The crazy Xiao Yijiu made the entire Tai Chi Palace nervous, while Wan Xingchen's words made a demon go west, and another word made an emperor panic. Sometimes the rivers and lakes are so big that people can't understand, and sometimes they are so small. It's only as big as a Tai Chi Palace. Even the small ones are only as big as two or three people.
These things do not seem to have anything to do with Fang Jie, who has already crossed the Yangtze River. At this time, he is also in the rivers and lakes.
The intersection of Luoshui River and the Yangtze River is as vast as a large lake with no visible edges. The east-west river and the north-south river meet here without causing any stormy waves. The waters of the two rivers gently wrapped themselves around each other and soon merged into one.
????????????????????????????????????????? But under the seemingly calm water there are rapids and undercurrents. There are many swirling undercurrents at the intersection of the two rivers. If the boatman accidentally sails the boat into this place, it will be swallowed up in a short time. The experience of the current boatmen has been accumulated and passed on to them by their ancestors over thousands of years. They will never touch the advice left by their ancestors.
In fact, the world here is exactly the same as the world of human beings? It looks like everything is calm, but in fact it is full of crises. If you are not careful, you will be involved in the waves and find it difficult to extricate yourself. Otherwise, you will be in a catastrophic situation. If you want to turn over, you can only wait for reincarnation in the next life, and you have to beg not to lose your memory.
After changing to a local government ship, Fang Jie and his party began to turn south.
The boatmen punted cautiously, not daring to go near the places where their ancestors had warned them orally. They all look the same on the water, but the local boatmen have an invisible route in mind. This route has been explored by countless generations of people with their lives, and its value cannot be measured in terms of money.
The lake formed at the intersection of the two rivers is called Yan Lake. It is said that when you stand on the highest point of Mangdang Mountain on the north bank of the Yangtze River and look this way, the shape of the lake looks like a flying swallow with spread wings. There is a water city on the side of the river where the water is the gentlest. It is one of the camps where the imperial navy patrols the Yangtze River and Luohe River. From the number of masts, it can be seen that there are at least hundreds of warships in the water city.
"Southern boat to west horse", these are four words popular among the people in the north before the Sui Dynasty pacified Jiangnan. Southerners are good at sailing, and walking on water is as easy as walking on flat ground. The Westerners naturally refer to the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. They ride horses as easily and simply as the Southerners drive boats. Nowadays, the land of Nanchuan has become the land of plenty in the Sui Dynasty, and the land of Xima is still eyeing half of the country in the Sui Dynasty.
Fang Jie took his eyes back from the water city, feeling a little uneasy as he was stirred up by the thousands of sails on the big lake. The world is so big and there are scenery everywhere.
But it was understandable that there was no room for so much scenery in his heart at this time. A Buddhist deity who called himself Shi Yuan almost filled his heart. This is not calm, mostly from that bald head.
Since he left that day, Fang Jie has not seen Shi Yuan again. The monk seemed to have suddenly disappeared. The secret guards who followed him secretly did not appear again. Zhuo Buyi was recovering from his injuries on the boat, but his people still left separately. When they were crossing Yan Lake, they heard that a murder had occurred, and five or six strangers died. Everyone died. Fadu was the same, with an extra blood hole on his forehead.
There is no doubt that Li Huo¡¯s men were all killed by Shi Yuan. Shi Yuan is not a god. If those secret guards do not take the initiative to provoke him, he will not know the identities of those secret guards. From this, it is speculated that those secret guards discovered Lu Minglan and went to contact him, but they were all killed by Shi Yuan.
The Buddha Sect¡¯s Heavenly Lord is undoubtedly powerful, so how could those dark guards be opponents?
Fang Jie came out with a thin blanket and covered Zhuo Buyi who was sitting on the deck chair to bask in the sun: "The wind is strong on the river. You are as weak as a three-year-old child now."
Zhuo Buyi smiled and said, "Not even as good as a three-year-old child."
Fang Jie sat down next to him, was silent for a while and asked: "With our current manpower, if we meet that Tianzun named Shiyuan again next time, can we have a chance of winning?"
Zhuo Buyi glanced at him with squinted eyes and said softly: "He may not kill you."
Fang Jie smiled bitterly: "It was not easy to get rid of the relationship with the Buddha Sect. I still haven't forgotten the six months in prison."
¡°This time it¡¯s different.¡±
Zhuo Buyi smiled: "This is not Chang'an City."
Fang Jie asked: "Would you lie to the emperor?"
Zhuo Buyi said: "I am not a member of the imperial court at all. In the imperial guard's office, you just treat me as a helper for your friends. Since I don't even have an official position, why should I take the initiative to report anything?"
Fang Jie smiled: "You are so cute now."
Zhuo Buyi said: "In other words, it would be better to use Yushu Linfeng."
Fang Jie curled his lips and said, "Wait until you are healed and come to Yushu."Well, now all I can think about is how to kill that guy. "
Zhuo Buyi frowned slightly, and after pausing for a while, he suddenly asked: "Why is he so obsessed with women? The boatwoman on the boat hired by the dark guard was not a beauty, and he did not let her go. The woman in the dark guard was. How come he is so pretty and has a status as a Buddhist heavenly being so hungry?"
¡°You don¡¯t choose what to eat when you¡¯re hungry!¡±
Fang Jie's eyes suddenly lit up: "These four words seem to be the key"
Zhuo Buyi sighed: "It's a pity that we know too little about the Buddhist sect. The Imperial Guard has been sending spies from the Meng Yuan sect for many years, but with little success. The foundation of the Buddhist sect is in the Daxue Mountain. Not everyone can enter the Dalun Temple. It¡¯s difficult to find out about a deity.¡±
"No matter what"
Fang explained: "We don't know anything about him anymore, right?"
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After passing Yan Lake, the big ship entered the Luoshui River. The width of this river is slightly less than that of the Yangtze River, but even so, the narrowest part of the river is at least one mile wide. Moreover, Luoshui is much gentler than Yangjiang. In comparison, she looks like a gentle girl, while Yangjiang is like a hot young woman.
Because it was an imperial envoy going south, the admiral of the Yanhu Navy specially sent two Huanglong Clippers to escort him. The Huanglong Express is thirty meters long and can carry two hundred soldiers at full capacity. Of course, warships of the same size cannot be compared with troop transport ships. Warships are sturdy and weigh much more than transport ships.
What makes Ye Jinnan happy the most is that Fang Jie is a man of his word. After switching to the waterway, Fang Jie really stopped contacting local officials. Even Fang Jie, the admiral of Yanhu Navy, declined the invitation because he was not feeling well, and he even turned a blind eye to the invitations from state officials along the way.
At this speed, we can reach Yongzhou in half a month.
He wrote a secret letter and released the carrier pigeon when no one was around. In another three or four days, we can enter the jurisdiction of Southwest Fourth Road. This is where Zuo Qianwei has the final say. The four governors had noble status, and they were all high-ranking border officials of the second rank. However, in front of Luo Yao, who was of the third rank, they all acted as submissive as quails.
As long as he entered the Fourth Southwest Road, Ye Jinnan had completed more than half of his errands.
Recalling what General Luo Yao had told him when he called him to the study before going to the imperial capital, and thinking of the heart problem that the General had been struggling with for so many years, Ye Jinnan couldn't help but let out a long sigh. The general has been guarding the southwest for more than 20 years. The court's attitude towards the general has changed from using it without suspicion at the beginning to being suspicious but having to use it now. People on the left avant-garde can actually feel it.
It¡¯s not because the general has continued to expand his army in recent years and even interfered in the affairs of local officials. In the appointment and dismissal of local officials in Pingshangdao, where Yongzhou is located, the second-grade governor even had to ask him for instructions. It can be said that the four governors of the southwest were the four most aggrieved among the twenty-four realms of the Sui Dynasty.
And within a thousand miles of Yongzhou City, that is the place where the left avant-garde has absolute power. Local officials are all left-wing avant-garde people, and no one else can get involved.
Over the years, there have been many secret impeachment memorials against Luo Yao, and there are many local officials in the Southwest Fourth Road who are unconvinced. But General Luo never cared about it. Of course, if he knew about it, he would still kill each one. The four southwest territories were more like his fiefdom than the territory of the Sui Dynasty.
But even for such a powerful man, he also has his troubles and pains.
Luo Yao¡¯s Zuoqianwei General¡¯s Mansion is located in the north of Yongzhou City, occupying a huge area. This mansion was once the residence of a prince of Dashang. After Dashang destroyed the country, this place became a private residence awarded to Luo Yao by the late emperor. Two streets away from the General's Mansion is the royal palace of the Shang Kingdom.
This splendid palace is now the southwest palace of the Sui Emperor, but the two emperors have not visited it once in more than 20 years. Compared with the Taiji Palace in Chang'an, this palace is much more delicate and less majestic. The gardens and palaces in the southwest mostly pursue tranquility and elegance, unlike in Chang'an where everything is solemn and grand.
The same goes for Luo Yao's General Mansion. Entering from the main entrance is a beautiful garden. Evergreen plants unique to the southwest are scattered throughout the garden. Walking through the stone paths feels like being in nature. Luo Yao's study is located deep in the garden, within the banana forest.
This is a three-story wooden building with a typical water town architectural style.
Local people call this kind of building a stilt building. Because it was specially built in a pool, the first floor is higher than the second floor of the northern wooden building. A canoe can even pass through the stilt building, and the lotus flowers in the pond bloom at least three or four months earlier than in the north.
This stilt building is Luo Yao's most private place. Even his wife cannot walk in casually.
A soldier hurriedly climbed onto the stilt building with a secret message, asked for instructions in a low voice, then opened the door and walked into a room to the south. He lowered his head and walked forward quickly, holding up his hands and handing the secret letter to the man behind the desk who was wearing home clothes.
This is a man who looks about forty years old, but in fact he is over sixty years old. His figure is not particularly burly and sturdy, and he is even too delicate compared to the legendary figure who is two feet tall and has a green face and fangs. But anyone who saw him knew he was a soldier. The temperament in him is destined to make him a very tall person, and this tallness has nothing to do with height.
This is Luo Yao, the left-wing general with overwhelming power.
After taking the secret letter, Luo Yao waved his hand, and the soldier withdrew respectfully. After he unfolded the secret letter and looked at it, his expression changed slightly, and then he threw the secret letter out of the window. The letter fluttered on the water, and soon it was torn apart by the fish in the pool.
"Although it's a few years late, you are back after all."
Luo Yao leaned back on his seat. Although his face still looked dull, there was a strange look in his eyes. He tilted his head and looked out the window, and the look in his eyes turned into a tenderness that rarely appeared. This iron-blooded man rarely had such expressions in his eyes in his life.