Xue Li stood in the courtyard of the farmhouse, looking at the corpses of the two Hu people with a gloomy face.

"Did you ask clearly, when did you leave?"

"Chief, I just left at noon. These people are very clever and let them slip away in advance. ”

The Intelligence Investigation Bureau of the Chu Palace's Mansion is not a dry meal, and all the guards in the palace have dispersed, so several suspicious places were quickly locked.

And when the guards came to this farmhouse, they encountered a desperate resistance, needless to say, there must be something wrong here.

I asked the nearby farmers, and I learned that since last month, there has been a caravan of Hu people living here, and this caravan has left in a hurry at noon today.

Xue Li: "Hmph, do these people think it's safe to escape from Chang'an City?" If one of them let him escape back to the grassland, it would be my dereliction of duty. ”

Li Kuo left Beijing with Wang Xuanwu and others, and the security affairs in the palace of the King of Chu were all under Xue Li's control, and now that there was such a single matter, he was naturally very angry.

"A caravan of dozens of people, whether it is big or small, will always leave clues. Chief, the subordinates will take people to chase after them now. ”

There are only a few roads from Chang'an City to the grassland.

If these people are in a hurry, they will definitely leave some impression on passers-by.

After all, no caravan would move at full speed near Chang'an.

Xue Li: "The flying pigeon passed the book, so that the shops in the palace in various places should pay attention to whether they have found a group of dozens of Hu people caravans." These people should not have had time to bring any goods, and nine times out of ten they were empty carriages, and they were in a hurry. ”

Keeping pigeons has been around for a few years.

Although some people in the Central Plains began to use pigeons to deliver letters from the Spring and Autumn Period, this method has not been popularized on a large scale.

It wasn't until the end of the Sui Dynasty that there was a slight improvement.

However, the scale of use is still limited.

After the establishment of the Intelligence Investigation Bureau in the Chu Palace, Li Kuan began to think about ways to quickly transmit information.

Naturally, I thought of the flying pigeon biography.

A number of pigeon farmers were collected from Jiangnan and other places, and after several years of training, they finally formed their own flying pigeon transmission system in the Chu Palace.

"Chief, these people can basically be judged to be Xue Yantuo people, they want to return to Xue Yantuo, Liangzhou or Shuozhou, it is almost a necessary place, do you want to take a team of people to guard the rabbit first?"

"No, when they arrive in Liangzhou, it will be a few days later. Let all the members of the Hot Air Team go out, and the day after tomorrow at the latest, I will see the corpses of these people! ”

Although the people in the courtyard had already left half a day early, Xue Li was confident that he could catch up with them.

It's the weather now, and no matter how fast you run, you can't catch up with the hot air balloon floating in the sky.

Coupled with the fact that the Hot Air Squad now has a pair of binoculars on almost every ball, it's even easier to find these people.

It is estimated that these Xue Yantuo people, who have been injured by the hot air balloon once, never dreamed that they would be planted in the hands of the hot air balloon again, right?

……

In Chang'an City, today's atmosphere is a little different.

There are obviously a lot more Jin Wuwei patrolling the streets than in the past.

And those Hu merchants in the West Market are even more unlucky.

But anyone who was suspicious was questioned.

Especially the merchant Xue Yantuo, even if he had been doing business in Chang'an City for many years, he was also affected by this assassination case.

Of course, the most unlucky thing was not these Hu merchants, but the crown prince of Goguryeo, Gao Huanquan.

Because everyone knew that he had a conflict with the county lord of Yongping a few days ago, and some people spread the news that Gao Huanquan instructed someone to assassinate him, which made him restless all afternoon.

"Come on, prepare the horses."

The next day, shortly after dawn, Gao Huanquan got up.

After a few simple bites, he prepared a generous gift and prepared to go to the Chu Palace's mansion to visit the county lord of Yongping.

That's right, don't look at Gao Huanquan as the prince of Goguryeo, but the situation is stronger than people.

In the past half a month in Chang'an City, Gao Huanquan has a more real understanding of the strength of Datang, which has strengthened his idea of not offending Datang.

He is the one who wants to inherit the throne, if Goguryeo is destroyed, where will he inherit the throne?

Now, at least let the people of the Chu Palace's Mansion believe that this matter really has nothing to do with them.

……

Near Sanyuan County, next to a barren mountain, a caravan stopped its journey after the sky was completely dark.

"Little Khan, even if these Tang people sent people to pursue, they would definitely not have thought that we would leave from Sanyuan County."

"That's right, take the cement road to the west to Liangzhou, or go east to Luoyang, and then turn to Jinyang and Shuozhou, which is the most convenient way back to the grassland. They must have put their energy in both directions. ”

"I just don't know if Kakashi has succeeded in the end."

As soon as the group stopped, they began to talk.

There were carriages and tents, and it was easy to spend the night.

Especially for these long-term nomadic Xue Yantuo people, it is even more commonplace.

"I hope we don't return in vain, otherwise I won't know how to laugh at us when the time comes."

Takimang looked south, hoping to see Kakashi after him.

However, he was destined to be disappointed.

……

At the Hanzhong Wharf, Li Kuan and his party slowly stepped off the boat.

When you get here, you have to take the land route to Chang'an, so that it is the fastest.

Otherwise, you have to follow the Han River from Xiangyang to Ezhou, and then turn along the Yangtze River from Yangzhou to the Grand Canal, and return to Chang'an in a big circle.

Li Kuan naturally wouldn't toss himself like this.

"Lord Wang, it only takes three days to get from Hanzhong to Chang'an, even if you go slower, you will definitely be able to get there in five days. Calculate the time, the princess is about to give birth. ”

Qing'er followed Li Kuan and got off the boat.

Since it was arranged in advance for people to go to Hanzhong first, after the group got off the boat, there was no need to toss, and there was a carriage waiting for everyone.

"It seems that the official road from Hanzhong to Chang'an City should also be paved into a cement road as soon as possible."

Li Kuan thought that the boat could reach most of the state capitals in the south of the Yangtze River by going down the Han River, which was actually a very convenient transportation artery.

It's just that Datang's previous development focus was on Guanzhong Road, so the infrastructure was also prioritized in the Guanzhong area.

Wang Xuance: "The rice from Shannan Road has to be transported to Chang'an, along the Han River to Hanzhong, and then transferred to land transportation, which is the most convenient way." Nowadays, the official road in Hanzhong, although it is also flat, is indeed a little worse than the cement road. ”

"The cement road from Jinyang to Shuozhou should be almost finished. At that time, Nanshan Construction Engineering can arrange some people to repair the cement road from Chang'an City to Hanzhong first, and it just so happens that the phosphate fertilizer from Xiangzhou can also be transported to Hanzhong to be sold. ”

If you want to get rich, you must first build roads.

In Li Kuan's view, building a cement road is not only as simple as getting rich, but also related to the rule of the Tang Dynasty.

Only when the decree of Chang'an City can be quickly transmitted to all the states in the world, can this huge empire continue to operate effectively, otherwise, something will happen sooner or later.

"This time, more than half of the Turks in the Yunzhong Prefecture have migrated to Jiangnan Province, if we can connect Shuozhou to the Turkic tent with cement roads, and then build the cement roads from Shuozhou to Youzhou, the vast areas of Hedong and Hebei will be completely stable."

Seeing that the promotion of Nanyang rice has entered the right track, Wang Xuance, as Li Kuan's number one staff, naturally has to start thinking about next year's major events.

Obviously, Li Kuan wants to vigorously promote the cultivation of cotton next year, but it is impossible for all parts of Guanzhong to free up so much fertile land for cotton planting.

At this time, it is natural to look elsewhere.

Compared to rice, corn and wheat, cotton requires much less water.

There is a large number of terra nullius in the north of Datang, and although the water conservancy facilities are relatively poor, it just provides an opportunity for the promotion of cotton.

"Well, after these cement roads are repaired, the army can be mobilized at any time, but I am not afraid of the frequent invasion of the Hu people on the grassland. It's just that if you want to have long-term peace and stability, you still have to destroy these people. ”

In later generations, Henan, Shanxi, and Xinjiang were all major cotton producing areas.

Xinjiang will not be talked about for the time being, but Shanxi and Henan are now within the scope of Hedong Province and Hebei Province.

These two places, except for the area near Guanzhong in the south, are quite prosperous, and the north is completely barren.

For example, the surroundings of Shuozhou City are borderless land as far as the eye can see.

In order to make use of this land, the most important thing is to solve the problem of security.

To put it bluntly, it is necessary to conquer the Hu people around you.

"What the prince said is that according to his subordinates, Datang now has the strength to pacify the Quartet."

Wang Xuance and Li Kuan chatted as they headed towards Chang'an City.

……

At dawn, Zhu Fufu had already gotten up, nibbled on a few big crackers, and he personally boarded a hot air balloon.

"Team up, no matter how fast the Xue Yantuo people run, we should have run ahead of them this morning. If they still can't be found, then nine times out of ten, they are not on this line. ”

Although everyone thought that the east and west sides were the most likely retreat routes for the Xue Yantuo people, Zhu Fufu felt that no possibility could be left behind.

Chief Xue gave a death order, if Xue Yantuo escaped because of his own negligence, then his conscience could no longer be stable.

Such a cute little county lord, Xue Yantuo dared to arrange someone to assassinate him, if they let them escape, then how would he face the prince in the future?

"Today we set off in three hot air balloons at the same time, moving in the direction of several nearby roads, and we must not let go of anything suspicious."

Zhu Fufu was not in the mood to chat with his subordinates, so he got on a heater.

Although it was a hot summer, the sky at dawn still had a hint of coolness.

Because it was in Datang, Zhu Fufu's hot air balloon did not rise very high.

After floating in the air for half an hour, the sun was already completely on the horizon.

"Team up, you see, there's a team of centaurs at the foot of that mountain moving quickly north."

Suddenly, a sharp-eyed team member noticed the situation.

Following his gestures, Zhu Fufu also discovered the group of people.

"Three carriages, a dozen horses, all the information is correct. Raise the balloon a little higher, we overtake him, find a spot to land on the side of the road ahead, and get a closer look to see if it's them. ”

As long as the traces are found by the hot air team, Zhu Fufu is not worried about where these people can run in the wild.

Of course, in order to avoid mistakes, Zhu Fufu still wants to confirm it.

……

"Puff puff!"

A carrier pigeon landed in the courtyard of the Chu Palace.

"Princess Niangniang, those Xue Yantuo people have found it."

Xue Li quickly glanced at the note in his hand, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Then I'll leave the rest to you. Regardless of whether they live or die, none of these Xue Yantuo people can be spared. ”

Cheng Jingwen breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that today was finally a good omen.

Early in the morning, I first received the news of Wang Ye's flying pigeon, saying that he would return to Chang'an in a few days; Immediately afterwards, there were also traces of these Xue Yantuo people who were stabbing small corn.

It seems that they can finally make these Xue Yantuo people pay for the wrong choices they made before the prince returns.

"Princess, please rest assured, this time, my subordinates personally led the team to destroy these Xue Yantuo people."

"Count me in."

At this moment, Cheng Chuliang also came in from outside the door.

Such a big thing happened in the Chu Palace, and the Cheng family naturally knew about it.

Now, half of the Cheng family's guards have been sent to the Chu Palace, just in case.

……

Lu Mang looked at Sanyuan County, which was getting farther and farther away, and exhaled a long breath.

After leaving Mihara County, his group escaped the most dangerous area.

After that, even if the Tang people wanted to pursue themselves and cast a wide net, they would need more manpower.

It's just that he assassinated a county lord, Datang shouldn't have such a big reaction, right?

"Little Khan! Look! ”

Just when Trolley was just relaxing, a guard next to him pointed sharply at the sky.

Following his direction, Trolley saw the scene that had caused him countless nightmares.

Balloon!

More than a dozen hot air balloons appeared at the front of the team and landed really slowly.

Swish!

Reckless's face suddenly turned pale.

Although the size of this hot air balloon is disproportionate to last year, I was accompanied by an army of 100,000 at that time.

Now these dozens of people, although all of them are the elite of the tribe, but ......

"After rushing over, rushing to the open area in front of them, everyone dispersed, each looking for an opportunity to escape back to the grassland."

At this moment, there is no room for reckless thinking.

There were more than a dozen hot air balloons, not to mention seventy or eighty people inside.

Moreover, if they dare to stop themselves so grandiosely, they must have enough strength.

Trolling suddenly regretted a little, isn't it good to be your own little khan on the grassland?

Why do you have to come to Chang'an City to find credit?

"Whoosh!"

Before he could press the horse under his crotch, an arrow flew from mid-air.

Immediately afterwards, several screams sounded around him.

These Tang people, before the hot air balloon hit the ground, started shooting in mid-air.

Trolling Mang clutched his bleeding shoulder, his face ashen.