Fan Xian looked at him, his eyes revealing a nonchalant laziness, "Although Qingzhou is on the front line, it is ultimately under the control of the Western Grand Camp. Why be so afraid?"

Li Hongcheng pointed at his nose, angrily saying, "You are a high-ranking official; a whim takes you to Qingzhou. Don't you know how much trouble that will cause?"

Qingzhou City is the most remote state city of Qing Yu Nian, the land forcefully taken down by the Eldest Prince when he first led troops, and the newest state city. It hangs deep on the edge of the grasslands, vulnerable on three sides, often facing the brunt of battles. If the Xihu people know that Fan Xian of the Imperial Censorate is delving deep into Qingzhou, they might attack at all costs.

Fan Xian swatted away the finger that was about to point at his face, angrily saying, "Aren't you a high-ranking official? Isn't Prince He? Isn't Ye Ling'er?"

"But we are all in the military camp!" Li Hongcheng looked at him, raising his voice in anger, and said, "Do you think I don't know you? If you reach Qingzhou, will you stop there? I understand you too well. Seeing the grasslands before you, how could you bear not to enter? You like adventure, you like sneaking around, you never follow the main forces in their advance and retreat."

"Am I supposed to just watch you, under my governance, slip into the grasslands?" Li Hongcheng said through gritted teeth, "I'm telling you, no way!"

Fan Xian was silent, not expecting Hongcheng to see through his plan at a glance. But the fire smoldering in his heart was burning, forcing him to enter Qingzhou, to see what was happening, even if he didn't enter the grasslands.

"I promise you, I won't take my subordinates into the grasslands." He looked at Li Hongcheng, seriously saying, "I just want to go to Qingzhou to investigate some things. If... if I don't go, no one will know what exactly happened. Believe me, this matter is very important."

"What are you going to investigate in Qingzhou?" Li Hongcheng calmed down, looking at him and asking, word by word, "If you have an imperial decree, I'll let you pass. If not, then say no more."

"If I had an imperial decree, would I even bother talking to you!" Seeing his inflexibility, Fan Xian also became angry, cursing, "Don't forget, I am an imperial envoy! His Majesty allows me to act expediently. Notifying you is a sign of respect. If I really want to go to Qingzhou, what can you do to stop me?"

Hearing this, Li Hongcheng gritted his teeth, unable to find any words to refute. After a long while, he said in a cold voice, "I must warn you, the border is different now than it was before. People die easily. The Hu people are becoming more and more cunning... almost as cunning as you. Why were you caught when you brought the Imperial Censorate into the city? Because many spies have infiltrated Dingzhou City. The Western Grand Camp and the Western Liang Road Governor's Office are very nervous about this matter."

"Your disguises can't even fool me, let alone those Hu people." Li Hongcheng stared into his eyes, trying to persuade him, "Ye Ling'er is different from you. The Ye family is still respected by the Hu people in the west. But your reputation represents the face of the court. If the Hu people can kill you, they will spare no cost."

"Spies... indeed, there are many spies." Fan Xian let out a long sigh, murmuring, "For the past thirty years, the Hu people haven't been able to send spies into our territory because we look too different... but in the last two years, they have become more numerous. I'm also very curious, where did these spies who sell our intelligence to the Hu people suddenly come from?"

A strange light flashed in Li Hongcheng's eyes.

Fan Xian looked at him and said, "My most important goal on this trip is to dig out that person, and everyone connected to that person. I've been preparing for this for four whole months! If you want to stop me, go ask His Majesty for an order."

Li Hongcheng raised his hands, indicating surrender, but still said with a cold smile, "But have you thought about what His Majesty will do if something happens to you? What will happen to the people of my Western Grand Camp?"

"You overestimate the Hu people," Fan Xian said mockingly, lowering his eyes slightly, "and underestimate me."

Li Hongcheng was stunned, then suddenly pulled him into the study where maps were stored. After walking through the back garden, they came to a room, lit bright lamps, and Li Hongcheng spread out a very large map, heavily slamming his palm down on a certain place in the far west, saying in a cold voice, "Look at the location of Qingzhou, it's two hundred miles away. If you want to go, I'll send a thousand-man team to escort you. If you don't want an escort... then I want to know, how will you deal with a Hu attack in the final thirty miles of flat desert?"

Fan Xian carefully studied the map. Although he had studied this map many times in the Imperial Censorate in Kyoto, looking at it again at this moment, he still felt a chill. The road to Qingzhou closely followed the edge of the grasslands. Relying on their ability to appear and disappear unpredictably on the grasslands, the Hu people could indeed launch attacks at any time.

"I'm a merchant; the Hu people don't kill merchants," Fan Xian said, lowering his head, while thinking about the agreement with Hu Ge.

Li Hongcheng didn't respond to his words, pointing at the map and saying, "In the past two years, the Hu people have been running out of the grasslands every day, raiding the military farms behind Qingzhou... do you know how many people have died? Once those Hu people get excited about killing, do you think they'll care if you're a merchant? Even if you're a ninth-grade expert, what chance of escape do you have against hundreds of mounted scouts?"

Before Fan Xian could respond, his finger continued to move on the map, "Look at this area. This is the main direction of the Hu people's attacks. In two years, a total of more than a thousand military farmers have died."

Fan Xian knew about the tragedies on the border and said, "Is there no way to solve this problem?"

"I can guarantee that the iron cavalry under my command is by no means inferior to the Hu people's mounted scouts, but it's like two people stabbing each other with knives. The knives are both very sharp, but the targets are different. They don't dare touch my main force, but I can't catch their main force."

Fan Xian pondered for a moment and said, "The Hu people's tribes are moving, but our people are tied to the land by their farms. The damage they inflict on us is naturally greater than the damage we inflict on them."

Li Hongcheng nodded with some helplessness.

"That's why I must go to Qingzhou. I want to see who is the expert who invented this bastard tactic of 'hitting the grass valley'..." A chilling light shone in Fan Xian's eyes, and a冥火 (míng huǒ - netherfire) began to burn in the cold.

Knowing that he couldn't persuade Fan Xian, Li Hongcheng stared into his eyes and asked, "Why... is the Imperial Censorate paying so much attention to the affairs of Western Liang?"

"It's not official business, it's my personal matter." Fan Xian's mood was clearly bad, looking at the red dots on the map, and said, "Of course, it's not just a personal matter. I must stabilize the situation in the west before next year. I need your help, and I also need to cut off the Hu people's support."

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

"Next year, Si Gu Jian can only last until next spring at most." Fan Xian lowered his head and said, "More than half of the power is being used to observe Si Gu Jian's injuries. That Grandmaster can really endure... he's lasted longer than expected. Although he hasn't seen outsiders in the past two years, we know he's still alive, and we know he will die next year."

"What does Si Gu Jian's life or death have to do with the west?" Li Hongcheng asked angrily.

Fan Xian raised his head and looked at him, saying, "Because if Si Gu Jian dies, His Majesty will send me to Dongyi City... and I won't have any more time to solve the problems in the west."

Li Hongcheng sneered and said, "Do you think you can solve all the problems in the world by yourself? I acknowledge your abilities, but I hope you don't think too highly of yourself."

Knowing that there was no malice in the other party's words, Fan Xian spread his hands and said, "After Si Gu Jian, Dongyi City will always have to lean to one side, whether it's our Great Qing or Northern Qi. And the biggest problem is... how do we smoothly transition Dongyi City into our hands."

"Or, with both sides competing, Dongyi City can still maintain a neutral stance."

"Impossible." Fan Xian smiled self-deprecatingly, shaking his head and saying, "As soon as Si Gu Jian dies, the conflict between the City Lord's Mansion and the Sword Hovel will erupt. Where does Dongyi City have the qualifications to be neutral?"

"But you still haven't explained what this has to do with your rushing to Western Liang."

Fan Xian looked at Hongcheng with some helplessness, and after a long silence, said in a low voice, "The reason is very simple, I must prove to the world that I can solve the problems of Western Liang and Dongyi City."

"And then?" Li Hongcheng looked at him suspiciously.

"Then I want to prove to His Majesty that if... I mean if, if we really want to unify the world, it doesn't necessarily... have to be war. Even if we have to fight, it doesn't necessarily have to be military combat. Diplomatic offensives are also feasible. Even if we must have military combat... we should keep it small."

Fan Xian's voice grew softer and softer, so soft that even he himself seemed not to believe his words. Li Hongcheng was also dumbfounded, sitting silently to the side, wondering if he had heard something wrong.

Li Hongcheng suddenly stood up, pacing quickly back and forth in the study, as if trying to digest the news he had just heard. After a moment, he stopped beside Fan Xian and laughed uncontrollably, his laughter full of absurd meaning.

"You're an idiot!" Li Hongcheng cursed at him, "How could you even think of such a naive idea? Do you think you're a god, able to solve the problems of the Hu people without spending a single soldier? Able to solve Dongyi City without spending a single soldier, and Northern Qi as well!"

Li Hongcheng was trembling with anger, pointing at Fan Xian's face, his fingertip shaking wildly, "I thought you had some amazing ideas about going to Qingzhou, but it's such a childish and reckless war!"

"What exactly do you want to do? Did the students in the Imperial College flatter you so much that you've forgotten who you are? Do you really want to be a saint?"

Li Hongcheng suddenly grabbed Fan Xian's collar, saying through gritted teeth, "Are you crazy? The people of the world won't just obediently follow your ideas!"

The two men's faces were extremely close. Li Hongcheng looked into the bleakness in Fan Xian's eyes and roared in a low voice, "Prove it to His Majesty? What are you even thinking?"

Fan Xian lowered his head and said softly, "What am I thinking? If I said I hope for peace and tranquility in the world, with no wars... would you think that idea is absurd?"

Li Hongcheng released his hands, and Fan Xian sat back in his chair.

He looked at Fan Xian, shaking his head for a long time, completely shocked and unable to speak. As a Qing Yu Nian son, how could he be so averse to war? Fortunately, he knew how many life-and-death situations Fan Xian had experienced in his life, and that he was definitely not someone who was afraid of death.

"That idea isn't absurd," Li Hongcheng said, word by word, "But it's that it can't even constitute an idea."

Fan Xian raised his head, stubbornly saying, "Why can't it? If I can unify the world with my own strength, why would His Majesty have to go on another southern or northern expedition, letting those tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, or even tens of millions of ordinary people... die for that glorious goal, become sacrifices on His Majesty's path? For so many lives, why can't I think that way!"

"Okay, okay, okay," Li Hongcheng said, nodding repeatedly in anger, "You can think that way, but you'll never be able to do it. And I advise you, it's best not to let His Majesty know your thoughts, or else he'll definitely think you're crazy."

"I'm already crazy," Fan Xian said, closing his eyes, "You don't know how I've been living these past two years. I think about this problem every day. It seems like a great war is about to break out at any moment, and those people who don't understand anything will die under horses, die under knives and spears. I want to change all of this, but I don't know how to do it... no one can help me."

"No one can help me!" He suddenly became angry, opening his eyes and staring at Li Hongcheng, raising a finger and shouting, "They're all gone! Chen Pingping doesn't care about anything anymore, my father is retiring, Lin Ruofu in Wuzhou has been scared into an old rabbit by His Majesty! What about the Eldest Prince? He's probably happy to go to war rather than stay in Kyoto..."

Uncle Wu Zhu is also gone, leaving only myself, Fan Xian added in his heart.

"Only me." Fan Xian's lips trembled slightly, saying through gritted teeth, "Only I am thinking and struggling at night. I am unwilling. I know this is a difficult goal to achieve, but I still want to try."

"Absurd! Ridiculous! Childish!" Li Hongcheng shook his shoulders, as if trying to wake this madman up, "His Majesty has used thirty years to create such a great situation... the Xihu? If His Majesty is prepared, he can turn them into garbage at any time! In the current situation, you want to go against His Majesty? I'm telling you, His Majesty doesn't need you to do these things for him, he has enough ability to do it himself!"

Li Hongcheng looked at Fan Xian like he was looking at an idiot, "In the past two years, you have deliberately allowed the Imperial Censorate to be stripped of its power, in order to stabilize the court. You have revitalized the Internal Treasury, enriched the national treasury, and replenished military expenses... If you really pacify the Xihu for him and recover Dongyi City, you will have already prepared everything for His Majesty before the great war, yet you want to let His Majesty give up the idea of war at this time?"

"Do you think His Majesty is crazy, or are you crazy?"

"What exactly is wrong? What has happened to you in the past two years?" Li Hongcheng asked Fan Xian in disbelief, "Peace and tranquility in the world? This kind of thing has never happened before."

"At least while I'm alive, I hope for peace and tranquility in the world. That's my life's ideal."

Fan Xian smiled self-deprecatingly, and after a moment of calm, seriously said, "When I was in Danzhou as a child, I was thinking about what I wanted to do in this life. Later, I gradually realized that if the world could be peaceful, that would be the best."

"Two years ago in Kyoto." Fan Xian raised his head, looking at Li Hongcheng's close beard and concerned eyes, and said, "I watched the Second Prince vomit blood and die, the Eldest Princess commit suicide, and so many rebel soldiers, imperial guards, and subordinates of the Imperial Censorate, became sacrifices on His Majesty's path, all for the goal of unifying the world. It was at that time that I firmed up this ideal. Is that ridiculous?"

"I've also seen dead people," Li Hongcheng glared at him, "In these three years on the grasslands, I've seen even more dead people than you have, but so what? History is always like this. Your ideal was already ridiculous, you know that?"

"A ridiculous ideal is still an ideal." Fan Xian crossed his arms over his chest, regaining his composure, and said quietly, "What's the difference between a person without an ideal and a salted fish?"

"In the entire Qing Yu Nian, there's no one who will support your so-called... ideal." Li Hongcheng also gradually calmed down, shaking his head and saying with pity, "Including Director Chen, including Lord Fan Shangshu, no one will support your idea."

"I understand," Fan Xian said, "I am inherently different from most people in the world. I just want to use facts to persuade His Majesty."

"His Majesty... will never be persuaded!" Li Hongcheng emphasized.

"Who knows what will happen before it happens?" Fan Xian stood up and said, "Don't forget, I'm already the father of two children. You're going to get married and have children in these two years. We always have to leave something for our descendants. At least, I hope it's not a turbulent world with endless wars and corpses everywhere."

"You're not optimistic about His Majesty unifying the world?" Li Hongcheng asked after a long silence, after hearing Fan Xian's words.

"It's easy to conquer the world, but difficult to govern it." Fan Xian straightened his clothes, which had been rumpled, and said slowly, "Back then, the Northern Expedition scattered Great Wei, but allowed the Zhan family to inherit Dazuo. The people of Jiangnan and Jiangbei, Shandong and Yanjing, are easy to subdue, but the former people of Great Wei are not so easy to bow their heads. Even if our Qing Yu Nian iron cavalry enter the capital of Shangjing, it will take at least decades to make those common people accept the rule of the Li family."

"To be precise, it will take decades of suppression and massacre." Fan Xian walked towards the door, "I don't want Xiao Hua and Liangzi's siblings to see the beautiful scenery of West Lake and the scenery of the East Sea in the future, but rather blood flowing like pestles and iron chains across the river. So I want to try to change things, at least change the way we do them."

"But decades of iron and blood will bring about ten thousand generations of peace." Li Hongcheng still couldn't accept Fan Xian's idea.

"The trend of the world is that long division is followed by union, and long union is followed by division. Unifying the country may bring more benefits to the people, but I can't worry about that far." Fan Xian said, "I once told Yan Bingyun about this idea. I can only consider the present moment that I'm alive, and the present moment that my children are alive."

"I just don't want to be a salted fish; I don't want to be a saint." After saying these words, Fan Xian walked towards the door. Inside the room, Li Hongcheng placed his hands on the map and suddenly said, "Why did you tell me all this?"

Fan Xian didn't turn around, laughing and answering, "We're friends. I won't hide my thoughts from my friends."

Then he thought of that friend in the floral dress, and his heart twinged.

……

……

Several days later, the Imperial Envoy of Western Liang Road, the Supervising Secretary of the Imperial Censorate, Lord Fan Xian, the Duke of Danbo, entered the city on behalf of the Emperor to inspect. The Governor of Western Liang Road and the Great General welcomed him outside the city, and the entire city celebrated for three days. After the three days, the Great General's Mansion tried a case of spies in the mutton shop and found that Jiangnan merchants were secretly colluding with Hu bandits, smuggling salt and iron, and a total of fourteen people were beheaded.

After the great banquet, the Imperial Envoy left the city, and the entire city saw him off. On the same day, the Imperial Envoy Fan Xian had already disguised himself as a merchant, boarded a carriage bound for Qingzhou, and began his investigation.

As he had confided in Li Hongcheng that night, he had to pacify the situation in the Xihu region and peacefully conquer Dongyi City before the world went to war. Only in this way could he prove his abilities and the viability of his methods to the Emperor. However, this trip to the Xihu region was not only a step for Fan Xian to escape the salted fish life, but more importantly, he was going to resolve a matter, a matter that made him very angry, but that he couldn't explain clearly to Hongcheng.

The carriage moved forward on the official road between the endless military farms. The subordinates of the Imperial Censorate were vigilantly watching everything, to prevent being ambushed by the Hu people's hit-and-run squads.

Fan Xian was even hoping that a small squad of Hu people would come, but unfortunately, after that night, Li Hongcheng took the lead in launching the autumn offensive of the Qingli ninth year, instantly driving the Hu people's mounted scouts back to the foot of the Tian Shan Mountains and into the grasslands. The empty rear of Qingzhou suddenly became quiet.

Fan Xian withdrew his gaze from the window, knowing that the large movements of the Western Grand Camp were entirely to ensure his safety. Although Hongcheng didn't say it explicitly, he was using his actions to help him.

His gaze fell on a knife in his hand. The style of the knife was ordinary, but the materials were excellent, and it was definitely not something that could be forged with the Hu people's level of craftsmanship. But the problem was that this knife was precisely a Hu weapon seized in Qingzhou City five months ago.

The Qingzhou city officials, very alert, sent this knife back to Kyoto and presented it to Fan Xian. This knife had no marks that could be traced, but Fan Xian recognized it at a glance, because this kind of knife was made in a secret workshop near the North Sea.

Fan Xian's eyes were filled with uncontrollable anger, and his true energy was released, snapping the knife in half with a crisp sound.

……

……

(Book friend Luoye asked me to say something on his behalf: The post about Zhang Jizhong filming Qing Yu Nian was written by him, scratching his head. Everyone is very serious, as serious as Fan Xian is now.)