Li Jiang was not surprised that Li Jiang could come, Li Mao was not surprised, Li Mao was not surprised to "change the evil and return to the right", after getting what he wanted, Li Mao asked Li Jiang: "The Tubo army is only a few hundred miles away from Chang'an, do you need Youzhou to cross the river to help?" Li Jiang said: "Yes, it is naturally needed, but ......" He smiled bitterly and shook his head helplessly.

Li Mao sighed: "The big ship is about to sink, the ants and rats still know how to escape, why are the wise people persistent." Li Jiang didn't answer Li Mao, nor did he let Li Mao continue, he bowed his hand and said goodbye, and left Li Mao's camp.

Meng Yingchun learned that Li Mao had arrived in the river, and specially came from Bianzhou to meet him, the boat gang turned into a crisis, and had successfully expanded the business to the south of the Yangtze River. Li Mao wanted to see his son Meng Sheng, but he couldn't do so, Meng Sheng worshiped Luoyang Confucianism as his teacher, stayed at the teacher's house, and paid close attention to his homework.

When the Empress Dowager Shen was still alive, she lived in an unknown town in Hezhong, Li Mao proposed to meet her, Meng Yingchun persuaded: "The old man is blind, his brain is not very clear, he is easy to be sad, and he is easy to be excited, I think it's better not to see her." Li Mao knew that welcoming the spring was a good intention, and he heard that the old queen mother was now often talking about the words that the heavens would change and the world would die, and the ghosts and gods were terrifying.

She was afraid that the old queen mother would say such nonsense after seeing him and make it difficult for him.

Li Mao touched the wrinkles at the corners of Meng Yingchun's eyes, and said distressedly: "The business is getting bigger and bigger, and the money is making more and more, which is a good thing, but if you exhaust your body, it will become a bad thing." ”

When Meng Yingchun heard this, he couldn't hold back his grievances anymore, and responded with tears: "Say something that doesn't hurt or itch to coax me, who doesn't want to live in peace?" But can I, can I? I'm like a mule and horse pulling a cart, and I'm leashed for a lifetime. ”

Li Mao took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears, Meng Yingchun saw that this handkerchief was still given to him a few years ago, his resentment disappeared a little, and he burst into tears and smiled: "You are not allowed to laugh at me, turn your face away, you still laugh!" Alas, the bigger I get, the more useless I become, I used to be able to bear all kinds of hardships, but now I want to cry at every turn, and I always want to find someone to rely on. ”

Li Mao laughed and said, "Gang Master Meng, as long as you say a word, my shoulder is waiting for you at any time." ”

Meng Yingchun's eyes were shining, and she was a little moved for a while, she nodded, mumbled, and really leaned over. She gently hugged Li Mao's arm with both hands, and took a bite while he was not paying attention, but the more she bit it, the more she wanted to bite, and the bitten gums grinded out blood before she stopped.

Li Mao said: "I was wearing fine scale armor close to my body, and I forgot to tell you." ”

Meng Yingchun punched him in the chest and shook his hand in pain. Li Mao really wore fine scale armor, but this armor could only protect his henchmen, not his limbs.

After living in the river for ten days, Li Mao had to go back to Taiyuan, and Meng Yingchun had to go back to Bianzhou. The two chose a three-way intersection, cherished each other, and went their separate ways.

One of the major gains of Li Mao's trip was that Li Han asked him to concurrently serve as the envoy of the Hedong Festival and guard the land of Longxing for the Tang Dynasty. He now has a reason to go to Taiyuan to straighten out the internal affairs.

Taiyuan, he has been here more than once, he has long liked the city, if it is not for the geographical remoteness, he even came up with the idea of "moving the capital". As the envoy of Hedong Jiedu, he also served as Taiyuan and Taiyuan Mansion Yin, Taiyuan has a large scale of the royal palace, there is a complete set of central government offices, but since the Tang Dynasty entered Chang'an, the emperor has forgotten this place, without the nourishment of imperial power, everything has withered, Taiyuan left behind is just a misty old dream.

This is different from Luoyang's eastern capital, Luoyang palace is complete, the official office is strictly organized, the city is full of talents, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, all that is missing is an emperor.

Li Mao rested in the city for a few days, and took a look at this majestic city, and when the strength of all parts of Hedong arrived, Li Mao was officially promoted to fulfill the duties of the new master of Hedong.

He kept his original promise, did not interfere much in local internal affairs, and only seized two powers: First, military command. All garrisons in Hedong must obey his commands, and the military vital points in the territory must be under his control, and this point is by no means ambiguous, and there is no room for negotiation. Second, he must have judicial oversight. Local justice is handled by the local government, but all judicial acts must be placed under the supervision of Taiyuan, and cases above prison sentences must be reviewed by Taiyuan before they can be enforced, otherwise it will be a violation, and the cost of violating the law is very large, so big that no powerful faction can afford it.

Li Mao has no influence on other aspects of power, even the power to dispose of local taxes and the right to appoint and dismiss officials.

Needless to say, the military command power has reached a compromise a long time ago, and although the judicial supervision power makes the localities uncomfortable, it is within the scope of tolerability, after all, it is only supervision, not a direct removal of the judicial power.

Hedong made a pot of raw rice, which was also a last resort, the plate was too big, it was obviously impractical to swallow in one bite, and the frog had to be boiled in warm water and simmered slowly.

As for Hezhong, there was nothing to discuss, Li Maozuo asked Shi Xianzhong to be the envoy of the festival, and Xue Bennong was transferred to Yingping, which was regarded as a punishment for his corruption. Xue Bennong is grateful for landing safely, how can there be any nonsense to say, pack up and take office immediately, and go to Yingping to be a puppet. His idea is to stay up for three or five years, then return to his hometown in advance, and live comfortably for the rest of his life with the property that he can't eat for several lifetimes.

After touring the main military positions in Hedong, Li Mao left for Yunzhou, where he met with Yang Qi and Zhu Jiu to inquire about the movements of his old rivals, the Uighurs.

Yang Qi now actually controls the two towns of Fengzhou and Zhenwu, and with the chaos of Chang'an, he continues to increase his official ranks, and he is already the overlord. With the help of Li Mao, Fengzhou's Tuntian business flourished, the supply of military rations was solved, Yang Qi's waist pole became harder, and the relationship with Li Mao was more equal.

But he also knew in his heart that without Li Mao's backer, he wouldn't be able to play for a minute. Li Mao treats each other as equals to give him face, and he still has to rely on Youzhou to rely on Li Mao, which he sees very clearly and accurately.

The situation in the Uighurs continued to deteriorate, with the royal family extravagant and unbridled, the life of the powerful and the spiritually decadent, the corruption of the army, the greed of the officials, the lack of hope for the people, and the smell of death pervading the country. Nearly 100 powerful families with the royal family as the core occupy and consume ninety percent of the wealth of the entire grassland.

The morale of the core of power is sluggish, the weak main is frequent, the eunuchs are playing for power, and the chaos of the dynasty is to the extreme. Due to the decrease in income and the increase in expenses, the small and medium-sized aristocratic families were generally in debt, and they were very resentful of the upper class.

The middle and lower-level officials desperately looted, but found that the benefits were taken away by the top in vain, and they couldn't even earn any hard-earned money, and they had to carry the black pot for the above, and they would be sacrificed all the time to appease the people's anger.

The people who have been looted and wiped out do not see any hope, and the confrontation between the government and the people is unprecedentedly sharp.

The top of the army was corrupt and corrupt, and mid-ranking officers openly plundered caravans and smuggled contraband. The low-level soldiers lived in poverty and were forced to engage in a second occupation, doing business and herding in good circumstances, and enslaved and servant in bad circumstances. The 300,000 Heavenly Wolf Army is weak, and its control over the tribes of the steppe is rapidly weakening.

"Recently, more and more tribes have been raiding from the south, and it used to be spring and autumn, but now it is all year round, and the scale is getting bigger and bigger. My analysis is that the Uighurs have weakened their power, and they can no longer control the surrounding tribes and maintain order on the steppe. The second is that disasters on the grassland have been frequent in recent years, white disasters are connected with black disasters, black disasters are connected with white disasters, endlessly, the fat become thin, the thin ones starve to death, except for the southward robbery, they have no way to live. ”

When Yang Qi said this, he took a sip of tea, his voice was very loud, and he wiped his mouth, and then he suddenly thought of something, and immediately took out a bone comb and a small bronze mirror from his sleeve, and carefully tidied up his beard. His hair is very light, and this beard has taken a lot of effort to grow, and it is very precious to be baby. While he was tidying up his beard, Zhu Jiu also introduced the situation in Yanbei, which was much the same, except that the north of Yanbei was a small tribe that grew wild, and the Uighurs could not reach it, and the looting had to be cleared more, and life would be better.

Yang Qi packed up his beard, hid the mirror and comb in his sleeve, and said to Li Mao: "The only thing I am worried about now is the Gyas, Age has unified all the departments, claiming to have 100,000 troops, and is very arrogant, and the Uighurs who have fought several battles cry for their fathers and mothers. When the Uighurs could not defeat them, they paid for peace, and Age lay down and drank their blood. I thought that one day the blood of the Uighurs would be gone, or if I could not feed the pot-bellied man, something terrible would happen. ”

Zhu Jiudao: "The Uighurs are like an old house, crumbling, and if there is no external force, it can support it for a while. If you let the brute bull break in, hit it in the east and hit it in the west, I'm afraid that the collapse is just around the corner. ”

Li Mao said: "This is not the deadliest, the brute bull breaks into the old house, we have to toss, we still have a chance to dodge." The fear is that there will be an earthquake, and the house will collapse all of a sudden, and that is the worst, either to be crushed to death by the flying masonry, or to be choked to death by the smoke and dust that comes out of the drum. Therefore a gentleman does not stand under a wall. We should be wary of the old Uighur house and keep our distance from him. Have a plan. ”

Yang Qi and Zhu Jiu nodded yes, and Zhu Jiu said: "I plan to build a buffer zone and support a few small and medium-sized tribes, just like a monastery wall, if his house falls, it won't hit me." ”

Li Mao said: "That's what it means. ”

Yang Qi pondered for a moment, and said worriedly: "The Uighurs are not the most deadly, the worst one is the one in the west, the Tubo people, the 'Pei family Sanjie' has become the pioneer general, Chang'an is in danger, if Guanzhong is not guaranteed, the Uighur house does not collapse, and the old Li family's house collapses first, what should we do?" ”

Zhu Jiudao: "If you want to kill your head, it's okay if the old Li's house collapses, and if the old one doesn't go, the new one won't come." ”

Yang Qi touched his beard and smiled slightly, but did not say anything. Li Mao drank and wished Jiudao: "I will not talk about this in the future." Li Tang Li Tang, Datang belongs to the Li family, the Li family is not exhausted, and he is still the master of the world. ”

Yang Qi said with a smile: "The number of qi is exhausted, no one can stop the house if it collapses, I am a gatekeeper, guard my door, as for who builds the house, who is the owner, I don't care, anyway, who is the owner of the house, I will help who looks at the door." ”

Zhu Jiu smiled: "What do you mean, do you want to be a watchdog for the rest of your life?" ”

Yang Qi rolled his eyes: "What's wrong with the watchdogs, the watchdogs bark, the guards don't let the ghosts enter the door, the history of the ever-year, how to write that the watchdogs are decent people, believe it or not?" ”

The three of them laughed and dispersed.