Three thousand miles in exile

The ancient land of Hanzhong is located in the northwest of Dachu, and its south is adjacent to the northern Xinjiang. There are a total of twelve states, Xixia occupies seven states, and Da Chu occupies five states.

Enter Liangzhou from Ziwu Pass through Baima County, and then go east to take the Yanshan Ancient Trail to cross Yanmen Mountain, pass through the three counties under the jurisdiction of Gaozhou, and finally cross the Taoshui River, which is the boundary of Cenzhou. It only takes a few days to go fast. Can go to Cenzhou.

In the former dynasty, there were still small states such as Yueshi, Yiqu, and Huimi in the ancient land of Hanzhong. Until the founding of Xixia more than 50 years ago and annexation of these small states, the ancient state of Hanzhong has been completely extinct.

The Xixia Dynasty reached its peak in the early days of the founding of the Great Chu and began to move southward. Until now, the Great Chu has only less than half of the land in Hanzhong.

If it weren't for the rise of Xirong and Xianbei in Mobei in recent years, Xixia would not go south because it was too busy to take care of itself, it would be hard to say whether Dachu could hold Hanzhong.

Xixia was strong outside the Great Wall for a while, and now Xirong dared to go deep into Hanzhong to attack the mutual market. This is a signal that Xixia has become prosperous and powerful, and they are not afraid of Xixia and Dachu!

On the way back to Qiyun Mountain, Liu Zhan was speechless all the way.

He can feel the undercurrents in the world, and he is more and more eager to become stronger, eager to form a powerful army, this army must be so strong that he can defend Qiyun Mountain even if the world is in chaos!

Liu Zhan rode his horse and ran all the way until he felt better before stopping.

Here is the Yanshan Ancient Trail, surrounded by low-rise mountains, everything is revived in spring, and the green vegetation and clear rivers are refreshing.

Song Fenglin rode his horse and walked to Liu Zhan's side. "You've been thinking too much lately."

Liu Zhan looked at Song Fenglin with a sense of loss. "I always feel that time flies too fast, and there are many things I want to do that have not been completed."

Song Fenglin smiled, Danfeng's eyes bent into crescents.

"What?" Seeing him laughing, Liu Zhan couldn't help but smile.

"General." Song Fenglin said in a calm and pleasant voice.

"You are only 25 years old, and you are young and promising to be able to achieve such achievements. Everything in the world has a cycle. Spring, summer, autumn and winter are the four seasons. The sun rises and the sun sets and rests. The way of heaven has a definite number, and sometimes you have to follow the trend Don't push yourself too hard."

In the past three years, the two have devoted themselves to the development of the six counties of Cenzhou, and they finally recovered from the snow disaster. They really couldn't wait.

Liu Zhan was relieved, and seeing that Song Fenglin was tired, he made a decision. "I won't hurry today. The scenery here is very beautiful. Let's find a high ground by the river and camp."

Six days later, Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin stepped into the boundary of Cenzhou.

On both sides of the post road from Cenzhou Mansion to Wuyuan County, you can see newly reclaimed good fields everywhere, and the barren hills that were previously uninhabited are now thriving with new villages built.

Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin spared no effort to fill the population of the six counties of Cenzhou. Whether they took the initiative to receive exiles from the surrounding states or bought slaves from the mutual market, as long as they were not vicious, they would give tenants a new life.

Population filling changes not only the increase of fertile land, but also the prosperity of all walks of life in food, clothing, housing and transportation.

In particular, the six counties of Cenzhou do not impose excessive miscellaneous taxes, and the people are willing to buy things if they have surplus food in their hands. Many foreign merchants have established themselves in the six counties of Cenzhou. Now Cenzhou Prefecture already has the momentum of a county town.

Among the six counties in Cenzhou, Wuyuan County has changed the most.

The current Wuyuan County is more than double the size of the previous one. In the past, there was only one long stone street, but now there are three streets in Wuyuan County. The market is full of people on the first and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year.

In the past, Wuyuan County only had villages in the mountain range leading to Tongtian Peak, but now more than a dozen new villages have been opened on Guanmao Peak, the population has doubled compared to before, and the county is naturally prosperous.

There is also Cangyun Town, which was established by Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin, which is located in Ye Songling to the north of Wuyuan County.

Last year, Cangyun Town opened a new plank road leading directly to the outside of Wuyuan County. Although the plank road leads to people outside the county, they are not allowed to enter. All the plank roads entering and leaving Cangyun Town are guarded by guards, and the guards will not let them pass without a token.

It only takes more than half an hour to ride a horse on the new plank road from Wuyuan County to Cangyun Town. The barren basin in the hinterland of Ye Songling is now filled with patchwork buildings, and the surrounding mountains are full of terraced fields.

The roads into Cangyun Town criss-cross like a chessboard, and go straight to the bottom along the central street. The large-scale building with blue tiles and white walls in the north is the reconstructed Yunzhong Academy.

There are a total of 35 students in Yunzhong Academy, including [-] scholars. In the past three years, four candidates have been trained, including Wen Qingshan.

Now the civil servants of the six counties of Cenzhou are all selected from the Yunzhong Academy, and the enrollment requirements of the Yunzhong Academy are extremely strict, but there are still countless students who come here admiringly.

"Young master, what's wrong with your ears?"

"Why are you so popular? Do I need to find a doctor for you?"

As soon as Liu Mingcong entered the classroom, he was surrounded by classmates because his left ear was so eye-catching.

Liu Mingcong, who has just turned 12 years old this year, has shed his chubby childhood image and has grown into a handsome boy like wicker. In this Cangyun Town, there are countless young girls who secretly love him.

Liu Mingcong covered his ears in annoyance, and casually gave a reason to dismiss the overly enthusiastic classmate. He couldn't say that his ear was screwed by his fiancée.

Last night Song Fengxi asked him to recite Mencius, but Liu Mingcong couldn't recite it, so it's not time for him to be taught a cup of tea by twisting his ears.

I have to recite it again after school today. If I can't recite it, I may lose my other ear. Liu Mingcong didn't dare to delay and quickly dug out Mencius to recite it.

With Liu Mingcong on his back, he wanted to cry, and he even asked a friend to compete in archery in the afternoon, but he didn't dare to play, Liu Mingcong endorsed the book with a sad face.

After school in the afternoon, Liu Mingcong carefully slipped into the mansion from the gate of the general's mansion, but he just stepped into the house before the gatekeeper saw him.

"Young Master, Miss Song invites you to visit the Song Mansion next door."

Liu Mingcong looked like a deflated ball.

It happened that Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin arrived home at this time, and they collided with the discouraged Liu Mingcong.

Liu Zhan knew what was going on when he saw Liu Mingcong's appearance, and he must have been taught a lesson by Song Fengxi again. He patted his younger brother on the shoulder and expressed his feeling. "It's not shameful to be disciplined by your wife."

Liu Mingcong wanted to cry even more.

"You..." Seeing Liu Mingcong's ears, Song Fenglin felt that his sister was too strict.

But having said that, Song Fengxi can't be blamed for being strict, it's because Liu Mingcong is too naughty, he should call his friends to go to the mountains after a while.

Song Fengxi came to Cangyun Town for three years and hadn't seen Liu Mingcong study seriously.

And Song Fengxi was well-bred according to the standards of a concubine from a family. She is proficient in all kinds of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, but her fiancé is not only younger than herself, but also so naughty.

Song Fenglin let out a long sigh, thinking that Song Fengxi didn't know whether this marriage was good or bad.

Seeing Song Fenglin's face, Liu Zhan knew that Liu Mingcong had disappointed again. He gritted his teeth and mentioned Liu Mingcong's other ear that was not red. "Stinky boy, if your sister Xi doesn't want you anymore, just cry."

At dinner, Liu Xueyuan heard what happened during the day and was so angry that he wanted to ground Liu Mingcong.

"Look at you, You Ning is younger than you, and you are also studying in the academy. You Ning is already preparing for the Tongsheng exam. You can't even memorize Mencius. Are you ashamed of being an uncle?"

Liu Mingcong lowered his head. In fact, he is not a dandy but he just doesn't like to stay in the house and study. As long as someone comes looking for him, he can't help but go out.

"From tomorrow onwards, don't go to your academy, you can't go out without memorizing the Four Books and Five Classics!" Liu Xueyuan's face was dark, and he ordered the servants in the house to keep a close eye on Liu Mingcong.

Liu Youning, who was obediently sitting beside Liu Zhan eating, could not help Liu Mingcong.

The students who are going to take the exam this year are all preparing for the exam recently, and they have been promoted to a class for a long time and have not attended class with Liu Mingcong. Usually they are in the same class and can help restrain Liu Mingcong.

As he gets older, Liu Youning has a bit of Song Fenglin's temperament, with a calm and studious personality, and even looks a little bit magical.

At night, Liu Zhan went through the secret door left in the yard to look for Song Fenglin on the opposite side.

After a long day's journey during the day, Song Fenglin didn't take a break, and continued to read the documents waiting for approval in the study as usual.

Liu Zhan went over and closed the letter. "You're going to wear yourself out like this."

Song Fenglin had just finished taking a shower and was only wearing unlined clothing. He rubbed his brows tiredly and leaned back on the chair. His clothes were loosened to reveal a snow-white chest. Liu Zhan wanted to be slapped away.

"Don't make trouble, I'm tired."

"Do you think I'm a beast? I didn't plan to torment you." Liu Zhan took him up and went to sleep.

"How can you read so many official documents by yourself? You have to set up a secretariat and let them sort and filter the daily official documents and letters. You are only responsible for signing and making decisions."

Song Fenglin froze for a moment. "Secretariat?"

"If you are worried about confidential matters being leaked, you can ask the person in charge below to put a red head on all the important documents, and the secretariat cannot dismantle the red headed documents. This will save a lot of effort."

Liu Zhan didn't know how to explain the term secretary. "Anyway, that's what it means."

Song Fenglin thought about it seriously. As Liu Ji Trading Co., Ltd. grew bigger and bigger, his daily workload increased day by day.

In addition, Cenzhou's local government affairs also required him to be involved. This time Song Fenglin left for half a month, and official documents piled up like a mountain.

If a secretariat can really be established, the advanced classification and filtering as Liu Zhan said can indeed greatly reduce his pressure.

"Let's do it this way, you will look for candidates tomorrow." Liu Zhan made up his mind for him, and then pulled him to bed.

In fact, Liu Zhan had mentioned this suggestion before, but it was not as detailed as what he said today. At that time, Song Fenglin could handle it, so he didn't take it to heart.

The next day, Liu Zhan allocated a room for Song Fenglin in the yamen as the secretariat, complete with tables, chairs and bookcases, and gave the secretary a nine-rank official salary.

Song Fenglin found three people to be secretaries, and they restrained each other, so he was not afraid of being deceived by others.

"Report to the general! The general of the Northern Army has sent a military order!"

Since Liu Zhan was appointed as General Qi Yun and sent out from the Northern Army to guard the northern defense line, Liu Zhan and Zhou Chan had almost no intersection.

Zhou Chan did not allocate a cent of military rations or salary to Liu Zhan for three years, nor did Liu Zhan ask Zhou Chan for even a penny.

Liu Zhan was not surprised that Zhou Chan sent a military order suddenly.

Before the winter of last year, the Yan Kingdom finally quelled the civil strife. In the spring of this year, scouts came to report that the Yan Army had gathered a large army in Guzhu City. The specific strength has not yet been determined, but it can be predicted that there will be a big battle in northern Xinjiang this year.

Now the Northern Army and the rebuilt Jinyang garrison total no more than 12 people. Zhou Chan sent several urgent reports to Beijing asking for troops to support, but Emperor Xuan has been hesitant.

The open and secret struggles between the various families in the court became increasingly fierce, and the fourth prince was favored by his mother's family, a small family that was not a noble family, the Dai family, took the opportunity to rise. Last year, the second prince was recalled to Beijing to ease the relationship with Emperor Xuan, and there is a tendency to regain favor.

In addition, in recent years, the Zhou family's power has become more and more jealous of the Emperor Xuan, and the Dai family, the Lu family, and the Chen family have joined forces to suppress the Zhou family, and the Xuan emperor has become more and more suspicious of the Zhou family.

Zhou Chan served as a general in northern Xinjiang and held a heavy army to determine the world. With Emperor Xuan's suspicion, how could he send troops to replenish Zhou Chan's troops.

Liu Zhan laughed angrily when he saw the military order and felt the bossy words on the paper. Why did Zhou Chan think that he would obediently return to the Northern Army and let him handle it?

"I directly refused, saying that we are too tight to divide our forces on the northern front."

Zhou Chan was only a general of the Northern Army, and Liu Zhan refused to be transferred for legitimate reasons, but Zhou Chan had nothing to do with him.

The [-] soldiers under Liu Zhan's command were all supported by the six counties of Cenzhou and Liu Ji Commercial Firm. Zhou Chan had no handle on Liu Zhan and no money or food. He had no way of coercing Liu Zhan to be obedient.

Now Liu Zhan is already a general with [-] soldiers in his hand, and he is no longer the young general who he can control. When Liu Zhan's straightforward words were passed back to Zhou Chan, Zhou Chan almost got angry.

Zhou Chan probably didn't expect that there would be a day when he would ask Liu Zhan, so he was so angry that he couldn't speak for a long time. The counselor who suggested that Zhou Chan ask Liu Zhan for soldiers was immediately expelled from the General's Mansion.

"Ask Gongli to come here." Zhou Chan was angry but wanted to find someone to discuss countermeasures.

Hearing rumors that Pei Gongli rushed here wearing a civil official uniform. In the past three years, Pei Gongli's official position has been promoted again and again, and now it is Wupin Liangdao who is in charge of Jinyang's money and food.

On the way here, Pei Gongli figured out that Zhou Chan was close to him because he was rejected by Liu Zhan, and when he arrived at Zhou Chan's study, Zhou Chan really said this.

Pei Gongli didn't show it on his face, but his heart sank.

The friendship between him and Liu Zhan was cleared up three years ago, and now everything has nothing to do with the owner. Pei Gongli didn't want to mess with Liu Zhan. He knew that the man was not as simple as Zhou Chan thought, but Zhou Chan's questioning He can't help but return.

Just when Pei Gong was thinking about the way to get out, there were hurried footsteps outside the house, and the housekeeper of the general's mansion said anxiously. "General! Concubine Zhou is about to give birth!"

Zhou Chan stood up abruptly, and Liu Zhan's matter was immediately put aside by him. "Go to Prince Rui's Mansion!"

This concubine of Zhou is exactly the daughter of the Zhou family who was sent to Northern Xinjiang three years ago to serve Prince Rui.

When Zhou Chan came, Zhou's side concubine had been activated for a long time, and she didn't report to Zhou Chan until she was sure that she was going to give birth to a servant.

Prince Rui was rubbing his hands anxiously outside the delivery room, Zhou Chan was no more calm than Prince Rui paced back and forth with his hands behind his back.

This is the second concubine Zhou's concubine, and the first one was born to the little princess, but both Prince Rui and Zhou Chan were very disappointed.

Fortunately, she conceived again within four months of her stomach's uplifting, and Zhou Chan had great expectations for this child.

As long as the emperor's grandson is born, Prince Rui will be able to calm down and not always worry about the bastard raised in the countryside, and his relationship with Prince Rui will also be eased.

After the series of incidents three years ago, Prince Rui and Zhou Chan seemed to be inseparable, and the two uncles and nephews had developed from being as close as father and son to now only being able to use each other, which is embarrassing.

"It's easy for a woman to have a second child, why hasn't there been any movement after so long?" Zhou Chan sent someone to ask Mrs. Wen.

Wen Po has a bitter look on her face. "The fetus is raised too large, so it is not easy to give birth."

Prince Rui rubbed his hands anxiously. "Can you tell if it's a son or a daughter?"

Wen Po said embarrassingly: "You will only know when you are born."

Zhou Chan was irritable. "Go in."

Mrs. Wen rushed into the house, and Concubine Zhou was already sweating profusely in the delivery room, and she was exhausted if she could breathe in or not out.

The nurse who served her personally fed her ginseng water while wiping away her tears. "Girl, you must stand up, as long as you give birth to the emperor's grandson, you will see the sun."

"Mommy, I can't do it anymore, I can't give birth anymore." Concubine Zhou wanted to cry but didn't even have the strength to cry.

The lady on the side was in a hurry. "The side concubine, no matter how hard or tired you are, you have to bear it. If the little grandson stays in the stomach for a long time, you will be suffocated."

Concubine Zhou has only given birth to her second child this year. She was young at first, and Zhou Chan forced her to serve Prince Rui before her first child was conceived. , this is not difficult to deliver.

"Mommy..." Concubine Zhou wet the pillow towel with tears. "If there is an afterlife, I...I don't want to be Zhou's daughter."

In the early morning of the next day, the people who got up early were surprised to see the white banners hung in Prince Rui's mansion.

Soon news spread throughout Jinyang City that Concubine Zhou had a difficult labor, and at four o'clock she suddenly bled, one dead and two dead, and Concubine Zhou was unable to give birth to a fetus until she died.

It is said that Zhou Chan was unwilling to give up having his son taken by caesarean section. When the fetus was taken out, it was covered in black and purple and had already died for a long time. If it was a female fetus, it would be fine.

Prince Rui's Mansion held funerals, it was busy and quiet.

Yan Qixiu got the news and came to look for Prince Rui early in the morning, but in the backyard he saw that Prince Rui was drunk, making trouble and smashing things.

Prince Rui was full of nonsense and was scolding Zhou Chan, the servants did not dare to pass these words on to Zhou Chan, they hid away and let Prince Rui vent.

"My Prince Rui, why are you bothering!" Yan Qixiu went to help, but Prince Rui pushed his hand away.

"This king can only have a son with a girl from the Zhou family. If the girl from the Zhou family doesn't come out, the old man who doesn't repair will have to cut off his sons and grandchildren!"

"The whole northern border is watching this king's jokes, I am the majestic Prince Rui!!"

"Last year, the king said that he wanted to return to the capital, but he refused to let it go. Now that it's all over, the Yan soldiers invaded again. Now the king can't advance or retreat. It's him! It's all him!"

Prince Rui was crying and fussing, he wanted to go back to the capital, he couldn't stay in Northern Xinjiang any longer.

But Zhou Chan wanted to support Zhou Sui to take over as the general in order to consolidate his power in northern Xinjiang, so he asked Prince Rui to stay for another year no matter what, how could he have waited for the army of Yan army.

The news of the Yan army's change has already been sent back to the capital, if Prince Rui resigned at this time, he would be running away, and the Dai family, the Lu family, and the Chen family can peel him a layer of skin.

Unable to leave and unable to stay, Prince Rui's heart was in pain like a raging fire, and with the loss of his wife and children just now, Prince Rui's emotions had collapsed.

Today's incident was quickly passed back to Liu Zhan and Song Fenglinna through spies.

Zhou Chan tried his best to consolidate the identity of Zhou's relatives, but the more he tried his best, the more God did not like him, it was a pity that Zhou's side concubine died twice.