When Li Dao told Li Ru everything he saw along the way, Li Ru did not speak, but asked everyone to continue their journey and prepare to go to Chang'an.

Li Dao was puzzled, this Kansai is finished when he sees it, and he still has to pay tribute? Isn't that stupid!

But Li Ru is the mastermind, and Li Dao is a little unconfident in his own culture, so he honestly follows the action.

The next day, Li Ru arrived at the outskirts of Chang'an with his envoy, and the personnel of the Guanxi court who received it here had been waiting for several days, and finally received the delegation from Hedong.

But it stands to reason that the officials who received it were obviously very anxious, but when they sent Li Ru and others into the city, they still did not take the Qingming Gate in the east to enter the city directly, but made a big detour and entered the city from the Anmen Gate in the south.

Along the way, the ruins are more than ten miles old, full of dilapidation.

Chang'an has only recently been taken seriously, in the past as Xijing, that is, a little more attention in the city, the south of the city of Biyong, Zongmiao, Sheji have been repaired by the previous dynasty, these years have passed, the rain and wind are covered, full of desolation.

Later, Li Rucai found out why he took a detour to the south gate to enter the city on this day, and it turned out that the east side of the meeting was full of retreating battalions, and these people were stationed outside the city to prepare for reorganization.

The Kansai court didn't want the embassy in Hedong to see these defeats, so it took a detour.

However, despite such and such concealments, the Kansai court undoubtedly attached great importance to the Hedong Mission.

not only violated the rules and let Da Honglu go out of the suburbs to greet him, but also brought an old acquaintance of Li Ru with him.

He is the original Haoyang Ling Cao Quan. It turned out that Li Ru was a native of Feng Yiyang, the left of Guannei, and it was Cao Quanpi who promoted him to the county office, so he had a meager salary to support his family.

It can be said that Cao Quan is Li Ru's first nobleman.

Sure enough, Li Ru was also very excited to see the former master in the crowd. stepped forward to bow to Cao Quan, and then greeted the Kansai court politely.

Cao Quan was also very emotional, the former fighting food officials, just because of the right person, now it has reached the card that wants him and even Jiuqing to go out to the suburbs to greet him, who would have thought of this?

Although the court is like this not because of how Li Ru is, but because of the Hedong Taishou Dong Zhuo behind him, this is already amazing.

The reason why the Kansai court attaches so much courtesy to the Hedong envoys is of course not for the pond salt that is less than a hundred carts, of course, these are naturally precious, especially for the Kansai that is now poor and white.

But what was really valued by the Kansai court was that this batch of pond salt was the Tugong of Hedong Taishou.

The system of Tugong has a long history. All local specialties such as rice, wine, salt, dried and fresh fruits, ginseng medicines, wild game in mountains and forests, fresh fish from rivers and lakes, or clothing and utensils, to name a few, must be paid to the royal family for royal use, sacrifices, banquets, and military needs.

The Tugong system also shows the relationship between the local government and the central government.

For example, in the past, Qi Huan attacked Chu, that is, Chu did not pay tribute to Qingmao, and he had the heart of not being subordinate. Therefore, the batch of tributes sent by the Hedong Taishou is a symbol of falling to the Guanxi court.

In fact, Dong Zhuo's vision and timing are particularly good. The current Kansai court really needs Dong Zhuo and his Hedong group.

At this time, Guanxi had just suffered a crushing defeat outside the pass, and lost the initiative to go out of the pass, and urgently needed Dong Zhuo to lead his Hedong Army to cut off the westward advance of the Kwantung Army from the north.

So this time, Dong Zhuoqi can live in it.

In the next few days, Li Ru not only made a pilgrimage to Liu Hong, but also drank and talked with the ministers of Chang'an and the Guanxi Shihao, as if Li Ru was really one of them, and the singing and dancing were as if there were no tens of thousands of Kwantung soldiers outside the Guan.

Li Ru heard and watched a lot, but said very little. In the final analysis, Li Ru is very sober, has no hallucinations, knows what the current Gaoge courtesy is for, and knows what he is doing this time.

Soon, the Hedong mission embarked on a reverse journey.

This time, a small official named Meng Da, as an escort, took Li Ru and them back.

Because the Cuihan passage outside Hangu Pass is no longer safe, this time they did not take this road again, but planned to go north of Chang'an and take Pujin Road.

In fact, from the route,

() can also know why the eastern and western courts are vying to win over Hedong too much to guard Dong Zhuo.

Because only in the east of the river, there are three routes to enter the pass.

The first one is Li Ru, who walked when they came.

This is the road between Xin'an and Yiyang. The western part of the road is separated from the east of the river by only a large river. Since ancient times, it has been an important place to enter the customs. At that time, the red eyebrows in the Guangwu blockade pass were stationed in this road, and then more than 100,000 red eyebrows were forced to land here.

And further back, when the Qin State wanted to go out of the customs, enter the King of Zhou, and win the Central Plains, it was also here that the Han army was anxious.

But there is still something particular about going down the river from the southeast of the river.

Because between the Hedong Basin and the Cuihan Road, there are two natural hazards. One is the winding middle mountain, and the other is the raging river.

Therefore, although Hedong borders Guanluo, there are only two mountain roads that can really march.

One is the Yuban Road in the east, starting from Anyi, you can go directly to Sanmenxia, and then from Shaanxi and Tianjin, and then go to Shaanxi County to enter the customs, Li Ru and others are taking this road.

One is the Baicheng Road in the west, starting from Xie County, crossing Zhongtiao, and then taking the Shaanxi-Tianjin Ferry, you can also go to Shaanxi County to enter the customs.

This is undoubtedly the only ferry in Hedong to go through the Kuihan Pass, and this ferry is also a very important one among so many ferries on the big river.

From here, you can go west to Hangu and go straight to Guanzhong. Or go east to Xin'an and go directly to Yinluo. And because the big river suddenly closes from Sanmenxia, the riverbed is narrow, only more than 70 zhang wide, which is very convenient for wading.

Of course, there is not only one ferry on the big river in the east of the river, from east to west, there are also two of them in Hunjin and Fenglingdu. It's just that as far as Cuihan Dao is concerned, Shaanxi and Tianjin are the most important.

Now, this road can't be walked, Li Ru can only take the Pujin Road in the north, and this is also the most convenient way between Hedong and Chang'an, and it is also the most important reason for Luoyang to win over Dong Zhuo.

It turns out that taking this road can directly bypass Hangu Pass and directly enter the Weibei Plain.

From Hedong Anyi, Wenxi and other places along the Shushui River in Neijun, or by boat, or by land along the coast, you can go to the big river ferry port Pujindu. Then cross the shore to the opposite side of Zuo Fengyi's Linjin County. Finally, you can go straight through the Weibei Plain and arrive at Guanzhong.

It can be said that this road is the east and west rush, and it is the hub of Yong, and Yu control. Its gains and losses are extremely important for both Kanto and Kansai.

Let's put it this way, it is still very difficult for the Kanto court to really break the Hangu Pass head-on, and once it can win Pujin, it will be an overnight time. Because of this, for the Kansai court, this Pujin Road is also their lifeline, and it cannot be lost.

So, I know that Dong Zhuo has a lot of good things to live in!

In fact, in addition to the Cuihan Road that Li Ru took when he entered the customs and the Pujin Road that he walked when he left the customs, there is another road that is also very important, that is, Longmen Road. However, this road is further north to the east of the river, and has limited impact on the current east-west confrontation.

However, if Dong Zhuo suddenly turned his face and raised troops to enter the customs, then Longmen Dao would come in handy at this time.

It's just that I don't know, Dong Zhuo has used this road one day, hehe!

Because of the different paths they took, Li Ru and others were able to investigate the reality of Kansai from another direction.

The road was not smooth, it rained heavily, Li Ru and others stopped in Zuo Fengyi's ten thousand years, they saw the strong men urged by the Guanxi court, all the way south along the official road. And the scene of the officials in the 10,000-year-old place marching to make a strong man only makes people write another "Wannian Official".

But Li Ru also discovered places in Kansai that should not be underestimated in the process. That is the way, there is an endless stream of grain transportation teams under various banners, Li Ru is Zuo Fengyi's local, of course he knows that these banners are the heroic families of the head of the county.

Obviously, this time the Kansai family is really out of food, maybe it is the crisis that brings these people together, maybe it is the emperor's promise, or maybe it is the resentment of the past two hundred years. In short, this time the Kansai family is really bleeding.

Perhaps in order to catch up with a military operation, the camel beasts that died along the road were simply dismembered on the spot, and large pieces of meat were taken, leaving the rest to the local exiles.

Li Ru regarded Guan Xiding's () behavior of going to the battlefield and women winning grain as an old pass

The indomitable of the Westerners. In his opinion, the resilience of the Kansai court is obviously not small.

But the accompanying escort Meng Da didn't think so, the son of the Liangzhou Thorn History, obviously felt that this road was not decent. Especially at his age, it is the best time to be faced.

So along the way, his face was gloomy and he didn't say a word. I just want to take them to Pujin as soon as possible, so that I can make this trip.

But Li Ru is a lot of people, and he also saw that this noble young man named Meng Da was the kind of person who said it in the way, so he flattered him and let him know some details of the defeat outside the border from Meng Da's mouth.

In Munda mouth, this is just a small setback. It is the former guard lieutenant, and now the eastern armies are recruiting, and Yang Biao, who is holding the festival in Hangu Pass, is careless.

As for how careless and small setbacks, Meng Da was very tight-lipped. No matter what Li Ru says, it is fragmented.

Li Ru knew that he couldn't get more news, so he had to accompany Meng Da to chat about some old things in the two capitals, and it was time to pass the time.

Soon, the boring journey finally came to an end.

They finally arrived at Linjindu, opposite Pujin, where Liu Hong's henchman Gao Hong was stationed.

Pujin theoretically belongs to the temperance of Hedong County, but how could Liu Hong give his throat to others, so he let Gao Hong be temperate early before entering the customs.

Sent here, Mengda's mission is over.

Meng Da said some words to Li Ru about saying goodbye and taking care, and then acted reluctantly. And Li Ru was also sad there, saying goodbye, I don't know how long I can see you again. It's not that there is no willow tree nearby, Li Ru is going to fold the willow expression.

No matter how much hypocrisy and politeness there is, separation is inevitable.

After sending Li Ru and others to the long boat, untying the cable, and sending the boat, Meng Da bowed to Li Ru on the boat from afar, and then left silently.

And Li Ru looked at the backs of Meng Da and others, and was also thinking deeply.

Is this Kansai strong or weak?

The envoy from Hedong was gone, and the ministers of the Chang'an court breathed a sigh of relief.

They are really false, and maintaining the peaceful and prosperous times in those few days has already made these Kansai ministers overwhelmed.

From the end of last year to the beginning of this year, the situation in the world has gradually become clearer.

Now it can be said that the Han Heavenly Pillar has collapsed, and now it is three points.

Among them, Liu Hong is related to Long, Henan is related to the west, and Taiping is rebellious and Hebei. Among the three, the Kwantung court in Henan was the most powerful and occupied the richest region in the world.

The second is the Taiping remnants of Hebei and the Taishan thieves. Hebei is the place where the Han family has money and grain, and it is already rich, but fortunately, Hebei is also three.

The northern part is still under the control of the Hanjia County Guards, which also occupy the four counties of Changshan, Zhongshan, Hejian, and Bohai with the support of the local heroes and the military support of the Lu Zhi Army in Youzhou behind them. Still strong.

In the central part of Julu County, Anping Kingdom, and Qinghe Kingdom, most of them are occupied by Hebei Yellow Turbans. But most of the cities in these areas were still in the hands of the Han dynasty. Among them, Julu, Anping, and Ganling are the centers of the Han dynasty in these areas, like three fortresses, firmly rooted in the waist and abdomen of the Yellow Turban in Hebei.

Finally, the southern part of Zhao State, Wei County, and northern Hanoi were occupied by the Taishan army. What the specific situation in this area is, the court in Kansai has no way of knowing, anyway, there has been no stagecoach feather in these areas for a long time.

Aside from the above, in the end is their own Guan Long.

They Guan Long is really poor. Now they already know, such as the northern part of Jingzhou, Yuzhou, most of Xuzhou, most of Yanzhou, and some prefectures and counties of Qingzhou, have all sent Shangji and envoys to the imperial court in the Kwantung region, and stood in the Kwantung camp.

The above areas are the most densely populated and economically and culturally developed areas of the Han Dynasty. Even to tell a joke, even in terms of military strength, it is also the strongest.

In addition to inheriting most of the military strength of the Northern Army, the heroes in the Kanto region are very well-armed. In terms of absolute combat power, it may be slightly inferior to the Kansai soldiers, but there are many soldiers and generals.

It can be said that there are four of them in the Kwantung court, the Antarctic Jianghuai, the eastern corner of the sea, the northern gradual Heshuo, and the land of the six countries. The world is brave, and half of it has been. It can be said that it is a super large position leader. And what about their own Kansai?

The pre-Han period has withered, and after the new chaos, it is even more dilapidated. and then for a hundred years, it is really poor and white.

Even the Guanlong area has no potential. Because of the long-term neglect of the Guanlong area, whether it is the post station, the pavilion or the water conservancy facilities, they have long been barren and suspended.

Although Liu Hong's frame has been selected to repair it after entering the customs, what improvement can it be for a while?

Therefore, if what Li Ru saw and heard was only disappointed in the future of Kansai, then the ministers of Guan Long, who were more familiar with the inside story, were already desperate.

The struggle at this moment is just to obey the inertia of the Han family's authority, or to disobey the 200 years of Kanto's suppression of Kansai.

In the final analysis, these Guan Long families have memories. Most of their clans are from the period of the Six Kingdoms, or even a little earlier from the Spring and Autumn Period, and the history of the family and the region is clear.

Those Qianshou who have lived for only 20 years may be born with the idea that Kanto people are more expensive. But who knows, our Kansai talents should be among the world.

It is our ancestors who have been in the Tianzhou for 800 years, and it is also our ancestors who swept Liuhe with the King of Qin, and it is also our ancestors who assisted our ancestors to destroy the heroes and set up the Huanghuang Han.

Why, just because you won once in Kanto two hundred years ago, you want to overtake in a corner?

So they are not convinced! But what can you do if you are not convinced?

Now, the situation is like this, where can they go out?

It was also at this time that a letter from Hangu Pass brought them an answer.