The light infantry, who were originally in the forefront, gradually quickened their pace, and gradually distanced themselves from the hoplites, looking at the soldiers who were slowly disappearing in his eyes, Mu Lige's heart felt heavy.

Although the front line was gradually tightening, I had to put aside my unpleasant emotions and follow the plan that had been laid out to inspect the merchants, workshops and agricultural departments in my territory.

Walking through the streets of Qingyang, the rain and snow of the past few days have passed, and the sun finally shines on the land of Qingyang again, sweeping away the haze of the previous few days, and the merchants of all sizes have put out their best goods to attract people passing by; small merchants and vendors are wandering around shouting and selling their goods; the big girls and little daughters-in-law who have been trapped at home for several days by bad weather also invite each other to go out to the street to visit the market. The whole streets and alleys of Qingyang are full of people coming and going, bustling, full of vitality, and the appearance of people living and working in peace and contentment.

Seeing all this in front of me, almost all the troubles slipped away from my mind, the tiredness of sleepless nights was swept away, and the irritable mood was calmed down.

Seeing me looking at the bustling cityscape in a daze, Xiao Tang, who was following me, coughed lightly, which pulled me back from my contemplation to reality.

"My lord, your schedule is very tight, let's hurry up. Xiao Tang saw that I came back to my senses and hurriedly said.

"Okay, what's on the agenda for today?"

"In the morning, you will inspect the newly built iron smelting furnace and Dacheng Iron Workshop in Dacheng Iron Factory, give a speech at the Qingyang Chamber of Commerce, and have lunch with business representatives at noon; in the afternoon, you will first inspect the construction site of the newly built river transportation wharf in the south of the city, then you will go to the east of the city to review the training report of the reserve troops, and then you will go to the west of the city to attend the inauguration ceremony of our largest hospital in Qingyang, and finally you will have dinner with Luo Jinping, a businessman from Wuhu County, who came to Qingyang to meet you and is preparing to invest in the construction of a large-scale timber processing plant in Jinzhou。 That's the whole arrangement. Xiao Tang briefly stated the day's arrangement.

"Hey, I said Xiao Tang, can you arrange for me to have less of these boring inspections and interviews? I think I have to find a clerk, otherwise, let you arrange a job for me, and you want to exhaust me to death. For example, inspecting the ironworks, ironsmiths, and dock construction sites, it is obviously Su Minshun's job, as well as meeting with businessmen, it is all his job, as for the completion of the hospital, it is your business, how can it all be pushed on me, are you my superior or am I your superior?"

"My lord, that's completely different. You are the lord of a city, and now you have risen to the high position of the envoy of the festival, and if you are able to attend these events, it will be a great encouragement to people from all walks of life, and this influence cannot be replaced by others. There are also adults who should not regard these affairs as trivial matters, which is precisely what a landlord should pay attention to. It is true that it is quite important for the army to expand its territory in the southern and northern wars, but without strong economic and financial strength and sufficient logistical support, I think it is undoubtedly a fool's dream for the army to win the war. In the absence of military personnel, Xiao Tang's words seemed much more presumptuous.

I seemed to be thinking about this, Xiao Tang paused slightly, and did not open his mouth. I actually didn't mean to despise these affairs, I just wanted to steal a little free time for myself, but I didn't expect to be taught a lesson by Xiao Tang.

"Of course, there are some activities, if you have a wife, they can do it for you, but now you have a lot of confidants, but they are not officially married, so they can't replace you, so you have to work hard. Xiao Tang quietly pulled the question back.

Since I officially served as the city guard of Qingyang, Xiao Tang and some other subordinates have explicitly or implicitly told me that they should prepare for marriage, after all, as the lord of a city, I have never heard of anyone who has not yet been married, but I have all resigned. Although I like my girlfriends very much, I prefer to live a free and easy life now, there are so many beautiful women in the world, I haven't enjoyed enough, how can I be trapped by the shackles of marriage? Not to mention that my age is not very old, Angel and Yingying also agree with my idea.

But as my subordinates, Xiao Tang and they all hope that I can get married as soon as possible, so that I can give the imperial court a stable and mature image, as for my other ideas, they think that it is not a problem at all, after getting married, I can still look for flowers and ask Liu to marry a concubine, which person with status in the upper class of the empire is not a group of wives and concubines, lovers and mistresses, the more women prove that the higher your status is, and the more successful your career is.

But I still don't want to get married so early, which makes me always feel that I am not old and decrepit, and of course this feeling is not humane.

"Come on, Xiao Tang, let's not be arguing about this issue, you are the knife board, I am the fish, only let you slaughter, lead the way!" I don't want to argue with Xiao Tang and them about this issue, although they are also for my good, but I have my own ideas, I don't want to be influenced by anyone on this issue, I bent down and got into the sedan chair, leaving only Xiao Tang and Su Minshun who were laughing and laughing, only to hear Su Minshun still muttering there: "Hmph, is there still such fish and meat in the world?"

It's another busy day, in fact, I am still very satisfied with this kind of life, when I walk by the fiery iron furnace in the iron-smelting workshop to watch the batches of pig iron wrought iron produced, when I walk around the ironwork workshop full of weapons, tools and agricultural tools, when I walk along the river wharf that is gradually taking shape, when I think that in the near future, the merchant ships upstream and downstream will be able to send goods from all over the country down the river, when I see that the people who are suffering from illness after the completion of the hospital can receive professional treatment, my heart will always surge with inexplicable excitement, this is my city, and the people living here are my peopleI have the right and the obligation to let them live a richer and happier life, so as to live up to the loyalty and expectations of the people on this side.

"Lord Shanzhu, the col about five miles ahead is Xifengkou, and the scouts have already sent back the news, and nothing unusual has been found. Hearing the news of the reporter, the mountain pillar couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, after 12 hours of continuous non-stop rapid march, even the mountain tribesmen, whose physical fitness far exceeded that of ordinary soldiers, began to feel tired, not to mention the possibility of facing a fierce battle soon.

"Okay, give the order to go down, immediately occupy Xifengkou, and immediately prepare for battle, Desha, after occupying Xifengkou, you arrange a brigade to be on guard, one brigade immediately begins to build fortifications, and the remaining three brigades seize the time to rest on the spot. "Desha is a big man with a tiger's back, and he is the wing commander of this light infantry wing.

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away. ”

Five miles away, under the great strides of the troops, they soon arrived.

Standing in front of the tent, Shanzhu gasped, "This is Xifengkou, is there a mistake?" After receiving an affirmative reply from the guide next to him, Shanzhu felt that the situation was a little serious.

This Xifeng Pass is not a mountain pass with a difficult terrain at all, to be precise, it can only be regarded as two small hills with a slight gentle slope in the middle, but the terrain on both sides is much higher, and quite steep and steep. An avenue passed through the slightly recessed place, where the army of the mountain pillars was to be stationed. Fortunately, except for the gap of a few hundred meters at this gap, the rest of the radius of hundreds of miles is a lush primeval forest, which is also the only reliance that Liang Chongxin relies on to intercept here, otherwise this plan would not have succeeded at all.

Although he was disappointed, the mountain pillar still issued the order, ordered the troops to prepare for the fortifications in advance, and the reconnaissance troops had already been scattered, and after all the arrangements went down, before they could catch their breath, a soldier rushed into the camp tent with a roll and climb, and the mountain pillar had not had time to attack, and the soldier's words had already made him give up his anger: "My lord, two miles ahead, we have found a large number of enemy troops moving rapidly in our direction!"

Under the order of the mountain pillar, the soldiers who had just laid down to rest were forced to get up and enter the battle position, ready for the upcoming bloody battle.

Looking at the small hill not far ahead, Du Buke, who was riding on a horse, took a sip of strong wine to relieve the cold, and complained to Yan Tong, the deputy general next to him: "I don't know what medicine my eldest brother took, this day is cold, let us come all the way here to save the life of Shen Tuhua's rabbit cub, why? He Shen Tuhua is not a fairy beauty, and he has no relatives with the uncles, and he has repeatedly asked us to make trouble, but now he wants us to sell his life." ”

Yan Tong next to him was much calmer, "Da Shuai probably listened to the opinion of that mysterious person who came from nowhere, his lips are cold, and there is a certain amount of truth in what he said, but I can't figure out why Da Shuai listened to him?"

"Hmph, I heard that there is a considerable amount of power behind that person, and the eldest brother is also quite scruples, but no matter how I ask, the eldest brother refuses to reveal which side that person represents, and only says that he will know when the time comes. Dubuk replied with a big grin, "Fuck it, since the eldest brother has given the order, let's just follow the order, not far in front of Xifengkou, after Xifengkou, it is not far from the station of Shentuhua." Order the troops to pass through the Xifeng Pass quickly!"

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