Southern Yunnan, Jiangcheng.

If you've never been here, you probably can't imagine what kind of place it is.

It took more than three months to set off from the capital before entering southern Yunnan. The distance is unimaginable. As soon as you enter southern Yunnan, you can see that there are deep mountains and forests at a glance, and there are almost no people on both sides of the official road, and there are no pedestrians. The post man in the post house has a strange pronunciation of the official words spoken by his mouth, and his rap is difficult to understand.

Jiangcheng is located in the southernmost part of southern Yunnan, entered southern Yunnan, and traveled for several days before arriving at Jiangcheng.

After entering Jiangcheng, some low-level officials also came to greet him. Most of these officials are well-faced or in poor spirits. At first glance, there is simply no one who can catch the eye.

Although Brother Ji was mentally prepared, when he saw these few officials, he also felt cold.

The head of Jiangcheng Zhixian is about fifty years old, with wrinkles on his face and a sad look on his face. The top of his head is bald, and he is wearing an official hat so as not to make people laugh.

The magistrate of Jiangcheng County was also frank, and without waiting for Brother Ji to ask, he said: "There are many barbarians here in Jiangcheng, and there are very few Han people. The barbarians could not speak well, could not read Chinese characters, and did not obey the discipline and restraint of the government. Decrees are often difficult to pass. The taxes collected every year are not enough to feed the officials. ”

"I don't dare to hide it from His Royal Highness, I made a mistake in my humble position back then, and I was deposed to Jiangcheng. This stay is more than ten years. Every year, the evaluation of the officials is inferior. Just because no one in Jiangcheng was willing to come, he made do with his humble position and continued to be retained. ”

Brother Ji: "......"

Brother Ji, who was born noble and grew up in the palace since he was a child, and was accustomed to seeing the prosperity and wealth of the capital, never thought that Daqi would have such a remote and desolate place.

Now, he knows.

The magistrate of Jiangcheng babbled again: "Also, Jiangcheng is mountainous, and there are many mountain bandits. And it is close to the barbarians of the foreign dynasties, and every year those barbarians will invade Jiangcheng, burn, kill and loot before leaving. The previous commander of the garrison died at the hands of the barbarians. Eh, he died quite miserably, and even a whole corpse fell. ”

Brother Ji: "......"

The magistrate of Jiangcheng didn't have a look, and when he saw Brother Ji for the first time, he shook out the fact that the previous commander had no corpse.

The county man on the side saw that Brother Ji'er's face was ugly, and he hurriedly smiled and grabbed the conversation: "That's all in the past." Now that the prince of Lu is here, he will definitely be able to re-recruit the garrison and train an elite army. ”

Brother Ji twitched the corners of his mouth, and he didn't know what expression to put on: "Didn't Jiangcheng have a garrison?" Why re-recruit soldiers? ”

The low-ranking general, who looked a little ugly, finally had a chance to open his mouth, and sighed with a bitter face: "Originally, Jiangcheng had two thousand garrisons. In the past few years, there have been many battles, and the 1,000 garrisons have been killed and wounded, and now there are less than 400 people who can be used. ”

Less than four hundred!

What can the garrison do with this?

When he came to southern Yunnan, he knew that the possibility of returning to Beijing was very small, except for leaving the necessary personal soldiers to guard the Lu Palace, he brought all the remaining 500 personal soldiers.

Unexpectedly, the garrison of Jiangcheng was not as many as the personal soldiers he brought.

Brother Ji endured and endured, but still didn't hold back: "Before I came, why didn't I recruit soldiers?" ”

The military general lowered his head in shame: "Please calm the anger of the prince." The lowly also wanted to recruit new soldiers, but there were too many lost men in the garrison, and the reputation was outstanding. Everyone said that when they entered the garrison, they came to die. I want to recruit soldiers, but no one wants to come! ”

Then, he said happily: "I have been looking forward to the new commander, and now I am looking forward to His Royal Highness. I heard that His Royal Highness the Prince of the World brought five hundred soldiers to come, and once there were bandits in Jiangcheng, His Royal Highness the Prince would not be unavailable. ”

Brother Ji: "......"

Thanks to Brother Ji'er, he has been training in the court for several years, and he has some city government. His expression stiffened for a moment, but he could still squeeze out a smile: "I'll go to the barracks tomorrow to have a look." ”

……

Jiangcheng is remote and poor, and the total number of people in the entire county is less than 20,000. Decent smooth pavement is not to be thought of, potholes, dust everywhere.

The only fairly neat street in the county is the road in front of the county office. The magistrate lives in the county office, and the county officials and other minor officials also live on this street. The command embassy is also located not far from the county office.

To describe it as a mansion, I really wronged the word mansion.

It is a three-entry courtyard, the main gate is still a little shaped, and when you enter the main gate, it is a little stronger than the place where the people of the capital live. I don't know how many years the furnishings have been, they are tattered and old.

Zhao Changqing, who had been on the road for several months, was shocked by the head-on blow and couldn't come back to his senses, and fell ill that night.

Poor Lu Wang's concubine Zhao, while busy settling down, she has to be busy serving her mother-in-law.

Fortunately, when he left Beijing, he took two doctors with him. Otherwise, it would not be easy to hire a doctor with excellent medical skills in Jiangcheng.

Brother Ji went to the barracks during the day, and when he returned home in the evening, he went to stay at his mother's sickbed.

Within half a month, Brother Ji and his wife were exhausted and lost a lot of weight.

Zhao Changqing's illness showed no signs of improvement, he was in good spirits every day, his food was difficult to swallow, and he always cried behind his back. In front of his son and daughter-in-law, he forced a smile: "Don't always stay by my side." Brother Tong is still young, you have time to spend more time with the children. ”

Tong Ge'er is the eldest son of King Lu's son, and he is three years old this year.

Zhao Shi, the princess of King Lu, said with red eyes: "The mother concubine always refuses to eat, and the decoction is too bitter and refuses to eat." If this continues, when will the symptoms get better? ”

Zhao is the niece of Zhao Changqing's relatives, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are quite harmonious.

Zhao Changqing smiled weakly: "I'm fine, just raise it for a few more days, you don't have to worry." ”

Brother Ji saw his mother's weakness day after day, and his heartache was like frying: "It's all the son who is useless, and even the mother and concubine are thousands of miles away from Beijing and come to such a desolate and remote place." ”

Speaking of this, Brother Ji'er's voice was choked and his eyes were red.

Zhao Changqing's heart was extremely sour, and he said in a low voice: "It's the mother's concubine." Over the years, the mother has been looking forward to your success, and always encouraging you to do something you shouldn't do, so that you have a hope that you shouldn't have......"

If it weren't for her, how would Brother Ji have ended up in this field?

It was she who was unwilling, it was she who instilled the idea of seizing the crown prince in Brother Ji, and it was she who instigated and connived at her son's ambition!

It's all her fault!

Also leaving Beijing, Brother Lin and Brother Ting went to Quanzhou and Fuzhou, which are rich places by the sea. Brother Ji was the same as a match and arrived in Jiangcheng. It is just remote and poor, and there are sometimes mountain bandits and barbarian attacks. The last commander died at the hands of the barbarians......

A huge wave of grief and remorse swept through his heart, Zhao Changqing's throat was sweet, and he opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood.