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Chapter 296: Journey to the Western Regions, the Battle of the World, Goodbye Big Brother (asking for monthly tickets)
As soon as Li Guanyi's voice fell, Changsun Wuchou saluted solemnly, turned around and ran out quickly. The young prince walked out, and wherever he went, not only the soldiers saluted and showed respect, but the people passing by were also very respectful.

The young prince was not arrogant and refused to accept the freshly picked fruits from the people. Even the Qilin was greedy and was looked down upon by Li Guan. The little Qilin muttered, "A gentleman loves fruits but he gets them in a proper way."

"Should I eat? I won't eat."

Then he froze.

The little Qilin slapped himself on the mouth, gnashing his teeth, and became extremely depressed: "Damn it, that old Qilin is still chasing me!"

Li Guanyi smiled and said, "Have you had enough of the good fruits these days?"

The little Qilin answered subconsciously: "This hundred years..."

Immediately, he was annoyed, slapped the ground hard with his front paws, and muttered:
"No! Enough, enough!"

“I don’t want to eat it anymore!”

Li Guan laughed loudly, and while speaking, he used his body skills to go to the meeting place.

There is nothing special about this place. It is just a normal small courtyard of a government office. However, there are heavily armored guards guarding the door, and only the core counselors and generals of the Qilin Army can come in.

Li Guanyi sat in the main seat, waiting for everyone to come. In the spring, the sunlight came in through the hollow windows of Jiangnan, bringing a hazy feeling. The spring breeze and the spring scenery were beautiful. It always felt that the disputes in the world were just an illusion.

One can't help but want to spend the rest of his life in this place in the south of the Yangtze River.

Li Guanyi waited for them alone and unfolded the letter.

Li Zhaowen's letter was still the same as before.

He first congratulated Li Guanyi on his achievements, and then talked about the general situation in the world.

There was a detailed description of the Western Regions on the back of the letter. Li Guanyi read it all. At the end of the emperor's autumn hunting last year, Ying State and Chen State finally launched a long-planned battle. Both sides won, but Chen State was gradually weakening.

Before the autumn hunt, the regent had already defeated the Dangxiang State and controlled most of its territory, and immediately stopped the war. At that time, the Dangxiang State failed to force the Chen State to send troops, and wanted to sacrifice the palace lord of the Chen State who was to marry the princess alive.

The regent sent out an army to fight the rebellion, but after rescuing the princess, he never moved again.

In the Western Regions, various tribes were in chaos.

One after another, people of unknown ethnicity appeared and talked about how their ancestors were such and such figures. They simply refused to obey the Central Plains people occupying this area and made a lot of noise.

Li Zhaowen only mentioned it casually in his letter, but Li Guanyi thought that the chaos in the Western Regions was complicated and must be related to him.

After all, the Tuyuhun royal seal was in his hands.

When Li Guan thought of the golden tiger seal that Li Zhaowen had obtained, then gave to him, and then he handed over to Qibili, he felt a little dazed. Unconsciously, that was almost two years ago.

The Western Regions were originally extremely vast, and the thirty-six tribes in it had all been suppressed by Tuyuhun before. After Tuyuhun was destroyed, neither the Chen State nor the Ying State was able to get the seal in the first place.

Without the seal, it is difficult to completely subdue the various tribes in the Western Regions. Coupled with the actions of the Demon Cult, all kinds of demons and monsters have appeared in the past two years.

The letter reads: "A spy got news from the regent that the regent was held back because of his own inadequate logistics and insufficient troops, as well as the fact that the Western Regions were too vast and complex, and therefore was unable to make the final move against the Dangxiang State."

"When the news got out, the new leaders of the various tribes in the Western Regions became quite arrogant. They named themselves Great Khans, Great Generals, and Regents, and ignored it. I thought it was a bit strange at the time, and there must be some trick, so I stayed here and never went to Zhongzhou."

"It's a pity that I didn't get to meet Brother Li."

"But it's not a loss."

"As I expected, the so-called defeat by the regent was just baiting. After the leaders of various tribes and the core members of the evil cult showed up, when Chen and Ying went to war, Chen was powerless to deal with them, so the regent led his troops and headed straight for the Dangxiang."

"Today, the Tangut state is weak and on the verge of extinction."

"For Brother Li, if the Western Regions are taken over, then Jiangnan will be isolated. Although there will be peace for a dozen years, it will remove the balance of power in the world, causing Chen and Ying to fight each other endlessly, leaving no other chance for survival. Even with such a balance of power, it will eventually be destroyed."

"For me, my family has been dukes for generations, and I am the Duke of Daying."

"If the regent Chen Fubi occupies the Western Regions, he may invade where my family is, and may also swallow up the State of Chen. Chen Fubi is a member of the royal family of the State of Chen, and was once the King of Puyang of the State of Chen. Once he conquers the State of Chen, I'm afraid the State of Chen will quickly join his forces."

"At that time, the State of Chen was reborn. The king of Chen changed from Chen Dingye to Chen Fubi. This was not a good thing for my family or Daying. But for Brother Li... if Brother Li wanted to rule the south of the Yangtze River and keep the world in chaos in order to maintain his power, then this would be a good choice."

"But if you also have the ambition to rule the world, why not come and talk to me?"

"I have prepared good wine. As I said that day, if Brother Li comes, I will show him my true face. I will do it today."

"Brother, this is from Li Zhaowen."

Li Guanyi was thinking about these things seriously, Yaoguang was standing quietly beside him. All the members of the Qilin Army had arrived, but they did not come in. They were all waiting outside, waiting for everyone to arrive before coming in together.

Pang Shuiyun, who was outside Jiangnan, also came back the day before yesterday. This man, who was undoubtedly the most senior among Li Guanyi's advisers, came to see everyone.

He also learned from the guards that Li Guanyi had already gone in, so he smiled and said:

"Everyone, the young master has been waiting for a long time, let's go in together."

Everyone should agree.

Pang Shuiyun tidied his clothes and hair meticulously, and only after getting permission did he push open the door and enter the house. The two wooden doors carved with pine patterns were pushed open, and the spring sunshine poured in through the gaps.

It seems that not many people come here during this period.

Just this simple action created a gust of wind, and the fine dust in the room was lifted up, rising and falling, with a clear, golden light under the golden sunlight. When Pang Shuiyun raised his head thinking that he needed to clean this place more, he was stunned.

This ray of light poured in from the crack in the door and fell on the man sitting in the main seat. The Qilin pattern on his sleeves and robes had fully unfolded his eyebrows, his brows were flying, familiar, yet with an indescribable calmness, he was naturally heroic and majestic.

Pang Shuiyun stopped in his tracks for some reason, feeling as if someone had stabbed him in the heart.

In a trance, Pang Shuiyun seemed to see the high-spirited and invincible Duke Taiping more than ten years ago. The old man was distracted for a moment and murmured:

"Lord..."

Amid the sound of footsteps, others such as Wen Lingjun, Wen He, Feng Xiao and others slowly walked past the stopped old man, and then stopped. The footsteps continued, people came and went, and the others seemed to gradually go away, and the colors and sounds also faded away.

The world is like a tide, and it seems that only Pang Shuiyun is left standing here alone, looking at the young man across the years. When the old man was in a daze, he seemed to hear the man looking up at him and saying with a smile: "Shuiyun, how can you be so old!"

The trance voice disappeared. Pang Shuiyun shook his head. The Li Wanli in his eyes blurred and turned into Li Guanyi. Li Guanyi said worriedly:
"Mr. Pang?"

"Mr. Pang?"

Then the vague eye contact, the illusion that he was being watched by Li Wanli, Duke of Taiping, disappeared. Pang Shuiyun wiped his eyes, looked around, and saw those young people looking at him worriedly.

Here there are gifted counselors, Southern gentlemen who are good at domestic affairs, Northern noble families who are interested in the grand affairs of the world, gifted generals who are good at battle formations, brave cavalry generals, and heroic naval commanders.

The same lofty ambitions, the same ambition to conquer the world.

But these people are no longer the twenty-four generals of Duke Taiping.

This is the Qilin Army, and they are the officials of the Tiance Mansion.

Those who fought under Duke Taiping in those days have either grown old or died, but in these troubled times, there are always young people reappearing in this world. The heroes are gradually growing old, but the world is always young.

Pang Shuiyun looked at Li Guanyi. He didn't know when, this young man who was only fifteen years old when he first met him and needed his help, had grown up, with a smile on his face. He was not inferior to his father!

When you get old, you will miss the past. Occasionally, when you look at a certain scene, you will unconsciously think of the past, and then you will be hurt by this memory.

Pang Shuiyun smiled and said, "Young Master, don't worry."

"I am old, but I have martial arts skills and can be considered to be in good health."

"If you are worried, you might as well worry about Dai Qing. His martial arts and health are too poor. He is extremely weak, even weaker than me. If you don't take care of him, one day, I, an old man, may have to die before him."

Yan Daiqing was furious.

"But you don't even look at whose fault it is!"

Li Guanyi's face froze, and he coughed and said, "Let Old Shi and the others take care of Dai Qing afterwards."

Yan Daiqing was filled with resentment, and his eyes twitched:

"You might as well let me die."

Pang Shuiyun laughed.

Li Guanyi had finished reading the letter and briefly explained the situation to the ministers. Wen Lingjun, Wen He and others began to discuss the matter with each other, and the others also put forward their own opinions.

The atmosphere in Tiance Palace is not as rigid as that in the courts of Chen and Ying.

As long as a fight doesn't break out on the spot, Li Guanyi will ignore it.

And even if a conflict arose, everyone would tacitly avoid it and give in to Yan Daiqing.

This gentleman has an upright character.

The most violent temper.

His martial arts skills are the weakest.

In such an atmosphere, many things were soon discussed. What Li Zhaowen said in the letter was generally consistent with the general strategy of Pojun and Wenling. This was also the shortcoming of Jiangnan and the concern of everyone at the moment.

Although Jiangnan has convenient water routes and is a land of fish and rice, it is located between two big countries. With the help of these water routes and the protection of mountains and rivers, Jiangnan can achieve great success.

But it is very difficult to achieve hegemony over the world.

If it were a peaceful and prosperous time, we could have rested and recuperated here for a few years, but now the world is in turmoil and changes are happening everywhere. The situation may change in a day, so there is no such opportunity at all.

Not to mention the tacit fighting between Chen and Ying, and the regent who saw through the general trend and took advantage of the desperate battle between Chen and Ying to attack Dangxiang, just the fact that Li Guanyi took over the entire Jiangnan region almost without bloodshed, and the people all followed him, and the city lord's surrender was enough to shock everyone.

It was fine for the generals under his command, but it took a long time for the other countries to speak out after hearing the news.

Such heroic spirit, recorded in history, is enough to capture people's hearts.

Chen Dingye and Jiang Wanxiang each have their regrets.

Ji Zichang was extremely happy, and came alone to the big tree under the academy, holding the fruit wine, salt-baked peanuts, and eggs, and drank by himself for half a day. Even though there were no officials toasting him this time, he still drank very happily.

After returning, with the help of his reputation as General Tiance, he once again strengthened the management of the royal family, and the skills of this last king gradually became apparent.

Xue Daoyong laughed out loud, and Ji Yanzhong sighed with emotion.

Everyone in each country changed, except Yuwen Tianxian. The usually cold and calm General Acalanatha was just drunk, raised his wine cup, and congratulated from afar in the direction of Jiangnan.

The next day, we had to go to other battlefields and could not stay here.

The situation in the world changes just like this. The peace and prosperity of Jiangnan at the moment is only because the main battlefield of the world is not here. Once other countries decide the outcome, the terrain of Jiangnan will be a piece of meat.

The only difference is how much it costs to do it.

As for the Western Regions, there are large plains in the part bordering the Central Plains. The Western Regions often referred to are the vast northwest area, and going south is the southwest area where Li Wanli, the Duke of Taiping, was most famous.

Guanzhong Plain in the Western Regions.

The land of abundance in the southwest and the land of fish and rice in the south.

These three places are all very suitable for recuperation.

If only one place is taken out, it is not enough to achieve hegemony, but if we follow the river formed by the snow melted from the snow-capped mountains of Turkic all the way down and connect these three places along the waterway, it will be the foundation of hegemony.

It has strategic depth, water transportation, and grasslands for horses.

For example, on a Go board, the qi of the chess pieces are connected, and a big dragon flies up.

In the Tian Ce Palace, the counselors have different styles and expertise, but everyone has a consensus - the Western Regions must be conquered!

Wen Lingjun spoke calmly, "For Chen State, Ying State, and the Li Family, it is better for the Western Region to be in chaos right now. We have different strategies from Ying State, but we have one point of consensus."

Everyone fell silent. There was no need to elaborate on this consensus.

[The Western Region must not fall into the hands of the Regent at this moment]

Wen Lingjun used an example that all the counselors in Tiance Mansion could immediately understand, and said, "After all, if the Western Region falls into the hands of the Regent, it should be time for Wen He to pack his bags in advance."

Wen He: “…………”

The simple young counselor asked, "Why do you have to do this?"

"I just got you drunk and tied you up and took you back. Why are you making things so difficult for me?"

Wen Lingjun looked at Wen He with a smile.

The latter's smile was gentle and peaceful.

Wen Lingjun clasped his hands on a chessboard on the table.

Wen He raised his hand and adjusted the tall crown on his head.

Feng Xiao took a sip of wine, and while drunk, he interrupted the friendly conversation between the two and said, "Then the question is, how to go there."

"This place has not been opened up yet. The southwest area is still in the territory of the State of Chen. We go downstream from here and out of the large area south of the Yangtze River, which is the territory of the State of Chen."

"We conquered the rest of the states in Jiangnan because these places were affected by the policies of the Eighteenth State of Jiangnan, and everyone was eager to come here."

“People’s minds are moved, and then they can do it.”

“So this battle was relatively easy.”

"But if we force the expedition, it will be our fault and the people will not support us. Moreover, for big countries like Chen and Ying, if we rashly send troops, it will prolong the battle line and the logistics supply will not be able to keep up. What's more, we are in need of rest and recuperation."

"If we send troops to the Western Regions, I'm afraid we will be defeated."

"Not to mention, the area bordering Jiangnan at this moment..."

Feng Xiao had nothing to say.

Everyone was speechless——

After the entire territory of Jiangnan was taken over, Wen Lingjun continued to promote the general trend. He used the former Chen State city as the border and spread the news of the simplicity of Jiangnan policy and its benefits to the people to the outside world. He built up momentum step by step and influenced people's hearts. This was an open conspiracy.

Chen Dingye directly asked the old turtle Lu Youxian.

After Lu Youxian made his suggestion, Chen Dingye readily accepted it.

All the people living within a hundred miles of Jiangnan were directly relocated to the interior.

To prevent the incident in the Seventeen Prefectures of Jiangnan from happening again.

Lu Youxian created a buffer zone of 100 miles. Within this 100-mile area, not to mention the people and villages, not even a blade of grass was left. All of it was pulled out, and the land was also treated and poisoned, making it unusable for farming for ten years.

This interrupted Wen Lingjun's overall strategy.

In other words, if the Qilin Army wants to go out, it must have long-term supplies, and it cannot rely on the people in the villages and towns to lead the way, nor can it mobilize the people to cover their tracks, and it will be directly exposed to the border guards of the State of Chen.

With just one strategic action, Lu Youxian discovered the characteristics of the Qilin Army.

Then without hesitation, he cut them all off.

Not a blade of grass was left.

Strong walls and clear fields.

This made many young counselors in the Tian Ce Mansion very sick, and they finally understood why this top defender did not have a very good reputation. When everyone fought against him, they only felt suffocated and panicked.

After Lu Youxian discovered the possible means that the enemy might use, he would not consider any possibilities, but would directly cut them off; this person was not lustful, did not love money, did not seek merit, and did not act rashly, so he did not have many military achievements and was not ranked high among the famous generals.

But no one could get credit from him.

This guy is too conservative, too rational, and too calm.

The wolf king had a mouth full of broken teeth.

Even Li Guanyi would have been captured if he didn't have Qilin and the magic weapon.

After Wen Lingjun and others suffered setbacks.

Wen He was in charge of handling this matter. Wen He took the opportunity to poison all the wells within the buffer zone of 100 miles, poisoning many spies of the State of Chen. He had only one idea: we have no way to use this place, and you don't have to think about using it either.

If you want to come over, you need to bring a long-distance supply line and water.

Anti-fortification and clearing of the countryside.

You won't let us come?

If that’s the case, no one wants this place anymore!
The strategies of both sides were put together to create an absolute buffer zone.

They also disgusted each other very much.

Lu Youxian cursed: "Cruel! Cruel!"

Wen He said leisurely: "Turtle, turtle!"

In this case, it is impossible for Li Guanyi to pass through here. Wen He added: "Besides, although the Western Regions must be taken, the people in the south of the Yangtze River have experienced several battles. We need to rest with the people, otherwise, the people will suffer."

Everyone was silent, but Li Guanyi just said casually: "Don't worry, I have an idea about this matter."

In front of many counselors, Li Guanyi pulled out the wooden sword, and the [Dragon Picture] sword fell.

The wooden sword pointed forward, calm and without a sharp edge, but it seemed to separate the civil and military officials on both sides. Li Guanyi placed the letter on the table, his brows raised and he looked at the people around him and said:

"You all, take a rest."

"And I will go alone."

........................

Li Guanyi's words naturally aroused opposition from everyone. The reason was nothing more than that it was too dangerous and that a person of great value could not sit in the hall. Qin Wuhou just laughed out loud and said, "This world is in chaos, where is there any safe place?"

"Jiangnan is safe for now only because we have experienced several tough battles. The world sees that we are tough and that's why they don't want to fight us. Only after experiencing danger first can we seek safety."

"Jiangnan needs to recuperate, and our army can cross the border of Chen State, so the only way is what I said."

"Everyone, please stay here and rest with the people. I will go to the Western Regions myself. There is a person there who has an agreement with me. I just don't know if he still recognizes this agreement."

"When the time is right, I will issue an order. Then Jiangnan and the Western Regions will send out troops together, and you and I will meet in the middle. Only in this way can we achieve this strategy. Otherwise, if you are unwilling to take risks and just want to accomplish great things by sitting still, how can it be possible?"

"Besides, when I say alone, I don't mean alone."

"I will just select a few people and go with me as a caravan."

Everyone then reluctantly accepted Li Guanyi's words, but as for who should go first, they started arguing again. All the generals were vying to be the first, and many counselors also had their own opinions.

Mr. Wei Wenhe remained silent and quietly retreated behind the crowd.

Then he met Li Guanyi's eyes and smiled calmly.

Nor moving forward.

Li Guan laughed, pointed at Wen He, and said, "Sir, you are indeed smart."

He added, "This matter cannot be decided in a short time. You can discuss it for a few days and prepare the trade route first." Everyone agreed, and Changsun Wuchou breathed a sigh of relief. Before the great changes in the world, he himself turned into a traveling merchant and traveled everywhere.

He was very familiar with places like trade routes.

This time, everyone left. Li Guanyi took a few steps. The silver-haired girl reached out and pulled Li Guanyi. Li Guanyi turned around and looked at the silver-haired girl. Yaoguang said in a quiet voice: "I'll come too."

"What do you need to prepare?"

Li Guanyi stared at the girl in front of him. He did not say as he did in the past that he hoped she would stay in a safe place. He just said, "It's up to you, um..."

"You can bring more steamed buns, they might be useful."

"After that, the journey was just like before, Yaoguang."

There were no ripples in the silver-haired girl's eyes. She nodded without any expression and turned to leave. As she left, the girl stretched out her hand, and the wide sleeves of the astrologer's robe hung down. The girl's fingers pressed against the flowers blooming in spring, letting the flowers slide from her palm one by one.

Hidden under the sleeves, the white and slender fingers touched the petals.

Up and down, it's like someone dancing happily, with light and graceful movements.

The silver-haired girl just left like that, without any expression on her face, with her fingers dancing. Li Guanyi withdrew his gaze, thinking about the changes in the world situation. In the Western Regions, there was a sharpshooter general of the Taiping Army in the Daqizhai.

There are thirty-six tribes in the Western Regions, the State of Chen, Li Zhaowen, and the Regent.

There is also a chaotic martial arts world and the strongest light cavalry king in history.

There are the Qibili and Tiele tribes.

And, the Demon Sect which is much more complicated than the Central Plains...

Li Guanyi felt the hidden contradictions and turbulent winds and clouds in that piece of land, but suddenly he heard the sound of ripples in the water beside him, as if a stone was hit and splashed with water.

Li Guan turned around and saw a fishing line stretched out in the pond behind the government office. A fisherman wearing a bamboo hat was sitting there. He raised his head slightly with a gentle smile on his face: "Yo——"

"Second brother, we meet again!"

The smile on the fisherman's face became more gentle, bright and harmless:
"Tell me, where are you going after this?!"

"Western Region?"

(End of this chapter)