After Li Xia met Shi Jun, he vaguely felt that becoming an official was different from other things. It was not just about working hard, but also required management and understanding.
If I had chatted more with Jia Sidao in Lin'an at that time, I might have answered Shi Jun's questions about the candidates for the Sichuan pacification system.
But when I thought about it again, Shangguan's appreciation was not something that could be won over with just a few words, and I didn't feel bothered by it.
He and Han Chengxu returned to the post house and saw Gao Changshou coming back from outside.
"Feiyu is back too." Gao Changshou smiled and said, "I have something to tell you."
"Let's go to Cuiping Mountain and talk." Li Xia said, "By the way, take a look at the terrain."
"I'll take a look at the terrain with you. If the war breaks out, Xuzhou will bear the brunt."
They took Gao Mingyue, Han Qiaoer, Liu Jinsuo, and Han Qi'an with them, and left the city to Cuiping Mountain in the west of the city.
Han Qiaoer was very happy. It was rare for her to have a stable life. Today she just felt like going out for fun. She held Gao Mingyue's hand along the way and turned around from time to time, delighted by the scenery of Shu.
"There are so many bamboos. Just now, my father was chatting with someone in the post house and said that this mountain is evergreen all year round, so it is called Cuiping Mountain..."
Gao Mingyue didn't speak, she was a little bored and didn't know what she was thinking.
When we climbed to the top of the mountain, we saw a tall building with the words "Sanjiang Yilan Tower" written on it. There was also a beacon tower nearby.
Li Xia revealed his identity and entered the Sanjiang Yilan Building.
Looking over the railing, Li Xia and Gao Changshou didn't speak.
Seeing their silence, Han Qi'an leaned on the railing and recited a poem.
"The painting boat enters Rongzhou in the rain, and the misty mountains cross Du Ruozhou.
It is quiet at the time of writing, and it is said that Feng Feng will come to the west tower every night."
"What a poem!" Liu Jinsuo shouted.
If Lin Zi were here, he would probably scold him, "Shut up if you don't understand poetry." Without this scolding, Liu Jinsuo felt that something was missing.
Han Qi'an said: "Lu Fangweng's "Xuzhou" was written by Lu Fangweng, who once served as the general magistrate of Jiazhou. It must have been written at that time."
Liu Jinsuo said "Oh", because he didn't understand this, he regretted that he had talked too much, but he felt that Lin Zi was still interesting.
Han Qi'an was not talking to Liu Jinsuo. He turned to Li Xia and said, "Just listen to the sentence "Fang Weng" and you can know the topography of Xuzhou. Please take a look, Alang..."
He raised his hand and pointed to the southwest and said, "This is the Jinsha River."
Then he pointed to the northwest and said, "This is the Minjiang River."
Li Xia looked along his hand and saw that the two rivers met in the east of Xuzhou City and surged eastward. It was extremely majestic.
Recently, he has been watching the river from the boat, but when he climbed up and looked far away, he was shocked again and felt deeply that he was insignificant.
"Which is the main stream of the Yangtze River? The Jinsha River?"
"This section is only called the Jinsha River, not the Yangtze River." Han Qi'an said, "The Jinsha River and the Minjiang River converge here. They run from Xuzhou southward to the sea and run for ten thousand miles. When the water of the Jinsha River and the Minjiang River gathers together, it is called the Yangtze River.
"
Having said this, he pointed to Xuzhou City and said: "Therefore, Xuzhou is called the 'No. 1 City on the Yangtze River'."
"I see."
"Look again, Alang. The Minjiang River comes from the northwest and the Jinsha River comes from the southwest. Xuzhou City is sandwiched between the two rivers. What is the terrain like?"
Li Xia nodded and was silent for a long time.
He has seen that Xuzhou City is not only located in the delta of the two rivers, but also has Cuiping Mountain protecting its west side.
With the green mountains as a barrier, it is called "Cui Ping", which shows that the ancients were very particular about naming.
The advantages of Xuzhou's city defense are also clear at a glance. The triangular area faces the river on two sides and the mountain on the other side, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Li Xia said: "Only when I saw it with my own eyes did I know that Lu Fangweng's poem described the topography of Xuzhou."
"There is also the aura of this city, the dragon head of the Yangtze River, and the ancient Rongzhou in the southwest half." Han Qi'an added: "The so-called 'embracing the golden waves to urge Wu and Chu, and dominating Bashu to control Yunnan and Guizhou' is the same."
"Great rivers and mountains." Li Xia said.
Gao Changshou also said: "Great rivers and mountains."
When they started talking, Han Qi'an and others stood a little aside and did not interrupt.
Gao Changshou raised his hand and pointed toward the southwest and said, "Does Fei Yu know why Jinsha River got its name?"
"I don't know."
"Because gold sand gushes out of the river, it is called Jinsha River. As the saying goes, 'gold is born in Lishui,' the real name of Jinsha River is Lishui, which is also the upper reaches of the Yangtze River."
Gao Changshou said, and then added: "Starting from Dali, the Mongolian army can go down the Jinsha River, pass through Xuzhou and Luzhou, and go straight to Chongqing Prefecture."
"yes."
"But the people of Dali may not be willing to go out with the Mongolian army. Moreover, once Wu Lianghetai is gone, the country of Dali will be empty."
Li Xia pondered: "Mu Ru is leaving?"
"Yes, I want to go up the Jinsha River and meander a thousand and six hundred miles back to Jianchuan City."
"Lijiang?" Li Xia has been to Lijiang and knows that Lijiang was called "Jianchuan Festival" in the Tang Dynasty.
"Yes, Jianchuan City is on the bank of Lijiang. I still have an old army hiding there, and my wife and children are also there." Gao Changshou said, "I want to contact the rebels and see my cousin again."
Li Xia said: "To be honest, I'm still not optimistic about your return to the country."
"Reviving the country is naturally difficult, and those who have lost their country have to do it."
Li Xia rarely frowned, considered his words, and said: "If you let me plan for you, when you don't have to worry about the Song Dynasty handing you over to Mongolia, it won't be too late for you to come forward to do things...such as defecting to the Song Dynasty and seeking a position to appease Yunnan.
Zhizhi Envoy."
What he actually wanted to say was to wait until he became powerful, but a small county captain was indeed not qualified to recruit others yet.
As expected, Gao Changshou waved his hand and smiled.
"At that time, I defected to Lu Wende. He talked nicely, but he only asked me how to buy horses from the southwest. He didn't have any support at all. He also tricked me into going north to die. Fortunately, I met you. This trip north was not without gain.
We have obtained Wu Liang Hetai's troop deployment in the southwest. He may lead his army to leave soon, and I can take the opportunity to raise troops. If everything goes well, I will attack Wu Liang Hetai with you in front and back, and you and I will face the enemy side by side again."
"I'm not optimistic about it." Li Xia said: "It doesn't matter if Wu Liang joins the throne. It doesn't matter who Mongolia replaces him in Dali. What's important is that Duan Xingzhi knows that Mongolia is powerful and is determined to be the general manager of Yunnan in Mongolia. You can't defeat him."
Gao Changshou shook his head and said: "You are determined, why do you persuade me to give up?"
"Duan Xingzhi has the support of Mongolia, but you have nothing to rely on and have no chance of success. Who will support you in restoring the country? If they support you, they can only support you in returning to Yunnan. Then, at most you can only become a Yunnan system in this life.
Set envoy or general manager."
When Li Xia said this, he summed it up and said: "There is no hope of restoring the country. Think about it as soon as possible. Only if you set your aspirations in the right direction will your efforts be useful."
Gao Changshou was silent for a while and said: "I know you have great ambitions. But, so do I."
Li Xia said nothing, but his meaning was obvious.
He does not belittle Gao Changshou, but he is extremely confident.
Gao Changshou smiled and said: "I have learned a lot from you during this period, and I want to go back and give it a try."
"That's fine. I'm just giving you advice, the choice is yours to make." Li Xia said, "Just take care of yourself."
He said what he wanted to say without any more persuasion, but turned to look at Gao Mingyue.
She was standing by the railing, still silent.
"Don't worry, I'm still alive in the north. No matter whether I can succeed or not when I return to my motherland, my life will not be in danger." Gao Changshou said.
As he spoke, he noticed Li Xia's gaze, as if he wanted to say something else.
But in the end, Gao Changshou just said: "I have just contacted the merchant ship that is willing to go west and will set off tomorrow. It doesn't matter if we say goodbye... If I gather the rebels, we can meet again soon."
"good."
…
The group of people turned back to the post house.
When we arrived at the city gate, we saw several Miao people carrying sacks into the city. Among them was a Miao girl dressed in very bright colors.
Li Xia thought for a while and asked the others to go back first, claiming that he had to do something.
On this day, Li Xia didn't come back until evening.
When Liu Jinsuo saw him coming back, he couldn't help laughing and said: "Young man saw the beautiful young lady and followed him all the way to see her? You should take me with you!"
Others just thought it was inappropriate and didn't bother to pay attention to him.
They had gained a bit more of the gloomy atmosphere before parting. After dinner, they went back to their houses to rest.
Gao Mingyue and Han Qiaoer were in the same room, holding hands and talking in low voices, as if they could never finish talking.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
Before they could ask, Li Xia's voice came over.
"it's me."
Han Qiaoer hurriedly ran to open the door and said happily: "Brother Li, why are you here?"
Li Xia said: "I bought you some delicious food, go and get it from Mr. Han."
"Okay. Can Brother Li persuade Sister Gao not to leave?"
"Well, go ahead."
Han Qiaoer was very well-behaved and ran away immediately.
Gao Mingyue sat there alone, looking a little panicked.
"I'm not coming in," Li Xia said, "I'll stand at the door and have a few words with you."