Watch the sea

【Transition Chapter】

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Changzhou, Yichong.

Early mornings in the academy are always lively and busy. Accompanied by the chirping of sparrows in early summer, what echoes in the forests of Songzhu Mountain is the uniform sound of the academy disciples practicing their swords.

Yishan Academy is the largest martial arts academy in Kyushu. There are tens of thousands of scholars from all over Kyushu practicing martial arts here.

Ye Shuli parted ways with Ye Xinghui and Chu Heng in Lushui, and instead of going back to Lishan, he went to visit Yishan Academy alone. Apart from wanting to be with Xiao Gaomin, in fact, he really had two points to appreciate the elegance of the academy. mean.

It was only early in the morning, and there was already a sword debate on the Changshan Martial Arts Stage. When Xiao Gaomin brought Ye Shu away, the teenagers on the stage had already started fighting. The academy is different from Lishan Mountain, Lishan Martial Arts has never paid much attention to swordsmanship Moves, on the contrary, pay more attention to inner strength and Taoism.

On the stage, two young men competing in martial arts are both fast and slow with their swords, with both hardness and softness.Ye Shuli watched from the audience, and couldn't help but feel a little emotional: "The sword is good."

Standing beside him, Xiao Gaomin slightly raised his eyelids when he heard the words, his face was expressionless: "It can only be regarded as not bad."

Ye Shuli looked at him with a smile on his side.

"The one on the left, the essence of this sword lies in combining its qi inside and its action outside." Xiao Gaomin pointed to one of the young men: "He pays attention to the combination of shape and meaning, meaning and qi, and qi and spirit. He can't do it at best." It can be regarded as the combination of mind and energy, and it is still far from the superb swordsmanship. The one on the right..."

Before Xiao Gaomin finished speaking, he saw a young man stumbled in from the gate of Changshan Martial Arts Stage, his face was full of panic: "Senior Brother Lin, it's not good..."

He obviously didn't expect that Yi Chong's son would be here today, he swallowed all the rest of the words, immediately fell silent, and stopped timidly.

The young man called "Senior Brother Lin" on the stage had already withdrawn his sword when he heard his junior brother shouting, but because Xiao Gaomin was here, he didn't ask any questions.

Xiao Gaomin glanced at the blood stains on the boy's clothes, his phoenix eyes froze: "What's wrong?"

The young man bit his lip, hesitant to speak, and seeing Senior Brother Lin winking at him again, he said in a crying voice: "Senior Brother Wu and the others in Yunchang Road fought with the people from Cangwu City, Wu Senior brother, he, he is seriously injured and unconscious now, senior brother, please take someone to take a look, senior brother Wu may..." The young man couldn't continue with the following words, and the tears fell down uncontrollably.

Xiao Gaomin frowned immediately: "Has the person been sent to Baicao Pavilion? What's going on with the fight with Cangwu City?"

The young man cried and shook his head: "Not yet, we got up early today to go to Yunzhou, and left before dawn. We happened to meet a caravan from Cangwu City on Yunchang Road, and Brother Wu's horse was suddenly startled for some reason. , Senior Brother Wu couldn't stop him for a moment, the horse rushed in and knocked over a box of western groceries in the caravan, before we had time to apologize, the people in Cangwu City suddenly drew their swords without saying a word..."

"Western groceries?" Xiao Gaomin's complexion changed slightly, he and Ye Shuli looked at each other, then turned around and asked, "Have the people from Cangwu City left?"

"Shouldn't be able to go far. They went straight to death. I saw that I couldn't beat them at the time, so I ran back and reported the news. My son, I didn't abandon them..."

Xiao Gaomin interrupted him, and slowed down his tone: "You did a good job, you go to Baicao Pavilion to see the injury first, and you don't need to worry about the rest."

His brows and eyes were full of chills: "Cangwu City has a Mahayana state and lifted himself up to the sky. If you dare to hurt the people of Yishan Academy, you have to get back even if you leave. Is Yunchang Road right? I'll go and have a look .”

Xiao Gaomin gave some instructions to the black-clothed dark guard who suddenly appeared behind him, then turned his head to Ye Shuli and said, "You can wander around in the academy first, and I will take someone to Yunchang Road. If it's just because a box was hit It is too unreasonable to just draw the knife directly from the Western groceries. No matter how arrogant Cangwu City is, it will not be so simple. If I am not wrong, I am afraid that there is something in the goods , to hide the universe. Now that the situation is unclear, it is better for Lishan not to get involved rashly."

Ye Shuli's smiling eyes curved, but he didn't appreciate his affection: "Of course Lishan won't get involved rashly, but if Cangwu City is involved, I still have to go and see."

Xiao Gaomin raised his eyebrows, and became a little interested: "When did Lishan have enmity with Cangwu City?"

Ye Shuli recalled that on March 1th, the emperor gave a banquet to commend the achievements of the patriarchs. In front of the Zichen Palace in the imperial capital, Fang Hongzhen, the Cangwu Martial Venerable, suddenly tried to test Chu Heng in full view. He squinted his eyes and said with a smile: "No hatred!" , but I just don’t like Cangwu City.” [[-].]

"..."

Yichong City is close to the junction of Changzhou and Yunzhou, and Yunchang Road is an official road between the two states.

When Xiao Gaomin and Ye Shuli rode horses and led people all the way to Yunchang Road, the young disciples of Yishan Academy were lying on the ground in sevens and eights. The caravan from Cangwu City had already left, and only a dozen people remained aftermath.

When the dozen or so people saw someone approaching on horseback from a distance, they didn't delay at all. The leader immediately drew his sword and killed the academy disciple who was already seriously injured and fell to the ground.

The sword in Xiao Gaomin's hand suddenly shot out, and flew over in the air a few feet away, blocking the knife that was about to fall on the heart of the academy student.

The person holding the knife obviously didn't expect the person who came to have such skills, his expression turned serious, and when he was about to strike again, the hidden guard beside Xiao Gaomin had already arrived, and raised his sword to the people who were dealing with the aftermath of the Cangwu caravan.

Unexpectedly, this group of people did not retreat or evade, and they rushed up directly, as if they were in a posture of immortality——

dead man.

Xiao Gaomin and Ye Shuli looked at each other, and their hearts sank a little. The matter might be more serious than they thought, and the universe hidden in the Cangwu caravan might not be small.

The hidden guards around Prince Yi Chong are naturally one in a million experts. Xiao Gaomin left a team to deal with the dead, and then sent the injured academy disciples back to Baicao Pavilion, and continued to rush forward with the rest of the hidden guards.

The caravan in Cangwu City had already traveled ten miles away. When the leader of the caravan heard the sound of hooves approaching behind him, his complexion changed slightly. ready to go.

Xiao Gaomin didn't beat around the bush to deal with them. Seeing that it was the Cangwu caravan, he came out of the sheath with a cold light to directly indicate his intention. He lightly ordered the dark guard to "keep a few alive", and walked away with his sword, and he had already reached the enemy's line.

Ye Shuli sat on the horse, looking at the son of Yi Chong who was walking like a dragon out of the water, he suddenly understood why Xiao Gaomin said that the young man with the sword on the Changshan martial arts stage "can only be regarded as good".The real swordsmanship is superb, and the spirit and spirit are in harmony, right in front of his eyes at this moment.He spread out the folding fan in his hand, and the man jumped into the air and jumped to Xiao Gaomin's side.

With their two first-class martial arts masters, the Cangwu caravan was gradually lost, and within a quarter of an hour, they were all disarmed and taken down.

The dark guard tied the leader of the caravan tightly and brought it to Xiao Gaomin. Xiao Gaomin wiped his blood-stained hands slowly, threw the silk on the face of the leader of the caravan, and said flatly, "Cangwu City is not small, People in Yishan Academy will kill if they say so?"

He reached out and pointed to the cargo box of the carriage: "Western groceries? Did you say it yourself, or should I go and see?"

The leader of the caravan looked at Xiao Gaomin with hatred as if his gaze had been poisoned, and he gritted his teeth without saying a word.

Xiao Gaomin sneered: "The bones are still quite hard." As soon as he finished speaking, a secret guard who was looking through the cargo box of the carriage suddenly frowned and said, "My son——"

Of course it would not be a trivial matter that can make the dark guard change his face and hesitate to speak. Xiao Gaomin's heart tightened, and some ominous premonition welled up in his heart. He ignored the caravan leader and walked towards the dark guard who spoke together with Ye Shuli. past.

When they saw the dead men, they knew that the universe hidden in the Cangwu caravan would not be small, but they didn't think that what was hidden was the "cosmos" that could shake the prosperity of Kyushu River Qinghaiyan——

The real goods of the Cangwu caravan are weapons and gunpowder.

And it's a Western firearm.

Dayin does not restrain the government and the people from doing business, and the court does not easily compete with the people for profit, but there are three things, whether it is aristocratic families or ordinary people, are not allowed to operate and traffic without permission-salt, iron, arms and gunpowder, especially The last thing is that the imperial court has extremely strict control, and the smugglers can be exiled at least, and punished as treason and chaos at worst.

rebellion……

Xiao Gaomin looked at the Western firearms mixed with groceries in the box, his expression was condensed to the extreme, no wonder the Cangwu caravan would directly attack the disciples of Yishan Academy who accidentally knocked over the box, no matter whether any of them recognized it For Western firearms, it is undoubtedly the safest way to kill them all.

Of course, the caravans in Cangwu City are far more than this one, and this kind of western business certainly won't be the only one.Xiao Gaomin unconsciously thought of Dingguo Mansion, which had also started a business of western spices in recent years. He wondered for a long time why Dingkang Zhou's cargo ships entered from the coast of Changzhou and had to cross the Lanjiang waterway, but when they entered the port, they did not Deliberately avoid Yinghai City, the largest open sea trading port in Kyushu and also the estuary of the Lanjiang River.

In the early summer, Xiao Gaomin's body felt chills.

"My son..." Seeing that Xiao Gaomin's expression was not right, the guard at the side couldn't help probing.

Xiao Gaomin came back to his senses, glanced at the caravan leader who was tied up by the hidden guards not far away, and ordered in a cold voice: "Take all the people and boxes back, and lock them up first. Don't say anything about this for now."

Ye Shuli shook the folding fan in his hand, stretched out a finger and knocked on the box beside him, and said with a smile: "Su Lang is in Yinghai City now."

Xiao Gaomin glanced at him, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and a look of narrowness flashed in his eyes: "Really? Then just find something for him to do, send someone to send a message... No, I will go in person."

Ye Shuli was slightly startled when he heard the words. He looked at the firearms in the box and raised his eyebrows: "Are you going in person? I'm afraid this matter involves more than Cangwu City. It's not just for fun to smuggle so many weapons and gunpowder. Looking at the whole Dayin, the only one who can change his status and qualifications is Jiang Jincheng."

The smile on Xiao Gaomin's face faded: "When people live in this world, they always have selfish desires, so the royal family and the aristocratic family have never stopped fighting for their own interests, but no matter how much they fight, it is still a big family with the surname of Dayin Kyushu. It is not the turn of these Western foreigners to intervene in our own affairs. Aristocratic families can fight for power and profit, but they cannot treason."

The weapons and gunpowder he saw in front of him was just the tip of the iceberg. If Dingkang and Cangwu were the same as he thought, then it would not only be enough to use simple gold and silver to be able to do the arms and gunpowder business with Xiyang for so long. The Westerners are not fools either. Now the emperor has not imposed a strict sea ban on the Westerners and does not give them enough benefits. The Westerners will not easily give up the vested long-term and stable interests to take the risk of angering the Emperor Dayin, because everyone knows that in the When Dayin was in business, arms were the bottom line that the emperor could never touch.

As Ye Shuli said, the only one who is qualified to change the world is King Jing of Jiang Jincheng, and the only one who has the status to join the Dingkang Zhou family and the Cangwu Fang family to negotiate terms with Westerners and promise enough benefits in the future is only King Jing.

Xiao Gaomin knew what Ye Shuli meant. This matter was not just about Cangwu City. If King Jing had a heart of disobedience, in the final analysis it would be a game between the emperor and King Jing.

Xiao Gaomin is different from other princes and heirs. Behind him is not Yichong Xiao's Yong'an Marquis Mansion, but Yishan Academy, the number one martial arts mansion in Kyushu.Just sending someone to Yinghai city to send an ambiguous letter to Su Lang is of course nothing, but if he went to Yinghai himself today, it would actually be a choice between the emperor and King Jing. first step.

Just like Lishan, Yishan Academy has never really expressed its opinion on behalf of any prince over the years, because the academy is an academy for the people of the world, not an academy for the emperor alone.

Many years ago, the Erfei Medicine Sect used by the emperor alone was a lesson from the past.

It disappeared overnight, leaving no name in history.

Because of this, Xiao Gaomin seldom stays in the imperial capital even if he is the prince of Yong'an Hou.The emperor is the center of all power struggles. As long as he goes, he must make a choice, and Yishan Academy must make a choice.

Among all the princes and young masters, only Ye Xinghui is the same as him, and behind Ye Xinghui is also not Liyuanhou Mansion, a lonely city, but Lishan Mountain.

"Actually, I have never understood why Lishan really asked Ye Xinghui to go to the imperial capital. He is the young master of Lishan. If he goes, Lishan will go, and Lishan will choose to enter the game." Xiao Gaomin asked suddenly.

Ye Shuli put away the fan, but remained silent.

Ningzhou, a lonely city.

Ye Jianwei looked at the letter in his hand, Yan Zhefei, the master of Qianyong Realm, took Xinghui away at the entrance of Huaize Waterway, and Fang Hongzhen, Cangwu Martial Venerable, is also in Huaize City now.

Ye Jianwei shredded the letter paper in his hand with his fingers, and sighed silently.

He knew that Guihai Yanlan was using Xinghui as a pawn to use Lishan's hand to deal with Cangwu Fangshi.

He didn't want to, but since Lishan has clearly made a choice between the emperor and the king, it doesn't matter if he lends Yan Zhefei's hand now.

Lishan has a relationship with the Erfei Medicine Sect, but back then he could only watch as the Erfei Medicine Sect was wiped out overnight because of the crime of regicide, and the Guihai clan and all the disciples of the Medicine Sect were reduced to sword Down the dead soul.

Only a very small number of Guihai people survived the massacre, but since then no one dared to be surnamed "Guihai".The Erfei Medicine Sect, which flourished for a while and became famous all over the world, failed to leave even half a pen in the Qing History.

At that time, Lishan risked becoming an accomplice, but still took away Gui Haiyanlan and the young Gui Haimingyuan.The deep-rooted hatred made Gui Haiyanlan, who was a bright girl yesterday, grow into the "gentle and kind" imperial concubine Huiyuan and the scheming Yan Zhefei overnight.

As long as the enemies Yanxi Zhong, Dingkang Zhou, and Cangwu Fang can be killed, all of them can be pawns for her revenge. They have a relationship with the Erfei Medicine Sect and once saved Lishan, who was a regicide and a Guihai clansman. That year was no exception.

Ever since Yan Zhefei fueled the flames and provoked the rebellion of King Qi, and used the emperor's hand to kill Yanxi Zhong's family, Ye Jianwei knew that Lishan could no longer be left alone, and Lishan could only choose by itself, which was completely degraded. For Yan Zhefei's pawn, the future is unknown and forced to enter the game, so I should choose a path for myself first.

So Ye Xinghui went to the imperial capital.

So later in Lushui, Ye Jianwei personally said to Ling Ye, "If you want Xinghui to do something, Your Majesty doesn't have to worry too much." [2.]

Fortunately, Ling Ye is more worthy of Lishan's active choice than Ye Jianwei imagined.

For example, he never really forced Ye Xinghui, who was already the emperor's guard, to participate in the struggle between the imperial power and the aristocratic family. Xinghui was willing to go.

For example, he may have known that Chu Heng was the Lord of Lishan Mountain even earlier before going to the Linyuan to discuss martial arts.

For example, relying on the seal of the Dongjun formation that appeared on the body of the Ulsan Qiuxi dead man, he can actually hold Lishan in his own hands and use it for himself.

It was a generous gift from Yan Zhefei to Ling Ye to become her pawn.The dead men sneaked into the emperor's autumn camp and assassinated the emperor's close officials, of course it can be regarded as a crime of rebellion.

What Yan Zhefei gave to Ling Ye were two knives named "Zuishang".

The first one is the knife that kills Xiang Lishan, and "Zhoushang" is being used. As long as the emperor wants to attack Lishan, this is a wonderful opportunity. You know, the Er Fei Medicine Sect was destroyed because of the crime.

But just like what Yan Zhefei said when Ye Jianwei and Yan Zhefei met in Lushui that day, when she became the imperial concubine of Emperor Huiyuan, Ling Ye grew up under her knees, and she knew that Ling Ye would not Easy to hold the knife that killed Xiang Lishan, so the gift she really wanted to give Ling Ye was another knife——

A knife hanging on the top of Lishan Mountain is used backwards by "Guoshang".There are two very convenient ways to make a great martial art faction work for yourself, one is to lure, and the other is to intimidate.The former needs benefits, but Lishan neither fights for power nor profit.For the latter, all you need is this knife hanging on the top of Lishan Mountain, with the handle of "offending" in your hand. Those who follow will prosper and those who rebel will perish. Follow the emperor and become the emperor's Lishan.

The survival of Lishan is almost only in his mind.

In this game, Yan Zhefei gave the emperor two choices, no matter which one he chooses, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for the emperor, especially the second knife, which is almost extremely beneficial.

Conspiring against the country and committing rebellion are the only crimes that can truly destroy a family.Therefore, King Jing is Yan Zhefei's pawn, because he colluded with Dingkang Zhou clan and Cangwu Fang clan to rebel.The emperor is also Yan Zhefei's pawn, because only with his hand can Dingkang and Cangwu be wiped out.

In this game of chess pieces, what is needed is that the emperor is strong enough, so Yan Zhefei sent two knives to the emperor, and she was almost sure that Ling Ye would hold the second one.

However, Ling Ye didn't choose either of the two knives.

Because he never wanted to be anyone's pawn.

Because no matter which knife will eventually become the knife to kill Lishan.

More importantly, because of Chu Heng.

……

Ye Jianwei looked at the broken letter paper in his hand and thought for a long time, then turned and walked out, it was time to go to Huai Ze City.

Huai Ze City, General Military Mansion.

Yuan Zeliang was wearing heavy armor, with a long knife on his waist, and led the guards of the whole family, heading towards the Huaize naval camp.

But he didn't expect that when he opened the gate of the General Military Mansion, he saw an uninvited guest first.

Yuan Zeliang looked at the young man standing in front of the General Military Mansion with his back turned to him where he was shot, and an ominous premonition welled up in his heart.

Seeing Yuan Zeliang's ugly face, the guards at the side quickly drew their swords and walked towards the young man: "Who is it? You are not allowed to stay in front of the General Military Mansion!"

Su Lang turned around, stared deeply at Yuan Zeliang who was riding on the horse, and said lightly, "Government of Duke Ying, Su Lang."

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【A little digression】

Woooooo sorry for the late update of this chapter.

In fact, to a certain extent, the interests of Yan Zhefei and His Majesty are the same.Yan Zhefei contributed to the flames in the King Respecting Party and made them resolutely rebel, in order to use His Majesty's hand to kill the Dingkang Zhou family and the Cangwu Fang family on the charge of rebellion.Does Your Majesty want to kill Empress Dowager Zhong's own son King Jing?Of course I want to.Does he like Cangwu City with its tail up to the sky?Of course not pleasing to the eye.

The reason why Yan Zhefei gave His Majesty the "gift" is called Dao, not only because the name of the gift is "Zengshang", but also because Lishan Mountain is like home to senior brothers, if His Majesty chooses one of them In one fell swoop, the relationship between him and his senior brother was over from then on, so he didn't choose.

He is the emperor, and he is more sensitive to politics than anyone else. Of course, he knows how beneficial the second knife sent by Yan Zhefei is to him. He can grasp Lishan in an instant by pinching "Zeng Shang" , for your own use, whether it is used to deal with Jing Wang or Cangwu Fang Clan, it will be easy to use.As long as Lishan dares to say "no", it will fall for this crime, and then Lishan will be finished. No matter how strong Lishan is, it is not enough to fight against the country.

As an emperor, he holds the mountains and rivers in his hands. He can embrace all rivers and embrace the world, but he can also be vicious and vicious. He can't give up what ordinary people can't give up. Love is really nothing to the emperor.But I wrote it at the end of Chapter 31. In his heart, the part that belongs to him is all for the senior brother.So he didn't hold the second knife.

I think it is not true love that can be easily defeated by interests.Talking about love while deeply hurting the bottom line of the other party, in my writing, probably can only be a tragedy, such as Emperor Cheng and Yan Zhefei when she was a noble concubine that may be written in future episodes.

The author says:

Just take a look at the comments~

【1.】Ye Shuli still doesn't know that Fang Hongzhen has robbed the Lishan disciples, so he says he has no grudges.

【2.】 Ye Jianwei said this in Chapter 51.

[3.] The "goods" mentioned many times in Chapters 36 and 49 of the previous article that took the Dingkang Waterway and the Cangwu Land Road, in addition to the kidnappers, also have arms.

【4.】The essence of swordsmanship mentioned in this chapter is for reference, and it comes from the entry of "swordsmanship" in Baidu Encyclopedia.