Chapter 336: The country is like a chess (1)

In February, the severe winter in the north gradually faded, the ice and snow melted, and the new branches sprouted. On the endless plains of the Hexi Corridor, the grass began to grow new. In the distance, groups of strong horses were galloping on the grassland, and cattle and sheep were raising their heads leisurely by the river. At this time, on the official road east of Ganzhou, a long carriage was slowly driving, extending two miles away.

The first batch of Western Region immigrants drawn from Huazhou and Wugong County here, more than 1,000 households were not voluntarily. The government randomly selected the landless farmers. With an order, every household began to pack up their meager property, with their wives and children, and their white-haired parents. They said goodbye to the earthen house and thatched house, bid farewell to their hometown, and began to move westward three days later. The only compensation was a carriage, which was pieced together by five farmers.

In the team, the old man sat on the carriage with his children in his arms, staring blankly at the farther and farther east. Tumor tears hang on the corners of their eyes, and whispered to their grandchildren from time to time, "Child, remember that your roots are in the Tang Dynasty and in Huazhou."

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The women were busy tiring the other side of the carriage with a blank expression, while the men followed the carriage, unlike the old man's homeland, their expressions were relaxed and their eyes were filled with hope. They took out the official texts in their arms from time to time, with the signature of Anxi Dadugu, and they gently folded them and put them carefully in their arms. Although it was in the distant West, 100 acres of land were all Yongye fields. For these men who were burdened with the burden of supporting their families, land was always the most fatal temptation.

At both ends of the team were a thousand guards. The team was moving slowly and honing their temperament, but no one dared to complain, because at the end of the team, he followed the Anxi Jiedushi and the King of Guangping.

When Li Qing arrived in Fengxiang, he learned that he was also the governor of Beiting. Feng Changqing replaced An Sishun as the governor of Hexi. This appointment was a loss and gain for him. It seems that Li Longji's intention was to concentrate on developing the Western Regions and prevent him from being involved in the An Lushan incident.

At this moment, he was immediately on a low mound, and the thug curtain blocked the flat sunlight. He looked at the slow-moving team and sighed helplessly. The team had been walking for nearly twenty days before they arrived in Ganzhou. At this speed, it would take at least May to reach the Broken Leaf. This was only one thousand households. In the future, hundreds of thousands of households will migrate to the Western Regions, and I don’t know when it will be. Things will not come in a hurry. It is a feat to be able to arrive smoothly for thousands of miles.

"Tell the Wang Duwei, we will rest in Ganzhou tonight!"

"Yes!" A personal soldier took the order and left.

Li Qing turned around and said to Zhang Ji: "Please go and comfort the people for me. When you reach the boundary of Shazhou, the conditions will improve and everyone can eat hot rice and hot dishes."

Zhang Jigong bowed and took a few soldiers to the immigration team. At this time, the sound of horse hooves came from behind. Li Qing turned around and saw more than a dozen horses coming towards him quickly. He took the lead in front of him. The horse was handsome and heroic. It was Li Chu, King Guangping.

"General, they are always happy when promoted, but why do they become calm when they come to you?" Li Chu stepped forward and stood with Li Qing. The view here is wide. He looked at the horses galloping on the grassland in the distance, and smiled with a whip: "Hexi has been a major horse-herding place in all dynasties since ancient times. If Hexi gets cavalry, it's a pity that the flowers fall into other courtyards. Does the general feel regretful for this?"

"A smart guy!" Li Qing gently punched him on the shoulder, then leaned his head behind him and looked at him and laughed: "But Old Dao Li told you, I want to plot against Hexi?"

Li Laodao was Li Mi, the teacher who taught Li Chu. He was originally a sacrificial scholar in the East Palace and became a Hanlin scholar. He had always had a bad relationship with Yang Guozhong. After he became the right prime minister, Li Mi resigned from his position as Hanlin. It happened that Li Chu was going to the Western Regions, so Li Mi happily went with him. In addition to Li Mi, there were more than 100 civil officials who were accompanied by this time. They were all lower-level officials selected from the Jingji area and went to Anxi for two years.

Li Chu glanced at the carriage Li Mi was riding in from a distance, smiled and said, "The master also said, if the general really gets Hexi, this Jiedushi can only be a year at most, and then he will enter the court and be promoted to the left prime minister."

"The old Taoist Li has some gaze, and he is worthy of being a paradise." Li Qing smiled casually and glanced at Li Chu slightly. Seeing a hint of pride on his face, Li Qing then smiled and said coldly: "What else did your master say?"

Li Chu was stunned, then his face turned red, and a shame flashed in his eyes. He lowered his head and said, "Thank you, General, Li Chu has received his teaching!"

Li Qing nodded and apologized, "Forget it, you have a son, and I won't talk about you anymore."

After saying that, he gently pinched Li Chu's shoulder, turned his horse's head and galloped backward. Li Chu looked at his back, and couldn't help but remember the instructions his father had given him before leaving. "When the emperor gave Li Qing the paperweight, he once said that Li Qing's great use was to assist the successor king, and let you go to Anxi with him, which is of far-reaching significance. Now the emperor seems to intend to establish Li Cong, but no one knows his real intention. When you go to Anxi, you must hold Li Qing firmly in your hand and never give others a chance."

‘Assisting the successor king!’ Li Chu murmured, a strange look suddenly flashed in his eyes, and a hero suddenly appeared in his heart. He rode a horse and rushed towards the immigration team.

Seeing Li Qing running towards him, Li Jingyan immediately pulled the curtain open and said slightly, "Li Lang, where have you been, I won't see you for the whole afternoon!"

"Aren't I here?"

Li Qing gently patted her hand that was placed on the window ridge and smiled and said, "My princess is more mature and more beautiful, but when she is angry, her beauty is reduced by three points, but there are two more wrinkles at the corners of her eyes."

"You dare to say that I'm old, be careful I'll knock your head!" Despite that, Li Jingyan couldn't help but take out the bronze mirror, looked down at the corners of her eyes, and saw that it was as bright as jade, with no wrinkles. Her pretty face turned cold and pretended to be fierce, but she pretended not to look like her. She only focused for a moment, then burst out laughing, gently pinched the back of his hand, and cursed in a low voice: "You dead guy, don't talk to me."

Seeing that her skin was as white as snow and her eyes were as autumn water, Li Qing felt his heart waving, and his eyes quickly swept to both sides. Seeing that the guards were all admiring the scenery in the distance, he leaned forward and smiled, "Then I'll be with you tonight!"

"What are you talking nonsense?" Li Jingyan couldn't help but feel embarrassed and anxious. She winked at Li Qing and told him that there was someone beside her. Looking at her, she saw a beautiful pretty face in the carriage, looking at them with a smile. Only then did Li Qing remember that there was still the beloved concubine of King Guangping, Shen Zhenzhu, sitting inside.

"Ha! Ha! The climate in Hexi is indeed a little colder than Chang'an." He laughed dryly, touched the back of his head, and volunteered to Li Jingyan: "I'll shoot a few wild ducks and roast them for you to eat in the evening."

After saying that, he waved to his personal soldiers, "My sons, go play wild game with me!" Sama ran away.

Looking at his back running away in panic, Li Jingyan was both angry and funny. It was just early February, so how could there be any wild duck? A fascinating smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, "What a fool," and gently pulled the curtain on the ground.

The team moving west continued to move forward, sleeping all the way. On the evening of the day, they finally arrived in Shazhou. Li Qing's long-lasting heart finally relaxed. He did not encounter any horse bandits along the way. Fortunately, it must be the deterrence of the army. In addition, these people who moved west had no oil and water to reap, and the horse bandits were not interested. After receiving Li Qing's advance notice, Wang Changling, who had just been promoted to the governor of Shazhou, had already prepared enough and built nearly a hundred huge tents along the official road. He steamed hot steamed buns and thick broth. Seeing that the team moving west was coming, the officials immediately stepped forward to take the people into the tent to rest and eat. Until this time, the extremely tired immigrants finally got a chance to breathe.

"General, Wang Changling, the governor of Shazhou, asked for a meeting."

As soon as Li Qing settled in the tent, the personal soldiers came to the door. Li Qing winked at Li Jingyan. Li Jingyan hurriedly packed up some things with his maid and entered the inner tent.

"Please come in!"

After a moment, Wang Changling, who had a black and thin face, hurried into the tent and bowed to Li Qingshen, "I have seen the general!"

"Brother Yuhu doesn't have to be too polite, please sit down!"

Li Qing made a move and asked him to sit down, then poured him a cup of tea himself, and said with a smile: "When I first met Brother Yuhu, I thought that some old farmer had gone to the wrong room, but now eight or nine years have passed, Brother Yuhu's style remains the same as before."

Wang Changling raised his head and smiled, and sighed with a sigh: "I was the county magistrate and Yangming was the chief clerk, but now I am the governor of the state, Yangming has become the Minister of Shangshu Zuo Pushe and the Grand Protector of Anxi. His life is like this, and it can be called the legend of Tianbao. However, thanks to Yangming's nostalgia, I was able to work in Shazhou for seven years, otherwise I would have been transferred long ago."

"Otherwise!" Li Qing shook his head slowly and said, "It's not that I'm nostalgic about it. If it weren't for Brother Yuhu, how could Shazhou be as vibrant as today, turning a remote village with less than 2,000 households into a Shangzhou with 50,000 households...."

"Last year, many refugees fled to Hexi, but now there are 70,000!" Wang Changling corrected in a low voice.

"Good guy, it's only a year later, it's become 70,000." Li Qing laughed. Suddenly, a thought arose in his mind. If we set up guide points in Shazhou, Kucha, and Bachangcheng (now Aksu), it would greatly alleviate the suffering of immigration and migration, so that the elderly and weak people would not die halfway. The sudden thought made him unable to resist the excitement in his heart, paced back and forth in the tent with his hands behind his back, and carefully considered the feasibility of his own ideas. The key was food. In this way, immigrants spent more time on the road and consumed huge food. The imperial court could not allocate food, so everything had to be solved by himself.

Thinking of this, Li Qing asked again: "How much money and grain is left in Shazhou's warehouse now?"

Wang Changling thought for a while and replied: "There is nearly 200,000 guan of money, and the grain storage was originally 400,000 guan. Last month, Zhang Xun wanted to go to 100,000 guan of military rations, and there should be about 300,000 guan. However, Shazhou has sufficient grain storage, so I can buy some more, and I guess it will be able to get 500,000 guan in the end."

Li Qing nodded, "These 500,000 stone of grain are kept for me. I plan to build an immigration relief center in Shazhou so that they can raise it here for one or two months. Do you think it is feasible?"

Although it was a tone of discussion, Wang Changling knew that this was just Li Qingnian being polite to her for the part of an old friend. In fact, it was an order that was not to be disobeyed or bargained. Wang Changling immediately agreed: "I will start this matter tomorrow, please rest assured General!"

The two talked about the recent situation in Shazhou for a while. At this time, the personal soldiers came in to report, "Li Mi asked for a meeting at the door!"

"Please wait for a moment!"

"Since Yangming has something to do, I won't disturb you!" Wang Changling saw that Li Qing had a guest, so he said goodbye. Li Qing did not stay, and immediately sent his personal soldiers to invite Li Mi in.

Soon, Li Mi, wearing a Taoist robe, walked in and saw that he was about thirty-five and six years old, tall and thin, fair skin, slightly lacking in blood color, his forehead was extremely plump, and his slender eyes always contained a naughty smile.

Although Li Mi has already gone to the Hanlin position for the first time, Li Qing's etiquette has not decreased. Seeing that he was in the account, Li Qing immediately stood up and greeted him with a smile, "Li Hanlin never paid attention to me all the way. How could he have a good time today?"

"I am not a Hanlin anymore, I am just a civilian. The general should not be so polite." Li Mi bowed to Li Qing and replied: "I am here to find the general for the matter of King Guangping."

‘The affairs of King Guangping?’ Li Qing was a little surprised, but he immediately reacted, walked to the door of the tent with a serious expression and specifically reminded his personal soldiers to come in. No one was allowed to come in.

Li Qing had completely calmed down at this time. He smiled faintly and asked, "Tell me! What's the matter for King Guangping?"
Chapter completed!