Outside the capital, Degong brought all the civil and military officials of the court to see him off.

Degong, He Zhao, Xue Fang, Tang Zhouwei, Lu Jie, Mao Luan, Bao Zheng and others were all present one by one.

Li Xingzhou drank the wine to see him off, and Degong took the wine glass. The wind was strong and the sky was high, and the green grass was lowered. The nameless birds sang, and the faint sounds scattered in the sky.

He smiled and said, "Don't De Gong tell me anything?"

"What are you telling me? I'm afraid you will talk too much, so if you want to leave, please leave quickly..." De Gong waved his hand and avoided his face.

"Hahaha, I don't mind you talking too much. I like to hear Degong's words." Li Xingzhou laughed.

Degong was stunned and glared at him: "You speak very well or not. Don't think too much about it when you go here. If you are confused, things are prone to make mistakes. We have to worry about the matter in the capital. "Dong Degong looked at the dozen people behind him, meaning that these people are his people.

"Also, you should not be reckless. You must always remember that you are not only the commander of more than 100,000 troops, but also the crown prince of the Jing Kingdom. There is something that is not nice to you. You must remember that even a 100,000 troops cannot compare to you." De Gong said earnestly, and he held his arm tightly.

"The sword has no eyes, the soldiers are ruthless. Take care of yourself and collect your mischievous character, not only for you, but also for us who stand behind you, and for you, soldiers who bleed for you."

Duke De solemnly said: "Take good care of yourself."

Lee Sing-cheol nodded.

"Go and come back soon."

He bowed his hand, then turned around, stepped on Meixue, raised his horse whip, Meixue raised his huge head and shook it, lifted the horse's hooves high, leaving only dust all the way.

Amid the rumbling sound of horse hooves behind him, Yang Hongzhao, Zhao Guanghua, Yan Shen, Wei Yubai, Liu Ji and other new generals of the imperial guards followed one after another. The soldiers holding flags behind him carried various flags and headed towards the river to the north in the dust.

...........

In May, it was summer and the weather was very hot, but the army was moving unexpectedly fast. Because the food and supplies had already been transported to Yanshan Mansion, the soldiers walked lightly.

Although I take the land route, the speed is not much slower than that of water routes.

At the same time, the news of the Jing Kingdom sending troops will soon spread all over the world, which is inevitable.

"Your Highness, what if someone takes the opportunity to rob our country Jing? This time, the army of more than 100,000 is all elite, and it is almost the whole country's strength." Li Xingzhou, the head of the central army, rode Meixue, and Yan Shen asked beside him.

He was wearing thick armor and leather armor inside, so he didn't bother him hot, but he said he wanted to adapt early. In fact, such equipment in the new army had long been eliminated, and soldiers all gave up their defense light cloth military uniforms.

Even the light cavalry with the heaviest equipment is equipped with cotton armor. The people led by the Black Panther in the Taihang Mountains took root and planted cotton. They sold them to the royal palace every year to make cotton coats and cotton armor, which are all equipment of the new army.

"There are still tens of thousands of imperial guards in Kyoto." Li Xingcheon said.

"But all the elites were drawn away." Yan Shen said with some concern.

Li Xingzhou was funny. Yan Shen rarely thought about the problem, but he was happy with it, and everyone looked over curiously.

"Then who do you think we are going to worry about?" he asked.

Yan Shen thought for a while, "I see that Xia Kingdom in the northwest is restless. They used to attack Tanglong Town, but now the civil war will stop, maybe they will not stop."

"Yes, Xia Kingdom should not be underestimated. However, they have been fighting for so long, and even if they don't want to calm down, they are powerless. I heard that they have suffered heavy losses in several wars, especially if they cross the river, even if they succeed, they will definitely die. They will not be able to ease for a while. It will take at least two or three years," Li Xingzhou judged.

"Xia Kingdom is already in the barren northwest, with a harsh environment and difficult survival. It has no sparse population. Unlike Jing Kingdom, it cannot withstand too much internal friction."

"What about Dali?"

"Hahaha, don't worry about Dali." Li Xingzhou smiled. At this time, Dali was probably in the Yunnan area of ​​later generations, but it was not a tourist destination with a snow-capped mountains at an altitude of 5,000 meters and tropical rainforests in later generations, and a colorful Yunnan.

Instead, there are poor mountains and rivers, and there are many chieftains in all ethnic groups, and internal conflicts are very serious.

"When the founding of the country, Dali State proposed to rely on our country, but was rejected by Emperor Taizong. Do you know why?"

“Why?”

"The place in Dali Country has high mountains and far waters, troublesome in and out, complex ethnic groups, and internal contradictions are so difficult to reconcile. If you accept it, you will have to spend a lot of effort to deal with it.

So they had no time to fight in the internal struggle, so how could they go out and fight to carry out the expedition?” Li Xingzhou said and patted the horse, “Besides, Dali, there are small countries and few people, and the people are gentle and focused on living their lives well, and are not interested in the outside world.”

Yan Shen nodded with you without understanding.

Whether it is Yunnan or Sichuan, people pay attention to comfort. When life is comfortable, they are the most docile subjects. Of course, the premise is not to force them into desperate situations.

So Li Xingzhou had never been worried about Dali Country. As long as he did not force them into a desperate situation, he believed that Dali Country would never pose a threat to Jing Country.

When the time is ripe, it will be natural to recover Dali Kingdom.

.........

The army continued to head north because it rained from time to time since summer began.

Seven days later, the army entered the territory of Ningjiang Prefecture. The new magistrate Wang Ke and the new magistrate Xie Linjiang came to see him in person, and at the same time prepared wine and meat to work hard.

Wang Ke naturally understood that he was able to serve as the governor because of Li Xingzhou's praise, so he was grateful again and again.

Li Xingzhou asked him to get up and said, "You don't have to thank me, nor can you relax. You don't hesitate to replace my father-in-law with you because he values ​​your ability to do things. If you can't do it well, I will also change others. Jiangzhou is so important. I hope you can live up to your responsibilities."

"Your Highness, don't worry, I will definitely serve you and die without any mistakes!" Wang Ke bowed.

Xie Linjiang also expressed his opinion: "I will never let down my entrustedness."

Li Xingzhou nodded and asked them to get up.

He only stayed in Jiangzhou for one night, and he did not enter the city at the inn, so he continued north the next day.

As he said, Jiangzhou is too important and is an important gateway for north-south transportation. Whether the north-south shipping is smooth depends on Jiangzhou, so he cannot hand it over to his nerd father-in-law.

Wang Ke is capable of doing things, while Xie Linjiang is a scholar, but he is not rigid and knows how to do practical things. He just needs to learn. The two have been colleagues for several years, so it is very suitable for them to match.

......

The next few days of marching will sometimes stop when it encounters heavy rain, and the summer rain will come and go quickly.

Ordinary people can't stand the running around for several days. Fortunately, after several years of training, Li Xingzhou has a solid body. He can withstand such bumps. In history, many people who are powerful in wars have died in poor health and cannot withstand the bumps of long distances, such as Chai Rong.

Part of the reason why Li Xingzhou has worked hard to exercise in recent years is to prepare for the present. If Li Xingzhou's weak body had never been able to withstand the pain of long journeys.

Twenty days after the march, Li Xingzhou asked Yang Hongzhao where he was. He only knew that he should have entered the boundary of Guanbei Road, but he did not know the specific location.

Yang Hongzhao said: "Your Highness, you have entered the territory of Bazhou."

"Bazhou..." Li Xingzhou chewed these two words. Bazhou was once a major border town in Jingguo. Later, after he seized Yanshan Prefecture, he set up Yanshan Prefecture Road. The border moved northward, so it was no longer a border.
Chapter completed!