A winding road extends along the foot of the mountain into the distance. Up, you can see the lush forest. Down, under the cover of the shrubs, you can see ditches and jagged rocks, with clear water flowing down. Among the ditches

The stone has long been polished by the water and is as smooth as a mirror.

The sweet chirping of birds came to my ears. As the horse team moved forward, the clear ringing of bells from time to time caused groups of birds to flutter their wings in the woods on the roadside, and it immediately became noisy.

"Monkey!" Zhao An, who was sitting in Wang Zhu's arms, looked around excitedly. He suddenly raised his arms and pointed upward. Everyone followed the sound and saw a gibbon with one arm on the long outstretched branch of a big tree.

Hanging there, staring at them with big eyes, seeing everyone looking over, the monkey slowly swung itself up, grinned at everyone in mid-air, and then fell into the forest.

Seen again.

"Mr. Zhao, there are not only monkeys in this mountain, but also a lot of big insects, leopards and bears. But since the road was built, these beasts have stayed away." Among the cavalry, the guard leader Lu Shen smiled.

road.

"Really?" Zhao An said excitedly: "There used to be a big insect trapped in the backyard of my house. There were no leopards or blind bears. Can you see it?"

After hearing this, all the guards were dumbfounded and looked at Zhao An with a somewhat different expression. Only Luo Gang, Wang Zhu, Li Ge and others did not take it seriously.

In the former Prince Jing's Mansion, what did it mean to lock up a tiger?

Li Ge looked at Zhao An. After arriving in Qianzhou, he finally no longer had to be secretive. He was washed clean and put on new clothes, and his whole demeanor was completely different.

Qianzhou is already Xiao Cheng's territory, no one dares to embarrass this little guy anymore.

Lu Ze, the current magistrate of Qianzhou, and Li Xin, the commander of the Tiannan Army, did not say anything nonsense and directly sent a group of soldiers to escort them to Xiao Cheng's residence in Bangzhou.

As for who these people are, is it important to them?

Not important at all.

In their eyes, they only have Xiao Cheng.

Even Lu Ze is obedient to Xiao Cheng now, even if Xiao Cheng now looks like a phoenix with its hair shed, a tiger descending from the mountain.

I think of him, Lu Ze, who worked hard all his life and only got a job in the army in his early fifties. This was earned by working hard behind Ma Liang. But after switching careers, it was only a few years ago that he rose to the top.

, first he became the general judge, and before his buttocks were warmed up in the position of general judge, he suddenly became the powerful magistrate of Qianzhou. Now he is from the fifth rank. In a year or two, the word "quan" will be changed.

Remove it and make it a proper fifth-rank official.

In the Song Dynasty, it was a big hurdle to enter the officialdom from being a clerk, then the fifth rank was a big hurdle, and then the third rank was a big hurdle. Lu Ze, who never thought that he could become a fifth-rank court official, just climbed up in a daze.

.

And this was done for him after Xiao Cheng seemed to have fallen from power. What would have happened if he had not fallen from power?

Of course, it is not appropriate to say that Xiao Cheng fell. Now, it is Xiao Erlang who has the final say on this three-thirds of an acre of land!

Lu Ze decided to follow Xiao Cheng honestly. He knew very well that the other party could bring him to power, and of course he could pull him down more easily. What's more, he also had a powerful handle in Xiao Erlang's hands.

Woolen cloth!

It was Lu Ze who personally executed the former governor of Qianzhou.

He would never forget Ma Liang's eyes like dead fish that looked at him in disbelief before he died.

This is what happens when you go against Xiao's decision.

Lu Ze doesn't want to be Ma Liang's second best.

Now in Qianzhou, it is really not easy for Xiao Erlang to kill someone.

Overtly and covertly, there is no one who is not Xiao Erlang.

Li Ge just sighed secretly, but after not coming to Qianzhou for several months, it seemed that Xiao Erlang's control over Qianzhou became stronger. For example, that day, the original commander of the Southern Army, Wang Wenzheng, heard that he injured his leg while riding a horse.

I was recuperating in my own village. I went to see it and chatted with it, and I understood it in my heart.

If Wang Wenzheng loses his leg, he may die. This is a wise man!

It's no wonder that my uncle is pretending to be deaf and dumb to Qianzhou now, or he will only look over at Xiao Erlang if he raises the banner of rebellion. Otherwise, it's better not to ask for trouble.

Anyway, this area used to ignore the imperial court.

Now not only do they not fight each other, but they also pay the taxes to the court on time. The tax revenue on Kuizhou Road is much higher than last year. For Li Fang, this is enough.

How Luo Gang got together with Wang Zhu and Zhao An was unknown to Li Fang, but Wang Zhu's head-on attack on the ship was still fresh in Li Ge's memory.

The big man, who had been moved to the boat after being knocked unconscious, woke up much earlier than he expected. Then the blow with the knife was so powerful that he didn't even have time to react. Fortunately

He was already on guard, holding Zhao An in his arms, and then the knife struck his scalp.

But it was enough to scare away half of Li Ge's three souls and seven souls.

Then came a long period of explanation and self-evidence.

It wasn't until Luo Gang woke up and finally convinced the big man that he was Xiao Erlang's friend and returned Zhao An to him that the hostility between the two parties was completely lifted.

But from then on, Wang Zhu stopped eating anything he provided.

Along the way, he prepared food by himself, but Luo Gang was very generous and didn't care about it all.

"This road was also built by everyone in the past few years after Xiao Zhuanbian came here. A long time ago, this was just a small trail. Businessmen could only use camels, donkeys, mules or camels on their backs to walk. But now, it is

It can accommodate a carriage, which greatly reduces the cost of transportation." Li Ge smiled and said to Luo Gang: "In the past two years, we have been building roads. Even the locals have tasted one.

The benefits of a good road are those who are willing to put in the effort."

"If you want to get rich, build roads first!" Luo Gang laughed: "Xiao Erlang did the same thing when he was in the northwest. Now he is just applying his experience here."

The group of people talked and laughed as they turned out of this big bay and entered a new big bay. However, the scenery was very different from before.

The lush trees and the peeping apes and beasts in the forest can no longer be seen, but the terraces extend directly from the foot of the mountain to the mountain, not only on the opposite side of them, but also on their side. Standing there

From their position, looking across from them, the piles of paddy fields reflected the sun, reflecting dazzling light like mirrors.

Huge waterwheels are slowly rotating, lifting water from the bottom of the ditch, and then pouring it into the reservoir above. In this way, the water is lifted up step by step. Even on the top of the mountain, there is no need to worry about running out of water.

Available.

Now is the spring plowing season, but there are many people working in each terraced field, men, women, old and young, with their trousers rolled up and handfuls of seedlings in their hands, bending over.

Insert handfuls of green seedlings into the paddy field.

It was such a scene of a paradise. I stood still and could not help but be fascinated by the sight.

I don't know which mountaintop suddenly sounded the sound of folk songs. The songs were melodious and the tunes were melodious. Even without the accompaniment of silk and bamboo, it was still refreshing and refreshing.

The singing had just fallen on one side of the mountain, but it started to sound again on the other side of the mountain.

There is a clear female voice on one side, and a rich male voice on the other.

"It's a fight!" A guard familiar with the local customs said with a smile: "I haven't seen or heard of such a thing for many years. I just heard from the older generation that such a thing happened many years ago. I never expected it.

We have bumped into each other today, gentlemen, would you like to take a break and stop to listen?"

"Listen, listen!" Luo Gang nodded repeatedly.

Such scenery can never be seen in Bianliang. There are countless folk artists in Bianliang, but the signs of sculpture are too strong. It looks good at first, but after seeing more, it becomes boring. But here, it is the original juice.

The original character appears.

"I'm not afraid of the jokes of you nobles. A few years ago, we were so poor here that the northwest wind was so poor that bandits were rampant. Now these men and women singing songs may be the same ruthless bandits a few years ago!"

The local guard sighed: "It's because Xiao Zhuanbang has been manipulating the place in the past few years, sweeping away bandits, and at the same time creating many ways to make money for everyone to live and work in peace and contentment, which is why we are in the current situation!"

"Who says it's not the case!" The guard leader Lu Shen nodded like a chicken pecking at rice: "We in Qianzhou have dozens of Jizhou prefectures under our jurisdiction, but when will those guys who dominate one side conquer us?

Qianzhou is a piece of cake, which makes our territory of Qianzhou sound huge, but in fact it is so poor that even the officials in the state capital are living an extremely miserable life. Compared with other states, that

There is absolutely no comparison. But now, haha, who dares not to listen to the orders issued by the state capital? Who dares not to implement them? Those who thought they were hard-headed in the past are now taller than the grass on their graves."

"Xiao Erlang can conquer a place wherever he goes. This ability is really admirable!" Luo Gang shook his head and said: "Those people in Bianliang have forced the two Qilin children of the Xiao family to become what they are today.

Looking like this, I don’t know if I regret seeing the scene here.”

After resting for half an hour and listening to the antiphons on the mountain, the group set off again. At this moment, they were only half a day away from their destination.

Xiao Cheng stood in front of the gate, staring at the end of the road. Beside him, on the left stood Jiang Yingxue, who was also wearing mourning clothes and tied with a hemp rope. Standing on the right was Han Zuo. The eighteen-year-old Han Zuo is now

His height grew so fast that he was a full head taller than Xiao Cheng. The nine-foot-old man was really worthy of his reputation. Now Han Quan is under the control of the entire Qianzhou Chamber of Commerce.

The commander of the Tibetan army also serves as the commander of Xiao Cheng's bodyguards. He usually leads about a thousand troops and is stationed at the headquarters of the federation.

In the past, the Wang family's courtyard was large enough to house a thousand people, but it was still inconspicuous.

With the sound of hoofbeats, a group of people appeared in Xiao Cheng's field of vision. Immediately, a horse broke away from the group and accelerated towards this side. When it was still dozens of steps away from Xiao Cheng, the horse was violently kicked.

Le, neighing and slowing down, the knight on the horse jumped down, staggered and almost fell, but still stumbled towards Xiao Cheng.

"Chongwen!" Luo Gang opened his arms and hugged Xiao Cheng tightly, who also opened his arms to welcome her. "It's my fault that the third lady is gone. I didn't take good care of her!"

Luo Gang burst into tears wantonly, and the pain that had been stagnating in his heart had no one to tell him. Now he finally had someone to talk to, and it immediately spewed out like a flood that burst a dam.

Jiang Yingxue on the other side had tears streaming down her face, and Han Yu also had red eyes. He clasped his hands behind his back, looked up at the sky, and tried his best not to let the tears flow down. They were all very familiar with Mrs. Xiao Sanniang, and usually no one mentioned this matter in front of Xiao Cheng.

, but at this moment, the scar that Luo Gang tried so hard to hide was torn bloody by Luo Gang.

Xiao Cheng shed tears and patted Luo Gang's shoulder. After a while, he calmed down and said in Luo Gang's ear: "Don't worry, don't worry, one day, I will make those people pay the price, good and evil."

There will be retribution in the end, and I will get back everything they owe me, and make them regret it."

"I know, I know, but Sanniang will never come back!" Luo Gang choked with tears.
To be continued...