Qiongzhou, also known as Qiongguan, is a battleground for military strategists.
If you want to go north to Beijing, you must go to Qiongzhou, unless you go over the mountains.
Before the founding emperor of the previous dynasty established his dynasty, he fought with local heroes around Qiongzhou for twelve years, and countless bones fell into the yellow sand.
It can be said that if someone rebels in the south, Qiongzhou must be taken first. It is like the throat of the E court. One man can guard the gate and no one can open it.
Vice versa, if the southern region rebels and the imperial court sends people to defend Qiongzhou, the war will not spread to the north. Once Qiongzhou is not defended, the rebels will march straight into the capital.
In addition to connecting the north and south, it can also enter the west, which is barely the junction of the south, north and west. The mountains on both sides are even more dangerous.
Qiongzhou is not only a city, but also has two important towns and twelve counties, all of which are under the jurisdiction of Qiongzhou.
When night fell, Han You took Wang Hai, Zhou Tong and two miscellaneous soldiers to the outside of Qiongzhou City, preparing to enter the city.
Qiongzhou City is built on the mountain. The city wall is majestic, tall and majestic. It is made of thick stones, one on top of another. Looking from a distance, it seems to have countless marks of knives and axes. These marks silently tell the story of this majestic city. The city has experienced so many wars and been stained with blood so many times.
The northern city wall alone is nearly a hundred feet wide. The archers on the wall are condescending, with their quivers full and their bows on their backs. The warriors stand by the noose, with their big axes leaning against the wall. If they are attacked, they can quickly fall down.
Common people, caravans, and groups of troops are all waiting to enter the city, let alone Yongcheng. The interrogation here is more stringent than when entering the capital.
Han You waited patiently and observed.
They always say that the Southland is rich, but Han You can't see anything different from the people in the capital from the faces of the people going in and out of the city. They are all in a hurry, walking, standing, and running like zombies. Wait and survive.
Han You gradually figured out the meaning of "rich".
He believes that wealth is related to the people. The people have enough to eat, some clothes to wear, and are strong and fat.
It turns out that the so-called prosperity only means prosperity in towns, wealth in taxes, wealth in aristocratic families, and wealth in government.
So, if the people are poor and the government is rich, is this... considered rich?
You should forget about it, after all, the officials and aristocratic families are very wealthy, that's what wealthy people think anyway.
There is no interrogation when leaving the city. When entering the city, a few lucky spectators are randomly selected for questioning, body searches and even baggage searches.
The person who searched the body was the city gate man, accompanied by six palace guards. There were a total of four city gates, each with a city gate man and six palace guards.
The Fuwei are similar to the Jingwei, with different names. They are subordinate to the Zhechong Prefecture or the Military Beifu. They dispatch personnel into the city in shifts to cooperate with the local government in public security maintenance, pursuits, interrogations and other government affairs.
Seeing that Han You and others were approaching, Wang Hai's expression changed slightly: "Master, something is wrong."
Han You tilted his head and glanced ahead, secretly sighing.
In a normal interrogation, not everyone will be interrogated, but those who look obscene, look fierce, and have evasive eyes will be interrogated. This is the case in the capital, and it is also the case in most other cities, and only ordinary people are interrogated.
Generally speaking, when you see people wearing Confucian robes or fancy clothes, or people with extraordinary backgrounds, you just ask a few questions at most.
As a result, the gatekeepers of Qiongzhou City turned out to be exactly the opposite. When people entered the city, they would not even take a second look. They would only interrogate the richly dressed people, especially those riding in carriages or sedan chairs, and they would look inside and outside. Transparent, even check the baggage.
You must know that doing this is very offensive. If any young master or young master is unhappy, a casual word may make these humble officials worse than death.
There is more than one weird thing. There are four city gates in total, and there are special roads for horses, sedans, and carriages on both sides. It is not that there are no regulations, but it is for the convenience of privileged people. However, the four gates of Qiongzhou City are mixed. You can go wherever you want.
Han You made a decisive decision: "Don't enter the city first."
Seeing what Han You said, everyone could only turn around and leave.
Until he left the team, Han You kept smiling bitterly: "Someone tipped off the local officials. The officials here knew that I was coming."
Zhou Tong asked in confusion: "How do you know?"
"Look at the city gate. There are four gates. Judging from their behavior and clothing, they are all ordinary people who don't bring much. They should all be locals. They would rather queue at the two middle gates than go to the relatively crowded place. On both sides, there were a few people queuing up. They were all saluting and looking tired. They were obviously outsiders. Looking at the people being interrogated by the city gate man, they were all young people or burly people. The city gatekeeper was smiling all over his face when he was doing the interrogation. He was deeply afraid of offending others, but if he was afraid of offending others, why did he have to interrogate and do the interrogation so carefully?"
Zhou Tong shook his head: "I still don't understand."
Han You didn't want to explain anymore. After his IQ dropped to a certain level, it was no longer useful to just talk, so he could only let him see slowly.
Others understood that the local people did not use the gates on both sides, which meant that Qiongzhou City was like other cities. The gates on both sides were not for walking people, so the local people were used to it and would not use both sides.
When the city gatekeeper checked, he carefully rummaged through the baggage, not like searching, but more like looking for something. He also kept a smile on his face, knelt down, and directly waved to the people to let them pass.
"interesting."
Han You thought for a long time and then looked at Wang Hai: "Go and get some common people's clothes. You and Zhou Tong dress up in disguise and hide military symbols, imperial edicts, and banknotes. They won't interrogate the people."
"What about you, young master?"
"I will walk in directly without bringing anything that will reveal my identity. I will wait for you after entering the city."
"No."
Wang Hai was not worried about Han You being alone, so he threw all the burdens to Zhou Tong and other miscellaneous soldiers.
"Okay, Brother Hai, follow me in. The others will get some common people's clothes and pretend to be common people. Remember to make your face dirty and look like common people."
Zhou Tong said happily: "How can I be like the common people?"
"No common people will take the initiative to talk to the city gatekeepers or palace guards, nor will they look into their eyes."
"Isn't that guilty?"
"Yes, so the world is not right. Those who should feel guilty stand straight up and yell, but those who should not feel guilty are just submissive."
…………
In Qiongzhou City, there is a government office.
In the backyard squad room, Xiang Lun, a third-grade magistrate of the state, was sitting there with a golden sword, his face expressionless.
There is a difference between a prefect and a prefect. A prefect is only in charge of a city, while a prefect can be divided into two situations. One is a border town with strong military and political power, just like Xiang Lun, the prefect of Qiongzhou.
There is also a situation where the person is in charge of political affairs and can only mobilize the auxiliary troops of the garrison guard, but does not have any jurisdiction over the troops of the garrison and Zhechong government.
Both of them are from the third rank. If they go to the sixth rank in the capital, they will be demoted by half a rank and can be the right minister.
Xiang Lun is a bit fat, but this kind of fat is not pure fat, but fat. He is five big and three thick, with eyes as big as copper bells, a garlic nose, and messy hair. He looks like the Bull Demon King going to the countryside to experience life. .
This guy was originally the deputy commander-in-chief of Nanbian Pass. After Lao Ba ascended the throne, he was transferred to Qiongzhou as the magistrate.
You must know that the position of commander and deputy commander at various levels can no longer be defined only by military commanders. Especially deputy commanders, who are both civil and military. The commander is responsible for overall planning, and the deputy commander can do all kinds of work. In addition to the military aspect, the local people's livelihood , politics, logistics, and even agriculture, etc., all have to be decided or implemented.
It is definitely inappropriate for a border general to be the magistrate. He cannot even be the magistrate, but the deputy commander is definitely qualified.
However, Xiang Lun is not a direct descendant of Lao Ba's confidant, and the two of them have never met.
It was actually a helpless move for Lao Ba to make him the governor of the state. Basically, the talents in his hands were military generals, and they were all placed in various places in Zichong's mansion. As for Xiang Lun, he had a brilliant record and was both civil and military. From the perspective of experience, this person also He was dissatisfied with the previous emperor because he served as deputy commander at the border and occasionally interacted with the Nandi family, but they were not close friends.
It is worth mentioning that before Lao Ba went to seize the capital, he sent someone to send a message to Xiang Lun, which meant that I, Lao Ba, wanted to be the emperor. If you are loyal to me now, you will be regarded as half a minister of the dragon in the future.
As a result, Xiang Lun has no one with the emotional intelligence. He expressed his position, which means that I will not participate in your messy things. I am only responsible for leading the brothers to guard Nanguan. If there is chaos in the pass, the only responsibility of our border troops is to prevent the aliens from Nanguan from taking advantage of the situation. Who of you will be the emperor? Our southern army doesn't care at all, we can do whatever we want.
This is something that deserves a beating. Whenever a petty-minded person becomes an emperor, he will be the first to be punished.
Xiang Lun was really lucky. Lao Ba was not only very thoughtful, but also admired this stupid young man. Although his emotional intelligence was low, his ability was not small. In the end, he was made the governor of Qiongzhou.
Lao Ba knew that Xiang Lun was loyal to the court and the people, but the previous emperor was too shameless. Even if someone rebelled, he couldn't interfere if he wanted to. He couldn't even ignore Nanguan.
At this time, there was another person in the class room opposite the wing, a young man in his early twenties, with elegant appearance, named Zhao Congyun.
Zhao Congyun is the third generation disciple of the Zhao family. In terms of seniority, he has to call Artai in the capital uncle.
"Sir, count the days. Han You, the swordsman of the Yidao Guard, should be arriving soon. Maybe he has already entered the city. If you don't make a decision, it will be too late."
"Is it too late to regret it?"
Xiang Lun placed the letter on the desk on the candle, and then threw it into the charcoal basin.
"The young general of the Yi Dao Guard is what I want to get rid of. I also want to get rid of a family like yours who always have crooked ideas. What does this have to do with me?"
"My lord knows that I can't ask questions. My father has already stated his interests in the letter. Qiongzhou is such an important city. How can I really hand it over to you today? It was just a temporary measure to appoint me. Now I want to replace you. How can I If you can rely on an imperial edict, you must at least weave some evidence of guilt. The swordsman who is famous in Beijing must come to Southland with the intention of..."
"enough!"
Xiang Lun slapped the table: "Don't think that I don't know what your Zhao family is thinking. It's just a trick to kill someone with a borrowed knife. Go away. Don't let me see you, an ignorant brat, again."
"My lord, don't be anxious. My father's intention is not to kill someone with a borrowed knife, but if something happens to Han You in Qiongzhou, I hope you can help cover it up. This matter will definitely not..."
"Zhao Congyun!" Xiang Lun narrowed his eyes: "I, Shu Daoshan, will pick off your head if you don't leave."
Zhao Congyun was not angry, bowed and said goodbye, left the squad room and walked out of the government office.
The supervisor at the door walked in. Seeing Xiang Lun's face, he sighed: "They say that Zhao Congyun has sharp teeth and a sharp mouth. If this is true, I'm afraid..."
"Yes, let's sow discord and plant a seed of suspicion in my heart."
Xiang Lun shook his head and smiled bitterly: "If I had known this, I might as well have stayed in Nanguan."
Jian Cheng didn't know what to say. He didn't doubt that it was definitely a lie.
For such an important city, it's okay if Xiang Lun is not the emperor's confidant. He had already stated that he would not help anyone. How could the emperor really let him continue to be the governor of Qiongzhou?
Standing up, Xiang Lun asked as he left the class room: "And Han You, hasn't arrived yet?"
"Not yet."
Xiang Lun stopped and shook his head again.
He wouldn't worry if Han You entered the city with great fanfare.
But if he enters the city "sneakily", he will probably be prepared to cause trouble as Zhao Congyun said, so that the emperor can reasonably and legally remove him from the position of knowing the state.
Since he is going to be dragged on, he will definitely not be allowed to retire and return to his hometown.
The more he thought about it, the more irritated Xiang Lun became.
Jian Cheng hesitated for a while and persuaded: "No matter what, when you meet the swordsman of the Yi Sword Guard, you should be more humble. If...if you have no choice but to be humble, it is best to be humble. If it is still the same as before..."
"Fart!" Xiang Lun said angrily: "I have walked back and forth countless times in mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and I am from a third-level magistrate. Why should I bow down to a young boy? If he doesn't give me face, don't blame him. I don’t show mercy, huh!”
"But Han You is General Han after all. If you contradict him, I'm afraid..."
"I am now a civil servant and a state magistrate. Who will give face to Han Da... to Han Bairen, let alone Han You? Even if Han Bairen stands in front of me, the last general... No, I am not afraid of him, huh!"
The supervisor was too embarrassed to point it out.
All generals who are doing well in the South say this, if they really meet someone, hehe, hehehehe.
