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As time passed, a poetry meeting that had sparked countless conversations came to an end. Li Shishi and a group of scholars from the capital left Jiangning, and Li Mu became free again.

In this way, another period of time passed, and it was May, which was early summer. The weather was suitable, neither too cold nor too hot, and it was a good time to travel.

After such a long period of preparation, Li Mu and Su Tan'er's travel plan finally began.

During this trip, both Suzhou and Hangzhou are places with developed water transportation, especially Hangzhou, which is connected by the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and can be reached directly by boat.

For this purpose, a special pleasure boat was prepared for the trip. Su Tan'er originally prepared a medium-sized two-story pleasure boat, which was neither too big nor too small. Li Mu waved his hand and replaced it with a large three-story pleasure boat.

This time when we go south, it won't be peaceful when we arrive in Hangzhou, as there are earthquakes and military chaos. Having a sturdy large-scale pleasure boat is more convenient than a medium-sized one, and it is also convenient for us to travel around the mountains and rivers along the way.

As his departure was imminent, Li Mu strolled along the Qinhuai River that day. Unconsciously, he had been in this world for two years.

During the two years, I spent most of my time leisurely and enjoying the comfortable life in ancient times. I didn't have much time to actually do anything. The only thing I did well was that I laid a good foundation for future development.

From now on, there may not be many more leisurely days like this.

Li Mu was thinking and strolling around, and unknowingly came to a familiar small tea stall by the Qinhuai River, but the small chess stall next to it where Qin Siyuan often set up was gone.

Since the end of last year, rumors about Qin Siyuan have been surfacing one after another. Some say that he endured humiliation and secretly instigated conflicts between the Jin and Liao countries. Others say that he will soon be revived and will soon go to Beijing to serve as prime minister, second only to the emperor and above everyone else...

As a result, all kinds of rumors spread, and all kinds of people gathered around with all kinds of purposes.

It is no longer possible to set up a chess stall and play chess leisurely like before, so this is the end of it.

After walking along the river for a while, they arrived at Qin's residence, where they played chess and drank tea in the pavilion.

After a game of chess, Li Mu took a sip of tea and said calmly, "Mr. Qin, judging from the current situation, it's time for you to go to Beijing, right?"

Qin Siyuan nodded gently: "Soon!"

He stroked his long beard and said with a smile: "I heard that Li Heng, you are going on a trip too?"

Li Mu nodded: "Well, we will leave in the next two days."

Qin Siyuan said: "When you come back from your trip, I probably won't be in Jiangning anymore."

Li Mu asked, "It seems that you, Mr. Qin, are about to leave. Is there a war in the north?"

Qin Siyuan was stunned for a moment, then nodded solemnly: "Yes, the news will probably come back after a while."

Li Mu said: "It seems that the Jin Kingdom has made great achievements."

Qin Siyuan said in a low voice: "More than a month ago, Wanyan Aguda led a large army and officially sent troops to Shangjing Linhuangfu, one of the five capitals of Liao. They were unstoppable all the way. According to the information we received, Linhuangfu fell seven days ago."

He sighed and said, "This is the capital of Liao. The one guarding Linhuang Prefecture is also the veteran general Xiao Ta of Liao. Although he was defeated by Jin several times in the past, he is not a mediocre person. He has a strong character and is steady in his use of troops. Linhuang Prefecture is also well-defended with high walls and thick moats. I thought it could be held for at least several months, but I never thought it would fall so quickly."

"I don't know if it's right to ally with Jin to fight Liao and just sit back and watch Jin grow bigger?"

Li Mu said: "Whether it is right or not, our dynasty is powerless to stop the Jin Kingdom from becoming bigger. Some time ago, there was a lot of noise about the alliance with Jin to fight against Liao. Now that Jin has taken action, if our dynasty agrees to the alliance with Jin to fight against Liao, we will also have to send troops to attack Liao."

Qin Siyuan said in a low voice: "I agree. The emperor... also has an idea. Recovering the Sixteen Continents of Yanyun is a once-in-a-century opportunity."

As he spoke, a trace of worry flashed across his face. After a moment, he sighed and said, "It's just that I always feel uneasy in my heart. Li Heng, in fact... a few years ago, when I saw the fierce struggle between Jin and Liao, I was only happy in my heart, thinking that while the snipe and the clam quarrel, the fisherman benefits."

"But, after a few years, I watched them fight back and forth. The Jin Kingdom became stronger and stronger, and its territory became larger. It was unstoppable all the way. I felt more and more uneasy."

"At the beginning, Wanyan Aguda led more than 2,000 people to start an army. They went out to Hedian, Huanglongfu, Hubu Dagang... one battle after another, and in more than ten years, he developed the Jin Kingdom to this scale. When people in my court heard about this, they said that this man was a hero who would never be seen again, and that the Liao people's luck had run out. They looked very happy, as if we could have peace after this chat."

"But the fact is! Whenever there is friction between our dynasty and the Liao people, we are always defeated. The Liao people are doomed. What about our Wu Dynasty? We can't even defeat the Liao country, which is doomed."

"If we ally with Jin to attack Liao, and really destroy Liao, and then face Jin directly, who will Jin attack after attacking Liao? Li Heng, what I thought at the beginning was to sow discord between Jin and Liao, so that the fishermen can benefit. This may not be to save Wu Dynasty, but to push Wu into the fire pit. If the Jin soldiers march south one day...what can we do to resist?"

Li Mu didn't know how to answer. In the future, the Jin soldiers would really go south, and Wu State would not be able to resist. It seemed that he had to speed up his deployment. He took advantage of the rare period of peace before the Jin soldiers went south to expand his strength as soon as possible, especially his military strength. He had enough bargaining chips and could seize the opportunity in the future.

He could only console her: "We have so many heroes in Wu State, there will always be a way. If you think that the alliance with Jin to attack Liao is inappropriate, then you should go to Beijing to be appointed as prime minister, then make an effort and ally with Liao to attack Jin."

Qin Siyuan smiled bitterly and shook his head: "The alliance with the Kingdom of Jin has been signed, and the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun are right in front of us, waiting for us to go north to recover them. Even if we know that the Kingdom of Jin has wolfish ambitions, who would give up? The emperor won't, the other lords won't, and even I can't bear to give up... These are the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, which have been lost for hundreds of years. This is a rare opportunity that only comes once in a hundred years. Even if it will allow the Kingdom of Jin to become bigger, no one is willing to give up, and no one dares to say give up..."

Li Mu said: "Then there is no other way. If we can successfully recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the north will have a natural barrier. We can quickly improve the northern defense system and not give the Jin Kingdom any loopholes to exploit. There is still a chance."

Qin Siyuan nodded: "I think so too. If we can successfully recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, we will have a natural defense barrier. We can then use this as a basis to improve the defense system in the north. We will have a chance to resist the Jin Kingdom. It all depends on whether everything goes well and whether they give us the time and opportunity."

Li Mu said: "It depends on the ability of the army and the commander, whether they can quickly capture the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and have enough time to manage and improve the defense system."

Qin Siyuan's eyes suddenly became firm: "Since we have chosen to ally with Jin to attack Liao, we will concentrate the elite troops in this northern expedition, with Tong Guan as the commander. He is still capable. Half of my purpose in going to Beijing this time is also for this matter. I will try my best to clear the obstacles for the northern expedition and let the army successfully capture the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. I just hope that nothing unexpected will happen along the way."

Li Mu suddenly felt a little pity for the old man in front of him. It was bound to be troublesome. After a while, Fang La, who was raising the flag of rebellion everywhere in the southeast, would take advantage of the earthquake and natural disasters and the chaos in the whole southeast to seize Hangzhou in one fell swoop and ascend the throne to become emperor.

In order to quell the rebellion in the southeast and prevent Fang La from stabilizing his base and growing stronger, the imperial court had to withdraw elite troops from the Northern Expedition and let Tong Guan lead the army to quell the rebellion in the southeast.

The two chatted about the current situation for a while, and Qin Siyuan suddenly said: "Liheng, you are a man of great talent, both civil and military, it's a pity to have nothing to do, would you like to come with me to Beijing and do something?" Li Mu raised his teacup and said: "Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Qin. I am not interested in this right now. I may come to Beijing in a year or two, and then I will bother you again."

Qin Siyuan said: "That's fine. The capital is a whirlpool right now. If you get caught in it, you'll have no choice. It's better not to get involved."

Then he added: "I heard that this trip will also go to Hangzhou."

Li Mu said, "Well! We can take a boat along the waterway, first to Yangzhou, then to Suzhou and Hangzhou."

"That's good." Qin Siyuan smiled and said, "I have a good friend in Hangzhou, a great scholar named Qian, who has great influence in the local area. I haven't contacted him for a long time. When you go to Hangzhou this time, bring a letter for me. If you encounter any problem that is difficult to solve, you can ask him for help."

Li Mu nodded: "Thank you, Mr. Qin."

It was said to be a letter, but in fact it was also a guarantee. After all, Hangzhou was not Jiangning anymore. It was a strange place, so it would be much more convenient to have a powerful person there. Although Li Mu didn't necessarily need it.

After preparing the letter, Qin Siyuan looked at the house in front of him and sighed: "I'm afraid this house will be idle in the future. I have lived in seclusion in Jiangning for eight years and was originally prepared to spend the rest of my life here..."

Li Mu said: "It may be difficult for you to spend your old age here. The world is in turmoil right now. Now that you have left the mountain, it may be difficult for you to rest in peace in the future."

Qin Siyuan smiled and shook his head: "Yes! After eight years of leisure, I think I have used up all the blessings in my life. I will be busy from now on."

As he spoke, he looked towards the north, as if he could smell the turbulent and iron-blooded atmosphere coming from the north.

After returning home from the Qin Mansion, two days later, everything was ready. The pleasure boat set sail, sailed out of Jiangning, and headed east along the Yangtze River, officially starting the trip.

At the same time, in order to seize the opportunity of the chaos in the southeast and the changes in Hangzhou, Li Mu's layout in the southeast was also quietly launched.

Crisis is crisis, but there are opportunities in crisis. Where there is danger, there is opportunity.

Fang La's rebellion, the Hangzhou Incident, and the chaos in the southeast were naturally crises for the Wu Dynasty and even caused corruption in the southeast. Even Li Mu could not change this, as his power was still developing and his personal influence was limited in the face of such major changes.

Since we cannot change the general trend, we must seize the opportunity, gain as much benefit as possible from it, develop and strengthen our own strength, and grow into a force that can influence the situation.

This chaos in the southeast is a good opportunity to select talents and quickly expand wealth.

Although, Zhuji is very profitable and is still expanding rapidly, it will become more and more profitable in the future.

However, after all, it is a newly established company that has been less than two years old and has limited foundation. If it wants to expand its business and open up markets in various places, it needs to open up trade routes, open up various links, significantly expand the scale of the company, and attract various types of talents, all of which require a lot of money.

Zhuji launched so many new products, and although they were extremely popular and profitable, most of them were used to build new workshops, open up trade routes to various places, and expand the scale of the business. The profit that could be withdrawn for him to use freely was only 400,000 to 500,000 guan, and it would probably be the same in the next few years.

Only after the expansion and layout in various places are completely completed can we withdraw most of the profits and develop other aspects.

This is a bit slow for Li Mu. The situation in the north is becoming more and more complicated. He has to prepare for a rainy day. While running a business, he cannot neglect the use of force, and various arrangements must be made in advance. All of these require a lot of talent and money.

The chaos in the southeast was a good opportunity for him. As long as he accomplished a few of his set goals, he would have enough financial and human resources to accelerate development.

In fact, Li Mu had begun to plan this matter several months ago through Zhuji and Longmen Escort Agency, arranging personnel in various parts of the southeast, especially on the small islands off the coast of Hangzhou Bay. Taking advantage of the developed water transportation and convenient transportation, he spent more than 300,000 strings of cash and purchased a huge amount of grain in the name of grain merchants.

Currently, this procurement plan is still in progress, and all the food is secretly stored on several small islands.

These grains will be of great use in the future.

In order to avoid any mistakes, even Nie Yunzhu had already taken a boat south before him, and even most of the controllable and deployable personnel of Zhuji followed Nie Yunzhu south.

……

The sky was clear and the weather was sunny. The huge three-story pleasure boat was exquisite and elegant. With the pretty maids playing and walking around on the boat from time to time, it formed a beautiful landscape on the Yangtze River, attracting the attention of all the ships passing by.

In addition, behind the pleasure boat, there was a passenger ship following silently. From time to time, there were men holding swords and guns, brave and strong, in neat uniforms, flashing by. It was obviously a team of extremely elite guards.

Judging from the scene, it might be some noble or important person traveling.

The pleasure boat went eastward along the Yangtze River and soon arrived in Zhenjiang. The purpose of this trip was on the one hand to have fun, and on the other hand Su Tan'er also wanted to inspect businesses and investigate markets in various places. Considering the risk of war in the north, she planned to move some industries in the north to the south.

However, this is just an investigation at the moment and this work will take several years to complete.

Therefore, this time, in addition to him, Su Tan'er, and the three maids Chan'er, some servants and guards, there were also some trusted shopkeepers, accountants, and their families who were brought along for the trip.

It does not delay your entertainment or business.

In addition, Su Wendi and Su Wenfang, two cousins ​​of Su Tan'er who were previously close to the eldest wife, also followed.

Including the boatmen, there were as many as fifty or sixty people on the entire pleasure boat. Fortunately, this was a large three-story pleasure boat with enough space to accommodate fifty or sixty people.

After staying in Zhenjiang for a few days, Su Tan'er and several maids visited Jinshan Temple and toured the local scenery. Several shopkeepers also completed a market survey under the command of Su Tan'er. Then they set off again, sailed out of the Yangtze River, entered the Jiangnan River and headed south.

The Grand Canal is the longest artificial canal in the world. The section of the canal that runs south from the Yangtze River to Zhenjiang is called the Jiangnan Canal. Jiangnan is a prosperous place. From Zhenjiang to the south, the waterway is densely packed with ships, which is considered the busiest section of the Grand Canal.

(End of this chapter)