vast river. In the world today, without the cement bridges that Fan Xian is familiar with, you can only rely on the continuous ferry between the two sides to support the busy traffic by the water.

The three major warehousing houses are in northern Fujian, the Transport Office is in Suzhou, while the Xiaofan is in Hangzhou. It seems that the control of the warehousing houses is in a loose state, but only if you have the opportunity to contact this part of the officials and businessmen, you will know how strict the special access control of the warehouses spread across the south of the Yangtze River.

Especially the route northward, I deliberately turned around the west, crossed the river from Shazhou to the north, then crossed the barren mountains of Jiangbei Road and the meadows of Cangzhou Road, and then walked around the Beihai, continuously transported into the Northern Qi border. I then brought back rich silver to the State of Qing to purchase what I needed next.

Most of the goods on Xingbei Road were under the control of Xia Mingji. Xia Qifei marked several large signs with Fan Xian's help, and secretly integrated small businesses and gangs in the Jiangnan area, which had gradually become a trend.

The reason why he chose to cross the river in Shazhou was naturally because the Jiangnan Navy was stationed in Shazhou. But only Fan Xian and he knew that he chose Shazhou because the Jiangnan Water Village had the strongest strength. Although these goods in the warehouse could be sent by the court to supervise them,... the things inside were not assured that they were all watched by the court.

Xia Qifei sat in a tea shop outside the city gate of Shazhou. While drinking tea, he looked at the ships transporting goods on the gentle river, and narrowed his eyes slightly. The second young master in the north suddenly increased his appetite for goods. But he didn't have to take it. After all, the door of the inner warehouse is completely open to them, Fan Xian's confidants, but all the freight has to be transported there in such a short time. At the same time, the court cannot be suspicious, so this requires a very detailed arrangement.

Fortunately, the court practiced the supervision of the operation of the inner treasury, and the Supervisory Council was responsible for it. To this day, the worries of the ministers in the court finally became a fact. Fan Xian supervised himself, so how could there be no 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 that he seemed to be dreaming. Since he climbed the thigh of the imperial envoy, he bit his family's family kinship like a poisonous snake for more than ten years. Once the Ming family returned to his own hands, his identity changed from a shameful leader of the Jiangnan Water Village to an official of the Supervision Bureau, a wealthy businessman who was famous in Jiangnan.

Things in this world are indeed a bit wonderful.

But he also knew that the Ming family is no longer the Ming family of the past, and although the court did not intervene directly, if Lord Xiao Fan really spoke, he would have to do everything.

Thinking of this, he took his satisfied eyes back from the cargo boxes on the boat on the river. He frowned slightly, unable to understand some things - smuggling goods from the Northern Qi and Dongyi was undoubtedly the most profitable deal in the world, but as Lord Xiao Fan, why should he be so greedy? Lord Xiao Fan explained 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 win people's hearts in the army.

But Lord Xiao Fan himself is a prince, and after returning to the Fan family, it is impossible to take over the position. What does he need so much money? What's more, Your Majesty didn't like the eldest princess to secretly move his own treasury almost empty. Can Your Majesty allow Lord Xiao Fan to do this now?

Since the eldest princess Li Yunrui lost power, this big and small shock wave has faintly swept the hearts of the nobles in the world, and no longer stirred up any waves. Of course, this is just the calmness on the surface, and no one knows what people are thinking in the darkness.

But now people know how the powerful minister of the Southern Dynasty, Fan Xian, was deeply favored by the Emperor Qing State. How much power was in his hands, it was inevitable that the whole people were wary and were looking forward to it. No matter what, Fan Xian was still a scholar in the hearts of all the people in the world, especially his performance on the stage over the years, which made people know that he was a little different from the general powerful and noble children of the Qing State. As for the fact that he was not so passionate and so warlike.

Northern Qi and Dongyi naturally hope that Fan Xian can last for a long time. Even if the young emperor of Northern Qi wants to bring Fan Xian to his side as a prince, he also knows that it will be of the greatest benefit to him if Fan Xian stays in Nanqing. He hopes that Fan Xian’s power will be better, and the deeper the holy favor, the better, and it is best to be strong enough to influence the decisions of the Emperor Qing State.

However, this is just a luxury and idealism. No emperor would be so stupid that he would pin his hope of peace on a minister from a foreign country. Peace between countries is ultimately reflected in strength. The strength of the country is naturally military power!

Since the beginning of spring, in the open wilderness north of Yanjing and east of Cangzhou, the heroic general of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Uesugi, was lifted from house arrest and airborne on the southern line. In a very short time, he established his absolute authority in the army. He began to practice military training on the Japanese, maintaining a strong deterrence to the Southern Dynasties army and suppressing the ambitions of the people of Nanqing.

In front of Uesugi Tu, a general of the Qing Kingdom, Yan Xiaoyi, the governor of the Northern Expedition. In this way, the two great men collided together, how could there be no sparks or bloody smells rising? Although there was no war on the border, some small frictions and some deliberately created tension gradually spread.

Xia Mingji, chaired by Xia Qifei, went to the north to transport goods from the treasury. The reason why he had to go around the North Sea in Cangzhou was actually because the situation in Cangzhou had been a bit tense.

However, all this changed completely this month. For some reason, Uesugi Tsuki suddenly withdrew his troops and returned to the north for more than fifty miles, dispatched his troops and generals, and acted as if he was lazy and not defending or breaking forward. He seemed to be unconscious of Yan Xiaoyi leading 100,000 elite soldiers in the middle of Yanjing and Cangzhou, staring at him like a cow. He always wanted to come up and take a bite.

The tension suddenly turned into leisure, and the privates of the two countries suddenly turned into outings. The instant changes made the Nanqing military feel unreasonable annoyance and shock.

What exactly are the people of Northern Qi thinking?

Yan Xiaoyi knew what the people of Northern Qi were thinking. He took the cup and took a sip of the strong wine produced on the grasslands in Beihai Zaibei. The wine slightly wet his beard, and the cold light in his eyes gradually increased.

Since the news from Kyoto reached Cangzhou, Yan Xiaoyi knew that he was facing a crisis. When his confidant lowered his voice and made suggestions at night, he remained calm and did not say a word.

When Uesugi, the army of Northern Qi slowly retreated and acted as if a naked woman was leaning on the couch, Yan Xiaoyi was neither surprised nor confused, but just sneered.

The people of Northern Qi naturally knew the news that the eldest princess had lost power and knew that the emperor would definitely take him down, so at this moment, Uesugi Tsubaki deliberately showed weakness and removed all the pressure given to Yan Xiaoyi in order to allow him to preserve all his power and spirit.

What to do to save these? Of course, we have to deal with our own emperor.

Yan Xiaoyi slowly put down his wine glass, and a sneer appeared on the corner of his lips. If the Northern Qi emperor suddenly wanted to attack Uesugi, he would do this. If there is a problem with the enemy at home, he should of course stand by and watch. And give the enemy as much space and strength as possible, so that the opponent can make trouble on his own, and after killing each other, he will reap the benefits of the fisherman. It is not unpleasant.

But Yan Xiaoyi seemed to have not made any preparations. He seemed to be just waiting for that day, waiting for a few old eunuchs with deep wrinkles to come on horseback, and fell down exhausted. He was full of panic on his face, but he tried to calmly announce His Majesty's will to himself.

"Yan Xiaoyi......"

The eldest princess fell down. As the eldest princess, he was the most trusted and trustworthy in the army... His Majesty naturally would not allow him to still be in charge of the elite soldiers of the Northern Army. Yan Xiaoyi knew this very well.

He was ready, so he did not take the anger of his confidants into his eyes. However, to his surprise, His Majesty's decree had not arrived for a long time, and worries had come to his face, thinking to himself what kind of crime the emperor wanted to arrange for himself, and he had been slowing down for so long?

The heart-warming wine burned, Yan Xiaoyi's heart hurt so much. Could it be that Your Majesty really trusted me so much? But Your Majesty knew that he was just a hunter in the mountains back then. If he were not the eldest princess, he would have been unknown for the rest of his life.

What's more, Fan Xian had a grudge against him for killing his son. Although Yan Xiaoyi had never caught any evidence, he believed that in the Qing Dynasty, there were only two madmen except His Majesty. Except for the eldest princess, he was of course the crazy Fan Xian.

His Majesty could never kill his illegitimate son to avenge his son. This is the biggest contradiction between Yan Xiaoyi and the emperor - and Yan Xiaoyi's fierce character was destined to not surrender and die of old age from Kyoto from then on.

But he would not lead his troops to the Northern Qi monarchs and ministers who were watching operas in the north, because it was a humiliation.

Yan Xiaoyi picked up the glass of strong wine again, drank it all, and sighed, really not knowing what to do. Then he received a letter, and the person who wrote this letter was a person he had never thought of.

Looking at the letter, his hands holding the letter paper began to shake. The hands that were always as stable as a mountain, the hands that were as string as gods, and the hands that were still as steel as iron when Shadow and Fan Xian were attacking.

Qingguo is still late in spring, and the border in the far south is already hot. The dense forests around it are all shining with sunlight and weak, and they are soft on the rocks. The vines on the rocks have been almost drying out by the high temperature on the rocks.

The heat is not scary, what is scary is the humidity in the dense forest. I don’t know why there are so many heavy rains in the south. Although the rain does not last long, the rainfall has fallen to the ground and before it can seep into the soil, it is roasted into steam by high temperatures, wrapping the woods, animals and people walking on the road, making all living beings difficult to breathe.

A huge team was walking lazily on the official road. The officials of the Honglu Temple of the Ministry of Rites, responsible for the face of heaven, pulled their clothes open and didn't care about morality. The military discipline has always been strict, hundreds of imperial guards with bright helmets and bright armors were also wearing clothes and hats. Even the palace tiger guards surrounded several carriages in the middle began to feel tired and rogue.

In the middle of the carriage was sitting at the Crown Prince of Qing.

It was more than a month since he left the capital, and the Nanzhao Kingdom was very smooth. He held the coffin in front of the dead king Ling and cried several times, and then gently talked to the child king. After witnessing the ceremony of ascension, His Royal Highness and his party set off to return north.

The reason why I chose to walk in such a big sun is because when the sun is strong, fog is not easy to rise in the forest, and the most terrifying place in the dense forest at the junction of Nanzhao and Qing Kingdom is the poisonous fog.

Prince Li Chengqian knocked on the window frame of the carriage and signaled the entire team to stop. Then, with the support of the eunuch, he walked off the carriage and whispered a few words to the head of the Ministry of Rites.

A tiger guard respectfully said: "Your Highness, take advantage of the sun to avoid being invaded by poisonous fog."

The prince smiled and said, "Stop, everyone is tired."

"I'm afraid I won't be able to get to the station ahead." The tiger guard said in embarrassment.

"Didn't you say yesterday? There is a small one before the inn?" said the prince kindly: "It's good to stay there tonight."

The official of the Ministry of Rites who was questioned previously dissuaded: "What a status of Your Highness, how can you live in the wilderness? The inn in Tiancheng County is too broken. The grand post planned last night is ready to welcome Your Highness."

The prince insisted that he refused and said that his followers were already exhausted. The official of the Ministry of Rites couldn't help but ask in a terrified fear: "But he missed his return date..."

"I will take responsibility for it with all my strength. I can't let these soldiers get tired and sick." The prince said with a frown.

Then he ordered hundreds of people to rest on the spot. He should be able to stay overnight in Tiancheng County tonight. The soldiers and tiger guards were relieved when they heard this, thanked the prince and arranged defenses on both sides of the road. The team rested.

Everyone knew that it was the prince who felt sorry for his hard work. They looked at him with gratitude, but they did not dare to let the prince see this gaze. In the past month, from Kyoto to Nanzhao, and then back north, the road was far and dangerous, but His Royal Highness was not as delicate as people had imagined in the past. He didn't say a word, and he comforted and encouraged his subordinates, and was indescribably friendly.

Along the way, everyone had a new understanding of the Crown Prince. They felt that His Highness really pity the people. Not only did he have no resentment towards His Majesty's will, but he still did not forget himself everywhere.

The prince took the order to watch the ceremony in Nanzhao. Such a mission that endured hardships but was not good, would fall into the eyes of the people of the world. He would think that even if His Majesty was not exiled to the prince, he was warning the prince or punishing him in disguise. However, these soldiers and officials are now wondering, what else is his Majesty dissatisfied with such an excellent prince?

A green tulle was pulled up in the forest to offer the prince a rest. In fact, everyone knew that it was mainly for the sake of the prince's convenience. Although the prince and everyone shared the joys and sorrows along the way, it was impossible for a dignified and nobleman to squat in the side of the road and shit with his bare ass.

Li Chengqian smiled helplessly at the imperial guards who were in the green curtain, lifted the corner of the green curtain and walked in. However... he did not untied his pants, but just waited calmly and slightly nervously.

Not long after, I squeezed a pill in one hand and sent it into the green scent.

Obviously, such a thing happened more than once. The prince took it over and chewed it down and swallowed it. He then licked the gap between his teeth with the tip of his tongue, confirming that there would be no medicine residue left, and the eunuchs named serving and secretly surveillance discovered it.

"Why can't you provide this medicine to those soldiers?" The prince was silent for a moment and said to the faint shadow outside the green curtain, with a little sadness in his tone, "Seven people have died along the way."

There are too many poisonous miasma in Nanzhao. Although the Imperial Hospital prepared excellent medicines, there were still several imperial guards and eunuchs who accidentally took drugs and mist and died without curing them.

The shadow outside the green curtain paused for a moment and said, "Your Highness, I find that I like you more and more." After saying this, Wang Shisanlang shook his head and disappeared silently.

The prince squatted down and frowned slightly. He knew that Wang Shisanlang was sent by Fan Xian, but he didn't know why Fan Xian protected himself so carefully. However, Fan Xiandao's words were very clear, and he didn't need to accept any affection from him. He just didn't like the feeling of a master disguising himself far away, and he had tried to ask that person to give him all the medicine.

But he had eunuchs serving him when he was sleeping every day. If someone found out that the prince was carrying drugs of unknown origin, it would be a big trouble.

But there was no medicine around him and he couldn't save people. When he thought of the people who died along the way, the prince couldn't help but sigh.

He performed very well during this period, so good that he couldn't be better, because he knew what kind of person his father was. He was looking for a reason and a person who was slandering himself. If he couldn't find an excuse that would not damage the emperor's face, the father would not rush to do it.

My father was so proud of his face. Li Chengqian thought with a smile, stood up and threw the used paper on the ground, thinking that what is the difference between a thing like face and a paper that wipes his butt?

But it is indeed necessary, at least because of this, Li Chengqian can hold on for a while. A stubborn look appeared on his face. Father, son will not give you too many excuses. If you want to destroy me, don’t even think about retaining your face.

He pulled the green robe and walked out. Looking at the dazzling sunshine in the sky, he suddenly thought of the child next to the coffin of the King of Nanzhao. He was slightly lost and thought that they were all princes. It was actually a happy thing to be a father.
Chapter completed!