Time flies, and the seasons flow.

In the blink of an eye, the first four years of the beginning of peace have passed, ushering in the first year of Xingping, that is, 194 AD.

"Xingping" is the era name that Li Dao vigorously promotes, which means to follow the example of Dong Zhuo in the past to change the era name, so as to highlight his meritorious service as an auxiliary regent. Li Li was noncommittal about this, smiled and let it go, so the Chuping year came to an end, and the Han Dynasty entered the first year of Xingping.

The snow melts, and the spring river is warm.

At the beginning of the new year, the Jicheng General's Mansion in Hanyang County held a grand banquet to entertain the civil and military officials of Xiliang County.

After the banquet, Li Li issued the political tasks for the new year to the civil officials of each county, and the generals of the whole army also received specific general orders to defend the border and continue to harass the surrounding barbarian tribes to protect the territory and the people.

Subsequently, Li Li led Li Zhi, the commander of Jin Qiwei, Li Ru, the commander of the Zhongchang Guard, Huan Fei, the commander of the Flying Bear Soldiers, Sima Ma Yunluo, the deputy commander of the Huben Battalion, Duan Xuan, and others, and took a hundred personal guards to inspect the counties and counties of Xiliang.

From the beginning of the first month, Li Li and his entourage were all one person and two horses, starry and night, and inspected all counties and counties in Yongzhou within a month. Then the group avoided the official road, hid their whereabouts, and went directly through the counties and counties of Liangzhou, and went straight to Chang'an.

After staying in Chang'an City for three days, Li Li and his party returned to Liangzhou again. However, they suddenly turned around that night, bypassed Chang'an City, and headed straight northeast.

Hangu Pass, founded in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, is the throat of Luoyang in the east and Chang'an in the west, known as "opening the sky in the Hangu Zhuangguan, and the dust of the valley is shocked to the north sky". This Guanxi is based on the plateau, east of the river, south of the Qinling Mountains, north of the Yellow River, is one of the earliest Xiongguan fortresses built in the land of China.

Early spring in February, winter goes to spring. Everything is revived, and the wilderness mountains and rivers are full of vitality.

In the early morning, as the first rays of sunlight shine onto the earth, the gates of Hangu Pass open on time as usual for pedestrians.

Under the towering Xiongguan, outside the city gates on the east and west sides, there are hundreds of soldiers of the Wuwei Battalion guarding them, and the garrison is extremely strict, strictly inspecting all the pedestrians and the parcels and goods they carry.

Relatively speaking, most of the customs clearance pedestrians outside the east gate are people who enter Xiliang. The defenders focused on checking the baggage and goods carried by pedestrians, but did not pay much attention to pedestrians. As long as the people who have cleared the customs have no epidemic and do not carry weapons and prohibited items, the defenders will be allowed to enter Chang'an and Xiliang.

Because Xiliang's customs strategy in recent years is. Allow people and caravans from all over the Central Plains to enter Xiliang, and encourage displaced people and common people to settle in Xiliang. But. However, it is necessary to strictly check the pedestrians leaving the country. All the people and caravans who go out of the customs must hold the customs clearance guide issued by the Governor's Mansion and the state and county governments, and the pedestrians and the goods they carry must be consistent with the road guide in order to successfully exit the customs and go to all parts of the Central Plains. Otherwise, there is a slight discrepancy. will be seized on the spot by the soldiers of the defenders, and then handed over to the county soldiers to be taken to the county where they are located for severe punishment; In light cases, a certain amount of money and property will be confiscated, and in severe cases, the punishment will be 40 canes, and they will be sent to serve hard labor at the border.

Therefore. The customs clearance conditions at various passes in Xiliang are definitely easy to enter the city and difficult to get out of the city.

In short: no in, no out.

Therefore, compared with the relatively loose inventory of the east gate, the customs inspection at the west gate is almost harsh, and the speed of leaving the city is extremely slow. The guards checked the road guide held by the people leaving the customs one by one, not only to open the baggage and check it carefully, but also to search and inspect the body, and take the road guide for interrogation, until the verification is correct, and then release it.

"What are you people looking around, what is there to see? Stand in line, take your way through the customs, and open your baggage and boxes in the wagon! ”

Under the west pass, a soldier in armor held a spear and had a straight face, blocking in front of more than 100 elite men who were eager to get out of the pass, and shouted loudly. While reprimanding the group, he clenched the spear in his hand, and the cold light of the spear pointed directly at the chest of the young man in brocade who led him, only an inch from his heart.

However, to the great surprise of the guard, the handsome young man in a brocade shirt in front of him was not afraid of the spear that reached his chest, and he was still smiling kindly, looking up at the garrison on the upper floor of Hangu Pass with interest.

As the words of the guards fell, he shuddered inexplicably, and a creepy feeling of being targeted by a fierce beast suddenly appeared, and his whole body shuddered. Suddenly, he saw the two big men behind the young handsome man squinting their eyes, staring at him coldly, as if they could pinch him to death with a single move.

In addition, there were hundreds of burly and strong men behind these two big men, and their bodies were filled with a cold murderous aura, like a group of hungry wolves who wanted to choose people to devour. And all of them stared at him with grim faces, well, not at him, but at the spear in his hand that was fingered at the handsome man's chest.

"Hehehe!" Just when the guards were shivering, the man in brocade led by him said with a smile: "What are you doing? Customs inspection is the duty of the guards, and it has been the case since ancient times, and there is nothing wrong with it. Don't be stunned, quickly take out the road guide and hand it over to this little brother for verification, so as not to delay the trip! ”

As the brocade-clothed man spoke, the guards who were blocking in front of everyone suddenly felt light, and the creepy feeling just now suddenly disappeared. Immediately, he couldn't help wiping the cold sweat on his forehead, immediately put away his spear, carefully took the customs clearance guide of the brocade man and his party, checked them one by one, and summoned a team of ten people to carefully check the accompanying packages and boxes of this group of people. After checking the time of the tea, and finally confirming that it was correct, he removed the antlers and waved his hand to let him go.

Immediately, the chief of the guard saw the brocade man and his group of more than 100 people slowly leaving the customs, and said to himself: "It's really strange, they actually hold the customs clearance guide of the Yongzhou Prefecture Pastoral Mansion in their hands, and there is also the customs clearance document personally signed by the general Li Li!" ”

"What's wrong, what's wrong with you?" A soldier looked at Shi Chang's stunned appearance, nudged him lightly, and asked in a low voice.

Shi Chang couldn't help but shake his head when he heard this, and muttered: "These people are all brightly dressed, there are men and women, and the entourage is full of murderous aura, as if they are people who have been on the battlefield for a long time. No, I want to report to the tun chief, you are here to investigate carefully, and you must not be negligent! With a casual reluctance, Shi Chang turned around and ran to the stone steps, and ran straight to the castle tower.

At the right time. Jin Gu, the deputy commander of the Wuwei Battalion, who was in charge of garrisoning Hangu Pass, stood on the tower of the East City Gate, condescending, looking down at the pedestrians entering and exiting the pass. Immediately, he saw a group of more than 100 people galloping out on high-grade war horses, quickly passing through the east gate, and heading straight for the direction of Kanto.

Immediately, Jin Gu's brows furrowed slightly, and his eyes were full of gloomy. Because he could see at a glance that the war horses under these seats were all excellent war horses from the Hugh Slaughterhouse, and this kind of high-quality war horses were only qualified to be ridden by middle and senior generals above the commander of the army. Therefore, he subconsciously thought that someone in the horse farm had sold the war horse to the Central Plains caravan without permission, which was really bold and heinous!

Coldly looking down at the galloping caravan. Jin Gu suddenly saw a few extremely familiar backs, but he couldn't remember where he had seen these people for a while. Until the moment when this group of people was about to disappear from sight, he lay on the city tower and exclaimed: "Lord? Commander Li Zhi, General Huan Fei, and Li Ru in the service ??????"

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"Da Da Da!"

Outside the East Gate of Hanya Kanto.

After a group of more than 100 people passed through the east gate, they immediately turned over their horses and rode their horses and whipped them. Straight to the Central Plains.

"Wen You, don't look back! Jin Gu is standing on the tower of the east gate, if you turn around. He'll recognize you. Then the whereabouts of our group were revealed. If this is the case, we have carefully prepared for a long time to travel to all the states and counties of the world, and we can only stop here and turn around and go back immediately! ”

While galloping on the horse, Li Li leaned forward and prostrate on the horse's back, waiting to see Li Ru as if he was about to turn his head to look. He immediately spoke out to stop him, lest he reveal the whereabouts of his group.

"How did the lord know that Jin Gu was standing on the tower?" Li Ru really wanted to look back at Hangu Pass behind him, because it had stopped the army of hundreds of thousands of princes from chasing the footsteps of the Xiliang army, and prompted Dong Zhuo to move the capital to Chang'an and retreat to Jihua in Xiliang to be successfully realized.

"Hehehe!" While galloping. Li Li said with a smile: "Before the battle in the southern suburbs, I originally wanted to order Jin Gu to garrison Wushuang City in Zhangye County, guard the horse farm for our army, and spend the rest of my life in peace. Unexpectedly, although his left leg was disabled, he performed very well in the big battle and had quite a lot of achievements. Therefore, I temporarily decided to assign him to the Wuwei Battalion, serve as the deputy commander, and stationed on the line from Anyi to Hangu Pass, and guard Hangu Pass. When the Wuwei battalion went to Anyi to garrison, I gave Teng Xiao, Jin Gu, Guo Meng, and Tie Xiao four people, each with a set of gold armor.

When I passed through the west gate just now, I saw an extremely familiar figure on the castle tower, dressed in golden armor, and I recognized him at a glance. Except for him, all the generals stationed at Hangu Pass did not have this kind of indestructible golden armor at all, and he was the only one. Speaking of which, this extremely strong golden armor was still a gift from Wen You at the beginning, and now dozens of sets have been given out, and the remaining more than 400 sets of armor will definitely come in handy soon. ”

"Hehehe, I see!" Li Ru smiled happily and said with a smile of sudden realization.

Then he rode his horse to catch up with Li Li, and said with a sigh: "Until now, the subordinates are still apprehensive and afraid. The guard actually pointed his spear at the chest of the lord, and if he made a slight mistake, he was likely to hurt the lord. If this is the case, our sins are so great that we cannot atone for a hundred bodies! ”

Li Li laughed and said: "Wen You's words must be to advise me not to go to danger in person during this trip, right?" Hehehe! ”

"The lord is wise, and his subordinates mean exactly that." Li Ru happily responded, and said earnestly: "The lord is now in danger of the two states of Xiliang and most of the subordinates, and he is the commander of my more than 400,000 troops in Xiliang, which is related to the future and fate of the entire Xiliang, and there must be no mistakes!" In addition, the lord now has six children, and he has a beautiful wife and beautiful family to look forward to, not only as a master, but also as a father, and even a husband. No matter what aspect you think about, the lord can't take risks personally, and there must be no more situations like the one just now, otherwise I'm in danger of Xiliang Society! ”

"Well, thank you Wenyou for your concern, I remember!" Li Li turned his head and glanced at Li Ru, and nodded solemnly.

However, it was Li Li's action of turning his head to look at Li Ru that caused Jin Ji on the city tower behind him to recognize him, and then recognize Li Zhi, Huan Fei, Li Ru and others. But Li Li and his party were not aware of this, and thought that their whereabouts were not exposed, and they did not show their feet along the way.

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After moving away from Hangu Pass, Li Li and his party gradually slowed down and officially entered the territory of Sili.

However, this is still the jurisdiction of Xiliang, under the rule of Li Li, and tens of thousands of Wuwei battalions and soldiers led by Xu Rong are stationed in various counties along the way.

At present, Hedong, Hanoi, Henan, Hexi, and Hongnong are still in the hands of the Xiliang Army, and they are garrisoned by the two generals Teng Xiao and Xu Rong. Always beware of the invasion of the Kwantung princes.

However, the current situation in these counties is different from that of Xiliangzhou County. There are many famous families entrenched in the counties and counties of Sili, and the officials of the counties and counties are still the officials appointed by Dong Zhuo in the past, and they are forced to rely on the Xiliang army because of the strength of the army, so they have to rely on the rule of the Xiliang army. In addition, the edict of the two prefectures of Xiliang for two years did not include the counties under the division of the government, so these counties still obeyed the laws of the imperial court and regularly paid money and grain taxes to the governor's office.

This means that there are two completely different tax systems in the territory under the jurisdiction of the Xiliang Army, and there are already hidden dangers. And so on. The officials and the people of the counties under the division must be dissatisfied, and it may not be long before the unpredictable and serious consequences are triggered.

However, it is extremely strange that the counties of Sili have also suffered from the scourge of war recently, and the people are living in poverty. People are displaced everywhere, and natural and man-made disasters are continuous. It makes sense of common sense. These counties are not able to pay the taxes. But that's not the case. The county magistrates of the counties under the division actually turned a blind eye to the decree on exemption from taxation in Xiliang, regardless of it, and accepted it as it came, paying the money and grain on time, which was never interrupted or missing.

Since then, Li Li originally wanted to rectify the original intention of the officials of the various counties. We have never been able to find an entry point, let alone dismiss officials in various counties and counties at will, so we can only wait and see what happens, and wait for the opportunity. Meanwhile. Li Li dispatched 60,000 main battalions to garrison the counties, firmly controlled the situation of the division, and gradually strengthened the control of the division.

In fact, Li Li had already learned how these counties paid their taxes on time and in full. It is precisely because he knows the reason for this, so he allows Sili County to maintain the current situation, respond to changes with the same, and wait for the opportunity to move.

Sili is the seat of the imperial capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty for two hundred years, directly under the jurisdiction of Luoyang, Kyoto, and there are a large number of descendants of the powerful people of the Han Dynasty and the clan of the gate lord, the foundation is very deep and stable, and the protégés are all over the world, and the influence is great. Moreover, these big families are intertwined, and they are not only rivals for comparison, but also allies of interests. Otherwise, it will touch the whole body, making the entire division turbulent, and touching the root of a group of old ministers in the Chang'an court, prompting them to jump over the wall in a hurry and make a desperate bet.

For this reason, Li Li has never done anything to the counties under the division before, and implemented the strategy of first securing the inside before the outside, and took the lead in rectifying the two states of Xiliang, which is based on Xiliang and Xutu Central Plains. Regarding the current situation in the counties under the division, he adopted the strategy of sitting on the wall and watching and let himself go. When the time is ripe, he will not move, and will sweep through the entire territory of Sili with a thunderous momentum, completely overthrowing the gate valve clan, and striving to defeat the enemy with one blow. If not, he would rather maintain the status quo and wait for the clan's gate lords to gradually weaken, and then completely purge them and tear them down and start over.

Fast horses and whips run for a few days, Li Li and his party came to the border of Henan County, and in the afternoon, Li Ru asked Li Li for instructions: "Lord, for several days, we have traveled day and night, traveling hundreds of miles every day, and then there is a day of travel, we will leave the territory of Sili and completely leave my Xiliang jurisdiction." At present, there are three roads in front of us, one is to go north to Jizhou, the other is to go straight into Yanzhou Chenliu, and the other is to go south to Yuzhou. I don't know what happens under the Lord's will? ”

Hearing Li Ru's words, Li Li immediately stopped and thought about it: "We must go to Jizhou this time, but I heard that Yuan Shao of Jizhou has just fought with Gongsun Zhan, but he has fought with the Yellow Turban of Montenegro in Changshan Country, and the fierce battle is now in full swing. In this case, we will delay a few days before going to Jizhou. There is no need to go to Yanzhou, I used to lead troops with my uncle to attack Chenliu, and now Zhang Miao, Lu Bu and Cao Cao, who occupy Yanzhou, are on the same page as us, so we don't have to go. According to the detailed investigation, Cao Cao has taken the Yanzhou pastor himself, and is now taking advantage of the death of his father Cao Song, intending to send troops to Xuzhou. Let's go to the front to find an inn to stay, and we will go to Yuzhou early tomorrow morning, and then go north to Jizhou by Yanzhou. ”

"No, my subordinates obey." Seeing that Li Li had made up his mind, Li Ru had no choice but to comply.

In fact, Li Ru wanted to dissuade Li Li from going south directly to Jingzhou, and then go to the Jiangnan area to have a look, and then return to Xiliang. Because the princes of Jingyang prefectures and counties shili have nothing to do with Xiliang, and there is no too strong hostile shili, it will not be too dangerous along the way. It's just that the lord Li Li insisted on going north, and Li Ru was quite helpless about it, except for obeying orders, he couldn't help it!

Welcome guest inn, this is the only inn in the town at the intersection of Henan County and Yuzhou.

In front of the door of the guest room on the east side, Li Ru walked in front and opened the door, and when he saw the simple furnishings in the room, he couldn't help frowning, and his face instantly became gloomy.

"Lord, this room is too shabby, can it be occupied?"

"Wen You said cautiously, you should call me Gongzi, or be a shopkeeper. Hehehe! Li Li glanced at the furnishings in the room and said with a smile.

"Huh? Please 、、、 Lord forgive me, I lost my words. Li Ru looked at Li Li in astonishment, and bowed down with a slight red cheek.

Li Li bowed his head slightly and said: "When we go out, how can we be so exquisite, and it is already very good to have a place to rest and rest." Although this inn is simple, it is quite spacious, at least it can accommodate more than 100 of us. Okay, you go and rest, I'll let Yunluo clean up the room here, that's it! ”

"Okay, that subordinate 、、、 alas, I'm used to it, I can't change it for a while, and I'm lost my words again! The old slave retired first and asked the son to rest. Li Ru's face was flushed, and he bowed out of the room in embarrassment, and walked to the guest room next door.

"Giggles!" Ma Yunluo followed behind Li Li, and when she saw Li Ru in the middle of the service being so embarrassed, she couldn't help laughing.

Li Li shook his head helplessly, and said with a smile: "Yunluo, this time with me to travel to the Central Plains, I am afraid that you will have to suffer some hardships." Along the way, I have to ask you for my food, clothing and daily life, thank you for your hard work! ”

"The Lord 、、、 the son is out of sight. Before leaving, Sister Flawless and several ladies repeatedly told Yunluo to take good care of her son. So these are all Yunluo's duties, and Childe doesn't have to be polite. At first hearing Li Li's words, Ma Yunluo's face was slightly red, and she immediately responded very obediently.

"Hehehe, that's great! I just don't know if you can do these daily trivial things? Li Li said with a smile.

Ma Yun Luofeng's eyes were slightly stunned, and she said with an angry expression: "Please rest assured, the slave and maid have lived with their brother since childhood, and their food, clothing, and daily life are all my care, and they have never been lost." Unlike some people, clothes come to reach out for food to open their mouths, five fingers do not touch the spring water, everything has to be served by others! ”

"Haha!" Seeing Ma Yunluo's indignant and angry expression, and the sneer hidden in his words, Li Li said: "Okay, this is what you said, this son will wait and see, so I have to sit back and enjoy it!" ”

———————— (To be continued)(To be continued......