First, the fleet returning to Dengzhou set off, and then the caravan heading to the Bohai Sea left. In the blink of an eye, there were only forty or fifty people left in the camp. Including the locals from Duli Town who came to help, the number was reduced by more than half. "Mr. Sir, why are we missing so many people here?" A man from Duli Town who was working here asked Ye An with a salivating look on his face. Ye An is one of the Ye clan members who stayed here, and one of the more than ten clan members who followed Ye Chang to Longyou. After Ye Ying and Ye Ting were sent out, he became one of the new people in charge. Hearing the workers asking each other, Ye An stared and said: "It's hard to do things, why do you want to do so much? You just like to be lazy, so you get paid every day, and you are the least. Look at Zhan Da over there. "That's how people do things." "The guy's family told him that he has a wife, and he is saving money for the bride price." The helper said with a smile, "We have many men and few women. If we don't want to marry a Hu girl, we will have more money." Save up some money for betrothal gifts. If the husband offers us a wife, we will work hard." Ye Anna was also a little helpless. Compared to Ye Ying and Ye Ting, he had a softer temper. He just glared at her. Ignore him and leave. But that afternoon, Ye An realized something was wrong. That gang of workers just left and never came back. There were four or five others who left just like him. By the next day, half of the helpers had not come, and on the third day, no one from Yu Jian showed up, not even Zhan Da, who worked extremely hard at Huohuo, did not come to the camp. Ye Anxin knew something was wrong, so he went to find Ye Chang to report. Ye Chang, Nan Ba ??and others were surveying the surrounding terrain. Hearing this, he suddenly frowned. "It seems that some people don't want us to continue the construction." Nan Ba ??grinned and licked the corners of his mouth. Although he has a straightforward temper, he is not without brains. What's more, Ye Chang forces him to read some military books and discusses with him whenever he has time. Occasionally, he will take out various wars in history to comment with him. "Well, let's go to the town and ask around first. We can't back down on this matter. If we back down, all kinds of cats and dogs will bully us." Ye Chang said. It was less than ten miles from the seaside woodland where they were to Duli Town. They walked along the beach and the road was easy to walk, and they arrived at the town in half an hour. "That's that kid?" "Exactly. That kid doesn't look like an official at all" "Bah, have you ever seen an official who looks like this? There's not a single officer or soldier around him, so what? What's more, even if we are really officials, where are we, this is the capital, and the Tang Dynasty can control us?" Several people in the town stared at Ye Chang and his party from a distance, exchanging opinions in low voices. Under their gaze, Ye Chang led eight people and walked slowly on the streets of the capital. It is more like a short alley than a street. Ye Chang even feels that this place called "town" is not even as prosperous as Wu Zepi. It¡¯s no wonder that after Emperor Taizong successfully conquered Goguryeo, he moved more than 200,000 people from Goguryeo twice back to the Central Plains for resettlement. Duli Town is close to Shandong, where most of the people were relocated. Although after decades, the population of Liaodong has grown and gradually recovered, the capital is not suitable for farming, so the population is still limited. Having a small population also has its advantages. Squinting at these buildings made of shacks and adobes, Ye Chang smiled slightly. The only thing that caught his attention was the big house in the northernmost part of the town. Among the low buildings, this big house stood out. It is the house of the Gao family, the only wealthy family in Duli Town. Ye Chang has inquired about it these days. It is said that the Gao family is still a clan member of the former Goguryeo country, but they are too far apart, so they have been huddled in remote ravines. This was also their family's luck. After Datang's control over Liaodong gradually faded away, they moved out again and moved to Duli Town, gradually becoming a big household in Duli Town. Most of the Han people in Duli Town are tenants of the Gao family, and the remaining people mostly rely on the Gao family. At this time, Ye Chang had found out clearly that the reason why the helpers left was that the Gao family was busy clearing land and recalled all the tenants, which resulted in all the dozens of odd-job workers at Ye Chang's construction site also leaving. The Gao family chose this time to "open up wasteland", and the timing was clever. Ye Chang's two ships and caravans all left, taking more than a hundred people with them. Today, only those who are still staying in Duli Town with Ye Chang are Just fifty people. Therefore, Ye Chang only brought eight people with him when he came, and the rest began to set up defenses in the camp to avoid any accidents. The Gao family is just a wealthy family. It would be nice to have twenty or thirty thugs at home. If there is anything on weekdays, it is just to call on the tenants in the family to help. In Ye Chang's opinion, this is a group of local chickens and dogs. If he takes Nan Jiyun and eight other people with him, there will be no problem in terms of safety. "Mr. Sir in front, please wait a moment." They walked around Duli Town and were about to turn back when they heard someone shouting from behind. Ye Chang turned around and saw a fat man in silk walking over. Come with him??, and there are more than ten followers. "I wonder what your orders are?" Ye Chang asked after stopping. The big fat man smiled and held up his hands: "A certain steward of the Zhenggao family in Naiduli Town" Hearing him say his title like a tongue twister, he just stared and said nothing. The fat man was slightly shocked. When he asked and talked to this young man on the street just now, everyone said that he was quite kind and did not look like an official. Looking at it now, he did have some official authority. Could it be thathe is really an official sent by the Tang Dynasty? "A certain surname is Gai. On the order of the master of the family, I invite you to come and meet me." Ye Chang smiled slightly: "The official position here, your master, is appointed by the Tang Dynasty?" "This this" "It is the Tang Dynasty." Tang has been appointed. This is a mere official, but he is a sixth-rank official. If he, a humble official, doesn't come to see me, why should I go to see him? " Steward Gai's face suddenly darkened: "Langjun, the sixth-rank official, is just the man he calls himself. There is no imperial seal or ribbon for Langjun. Moreover, this place has been the hometown of Goguryeo since ancient times. I am afraid that Langjun, an official in the Tang Dynasty, has no control over this place." "Joke, the hometown of Goguryeo When the Han Dynasty established Xiangping County, where was Goguryeo? "Ye Chang suddenly laughed and told me, Han people, since ancient times? Steward Gai had limited knowledge and only knew about the Han Dynasty. As for whether the Han Dynasty ruled Liaodong, he had no idea at all. Looking at Ye Chang's appearance, he expected that it would be useless to argue about this - he was not from Silla after all. Therefore, he said sternly: "In any case, this place is nearby and belongs to my master. You came here uninvited and cut down my forest without permission. Please give my master an explanation." "Does the forest belong to your family?" Ye Chang After pondering for a while, he said, "Well, I'll go visit your master right now. Ye Chang doesn't believe that the mountains and forests belong to this Goguryeo family. This is just a lie to force him to submit. Not even the Tang Dynasty can completely control this place, let alone a country." A mere rich man. He followed Butler Gai back, and there was a person behind him. Taking advantage of everyone's attention on Ye Chang, he ran away in the blink of an eye. Not to mention that he didn't notice this person, but he did. Even the housekeeper Gai would not take it seriously. When he arrived at Gao's house, Ye Chang knew the reason for his indifference. There were more than a hundred people standing in front of Gao's house, all of them looking at him with hostility. Ye Chang and his party stopped Ye Chang, and Ye Chang couldn't help but sneered, "Butler Gai, what do you mean?" " "Oh, sir, please wait a moment, I'll go and report it right away. " After Butler Gai finished speaking, he walked straight into the door. Nan Jiyun leaned close to Ye Chang's ear: "Do you want to take action? " "Don't worry, there are quite a few of them. ¡± ¡°Local chickens and tile-roofed dogs are selling their heads and ears by inserting stickers. " Nan Jiyun was quite heroic. Ye Chang looked at the hundreds of men, and even saw among them the man who had gone to his construction site to do odd jobs a few days ago. Although the man tried to look fierce, he was not the same as him. Ye Chang looked at each other and couldn't help but avoid it. "Well, most of them are Han people. Only those with bright clothes seem to be Goguryeo or other barbarians. "Ye Chang thought to himself. "These Han people would be fierce people in the Central Plains, otherwise they would not come to Liaodong to make a living. But in the eyes of Ye Chang and Nan Jiyun who have been on the battlefield, they are just average and more murderous. The most they had in their hands was one life, which could not compare to Ye Chang and Nan Jiyun who killed dozens of people. The owner named Gao did not let Ye Chang wait for too long. After a while, he heard someone shouting from inside. "Please come in and pay your respects to Mr. Ye Langjun of the Tang Dynasty. " With this shout, the people blocking the road began to disperse sparsely, leaving the road in the middle. Ye Chang smiled again: "Bye bye, bye bye Haha. " He stepped forward, and the guards around him followed him to the door. But after Ye Chang entered, someone stopped Nan Jiyun and others: "Only Ye Langjun is allowed in. The rest are waiting outside. "I am Ye Langjun's personal attendant. I never leave you. Please allow me to accompany you for your convenience." " Nan Jiyun stepped forward and said with a smile, and stuffed a small bunch of money into it. The man took the money, smiled broadly, nodded and said: "Okay, you are the only one but you can get your bow and arrows. Stay outside. " Nan Jiyun handed the bow and arrow to his companion and followed him. Ye Chang and him came to the door of the main hall. Just as they were about to enter, someone stepped forward to stop them: "Please take off the swords you are wearing. " Ye Chang pulled out his sword and handed it to the other party, but still kept the scabbard on his body. Seeing that the man had already got the sword, he didn't say much, so Ye Chang and Nan Jiyun entered the house. The torches were lit, and there were still strong men on both sides. There was a person sitting in the middle, and Fatty Gai was beside him. Seeing Ye Chang coming in, Fatty Gai said, "Why don't you come and pay homage to my master?" Ye Chang walked forward slowly, looking at him. Looking around the room, there were strong men standing on both sides, and there were two strong men right next to the man sitting tall and proud.??Sneered and said: "Steward Gai, you probably haven't made it clear to this common man sitting here that this man is a noble official of the Tang Dynasty. It should be this man who comes to pay homage to me." The person who really made the decision about the goods being pushed out was the man named Gao sitting here. This guy probably saw that he was building a dock, and it seemed that he wanted to live there for a long time, so he put on this look. " If Ye Chang really goes to see him, then it proves that Ye Chang does not have much support from Datang behind him. On the contrary, he can also push Butler Gai out and just say that Butler Gai is ignorant and did not handle it well. Seeing how arrogant Ye Chang was at this time, he couldn't help but feel angry. There were many Goguryeo people who spoke Chinese, not to mention that he lived in Duli Town. Their family made a fortune by acting as a go-between for Han merchants who came to Liaodong to receive goods. He He coughed softly: "A certain Gao Baosheng is a brother to the deputy governor of Anxi, Gao Gong. Who are you, and you dare to pretend to be an official of the state?" "Deputy of Anxi?" After hearing this official title, Ye Chang showed a surprised look. . At this time, the deputy envoy of Anxi Jiedu was Gao Xianzhi. He was managing the Western Regions and had made great military exploits and was famous. Under his banner, there are also many famous generals. Gao Xianzhi was from Goguryeo, but he had joined the Tang Dynasty long ago. Gao Baosheng had probably heard of his name and knew that he was an important general in the Tang Dynasty, so he pulled him over to serve as the banner. "Since you are a relative of Anxi Jiedu, why are you so rude and disrespectful to the imperial officials?" Ye Chang said in a slightly calmer tone. "It's true that he is far away overseas. Without the emperor's grace, it is impossible to tell whether the husband is real or fake." Gao Baosheng heard Ye Chang's tone slow down and decided in his heart: "The husband is logging and building a camp in my mountain forest. I don't know why?" "The imperial court It¡¯s your own arrangement, it¡¯s not something you can know.¡± Ye Chang said: ¡°Besides, the whole world is not the king¡¯s land. It¡¯s unreasonable to say that that¡¯s your home forest.¡± Gao Baosheng laughed loudly and stood up. He waved his hands and said: "The fields, mountains and forests around this town are all the property of my Gao family. The emperor of the Tang Dynasty is too far away, how can he care about this place?" He felt proud when he saw that Ye Chang seemed to be a little afraid of Gao Xianzhi, Although he said it politely, his attitude became tougher. After a pause, he continued: "When officials of the Tang Dynasty came to the capital occasionally, they were sent overseas as envoys, and they were accompanied by a large number of soldiers to protect them. They were not as good as Lang Jun. Lang Jun had better tell the truth. After all, Why are you here? If Gao can do it for you, I will naturally help you. Otherwisedon't blame Gao for not knowing etiquette." "How can you not know etiquette?" Ye Chang looked at him with a half-smile. "You will know after you give it a try." "That's the case" Ye Chang pondered, and then said: "Since you want to know, I will tell you the truth. This place in Liaodong was originally the territory of the Han people, and I am here. , since you have recovered the Han people¡¯s homeland, you are just a barbarian wild man, a lost dog, and a bird that has lost its nest. You have usurped the territory of the Han people, and you dare to claim to be the master? " Ye Chang suddenly turned his face and scolded, Gao Baosheng became furious and sneered: "Okay, okay, you don't want to leave today" Before he finished speaking, Nan Jiyun behind Ye Chang suddenly strode forward. The guards around Gao Baosheng were already prepared and immediately pounced on him. Nan Jiyun also wielded his sword, while Gao Baosheng's guards each held a weapon. They surrounded Nan Jiyun, but Nan Jiyun had to dodge, and they immediately pushed forward. ¡°Han dog, what a coward!¡± Gao Baosheng said with a sneer when he saw this scene.