At this time, Su Qi'an, who had received Lin Yuanzhi, headed towards Tiannan Mountain in Sichuandu County.
Tiannan Mountain is far away from Sichuan City, at the junction of Guangyang and Sichuan City. Starting from Xizhou City, at their speed, it would take an hour or two, and they would have to pass through two or three counties along the way.
During the journey, Lin Yuanzhi kept looking outside the carriage. He could see everything along the way.
Lin Yuanzhi nodded frequently while watching. In his opinion, at present, the development of Xizhou, which was taken over by Su Qi'an, is not very good.
You will still see some refugees fleeing famine along the way, which is not Su Qi'an's fault.
Most of these refugees were left behind by Tang Fengzhi when he took office. Su Qi'an took over Xizhou and after stabilizing Xizhou City, he gradually allowed the movement of people.
Without the ban, these people would naturally flee their destroyed homes and go to better counties. Su Qi'an could not stop this.
Blocking is worse than opening up. The only way to solve this problem is to develop the local economy, stabilize the public security environment in counties and counties, cancel high taxes, and recuperate.
Only in this way can Xizhou fundamentally recover slowly. Read the book
These ideas and policies, after Su Qi'an took over Xizhou, immediately sent Su Yong, Chen Dao, Song Biao, Er Meng and other senior generals of the Dongshan Army to take charge of their respective areas and began to implement them.
Xie Cang, on the other hand, led the Splitting Mountain Army to suppress the bandits and eliminate troubles in Xizhou. This is why he did not see them during this period.
With the dispatch of these confidants, the security in Xizhou has had obvious effects.
Along the way, they encountered no bandits on the official roads. Even though they passed through some small roads and dense forests on the way, no bandits dared to ambush and rob them.
It was not that they were afraid of the guards in Su Qi'an's hands. Even the refugees showed no signs of robbery.
Most of the credit for all this must be attributed to Xie Cang's massive bandit suppression. The bandit leaders who were killed were all frightened and could only hide.
This is external, but internally, within each county, multiple batches of checkpoints and posts will be added at some important passes and bridges.
Once bandits are found to be robbing, as long as they shout for help, the message will definitely reach the nearby checkpoints. Su Qi'an and the others can achieve such a density.
As public security gradually improved, the internal management of each county was being implemented in an orderly manner under the orders of several senior generals and in accordance with Su Qi'an's instructions.
It can be said that in just ten days and a half, Xizhou has gradually improved at a speed visible to the naked eye.
And this is the important reason why Lin Yuanzhi nods frequently. Currently, Xizhou seems to have many shortcomings, but it gives people a feeling that everything is waiting for improvement.
Su Qi'an really followed his philosophy and helped the people of Xizhou live a good life bit by bit.
This kind of governance made Lin Yuanzhi feel a little dazed, as if he had seen Xizhou twenty years ago, where people were prosperous and full of vitality under Luo Qingyuan's governance.
In a flash, an hour and a half passed quietly. As everyone continued to rush, Su Qi'an and Lin Yuan finally arrived at the foot of Tiannan Mountain.
Opening the car curtains and looking at the Tiannan Mountains in the distance, a sense of comfort and leisure comes to your face. When you breathe in, the fresh air makes you feel refreshed.
It is not unreasonable for Tiannanshan to be selected by Luo Qingyuan.
The mountain peaks are shrouded in mist, giving people a sense of mystery wrapped in a veil. Within a dozen miles around the foot of the mountain, the air is fresh and refreshing.
Such a place is indeed a good place worthy of living and practicing Taoism.
Su Qi'an can also understand why the ancients in history were willing to live in seclusion in famous mountains. Only by experiencing it personally can you appreciate the charm.
If Su Qi'an was alone and had no worries, he might be like Luo Qingyuan and find a famous mountain to live in seclusion.
The two got off the carriage. Su Qian gave instructions to the guards around him, and the guards quickly dispersed.
Although there are regular patrol soldiers sent by Su Qi'an outside Tiannan Mountain, an extra layer of vigilance is needed just in case and not to be disturbed.
Su Qi'an looked away,
He smiled at Lin Yuanzhi beside him and said, "Mr. Lin, you are already old. It is a bit inappropriate to climb the mountain with the students. How about going up the mountain on a bamboo chair?"
Lin Yuanzhi waved his hands and looked confident, "Master Hou, don't underestimate me. Although I am old, I am not yet terminally ill. I have climbed this Tiannan Mountain several times. In terms of speed, maybe the Marquis can’t compare to me.”
With that said, Lin Yuanzhi started to warm up and stretch his muscles.
Su Qi'an laughed at this scene, but he did not stop him. He turned his eyes and glanced at the soldiers behind him who had prepared bamboo chairs, telling them to be ready at any time.
Once Lin Yuanzhi is exhausted, they can quickly follow up.
After stretching their muscles through exercise, Su Qi'an and the soldiers carrying the bamboo chairs began to climb the mountain under the leadership of Lin Yuanzhi.
Tiannan Mountain is a famous mountain. As early as a hundred years ago, climbing stone steps have been manually dug.
The stone steps are in a wraparound shape, making it look like you are ascending to the sky.
After so many years of reinforcement and repair, you can even see the remaining traces of the past on the stone steps.
Su Qi'an didn't count how many stone steps there were. According to their speed, it would take them two hours to climb to the top.
But this time they came not to climb mountains, but to find the reclusive Luo Qingyuan.
Although Luo Qingyuan lives in seclusion in Tiannan Mountain, he is also afraid of being disturbed by Tang Feng and others.
From time to time, he would move regularly and leave the cave where he lived. Over the years, according to Lin Yuanzhi, Luo Qingyuan left more than 20 or 30 caves in Tiannan Mountain.
There are also secret paths connecting the caves. Only Luo Qingyuan knows about such paths.
The ancients said that a cunning rabbit has three burrows, but compared with Luo Qingyuan, it pales in comparison.
Therefore, it is not easy to see Luo Qingyuan.
Even with Lin Yuanzhi as a guide this time, Su Qi'an was ready to make a mistake.
Under the leadership of Lin Yuanzhi, half an hour later, they arrived at the mountainside of Tiannan Mountain and saw the cave where Luo Qingyuan lived.
As expected, this cave is empty, and judging from the internal environment, it seems that no one has lived in it for a long time.
Su Qi'an was not discouraged and continued to climb towards Tiannan Mountain under Lin Yuanzhi's guidance.
About a quarter of an hour later, a second cave was found. Although there were traces of human activity inside, it was a pity that it had been there for some time.
Su Qi'an and Lin Yuanzhi did not stop and continued searching. In the next half hour, they found at least four or five caves.
But unfortunately, these caves are all empty. In one of the caves, there were signs of human activity a few days ago. This can be regarded as giving the two of them some psychological comfort.
It took more than an hour. If they had followed the schedule, they would have climbed to the top of the mountain long ago.
But in order to find traces of Luo Qingyuan, the two of them kept wandering around the mountainside.
Seeing the sun hanging high above the heads of the four of them, the air gradually became hotter.
After searching for the sixth cave but failing again, Lin Yuanzhi was panting and sweating profusely while sitting on the big rock nearby.
Su Qi'an persuaded Lin Yuanzhi to sit on the bamboo chair and have a good rest.
After all, this kind of progress is too much for even him, let alone the elderly Lin Yuanzhi.
If this continues, Lin Yuanzhi will most likely faint in Tiannan Mountain.
But no matter how Su Qian tried to persuade him, Lin Yuanzhi remained unmoved.
He sat on the big rock and took a short rest. The next moment, with Su Qian's help, he stood up.
I thought Lin Yuanzhi would sit on a bamboo chair and rest, but Lin Yuanzhi took a few steps forward and shouted at the empty cave in front of him.
"Well, you old man, I've gone through all the trouble and come all the way to see you. That's how you plan to torment me, right?"
"I know your temper. I want to follow the example of the ancients who visited the thatched cottage three times, right? This time we searched six caves in a row, under the scorching sun above our heads. Playing with you like this can be regarded as sincerity."
"But you are as cunning as a rabbit. You have to torment me like this. Okay, I will put my words here and give you a moment to burn the incense. If you don't show up, I will definitely make people angry when I come down the mountain. I’ll burn this broken mountain of yours to see if you can get out.”
After saying that, Lin Yuanzhi gasped and sat down again.
Lin Yuanzhi's behavior made Su Qian laugh. He had never seen Lin Yuanzhi look like such an old kid.
Su Qi'an stood beside Lin Yuanzhi without saying a word, as if Lin Yuanzhi made the decision.
They have done this sincerely, but Luo Qingyuan has been reluctant to show up. As time goes by, Su Qi'an and the others cannot stay with him forever.
Now that Lin Yuanzhi has spoken, although it's funny, sometimes this kind of old kid's trickery can have good miraculous effects.
Time passed minute by minute, and soon, the time of burning incense passed. In response to Lin Yuanzhi's anger, there was still silence.
This time, Lin Yuanzhi had no intention of coddling Luo Qingyuan. He stood up directly and said to Su Qi'an.
"I don't think we have to wait any longer. Old Luo Tou's intention is very clear. We are not welcome here. We come down from the mountain. As soon as we come down from the mountain, we will gather our troops and set fire to the mountain!"
"Let's go! Don't regret it, Old Luotou."
After saying that, Lin Yuanzhi turned and left, and Su Qi'an followed quickly, seeing that the four of them were about to leave.
At this time, a rapid old voice sounded from behind, "Wait, wait, wait, stop."
The four of them stopped for a moment and turned around. At some point, in the open space next to the cave, an old man wearing a gray robe, with a stooped body and white hair, barefoot, hurriedly walked towards the forest garden. , Su Qian came over.
As he walked, he cursed. "Well, you old forest guy, you have ignored all these years of friendship, and you want to set fire to the mountain. You are going to kill people."
"You are a great Confucian after all. Even if you become an official, you have read the books of sages for so many years. You actually said such vulgar words and did such vicious things. I think when you pass away, you will definitely be beaten hard by the sages and let you Such dirty talk."
