After Li Mao returned home, he was still thinking about this matter in his heart, and said to Shi Kong for a while: "Tomorrow, we will go to meet this Heavenly Master and see who he is." ”

As soon as the sky was bright on the second day, Li Mao traveled lightly and came to the south of the city. The south of the city is a civilian settlement area, and the common people go to bed early and get up early, each busy with their own livelihood, so although the sky is still flashing with cold stars, there are many people on the street, and the closer to the Xinglongfang where Xuan Spectacular is located, the more people there are, and there are so many that they are shoulder to shoulder, and there are crowds of people.

In a scolding sound, squeezed out a stinky sweat, just squeezed into Xinglongfang, when passing the door of the fang, I saw seven or eight big men in Xuanyi were holding peace charms for sale, a charm fifty dollars, buy a charm to enter, do not buy a charm do not want to go in. The so-called peace charm is nothing more than a small piece of bamboo, on which are randomly engraved with a few runes, which looks both simple and formal.

Entering the local customs, Li Mao and his entourage can only bleed to buy talismans to keep safe, because there are peace charms blocking the way, there are many fewer people in the workshop than outside, the streets are not so crowded outside the square, and no one dares to make a loud noise, regardless of men, women and children, they are all pious, facing the direction of Xuanzhuang, bowing their eyebrows, holding a talisman in their hands, muttering and muttering about the mantra taught by the Heavenly Master to ward off evil spirits. Pause every three steps, raise your hand over your forehead, and prostrate before moving forward.

Li Mao frowned in disgust, strode forward, and was suddenly stopped by several strong men in Xuanyi holding short sticks, the strong man's eyes were as fierce as a wolf, and when he heard the news, he asked Li Mao where he came from.

One of the guards accompanying him hurriedly returned the salute and said a few words that Li Mao didn't understand at all, and the big man in Xuanyi who was blocking the road was suspicious, looked at Li Mao with a cold gaze, and muttered two more words to each other, and then let the way go.

Turn a street corner, the front is Xuan magnificent, the gatehouse is towering, the shape is strange, similar to the chastity archway in the Ming and Qing dynasties, it is incompatible with the surrounding buildings, this gatehouse is painted with color, inlaid with gold and silver, rich and gorgeous.

The good men and women who came from afar knelt down in front of the door, blocking the water at the main gate.

I also saw dozens of strong men in Xuanyi walking around with red and black sticks, and their eyes fiercely scanned the believers who were crawling on the ground like ants.

Li Mao frowned, and said to Shi Kong: "Let's go back." ”

Shi Kong had already sensed Li Mao's dissatisfaction, and he himself did not agree with the battle in front of him, nor did he persuade him much, so he hurriedly escorted Li Mao back to his home. It is difficult to enter Xinglongfang, and it is not easy to get out of Xinglongfang, those Xuanyi men who sell peace charms see that Li Mao is leaving, so they want to check the talisman bag he begged, claiming that they are not allowed to go out without a talisman bag, Li Mao is furious, and he punches and beats.

This punch can be regarded as stabbing the hornet's nest, and those big men in black clothes are fighting more and more, until as many as six people beat one. Those poor believers who were blocked out of the door by the Xuanyi men because they couldn't afford to buy a peace charm of fifty wen each, saw that they had the opportunity to curry favor with the divine envoy, and they also came over to make noise, and expressed their dissatisfaction with the blasphemy of Li Mao and others beating the divine envoy, but the two sides fought too fiercely and did not have the opportunity to fight Taiping Boxing, so they did not dare to come forward, otherwise it must be a spectacular scene of twenty or thirty people beating one person.

The guards who personally guarded Li Mao were not good at one in a million, and Li Mao was also an expert in hand-to-hand combat.

Li Mao wiped the blood from the corners of his eyes, and was about to walk away, but was surrounded by hundreds of men and women, all the believers held hands, chanting the magic spell of the king of heaven and forced them step by step, Li Mao and others raised their fists to fight, and saw that they were all old and weak women. I was very distressed for a while.

Seeing that there was an opportunity, the defeated Xuanyi man got up and rushed back to report the news, Shikong saw that things were not good, and hurriedly sent a signal to the plainclothes of the pro-army lurking nearby, and everyone formed a wedge-shaped formation to forcibly break away from the crowd, turned around and turned into a wild goose feather formation, protecting Li Mao to get out safely.

On the way home, I met hundreds of believers who came from all directions, and most of them came from other places, helping the old and the young, carrying umbrellas and dry food, leading donkeys, and driving cars. The vast majority of them were kept out of the city because they missed the hour, and they slept all night in the open space outside the city, and entered the city as soon as the gates were opened in the morning.

After Li Mao returned home, he sent Cai Wencai to inform Li Guotai to come to see him in the evening. Shi Kong called Chang Heqing to clean the wounds on his hands again, and when he went out of the workshop, he had a big fight with the big man in Xuanyi, although the fight was enjoyable, but he also broke his skin and bled in the melee. Chang Heqing didn't know about Li Mao's going out to fight, but judging from the injury, it didn't seem to be caused by practice, so he persuaded with a pun: "I'm afraid that my fist is less strong, so it's better to take it easy." ”

Li Mao said: "The older we boxers get, the more useless they become, but you, the miracle doctor, are becoming more and more popular, I knew how good it was for me to study medicine with you today." ”

Chang Heqing said with a smile: "It's so easy for you to study medicine, if it's easy to study medicine, my bowl of rice won't be fragrant." ”

Li Mao asked about Qin Mo's injury again, Chang Heqing only replied that he had improved recently, but he didn't say how to get better, Li Mao just sighed when he heard it.

At breakfast, Qin Fengmian came to report that Wang Shoucheng's envoy had set off from Chang'an and was expected to arrive in Youzhou in half a month.

Jiangnan, Huainan, and Jinghu are the root of the Tang Dynasty's taxation, and now the smoke is everywhere, starvation is everywhere, and Wang Shoucheng can not care about the life or death of the local people, but the millions of families in Chang'an have no food and clothing, and the Jingxi defense army lacks clothes and wears, but he is really worried about killing him. In order to tide over the difficulties, Wang Shoucheng carried out a series of drastic reforms, first of all, the construction of military towns in important prefectures and counties in the south, such as the construction of the Wuchang Army in Ezhou, and the establishment of a festival to command the garrison in Eyue. Set up a town in Runzhou to make a naval envoy and command the garrison in eastern Zhejiang. The Jingmen Army was promoted to the Jiedu envoy and commanded the Jingnan garrison.

The establishment of the festival greatly enhanced the military strength of the south, and the rebel armies in various places were either destroyed or recruited, and the situation gradually tended to be stable. The collection of the two taxes in various localities was carried out in difficulty, the difficulty was greater than in previous years, and the harvest was worse than at any time, but on the whole, as long as the local officials used their lives, it would not be a problem to ensure that the troops in Chang'an and the western border of Beijing were fed.

In order to mobilize the local officials, Wang Shoucheng promised to give greater autonomy to the envoys and observers of the southern provinces, and made substantial concessions in terms of term limits, the selection and employment of shogunate officials, the recruitment and use of local troops, and the disposal of local revenues, and gradually aligned with the Central Plains feudal towns, and in exchange, the local feudal marshals guaranteed the financial supply of the garrisons in Chang'an and Jingxi.

The problem now is that a large amount of property in the south is hoarded in Huainan and Yangzhou, but it cannot be safely transferred to Guanzhong. The three towns of Wuning, Yicheng and Xuanwu were originally set up to protect the safety of the northern and southern Cao transportation and prevent the encroachment of the Hebei feudal towns.

Now the strength of the three towns has risen sharply, and their ambitions have grown, and they are no longer completely obedient to the imperial court, the south is chaotic, the imperial court depends on them, and Wang Shoucheng wants to bribe them with real money.

If the south is stable and the world is peaceful, why should Wang Shoucheng bribe them with benefits?

Wang Zhixing, Han Hong, and Li Quanzhong invariably allowed the hungry people on both sides of the canal to rebel, so as to threaten the fortune of the imperial court, so that Chang'an would ask for them, and force Wang Shoucheng to spit out more benefits. For example, Wang Zhixing, the envoy of the Wuning Military Festival in Xuzhou, claimed that Xuzhou had experienced a catastrophe, material scarcity, the people rebelled, and the soldiers were unable to attack.

Wang Shoucheng knew that he was talking nonsense, and he hated it so much, but he had to accompany the smiling face to send a messenger to Xuzhou to comfort him, and promised Wang Zhixing some benefits, asking him to reluctantly serve the country.

Wang Shoucheng is not a fool, he will not be stupid enough to feed Wang Zhixing with real money, the benefits he promised are all in the future, only when Wang Zhixing ensures that he does not use his hands and feet, and waits for the two taxes in the south to be safely escorted to Chang'an, these promises can be slowly fulfilled.

Wang Shoucheng wants to be a smart person, how can Wang Zhixing be a fool, and contribute his own efforts to ensure that the wealth of the imperial court crosses the border safely. Plundering the imperial court and paying taxes is equivalent to rebellion, and if you really do that, you are giving people a handle, not to mention the coveted tigers and wolves around you, but you are afraid that someone will stand up and stab yourself next to your couch.

Li Tang's country is crumbling, but as long as it has not officially begun to collapse, it will still be surnamed Li, and it is by no means something that a marshal with a foreign surname can covet.

Now, turning his face with Wang Shoucheng and showing that he is at a loss, sincerely helping him and fearing that he will be deceived, Wang Zhixing followed the advice of the military advisor and took an attitude that it was not about himself.

The taxes of the imperial court are transiting from their own ground, just pass it, that's the matter of the transfer envoy, what does it have to do with me, as for the local homeless bandits, I should suppress them, is it the responsibility of the local marshals to protect the territory and the people, as for whether they can be suppressed cleanly, no one dares to pack tickets. The disaster is too severe, and there are too many displaced people, so I really have more than enough heart but not enough strength.

Li Quanzhong, Han Hong and Wang Zhixing wore another pair of pants this time, and on the one hand, they promised Wang Shoucheng to step up the extermination of bandits in the territory, but on the other hand, they hung high about the matter of Cao Yun, hiding far away, and they did not touch it.

From Yangzhou to Chang'an, thousands of miles of Cao Yun is not stable, this is Wang Shoucheng's basic judgment, along the way the feudal towns exaggerate the power of the people, although there is a shirk of responsibility, blackmail the psychology of the imperial court, but it is undeniable that the small group of people who endanger the Cao Yun does exist, and the number is extremely large.

Unlike the south, the Central Plains had a strong military in the feudal towns, and the armed forces of the displaced people in the territory had little place to stand, but there were many small groups of displaced bandits, and these bandits could not defeat the heavily defended towns, and instead plundered the countryside.

Those in power dismiss this, and they cannot threaten their rule; Second, the local tyrants and gentry in the countryside who beat them were not at peace, so they would bring their wealth into the city, and the fat pigs entered the city, and there were ways to concoct them. The gainers are naturally still old men.

can ensure that the two taxes in the south can be transferred thousands of miles to Chang'an safely, and there is only one boat gang in the world. The boat gang is both black and white, and there are many people and a huge force, which is enough to deal with the attacks of small gangsters.

This is the purpose of Wang Shoucheng's envoy to Youzhou, the big backer behind the boat gang is Li Mao, without him to speak, such a big business, I am afraid that the boat gang will not take over.

After listening to Qin Fengmian's report, Li Mao smiled faintly and said, "If it arrives in half a month, it doesn't matter if this business is not done." Qin Fengmian said: "This is the rumor released when the mission left Beijing, I judge that it will arrive within ten days, otherwise it is insincere." ”

Li Mao said: "Greater sincerity is the candidate for the envoy of the Hedong Festival. The news of Li Ting's death has been made public, and all the sacred parties in the court have some performances. ”

Qin Fengmian said: "It's a mess of porridge, and it's noisy." Taiyuan is a treasure land of feng shui, and they are all holding their breath to fight for it. Our Li Servant is now the most vocal, and even Li Fengji agrees. ”

Li Mao said with a smile: "Li Fengji is a villain, and he is also an extremely smart person, out of such a big basket, he, the prime minister in front of the stage, will be thrown out by the master behind the scenes at all times to calm down the resentment of the people, he is treating me as a life-saving straw." ”

Qin Fengmian said: "The tree is scattered, his protégé is already busy cutting with him, Jingzhao Shaoyin Zhengxun has openly fallen to Wang Shoucheng and recognized him as a godfather." ”

Li Mao said: "A stupid person, the old master is busy changing the court before he falls, he must not die well." ”

After talking about a few more things, Li Mao finished breakfast, and after the meal, he disposed of a few urgent matters, and then moved to Su Qing. Su Qing became ill from hard work and became ill, Li Maoqiang ordered her to recuperate at home and leave the affairs to Lan'er to take care of.

Su Qing is a busy person, and he is not used to being idle suddenly, he was holding his stomach, but when he saw Li Mao, he disappeared completely, this year Li Mao lost a lot of weight, his eyes were deep-set, and his temples were blooming. Seeing that Su Qing was no longer lying on the bed, Li Mao scolded: "It's all thin into a handful of bones, and you still have to be strong." Do I need you to eat or wear now, do I need you to work hard? Su Qing smiled: "Lying on a sore back, it's better to get up and walk." You've also lost weight, it's not easy to get started, and it's even harder to keep a job. I heard that the south has become a mess, is this Li Tang's country really about to change hands? ”

Li Mao said: "It is difficult to fight the country, it is even more difficult to defend the country, a country, a family, a person, it is the same, if you say that it is difficult today, how it is better than the time of Dezong, how it is compared to the Su Dynasty, and how it is compared to the last years of Tianbao, as long as you work together, you can always carry the past." ”

Su Qing said: "The difficulty is that the upper and lower levels can't be concentric, and people's hearts are scattered, which is the most terrible." ”

Li Mao said with a smile: "There must be a road before the car reaches the mountain, and the boat will naturally go straight to the bridge, and there will always be a way." It's you, your business is simply handed over to Lan'er and them, how can there be a princess to do business. ”

Su Qing snorted and said, "Don't think about the idea of ganging up to rob me, if I hand over the business to her, I will change my name and surname to the public in less than two years." The princess still has a hundred acres of dressing fields, why can't I have some private money? The family is crowded, is it enough to rely on the public treasury to allocate money? How many years have you not touched money, do you know how much a pound of rice is now, and how much is a pound of meat? Li Mao, who was blocked by words, could only laugh wryly.

Su Qing breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "I followed my father and students when I was a child, how can I be idle for a while, you are afraid that I will embarrass you by showing my head, I will hide behind the scenes, let Lan'er show up." If you can't even give up her, return Cui Gu to me, and I will make it easy for me. ”

Li Mao said: "Cui Gu is very capable, but his hands and feet are not very clean, which is embarrassing and useful. ”

Su Qing said: "If the water is clear, there will be no fish, and if people are observed, there will be no fugitives." He is poor and afraid, and he values money very seriously, but his nature is not bad, and he can take charge of it if he uses it well. ”

Li Mao said: "Since you know it in your heart, I won't say anything, you can tell him about it yourself." ”