"Hmph." Noticing the small movements of the team, Ye Sanlang let out a cold snort.
"If you think you can fight, you can send all of you here. After I have defeated you all, I will remove your governor." When he said this, his tone was very calm, but everyone around him They all had a cold war.
The captain suddenly remembered all the legends about him, swallowed his saliva, and said quickly: "Ye Yushi misunderstood, our admiration for you is like a torrential river, how can we dare to fight with you."
Ye Sanlang nodded, and with a flash of green light in his hand, the Longquan Sword disappeared immediately, and the team just breathed a sigh of relief.
There were bursts of noise in the distance. Looking through the city gate, I saw a group of government officials following an old man, hurried over here. It seemed that he was one of the state officials of Hezhou.
He trotted over and angrily scolded the team: "Chen Xiaotian, are you going to kill me?!"
After saying that, he immediately turned his head and said with an apologetic smile to Ye Sanlang: "I don't know that Ye Zhongcheng is here. He really misses the welcome from afar and hopes that Zhongcheng will atone for his sins."
"Zhongcheng?" Chen Xiaotian hadn't reacted yet. He was just a guard guarding the city gate. Naturally, he couldn't compare to this guy who had taken root here for many years in terms of spreading news.
"Old gentleman, who are you?" Ye Sanlang asked.
"Haha, I am the long history of Hezhou: the Book of Changes."
Zhou Yi is also a familiar name. When he was in Yangzhou, because he was going to Jiannan, he looked through the files of these recent cities in the government office. Zhou Yi is the most recent long history of Hezhou, and this person is quite controversial, with mixed reviews of him. It is said that he is quite good to his people, and often helps his poor subordinates; but it is also said that he has a close relationship with the people in the city. The corrupt government soldiers colluded and accepted protection fees from merchants in the city. He made a rough analysis and found that Zhou Yi had been working in Hezhou for many years, but had never been promoted. Therefore, he probably gave up trying to please the guys above him and started to develop in Hezhou.
"It turns out to be Zhou Changshi. I heard a lot of good things about Chang Shi when I was in Yangzhou."
Zhou Yi's expression suddenly changed and he laughed a few times: "Haha, Ye Zhongcheng really loves to joke. I guess all you hear are negative rumors about lower officials." He shook his head.
"No." Ye Sanlang said seriously: "Maybe others don't know, but I can understand. You don't want to bribe your boss, but you don't want the people to suffer. For the sake of balance between the two parties, you don't hesitate to ruin your reputation and wander around. Between. This love for the people, even Ye Mou is willing to be inferior, Zhou Changshi, you have suffered a lot."
Hearing this, Zhou Yi's eyes suddenly became moist.
"No, Ye Zhongcheng, everything is worth it for the people. But you are a hero. You are not afraid of power at a young age and work for the welfare of the people. I really admire you." He smiled, which was a kind of expression. Admiration from the bottom of my heart, unlike the fake smiles of those guests at the wedding in Yangzhou.
"But speaking of which, shouldn't you be returning to Chang'an? Why are you here in this small Hezhou?"
"I have something to go to Jiannan temporarily."
"Jiannan? Can't we go directly from Yangzhou to Jiannan by water?"
Ye Sanlang touched his head in embarrassment and said: "The people in Yangzhou are so enthusiastic. If we don't take a road trip, I'm afraid it will be difficult to escape."
Zhou Yi understood it at once: "That means you came to Ihezhou just to take a boat to Jiannan. Am I right?"
Ye Sanlang nodded and said: "Zhou Changshi made it clear. To tell you the truth, I am indeed planning to take a boat at the dock in Hezhou and go straight up the river to Yizhou."
"Then you've come to the right place." Zhou Yi smiled. "It happens that a passenger ship belonging to the Xianyu Chamber of Commerce is currently staying in our state. They will leave for Jiannan tomorrow."
New to the Chamber of Commerce? Ye Sanlang heard a familiar name, could it be...
"May I ask Zhou Changshi, are there any people from Shan Yu's family on this passenger ship?"
"Yes, the second son of the Xianyu family, Xianyu Fudong, is on the boat. The old man of the Xianyu family will be seventy in a month. He has to put aside his business in the Jiangnan area and run back."
Hearing that name, Ye Sanlang was a little surprised. He didn't expect that guy to be on the boat at the moment.
"Well, it's a good idea. It's better to come early than to come by chance, so I'll ask Zhou Changshi to lead the way." He jumped off the horse and said.
Zhou Yi nodded, pulled Ye Sanlang and walked away. Looking at his direction, he was going to Hezhou Pier. Seeing this, Li Sihan and Shuang Yan also dismounted their horses and followed them behind them. Further behind, there was a group of government officials and a bunch of ordinary people. When they heard that the young man who looked about twenty years old was Ye Sanlang from the famous town of Jiangnan, everyone's faces suddenly showed surprise.
Along the way, Zhou Yi briefly discussed the general trend of the world with Ye Sanlang, which made Ye Sanlang admire him. I am afraid that even Lu Yongming may not see it as thoroughly as he does. However, knowing that the military system in Zhongyuan Prefecture was seriously broken, he was completely unable to do anything. For the sake of the people, he could not fight with those people.
Suddenly thinking of something, Ye Sanlang suddenly asked: "Zhou Changshi, I wonder how many soldiers are stationed in Hezhou?"
Zhou Yi's old face suddenly changed color, and he hesitated and said: "Why do you ask this... Actually, it's not much..."
"I ask again, how many are there?" His face began to look a little ugly, so judging from the situation just now, he also knew that the situation was probably very bad.
Seeing that it was inevitable, Zhou Yi sighed and said slowly: "Well, logically speaking, Hezhou should be regarded as Zhongzhou. The garrison usually has three thousand people. However, the recent land annexation has been serious and the military system of the government has collapsed. There is no point in serving as a soldier. Who would do such a stupid thing if they had to pay their own way to survive? If it weren’t for the only remaining Yongye field, who would still serve? It is said to be three thousand people, but in fact Hezhou’s current garrison is less than one thousand. Others They had all gone long ago, and most of the ones left were locals.
Ye Sanlang's eyelids raised. This was indeed beyond his expectation. Although he had known for a long time that the military system in various provinces in the Central Plains had seriously collapsed, he did not expect it to be so serious.
"Alas." He sighed and shook his head: "If foreigners invade at this moment, the border areas will be fine, but if they are allowed to break through the border defenses and enter the Central Plains, what can we, the Tang Dynasty, do to resist?"
A bitter smile appeared on Zhou Yi's face at the same time. Although today's Tang Dynasty looks like a celestial kingdom, it has already rotted from the inside out.
Unknowingly, the group of people had arrived at Hezhou's pier, and a seemingly huge passenger ship suddenly appeared in front of everyone.
At this moment, there was a young man in rich clothes standing on the bow of the ship. He looked to be about the same age as Ye Sanlang. He also noticed Ye Sanlang coming to the front of the ship like stars over the moon. He was surprised and blurted out these two words.
"Sanlang?"
He also raised his head and responded: "Fudong, farewell Chang'an, long time no see."
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