The Book of Troubled Times

  Chapter 443 Erhai Lake

  Li Si'an didn't bother to investigate the tax and bank robbery. He was really loyal to his status as an agent of the Zhenma Division, but he didn't intend to work for his colleagues in Bashu. Besides, Zhao Changhe was here.

  Based on the sensitivity of Li Si'an's fellow thieves, maybe this guy is an accomplice of the robbers...

  He accompanied Zhao Changhe, who was pretending to be king, to continue southward, and said in a low voice: "Actually, the tax money of the Southwest Xuanwei Division was lost once in the early spring... Originally, the imperial court let this batch of money go directly down the river to support the suppression of Maitreya in the south of the Yangtze River.

  Zhao Changhe narrowed his eyes.

   It's all done by Li Shentong?

   Or is it that if I don’t grab it, someone else will grab it anyway, why don’t I do it?

   "At that time, the chief was in Taihu Lake and was about to have a decisive battle with Maitreya, so he was unable to investigate the case here. The imperial court sent other important officials to investigate the matter here. In the end, it was said that it was robbed by bandits, so let's let it go..." Li Si'an said: "Anyway, the local town magician had a clue pointing to Li Shentong, and reported it to the chief.

  Zhao Changhe nodded: "I see..."

   "Oh, the investigation didn't do anything, but it actually did something. It was an excuse to search for the bandit's name, and anyone who dared to resist would be a robbery of silver. Family ruin and death are minor." Li Si'an said: "Situ Xiao once killed several officials because of these things.

  Zhao Changhe felt extremely disobedient. Is Situ Xiao making up for the disaster he caused?

  After thinking for a while, he asked again: "Supernatural Li cares about Di Muzhi? Or does he simply care about the court?"

   "How do I know? Will Li Shentong tell me?"

   "...Then is there any governor of Yizhou here? I don't seem to have heard of it."

   "The governor of the imperial court only has the power of supervision, and the chief official of the frontier is actually the prefect. But it depends on the situation... Well, do you think the power of the prefect of Kuaiji is as powerful as Tang? Let alone Qinghe Langya."

   "...Then who is behind Zhai Mu? I haven't heard that Bashu has an aristocratic family at the level of King Cui."

   "Not at all. If there is, it might be Bashan Jianlu... Didn't I tell you before that many people from Bashu have gone to Jianlu to worship the sword, and many people from the Zhai family have been there."

  Zhao Changhe nodded, then shook his head again.

  A master may not be able to support a great power, but a great power cannot be without masters. In many cases, masters can really determine the outcome of the overall situation. Without the support of top masters, a big force is easily weakened.

  The master of the Sword House is uncertain. After his death, Maitreya has been promoted to the sixth place. There are only a dozen people in the world who are stronger than him. He is fully qualified to be the backing of a certain force.

  But Zhao Changhe still feels that Li Shentong is either far away from Xia Longyuan, and if he has scruples about the immediate affairs, he will not be scruples about the rank of the list, unless Bashu or the soon-to-arriving Miaojiang still have hidden characters who can restrain Li Shentong's violent temper.

  For example, No. 6 on the Tianbang, no one knows who it is, listen to the snow host Xuexiao.

   That is the real sixth.

  ...

  Miaojiang is just a general term. In fact, the "Bailiao" in Li Si'an's mouth is more correct. There are all ethnic groups. Many ethnic groups are not the same as what Zhao Changhe knows in this world, and many of them have never heard of it.

  Folk customs are not necessarily full of singing, dancing and hospitality. The barbaric beliefs of primitive tribes of various ethnic groups, as well as fighting with weapons of various ethnic groups, are not uncommon. It is not too much to say that they are not fully civilized.

  The area is also not fully developed, and it is not the same as the tourist province in Zhao Changhe's memory. There are poisonous miasma, mosquitoes, beasts, primitive jungles everywhere, and rugged and narrow roads. The various ethnic groups are not very friendly to the Xia people, and robbery is a very common thing.

  The Xia people can only be called "Xuanwei" here, and there is no real governance. The autonomy of each ethnic group is still the main thing, and there is no Tianbang fierce person in each ethnic group to rule the Quartet.

  Ordinary caravans would not dare to trade here easily, only businessmen based on brilliant warriors like Li Si'an would dare to come here. It is very suitable for Yue Hongling to take refuge here. Even Xia Longyuan has such a headache when he conquers it, and there is no way to cure it after conquering it. How can a mere sword house control this place? Isn't it possible that he can only rely on familiar forces to find it slowly...

   After half a month of hard work, Zhao Changhe and his party finally passed through various deep mountains and old forests and arrived at the flat land. I was lucky along the way, I didn't encounter robbery, but I encountered a lot of poisonous insects and beasts, and many people in the convoy were bitten by mosquitoes and became Buddhas.

   It gave Zhao Changhe a lot of experience in using the Rejuvenation Jue. Given his current level of control over the Rejuvenation Jue, it is particularly effective for this thing. Accumulating experience in the treatment of various poisonous insects is also beneficial to the progress of the Rejuvenation Jue.

   Arrived at the place without any surprises and dangers, I felt that the whole team had lost weight, and was even more dirty and smelly. The black horse could hardly be ridden, which reminded Zhao Changhe of the state of a certain heroine uncontrollably.

  All romances in the rivers and lakes are deceiving...

  Zhao Changhe was sniffling, and a large lake appeared in the distant sky.

  Under the sun, sparkling, clear as brocade, beautiful as fairyland.

  The lake is long, narrow from east to west, boundless from north to south, with thousands of hectares of blue waves, just like the sea.

   To the people of this place, this is the sea.

   Erhai Lake.

  Looking from a distance, there are herdsmen grazing horses on the plains on both sides of the river, and it is suddenly as if there are two worlds apart from the previous ruggedness. It feels like this is a secret realm, and there seems to be nothing wrong with it.

   Just surrounding the sea alone, I don't know how many ethnic groups can be supported. And this is just a small area of ​​Bailiao in the southwest. There are other vast areas, countless mountains, rivers and lakes. It can really take a few years to find someone here.

  Li Si'an let out a sigh of relief: "Here we are. There are cities and towns ahead, where all ethnic groups live and trade together. Do you think of Huangshaji? Oh, the grassland before Huangshaji."

  Zhao Changhe was immersed in the beautiful scenery, and was amazed: "I thought that when I came here, I would drill in various cottages. Unexpectedly, the world can be so similar, as if the creator broke the same thing in half and separated it into north and south."

  Li Si'an waved his whip and laughed loudly: "The sea is vast, the world is boundless, maybe China is only a drop in the world, so what is north and south?"

Huh?

  Zhao Changhe twitched the corners of his mouth, and Lao Tzu played an ancient role, and the ancients showed off a modern pattern. Of course, this is not modern cognition, but the imagining of the world by thinking people in this world, which is no longer easy.

   If you want to pretend, who can't: "It's north and south, I define it. Whoever has the right to define is the master of the world."

   "Huh..." Li Si'an also glanced at him, and finally said nothing.

  Zhao Changhe ignored him, thinking about taking a bath.

  Seeing that Zhao Changhe was eager to jump into the sea, Li Si'an grabbed him and said, "It's inconvenient in the open air in the wilderness. Do you encounter a horse bandit who swings your hammer and beats you? First enter the town, and you will wash it."

  Zhao Changhe: "..."

  The town is called Xizhou, but it was actually trapped by Li Si'an, and it's not close. It was all along the coast until dusk.

  Of course it is a town, so it is bigger and more beautiful than Huangshaji.

  The land of yellow sand and vast land, why is it so surrounded by mountains and rivers, with birds singing and flowers fragrant? Rather than saying that it looks like Huangshaji, it is better to say that it has the shadow of Suzhou and Hangzhou.

  The town is extremely lively, and the various costumes of different races are dazzling. Unfortunately, Zhao Changhe can't tell which costumes belong to which race. They all look similar at first glance... Some of the girls are wearing short clothes and showing their small waists. They walk on the street indifferently.

  But when people saw Zhao Changhe and others leading their horses into the house, the peaceful atmosphere became a bit strange. Many people exchanged winks, not knowing whether to convey their vigilance or malice to the Xia people, which made Zhao Changhe frown slightly.

   "Hey, Lao Xia didn't have any massacres here, did he?"

   "No. But I once killed a Tianbang who is the king here, causing the newly integrated ethnic groups to be divided into seventeen or eighteen." Li Si'an looked at him even more strangely: "Hey, didn't you learn a lot of historical anecdotes? It is said that the first person taught you personally, why did you go to class?"

   Kissed the teacher on the mouth.

  Zhao Changhe burst into tears, and fell asleep every time he took cultural class and history class. Is it my fault... Well, the teacher didn't teach well. This kind of thing can be told vividly as a story of an acquaintance. What kind of history is told, people just want to shut their mouths, that's it.

   "Just because they killed the king they admired, so the people here are not friendly to us?"

   "Killing the Hei Miao King, at most the Hei Miao people were unfriendly, and the other ethnic groups were able to govern themselves, and they were overjoyed." Li Si'an lowered his voice: "Besides, it's an old grudge. It shouldn't... cause the current unfriendliness. Of course, it is only a matter of comfort now."

  Zhao Changhe nodded slightly, and asked: "What is the background of that Lei Ao?"

   "He's a hero... He was just an ordinary tribal leader in their clan, and he didn't make it to the list of people in the world in his cultivation, so he's not bad. He probably has eight or nine layers of entrances. In the early years, he did some things of the three religions and nine classes in this kind of market town. Because of his generous loyalty and being able to make friends with the leaders of various clans, he gradually became bigger in the city, like a local tyrant, known as Thunder Tiger."

  Zhao Changhe was complaining about why the tyrant in a place surnamed Lei is called Leihu. The convoy just happened to be outside a large tent, and someone came out with a loud voice: "Ha... I thought that the fourth brother should arrive soon, and sure enough. Uh... this is..."

  Zhao Changhe looked at the person, his face was full of gills, mighty and majestic, like a galloping horse, he really looked like a "thunder tiger".

  But with Batu in the lead, Zhao Changhe dared not underestimate these seemingly reckless men, who might be more doggy than anyone else.

  He smiled reservedly, slightly cupped his hands, and responded calmly: "I am the king of Langya."

  (end of this chapter)