"Dadu Hu, aren't we crossing the river to Danyang?" Han Wenhao, the captain of the guard, asked curiously: "Take a boat from Yangzhou to the downstream direction, it is Jiangyin controlled by the rebels." ”

Li Jiangyao glanced at him and said with a smile: "Otherwise? What do you think I'm asking you all to wear as ordinary people? ”

Hearing this, Han Wenhao scratched his head: "You lied to Xu Shuai again." He also thought that we were going straight to Danyang and joining General Du, but who knew that you were planning to go around Jiangyin. Dadu Hu, you don't sit on the front line, is it okay? ”

"Don't worry," Li Jiangyao waved his hand: "Du Jian and Xiong Yunjie are already veterans of the battlefield, and they have no problem fighting the Turks, not to mention the Jiangnan rebels." At present, Ye Rongcheng has lined up his main force on the line from Changzhou to Huzhou, thinking about relying on the Taihu Lake water network to defend, and Changzhou City itself does not have many troops, probably only 50,000 or 60,000 people. Du Jian's three armies have 140,000 soldiers and horses on the Danyang side, and they occupy the advantage of the main attack, so it is the same with me or not. ”

Han Wenhao couldn't help but ask, "Then what are we going to Jiangyin for?" ”

Li Jiang looked at the misty river: "Of course, I went to spy on the enemy. I would like to go deep into the rear of the rebels and get a closer look at their real situation, so that I can do some homework for the subsequent stage of the siege of Hangzhou by several legions. ”

The big boat carrying Li Jiangyao and them slowly advanced on the river, and finally docked at the Weitang ferry, which was fifty miles away from Jiangyin.

This place is still nominally under the control of the rebels, but because Ye Rongcheng had ordered his soldiers and horses to shrink backwards before, this place is currently guarded by some local government organized by the Xiangyong militia, and the overall security is very lax. As long as it wasn't for the Zhenjiang army showing up in a big way, they would definitely not have any reaction, and they wouldn't be too lazy to make things difficult for the ordinary merchants and travelers who traveled north and south of the river.

Li Jiangyao disguised himself as a rich son, and left the ship with more than a dozen white-robed army masters who had turned into servants and landed on the shore. There were still more than 50 guards, who used the identity of boatmen and coolies as external cover, temporarily staying on the side of the polder, ready to provide answers.

The Weitang Ferry is located 30 miles north of Changzhou City, and Du Jian's army is in Danyang, 80 miles northwest of Changzhou, so it is already outside the main battlefield of the enemy and our army, and will not be affected by the war for the time being.

Li Jiangyao planned that they would set out from Weitang and go all the way to the southeast, insert themselves into the vast area behind the Changzhou defense line, and learn about the armaments and people's conditions on the spot.

After setting the direction, a group of more than a dozen people rode on the folk horses brought with the boat, whipped and galloped, and spent almost half a day's work, before the sun went down, arrived at a small town called Batouwa.

To tell the truth, the distance they had traveled today was not very far, but they actually passed seven or eight large and small rivers along the way. Where the river is a little narrower, it is navigated by wooden and stone bridges, and if the river is slightly wider, you can only rely on river boats to ferry, which is time-consuming and laborious.

It is not difficult to see from this that the terrain of this area on the south bank of the Great River, with its rivers and water systems, is extremely developed, which is very unfavorable for the rapid advance of cavalry and the transfer of large corps.

Li Jiangyao specially instructed his subordinates to pay attention to the road and carefully record the characteristics of the surrounding terrain, and go back to enrich the content of the combat map of the whole army as much as possible.

As the sun set, everyone settled down in the dam head. Han Wenhao personally went out and chose an inn that looked quite pompous, so that everyone could eat and rest.

Li Jiangyao saw that the dining hall downstairs of the inn was very lively, many merchants from the south and north were dining and chatting here, and there were even more than a dozen young women who were accompanied by flowers, drinking, laughing and chatting, and couldn't help but be curious, and also picked a clean table and sat down.

As soon as the shopkeeper saw Li Jiangyao's whole body dressed, coupled with the four tall and burly bodyguards next to him, he knew that he must be a rich noble high-roller, so he hurriedly stepped forward to greet him warmly, made tea, served a fruit plate, and almost called the girl to come over to serve.

Li Jiangyao stopped Xiao Er with a smile and said, "In your small place, there are even women who accompany you for dinner, which is quite magnificent." Is it usually like this? ”

"Don't hide it from the son, although our dam head is small, its status is not low." The shopkeeper's tone was a little proud: "This half of the silk and satin in the south of the Yangtze River must be gathered in our place first, and the price will be determined, and then it will be sold to the whole country." So on weekdays, there is an endless stream of merchants from the north and south, and even the war can't affect it. ”

In addition to leading the troops to fight, Li Jiangyao's main concern was the Silk Road trade, so he couldn't help but be curious: "There is no shop in front of the village in front of the dam, why should a large number of silk and satin businesses gather here first?" And how do you determine the price? Is there a government that has stepped in? ”

The shopkeeper put the towel on his shoulder, and said with a smile: "Childe, I heard that your accent should be from the north, right?" You don't know, our place has been a famous silk town since ancient times, and there are many great craftsmen in various provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, all of whom have walked out from the dam head recess, and the roots are here. ”

He poured Li Jiangyao a cup of tea and continued: "What's even more remarkable is that the town lives in the town with Master Yan, the richest man in Jiangnan. He is the head of dozens of silk guilds in the south of the Yangtze River, otherwise how could he set the price here for us? ”

"Master Yan?" Li Jiangyao was a little puzzled: "What's the big name?" ”

The shopkeeper responded: "Yan Chongxi, haven't you heard of it?" As he spoke, he looked left and right, and said in a low voice: "According to reliable rumors, Master Yan and General Yan Huiqing are still related, and it seems that they are the nephews of General Yan. ”

Li Jiangyao sighed, and then said, "That's not right." If the old man Yan you are talking about is related to the generals in the court, isn't he afraid of being betrayed...... Was it picked up and excluded by the Jin army? ”

"How is that possible?" The shopkeeper's voice was lowered: "I heard that it's too late for the rebels to take care of him, how can he clean up and exclude?" ”

Li Jiangyao reacted and asked, "Could it be that he defected to the rebels?" ”

The shopkeeper was obviously reluctant to talk about this topic, and hurriedly responded: "Hey, you see that I am so talkative, and I can't talk about whether to take refuge or not." We ordinary people, carrying a head, that is, working to eat, pay taxes and donations, who is not the same? Just now I patronized the nonsense, and I delayed your old order. ”

Li Jiangyao smiled faintly and stopped the topic: "That's it, why do you care about him so much?" In this way, I won't order the dishes, you show me the arrangement, four cold and four hot, meat and vegetarian, plus a big bowl of hot and sour soup, and a pot of good wine. In addition, open another table for me next to me, the same dish, and greet me guys. ”

With that, he took out a silver ingot, from his bosom, and laid it on the table.

The shopkeeper happily agreed, hurriedly accepted the money, and then wiped the table next to him with his hands and feet, invited Han Wenhao and a few people to sit down, and then ran to the back kitchen to arrange.

For Li Jiangyao, Yan Chongxi's affairs are not worth his trouble at all. Don't say that the name of the so-called richest man in Jiangnan is really bragging, even if he is really the richest man, in the eyes of the princes in charge of hundreds of thousands of troops, he is just a money slave.

As for the issue of Yan Chongxi's defection to the rebels, it is more normal. As the shopkeeper just said, in front of knives and guns, which ordinary people dare not bow their heads? Yan Chongxi can obediently listen to Li Bing's words today, and he can also obediently listen to Li Bing's words tomorrow.

As long as he is not a traitor who colludes with foreigners and is willing to betray his country and people, Li Jiangyao thinks he can understand and forgive.

After a while, the wine and food were served, and Li Jiangyao let the guards not have to be restrained, they could enjoy it freely, and they drank it leisurely and alone. When several young and beautiful Qinglou women saw that he was alone, they originally wanted to take the initiative to come up and greet him, but they were glared at by Han Wenhao next to him, and they were suddenly frightened.

Seeing this, Li Jiangyao couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly, and at the same time remembered his good brother Lin Feng who had fought with him in the Western Frontier.

The young staff general, loyal and upright, the most unbearable thing is that the lord will accept the beauties enshrined by the king of Western Xinjiang. For this reason, in the name of the military judge, he reminded Li Jiangyao, Xu Youchang and Du Jian by name, leaving no mercy at all.

Later, the Turkic army invaded, and in order to cover the retreat of his comrade-in-arms Du Jian, Lin Feng gave up his life and finally died heroically on the battlefield in Western Xinjiang.

If Lin Feng was still alive, how good it would be. Li Jiangyao held his wine glass and thought silently: Xiaolin's hometown is in Jiangnan, if he can return with his troops and return to his hometown, he will definitely be very happy.

Thinking about it, Li Jiangyao's eyes were slightly red, he drank all the wine in the cup, and at the same time secretly decided: When the rebels are wiped out, he will erect a heroic monument for him in Lin Feng's hometown, and then select a good doll from the children of the Lin clan, and succeed him as Lin Feng's heir, and in the future, he Li Jiangyao will personally cultivate him, teach him to read and practice martial arts, and inherit Lin Feng's descendants.

When he was pondering, a table of guests not far away suddenly seemed to quarrel over something, Li Jiangyao was slightly stunned, and then secretly used his internal force, gathered his ears, and listened carefully to the movement over there.

I only heard one of the middle-aged men slap the table and shout, "What do you know? Lao Tzu is a local, doesn't he know more about the dam than you? How did his surname Yan get his family, do you think he has the face to talk to the public? ”

A young man at the same table shook a folding fan and sneered: "How else can you make a fortune?" Boss Yan is a well-known silk businessman, and the leaders of the guilds in the 16 prefectures in the southeast all admire him as a person, so he was elected as the leader. Lao Liu, don't be jealous of others' ability. ”

"Whew! He's got a skill! Lao Liu said angrily: "On craftsmanship, on trading, not to mention the sixteen mansions in the southeast, even if it is in a small dam head concave, Yan Ji can't rank at all back then!" ”

Another elder at the same table persuaded: "Okay, Brother Liu Xian, let's say a few words." Isn't it good for our brothers to eat and drink? ”

Lao Liu was obviously angry, and shouted to himself: "You are afraid of Yan Chongxi, but I, Liu Deng, am not afraid!" At the beginning, he colluded with the thieves and sold those poor people who could not pay their debts to the open sea to be cattle and horses, and now he has used the power of the government to wantonly annex the fields of the villagers, cutting off the people's way of life. How? Is it glorious? ”

Li Jiangyao's heart moved, and he subconsciously turned his head to look, and happened to see a table behind Liu Deng suddenly standing up several big men, the leader of the person was full of meat, raised his hand and slapped Liu Deng's head with a palm.