Before preparing to enter the Central Plains, Luo Su looked back on his journey.

Between the Great Khing'an Mountains and the Langjuxu Mountains (called Kent Mountains by the grassland people), the Modong grasslands irrigated by Hulun Lake and Bear Lake and numerous rivers were the territory of King Zuoxian during the Xiongnu era.

What he is standing on now is the vast area where the Winter Turks are located, there is a fertile grassland, between the Wolf Juxu Mountain (Kent Mountain) and Yanran Mountain (the grassland people call it Hangai Mountain), irrigated by the Selenge River, the northernmost part of this grassland is Beihai, where Luo Wuji and Huo Qubing killed the Xiongnu Shan Yu.

Wushuang Wuxiang Hou Luo Shi killed the last Xiongnu Shan Yu here, this grassland is called the Mobei grassland, is the Central Plains insurmountable moat.

Only the most powerful dynasties were able to cross the vast desert, which has always been the core of steppe nomadism, and where almost every steppe khanate is located.

To the west of Yanran Mountain, there is a grassland, known as the Moxi Grassland, which was the territory of the Right Xian King in the Xiongnu era, and the Winter Turks and the Western Turks were divided by the Altai Mountains as a force, which was the area that Luo Su had not yet set foot in, and when he went to the Western Regions, he could pass through the Western Turks along the way.

There are not many people in Luo Su's group, especially the spirit soldiers, who are not considered humans, but more like weapons.

So there are only three people he needs to take care of, one is himself, the other is the groom who drives for himself, the third son of the current head of the family, Luo Xuanye, and the maid who takes care of his daily life, his concubine Luo Xuanjing.

"Ancestor, where do we go from?"

Luo Su groaned slightly, from the Winter Turks to the south, naturally to cross the desert, but even if it is over the desert, there are near and far, the best way is naturally to pass through the desert, directly to the Hetao, but now the position of standing, is no longer very convenient, then another way is to reach the four counties of Hexi.

Hexi is called a corridor because it is surrounded by a plateau to the south and the Gobi Desert to the north.

But in the continuous desert Gobi, there are two raised oases, one is called Juyanze and the other is called Xiutuze, especially Juyanze, which almost connects the Hexi Corridor and the grassland.

"Let's go to Hutu Ze and Zhu Yeze, and then turn east from Wuwei County to Guanzhong."

After Luo Su pointed the way, it was a long journey, but neither Luo Xuanye nor Luo Xuanjing felt the slightest tiredness, on the contrary, they only hoped that this kind of journey could be longer.

Accompanying Luo Su by his side, they have a feeling of brilliance, if Luo Shi is worshiped as a god by others, then Luo Su is worshiped as a god by Luo Shi.

Following Luo Su's side to teach by word and deed, this is a great opportunity, the two are lucky, and naturally they want to seize this rare opportunity.

I don't know how long he walked, Luo Xuanye, who was walking slightly dizzy in the blazing desert Gobi, gasped slightly, wiped the sweat from his forehead, Luo Su handed him a kettle and asked him to drink bitterly, "Reading is not in a hurry." ”

Luo Xuanjing's fair and smooth forehead was also slightly sweaty, Ruyu's smooth little face was a little red, she was fanning Luo Su with a small fan in her hand, Luo Su asked her to stop and rest, she raised her little face and smiled: "Ancestor, I'm not tired, it's a little hot, just cool down." ”

Saying that, the hand of the fan wind sped up a little, Luo Su knew that this little girl was a little stubborn, and he couldn't persuade her, so he took out a handkerchief to wipe her sweat, and harvested Luo Xuanjing's harder waving feather fan.

The group walked neither fast nor slow, and it took them four months to cross two oases from the territory of the Winter Turks, and finally entered Guanzhong in the traditional sense.

From the lonely desert to the crowded Guanzhong, Luo Xuanjing and Luo Xuanye have never seen so many people, and all their knowledge of the big city comes from the Winter City, pictures and lines of text.

Luo Xuanjing and Luo Xuanye both wore hats to cover their faces, and the most important thing was to cover the incomparably obvious holy marks on their eyebrows.

Luo Su directly wiped the stigma with two fingers, and the unique phoenix feather stigma disappeared directly.

Luo Xuanjing and Luo Xuanye, who were descendants of the Luo family, were also envious of this scene, and Luo Xuanjing even relied on her identity as a woman, full of starry eyes and said: "The ancestor is really amazing." ”

After entering Guanzhong, the flow of people suddenly increased greatly, the Great Sui was at its peak, the Eastern and Western Turks were in civil strife, Yang Jian had already adopted the strategy of Changsun Sheng, split the Turks, and the results were remarkable, according to Luo Su's judgment, the Sui Dynasty would soon be able to get a Hu Khanate guarding the frontier like the Han Dynasty.

There were a lot of caravans from Chang'an, and many caravans were carrying swords and went to the Western Regions, although the road to the Western Regions was now blocked by the Western Yan and the Western Turks, but the Western Yan State had recognized the suzerainty status of the Sui Dynasty and accepted the canonization.

The Western Turkic Khanate would not intercept caravans, and these steppe people liked the arrival of caravans the most, after all, they could collect a lot of taxes.

The carriage rolled forward, and after entering Guanzhong, it was in the autumn when the climate was more suitable, Luo Xuanjing held a lady's hair bun, like two small balls, and there were two golden bells hanging on it, and when she walked up, she knew that the purpose of her coming out was to relieve Luo Su's boredom, so she was very energetic.

Luo Xuanye was much calmer, his young and clear face was full of seriousness, as if what he was holding in his hand was not a horsewhip, but a sword in the hand of the general to kill the enemy, and a wat board in the hand of the minister.

Luo Su lifted the curtain of the carriage, looked at the endless crowd on the street, and suddenly asked Luo Xuanye and Luo Xuanjing: "Along the way, do you feel that there are some problems with the administrative division of the Sui Dynasty. ”

Along the way, Luo Su often took the test like this, and as soon as he heard this question, the two began to think back to what they had seen and heard along the way.

Luo Xuanye hesitated a little and said, "Ancestor, are the states and counties of the Sui Dynasty too small?" The number of prefectures and counties in Guanzhong has almost doubled compared with the Han Dynasty, and the number of officials will naturally increase greatly, which will greatly increase administrative costs. ”

Luo Xuanjing then added: "The prefectures and counties of the Sui Dynasty have been completely identical, and there is no higher administrative structure set up on the prefectures and counties, the imperial court has to manage nearly two hundred prefectures and counties, and the central government also needs to add a large number of officials. ”

Luo Su was quite satisfied when he heard this, after nearly three years of teaching, the two of them have made great progress, thinking about problems not superficially, but directly delving into the fundamental principles.

As long as an official has this kind of understanding, his ability to govern will certainly be enhanced.

Luo Su explained in a deep voice: "When the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty ascended the throne, the states and counties in the world were chaotic, some states were not as big as the counties, the states and counties were chaotic, and even the people could not divide them.

Moreover, this method can also suppress the power of local officials, the traditional county system, the county guard is an official of 2,000 stones, and in the Nine Grades of Officials Law, he is also a high-grade official, while the state assassin is an official of 600 stones, and in the Nine-Rank Officials Law, he is an official of the middle and lower grades.

This can curb the power of local officials, but as the two of you just said, he has gone too far, and the local government cannot just decentralize power, but also centralize power when it is time to centralize it, otherwise the ability to resist risks is too low. ”

Recognized by Luo Su, Luo Xuanye and Luo Xuanjing were even more energetic, and they heard Luo Su's teachings again, and they each remembered them.

Luo Xuanye raised his horsewhip and said loudly: "Ancestor, we have reached the boundary of Qizhou, and further forward is Yongzhou, where Chang'an, the imperial capital of the Sui Dynasty, is located. ”

Qizhou?

Hearing this, Luo Su hurriedly lifted the curtain of the car, looked into the distance, and then saw the familiar mountain.

The land of Longxing in Bangzhou - Qishan.

"More than 1,500 years ago, there was a phoenix destiny in Qishan to cry, so my Bang Zhou was able to replace Yin Shang, dying in the world, creating a thousand-year dynasty, in my memory, here every year will hold a grand ceremony to pray to the heavens.

I didn't expect that after so many years, this place has become so desolate. ”

Changed.

Luo Su came to the world, and he has tried his best to eliminate those things that do not belong to this era, but in his bones, he is an ancient man from 1,500 years ago, and the things he loves and cares about are completely different.

This kind of complicated feelings cannot be understood even by the descendants of the Luo family.

Luo Xuanye and Luo Xuanjing felt Luo Su's depression, glanced at each other, made a look, and finally decided to stay still and accompany Luo Su to miss here.

Luo Su did not sink too much into this, and the group soon hit the road again, Qizhou was around the imperial capital, and the straight road was wide and flat, which was extremely suitable for carriage walking.

It's another day of hurrying, passing by the inn tea shed, Luo Su let the two rest, and follow the travelers who come and go, and get some of the latest news of Chang'an City, maybe it should be called Daxing City, but the world has become accustomed to calling it Chang'an.

Because of the proximity to the capital, at the foot of this son of heaven, the public security is naturally excellent, the Sui Dynasty not to mention the civil taxes, etc., under the rule of Yang Jian, the government is extremely powerful, those rangers and prodigals and hooligans in the troubled times, most of them dare not blow up the thorns, and the common people only need to worry about the oppression of the powerful.

Good law and order will give birth to the prosperity of commerce, at this moment there are a lot of business travelers and travelers, among which there are very few people with weapons, usually these business travelers will enter Longzhou, begin to prepare a large number of blades, and then will go all the way to the west.

Luo Su and the three of them sat at a table, Luo Xuanye and Luo Xuanjing put a black ribbon on their foreheads, and drank tea quietly, because the outstanding appearance of the three naturally attracted a lot of attention.

Luo Xuanye didn't mention it, although Luo Xuanjing only had the charm of 95, but in reality, she was already a peerless beauty, and her appearance in front of pedestrians was naturally extremely attention-grabbing.

Needless to say, Luo Su had a layer of glow on his skin almost all the time, and his appearance was to the extent that it was both male and female.

Luo Su chatted casually with the business travelers, he was knowledgeable, he spoke slowly, his hands were slender without calluses, his skin was moist and shining, anyone could see that he was born in a rich and noble family.

Someone couldn't help but smile and asked: "I haven't asked the name and surname of the nobleman, I don't know which valve to read?"

Today, to be able to meet the nobles face to face, in the future is our honor, one day, the nobles ascend the Nine Heavenly Gate, when the world is dominated, we can still laugh and talk, have discussed with the nobles? ”

The words are full of compliments, and in just a few words, they can be praised by everyone, so that the heroes gathered in the tea shed of this inn can't help but envy.

Chang'an is the place where the world's heroes chase their dreams, and any aspiring person dreams of being appreciated by nobles in Chang'an, and then ascending to the Nine Heavens.

Luo Su smiled, raised the teacup, and said with a smile: "The white mountain and black water have my name, and the world has long called the saint gate." ”

Hiss.

Although I don't understand very well, but as soon as I hear it, it is very powerful, it has something to do with the saint, I don't know which saint it is, now the saint is in the court, the most prominent is the Gusu Luo clan, the ancestor Wen saint and the martial saint are very many, either it is the Linzi Lu clan, there is a martial saint Taigongwang, or it is the Zhang clan of Longhu Mountain, which is half a sage, or it is the Huaiyin Han clan, and Han Wumu who has the god of war of soldiers.

These are all in history, and they are about to be canonized, I don't know which one it is, but in the hearts of everyone, they already believe that Luo Su must be the son of a certain gate valve in Kanto.

There were several people across a table from Luo Su, the leader was a middle-aged man, his appearance was quite handsome, his arms were high, his eyes were sharp, he looked like a marksman, even if he was dressed in civilian clothes, he couldn't hide his fierce momentum, he was definitely an extraordinary person.

Sitting on his side was his wife, who was going to go with him to his post and rest here in the middle.

He had already made friends when he heard Luo Su speak before, and he knew at a glance that Luo Su was born noble, and now that he heard that Luo Su was really born in a noble and famous family, the last trace of worry in his heart disappeared, and he immediately got up and said: "I don't know that the little brother has a big name, and his surname is Li Danzi, the word Shude, and he was ordered by the Son of Heaven to be appointed as the assassin of Qizhou, and now he is about to go to the post."

This is the Uchiko Dou clan.

I never thought that in this mountainous place, I could see such a beautiful person as the little brother, and I wanted to be a friend, and I hope that the little brother will not be disliked. ”

Li Yuan's name, Luo Su has not spoken, but the people around him are noisy first, but they didn't expect to meet the newly appointed Qizhou parent official.

"But Tang Guogong Li Qiaozhou Li Gong in person?"

Someone revealed Li Yuan's identity, Li Yuan did not show it on his face, but he was already very proud in his heart, this kind of inadvertent revelation can better reflect the dignity, Li Yuan can be said to have a bright future in today's Sui Dynasty.

The emperor is his uncle-in-law, the queen is his aunt-in-law, he is a serious relative of the emperor, and he also inherits the title of Duke of Tang, and there are only two levels of county king and prince above him.

Luo Su's eyes seemed to pierce straight into Li Yuan's heart, and Luo Xuanye immediately said: "Forgive me Duke Li, the elders of the family instructed me not to reveal my identity when I am traveling, this is the ancestor of my family." ”

Luo Su held Luo Xuanye down, stopped his words, and then raised the teacup to Li Yuan, and said to everyone: "The surname is Ji, and the single name is a Su character." ”

Luo Xuanye and Luo Xuanjing's eyes lit up when they heard this, their surnames have merged for too long, and they have forgotten to use the surname Ji to walk in the world.

Imperial concubine?

Everyone was a little stunned all of a sudden, they had never heard of the gate valve with this surname in the world.

Don't talk about the gate valve with this surname, even if it is a slightly prominent family, no one has ever heard of someone with the surname Ji, as for whether it is a pseudonym, it is even more unnecessary, even if he doesn't say it, no one will do anything to him.

Is it really an ordinary family?

Everyone muttered a little, but after looking at Luo Su carefully, they still felt that it was impossible, there are countless people in the cold family, but the people from low and poor backgrounds are not like this person in front of them.

The extravagance that was almost overflowing all over his body could barely be concealed, and the woman beside him sat in a dignified posture, and someone had observed that she had hardly swayed indecently for such a long time.

This is definitely a style of learning etiquette for many years, and then forming muscle memory, even if you change into an ordinary hairpin skirt, you can't change it.

Li Yuan muttered even more in his heart, could it really be that he was looking away?

He is a very good person, he can be literate and martial, proficient in power and strategy, but he is only bad at one point, he likes to make friends with the children of those powerful lords, and he also likes to appoint these people, and the corporal is almost non-existent in him.

The Dou family, this Hui quality Lan Xin, once attracted a woman who was full of men competing to marry, frowned slightly, and then attached to Li Yuan's ear and said: "Husband, Ji's surname is Luo, the only family in the world that still insists on the separation of surnames." ”

Li Yuan suddenly said in a low voice: "Madam is really a virtuous helper for her husband. ”

He was about to happily reveal Luo Su's identity, but he heard the sound of gongs and drums, followed by a loud voice, "The palace travels." ”

Li Yuan was shocked, everyone looked straight down, the person with a lower status was already lying on the ground, a trace of hatred flashed in Dou's eyes, she had a big enmity with the royal family of the Sui Dynasty, but unfortunately she couldn't take revenge for the sake of the family.

On the straight road, from time to time, there are messengers from the government passing by, but everyone never imagined that today they would meet the eunuchs in the palace walking.

These eunuchs are the most considerate of their masters, and then gain trust and favor through the occasion, and these two points represent power and money, two things that people are looking for.

As soon as Gao Cheng saw Luo Xuanjing, he knew that his opportunity had come.

Today's crown prince Yang Yong is quite beautiful, studious and literary by nature, good at words, and has a generous personality, all kinds of advantages can basically indicate that he will at least be a good emperor who can keep it, but there are only two weaknesses, that is, lustful and love luxury.

He asked the palace people to search for beauties for him, and even gave the palace people official positions as rewards for this, and now the great eunuch in his palace is distinguished because he presented Yun Shuyi to him.

With such a master, I saw a beauty like Luo Xuanjing again, how could Gao Cheng restrain himself?

He posted it almost immediately, but was directly stopped by the two spirit soldiers, he was a little stunned, and pointed to the apricot-colored chariot in disbelief: "The palace travels, who dares to block the road?"

A certain eunuch in the East Palace walks, and the young lady is willing to return to the East Palace with a certain one, the prince will be happy, and the young lady will also enjoy endless glory and wealth, and even the entire family will be noble. ”

Luo Su had a smile on his face, and the spirit soldier just moved the blade in his hand a little further, so frightened that Gao Cheng hurriedly retreated, he didn't expect that the name of the East Palace failed to scare these people in front of him.

Li Yuan saw that there was some tension between the two sides, and immediately said to Gao Cheng: "Father-in-law Gao Cheng, these three are the nobles of the Gusu Luo clan, so you must not be rude. ”

"Gusu Luo's clan?"

"It's actually someone from the Gusu Luo clan?"

"No wonder, surnamed Ji, let's just say that where in this world is there a gate valve surnamed Ji, it turns out to be the surname Ji of the Luo family, which is reasonable."

"If it's really from a gate valve, I said it was impossible to be wrong."

Li Yuan's words startled a thousand waves, and he even ignored the East Palace and began to talk about it, of course, those with low status still didn't dare to say much, but there were also many nobles who came and went, so they weren't so afraid.

Gao Cheng heard the fear flashing in the eyes of the Gusu Luo clan, he already wanted to back down, after all, it was a prestigious gate valve, but then he reacted, the Gu Su Luo clan seemed to be the Jiangnan Shi clan.

His master, the crown prince, hated the Jiangnan Shi clan the most, or the Jiangnan Shi clan was the person of Yang Guang, the king of Jin, Yang Guang's princess was the daughter of the Xiao clan of Lanling, and her great-grandfather was Xiao Tong, the prince of Chengming, one of the three major cases of the Liang Dynasty.

After the fall of the Liang State, the Southern Dynasty still paid more attention to traditional rules, not as fierce as the Northern Dynasty, so the Lanling Xiao clan did not withstand the great liquidation, although it lost the throne, but it was still a first-class gatekeeper.

Yang Guang, the king of Jin, not only pacified Jiangnan, but also guarded Yangzhou for a long time, and the connection between him and the Jiangnan Shi clan was extremely deep, coupled with marriage, most of the Jiangnan Shi clan stood on Yang Guang's side, and the prince was naturally dissatisfied with the Jiangnan Shi clan.

Gao Cheng had already begun to exert his "smart" intelligence, and if he could bring the noble daughter of the Luo family back to the East Palace in front of him, the prince would definitely be excited.

After all, the King of Jin chose to marry the Jiangnan Shi clan for the sake of the Jiangnan Shi clan, if the prince marries a daughter of the Luo clan, wouldn't it be able to divide the Jiangnan Shi clan?

Elevation, who has never used that brain in his life, suddenly decided to use his own head today, which is simply ridiculous.

Luo Su knew people's hearts, and as soon as he saw the change in Gao Cheng's eyes, he knew that he had already thought about it, and the easy-going smile on his face disappeared, and then asked softly: "Now the reputation of the Gusu Luo clan is so weak?"

Even a prince's house slave already dared to rob the women of the Gusu Luo clan on the street? ”

Li Yuan's whole person was shocked, he dared to be sure that this was not what the prince meant, unless the prince was crazy, who would offend the children of a gate valve like this?

Gao Cheng heard the sound outside the strings, and said in surprise: "You are not from the Gusu Luo clan?" ”

Luo Su bowed his hand to Li Yuan and the others: "Everyone, we will have a meeting later. ”

Then he said to Gao Cheng: "Where is the East Palace, let's go." ”

Luo Su's actions were shocking, he didn't even have the slightest resistance, and just followed the eunuch of the East Palace in front of him, Li Yuan's eyes were a little complicated, he wanted to stop it, but this was a matter of the royal family, he didn't dare to care, he had spoken up before, it was already the limit.

Gao Cheng didn't expect it to go so smoothly, and said happily: "Son and Miss, please rest assured, Miss has entered the East Palace, and she will definitely enjoy endless glory and wealth, and she will be able to catch up with the Heavenly Family, which is a great wealth."

Even if it is not as prominent as the Gusu Luo clan now, as long as he becomes a relative in the future, it is very likely that he will be better than the Gusu Luo clan. ”

He chattered here, but he couldn't see Luo Su's calm face, the cold murderous intention.

The chariot walked all the way, turning two or three turns, Luo Xuanye looked behind him and said in a deep voice: "Ancestor, those people can't be seen." ”

Gao Cheng heard some and asked suspiciously, "What can't you see?" ”

Luo Su said softly: "Since you can't see it, let them all die." ”

A fear that came from nowhere swept through Gao Cheng's body in an instant, and he felt as if he was facing not a person, but a beast that chose people to devour, and the cold killing intent on Luo Su's body made him feel fear from the bottom of his heart.

Those servants who were not very strong, skillfully killing and injuring the guards of the East Palace, and even had bows and crossbows and armor, which were controlled by the imperial court, Gao Cheng screamed, no matter how stupid he was, he knew that he had touched the iron plate.

"I am the prince's people, they are the guards of the East Palace, you kill them is like rebellion, rebellion!"

Luo Su didn't seem to hear it at all, but in a dozen breaths, in the midst of a tragic scream, all the guards of the East Palace brought out by Gao Cheng were buried here.

Gao Cheng was completely stunned, like a fool, he couldn't believe what he saw, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, all the guards of the East Palace died in front of him, "You are all crazy, you are all crazy!" ”

Luo Su smiled slightly, put his fingers together, and gently swiped them in front of his eyebrows.

A phoenix feather stigma glittering with divine brilliance appeared between his eyebrows.

"Stigma!"

Elevation screamed in horror.

There is no one in Zhuxia who does not know this holy stigma, even if they have not seen it for thousands of years, as long as they appear in front of them, they can recognize and confirm the authenticity!

He was so frightened that he was stupid.

He never expected the protagonist of those prophecies to appear in front of him.

The Luo clan's descendants, whom the emperor and countless nobles had sent so many people to Liaodong Winter City to find, appeared in front of him without the slightest defense!

And what did you do?

Under the sacred phoenix feather stigma, the fear in Gao Cheng's heart almost reached the extreme, and he died of fear directly!

Luo Xuanye whispered in Luo Su's ear: "Old Ancestor, that Tang Guogong Qizhou Thorn Shi has followed, do you want to dispose of him." ”

Li Yuan never expected that he would encounter such a scene when he came up, the corpses scattered all over the place were not important, the important thing was the phoenix feather holy mark shining on the young man's eyebrows.

It is indeed Ji's surname Luo!

That's right!

But this is the main branch of Luo's!

The main branch of Luo's that has not appeared in the Central Plains for two hundred years!

Li Yuan now has the feeling of seeing a mythical character, this kind of character that only appears in history books and legends, suddenly appeared in front of him, and the shock was so great that it was simply difficult to describe.

And what is the young man next to Losu going to do?

The flickering in that look must be killing intent, right?

He witnessed the Luo clan main branch killing the guards of the East Palace, and also carried the armor and crossbow equivalent to rebellion.

Li Yuan only felt a chill to his bones, and for the first time, he had a feeling that he could not escape.

Now what?

With an embarrassed but polite smile on his face, Li Yuan forced a smile at Luo Su's teeth, his smile was more ugly than crying.

(End of chapter)