Horse hooves trampled through the loess, leaving the chaos of Fenglingdu behind.

Zhang Wenjing looked back at the firelight and put her forehead against Li Xia's cheek.

Her ears felt hot, and she quickly turned around, thinking to herself: "We're engaged... we're engaged..."

Gradually, Li Xia slowed down his horse speed.

The night wind blowing in my face became much gentler, and I could still hear the roar of the Yellow River.

Four years later, I rode with him again across the vast land, but the scenes from back then were still clear...

"Your riding skills have improved a lot. You didn't know how to save horsepower before."

"I treated you too harshly before. Are you angry?"

"Hmph, I don't know who was captured by whom later. By the way, I did something a while ago and saved a little girl."

"I know, the daughter of the Zhang family in Yongning, Luoyang, I have met her." Li Xia said, "She likes you very much."

"Hmm? Like me?"

"When I mention you, I blush and say you are rich and handsome."

"Of course." Zhang Wenjing pointed to the other side of the Yellow River and said, "The situation at that time, she was sitting in a carriage, the Mongolian people wanted to kidnap her, and I came on horseback with a sword... Do you think it's familiar to you?"

"Um?"

Zhang Wenjing refused and put her head against Li Xia's chin.

"You really don't remember?"

"Remember." Li Xia asked, "So, Mrs. Zhang from Yongning fell in love with you because of this scene?"

"I won't talk to you anymore."

Although she was angry with Li Xia, Zhang Wenjing still felt happy.

She has many, many things she wants to say that have accumulated over the years, but she is no longer in a hurry. When she leaves here, she will still have plenty of time to talk slowly.

…

Finally, when they reached a gentle place on the river bank, Li Xia reined in the reins.

"This is it."

He first turned over and dismounted, raised his hand, and took Zhang Wenjing down.

"I can do it myself."

"Didn't I bring it up to you before?"

"Hey." She couldn't see her blush in the night, but she looked up and asked, "Where's the boat?"

"We'll be there in a minute." Li Xia stretched out his hand to straighten Zhang Wenjing's messy hair.

Zhang Wenjing let him take care of him honestly, turned around and ran away, going to the carriage to talk to Yuan Yan, not wanting to get close to Li Xia in front of others.

Li Xia smiled and looked around, feeling a little reluctant to leave the north bank of the Yellow River.

To be honest, these days are the most relaxing time of the year. There are not a lot of official duties. When I wake up every day, I just need to find ways to talk to girls.

After a while, a big ship sailed across the river and came towards us.

This place is called "the embankment". It is not a good ferry and we can only barely anchor.

If you get on the boat, you need to wade through some water.

Li Xia was just thinking about carrying Zhang Wenjing over when he heard Lin Zi shouting from the big boat: "Put down the boat to pick up someone."

Doing things too carefully...

~~

"This is a nice boat."

Li Xia got on the boat and settled Zhang Wenjing and others. After walking around, he stood at the bow of the boat and praised them.

Lin Zi was quite proud and patted the mast and said: "This is the largest ship in the entire Pujin Ferry."

"The rest were burned?"

"It was burned. I took Lian Xixian's letter and arranged for the civilians to load the oil and grease onto the boats, saying that I was going to rescue people. Then a fire started immediately. The ferry was so crowded that no one could put it out...

…I also arranged for eight good men to steal some military talismans and sneak into Jiezhou, hiding them for a while before delivering the news from Shanxi to the commander-in-chief."

"well done."

"Commander, do you want to go back now?"

"Wait a little longer and Lian Xixian...is here."

The sound of horse hooves could be heard from the west, and after a while, several knights appeared on the shore.

This was an agreement between Li Xia and Zhang Yanxiong to take advantage of the chaos to send Lian Xixian here. Considering that Zhang Yanxiong might kill someone and silence him, he asked Zhang Wenjing to send someone over to keep an eye on him, and arranged for two people to be among them.

…

Lian Xixian was no longer as high-spirited as when Tathagata came. He was dressed in mourning clothes, his hands were tied, and he slumped onto the boat, bowing his head and saying nothing.

Li Xia stepped forward and untied the rope from his body and asked, "Brother Shanfu, has a relative passed away?"

"Jia Ci...is gone."

"Condolences."

Li Xia was also surprised and comforted him, not knowing what to say.

He had seen the blood on the corner of Lian Xixian's mouth and knew that he had been vomiting blood from grief recently.

This actually disrupted Li Xia's plan.

After a long time, Lian Xixian spoke first, with a solemn tone and a sad expression.

"Feiyu sent me to the north bank of the Yellow River and then brought me back. He killed two birds with one stone... He not only picked up the girl from the Zhang family, but also ruined my plan for counterattack... You win."

"Yes, originally, there was another purpose, which was to make you feel disheartened by Kublai Khan."

Lian Xixian raised his head and asked: "How do you plan to recruit me?"

Li Xia asked, "Shall we say it now? It's better to wait until you calm down."

"Jia Ci left in July. It's been two months and I, the son, haven't gone back... Let's talk about the immediate things first."

Having said that, Yeom Xixian still looks like he is out of his mind.

"That's fine." Li Xia said, "Brother Shanfu should also see the shortcomings of the Mongolian system during this trip."

"system?"

Li Xia was already prepared to deal with Lian Xixian's eloquent words. Unexpectedly, the other party was in such a state at this time, and the atmosphere of the conversation became much lower.

But you have to say what you have prepared.

"Hu has no luck for a hundred years, and grassland regimes tend to 'rise and fall suddenly.' The characteristics of Mongolia are not much different from those of the Huns and Turks in the past. When fighting wars, they resorted to large-scale detours.

That’s all. Genghis Khan only twisted the Mongols into a tightrope, letting them discover that there was vast land outside the grasslands that could be conquered, and made the Mongols work together... This is the reason why Mongolia is so strong and so powerful.

But can such a regime last long? The unity united by the "desire to conquer" will collapse as quickly as thunder. The bloody storms between Mongolian clans are not new in recent years. Wo Kuo

After Tai's death, the Mongols' butcher's knives have begun to chop on the brothers' heads. Brother Shanfu knows this better than I do. I would like to ask, is the dispute between Kublai Khan and Alibaba the "battle between the Han system and the old system" that you keep talking about?

?Where is Kublai Khan’s royal aura?”

Li Xia pointed to the north bank of the Yellow River.

"Look at the land under Mongolian rule. Is there a long-lasting system of peace and stability? It's just a way for bandits to divide the spoils. The tens of millions of people are just looted loot. I came to take a walk, and it felt like I was in a deserted place.

It's not that I have the ability or that I don't need the ability. Here, there are only a bunch of gangsters and puppets who collect stolen goods from robbers. They only care about transporting money to their masters and preserving the little power they have.

How could such a dirty and pulpy system last so long? How could it be prosperous? How could it achieve the ambition that Brother Shanfu wanted to achieve? Xiao He was a swordsman and pen official in the Qin Dynasty. When the Han Dynasty flourished, he became the leader among ministers and was famous for his contributions to future generations. Not only because of his

His ability to govern the world is also due to the fact that he assisted Liu Bang."

Lian Xixian listened silently and said slowly: "I have always known that the Mongolian system is not flourishing. What we are doing is precisely to establish the unified system..."

"Even if Brother Shanfu really planned for the founding of the country by Kublai Khan, his country would not last long or prosper, and it would be completely contrary to Brother Shanfu's ambition. There is great resistance. You have seen it. There are few dynasties in history that have such achievements in just three generations.

There are many blood-sucking clan aristocrats, and for three generations they still have no plan for long-term peace and stability, and for three generations they only know how to kill... Its achievements have long been destined."

Lian Xixian said: "Your Majesty has the intention of restructuring, and Prince Zhenjin does too..."

"You said that the prerequisite for my success is that everything will go smoothly in the next ten or twenty years. How much pressure from the Mongolian clan will Kublai Khan and Zhenjin face? They are not as determined as me. You and them before

Conflicts between beliefs are inevitable.”

"Commander, why don't you talk about the kindness between Your Majesty and me?"

"You should know how much Kublai Khan trusts you." Li Xia said: "In the Guanlong battle, your success was a great achievement, and your failure was a great fault. This time when you are crossing north, you have taken refuge with me.

Now, I won’t talk about what he will do to you, you can think about it yourself.”

The conversation this time was much sluggish, but in fact Lian Xixian already had a tendency before he came...

He calculated the time and found that his mother's death probably coincided with the end of the Lintao War. The news that Wang Liangchen was ambushed had just spread back to the north. Yanjing covered up the news and hoped that he would continue to take charge of Guanlong.
To be continued...