Liu Yu gathered all the military commanders and local guides in the army together to inquire about the situation of "water chestnuts" in detail, but received little feedback, which made Liu Yu very disappointed.

According to these people, water chestnuts are cultivated everywhere in the south, and there are more than a dozen well-known water chestnut production areas, and there are no particularly famous production areas among them.

finally got Liu Liniang's secret information, and now it seems that it is a bamboo basket to draw water. Liu Yu returned to Xingyuan, Qu Ning hadn't left yet, and when she saw the disappointment on Liu Yu's face, she understood the roughly.

"Qu Yinu, you said Yuan Shang'an before, where did he eat water chestnuts in the south?" Liu Yu suddenly remembered this question, looked at Qu Ning and asked.

"Tongning." Qu Ning replied without thinking.

Liu Yu searched for a long time on the map spread out on the table but did not find the city of Tongning, and Qu Ning on the side added: "Tongning has been renamed Yizhou in the previous dynasty, and it is ...... here."

Liu Yue didn't know what to say about Tongning, but when it came to Yizhou, Liu Yue could also see the danger of the city from the map.

Yizhou is a big city in the south-central part of Lingnan, which is now the southern potential of Luyuan, and the surrounding areas are basically ethnic minority gathering places, which is a solid fortress behind the local potential in the central and southern regions. Yizhou is located in a remote area, Liu Yu thought to himself, if he was assigned to this kind of place, he would naturally be as depressed as that "Yuan Shang'an".

Liu Yu saw the geographical location of Yizhou, and then planned the route from Meiguan to Yizhou, Qu Ning on the side seemed to understand why Liu Yu cared so much about the simple sentence "There is Hu Cao in the south".

"Your Highness, you ......"

Qu Ning opened her mouth, and Liu Yu remembered that she was beside her. Liu Yu smiled and ordered the guest: "Qu Doctor Girl Bo Gu Tong Jin. The knowledge is really high. I'm sorry for you this time. If you don't have anything else to do, please go back first, and if there is anything wrong with this king, I will ask you to come and ask again. ”

Liu Yue was so anxious, Qu Ning was naturally unhappy in her heart, she thought that if she helped Liu Yue, she should know what this matter was. Qu Ning left with a little resentment, and Liu Yu looked at it in front of the military map for a long time until it was dark.

Waiting for the guards to light up all the lights in the line, Liu Yu was not in the mood to look at the military map again. In the evening, it was also the time when Liu Yu's mood was at its lowest. In ancient nights, if it was in Chang'an City or there was still a bit of popularity, he could still feel that he was not alone with his family, but in Meiguan, where birds don't, Liu Yu seemed to lose his vitality at night, and he didn't want to do many things at night, as if he shouldn't do anything else except sleep this long night.

But tonight is a little different for Liu Yu, and he is ready to go south again. But his destination is still unclear.

Ruoliu Liniang reminded him to meet in Yizhou. Then he can use Liu Liniang to contact the ethnic minorities in the south and form a coalition of the north and south to flank the local military power in Lingnan. This is the simplest and most effective way to calm Lingnan. But Liu Liniang's reminder is not clear, just relying on the sentence "there is Hu Cao in the south", it is a bit far-fetched to say that we met in Yizhou, and even if it is Yizhou, Yizhou City is in the enemy territory, Liu Yu is the commander-in-chief, and it is dangerous to go there, and it may not be found when he arrives.

And as far as Liu Yue knows, the forces in the central and southern parts of the country have begun to prevent the intrusion of the imperial court, and they have set up many checkpoints in their own territories, even if Liu Yue has the heart to go south, he may not be stable all the way. It is not safe to take the official road, and you can also take the mountain road, but the mountain road is close to the gathering place of the ethnic minorities, and the ethnic minority armed forces are extremely defensive against the Han people, and it is not safe.

Liu Yu thought about it, and this matter could only be postponed and discussed in the long run.

However, in the next few days, Liu Yu had already launched a preliminary military operation in order to realize the plan to contact the armed forces of the ethnic minorities to jointly quell the Lingnan Rebellion. Militarily provide further pressing on the South.

Because of the rain in the past few days, the imperial army has been standing still, which has also made the looting of ethnic minorities have little effect, and the local situation is not under the pressure of the imperial army, and the pacification of the ethnic minority armed forces is also very smooth. But overnight, the situation was immediately changed, and the imperial army launched a round of fierce attacks on several powerful forces in the central part of the country in three ways, and the artillery fire combined with the nuisance of the air force above made the local forces dare not come out of the city for the time being, and the minority armed forces took the opportunity to loot.

Although the imperial army showed an aggressive posture, its military operations were limited to nuisance, mainly medium and long-range strikes, and did not send troops to attack the city on a large scale. After a few days of oppression, the local forces gradually adapted to the artillery fire of the imperial army, and turned to deal with the artillery attacks of the imperial army while launching a new round of strangulation against the ethnic minorities in the rear. But after the imperial army attacked at the right time and captured two cities that were not very strong, the local forces in the central part immediately became honest and did not dare to take care of both ends.

Liu Yu built up a momentum, and he himself was ready to go south to Yizhou, this trip all the way to the southwest, the distance was more than 400 miles, Liu Yue calculated, it would take more than ten days to come and go, even if Liu Liniang and the ethnic minorities could not be contacted, they could investigate the situation behind the enemy and provide help for the subsequent war.

Liu Yu is secretly arranging his own travel plan, but there is no impermeable wall, Qu Ning from the observation of Liu Yu in the past few days, she felt that Liu Yu had a big secret hidden in her heart, and she instinctively felt that Liu Yue was going to Yizhou to meet someone in person.

"Your Highness, Young Master Liu...... Is it in Yizhou City? Qu Ning thought about it for a few days, and probably estimated that Liu Yu was ready to go, so he couldn't help but ask.

Liu Yu's body has recovered, and he is full of energy, looking for Qu Ning to diagnose the pulse is also to make sure that his body is okay and go south, hearing Qu Ning's question, Liu Yu smiled faintly and said: "The letter written by your Liu Gongzi, this king only analyzed it, and felt that he might be in Yizhou, and he would meet and talk about old friends in the past." ”

"Young Master Liu...... The appearance is dignified, since he is a southerner, how can he appear in Chang'an City, and he ...... that day"

Liu Yue knew that Qu Ning remembered Liu Liniang's life-saving grace and was ready to repay him with his body, at this time Liu Yue said bluntly: "There has always been something I haven't told you about Qu Yinu, in fact, Liu Gongzi is not from Middle Earth, his true identity is a person from a different race in the south, and he went to the north to have his political goals, and being able to meet you with Qu Yinu is also completely due to fate, in fact, the person he is looking for is this king." ”

Qu Ning heard that Liu Gongzi was not from the Central Plains, and he still felt a little lost in his heart.

Liu Yu continued: "If Qu Yinu wants to meet Liu Gongzi, she can go south with this king, but this road is dangerous and you may die at any time, it depends on whether you have the courage to do so." ”

Qu Ning said with a little shame: "Your Highness is not afraid, will the little girl be afraid?" ”

Liu Yuxin said that this woman is really stubborn and doesn't want to be looked down upon, but this is also Qu Ning's character. A little woman who is self-reliant and wants to save face. Liu Yu said with ease, but it must be the same to think of taking such a woman with him, after all, the hundreds of miles of trekking through mountains and rivers are full of dangers, and he may be too busy to take care of himself when he encounters some danger, let alone take care of her.

However, Liu Yu looked at Qu Ning's attitude and knew that she would not hit the south wall and would not look back. Liu Yue thought about it, so he let her go, anyway, a trip to Yizhou is not a war, as long as the road is flexible, the probability of danger is not great. Liu Yu has always been worried about the excitement, and when Qu Ning learned that the lover he was thinking about was a woman, Liu Yue felt enjoyable when he thought about that scene.

A woman who regards men as her great enemies finally falls in love with a certain son, and the "son" who is the last is not a son......

The artillery attack of the imperial army is still continuing, and several powerful forces in the central part of Lingnan are also worried every day that they will become the main direction of attack of the imperial army, and the cities that are forced by the artillery fire on the first line hope that the offensive of the imperial army will end sooner, while the cities on the second and third lines hope that the cities on the front line can support a few more days to give them time to prepare. It was under such circumstances that Liu Yu explained the matter and asked Qi Fang to temporarily take charge of the overall coordination of the imperial army, while he himself led a team of thirty or forty people to transport a batch of medicinal herbs to the south on the mountain road close to the ethnic minorities.

Liu Yue found out in advance that the most convenient identity now is some merchants who transport supplies in short supply in Lingnan to the south, and the power of the south usually gives the green light to these businessmen who take risks. Even if there is no war in the south, it is difficult for the northern medicinal materials to cross the mountains and rivers and come to the south, and the batch of medicinal materials transported by Liu Yu are indispensable in the war.

Liu Yu also planned to take Huo Yi with him, but after thinking about it, Huo Yi is impulsive and straightforward, and it is not suitable to go deep behind enemy lines to carry out this kind of "underground work", plus Huo Yi is famous, if he suddenly disappears from the battlefield, it will be easy for people to smell the wind, so he did not take him. Qu Ning insisted on accompanying him, and in the caravan, Qu Ning's identity was the wife of the merchant, and it was not easy to be suspected of taking a female dependent.

The guards accompanying the caravan were protected by swords and bows and arrows, and did not directly carry the muskets used by the new army. But Liu Yu, for the sake of safety, directly disassembled the spear into parts and hid it in the box of medicinal materials in case of emergency. Before leaving, Liu Yu specially let the guards practice the skills of assembling guns, and his own short guns were not left by his body, and he didn't want to die in danger in a foreign country.

Along the way, there were guides to guide the way, and there were also secret agents arranged by Qu Zhu to contact the news, which was also convenient for Liu Yue to know the military movements around Meiguan and make reasonable strategic arrangements in a timely manner.

In order to shorten the time spent on the road, Liu Yu and his entourage set off with a team of horses to carry the goods, the horses were not military horses but ordinary horses, and the mountain road was not suitable for carriages to travel south after all. In the middle of the trip, Liu Yu also found an experienced businessman, and pointed out some experience in doing business in Lingnan on the way, so as not to show his stuffing.

Liu Yu's departure day was May 20, and he planned to complete Yizhou and return to Meiguan before the fifth day of June. (To be continued......)