Fan Xian looked at him, his eyes were full of indifferent laziness, "Although Qingzhou is at the forefront, after all, it is in the Xida camp, so why are you afraid of becoming like this." ”

Li Hongcheng pointed his finger at his nose and said angrily: "You are a high-ranking official, and you are going to Qingzhou as soon as you think about it, don't you know how much trouble you will cause?"

Qingzhou City is the most remote state city in Qingguo, it is the land that the eldest prince forcibly knocked down when he led the troops for the first time, and it is also the latest state city, hanging deep on the edge of the grassland, empty on all sides, and often in the sharp edge of the battle between the two sides.

Fan Xian knocked away the finger that was about to point to his face, and said angrily: "Aren't you a dignitary?

"But we are all in the barracks!" Li Hongcheng looked at him, raised his voice angrily, and said: "Do you think I don't know you? You will stop when you arrive in Qingzhou? I know you too well, and when you see the grassland ahead, you will be reluctant to go in? You like to take risks, you like to sneak around, and you will never follow the advance and retreat of the large army. ”

"Can I watch you slip into the grassland under my rule?" Li Hongcheng gritted his teeth and said, "I sue you, but there is no door!"

Fan Xian was silent, he didn't expect Hongcheng to see his plan at a glance, but the yīn fire in his heart was burning, so he had to enter Qingzhou and see what was happening, even if he didn't enter the grassland.

"I promise you, I won't go into the steppe with my subordinates. He looked at Li Hongcheng and said very seriously: "I just want to go to Qingzhou to check some things, what if...... If I don't have anybody, no one knows what's going on, and trust me, it's important. ”

"What are you going to Qingzhou to investigate?" Li Hongcheng calmed down, looked at him and asked word by word: "If you have a will, I will let you go, if not, you don't say it again." ”

"If I have a will, I'll still talk to you about a fart!" Fan Xian couldn't help but get angry when he saw that he didn't eat oil and salt, and scolded: "Don't forget, I'm a Qincha! Your Majesty allows me to act cheaply, I inform you that I respect you, I really want to go to Qingzhou, what are you going to stop me?"

Hearing this, Li Hongcheng gritted his teeth, but he couldn't find any words to refute, and said in a cold voice after a while: "I have to tell you, the current border pass is different from before, it is easy to die, and the Hu people are becoming more and more dangerous...... And your means are pretty much the same. Why did you take the Supervision Yuan into the city before, and you were caught by me, because Dingzhou City is now mixed with a lot of jiān details, and the Xidaying and Xiliang Road Governor's Mansion are very nervous about this matter. ”

"You can't even fool me with your disguises, let alone those nonsense people. Li Hongcheng stared at his eyes and tried to persuade him: "Ye Ling'er is different from you, the Ye family is still very respected by the Hu people in the west, but your reputation represents the face of the imperial court, if the Hu people can kill you, they will definitely do whatever it takes." ”

"jiān fine...... There are indeed a lot of jiān fine. Fan Xianchang exhaled a breath of turbidity, and said quietly: "In the past thirty years, the Hu people have not been able to send jiān fine to the territory, because we are too different...... As a result, it has been more than two years, and I am also very curious about where these jiān details who sold our information to the Hu people came from. ”

A hint of strangeness flashed in Li Hongcheng's eyes.

Fan Xian looked at him and said, "The most important purpose of my trip is to dig out that person and everyone who is related to that person. ”

Li Hongcheng raised his hands and gave up, but he still sneered and said: "But have you thought about it, if something happens to you, what will happen to Your Majesty?

"You overestimate the Hu people. Fan Xian lowered his eyes slightly and said mockingly: "Underestimated me." ”

Li Hongcheng was stunned, suddenly pulled him in, and walked to the study where the map was stored. Walking in the back garden, coming to a room, lighting the lamp, Li Hongcheng spread out a huge map, slapped his palm heavily on a place in the extreme west, and said in a cold voice: "Look at the location of Qingzhou, it is far away two hundred miles, if you want to go, I will send a team of 1,000 people to send you, if you don't want people to send ...... Then I want to know, in the last thirty miles of desert land, the Hu people came to raid, how do you deal with it?"

Fan Xian looked at the map carefully, although he had studied this map many times in the Kyoto courtyard, but at this time, he still felt a chill when he re-watched it, the road to Qingzhou was close to the edge of the grassland, and the Hu people could indeed attack at any time with their ability to be elusive on the grassland.

"I am a businessman, and the Hu people do not kill merchants. Fan Xian lowered his head and said, but he was thinking about the agreement with Hu Ge.

Li Hongcheng didn't answer his words, pointed to the map and said: "In the past two years, the Hu people have run out of the grassland every day to sweep the tuntian in the rear of Qingzhou...... Do you know how many people died? Once those Hu people are killed, it doesn't matter if you are a merchant or not? Even if you are a master of the Nine Ranks, if you are facing hundreds of rangers, what way can you escape?"

Without waiting for Fan Xian to answer, his finger continued to move on the map: "Look at this piece, this is the direction of the Hu people's main attack, in the past two years, a total of more than a thousand Tuntian troops have died. ”

Fan Xian knew about the tragedy on the border and said, "There is no way to solve this problem?"

"I dare to guarantee that the iron cavalry under my account will never lose to the Hu people's rangers, but this is like two people stabbing each other, the knives are very sharp, but the goals are different, they dare not touch my main force, but I can't catch their main force. ”

Fan Xian thought for a moment and said, "The Hu people's tents are moving, but our people are tied to death on the land because of the fields, and the harm they have done to us is naturally greater than the harm we have caused to them. ”

Li Hongcheng nodded helplessly.

"So I'm going to Qingzhou, I'm going to see the master who invented the bastard tactics of fighting grass valley...... Who exactly. Fan Xian's eyes were cold, and a fire began to ignite in the cold.

Knowing that he couldn't convince Fan Xian, Li Hongcheng stared into his eyes and asked, "Why...... The Supervision Yuan is so concerned about the matter of Xiliang?"

"It's not a hospital affair, it's my private business. Fan Xian was obviously in a bad mood, looked at the red dots on the map and said: "Of course, it's not just a private matter, I must stabilize the situation in the west before next year, I need your help, and at the same time, I also want to cut down the support that the Hu people get." ”

"Before next year?" Li Hongcheng looked at him suspiciously, wondering why he was so anxious about the situation in the west.

"Next year, the Sigu Sword will last until next year's chūn day at most. Fan Xian lowered his head and said, "I put more than half of my attention around and used it to observe the injuries of the Sigu Sword. This great master is really able to survive...... It took him so long longer than expected, and although he hadn't seen anyone else in the past two years, we knew he was still alive, and we knew that he was going to die next year. ”

"What does the life and death of the Sigu Sword have to do with the west?" asked Li Hongcheng in annoyance.

Fan Xian raised his head, looked at him and said, "Because if Sigu Sword dies, His Majesty will send me to Dongyi City...... I don't have time to solve the problem of the west side anymore. ”

Li Hongcheng sneered and said, "Do you think that you can solve the affairs of the world alone?" I recognize your ability, but I hope you don't think too highly of yourself. ”

Fan Xian knew that the other party's words were not malicious, so he spread his hands and said: "Dongyi City behind the sword, it always has to fall to the side, whether it is my Daqing or Northern Qi, and the biggest problem is ...... How do we make a smooth transition of Dongyi City into our hands. ”

"Or if the two sides fight, Dongyi City can still maintain a neutral posture. ”

"No way. Fan Xian laughed at himself, shook his head and said: "As soon as Sigu Sword dies, the contradiction between the City Lord's Mansion and the Sword Mansion will break out, where is Dongyi City qualified to be neutral?"

"But you still haven't explained, what does this have to do with your rush to Xiliang. ”

Fan Xian glanced at Hongcheng a little helplessly, and after being silent for a long time, he said in a low voice: "The reason is very simple, I have to prove to the people of the world that I can solve the problems of Xiliang and Dongyi City." ”

"Then?" Li Hongcheng looked at him suspiciously.

"Then I want to prove to His Majesty that if ...... I mean, if you really want to dominate the world, you don't have to...... If you have to fight, even if you want to fight, it doesn't necessarily have to be a martial fight, and a cultural attack is also feasible, even if it must be a martial fight...... If you can fight small, you can fight small. ”

Fan Xian's voice became lower and lower, so low that it seemed that he didn't even believe it. Li Hongcheng was also stupid, and sat silently on the side, wondering if he had heard something wrong.

Li Hongcheng suddenly stood up and walked quickly back and forth in the study, as if trying to digest the news he had just heard, and after a while, he stopped beside Fan Xian and laughed uncontrollably, his laughter full of absurdity.

"You idiot!" Li Hongcheng scolded at him: "You can also think of such a childish idea? Do you think that you are an immortal, and you can solve the Hu people without spending a single soldier? You can solve Dongyi City and Northern Qi without spending a single soldier!"

Li Hongcheng trembled angrily, pointed at Fan Xian's face, and his fingertips trembled: "I thought you had such a great idea to go to Qingzhou, but it was such a childish war!"

"What do you want to do? You really forgot what your last name is because you were so pat on the back by the students in Taixue that you really want to be a saint?"

Li Hongcheng grabbed Fan Xian's shirt suddenly, gritted his teeth and said, "Are you crazy? People in the world will not obediently act according to your thoughts!"

The faces of the two people were very close, Li Hongcheng looked at the gloom in Fan Xian's eyes, and shouted in a low-pitched voice: "Prove it to Your Majesty, what are you thinking?"

Fan Xian hung his head and said in a low voice: "What do I think? If I say that I hope that the world is peaceful and there is no war...... Wouldn't you think this idea is ridiculous. ”

Li Hongcheng let go of his hands, and Fan Xian sat back on the chair.

He looked at Fan Xian and shook his head for a long time, he was speechless in shock, as a son of Qingguo, he was so disgusted with war? Fortunately, he knew how many life and death situations Fan Xian had experienced in his life, and he was definitely not a person who was greedy for life and afraid of death.

"The idea is not ridiculous. Li Hongcheng said word by word: "Rather, this cannot constitute an idea at all." ”

Fan Xian raised his head and said stubbornly: "Why can't I? If I can dominate the world with my own strength, why should my Majesty go to the south and the north to fight again, and let those tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, or even tens of millions of ordinary people ...... Why can't I think of dying for this glorious purpose, for so many lives!"

"Good, good. Li Hongcheng nodded angrily and said, "You can think like this, but you will never be able to do it, and I advise you, it is best not to let His Majesty know what you think, otherwise he will definitely think you are crazy." ”

"I'm crazy. Fan Xian closed his eyes and said quietly: "You don't know how I have lived in the past two years, I am thinking about this problem every day, it seems that the next moment a big war will break out, and those people who don't understand anything will die under the horses, under the swords and guns." I want to change this, but I don't know what to do...... No one was able to help me. ”

"No one can help me!" He suddenly became angry, opened his eyes, stared at Li Hongcheng, stretched out a finger and said loudly: "They're all gone! Chen Pingping doesn't care about anything, his father is old, and Lin Ruofu was scared into an old rabbit by His Majesty in Wuzhou! What about the boss? He is only afraid that he is still willing to fight, and he is not willing to stay in Kyoto......

Uncle Wuzhu also left, leaving him alone, Fan Xian added in his heart.

"It's just me. Fan Xian's lips trembled slightly, and he gritted his teeth and said fiercely: "I'm the only one left thinking and struggling at night, I'm not reconciled, I know that this is a difficult goal to achieve, but I still have to try to do it." ”

"Ridiculous! ridiculous! naïve!" Li Hongcheng shook his shoulder, as if trying to shake this madman awake, "It took your majesty thirty years to create such a good situation...... Xihu: If His Majesty is ready, he can beat them into garbage! In the current situation, you want to go against him? I tell you, Your Majesty doesn't need you to do this for him, he has enough ability to do it himself!"

Li Hong looked at Fan Xian like an idiot, "In the past two years, you have let the Supervision Yuan deliberately be cut in power to stabilize the imperial court, and you have let the inner treasury regain its glory of the year, enrich the treasury, and replenish military spending...... If you really pacified Xihu for him and recovered Dongyi City, you would have already prepared for a big war for His Majesty, but you want to make His Majesty give up the idea of going to war at this time?"

"Do you think Your Majesty is crazy or are you crazy?"

"What the hell is going on? What has happened to you in the past two years?" Li Hongcheng looked at Fan Xian in disbelief and asked, "The world is peaceful? This kind of thing has never happened. ”

"At least while I'm alive, I want the world to be peaceful, that's my ideal in life. ”

Fan Xian laughed at himself, calmed down for a moment, and said seriously: "When I was a child in Shanzhou, I was thinking about what I should do in this life, and then I gradually understood that if the world can be peaceful, it will be the best. ”

"Two years ago in Kyoto. Fan Xian raised his head, looked at Li Hongcheng's beard and concerned eyes close at hand, and said quietly: "I watched the second child vomit blood and die, the eldest princess stabbed herself to death, and so many rebel soldiers, forbidden troops, and subordinates of the Supervision Yuan, just because of the goal of dominating the world, became a sacrifice on the road of His Majesty, that is, at that time, I firmly established this ideal, is it ridiculous?"

"I've seen dead people too. Li Hongcheng glared at him, "In the past three years on the grassland, I have seen even more dead people than you, but what can I do? History will always be like this, and your ideals are already ridiculous, you know?"

"The ridiculous ideal is still the ideal. Fan Xian crossed his hands in front of his chest, regained his calmness, and said quietly: "If people don't have ideals, what is the difference between them and salted fish?"

"In the entire Qingguo, no one will support your so-called ...... Ideal. Li Hongcheng also gradually calmed down, shook his head and said with pity: "Including Dean Chen, including Fan Shangshu, no one will support your idea. ”

"I understand. Fan Xian said: "I am different from the vast majority of people in the world, I just want to use facts to convince His Majesty." ”

"陛xià...... I will never be convinced!" Li Hongcheng accentuated.

"What didn't happen, who knows?" Fan Xian stood up and said, "Don't forget Jì, I'm already the father of two children now, you always have to get married and have children in the past two years, we always have to leave something for our descendants, at least I hope it's not a turbulent world where there are more wars and dead bodies on the way." ”

"Don't you like Your Majesty to dominate the world?" Li Hongcheng was silent for a long time after listening to Fan Xian's words, and then asked.

"It's easy to fight the world, but it's hard to rule the world. Fan Xian tidied up his messed clothes, and said slowly: "Back then, the Northern Expedition broke up the Great Wei, but let the Zhan family inherit the Great Zuo, the people of Jiangnan and Jiangbei, and Yanjing in Shandong are easy to ambush, but the old people of the Great Wei are not so easy to bow their heads. Even if my Daqing Iron Cavalry invades the capital city, it will take at least a few decades for the people of Nali to recognize the rule of the Li royal family. ”

"Decades of repression and massacres, to be precise. Fan Xian walked outside the house, "I don't want Xiaohua and Liangzi to see in the future not the beautiful scenery of the West Lake and the East China Sea, but the bloody pestle and the iron cable across the river, so I want to try to change it, at least change the way." ”

"But decades of iron and blood will be exchanged for eternal peace. Li Hongcheng still couldn't accept Fan Xian's idea.

"The general trend of the world will be divided for a long time, and it will be divided for a long time, and unifying the country may bring more benefits to the people, but I can't worry about it that far. Fan Xian said: "This idea, I once told Yan Bingyun, I can only think about the present when I am alive, the present when my children are alive. ”

"I just don't want to be a salted fish, I don't want to be a saint. After saying this, Fan Xian walked outside the house. In the room, Li Hongcheng pressed his palms on the map, and suddenly said, "Why are you telling me this?"

Fan Xian didn't turn around, and replied with a smile: "We are friends, and I won't hide my thoughts from friends." ”

Then he thought of his friend in the floral dress, and the tip of his heart throbbed.

............ After a few rì, the Xiliang Road Qincha, the Lord of the Supervision Yuan, the Duke of Xiangbo entered the city on behalf of the saint to patrol the hunt, the governor of Xiliang Road and the general went out of the city to greet him, and the whole city celebrated three rì. Three rì Bi, the general's mansion tried the case of the mutton shop jiān, and found out that the Jiangnan businessman secretly connected with the thief, smuggled salt and iron, and beheaded a total of 14 people.

After the feast, Qin sent out of the city and sent the city off. In the same way, Qin Cha Fan Xian had already disguised himself as a businessman, got into a carriage bound for Qingzhou, and began his own investigation journey.

As he said that night, he must calm the situation in Xihu and peacefully subdue Dongyi City before the war under heaven, so that he can prove to His Majesty the Emperor that his ability and his means are feasible. However, this trip to Xihu is not only a step for Fan Xian to get rid of salted fish, but more importantly, he wants to solve a matter, a thing that makes him very angry, but this matter cannot be explained clearly to Hongcheng.

The carriage was moving along the official road in the fields of Wuyuntun, and in front of and behind the convoy, the subordinates of the Supervision Yuan were watching Yi Qiē with great timidity to prevent a surprise attack by the Hu people's team beating the grass valley.

Fan Xian hoped that a team of Hu people could come, but unfortunately, after that night, Li Hongcheng took the lead in launching the autumn offensive of the ninth year of Qingli, and for a time killed Xihu's rangers back to the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, on the grassland, and the empty rear of Qingzhou, which suddenly became quiet.

Fan Xian retracted his gaze looking out of the window, knowing that the big move of the West Camp was completely to ensure his safety, although Hongcheng did not say anything, he was using his own actions to help himself.

His eyes fell on a knife in his hand, this knife is ordinary, but the materials are excellent, it is definitely not the level of craftsmanship of the Hu people, but the problem is that this knife is the weapon of the Hu people captured in Qingzhou City five months ago.

The four officials in Qingzhou City sent the knife back to Kyoto with great vigour, and presented it to Fan Xian's eyes. This knife did not have any signs that could be traced to the road, but Fan Xian recognized it at a glance, because this kind of knife was made by a secret workshop somewhere on the shore of the North Sea.

Fan Xian's eyes were filled with irrepressible anger, and the true qi in his body was released, and the knife was broken in two with a snap.