After bidding farewell to Ren Guang, on the way to Wancheng, the fifth Lun invited the son of Haoqiang, who took the initiative to greet him, to go with him in the car and ask about Li Tong's past.

Although Li Tong is tall, he is a scholar of poetry and books, and his appearance is elegant and humble: "In his early years, he was appointed by his father, and he went to Chang'an to be a Lang official, a foreign lang. ”

"Oh? What year is the outer lang of the dimension. ”

"The second year of Tianfeng."

"Only two years ahead of me." Officials also have factions, and those who have been Lang officials on the right path often look down on local officials who are promoted a little bit, and being Lang in the same year is also a kind of identity symbol of gangs.

But after that, Li Tong's career was not smooth, and he first served as the head of Wuwei to collect Fu Rui for Wang Mang, and later served as the county governor of Wuxian County.

did not directly become the county magistrate but became the county magistrate, which shows that Li Tong's family really does not have much power in the court, but he is a full-time official with 400 stones, but last year Li Tong took the initiative to resign and return to his hometown......

It's such a coincidence that you also resigned?

Fifth Lun suddenly became vigilant, he himself relied on his resignation to gain fame, and it was inevitable that he would be particularly attentive to people who had similar behaviors. knows that this kind of person is either as ill-intentioned as himself, or he wants to avoid trouble and hide, and he is not a loyal minister of Daxin anyway.

Li Jiyuan laughed and said, "Do you know Boyu, where is Wu County?" ”

Fifth Lun subconsciously said: "In Ba County? ”

Li Tongyan: "No, in Nanshun (Nanjun), located in the westernmost part, in Wuxia, the mountain is a huge obstacle between Chu and Shu. From Yiling County in the past, you have to go over the mountains and cross the mountains, from the west of Xiling Gorge to Wushan, all even the mountains are not broken, non-pavilion midnight, do not see the sun and the moon, the wind has no north and south, only up and down. ”

"The scenery is magnificent, but it is also remote and bitter, the sky is not sunny for three days, the ground is not three feet flat, the perennial fog, outsiders often get sick and die early, I can't stand it after half a year, so I resigned from my illness and returned to my hometown."

Li Tong stretched out his hand in the car, felt the warm sun in March, and said with a smile: "Fortunately, I came back, otherwise I would have been moldy in the clouds and mist of Wushan, how good Nanyang is, the ground is flat and the climate is warm." I'd rather be a rich man here than be an official in the middle of nowhere. ”

Li Zhiyuan's rhetoric revealed a sense of decadence and short-sightedness everywhere, saying that he was rich and comfortable at home, and he was Lu Lixiong, and he was unhappy to be an official.

But is that really the case? Fifth Lun smiled, but his heart was suspicious.

If Li Tong is really a person who has no desires and no desires, then as soon as he arrives in Wancheng, he will find out the news to greet him. It won't be that as a national teacher and a party, I want to keep warm, after the accident of the abolished prince, the fifth Lun didn't even dare to go to Liu Xin's house, so he could only draw a clear line.

Or, knowing that Liu Xin's Wancheng Li family was gone, wanted to find a backer again, so he fell in love with himself who seemed to be the new upstart in the DPRK?

This is ridiculous, Wu Lun secretly said in his heart: "It's all about this, and you still expect to go to the upper route, the first strong in Nanyang, you won't be blind to this extent, right?" ”

In short, after answering all the way, Li Tong behaved mediocre everywhere, it seemed that the rank was too much worse than Zhang Chun, and that old man's wrist was even afraid of the fifth Lun.

Wancheng is very large, it is the largest city that the fifth Lun saw after Chang'an, even Maoling, Changling is not as good, the city is divided into inside and outside, the small city and the big city are nested with each other, located in the southwest corner, it is where the Gongfu County Mansion is located, and it is also the place where the Fifth Lun they want to go.

Along the way, Wu Lun never mentioned the purpose of his trip, and Li Tong didn't ask, but only got off at the city gate and waved to Wu Lun: "When Bo Yu's official business is over, if you have leisure, Li Tong will definitely take you to visit Wancheng." ”

After the fifth Lun entered the inner city with the county soldiers sent by the doctor of the previous team to greet him, Li Tong's smile retracted and fell into thought, and his cousin Li Yi, who had been following behind the team, also came over on horseback, quite puzzled.

"Why does my brother care so much about Fifth Lun?"

Li Tong only didn't answer, and returned to the manor near Wancheng with his entourage, and only after entering the secret room did he answer Li Yi's doubts.

"My father is the national teacher, and now that the abolished prince is dead, the national teacher has completely lost power, and my family's investment in the past ten years has all been wasted, and I have to start from scratch."

Li Yi suddenly said: "So my cousin wants to win over Fifth Lun and make him the new backer of the Li family in the court?" However, he is only a mere Taizhong doctor, and his rank is indeed lower. ”

Li Tong said with a smile: "It doesn't matter if Zhilu is ranked, my father wrote that Wu Lun has recently won the emperor's trust." However, my real purpose is not in the fifth lun. ”

"It's his mission to the south!"

Speaking of this, Li Tong sold Guanzi, only let Li Yi guess what happened to the fifth Lun, he guessed a few times and missed, and finally Li Tong gave the answer to the riddle, and said in a low voice: "Last month, the abolished prince and the new king died, the emperor has no sons-in-law, but there are still two concubines left in the new capital, I guess the fifth Lun came here with a festival, and the team also brought the royal car, which must be to welcome them back to Chang'an!" ”

While speaking, Chang An sent a letter, which was written by Li Tong's father, which mentioned this matter and told Li Tong to receive Wu Lun well, but he didn't know that his son had already done it.

Li Tong shook his head while watching: "Father also said that I should pick two sisters of the right age and send them to the two princes of the new capital country to be concubines." ”

Li Yi clapped his palm: "Wonderful, so that the Li family can jump out of the wrecked national teacher and get the backer again!" I heard that the two princes of Xindu Kingdom, Wang Kuang is timid and wealthy, Wang Xing is bold and lustful, my family just did what he liked, and the sisters sent to him could not only be good-looking, but also accompanied by a lot of goods, so I didn't believe that he didn't accept them. ”

Li Tong's words were cold: "Then when Wang Mang kills his son again, the Li family will accompany them to the funeral?" ”

Li Yi was stunned for a moment, but he heard Li Tong sigh and say: "Wang Yu, Wang Yu, Wang An, Wang Lin, and that Wang Zong, so many people have died, and my father hasn't seen it clearly." At this time, he is still tied to these new princes who are all in danger, how foolish! ”

Li Tong has always felt that his father took refuge in Liu Xin and invested in the prince on the wrong path, and now he is even more panicked, it seems that the future of the Li family still has to be decided by himself. The foundation of his family is in Nanyang County, so he has to rely on the local heroes in his hometown, don't expect Chang'an, or any outsiders, once something happens, the distant water can't save the near fire.

"Ji Wen." Li Tong looked at his younger brother: "You quickly send your cronies to the city, and spread the news that the fifth Lun is here to welcome the two princes of the new capital country to go north in Wan City." ”

Wancheng has a population of more than 100,000 and is a big city in the south, and if a news is thrown into the market, it will soon spread everywhere, and the root cause cannot be found at all.

Li Yi was puzzled: "Why is this?" ”

Li Tong said lightly: "Without him, I just want to see if there are a few bold rebels in this huge former team county who dare to attack the envoy who welcomes the prince!" ”

Li Yi was suddenly shocked, he knew since he was a child that this brother seemed to be a gentleman and gentle gentleman in front of others, but he had great courage inside, but what good did this do to the Li family? Isn't it to ...... Conspiracy?

Li Tong spread his hands and said: "Since it wasn't my family who leaked the news, and it wasn't my family who attacked the mission, what does it have to do with me?" It doesn't have to be successful, as long as the attack on the mission happens, it is like staying in the Marquis Bolangsha to assassinate Qin Shi Huang, which is enough to shock the world. And no matter who did it, as soon as my family spread it a little, it would eventually be said that it was instigated by the Green Forest Army to murder the emperor's heirs. ”

Li Yi was even more confused, going around for a long time, feeling that Li Tong was in the green forest?

Li Tong said: "Among the southern bandits, the green forest is the most powerful, and Jingzhou Mu Feixing recruited 20,000 soldiers, and wanted to level the green forest mountain in the south, but it has been a few months, but it has not moved. The army was stationed in Nanyang to eat, and the farmers had not much food and clothing in the county after the drought in the county. ”

"Jingzhou Muhe County Da Yin then signaled us to contribute, and my family took the lead in apportioning a lot, a thousand stones per month! If you don't comply, you will be taxed directly. ”

No matter what Jingzhou Mu does, whether it is to raise his own self-respect or act cautiously, from Li Tong's point of view, he hopes that this battle will start as soon as possible, otherwise the longer it drags on, the more the people will suffer, and the heroes will not be able to live in peace.

"What's more, only by quickly pacifying the green forest can my family's business in the south continue."

And the prince was attacked by the "green forest thieves", which would make the imperial court realize the seriousness and force Jingzhou Mu to go south to war.

Li Yi suddenly realized, but thought of another possibility: "Brother, what if this battle is won, and Green Forest wins?" ”

Li Tong smiled even more happily, and his tone at the moment was ambitious, which was diametrically opposed to the mediocrity and ordinariness of his time on the fifth lun car.

"If this is better, my family will have to prepare to do another big business with big risks and greater rewards!"

Li Yi was full of admiration, and only joked before receiving the order to leave: "Brother Cong is not afraid that there are too many people attacking the mission, so that the fifth Lun, who is talking and laughing with you, also died?" ”

Li Tong laughed: "The fifth Boyu, just a person all the way, if he dies, he will die, what does it have to do with me?" ”

……

All the way to Wancheng, the fifth Lun only road Nanyang is really a big county, cut the rich soil of Zhou Chu, cross Jingyu and Xinjiang, even if it is a long drought, you can also see the population is prosperous, and the Lu is dense.

Although he didn't directly see the exact number on the household registration file, he heard that there were more than 300,000 households in the county, and the population was likely to have reached 2 million!

This is very terrifying, the hometown lieutenant of the fifth Lun is only in his early millions, and the poor Beidi County is only 200,000, just looking at the population, one Nanyang can top ten Beidi.

But this also means that the problem of land annexation in Nanyang is more serious than that in Guanzhong, and it is far away from Jingshi, and the power projection of the imperial court is already slightly weak, and I am afraid that even the annexation and slave trade cannot be prohibited.

So Jingzhou Mu wanted to level the Southern Green Forest Army, and did not recruit troops elsewhere, so he stared at Nanyang, and ordered the front team Yin Zhenfu to recruit 20,000 people, and trained in Xiangyang, relying on the supply of food and clothing from the front team.

"Fifth Lun to meet Chengxinhou."

The former team's big Yin Zhenfu had a lot of shelves, so he didn't go out of the city to welcome the fifth Lun, and when he came to see him, who made this tall? Zhen Fu is the head of the Zhen family in Zhongshan, and his father Zhen Han is a few major leaders of Wang Mang's entrepreneurial team.

When he arrived in Zhenfu, he was demoted to the prince, but he was still favored, this person was loyal to the new dynasty, and Wang Mang was relieved to hand over a huge front team to him.

Zhen Fu invited Wu Lun to sit down: "When Boyu came, the general who was fighting against the eastern robbers set off?" ”

"I'll leave Chang'an a few days early."

"Who is the general? How many soldiers did you bring with you? ”

Fifth Lun Dao: "Your Majesty takes Taishi Xi Zhongjing Shang as a partial general, and the Protector Wang Dang as a general, and only brings thousands of personal guards, and after arriving in the East, he will coordinate the troops of Qingzhou, Xuzhou, and Yanzhou, and will suppress Lu Mu, Fan Chong, and Lizi. ”

"He also sent the national teacher and Zhong Caofang to recruit the right soldiers of Long, and went south to attack the town of Ju Town......"

"Do you want to play a sentence? This is the third time. Zhen Fu thought this was incredible, and thought that after the imperial court ended the war against the Xiongnu, it would be able to completely turn inward, and the tens of thousands of people who were dragged in the south of Yizhou could also be pulled back, but Wang Mang had not given up.

As for the strategy of the imperial court sending generals to the east, but only letting Jingzhou fend for itself, Zhen Fu also has opinions: "I heard that Boyu has learned the art of war from Yan Boshi, and I should know that the thief of Haidai seems to be powerful, but in fact, he is also troubled by elbows and armpits, but this thief of Jingzhou is easy to become a serious illness." ”

"The south of the county covers Jing and Xiang, and the north controls Ru and Luo, when the spring and autumn period, it has been an important place, and there is news in the south, saying that the green forest is growing every month, although it is now only hiding in the mountains, forests and rivers, but once it goes north, it will threaten Wancheng. The ministers of the DPRK and China should first send troops to pacify the green forest, and then suppress the thieves. ”

He is probably right, after all, even the fifth Lun, who is historically blind, knows the "green forest", so maybe it will rise in history. But Wu Lun didn't express his opinion, and it didn't work if he did, he still counted on the victory of the green forest to attract the main force of the imperial court to the south, and only said: "Maybe Your Majesty believes that with the talent of Da Yin, you can ensure the stability of the south?" ”

After smelling the breath of Nanyang before the war, Wu Lun now just wants to quickly pick up Wang Mang's two sons back to the dynasty, and strengthen the number of guards along the way, in case something happens to them, he can't eat and walk around.

Although it wasn't that his own soldiers were not used well, and he would even be able to pierce his hands, Fifth Lun could only ask Zhen Fu to send him some more people.

Zhen Fu was a little unhappy: "Bo Yu is worried, there are thieves attacking the mission in my jurisdiction?" ”

The fifth Lun Fu Scepter smiled: "The Son of Heaven trusts me, there is no harm in being cautious, I have always been timid, the more I rode the camp for three hundred, and then added two hundred county soldiers, I can feel at ease." ”

He has only one requirement for the people of the Zhenfu faction, to be loyal, and the fifth Lun only does not need to be a thief this time.

Zhen Fu thought about it and said, "The old man has a candidate, and he can be sent to lead troops to help you." ”

"Who?"

Zhen Fu said: "The lieutenant of Jianyang County, Cen (cén) Peng, this person is loyal to the new room!" ”