The next morning, after I finished washing, I went to the yard early and started to warm up. It's a habit I've developed over the years. For mountaineers like me, a strong body is the capital of the revolution. Coupled with the recent surge in energy, the activity is even more refreshing and easy.

At this moment, Lin Zongyi also came to the courtyard, and his joy was overflowing to see that I had been practicing so early. When I finished moving, he walked up to my side and said with a look of approval: "It is really rare for Master Li to be able to practice martial arts with literature. The old man has always advocated that literature should not be separated from martial arts, and martial arts should not be separated from literature, if he is not a person with both civil and military resources, how can he bear the heavy responsibility of the world. It's a pity! The old man learned everything he had learned in his life, but he died young, and he was helpless. The second son, Qingliang, does not practice civil and military affairs, does not admire the powerful, and especially likes the art of the left way, although there is a small success, but it is not the right way, what is the use. Alas! Fortunately, my eldest grandson Yi'er is smart and reasonable, and he can pass on my mantle, so the old man dies without regrets! ”

I hurriedly spoke comfortingly, praising Lin Qingliang's strange ability, Lin Yi's Wen Taowu strategy, and Lin Tong's bravery, and finally said that Lin Zongyi's mood turned calm.

After everyone had breakfast together, Lin Yi and I hurried on the road. In order to prove my identity, I also brought the letter of appointment from the imperial court with me. The two of them rode towards the south side of the street.

Along the way, Lin Yi told me in detail about the customs and human geography of Yunnan, as well as the traditional status of Linjiabao in Yunnan, especially the distribution of major forces in Yunnan, which gave me a further understanding of the current situation.

The so-called Yunnan Xuanfu envoy's jurisdiction area was limited to the northeastern region of Yunnan in later generations, with Ningzhou and six counties of Huize, Dongchuan, Luliang, Fuyuan, Xuanxian and Luoping, except for the barbarian tribes scattered in the mountains, the population was only 1120,000, and the army was less than 10,000. Ningzhou, as the residence of the Xuanfu Embassy in Yunnan, is the largest city and commodity trading hub in the nearby area, with a relatively prosperous population and developed commodity trading.

The vast area to the west and south was the territory of the Great Yi Ning Kingdom, and the area was more than five times larger than that of the Xuanfu Envoy in Yunnan. The predecessor of Dayining was the Kingdom of Dayinhe and the earlier Kingdom of Nanzhao, and the current king Yang Ganzhen was once the chief Qingping official of Dayanhe, who killed the king of Dayinhe Zheng Longtan eight years ago, established the Kingdom of Dayining, and established himself as king. Due to Yang Ganzhen's usurpation and indiscriminate killing of innocents, the local officials and the tribes in the southeast were very dissatisfied, so most of them rebelled and stood on their own, and in fact they had broken away from the jurisdiction of the Great Yi Ning State. One of the biggest opposition forces was Duan Siping, the envoy of Tonghai Jiedu, who, by virtue of his prestige among the Baiman tribes, formed a powerful sphere of influence centered on Tonghai in south-central Yunnan and echoed by the Baiman tribes. At present, the two sides are evenly matched, and neither can take advantage of anyone.

Now the relationship between the three parties is very delicate, just like the relationship between Wei Shu and Wu during the Three Kingdoms, any two parties joining forces can easily eliminate the other party. Therefore, all parties are very careful and careful, and it is easy not to offend any party. According to the news obtained by Lin Yi, Sun De became self-reliant and had quietly had close ties with Dayining, but the specific situation is unknown.

Although Linjiabao belonged to the territory of the Southern Han Dynasty, it was never under the direct and actual jurisdiction of the Yunnan Xuanfu Envoy, but was equivalent to an autonomous Han people's settlement, among which of course there were some civilized barbarians. There are about dozens of autonomous territories like Linjiapu in the local area, and Linjiapu has become the largest autonomous tribe in the local area with thousands of people and strong force. Today, Lin Zongyi and his father have developed to the peak of their heyday after more than 40 years of foundation, although the Lin Zongyi brothers are dying, but the twenty-five-year-old Lin Yi and the twenty-eight-year-old cousin Lin Duo have become the leaders of Lin Jiabao's literary talent and martial arts, and more rising stars are catching up, quickly laying the special status of Lin Jiabao in Yunnan.

And the place where I will go now is Ma Street, whose influence is also extraordinary. It is one of the three military horse production bases in the Southern Han Dynasty, and it is the only military horse supply base in Yunnan, which can respond to more than 200 military horses to the Southern Han Army every year. This number is already very staggering, you must know that in this chaotic period of five dynasties, wars have come and gone, and all countries have a shortage of war horses, and the supply of war horses in the Southern Han Dynasty is even more serious.

The main channel for the Southern Han to obtain war horses was nothing more than transporting them from outside the extreme north, but due to the long distance of the road and the wanton looting of the warlords along the road, there were no more than one or two that could be transported to the Southern Han. Therefore, the Southern Han Dynasty attached great importance to the production of war horses, and set up a military horse supervisor in the horse street of Yunnan, and there was a military horse supervisor in charge of his affairs. In addition, there is a special inspection department, equipped with more than 100 cavalry to be responsible for the safety and security of war horses.

Since Lin Jiabao is only more than 20 miles from Majie, he has vaguely seen the outline of Majie while talking. At the pass between the two mountains, a gate made of countless huge logs blocked our path. Several soldiers in bright armor stood guard on both sides of the camp gate, and the military appearance was neat and tidy, which was quite imposing.

Lin Yi motioned for me to wait for a moment with his eyes, then turned over and dismounted, stepped forward, and had a brief conversation with a soldier, who immediately nodded, turned around and jumped on his horse, and quickly galloped towards the camp. It seems that the imperial army here is extremely strict, and idlers can't enter it at all, even if an acquaintance like Lin Yi is no exception.

After a while, the soldier rode back and shouted loudly from afar: "My military envoy is meeting guests, Lin Gongzi and Mr. Li please come in to serve tea." Then he turned his horse's head and led the way ahead of us.

Lin Yi and I walked side by side, and after passing through the gate of the camp, the terrain immediately opened up. Surrounded by mountains and ravines, a vast pasture appeared in front of me, and in the distance there was a stream in the middle of the meadow, where hundreds of horses were scattered and scattered, or bowing their heads to nibble on the grass, or neighing and galloping, a beautiful grassland scenery.

Yunnan is mostly mountainous, flat land is scarce, and grasslands are rare. I didn't expect that there would be such a large open pasture in this place, with so many horses. I sucked in the fragrance of the grass, and the tiredness, worries, troubles, and unhappiness of these days seemed to be swept away. I couldn't help but fall in love with this beautiful place.

Not far to the left of the pasture, near the foot of the hill, there was a neat row of houses, presumably where the army barracks were located. When we came to the front of the barracks, we all dismounted together, and the soldier led Lin Yi and me into one of the wooden houses, arranged tea, and told us to sit down for a while before turning and leaving.

After sitting for about a stick of incense, the door creaked open, and a middle-aged officer in a green robe and light armor walked in quickly. As soon as he saw Lin Yi, a smile appeared on his face, and he shouted loudly: "I haven't seen Lin Gongzi for many days, but I want to die, hehe!" Come ......, huh! Oh! It turns out that there is another brother, Lin Gongzi, I don't know if this brother has a big name, can you introduce it. ”

Lin Yi smiled slightly: "I can't tell you for the time being, you'll know later." Please Brother He find a pure place, I have my own important words to say to you. ”

He Shoujie glanced at me suspiciously, and said in a low voice: "It's really a little strange today, just now Yang Senjun from the Xuanfu Embassy came to look for me, and he also asked to find a secret room to talk to. Now you are the same, it won't be some big secret. After speaking, he chuckled lightly and led me and Lin Yi to the inner room of a wooden house next to him.

At this time, I took a closer look at this elegant general whom Lin Yi highly respected. His age is thirty-five or sixteen years old, his face is white and pure, there is a slight mustache under his chin, his square face is thin and his eyes are thin, his ears are fat, and his face is quite peaceful.

Lin Yi closed the door casually, looked around and saw that there was no one, and then said in a low voice: "General He, do you know who this prince is?" ”

He Shoujie was slightly stunned, looked at me carefully, shook his head puzzled, and said, "Why did Lin Gongzi say this?" I have never met this gentleman, I really have no way of knowing, and I still ask Lin Gongzi to make it clear? ”

Lin Yi smiled mysteriously and said softly: "He Shoujie is not ready to see Lord Li of Yunnan Xuanfu." ”

Then He Shoujie was shocked when he heard this, looked at me in disbelief, and then looked at Lin Yi, his face was full of suspicion, and he muttered in his mouth: "What Xuanfu makes Master Li, such a big thing, Lin Gongzi can't ...... Don't joke! ”

I saw He Shoujie's somewhat helpless look, thinking that he had doubts in his heart, in order to make him sure of the doubt, I took out the brocade silk wrapped in the body from my arms, and stepped forward and stuffed it into He Shoujie's hand.

Then He Shoujie quickly unfolded his body, carefully browsed it, and after confirming that it was correct, he knelt on one leg without hesitation, clasped his fists and said in a deep voice: "The last general Ma Street patrol made He Shoujie see the marshal, and the lower officials were much negligent, and asked the marshal to forgive him." ”

I hurriedly stepped forward to help him up, and a stone in my heart fell to the ground, and the sense of relief was overflowing. Of course, He Shoujie should have known about my current difficult situation, but his resolute stance shows that he has recognized me as a 'genuine' commander, which not only enabled me to obtain the first important military force, but also to obtain a completely trustworthy general. Such virtuous and talented people are exactly what I need at the moment!

He Shoujie saw that although I was young, I was already a dignified local official, and I didn't believe it, but after seeing the court's farewell, I began to admire me from the bottom of my heart, and I also heard about the glorious deeds of 'me' in the capital, and his eyes were suddenly full of admiration.

He Shoujie let me sit down at the top of the house, and said in a low voice: "Shicai Yang joined the army to inform me of Sun Thief's order, and asked me to count the military cavalry on the hour, and carry another hundred military horses, and go to Ningzhou the day after tomorrow to cheer up the enthronement ceremony. He also promised to appoint me as the commander of the Ningzhou Ma Army. In fact, Sun Decheng and I have a lot of differences, and it is difficult to say whether this official position can be done in the next place, and the last general is in a dilemma, which coincides with the arrival of the marshal. The last general no longer has any worries in his heart, and he is willing to follow the commander to the death and be unswerving. ”

I smiled slightly, with a look of approval on my face, and then said with a straight face: "I see that the general is a loyal and righteous person, and he will never do that thing that betrays the Lord, and I am also very happy to meet the general." But I don't know what your men are going to do, and what will happen to the generals if there are treacherous people who are greedy for wealth and riches? ”

He Shoujie said in a loud voice: "Don't worry, my subordinates are all my cronies, and I, He Mou, am the only one." Even the street supervisor Dong Fang, who also has a close relationship with me, will definitely not have any problems, please rest assured. ”

Then He Shoujie brought Dong Fang to meet me, Dong has been raising horses for half his life, and he is also free and uninhibited, knowing that I am the new Xuanfu envoy, he also expressed his loyalty on the spot, which increased my confidence chips a lot.

After the meal, the four of them discussed the details of the plan, and agreed that Dong Fang would lead some soldiers and horse farm handymen to stay on the horse street, and He Shoujie would lead the selected 120 elite horsemen and another 100 war horses to meet us in Linjiabao tomorrow afternoon, and then march to Ningzhou.

The plan was decided, and I earnestly instructed them again, before leaving the street with Lin Yi and running towards Yuezhou Wei in the south.