Overlord's Road to Ancient Emperors

In the middle of the night, the lights in the guest room were turned on and off, and the two figures on the bed were entangled inseparably, and it took a long time to calm down.

There were two charcoal pots burning in the house, but on a snowy night, the warmth in the house was far less than the body temperature of the people around him. Li Xu lay on Kou Xiao's body, exhaled a few breaths slowly, with an air of satisfaction.

Kou Xiao's rough palm lingered on his waist, and pressed it a few times from time to time. They haven't been together for a long time, the action just now was a bit rough, and I don't know if it hurt anyone.

"Let's leave after noon tomorrow, I'm afraid I won't get any sleep tonight." Li Xu said with his eyes closed.

It was already past the third watch, and there was the sound of wind and snow whistling outside. It was conceivable that it would be late tomorrow. Coupled with the fatigue of the journey, everyone needed a good rest.

"Then it's better to rest for one more day. Anyway, I'm not in a hurry. In this weather, people from the south can hardly walk." Kou Xiao also went north for the first time, and felt the winter in the north for the first time. No matter how much you hear, it's better to experience it yourself. No wonder Li Xu is willing to send cotton and wool to the Northwest. In this environment, how difficult is it for soldiers who lack warm clothing in winter?

"During this journey, we saw disasters in many villages and towns. In the past, there were floods in Nanyue every year. Everyone felt that the court was cruel and ignored Nanyue. Looking at it now, everyone is similar."

"The people are suffering. This is a fact since ancient times. Many people can't understand why this king treats the people so favorably. The people are like water. Water can carry a boat and capsize it. After all, this Great Swallow is mostly people.

Moreover, it is much easier for the poor people to satisfy them than the people of the aristocratic family. A small favor is enough to make them grateful. People have less things, so they don't have too many thoughts. "

No matter how Kou Xiao came from a famous family, he couldn't understand some of Li Xu's actions, but he never doubted Li Xu's decision. If he didn't understand, it didn't mean he was wrong. He only doubted himself when he was wrong.

And it turns out that Li Xu's actions are correct. He promotes the poor family and treats the common people generously, which may infringe the interests of the noble clan at first, but he does not give less to the noble clan than to the common people. The family's new opportunity, as long as he is willing to work hard, he can stir up a stagnant pool of water. In this way, everyone is fine, and no one has any objections.

"In terms of the ability to buy people's hearts, the prince said that no one dares to be the number one. Zhao Gang is the last general. He wrote to the last time. It is said that he has been praising the prince and saying that the wife of the general is worth marrying. This is to marry the whole of South Vietnam back home."

Li Xu drew a picture on his chest and reminded him: "Didn't you tell him that you married into the palace to be a princess? If you say it's worth it, it's the king's worth."

"Ahem, it's all the same."

"Deputy General Zhao knew that he had done something wrong, so he tried his best to flatter him. I never expected that such a simple and honest man would brag and flatter him. But this time, is it reliable for you to let him guard South Vietnam?" To be honest, Li Xu The evaluation of Zhao Gang is not very high. Among Kou Xiao's lieutenants, Zhao Gang should be the one with no brains, commonly known as brave but not resourceful.

Kou Xiao turned over, faced Li Xu, and analyzed with him: "We all know the danger of going to Beijing this time, and we all know that if something happens, we will flee. Since Nanyue is our refuge, we must control it. In the hands of trusted people, Zhao Gang's ability is not outstanding, but he is loyal, and he admits death. As long as there is no order from this general, no one can lead troops into the city. And this time I have kept Cao Ji and Chi Mingxu, let They recruited a 2-strong palace guard within half a year."

This matter has been in preparation, but this time Li Xu is going to Beijing for trial, so I don't know if there is anyone who dares to answer the call.

"Tomorrow's departure, the prince will still take the first step, and will eventually lead people to follow behind, so as not to attract people's attention."

But Li Xu didn't agree, "No, let's go together, we're here anyway, if you want to know, you'll know. When we arrive in the capital, thousands of people have nowhere to hide. Why don't we let the capital welcome us in a fair and honest manner."

"But there are tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides. The officials must impeach the prince for supporting the soldiers."

"Ha, there are only so many soldiers and horses in South Vietnam, which is far from the self-respect of supporting soldiers, and there are so many people in the capital, who would put these 1 people in their eyes? Don't talk about this, you should hurry up and tell me what you have done in the past two months What have you done, I am afraid that I will fall asleep after hearing a few words."

Kou Xiao lowered his head and kissed him without hiding anything, and briefly summarized his whereabouts in the past two months in ten sentences.

It turned out that Kou Xiao felt that the recruits were too immature and lacked blood, so he took them out in a rage, but he had no goal where to go.

There are not many bandit dens left in South Vietnam, most of them are not good enough, and there is no need to use tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, so he led his people all the way west, crossed the border, crossed Lishui, entered Nanyi, and joined Nanyue For example, Nanyi is the real barren land, and sometimes there is no one in sight after driving for several days.

Such an environment does not meet Kou Xiao's needs. What he wants is a fight to the death, and no one will just waste time. So he gave an order, and the team rushed all night, rampaging all the way, and even arrived in southern border. There is a small country called Xidian, which borders Shu County, and further west is the territory of the Qiang clan.

Li Xu never imagined that Kou Xiao had conquered a country after two months of travel. Although this country is smaller than Nanyue and the population is smaller than Nanyue, but apart from the journey on the road, it is useless to fight for ten days. It is too easy. some?

"The small country of Xidian is backward in national strength. It is said that the country is actually just a tribe. This tribe was originally a branch of the Qiang nationality. Later, it was driven out by the royal court. All the people of Dayan were turned into slaves. There, the people of Dayan were no different from pigs and dogs. They were beaten, scolded and slaughtered. When we arrived, it happened to be the annual sacrificial day of Xidian. Thousands of slaves liven up the human sacrifice, and it is said that the sacrifice is completed only when a tall tower is piled up with the heads of the sacrifices."

Li Xu remained silent for a while, his fingernails drew a few red marks on Kou Xiao's chest, and then said in a serious tone: "This kind of country really doesn't need to exist anymore, but why didn't anyone take care of it before?"

"Xidian is a small country with a weak national strength, a small population, and a poor environment. Even if it is defeated, it will only be a few more people who need to eat. It doesn't matter what you want. How can the imperial court be willing to waste military and financial resources to attack?"

Li Xu sneered, "But after all, it is Dayan's original territory, and Dayan's territory cannot be violated!"

Kou Xiao pinched his chin, he liked Li Xu's aura, dared to invade his territory, and vowed to expel the enemy to the death.

"By the way, after this place is captured, will it be played to the court?"

"Since they don't want it, the king will accept it. Xidian...send some people to deal with it first, appease the people, and stabilize the situation first."

"I've already told Mr. Ji about this matter. It doesn't matter if I can't manage it well. It's far away from Nanyue, and it won't involve Nanyue." Kou Xiao stretched out his hand and hugged him tightly, his chin rubbed the top of Li Xu's hair, Said softly: "Let's talk about the rest tomorrow, rest."

Li Xu closed his eyes, there were still some things in his mind, but he was sleepy, and he didn't know when he fell asleep.

＊＊＊＊＊＊

After noon the next day, the wind and snow were still there, and the snow on the road was as high as the calf. Li Xu and his people set off against the wind and snow. Difficult to walk, they still walked for half a month.

In the capital city, someone had already publicized the fact that the emperor wanted to recruit Shun Wang to Beijing for trial. The new year just passed, and there were crowds of people gathering to have fun, and most of them would talk about Shun Wang's affairs.

"Guess, is King Shun really guilty or innocent?" In the teahouse, a dozen young people dressed as students were sitting around, and a greasy-haired scholar waved a fan and asked.

"It goes without saying that he must be guilty. It's just that he is a vassal prince and the emperor's most valued prince, so he may not be convicted in the end."

"Look at me, it may not be true. No one said that King Shun is not good. When he was in the East Palace, he used virtue to convince people. He was very good to ordinary slaves. How could he be greedy for the soldiers' wages? That's the soldiers. The capital on which one lives depends, taking money from people is no different from killing people.”

"This statement is wrong. People will change. When he was still a prince, he wanted wind and rain, and he didn't need anything. But King Shun was demoted to South Vietnam back then, but he was penniless. Without money, he couldn't move a single step. Naturally, he would do it. Do something irrational."

"Your news is too slow. The deeds of King Shun have been spread in the past few years. He was indeed penniless when he first arrived in South Vietnam. It is said that the palace was dilapidated and uninhabitable. The prince borrowed from General Kou's mansion. He stayed here for more than half a year, and during this period, King Shun was not idle. He recruited many people with business acumen, and took down the largest businessman in South Vietnam, the Lei Family, for his own use, accumulating wealth little by little. .”

"It's impossible to support an army of tens of thousands. The military expenditure is not enough for one hundred and twenty thousand taels of silver. The Kou family's army has increased from eight thousand to fifty thousand."

The person who spoke for Li Xu earlier shook his head and corrected him, "It's not fifty thousand, but seventy thousand."

"What?" Everyone was taken aback. After all, everyone said [-] before. From this point of view, King Shun's strength is not bad.

"There are still [-] sailors, which can be regarded as Kou's army, but the leader is not General Kou, it is said that he is a confidant of the prince."

"Admiral..." Scholars don't know much about admirals, but those with a little common sense know that South Vietnam is close to the sea, maybe it is to deal with pirates.

"Don't underestimate King Shun's ability, let's just say that we are eating at this table. The tea is Nanyue rock tea, the salt is Nanyue refined salt, and these two kinds of pastries are also rice cakes and rice cakes imported from South Vietnam. Cake, go and look at that Fulai restaurant, if it is not full of guests, it will be very profitable every day."

"That's right, there's also the Liji grocery store, tsk tsk, I was lucky enough to go in once with Mr. Ning. The things inside are really rare and precious. Mr. Ning once gave me a piece of paper, and I still can't bear to use it. .”

Speaking of Li Ji grocery store, the topic suddenly changed, and someone exclaimed: "Have you heard that? Yesterday, a new kind of ink was added to the grocery store. The fragrance of ink is like green pine, and the ink is as firm as jade. It is said that it is made of pine. Tobacco, pearls, borneol, white sandalwood, and isinglass are used as raw materials, which are extremely precious."

"No, no, this is nothing. There is also a set of ink called the treasure of the town store. It is said that there are 36 pieces in total, each of which is only as thick as a finger, but each ink ingot is engraved with extremely fine and vivid paintings. Someone It is said that it is a wonderful scene in all parts of South Vietnam, so lifelike, many people want to buy it, but the shopkeeper Lei said nothing to sell."

"I know this. It is said that this ink will be presented to the emperor after the prince enters the capital. It is only displayed at this time for everyone's eyes. This kind of treasure is naturally not available to ordinary people."

Scholars always prefer the Four Treasures of the Study. As for other items in the store, they may not pay attention to them, but the pen, ink, paper and inkstone are enough to drive them crazy.

"It's a pity, my family is in such a state that it hurts to buy a piece of paper occasionally, let alone other things."

"So, the industries under the prince's name should be very profitable. Salt, tea, food, clothing, and use seem to cover every industry. If there are branches in all parts of Dayan, it will not only be a daily profit. gold."

"No, I heard that the prince himself is very frugal. He only has one carriage to go in and out. There is only one personal guard and one eunuch, and he was taken out from the palace. Even the little princess only has two or three servant girls. It’s not too big.”

"I know this. I have a distant cousin in South Vietnam. I heard him and my father mention it two years ago. King Shun lived in extreme poverty. He never ate extravagantly at home. Moreover, South Vietnam banned alcohol, so the grain harvest in the past two years was bumper. Only after that is new wine brewed."

"Speaking of new wine, I heard from the young master of Zhongyonghou Mansion yesterday that there is a new kind of strong wine in the capital. It tastes very sweet and clear like water. Unfortunately, I don't know where to buy it. What about the news?"

"It's just wine, so what if it's good? I'm not a good wine drinker, but it's not difficult to find out. Just keep an eye on the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This kind of good wine must be paid as a tribute."

The topic became more and more biased. Although everyone was curious about King Shun, there were too many interesting things in the capital.

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Li Xu looked at the high city wall in front of him, tried hard to recall his memories of the city, and found that there were too few things he could remember, and the memory of the original owner had been fading, and maybe he would pretend to have amnesia soon.

Kou Xiao stood beside him on horseback, seeing him staring at the city wall, thinking that he remembered the sad things back then, and comforted him: "Don't worry, we won't be kicked out easily when we come, this capital, there will always be us of a place."

Li Xu turned back and smiled, and said: "I was seriously injured back then, and I didn't feel it when I walked out of this city gate. I didn't know that the city wall of the capital is so majestic."

"After all, it is the capital city. Everything here is incomparable to South Vietnam. If the Kou family army is allowed to attack the capital, as long as the guards inside are not disordered, it may not be able to take it for a few months. It is no wonder that the capital has been singing and dancing. How good Yu Anle is."

Li Xu rubbed his chin. With this city wall, it is really not easy to attack by force. It seems that in the future, he must not take this step unless it is absolutely necessary.

Just when he was about to enter the city, a fast horse caught up from behind and stopped Li Xu's convoy. With a weathered and tired face, the man handed a letter to Li Xu.

Kou Xiao glanced at the person who sent the letter, and he didn't know where he was from the Anbu. Ye Changqing's ability was enough to make people look at him. In just a few years, he even built a huge intelligence network in Dayan. have.

"Say what?" he asked.

After reading the letter, Li Xu stuffed it into his arms, and said with a serious face: "The third prince has returned to the imperial mausoleum. At the same time, there are nearly [-] people hiding in batches near Tongzhou. They must be real this time." Big things are going to happen."

He looked up at the high city wall and thought to himself: Who will own this city and this country in the end? Let's wait and see!

——Volume [-]: The Road Home from Thorns—End——

Volume [-]: Fengyun Emperor Road