Before dawn, the passenger ship passed Deqing County and entered Guantang River. Lin'an was only a few dozen miles ahead.
Chen Qing got up early and came to the main cabin, only to find that Li Gang was already sitting in front of the main cabin window.
"Xuanfu Envoy, you are here so early."
Li Gang picked up the teacup and smiled slightly: "I'm older and can't sleep at midnight. But is Chen Dutong excited so early today?"
Chen Qing sat down opposite Li Gang and said with a smile: "I can't say I'm excited. The main thing is that I have too many expectations from the soldiers, so I feel a little uneasy."
"Chen Dutong is referring to returning to the northwest?"
Chen Qing nodded.
Li Gang pondered for a while and said: "The principle of the imperial court has always been that one person defends the other territory. Since your officers and soldiers are all from Shaanxi, they should not stay in Dongting Lake for a long time unless they bring all their families here and you serve as Yuezhou Town."
The mission of the envoy is also very clear, which is to exterminate the water thief Yang Yao. Now that the mission is completed, the imperial court will not let you stay in Yuezhou for a long time. After all, Yuezhou does not need to station so many troops."
"Xuanfu Envoy, I have always had a question, why the Jin Kingdom still refused to give up Sichuan and Shaanxi after losing hundreds of thousands of troops in Sichuan and Shaanxi. If Wanyan Wushu led his army to attack Jingxiang, I am afraid that the situation of this battle will be completely different.
, what does Jin Guo think?"
Li Gang smiled slightly and said: "Seven heroes of the Warring States Period, why was it Qin that destroyed the six countries and unified the world? From the Han Dynasty, the Sui and Tang Dynasties to Shatuo, those who could unify the world all raised their troops from Sichuan and Shaanxi. Why? I'm afraid the Jin Kingdom also saw it.
In this regard, if they want to unify the world, they must first seize Sichuan and Shaanxi, and then sweep eastward from Sichuan and Shaanxi. This is a historical law. In fact, it is also determined by the terrain of high in the west and low in the east. Only by following the trend can they conquer the world. This trend
It can refer to the people's hearts, it can refer to the general trend of the world, or it can refer to the terrain."
Chen Qing thought thoughtfully, "So during the Three Kingdoms period, when Zhuge Liang occupied Bashu and captured Guanzhong, it was also to connect Sichuan and Shaanxi into one, forming a tendency to subduct the Central Plains?"
"That's right! If we use the wealth of Bashu to provide financial resources, the cavalry of Guanlong to provide combat power, and the Hexi Corridor to provide war horses, why worry about the world being unbroken?"
"Then why can't Da Song see this?"
"Do you think the court can't see it? During the Five Dynasties, Yelu Deguang conquered Bianliang and destroyed the Later Jin Dynasty. After the founding of the Song Dynasty, the court always wanted to rely on Sichuan and Shaanxi, but the Liao people also knew the importance of Sichuan and Shaanxi to the Song Dynasty, so the Liao Dynasty
The state supported Li Yuanhao to establish Xixia in order to contain the Song Dynasty's management of Sichuan and Shaanxi. It can be said that the Liao State's strategy was very successful. My Song Dynasty has been weak for hundreds of years, which is inseparable from the containment of Xixia."
Li Gang hadn't had such an in-depth conversation with someone for a long time. He was very excited for a while. He filled a cup of tea for Chen Qing and continued: "The reason why the imperial court attaches great importance to Sichuan and Shaanxi is not because it wants the taxes from Bashu. The key is not to let the Jin Kingdom occupy it."
In Sichuan and Shaanxi, once the Jin Kingdom occupied Bashu and built a large number of warships in Shu, ten years later, thousands of warships came down the river, and that was the time when the Song Dynasty was destroyed. Every minister in the court knew this clearly.
.”
"I heard that Wanyan Wushu and his generals took their families south this time. They want to settle in Bashu."
Li Gang nodded, "This time the Jin Kingdom is not to plunder Bashu, but to manage Bashu. The Jin Kingdom is bound to win over Bashu. It can be seen from Wanyan Wushu's attack on Hanzhong this time that it is different from before. He is making every step of the way.
Don't be impatient. If the court fails to see this this time, Sichuan and Shaanxi will be in danger."
"But Zhu Shengfei is in charge of Sichuan and Shaanxi!" Chen Qing couldn't help but sigh.
Li Gang also fell silent. He also couldn't figure out why the officials refused to change their ways even though they knew that Zhu Shengfei was not a local minister.
...........
At noon, the ship arrived at Lin'an, and Zheng Ping returned to Lin'an with him. Yang Liu'er gave birth to a son for him, which made him ecstatic, and he wanted to return to Lin'an with Chen Qing no matter what.
Chen Qing had no choice but to let Yang Yuanqing and Yang Zaixing guard Baling together, and Zheng Ping was able to go home and talk about their marriage.
Another one who came back with him was Lu Wei. Lu Wei was currently serving as a military officer in Chen Qing's army and was in charge of supplies and food. He also asked for leave to go home and marry his fiancée Li Mei.
"Du Tong, when you come back this time, let's organize the wedding together!" Zheng Ping looked at Yuhang's door in the distance.
Chen Qing smiled lightly, "I'm not in a hurry, why are you in a hurry?"
"Du Tong, you can't say that. We all follow you loyally and place our family's prosperity and wealth on you. Only when you have a family will everyone feel safe. Otherwise, if you are killed by the imperial court, there will be no one to succeed you.
If the imperial court sends a new capital to establish our foundation, we will all be purged."
Chen Qing looked both ways and lowered his voice to Zheng Ping, "That's it for now. Don't talk nonsense in Lin'an or put me in danger!"
"Don't worry! This kind of talk will only rot in my stomach, and I won't say a word nonsense."
When the ship docked, Li Gang smiled at Chen Qing and said, "I live in Jinzouyuan, Huguang. It's very spacious there. Do you want to go with me?"
"Thank you very much, Ambassador Xuanfu. I have a small house in Lin'an, so I have a place to live temporarily."
"Forget it, come find me another day and let's have a drink together."
"The humble job will definitely come!"
Li Gang left with more than a dozen followers. This time Chen Qing only brought 20 personal soldiers, still led by Yan Jun, the commander of the personal soldiers.
Chen Qing and Zheng Ping also broke up, and he went to his house with his soldiers.
Chen Qing's mansion was handed over to Lu Xiu, who hired an old couple to look after it. She would come over from time to time and bring a few maids to clean it.
Chen Qing knocked on the door, and the person who opened the door for him was a gray-haired old man. He looked at Chen Qing and the soldiers behind him, and asked with some surprise: "Who are you looking for?"
Chen Qing smiled and said: "I'm not looking for anyone, this is my mansion."
The old man hesitated and asked: "Are you...General Chen?"
"Exactly!"
The old man opened the door quickly, "I'm sorry, I didn't know General Chen was coming back today, and Miss Lu didn't tell me either."
Chen Qing walked into the door and asked with a smile: "Does Miss Lu come here often?"
"I come here often. I came here just the day before yesterday with a young lady."
The two young ladies were naturally sisters Yu Ying and Yu Lian. They followed Lu Xiu back to Lin'an and did not stay in Yuezhou. The main reason was that Chen Qing had to stay in the military camp and could not take care of them.
Chen Qing nodded, turned around and said to Yan Jun: "You should stay in the east courtyard! Take care of it by yourself, handle dinner by yourself, and have a good rest for two days."
All the soldiers had lived here before and were familiar with the roads. They didn't need Chen Qing's arrangement. They went to the east courtyard on their own.
Chen Qing also went to the back house. The landscape in the yard had changed. The apricot trees in the distance had fallen leaves. A few autumn chrysanthemums in the corner were in full bloom. A branch of wintersweet was also full of small golden flowers. The whole yard was filled with flowers.
With a faint fragrance.
Chen Qing opened the door and walked into the room. The room was basically the same as when he left, but Chen Qing still found some subtle changes. For example, the bedding was newly washed, clean and refreshing, and the vase on the table was also fresh.
There is a wintersweet in full bloom.
Chen Qing looked at the vase on the table, his heart filled with warmth, a feeling he had never felt before.
At this moment, there was a sudden sound of running footsteps outside, "Sir, you are back!" This was Yu Ying's voice.
Chen Qing walked out of the room quickly and saw two young ladies appearing at the door of the courtyard, with faces full of joy and sparkling eyes.
Chen Qing stretched out his hand, and the two little ladies cheered and threw themselves into his arms. Chen Qing was also extremely happy and couldn't help but kiss each of the two bright red faces.
When he looked up, he found Lu Xiu looking at him with a half-smile. Chen Qing's face turned red. He had lost his composure just now.
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[I had something to do at home yesterday, so I only typed out two chapters. One chapter will be gone at noon today. I will update it normally in the evening. Please forgive me!]