Li Jiyi took the Zheng family's legitimate daughter aboard the westward-bound naval warship and went to Weiyuan County in Lanzhou Prefecture to serve as magistrate. ¡°Because, there is a mixture of Han and Hu people, the folk customs are fierce, and vicious murders occur one after another. At the same time as Li Jiyi, there was also a new army from the combined battalion. In order to deceive others, the new troops in this battalion were nominally ordered to suppress bandits. In fact, Li Jiyi was protected nearby. There is no way, the emperor does not have many sons, and there are only six who can take over. If one person dies, one person is missing, and the emperor simply cannot afford to lose. Li Jiyi was sitting in the cabin, carefully reading the materials from Weiyuan County. Lanzhou, formerly known as Jincheng County, was the home of Dong Zhuo and Ma Teng during the Three Kingdoms period. If Li Zhongyi hadn¡¯t conquered the Dangxiang clan, Lanzhou at this time might still be a meal for the Dangxiang people. Weiyuan County has the Weihe River, the largest tributary of the Yellow River, which means that it has the conditions to develop water transportation. As the eldest son of the emperor, Li Jiyi knew very well that today's empire pays special attention to water transportation and shipping. The reason is simple. The cost of water transportation and ocean transportation is dozens of times lower than that of land transportation. Whether it is transporting troops or cargo, water transport has the lowest cost and least disturbs the people. This has become the consensus of the upper echelons of the empire. The total number of households in Weiyuan County is 9,000. This is only the registered population. The number of floating Hu people in the county exceeds at least 2,000. In the northwest region of the empire, it has long been the norm for Han and Hu people to live together. It¡¯s just that in the past, the Hu people had the upper hand and seemed extremely arrogant. Nowadays, the national power of the Han Empire is booming, and the Hu people have long since dared not be arrogant. " However, the Hu people grew up eating meat and like to drink. There are indeed many incidents of making trouble with knives in border counties. A combined battalion of the New Army consists of three infantry teams, an artillery team, an engineering team, a logistics team, a guard platoon, and a messenger shed, totaling more than 700 people. Such a team with strong combat effectiveness was sent by the emperor to protect Li Jiyi. The cherishment of it is self-evident. Li Jiyi closed the file and couldn't help but think of his second brother Li Jixiao. Li Jixiao was arranged to go to Zigui County in Guizhou, which is an out-and-out poor mountainous county with a total number of households of only 5,000. Li Zhongyi¡¯s arrangements were painstaking. The eldest son went to a small county in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, and the second son went to a poor county in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Weiyuan County has a large number of households and a large population, but there is no direct trade route from the Yellow River to the sea. Zigui County has a small number of households, but cargo ships can go directly to the Yangtze River Estuary. However, the Xiling Gorge is extremely steep and the current is fast, making it easy for the boat to capsize. Objectively speaking, in terms of the natural conditions of the two counties, Li Zhongyi has really achieved a bowl of water. Poor parents in the world, it¡¯s hard for Li Zhongyi to die! Although the palms and backs of the hands are all flesh. However, how many parents can truly make a bowl of water even? Li Zhongyi knew very well that the antagonism between his sons was often caused by his father's long-term unfair dealings. From the bottom of his heart, Li Zhongyi not only wanted to pass the throne to the most suitable son, but also did not want brothers to kill each other. There was no way, he wanted too much, so he had to squeeze in the cracks to survive. The warship traveled all the way west, and when it reached Luoyang, it had no choice but to abandon the ship and land. No way, the Yellow River is different from the Yangtze River. The Yangtze River can be navigable in almost its entire basin. Even though the Three Gorges is in danger, it can still be navigable. The Yellow River is not in the middle. The upper reaches and middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River are not directly navigable. ¡°Moreover, the Yellow River is completely frozen in winter for as long as five months. Li Jiyi rode a carriage to the west. Along the way, he could see dark-skinned workers and slaves working hard to widen and strengthen the official road. Today¡¯s empire mainly uses hundreds of thousands of labor slaves captured from Nanyang and Korea to build and strengthen several main official roads from north to south and east to west. According to Li Jiyi¡¯s knowledge, the east-west Main Official Road is mainly from Lanzhou to Kaifeng. Li Zhongyi explained the strategic significance. As long as the main official road is repaired, once there are changes in the northwest, the new imperial army can quickly move westward to Luoyang, and then take carriages on the wide official road to Lanzhou at a speed of more than 200 miles a day. There are many horses in the northwest, and the imperial military has set up horse stations along the official road. The horse station is similar to the inn. Each horse only runs a certain distance, and then the horse is changed and continues running. ¡°If the military situation is really urgent, marching three hundred miles in one day is definitely not a dream. It's just that a bunch of horses have to be killed. The problem is that the current empire really has no shortage of horses. To put it mildly, several million?The number of free-range horses will definitely be more, not less. The empire¡¯s horse administration is not run by the government at all. It is all purchased from the tribes in the grassland. Li Zhongyi is well aware of the shortcomings of government-run enterprises. From the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, all government-run horse farms, without exception, suffered serious losses and had no horses available. In various parts of the grassland, there are many good horses, but what is lacking are cotton cloth, money, silk, tea, silk and other items. It just so happens that the court is not short of money, nor is it short of food and other supplies. Only mutually beneficial transactions can last long. "Bah bang bang." Just when Li Jiyi was feeling sleepy, the crisp sound of a whip hitting his flesh suddenly came from outside the carriage. Li Jiyi raised the curtains and saw a strong supervisor waving a whip in his hand and beating a slave worker hard. If Li Jiyi were an ordinary person, he would probably stop the supervisor. However, he is the eldest son of the emperor who knows the details and the inside story. "My father made it very clear that if the official roads are not widened and strengthened, the security of the empire's interior cannot be guaranteed, and the trade routes will become very difficult. The roads are so bad that as long as it rains, the trucks transporting goods will get stuck every step of the way, which is extremely difficult. The princes have long accepted the concept that if you want to get rich, you must build roads first. The logic is very simple and easy to understand. The prince who cannot understand it will have no chance of becoming the emperor. My father did not want to impose corvee on a large scale, so as not to torture his own people. However, broadening and strengthening the official path, regardless of whether it is public or private, must be cultivated. what to do? We can only let the labor slaves from Nanyang or other foreign countries do it! No one is born to want to be a slave. It is completely normal for captured slaves to want to be lazy! Therefore, the whips of the supervisors are indispensable! The farther west Li Jiyi's team went, the more common it became for slaves to be whipped and forced to do heavy work on official roads. Since there were hundreds of people following him, Li Jiyi was not a layman who had never served as a soldier. Naturally, he was reluctant to follow the others to endure hardships and set up tents in the wild, so he tried his best to stay overnight near the county seat at night. When staying near the county seat, Li Jiyi can stay in a post station outside the city, while the accompanying troops can stay in the military camp in the county seat. "Li Jiyi's trip to the west this time, except for the Zheng family, his close guards and long followers, there were only a few people in total. Yi Cheng did not look down upon Li Jiyi, a magistrate as big as sesame. To be honest, the post station receives countless high-ranking officials who pass by every year, and Yi Cheng has already developed the real skill of recognizing people. Li Jiyi¡¯s personal guards are all very impressive. Yi Cheng could tell that it was not an ordinary look, but an indescribable feeling of contempt for the common people. With Yi Cheng¡¯s extraordinary vision, only the truly top dignitaries could raise such powerful bodyguards. However, after Li Jiyi moved in, he calmly accepted the treatment he deserved from a county magistrate. He was not like some high-ranking officials who wanted things and wanted things and arbitrarily increased the expenses of the post station. The more Li Jiyi kept a low profile, the more Yi Cheng did not dare to neglect him, and repeatedly told the officers to serve him well. Unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, there was a big commotion in the inn. ¡°Bang bang bang¡¡± A rapid knock on the door and shouts in the distance woke Li Jiyi from his deep sleep. At this time, Chang San's voice suddenly came from outside the window, "My eldest son, the Deputy Envoy from Shaanxi Road has arrived in the middle of the night. He has many servants with him and is driving people out of the inn." Li Jiyi couldn't help but frown. No wonder My father often said that these officials behave like men in front of their faces, but they are ghosts behind their backs. We are all officials. When staying at the inn, there is always a first-come, first-served basis, right? "As a result, this kind of bird official dared to show off his authority. Coming in the middle of the night to drive away officials who have fallen asleep is not showing official power. What is official power? Li Jiyi moved into a small single room that the magistrate was eligible to live in. Next door to him, the guards lined up to live in Datongpu. Originally, Li Jiyi didn¡¯t want to meddle in other people¡¯s business. But, what is supposed to come will come. "Bah bang bang" The door of the guard row next door was banged hard. Guard platoon leader Jiang Sheng opened the door with an unhappy look on his face and asked the guy who knocked on the door: "Why are you knocking on the door in the middle of the night?" "Your land has been requisitioned, please leave this place quickly and make room for yourself. "The visitor's attitude was extremely arrogant, and he didn't want to reason with Jiang Sheng at all. Jiang Sheng immediately became angry. Are you kidding me? How dare you sit on his head and shit? "Go away, if you dare to make any noise again, I'll beat you to death, you will die in vain." Jiang Sheng shouldered??The important task of protecting the emperor's eldest son was clearly stated in the military order. Even if someone is killed at a critical moment, there is no need to bear any responsibility. "Okay, how dare you threaten me? Do you know who I am?" The man was obviously arrogant and did not take Jiang Sheng's threat seriously at all. Jiang Sheng is a non-commissioned officer selected from the old Forbidden Army. He is proficient in doctrine and military law. It is definitely wrong to take action first. He deliberately wanted to anger the man, so he asked arrogantly: "Who are you?" "I don't change my name when I sit down, and I don't change my surname when I stand. The same is true for Liu Chong, who is now the housekeeper of the deputy envoy's family on Shaanxi Road. If you are sensible, , Get out of here. If you don't know how to be respectful, I will send a message to the Yamen and catch you as a traitor. "Jiang Sheng was happy when he heard it. Okay, very good. You dare to label yourself as a traitor when you open your mouth. This is heaven. Big handle. However, before Liu Chong took action, Jiang Sheng decided to add fuel to the fire. "Damn it, you're so blind that you don't even look at what I'm wearing? Do you dare to wear the hat of a rebel? Get out of here." Jiang Sheng deliberately raised his voice and pointed at Liu Chong. His nose was filled with curses.