Overlord's Road to Ancient Emperors

In the early morning, a ray of sunlight penetrated into the dense forest through the gaps in the leaves, and hit Li Xu's face, his brows twitched, his mind began to wake up, but he didn't want to open his eyes.

He didn't open his eyes until his nose was itchy, and saw a tender and lively little face in front of him. He fished it out and hugged the little princess, "Good morning, baby."

The little princess said: "Good morning." Then she clutched her belly and said, "Father, I'm hungry."

Li Xu's stomach also growled, he stood up and stretched, he felt that there was no comfort anywhere in his body, but no matter how uncomfortable he was, he had to find something to eat.

He moved his nose and said in surprise, "I smell barbecue."

The little princess covered her mouth and smiled, "That's right, Uncle Lin took people to hunt early in the morning, and he's having a barbecue right now."

Li Xu was excited, and followed the smell to find it, and saw that there were several piles of bonfires with meat on them. It seemed that the harvest was quite fruitful.

Liu Shu twisted a wet handkerchief to look for it, and handed it to Li Xu, "My lord is awake, you can eat meat in a while." Liu Shu is growing up, and usually eats a lot. Yesterday he was hungry all day, smelling The smell of meat is almost drooling.

Not only him, but a group of elders were also staring at the barbecue, their eyes almost glowing green.

Li Xu wiped his face, found a place close to the bonfire and sat down, held the little princess's hand and stretched out to warm it, and asked Ye Changqing who was beside him, "What prey did you hunt today? It looks quite big."

Ye Changqing patted his chest and said proudly: "Xiaozhi found a litter of wild boars, a big sow with three piglets, we took a lot of effort to bring this litter back."

Li Xu praised without hesitation: "It's amazing, I'll let you eat an extra piece of meat later."

Speaking of meat, Ye Changqing inevitably thought of braised pork. They hadn't eaten braised pork for a long time. "If I can have a bowl of braised pork, I can go hungry for two more days."

Li Xu smiled, "When we arrive in Minzhou, I will cook braised pork for the first meal to reward everyone."

Speaking of Minzhou, Ye Changqing's excitement faded a bit, he lowered his head and said, "When we get to Minzhou, we should go back to Beijing."

Li Xu also developed feelings for them along the way, so he was naturally reluctant to let them go, but he also knew that he couldn't keep these people, otherwise their families in Beijing would be miserable.

Jia Ping, who was on the side, had a pensive expression on his face when he heard what they said. He glanced at Lin Zhao and made a secret decision in his heart.

The meat was roasted quickly. Li Xu didn't like such dry barbecue before, but when he was hungry, he could eat anything delicious. In addition, He Zun specially roasted a piece of the most tender meat for him. Very satisfying.

After breakfast, everyone tidied up the remaining luggage, and then looked around blankly, not knowing which direction to go.

Li Xu called Lei Yang over, and asked expectantly, "Do you know which direction the way out of the mountain is?"

"It seems to be in the southeast. Someone remembers that there is a small village on the way down the mountain. There is only one village nearby. It is easy to find."

Li Xu had no choice but to ask everyone to walk in the southeast direction. If he walked all the way to the end, he didn't believe that he couldn't get out of the mountain.

In the next few days, the group did not encounter any ferocious savage tribes, but one night they encountered a pack of wolves, and after a fierce battle in the middle of the night, they drove the wolves away, leaving behind more than a dozen corpses.

After walking for almost ten days, everyone was not only exhausted physically, but also under increasing mental pressure. Li Xu even thought, if they couldn't get out of this mountain range, would they like to build a tribe on the mountain? , and then gradually degenerated into savages like primitive tribes.

"Look, is there smoke there?" An excited voice interrupted Li Xu's contemplation.

"Where is there?" The crowd squeezed excitedly, and sure enough, they saw a few streaks of white smoke, some with better eyesight, and even a few thatched huts.

Someone in Lei Yang's guards exclaimed: "Yes, that's right there, that's the only way down the mountain, we've found a way out."

Li Xu exhaled slowly, and the negative emotions that had been suppressed for a long time were swept away. He shouted down the mountain: "Ah!" The rolling valley carried his roar far, far away.

Someone also yelled, and after the yelling, I felt that all the stuffy air in my chest was emptied, and I felt instantly refreshed.

A group of ragged men rushed into the small village on the mountainside, scaring the simple villagers back to their homes, closing the doors and windows in one go.

Li Xu looked down at himself, the original color of the fine fur cloak could no longer be seen, and the hair was also in a ball, and the delicate and luxurious clothes inside were also full of holes, like a beggar's outfit.

Even so, he is the most well-dressed among all the men. Looking around, all the clothes are almost turned into strips of cloth, which can only be tied around his body casually, his hair is messy, and his face is dark because he didn't have time to wash it.

What a picture of bandits entering the village.

Liu Shu straightened his clothes, walked to the door of the nearest house, knocked on the door politely, and said, "Fellows, we are sergeants passing by here. We are going to Fujian Province on business. We lost our way in the mountains and finally got out." , I am really in a mess, I want to borrow the houses of the villagers to wash up, I wonder if it can be convenient?"

Lei Yang walked over and patted Liu Shu on the shoulder, "Grandpa Liu, if they don't understand the official language, come here." Then, Lei Yang repeated Liu Shu's words in dialect, and added at the end: "We don't They will eat and drink for nothing, and they will be rewarded."

I don't know which sentence moved the people in the room, and soon, a young man opened the door, poked his head out, looked at Li Xu and the others shyly, and asked suspiciously: "Are you really sergeants?"

Lei Yang hurriedly replied: "Naturally, a certain surname is Lei, and they belong to the Lei family in Minzhou. Don't worry, there are so many of us, if we really want to do something to you, you won't be able to resist."

This is the truth. This small village will not have more than 100 people at most, and it is a group of civilians. It is no match for the regular army.

The young man opened all the doors and said hesitantly, "The house is so simple that it cannot accommodate so many people."

Lei Yang said with a smile: "It's okay, we can have a mouthful of hot water to drink, the main reason is that I brought a baby with me on the peak, and I am really exhausted after traveling all the way."

Li Xu walked over with the little princess in his arms, Liu Shu directly handed a piece of silver to the young man, the other party saw the little girl in Li Xu's arms, stared at Li Xu for a long time, and then blushed and asked someone to come in.

There was also a young woman and two children in the room. Seeing a group of people rushing in, she was scared and hid in the innermost room with the child in her arms.

The young man said something, Lei Yang translated it for him, Li Xu said apologetically, "We interrupted."

After resting here for a day, everyone paid for the women in the village to mend their clothes, so that they didn't show their flesh.

When they set off again, the team had returned to its normal appearance, but it could not return to the heroic formation of well-dressed and galloping horses.

Li Xu grabbed Lei Yang to learn the dialect on the way, not only for him to learn, but also for the people around him, otherwise they would be deaf and dumb when they arrived in Fujian Province.

He thought he had some talent for languages, but the fastest learner among the group was the little princess, and then Ji Hanyu, this gentle and gentle wife, was really quick at learning dialects, and he was able to use them with Lei Yang in just half a month. Dialect communicated.

Winter seems to be a very long season. When people are suffering from hunger and cold, life is always very difficult. Li Xu felt this way. The last part of the journey was really hard. When the team walked for ten days, When he saw the mountain in front of him again, Li Xu's legs were weak.

In his previous life, Li Xu would invite a few friends to climb mountains in his spare time for entertainment. If he were to return to modern times now, he would not go climbing again if he was killed. He might throw up if he saw mountains.

"Is there no other way to go?" Ji Hanyu asked frantically.

Lei Yang rolled his eyes, "If Mr. Ji can go to heaven and earth, there are other ways to go."

Ji Hanyu sighed wearily, and felt that it was a wrong decision for him to agree to Li Xu's trip to the south. This journey is really fatal.

He asked with a little hope: "Brother Lei, I wonder if we will soon reach Minzhou after crossing this mountain?"

Lei Yang narrowed his eyes and laughed, "Well, it's almost time. After climbing this mountain, we will be there after climbing ten more mountains."

"Ten?" Everyone gasped after hearing this, and Li Xu was not the only one whose legs were weak.

Li Xu was mentally prepared. South Vietnam has many mountains and few fields. If the road is not opened, wouldn't he just have to climb mountains and ridges?

But he also knew that the closer to Fujian, the flatter the land, and the so-called mountains were just hills, and it was impossible to have the mountain ranges they passed through before. This Lei Yang was probably just trying to scare them.

"Is Minzhou near the sea?" Li Xu asked Lei Yang. He had a crude map that couldn't be more crude, with the geographical locations of some major cities in Dayan on it, but the person who drew the map did not travel all over the country. The specific route did not mark the rivers and oceans, only the location of Minzhou on the border.

Many people who came out of the capital had never seen the sea. Lei Yang took it for granted that Li Xu had never seen it before, and boasted: "Yes, Minzhou is close to the sea, and the sea stretches as far as the eye can see. Once angry, the flood will strike like a beast, and the Dragon King will be happy, and the weather will be smooth in Nanyue."

In South Vietnam, the common people's awe of the Dragon King is deeper than that of Dayan's emperor, and many people even worship the Dragon King.

Li Xu thought of some dross deeds in ancient times, and asked coldly: "Then do we still have to give gifts to the Dragon King every year?"

Lei Yang nodded, "That's natural. The Dragon King is in charge of rainwater. He is a god, and worship is indispensable."

Li Xu snorted coldly, instead of reasoning with this group of superstitious ancients, he kept this matter firmly in his heart, and when he had a chance in the future, he must get rid of this dross.

Lin Zhao informed everyone to set off, and no matter how reluctant they were, they could only go forward. Li Xu and the others were fine, at least they arrived at their destination when they arrived in Minzhou, and the Yulin soldiers were still waiting for their return journey. Thinking about it, they felt terrible.

More than one person came up with the idea of ​​"just stay in Minzhou", and let them walk this long distance again, and they wanted to die.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, Li Xu suddenly called to stop. Everyone thought he was going to rest, but they saw the prince running towards a field, and then stood there motionless.

Lei Yang followed and saw Li Xu staring intently at a piece of sugarcane, he explained: "My lord knows this thing? Cane juice is sweet and delicious, but it's too hard, most people would just chop a few and return them as snacks for children."

Li Xu looked at him with bright eyes, "That's all?"

"Ah!" Lei Yang asked suspiciously: "Otherwise?" He felt that Li Xu probably didn't know this kind of plant, so he explained in more detail, "Cane cane is only found in South Vietnam, and it can't be seen in the north, but it is really too hard , People with bad teeth can’t bite.”

Li Xu touched the outer skin of the sugarcane and laughed, "It's very hard. Are there many such plants in South Vietnam?"

"There are quite a lot of them. You can see them all the way to Fujian. In the past, when we were doing business outside, we would chop a few to quench our thirst when we were thirsty."

Li Xu asked another irrelevant question, "Do South Vietnamese people like sweets? How about the price of sugar?"

"Of course they like sweets, especially women and children. The price of sugar is [-] cents a tael for expensive honey, and caramel from the north costs [-] cents a catty. Most people can't afford it."

Li Xu looked back at Lei Yang, reluctantly removed his hand from the sugar cane, and put it in his sleeve pocket, "Well, then, when Brother Lei comes to the palace, I will treat you to candy." You can eat as much as you want. kind of.

Li Xu didn't expect that in this era, sugar cane has not been used to make sugar. This is a way of making money specially for him as a gift of pillows when he is sleepy. Moreover, making sugar from sugar cane is not difficult at all and the cost is low. If it can be sold all over the country, he will Are you afraid of not making any money?

Lei Yang always felt that Li Xu's expression was very strange, as if seeing a woman whom he had loved for many years, he was full of joy, but he was afraid that the other party would see it and suppressed it. He wondered if the road ahead was too difficult and scared His Royal Highness Shun Something went wrong?

"Let's go." Li Xu's legs are no longer weak, and he is not tired anymore, as if he has taken Shiquan Dabu pills, his whole body is full of strength.

Although everyone was curious about his transformation, they didn't hesitate to ask. It's better to be energetic than not, and when the leader is energetic, the people below will also cheer up.

Li Xu looked back at the mountains that had trapped them for more than a month, and he had new troubles. If he wanted to spread the business across the country, he had to have convenient transportation, and he had to build roads, even if he had someone rich. , this road is not easy to repair.

Going further to the south, the road becomes much clearer. Although there are still endless hills, they are used to walking by people.

Ever since he discovered sugar cane, Li Xu would cut a root and gnaw it from time to time. When he gnawed, he would think about the method of making sugar from sugar cane. When he was a child, he saw his neighbors making brown sugar. The process was not difficult. Ordinary people can do it, but to make purer white sugar, it needs to be decolorized to remove impurities. This is a chemical process and requires machinery and equipment.

Li Xu thought about it, and felt that brown sugar is also good. Brown sugar has a unique fragrance, and there are many foods that can be made, and it also has a good effect on women, so there will definitely be a market.

Liu Shu saw Li Xu nibbling on sugarcane, always worried that he would break his teeth. He also gnawed on this thing. Although it was sweet, it was too much effort to eat. People who don’t like sweets don’t have the patience to gnaw it slowly. .

For the next half month, it continued to rain in South Vietnam. The winter rain was cold and humid, and the cold air came out of the bones. Many Habayashi soldiers who were not used to this climate fell ill, including Ji Hanyu, a young scholar whose physique also Not too good, I got sick a few times along the way.

The team had to stop halfway, Doctor Yan couldn't get up completely, and Doctor Xiao Yan hadn't left his teacher yet, so Li Xu had to send people to search for medical craftsmen in the city, and bought them with a lot of money to treat everyone.

Many of the doctors at this time were trained by noble families, they were of humble origin, and they were superior to ordinary servants. Li Xu found out that they could be bought and sold, so he simply bought two medical craftsmen at a high price, just in case. .

These two medical craftsmen are not young enough to deal with intractable diseases, but they are still good at treating fevers caused by excessive humidity.

Li Xu asked Yan Chen to fight with these two people, learn as much as he could, and Doctor Yan also asked the two people to try their best to treat them, but after seeing them, they both expressed that they were powerless.

On the fifth day of the team's stay, Doctor Yan still left. Before he died, he asked Yan Chen to follow King Shun so that he didn't have to go back to the capital. He chose this little great-grandson to take him with him because Yan Chen was the most talented among all his descendants. Yes, it's a pity that I am old and the time I can teach him is limited, so I always bring him by my side.

And if King Shun is reliable, he can leave Yan Chen in South Vietnam, which can be regarded as a way out. If King Shun is not worth relying on, then he will entrust the Yulin Army to bring Yan Chen back to the capital. The Yan family has a medical clinic in the capital. There is always a way out.

Along the way, he watched Shun Wang's words and deeds with cold eyes, knowing that there was no better master than him, so he left Yan Chen with confidence.

Yan Chen cried for several days. The ancients paid attention to returning fallen leaves to their roots, but he couldn't bring his great-grandfather back to the capital for burial. He could only cremate the old man's body locally, put it in an urn, and carried it with him.

The atmosphere in the team became sluggish for a while, most of those Habayashi soldiers who were sick were cured, and two of them who were too sick were out of danger, as long as they were taken care of.

Seeing that winter is coming and spring is coming, they have been on the road for half a year, and they are only half a month away from Minzhou. Li Xu and Lin Zhao discussed that they can start.

Starting again, the team has a new look. The old clothes are replaced with new ones. After a few days of eating and drinking, everyone is not so embarrassed. How could he be so thoughtful and buy new clothes for everyone.

Li Xu also put on his newly made clothes. There is no good local fabric, so his inner clothes were brought from the capital, and outside he made a jacket with newly bought cotton cloth, and when it was cold, he wore a mink fur. A coat can keep you warm and sweaty.

This kind of fluffy fur coat is expensive to wear in the north, but it would be a bit silly to wrap it in South Vietnam, so unless it is really cold, Li Xu would never put it on.