Chapter 128 The Scenery of Mingchi

The returning team wasn't particularly large.

First, the original imperial envoy's team was naturally going back, and these men had already demonstrated their ability to travel when they went to Xue Hai Pass to announce the decree.

Then, there was Zheng Boye's side.

Three carriages.

The princess and Zheng Boye were in one carriage, and the other two were loaded with goods.

Despite the few days' delay for the military parade, the time to return to the capital was still very generous. They could stop where they needed to and rest where they needed to.

As long as Zheng Boye didn't imitate Emperor Qianlong's incognito travels to flirt with Xia Yuhe, there would be no problem with missing the deadline.

Accompanying them were the Blind Man, Fan Li, the Sword Maid, Gou Moli, the Sword Saint, Chen the Swordsman, and Gao Yi leading three hundred personal guard cavalry.

This afternoon, the team camped early on the shore of Mingchi Lake.

It was only about two days' journey from here to Wangjiang. After crossing Wangjiang and reaching Yingdu, and then connecting to the Yan border from Yingdu, there was a newly repaired official road, which would greatly increase the team's speed. At the same time, the complete post station system would save everyone a lot of time for supplies and rest.

The most difficult part of the journey was actually this stretch from Xue Hai Pass to Wangjiang, because most of the original Cheng territory east of here was the area most ravaged by the Barbarian rebellion.

The early looting was a one-off deal, simple and neat.

But when the Great Yan Eastern Expeditionary Army arrived west of Wangjiang and the two sides began to stalemate, it was no longer simple looting, but digging three feet into the ground to scavenge for supplies; it was simply digging up the roots!

After that, Jing Nanhou defeated the main force of the Barbarians, and the Qingluan Army in Yu Pan City surrendered and was massacred. Although the war had been settled, first of all, the entire Jin territory from west to east had been ravaged by war for two or three years, and it would take time to recover.

Secondly, the great war between Zhennan Pass and the Chu kingdom could break out at any time. According to Jing Nanhou's intention, if the two countries officially went to war, if they could not defeat the Chu's field main force in one fell swoop and burn the war to the Chu territory, then they would have to retreat and let the Chu army enter Jin to open up the battlefield pattern and width, so as to give the cavalry greater room for activity and initiative.

Therefore, neither Great Yan nor Yingdu would choose to develop and immigrate to this area, which had already been pre-designated as a "battlefield."

Mingchi was a very beautiful place, especially now, with its rippling lake, green grass, giving people a refreshing feeling.

It was a rare moment of peace and tranquility on a long journey to travel two hours less and rest here.

A long blanket was laid out, with some food and wine on it. The princess sat there, occasionally feeding Zheng Boye.

Zheng Boye, with his hands behind his head, lay on the grass, admiring the sunset.

Not far away, the Sword Saint in white was sitting by the lake, with the Barbarian King sitting beside him.

The Barbarian King had been imprisoned for so long, and had also suffered the erosion of the Sha Tuo Que Shi zombie aura, and his face had been destroyed to escape capture, so that he was completely different from his original self.

There was no need for disguise or an iron mask; there was no need to worry about being recognized.

Moreover, there were very few people in Great Yan who had actually seen the Barbarian King.

The Sword Saint and the Barbarian King should, in theory, be mortal enemies.

But at Xue Hai Pass, the Sword Saint would occasionally ask the Blind Man to help bring the Barbarian King out of the prison to talk and chat.

The Sword Saint would talk about Liu Dahu's affairs in the school, and also about his own woman's frugality.

Then, the Barbarian King, who had been stuffed with a bellyful of dog food, had to deliberately act up a few times to increase the Sword Saint's pleasure.

After all, he longed to go out for some fresh air, to see the sky, to see the clouds, to breathe fresh air.

At this time, the Barbarian King was peeling chestnuts, sugar-fried chestnuts, very tasty and delicious.

The Barbarian King not only ate them himself, but also specially peeled a few and placed them in front of the Sword Saint.

The Sword Saint was not polite, appreciating the scenery, blowing the lake breeze, and occasionally picking up a peeled chestnut and putting it in his mouth to chew slowly.

"When I saw you in the team on the first day out of the city, to be honest, I was really shocked."

"Afraid I'd kill you with one sword?"

"Yes."

"If I wanted to kill you, I would have killed you at Xue Hai Pass."

At Xue Hai Pass, the Sword Saint didn't even need to do it himself; he only needed to express it to Zheng Boye, and Zheng Boye would definitely take the Barbarian King's head and place it in front of the Sword Saint.

It was said that Fan Zhengwen knew how to do business, but Zheng Boye had never lost money in the business of human relationships.

"It's different." The Barbarian King shook his head and continued to peel chestnuts in silence. "Being at Xue Hai Pass and being outside are different."

"It's different." The Sword Saint nodded.

"I'm right, aren't I?"

"Yes, in the city, you're a prisoner; outside the city, you're a prisoner laborer. Of the more than 20,000 Barbarians captured more than a year ago, how many are still alive?"

The infrastructure and recovery of Xue Hai Pass, and even the reason why it was able to maintain stability after absorbing so many people last winter, was due to the great contribution of tens of thousands of Barbarian prisoners.

They did the hardest work, they ate the worst food, they lived in the coldest nests, and batches of Barbarian slave laborers died on the construction site.

Now, only a few thousand people can continue to do hard labor; the rest have either died or been crippled and lost their ability to work, and have been disposed of.

In this regard, the Pingye Marquis's Mansion was extremely cold-blooded.

Of course, this was also their just desserts; what goes around comes around. They had been so happy when they invaded Xue Hai Pass to burn, kill, and loot; after the happiness, they had to atone for their sins.

Zheng Boye had never incorporated troops from that group of Barbarian slave laborers, because there was no need.

First of all, Xue Hai Pass had always followed the elite soldier route; this was a tradition that had to be maintained.

Secondly, although Xue Hai Pass had absorbed many Barbarians, the majority of the common people were still Jin people. Most of these people had been poisoned by the Barbarians, and punishing this group of Barbarian slave laborers could win their hearts.

Establishing a common enemy target, the Barbarians, with this external conflict, the contradictions that might arise between the people of Yan and Jin and Pingye Marquis's identity as a Yan person could be blurred as much as possible.

The Barbarian King thought for a while and said:

"That's really what it means, but I still want to live a good life. You know, I'm not afraid of Pingye Marquis now, because Pingye Marquis and I are the same kind of people, who can sell everything for profit.

But you're different; I'm not sure if you're willing to see me live a good life."

The Sword Saint didn't intend to answer this question.

He didn't mind Zheng Fan pulling the Barbarian King out to go to the capital together, because he could see that Zheng Fan was somewhat worried about this reward-receiving trip to the capital.

The Barbarian King didn't ask further, but clapped his hands,

And said:

"This is Mingchi, right? It used to be the place where the Situ family erected a monument after their great victory in driving out my holy race."

Many place names and historical sites in Jin were actually related to the Jin people driving out the Barbarians back then.

In the past, a certain Patriarch of the Situ family led his army to defeat a Barbarian army here, pushing the front line past Wangjiang, further compressing the Barbarians' strategic maneuvering space in Jin, and also laying the foundation for the final complete expulsion of the Barbarians from Jin.

That Patriarch of the Situ family once ordered a craftsman to erect a monument here to commemorate the great war.

As time passed, too many things had been washed away by the rain and wind. The beautiful scenery of Mingchi had submerged the fact that it used to be an ancient battlefield, and had become a place for Jin people to play and a holy land for flowers and plants.

In the early years, the lake was covered with brothels, not only red tents living off the flesh trade, but also many families and daughters who spontaneously and actively came here to take the sky as their quilt and the ground as their bed.

In another world, it would be a tourist attraction with the theme of "romance."

But now,

The brothels were gone,

And there were not even many people living nearby.

The romance of the flowers of the past had become a case of "flowers cannot be romanticized."

"Where's the inscription?" The Sword Saint asked.

"I had someone dig it out and smash it." The Barbarian King said.

The Sword Saint nodded.

The Barbarian King also sighed, with a trace of remembrance in his eyes.

After a long time,

The Sword Saint said, "Wasting things."

"Heh heh." The Barbarian King smiled.

In fact, he wanted to say that eight hundred years ago, the land of the Three Jin was covered with temples, steles, and murals of the Barbarian Holy Race, but what about now? Can you still see them?

But he was too lazy to argue, because he knew that the Xia people had always had a self-centered complex. Their own things were things, their own music was celestial music, their own ancestral halls were sacred, while other ethnic groups, whether Barbarians, Man, or Shan Yue, were not worth mentioning, and even looking at them would make their eyes dirty.

At this time,

Zhang Yuanshan walked to Zheng Boye's side, and slowly knelt down, saying:

"Boye, this is really a beautiful place with beautiful mountains and rivers."

Zheng Boye didn't say anything.

Zhang Yuanshan didn't realize that he had become a fly, but continued: "Boye, how many troops do you think it would take to completely pacify the Jin territory?"

Zheng Boye opened his eyes, glanced at Zhang Yuanshan, and smiled.

Zhang Yuanshan also smiled.

Then,

Zheng Boye closed his eyes again.

"..." Zhang Yuanshan.

"Does Boye think it's boring to talk to me about this?"

Zheng Boye nodded.

Zhang Yuanshan pursed his lips and said, "But I still have a question that I hope Boye can answer for me. This is also what Sixth Prince is thinking about.

That is, Zheng Boye, do you think that next, Great Yan should take Chu or Qian first?"

In fact,

Zheng Fan's attitude towards Zhang Yuanshan had become so cold because after the team set off, he finally received a letter from Little Sixth.

Little Sixth's messenger first missed Zheng Boye's team and went to Xue Hai Pass, and then Xue Hai Pass sent three knights to catch up with the team and hand the letter to Zheng Boye.

In the letter, Little Sixth first gloated that he had a son.

Then he talked about some of his recent events, including his recent mood, and, well, he also wrote two poems.

In fact, Zheng Boye and Little Sixth were more like pen pals.

Idle talk was at the top, and the serious things were below.

At the end of the letter, Little Sixth emphasized three things.

One was the planning of money and grain input to Xue Hai Pass in the first half of Yongping's third year.

One was his views on his father's decree to summon Zheng Boye to the capital, which were very subtle.

And this subtlety meant a kind of "hint," because this should have been a very glorious thing, so why be subtle?

The third was that Feng Guan was a young eunuch who had recently gained favor in the palace, and was very eager for fame and wealth. Then, the description of Zhang Yuanshan was:

I don't even know if he's one of mine?

Smart people speak simply.

Smart people write letters simply too.

A sentence of "I don't even know if he's one of mine" actually contained a lot of content.

Little Sixth couldn't see through him, so Zheng Boye was too lazy to look at him.

However,

Faced with Zhang Yuanshan's question,

Zheng Boye directly replied:

"Take Chu first."

The two talked about this topic without any regard for the Great Chu princess sitting beside them.

"Why?" Zhang Yuanshan pretended to listen attentively.

Zheng Boye glanced at Zhang Yuanshan,

And said as a matter of course:

"Because fighting Qian has nothing to do with me."

"..." Zhang Yuanshan.

The Blind Man walked over at this time,

And said to Zhang Yuanshan:

"Brother Zhang, does this beautiful scenery and lake have any poetic meaning?"

Obviously, the Blind Man came over to help Zheng Boye take over this hot potato.

Zhang Yuanshan wanted to blurt out,

What does the scenery here have to do with you, a blind man?

But he still resisted, and could only accompany the Blind Man in chanting poetry.

After it was quiet again,

The princess said softly:

"I don't like that person."

"I don't like him either."

"Mm." The princess nodded, seeming very happy that she and her husband had someone they both disliked.

Then,

The princess tentatively asked:

"Husband, can you, on the way, give him..."

Zheng Boye looked at the princess, smiled and said, "Why are you so bold? He's still an imperial envoy."

The princess looked at Zheng Boye, who had several sets of imperial robes at home,

And bit her lip.

Seeing this, Zheng Boye felt that she was very cute, and reached out to touch the princess's jaw,

And said:

"There's no need to get rid of everyone you don't like; you can't get rid of them all anyway. Just treat him like he doesn't exist, like a fly."

…

The rest at Mingchi was a small moment of peace for the team. After that, the team traveled quickly for two days, without any delays.

Under Zheng Fan's instructions, the team went slightly north, avoiding Yu Pan City, and crossed the Wangjiang from upstream.

After all, she was his woman. He needed her to come out and support him in public when it was "forced by life," but there was no need to deliberately make her touch the scene and feel sad.

"Yu Pan City" should be a sad place for most Chu people now.

After crossing the Wangjiang, the team didn't rest, and entered Yingdu in the middle of the night.

Yingdu was a big city, and the largest central city in the entire former Cheng territory.

Because Jing Nanhou led his troops to station in Fengxin City, it wasn't a military center, but it hadn't missed any other center.

But whether it was Feng Guan's identity as an imperial envoy or Zheng Boye's identity, it wouldn't be a big problem to call for the city gate to be opened in the middle of the night.

In this way,

The team entered Yingdu City and stayed at the post station in the city.

Because the team was traveling very fast, they hadn't sent a messenger into the city to notify them in advance, and it was also entering the city in the middle of the night, so even if it alarmed many dignitaries in Yingdu, no one would choose to pay a visit in the middle of the night at this time.

Therefore,

Inside the post station,

It seemed very quiet.

And in the courtyard of the post station,

Gao Yi, who had just arranged the internal and external guards, saw the Blind Man walking towards him.

"Mr. Bei, what's the matter?"

The Blind Man put his hands in front of him,

And said:

"Convey Boye's order!"

Gao Yi and the two deputy generals beside him immediately knelt down,

"We are here!"

"We are here!"

The Blind Man took a breath,

And slowly said:

"Sharpen your swords."