There is a large river more than ten miles west of Qianjiang County, named Dongjing River.
Both sides of the river were overgrown with weeds and forests, and even the once prosperous ferry was desolate and desolate without a single person in sight.
Because the other side of Hexi is the boundary of Jingzhou.
In other words, it is Li Chuang's autonomous region.
In fact, before the peace talks, no matter who owned this land or whether it was ignored, it did not affect the people's livelihood. The ferry wharf was full of people every day, and commercial traffic was not affected at all.
The change was more than half a year ago. When Zuo Liangyu was still alive, the eunuch asked him to express his position. He could not force himself to send his troops to attack Jingzhou. Although it was just a show, it still made people panic and made the people panic and uneasy. The trade was also affected.
Great impact.
During the peace talks, there was even turmoil and diplomatic relations were severed. The two forces were at war with each other in their respective territories. Those on the other side of Jingzhou did not dare to come over, and those on this side did not dare to go over.
When the peace talks were finalized, Li Chuang surrendered to the imperial court, and Jingzhou was still his territory. Since we were all a family, we had to make peace with each other. We thought that things would return to normal soon, but the reality was the most real.
Although the official did not say that trade was prohibited, the scale was already one-tenth less than it used to be. There were originally more than ten ferries outside the city, but now there are only less than two or three crossings, and there are only a few crossings.
No one can tell exactly why.
Imperial soldiers and horses were not allowed to cross the river without authorization. They needed to hold a document from the Ministry of War and obtain the consent of the other side. When they were in Qianjiang County, the local garrison advised them more than once.
However, Lao Jiu and Hao Yaoqi laughed wildly after having a feast, and then crossed the river to the west with more than a thousand soldiers and horses under their command. The shocked Qianjiang guard hurriedly sent people to Hanyang to report.
The sky was gloomy, stuffy and hot. Several corpses tied to tree trunks outside the woods by the river had long since dried up. Several birds swooped down from the sky and landed on the dry bones to eat.
Whoosh, whoosh, several rapid sounds broke through the air. The birds were frightened and spread their wings to fly, but they were nailed to the tree trunks. Blood dripped down the arrow shafts and onto the bones...
Several fast horses came galloping towards them. The first two shirtless men were Lao Jiu and Hao Yaoqi. Beads of sweat were dripping from their shirtless bodies. They frowned as they looked at the corpses.
Although the corpse was turned into white bones and unrecognizable, the clothes on the bones were immediately recognizable as the military uniforms of the imperial court.
There is no doubt that these corpses belong to officers and soldiers.
The meaning of tying the corpses of these officers and soldiers outside the woods near the ferry is self-evident.
Damn it, Lao Jiu cursed with a crooked mouth, but Hao Yaoqi just frowned and looked into the distance, looking thoughtful.
"Judging from the degree of decay of the clothes, the bones must be several months old." Zhu Chongsheng looked at the bones carefully and then said calmly: "It should be when Zuo Liangyu was alive..."
"People died at that time, but they may not be hanging here at that time." Lao Jiu snorted. A few months ago, Zuo Liangyu's tribe attacked Jingzhou. Although it was a fake one, they really did it with Ta Tianbao and the others.
, causing casualties to each other.
However, they would definitely not do such a childish thing at that time, hanging a few corpses of officers and soldiers to show off their power or to intimidate and warn.
It’s pointless and necessary.
Obviously this was done after the peace talks determined the sphere of influence.
During the warning, officers and soldiers must not cross the border.
But still very childish.
"I heard the governor say before that although the guards of Jingzhou are Niu Wancai and Ta Tianbao, they are actually the forces of the Fifth Battalion of Gezuo led by Ma Huihui. Now that Ma Huihui is dead, I don't know who is really in charge. Jiu Guan you
You know a lot, tell me." Lao Jiu stood under the tree and looked at the soldiers and horses crossing the river not far away: "The wind has blown a little bit, and the Jingzhou side should also know that we are coming."
Hao Yaoqi withdrew his gaze from a distance and landed on those words: "There is nothing to say, they are just a bunch of grass bandits."
Damn it, Lao Jiu couldn't help laughing: "You're pretty good at pretending now."
Hao Yaoqi seemed to feel that he was being too pretentious, and he grinned a little embarrassed: "Hey, I'm pretending a little bit, but I really don't look down on them."
Moreover, Lao Jiu curled his lips and said: "I still don't look down on them, but I heard that Li Chuang went to them when he was down and out."
"Hey, who hasn't been down and out yet? Li Chuang was his disciple back then, but it doesn't affect my opinion of them." Hao Yaoqi looked disdainful: "What do you think of Ma Huihui's group? It's not like fighting." That's it, but then again, he is indeed a good hand in managing the territory. Whether in the mountains or now in Jingzhou, the territory has been consolidated well in the world. Yang Sichang back then could not do anything to him, but now the Governor There is nothing adults can do..."
"Fart, who said that Lord Du Gong can't do anything, it's just..." Lao Jiu suddenly became unhappy, Hao Yaoqi quickly waved his hand to interrupt him: "Okay, okay, do you still want to listen to me?"
"I want to listen to what you say, but not to listen to your nonsense." Lao Jiu angrily said: "Not to mention Lord Governor, I am here to meet these idiots..."
"Okay, okay, you are the best..." Hao Yaoqi rolled his eyes: "Although Ma Huihui is dead, the old foundation of Gezuo Fifth Battalion is still there. I conquered a territory back then and later joined Zhang Xianzhong now. He took refuge with Li Chuang again. Over the years, whether working alone or relying on others, there has never been any chaos or dispersion. Lao Jiu, don’t underestimate the enemy."
After hearing this, Lao Jiu, who was still looking unruly, gradually became serious and glanced at Zhu Chongsheng next to him: "Lao Zhu, what do you think?"
Zhu Chongsheng was squatting on the ground pulling grass to feed his horse. Hearing this, he smiled blandly and said, "We'll see."
Damn it, I said it but I didn’t say it. Lao Jiu cursed and shouted in the distance: "Hurry up! It’s getting dark if you wait too long..."
After all the troops and horses crossed the river, it was indeed getting dark, and it started to rain. Surprisingly, the soldiers were not angry but happy, and even shouted louder.
Although marching in the rain was very difficult.
But they would rather be cooled by the rain than being so hot that they are sweating.
Hao Yaoqi finally finished telling what he knew about the Fifth Battalion of Gezuo, and finally made a conclusion: Li Chuang valued the Fifth Battalion of Gezuo very highly, and he also trusted Ma Huihui very much, so he entrusted the backyard to him. Although Ma Huihui is dead, his foundation and power are still there and cannot be underestimated.
Lao Jiu remained silent, while Zhu Chongsheng said: "To put it bluntly, the fifth camp of Gezuo belongs to Li Chuang and is its own family. Is that what it means? Why do we feel that Li Chuang has the same relationship with the imperial court now?"
Hao Yaoqi nodded: "Li Chuang has many factions in the mountains, no less than ten large and small, and the relationships among them are complicated. Except for a few, the fifth battalion of Ge Zuo is the most powerful outside the mountains, but they do not form cliques but form factions. No one dares to touch them, and even big blacksmiths don’t dare to offend them easily.”
"Just because they don't dare, it doesn't mean we don't dare." Lao Jiu returned to his usual unruly demeanor. He raised his head and opened his mouth to take a few mouthfuls of rain water: "I'm going to Jingzhou two hundred miles away. I want to see how many people there are." You dare to stop me!"