It is said that Li Guopei, the commander-in-chief of Jiangxi Province, suppressed bandits in Luoxiao Mountain and returned home with a great victory. Su Tao, the prefect, personally welcomed him out of the city gate. The civil and military officials held their arms and smiled. When they returned to the Yamen's left, they just boasted to each other and celebrated. Su Tao showed off.
Banquet reception.
Halfway through the play and drinking, Li Guopei winked at Jia Cong and pretended to attend the recess. After a while, Jia Cong also slipped out. He saw Li Guopei standing under the eaves of the corridor looking at the sky at a 45-degree angle. A middle-aged man unexpectedly
He also felt a bit bright and sad. He stepped forward and handed over his hands: "General Li."
Li Guopei still looked at the sky and said: "I will be depressed in the end."
Jia Cong blinked: "What's the reason?"
"I am in my prime, fighting all over the world." Li Guopei said, "I have just fought against bandits for a year, and it is like killing a chicken with a sledgehammer. Now there is nothing left to do."
"You want to go to war." Jia Cong touched his chin and thought, "War is the most expensive thing. You are still under the command of King Yan. King Yan has sent two groups of people to North America. There are gold mines in the west.
Send immigrants there; the east side is full of Europeans, Jarvis and Lin Daiyu are in charge of killing and not burying them. We, the bandits and green forest thieves, go over and help. There is no need to immigrate for the time being. But it is only for the time being. In fact, the land in the east of North America is more
Fertile, and because Westerners have been pioneering for 150 years, we just need to get rid of them and move our people directly there. There is a particularly big difficulty in immigrating to the east of North America. General Lee has also seen
People who chart the world, think about it."
Li Guopei still looked up at the sky, as if a huge world map was spread out in front of him, with the white clouds as the land and the sky as the ocean. After staring for a long time, Li Guopei said: "If we send the army over, our army is well-trained.
They have sophisticated firearms and excellent ships, so they are not afraid of pirates or warships from other countries. If they immigrate to the east of North America, they may be attacked."
Jia Cong nodded: "Warships cost money, and immigration ships cannot spend that much money. In fact, we are losing money by sending bandits there, a huge loss. But this cost must be spent. And immigration must be large and voluntary, and
Most people leave their hometowns because their families are poor. The ticket to North America is not cheap." He sighed softly, "How can ordinary people afford it?"
Li Guopei thought for a while and said: "Although they have to go around Africa, they can't protect themselves. It's not a problem. But in the end they have to pass through the waters near Spain and Portugal."
Instead, Jia Cong started talking about other topics: "Have you ever heard of Egypt?"
Li Guopei was slightly startled: "I read popular science books when I was in Taiwan. The history of that country is earlier than ours."
"One of the four ancient civilizations, it has experienced several rises and falls. It fell into the hands of the Ottoman Turks more than two hundred years ago and is now one of their provinces. In the past few years, Taoist Zhenming and others assassinated several intelligent figures in the Ottoman country, and then
The heir to the throne had only four children left, the oldest one was six years old this year. Last year, Liu Hu's eldest daughter Liu Mingqiu killed their sultan, the king of the country. So now the other country is on the verge of splitting. Do you remember the world map of Taiwan?
Are Suez and Port Said specifically marked on it?”
"Remember."
"About four thousand years ago, the Egyptian ruler dug a canal between the two, with a total length of about four hundred miles. After that, several generations of monarchs repaired or abolished it until it was completely abandoned about a thousand years ago."
Li Guopei suddenly understood what he meant and frowned slightly: "If it were in our country, a canal four hundred miles away would not be a problem. But overseas..."
"It is necessary to let local people repair it overseas. It is obviously inappropriate for us to transport people there." Jia Cong said, "I have already weighed the candidates, but the general is only good at naval warfare, and he is quite young and lacks experience. So.
The fact is that it is too important. They must have a veteran to go with them." He smiled bitterly and said, "We don't have any veteran at all. I was pleasantly surprised when I first met General Yang Guotai. I felt that this person was a gift from God. However...
… He doesn’t seem to be the best fit.”
Li Guopei's eyes moved: "Why?"
"If he goes to North and South America or Europe, he is suitable. In his early years, he followed General Shi and traveled across the northern border. He killed the enemy alive without leaving any survivors. He also massacred cities and killed prisoners. Although he was not in the army for many years, he always stood on the battlefield.
, the old habits will naturally return. And building the Suez Canal is not just about killing people. We can't transport workers there, it is too expensive. We must hire people locally to work, and we have to eat local food." Jia
Cong smiled and said, "Mr. Wan Zhang is quite suitable." He paused, "It's just that fighting in that place involves not only attacking, but also defending. You two partners have been guarding Jinggangshan for more than ten years, and you also have to fight with the officers and soldiers.
I have fought with other bandits, so I must have some experience."
Li Guopei thought about it for a long time without saying a word.
"I can guarantee two things. First, no one will touch the general's merits and reputation. Second, the general will be forever remembered in history, and will continue to exist in the geography of future generations until the demise of humankind on earth in this time and space.
In the textbook." He smiled, "Are you excited?"
Li Guopei looked sideways at him: "Who did you choose?"
"My fourth sister Jia Xichun."
Li Guopei was shocked: "What? Your sister?!"
"My fourth sister presided over the establishment of Dajiala City. What is a canal?"
Li Guopei frowned: "If I remember correctly, the weather in that area is hot, there is a lack of water, and there are many deserts."
"She traveled all over the country in her early years, including the northwest desert. Besides, before leaving, she must get married to my prospective fourth brother-in-law. The two of us have to take care of each other. The young general I mentioned who is good at naval warfare is my fourth brother-in-law Wu You."
Jia Cong raised his eyes and looked at Li Guopei intently, "Look, my sister and brother-in-law will go there, and all kinds of supplies are indispensable. It is too laborious to just use civilians to dig the canal. You can use artillery to blow it up first. I guarantee that the artillery will be given to you as soon as possible."
Okay. Later on, we need to build a cement plant locally. Well, I am purely an outsider in this area. My fourth sister has never built a canal, so we have to find some experts. After the canal is built, if the general wants to go elsewhere, he can do it.
You can also stay and guard the canal."
Li Guopei was silent for a moment: "I have to think about this."
"That's right." Jia Cong said, "Five groups of people have been to the preliminary survey, which took four years; the formal construction will take at least ten years."
"What do you want the army to do? Just guard it?"
Jia Cong breathed out: "That's not our territory, General! Although we need the local people to do things -" he paused for a long time, "after we finish, we still have to let them speak our words and stop their current behavior."
They converted their faith to Taoism. Only in this way can they become their own people. That area will be extremely important for hundreds of years to come and cannot be left to fall into the hands of foreigners."
Li Guopei looked at him for a long time: "Isn't Yang Guotai more suitable?"
"If you can civilize the local people, he won't have to go. However, it is impossible to civilize foreigners without a strong army." Jia Cong said seriously, "Civilization can only exist under the protection of force."
Li Guopei thought for a long time: "Would it be difficult to supply supplies?"
"It's not that difficult. We have the Malay Archipelago and have good relations with Shu. Shu will continue to push westward in the next few years and just use money to buy things from Tianzhu."
Li Guopei smiled bitterly and said: "Isn't Tianzhu not far away?"
Jia Cong also smiled bitterly: "It's better to be closer... much closer... than me."
"I'm afraid it will cost a lot of money. How much money does your family have?"
"Don't worry about money." Jia Cong smiled, "Didn't such a huge gold mine be discovered in North America?"
Li Guopei was stunned for a long time before he finally realized: "Gan Lei is yours!"
Jia Cong stretched out his hand and made a "v" sign: "Mei is not the only one who can do this kind of thing."
Li Guopei laughed heartily. After he finished laughing, he suddenly turned over and bowed down: "Meet my lord." Jia Cong was stunned for a moment. The person who was worshiped as lord in this life was Gong Kun many years ago. He sighed for two seconds and bent down.
He helped Li Guopei up. Li Guopei said, "My lord is much stronger than all the other princes. I am willing to do the hard work of dogs and horses."
Jia Cong said modestly: "I just had a few thoughts. The serious things are done by Gong Kun and my sister."
Li Guopei said sternly: "My lord is willing to build a canal for our descendants hundreds of years later, but he still builds it overseas. It costs a lot of money to build it, and it is not for the benefit of his own family. His far-sighted vision will make him fall in admiration."
Jia Cong put his hands behind his hands and smiled and said: "There is such a thing as vision. It is easy to see clearly from the downstream of the long river of history. It is nothing." Li Guopei's eyes were sharp.
That night, Li Guopei wrote to the King of Yan, saying that he had been in the mountains for many years and fought bandits for more than a year. He was quite tired and did not want to join the army. He asked to resign and become an ordinary citizen. He wanted to buy a house and have several concubines.
Several ships were heading to the West to sell their goods for maritime trade. Since Li Guopei was leaving, Yang Guotai had to stay. Anyone who knew him thought he was dead. Su Tao wrote to the King of Yan to seek credit for Yang Guotai.
It was written in the memorial: "This person's surname is Yang, and his given name is Tugen. He recently changed his name to Cathay."
King Yan's eyes almost dropped when he received Li Guopei's zhezi. He showed it to the counselors around him, and several of them said: "I'm afraid this man is old and obsessed with wealth. If the general has lost his fighting spirit, I'm afraid he will be useless."
That’s it.” King Yan said with great emotion.
Looking at Su Tao's excerpt again, he thought that Su Tao wanted to lure Yang Tugen into an official career and helped him change his name. He did remember Yang Guotai. But the name was too vulgar and he didn't think too much about it. Feng Ziying laughed and said
: "I heard that the Yang family in Yuzhang is a big family in the green forest, and there are many thieves." King Yan smiled at him and ordered him to check this person.
Later, Feng Ziying sent news that Yang Tugen was indeed from the Yang family in Yuzhang. He had a brother named Yang Shuigen who ran an inn. King Yan nodded: "Su Tao recommended this person, I'm afraid it was also to appease the place." It was just a general in his hands.
There were not many, and the North American side needed manpower the most. Since this Yang Tugen could defeat 40,000 bandits with three thousand grain escorts, he was obviously very capable. So he was given the title of deputy commander-in-chief and ordered Li Guopei to take him first and then resign.
Let’s talk about it later.
These are all things for later.
The affairs in Jiangxi were almost settled, and Jia Cong discussed with Chen Ruijin and others that it was time to go back. Chen Ruijin lazily said: "Miss Li Tao, should I make arrangements for you?"
Jia Cong was stunned: "Ah? She hasn't returned to secular life yet... Um, can she be a good person?"
Chen Ruijin glanced at him: "The great achievements she has made are just good deeds?"
"Isn't she unwilling to be our spy? How about...ask her what the situation is like at home, and ask Senior Brother Su to jump in for her family when he handles the case?" Jia Cong tapped the table with three or four fingers, "She doesn't
Is this why you reported the news?"
Chen Ruijin said seriously: "I've thought about it again. I'm afraid Li Tao is the one who deserves the most credit, but she can go past Yang Guotai. We can control other things. It's hard to say what would happen without her when the bandits suddenly attacked the city.
.I want to meet her tomorrow and ask her what she wants."
Jia Cong thought for a while and frowned slightly: "Don't make a wish casually. Since she wants to get married, she must want to be a girl from a good family. This is not Taiwan, and it is very feudal. Ordinary people from better families may not be willing to marry a fan.
She has to go to a foreign place where no one knows her origins and make up a good-looking identity at will so that she can live in peace. Otherwise, if her former benefactor bumps into her when her relatives and friends get together, something might happen."
"I know. I just want to persuade her to go to other places." Chen Ruijin said, "If she does not live well, I will not be able to live up to the great achievements she has made."
Jia Cong didn't expect this to be the reason. He felt hot in his heart and went forward to hug her. He buried his chin in the back of Chen Ruijin's neck and rubbed her gently. He murmured: "My wife, you are such a good person..." The corners of Chen Ruijin's mouth curled up slightly.
He got up and relaxed. He continued, "I am so discerning that I have married such a good wife." Chen Ruijin burst into laughter.
The next day, Chen Ruijin left a message for Li Tao and asked her to meet at a tea shop. Li Tao arrived on time. After listening to Chen Ruijin's explanation of his purpose, he lowered his head and said, "I've thought about it. Why don't I just marry Lao Hu?"
Head. He was really happy that day when he saw that I was still alive."
Chen Ruijin frowned: "He really likes you, but you are too old. Besides, do you like him?"
Li Tao smiled bitterly: "Am I already young? What else can I choose with my status?"
Chen Ruijin thought for a moment and said: "I thought you were a very confident woman. It turns out that you don't understand your strengths, only your shortcomings. If you think about yourself based on your shortcomings, you will inevitably underestimate yourself. Miss Li, I sincerely
I advise you to stay in Dajiala for a while. It doesn’t need to be too long, just half a year. Otherwise, it will be a pity for you." She took out an object from her arms and handed it over.
Li Tao took it and saw that it was a copper plate with the word "Pass" engraved on it, and the lower three lines of an unknown country's characters twisting around. On the back, there was a whole side of weird patterns, and it was impossible to tell what it was.
Chen Ruijin handed over a few more banknotes: "The pass allows you to enter many schools in Dajiala. This is three thousand banknotes, which is enough for you to visit for more than half a year. Go and have a look, listen to the teacher's lectures at the school, and visit
Go to museums, art galleries, and concert halls to listen to concerts. By the way, last year they were doing dramas and musicals. I saw the rehearsals and they were quite interesting. They have probably been officially staged now."
Li Tao held the bronze medal and rubbed it for a while: "I... want to change my name."
"This is easy." Chen Ruijin said with a smile, "I will open a back door for you and it will be done tomorrow."
Li Tao looked up at her and said softly: "Third Grandma is such a good person."
Chen Ruijin suddenly remembered what Jia Cong said yesterday and chuckled: "I just want to try my best to be fair."