Overlord's Road to Ancient Emperors

Li Xu set out on the road in a good mood. After leaving the boundary of Yuhang, it was really desolate to the south. Sometimes he couldn't see a single family after walking for two days. It was terrifyingly deserted.Moreover, the road conditions are really bad, and sometimes you will find no way to go when you walk. If Lei Yang has a good memory and asks the servants to clear the weeds on the road, they may not even be able to tell the direction.

If you want to get rich, you must first build roads. This is a wise saying throughout the ages. If Li Xu wants to develop the economy of South Vietnam, this road must be built. Otherwise, it will be useless if the good things he produces in the future cannot be shipped out.

"If I knew it earlier, I would have lured those victims to South Vietnam. Yangzhou Prefecture has no shortage of people, but we do." Li Xu said regretfully.

Lei Yang also sighed when he heard this, "Nanyue is indeed not populated. Over the years, General Kou has eliminated the tribes hiding in the mountains little by little, which has allowed the population to increase."

Hearing him mention Kou Xiao, Li Xu subconsciously asked, "Has General Kou married a wife and had children?" He secretly thought in his heart that if he died in battle, then his troubles would be automatically resolved.

But where to find someone so powerful to replace him is also a problem.

Lei Yang was stunned for a moment, and replied: "No, I didn't hear about XX when he left Fujian Province. It's been more than half a year, and I don't know if he is engaged."

Li Xu gave a flattering compliment: "General Kou is such a talented person, I'm afraid he won't be able to find a woman of the right family in Nanyue."

Lei Yang glanced at the little princess in the carriage, and thought: Could it be that King Shun wants to recruit General Kou as his son-in-law?Although the little princess is young, she has a high status, has a good temper, and looks good. If General Kou waits for her, it will not be a good thing.

Speaking of which, many Nanyue kings have had the experience of marrying their daughters to the Kou family, but this does not change anything, the Kou family is still the same Kou family.

"General Kou doesn't stick to trifles, so he probably isn't that picky."

Hearing what he said, Li Xu thought that Kou Xiao was a flirtatious man. Thinking about how normal it is for a man to have three wives and four concubines at this time, Li Xu didn't think there was anything wrong with this. He guessed that Kou Xiao, although Not married, but maybe all the concubines in the family are in a basket.

With Li Xu's current status, it is not difficult to build a harem, but he has no such idea at all. There is only one human heart, and if you want to love, you can only love one. Isn't it asking for trouble when you marry so many?

The winter forest is terribly gloomy. Li Xu and his party have been walking in this mountain for three days. In order not to get lost, they did not dare to walk fast. Coupled with the cold and dark environment, everyone's mood was greatly affected.

Li Xu's carriage had already been abandoned, and he rode a horse instead. For this day, he spent a lot of time learning how to ride a horse. Even the little princess was paired with a pony. Anyway, the team walked slowly, so he was not afraid of problems.

The team stopped and stopped, and sometimes they had to climb another mountain within two days after going down the mountain, surrounded by mountains, and a group of old men from the north would cry to death.

Although Li Xu was from the south, transportation was convenient in his time, and he could go wherever he wanted by plane and high-speed rail. Where is it like now, where they are clearly in front of them, they may not have reached it after walking for two days.

"Crossing this mountain, you will be in the territory of Nanyue." As soon as the word spread, everyone couldn't help cheering, but Lei Yang didn't say a word: "Everyone, don't be too happy, this mountain is not The mountain like before, it is not only high, but also the road is steep, and it is impossible to go up with people on horseback, and there are several powerful tribes in this mountain, and they often attack passers-by."

Li Xu looked up at the mountain with no tail and asked, "Has General Kou subdued the natives in this mountain yet?"

"This mountain is too far away from Fujian Province, General Kou can't care about it."

Li Xu complained again: "No one thought about repairing this road?"

Lei Yang quickly explained: "This mountain is Nanyue's barrier, if the road is cleared, Nanyue can..."

Li Xu does not agree with this point of view at all, "There is no future in closing the country. If you want the people to be rich and the army strong, you must develop the economy. If you want to develop the economy, you must open trade with the outside world. If you want to open trade, you must build roads."

Lei Yang savored these words, and suddenly realized: "Your Highness is really a talent for governing the country. Nanyue has such a master, so he will not worry about not getting rich."

"Don't flatter me. The truth is simple to say, but it is difficult to implement. Just the road construction alone cannot be completed in a year or two." Let's see, it's hard!

Lei Yang has been doing business abroad all year round, and has suffered enough from this road. If there is a smooth official road leading to South Vietnam, he will definitely be the first to benefit.

After walking in the mountains like this for two months, Li Xu and his party were exhausted. They lost a lot of weight. They also ate up all the food they brought. They have been living on hunting and gathering in the mountains for a few days, which is even worse. What's more, there are more and more sick people in the team, and several people have no cure, and can only count the days.

The humidity in the mountains is heavy, and the sun hasn't been seen for a long time. Once you get sick, it will be difficult to recover. Li Xu has prepared a lot of medicinal materials in advance, but he is still struggling. Moreover, some illnesses are weird, and Yan Yizheng doesn't know how to treat them.

Yan Yizheng's body is almost unable to hold on anymore, and he has been taking medicine all the way to hang his breath. Even so, he still tirelessly treats patients. Everyone admires him, and they take turns carrying He is on his way.

Yan Chen often hides secretly and cries, but crying is useless, he still has a lot to learn, he studies with Yan Yizheng every day, wishing to write down every word he said.

On this day, the weather was terrible. It rained all night, and thick fog began to spread in the mountains. Not only could they not see the road clearly, but they couldn't even tell the direction.

"Don't go, just rest here for a day, and leave after the fog clears." Li Xu ordered.

Lin Zhao came over, and the two could only see each other clearly when they stood very close. He said, "Let me take some people to hunt, there is no food."

"It's too dangerous." Li Xu didn't want to agree, but with so many people wanting to eat, it would definitely be impossible to go hungry.

"If you don't go far, just look around."

Li Xu sighed, "Commander Lin, be careful. Remember to mark the places you pass, so as not to get lost. If there is danger, blow the horn, and we will find it when we hear it."

Lin Zhao knew that he was really worried about everyone. During this trip, Li Xu not only ate and lived with everyone, but also did not complain, which made Lin Zhao's favor towards him soar. He really wanted to go back and tell the emperor that he was as good as King Shun. It would be a pity not to be the crown prince.

"The general understands." Lin Zhao ordered fifty Habayashi soldiers to go out together, and the trip lasted for a long time.

The remaining people did not dare to go out in batches anymore. The hunters did not come back, and there was no food in the team. Everyone could only wait hungry.

It's fine for Li Xu to be hungry all day, but he doesn't want the little princess to go hungry, "I remember that there are mushrooms growing around here, let's send someone to pick some."

Lei Yang hurriedly stopped him and said, "My lord, many mushrooms are highly poisonous, so I can't eat them."

There are many kinds of mushrooms in the south that I have never seen in the north, so everyone doesn’t know which ones can be eaten and which ones can’t. Lei Yang grew up in South Vietnam and has seen people who were poisoned to death by eating poisonous mushrooms, so naturally he dare not take it easy try.

But Li Xu was different. When he was a child, he would go to the mountains to pick mushrooms every year. This kind of wild mushrooms could be sold at a good price in the city, but winter is not the season with the most mushrooms, and he can't guarantee that he can pick edible mushrooms.

"It's okay, I know a few of them, I'll take them back and have a look."

Liu Shu took a few people around the camp, and when he came back, he brought three bamboo baskets full of various mushrooms.

Li Xu asked him to pour the mushrooms on the ground, pick out the ones he knew, and throw away all the ones he hadn't seen before. Fortunately, more than half of them were edible, and there were half a box of fungus, which was a surprise.

Of course, this amount of food is a drop in the bucket for hundreds of people, Li Xu asked people to cook these mushrooms into soup, at least he could eat hot soup to warm his body.

When it was almost evening, Li Xu couldn't wait any longer, and was going to send people out to look for Lin Zhao and the others. The night in this mountain was too dangerous, not only the temperature was low, but also wild animals appeared. Sometimes they had no food, so they had to hunt them down at night. Live by the beasts that sneak up on them.

Just when everyone was about to leave, Lin Zhao came back. He took fifty feather soldiers out, but when he came back, it was obviously half of them.

Li Xu's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly asked, "What happened?"

Lin Zhao told everyone with a livid face: "At noon, we met a group of savages. The two sides fought. Although we won, a few people were injured, and some people were watching the group of savages. If you’re worried, report back first.”

"Is it far away?"

"Not far."

"How many people are there, and have you seen their villages nearby?"

"There were more than a dozen people arrested by the last general, and no houses inhabited by humans were seen."

"What weapons did they use?"

"It's sticks and spears, and some bows and arrows."

After Li Xu asked the question, he didn't dare to delay for a moment, "Let's go and have a look together, everyone, don't disperse, I don't know how many people there are in their tribe, and they are familiar with the terrain, let's turn our eyes dark, don't underestimate the enemy."

Lin Zhao didn't take it seriously before, but he also became nervous when he heard Li Xu's words. There were only 20 members of the Habayashi Army staying there, which was really not safe enough.

Fortunately, Li Xu had someone pack up his things before, and he could set off at any time. The team couldn't form a defensive formation in the deep mountains, so they could only follow Commander Lin one by one, walking forward step by step.

"Follow closely, don't get separated." Li Xu reminded.

The more Lei Yang wandered off, the more flustered he became, and he reminded Li Xu: "My lord, I have deviated from the original route. If I go too far, I don't know if I can find the way back."

"Let's talk about it." Li Xu couldn't just leave the twenty or so Habayashi soldiers alone.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, Lin Zhao realized that he had gone the wrong way. He was obviously walking in the previous direction, but the plants he saw were unfamiliar, and there were no marks left by him on the trees.

He hurriedly told Li Xu about it, Li Xu pondered for a while, and said, "Go back until you can find the mark."

They can't search aimlessly in the mountains and forests. Once they go in the wrong direction, they may go farther and farther.

Fortunately, they found the mark very quickly. This time, Lin Zhao couldn't trust his memory and intuition any more, and relied on the mark left before to find it.

When approaching the destination, Lin Zhao and He Zun stopped at the same time, one issued a warrant to the Yulin soldiers to stop advancing, and the other quickly stood in front of Li Xu, looking ahead cautiously.

Li Xu didn't dare to make a sound. At this time, no matter how stupid he is, he knows what's going on ahead.

He pointed to Lei Yang and told him and his people to come forward, then lowered his voice and asked, "Can they understand official Chinese?"

Lei Yang smiled bitterly, "Your Highness thinks highly of them, not to mention the official language, they may not understand even the dialect you speak."

Many of these tribes entrenched in the deep mountains and old forests do not communicate with the outside world and are self-sufficient, so they have their own unique language and characters. Once such people do not want to communicate with you, it is useless to say that they are dead.

It is no wonder that South Vietnam has always been poor and backward. It is extremely difficult to unify the language and writing.

Li Xu dismissed the idea of ​​communicating with the other party, and told Lin Zhao directly: "Don't wait, shoot with a bow and arrow first, regardless of casualties, if you dare to resist, you will be killed on the spot."

This is already within the scope of Li Xu's fiefdom, his words are equivalent to imperial decrees, Lin Zhao has no scruples and naturally let go of his hands and feet, and he thinks he still has a chance of winning against these uneducated barbarians.

A sharp arrow flew through the air. Before entering the mountain, they practiced. If they want to display the greatest fighting power in the mountain forest, archers are very important. There are many places where people can hide in the mountain forest. It is too difficult to see people and then shoot, as it is better to shoot indiscriminately.

As long as you can shoot an enemy, you don't believe that they can't show their feet.

The fog was still very thick, and those with martial arts all pricked up their ears to listen carefully to the movement around them. Most of the bows and arrows pierced into the branches and trunks, and some shot into the soil, but they still vaguely heard the screams.

It's just that for some reason, the screams are a little vague and far away. It stands to reason that their range is not far.

"A group of ten people, touch it carefully."

The Yulin army moved quickly, lowering their bodies one by one, holding weapons and advancing softly. Li Xu was in the center of the team, guarded by He Zun in front and Jia Ping in the back. He hugged the little princess tightly in his arms, Wrapped in a thick layer of leather, followed the team forward.

I don't know how long it took, suddenly the sound of breaking through the air came, and the Habayashi army who had been prepared for a long time swung their knives and immediately chopped off the sharp weapon. Everyone held their breath, and they were very surprised to find that there was no message.

"Is this going to play hide-and-seek?" Li Xu frowned worriedly. He wasn't afraid that these natives were fierce and ruthless, he was afraid that they were educated.

Once they know how to use terrain and time to hold them back and fight guerrilla warfare, the hundreds of people of the Habayashi Army are really no match.

Li Xu didn't dare to let them procrastinate, it was already dark, and the night would only be more unfavorable to them.

He raised his voice and said, "Shout at them, whether they understand or not, scold them as well."

Everyone then shouted the slogan during the training. The loud voice and the reverberation of the mountain made the mountain tremble three times. Li Xu saw that his own people had a good momentum, so he asked them to continue their efforts, and at the same time asked people to speed up the search.

"Look, there's blood here." Ye Changqing took off a leaf and handed it to Lin Zhao.

The blood was still fresh, obviously shed just now, so I don't know if the other party is dead or alive.

"If they retreat, they must go back and look for the blood."

Ye Changqing has some talent in this area, he specially learned from the veterans, and he led the way to touch the bloodstains.

Once their speed increased, it would be difficult for the other party to hide their figure. Li Xu finally saw the other party's figure.

No wonder Lin Zhao called them savages. In Li Xu's eyes, these people are no different from savages. They are all naked in winter, with only a piece of animal skin around their waists. Their skin is dark brown and their faces are painted in a mess. Painted, with disheveled hair, he used both hands and feet when running fast, as agile as a cheetah.

"Is this fucking human?" Liu Shu asked in a low voice.

Li Xu didn't have time to talk. These natives lived in the deep mountains all the year round and kept company with wild beasts. They were not only agile but also very strong. Although all the Yulin soldiers had been trained and had extraordinary skills, it was difficult to meet such an opponent.

Everyone's archery level is average, and it is difficult to shoot the opponent who is running fast. If they want to fight in close quarters, the opponent will not give them a chance.

"Where is the place where they were detained before?" Li Xu asked Lin Zhao.

Lin Zhao looked around, shook his head helplessly, "It's the same everywhere, and the general will not be able to identify the direction, so he has to find the marked tree first."

"Then stop chasing them, try to find the place where they are detained, I hope they are still there." Li Xu is most concerned about the safety of his own people, as long as these savages do not pose a threat to their lives, he is not interested in killing them. .

Looking at the situation, Lin Zhao knew that the twenty subordinates were in danger, and when he led everyone to rush over, he did not see his own figure, and there was not even a hemp rope left on the ground, only the overwhelmed weeds and The messy footprints in the ground prove that someone has been stationed here.

Lin Zhao found the mark left by the Habayashi Army nearby, he was a little hesitant, it must be very dangerous to find someone, he couldn't take Shun Wang to take risks.

But let him not save people, Lin Zhao couldn't get over this hurdle in his heart.

Li Xu seemed to see his embarrassment, and said firmly, "Since we haven't seen their bodies, it means that they were taken away alive. As long as there is still a glimmer of hope, we must save them."

"The last general should send the prince out of the mountain first."

"This mountain can't be walked out in a day or two, but can they wait for a day or two?" Li Xu commanded coldly: "Don't be stupid, chase after me, and take all the pills that Doctor Yan prepared before. One pill, if you feel unwell, tell me in advance, don't force it, and put your own safety first."

Everyone promised loudly, and then accelerated to run in the mountains and forests.

It was completely dark soon, and there was not even a little light in the dense forest, and it was true that you couldn't see your fingers.

Li Xu asked someone to light a torch. Although the target would be huge, it was better than a black eye.

"It's impossible for their tribe to be far away. Otherwise, if they don't take people away so quickly, there will definitely be traces of life around the tribe. Please be careful."

"Here."

The Habayashi army had no experience in fighting in the mountains, but Lei Yang's guards were more experienced, and slowly found their destination from the fallen branches and footprints in the forest.