Ji Tang

Chapter 541 Overseas Notes: Race against Time

After Ji Qing finished handling all the affairs in Chang'an, he headed east to Tongguan without stopping.

In terms of time, Wang Xuance had just crossed the Wei River when Ji Qing set off, but he had no intention of waiting!
Time is running out, and sir must have been extremely anxious. For every quarter of an hour of delay, one of the people may die.

Therefore, they did not cherish the horsepower at all along the way, they just ran all the way!
Ordinary people would have been unable to bear such a high-intensity rapid march.

But these people are different. They have been trained to death by their family's soldiers since they were young. They have grown up, and their armed strength is no more than that of a lieutenant general in the army.

Until they arrived at Tongguan, these people began to rest!
To be honest, there were hundreds of people galloping forward with two horses, and the Tongguan guard was so frightened that he almost closed the door after learning about it.

Fortunately, Ji Qing arrived first and took out the imperial edict, documents from the three provinces, and the order from the Ministry of War, which made the general guarding the gate feel relieved.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Ji Qing didn't waste any time and let everyone rest for two hours, prepare dry food, and then set off immediately.

Chang'an is almost three thousand miles away from Dengzhou. If you want to get there in the shortest time, you can't even think about it if you don't have five days.

Just keep going without stopping.

But the matter has come to this, and there is no way out.

After eating, everyone took a short rest and then started on their way again.

Apart from taking necessary breaks and replenishing food and supplies, there were basically no stops along the way. Sometimes even eating was done on horseback.

It wasn’t until I was in Luoyang that I had one night’s rest!
Two days had passed at this time, and even with everyone's physical strength, it was a bit unbearable, so Ji Qing had to take a night's rest.

We continued our journey the next day and waited until we reached Handan before resting again.
When Ji Qing was planning to take a rest, Liu Xiancheng and Xue Li had already arrived at the boundary of Dengzhou.

"First of all, let's take a rest. You really can't rush."

After five days and five nights of traveling, they had reached their limit. If it hadn't been for the belief in their hearts, they would have collapsed long ago.

Everywhere they went along the way, someone would send the horses to the road they must pass in advance. This was notified in advance by Ying'er with a letter.

Otherwise, it would take a lot of time to change horses every time. Except for resting when they were really sleepy, they would spend the rest of the time on the horse.

Whether it was Liu Xiancheng or Xue Li, they already felt that their butts were no longer theirs.

Don’t think that riding a horse is easy. It requires not only skills but also physical strength.

Otherwise, if you are traveling in such a hurry, you will fall apart even if you don't get thrown off your horse.

Fortunately for Xue Li, whether it was his martial arts or physical strength, he was absolutely superior to Liu Xiancheng. This was why Ji Qing wanted them to go together!

"No, we must prepare everything before Brother Qing and the others arrive!"

He endured the discomfort and gritted his teeth.

At this time, the war horses under them were foaming at the mouth, and they were reaching their limit.

Xue Li saw that Liu Xiancheng could not be persuaded, so he stopped talking. The whip sounded and his speed increased a lot.

"Xue Li!"

Liu Xiancheng held back his body that was about to faint and shouted loudly.

Xue Li, who was in front, was stunned and quickly reined in his horse to stop.

Pfft!
Liu Xiancheng fell from his horse.

Xue Li was shocked and quickly dismounted to check.

"You immediately go to Dengzhou to find Governor Yao and the others. This is sir's token. They will understand after seeing it."

Liu Xiancheng took out a jade ring and handed it to Xue Li.

"Then what should you do? With your current condition."

Liu Xiancheng waved his hand to interrupt him and said: "Don't worry about me, don't forget, there is still it."

Xue Li looked at the sky, where Ying Er and four smaller eagles were circling above them.

"it is good."

Xue Li gritted his teeth and said, "You rest here first. I will come to pick you up as soon as I find Governor Yao."

After finishing speaking, he took Liu Xiancheng to a big tree.

He put all the clothes of the two of them on him, lit a fire next to it, and drove away the wild beasts, then gritted his teeth and left.

Liu Xiancheng leaned against a big tree and was wearing Xue Li's clothes. He felt deeply sleepy. He could no longer hold on and fell into a deep sleep.

Although it was not the twelfth lunar month of winter, he still covered Liu Xiancheng with clothes.

It was not very far from Dengzhou now. As long as he hurried, he could get back before dark.

It only takes half a day!

Xue Li left, and Ying Er kept patrolling the sky, lowering his height from time to time, as if he was observing Liu Xiancheng.

'Squeak, squeak! '

The sound of wheels sounded in the silent wilderness. This was a carriage and a team of two knights.

At first glance, it doesn't look like an ordinary home, but how did you end up here?
You know, there are no villages or shops here. Even the nearest Dengzhou Express is half a day away.

"stop!"

The leading knight raised his arms to signal everyone to stop.

"what happened?"

At this time, a voice like an oriole sounded from the carriage, the curtains opened, and a girl with a curtain appeared in front of everyone.

Although the whole picture cannot be seen, and the body is not visible under the dress, judging from her figure, she must be a girl.

"Little lady, something is wrong!"

The guard's words stunned the girl. She frowned and said, "Now that the bandits in the Tang Dynasty have been wiped out by the government, are there still people who can't rob them?"

Although the girl speaks very softly, there is an aura of freedom in her that no one dares to ignore!
The guard said in a solemn voice: "Little lady, please look!"

The girl looked along the guard's direction, and when she saw a huge eagle hovering in the sky with four smaller ones, a look of surprise appeared on her face.

"Why are they?" the girl asked in surprise.

The guard was stunned. He had been observing several eagles for a long time. What surprised him was that they had been hovering over an area for such a long time and never left.

I thought something happened in front of me, but the young lady looked like she knew these eagles?
The girl covered her lips and said with a smile on her eyebrows: "Uncle Zhong, you have been in your hometown for a long time, so it's not surprising that you don't know this!"

"Are you a good prince today?"

The guard was surprised and said: "But the horse trampled the Turkic royal court and captured Jie Li's good Hou Ji Song alive?"

The girl nodded: "Yes, it's him."

She looked at the eagles again and said: "These eagles should be the training eagles raised by Hao Fanghou. The big one should be one of them, and the four smaller ones behind them. If my guess is correct, they should be Two falconry children.”

But then he frowned and said, "But that shouldn't be the case. The Marquis Hao has been appointed by His Majesty as one of the Thirteen Ambassadors to be deposed. Grandpa said that he should have gone to Jiangdong, but why are they here?"

"No, Hao Jiehou's falcon training has become spiritual. Something must have happened ahead. Let's go and take a look."

The girl seemed to have thought of something and quickly urged.

The guard hesitated a little and said: "Little lady, I have been asked to escort you home safely, so it's better not to cause trouble."

Uncle Zhong's meaning is very clear, that is, we are on our way, so we should not meddle in other people's business.But the girl said angrily: "If you don't go, I will."

After saying that, he got off the carriage.

"No, little lady!"

Uncle Zhong was shocked, but seeing the girl's stubborn eyes, he could only smile bitterly and said: "Forget it, I'll let someone go and investigate first."

Hearing Uncle Zhong let go, the girl immediately beamed.

Uncle Zhong's eyes were even more helpless, and he said to the guard beside him: "Go and investigate, remember, don't get too close, and report immediately if anything happens!"

The guard agreed and rode away.

Uncle Zhong really didn't want to take care of these things. Since they entered the border of Yuzhou, they were almost stranded on the road many times. Floods even destroyed farmland, and begging victims began to appear in various places.

He didn't dare to think about it. If the imperial court couldn't provide disaster relief or deliver enough food, God knew what kind of tragedy would happen.

The disaster this time was huge. He heard that floods of varying degrees occurred in Shandong, Huaihe and Hainan. It was really not suitable to stay outside. It was the right way to visit his hometown as soon as possible.

"Look, it's back."

Uncle Zhong, who was lost in thought, was stunned when he saw the guards sent out returning.

So fast?
If he didn't have absolute trust in the guard, he would have doubted whether the guard was lazy?
"Brother, he is a human being."

The guard took a breath and said, "He is a young man in his twenties, and he has a good horse with him, but he looks like he has been frothing at the mouth after traveling for a long time."

"The man seemed to have fainted. I wanted to investigate, but unexpectedly I was attacked by an eagle in the sky."

The guard smiled bitterly, not expecting that one day he would be attacked by an animal.

After hearing this, the girl hurriedly said: "Let's go over quickly. The people who can be protected by the good eagles must be our own people. Let's go over and have a look."

This time Uncle Zhong didn't hesitate and hurried forward.

If it were anyone else, he wouldn't bother to care about these things so as not to cause trouble.

But Hao Jiehou was different. Not to mention that he was someone he admired, not to mention that his family had a good relationship with the Ji family, so there was no reason to ignore him.

Everyone came forward and were shocked when they saw the person in front of them!
At this time, Liu Xiancheng no longer looked like the elegant scholar he used to be. He was covered in dust, his clothes were dirty, and his hair was disheveled. Even if he was a refugee, some people would believe him.

I have been traveling for many days, not to mention washing up, but even eating on horseback. How can I have time to clean up after myself?

The girl first waved to the eagle in the sky as if to say hello.

The girl is Kong Yingda's granddaughter, and she happens to be returning to her hometown this time.

He used to often go to the Haojihou Mansion with his mother, and he also saw Ying Da Ying Er.

Perhaps Ying Er recognized the person, because it barked hurriedly in the sky, as if to respond.

"Uncle Zhong, let's see how he is doing?"

She didn't know Liu Xiancheng. After all, Liu Xiancheng had gone to Mingzhou since the fourth year of Zhenguan to preside over shipbuilding with Ji Qing and others.

After that, he went to sea three times to explore the sea. Many people knew about him, but not many people had actually seen him.

The girl just thought that the other party was from the Hao Jiehou Mansion, and didn't think much about it. It was important to save people first!

Uncle Zhong tentatively took a few steps forward and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that the falcon in the air did nothing but stare at him closely.

He stepped forward to check for a moment, then returned to the girl and said: "It must be that he has not rested for many days and has been traveling for days, so he fell asleep."

"what!"

The girl covered her mouth and exclaimed.

What can make people so anxious?
From the looks of it, he must have been put here specially, otherwise there wouldn't be so many clothes for him.

She could imagine that when this man really couldn't go on his way, but in order not to delay things, his companion put him here first while she continued on her way.
After thinking about it, she asked Uncle Zhong to take the person to the carriage and let the maid take care of him.

Everyone started to rush on their way again, and Uncle Zhong discovered that the falcons had been following them and circling in the sky.

"Miss, who do you think he could be?" the maid asked curiously.

The girl said angrily: "How do I know? But he doesn't look like a messenger, he looks like a scholar."

Thinking of this, a red cloud suddenly appeared on her face, thinking of the stories she had seen of those talented men and beauties before.
I sighed secretly in my heart and forced myself not to think about this.

But if I saved him, does it count as a hero's rescue? Should it be a beauty who saves a hero?
Fortunately, Liu Xiancheng fell asleep at this time. If he knew what the girl was thinking, he would have to say: Girl, wake up.
Not to mention Liu Xiancheng's affair, Xue Li quickly arrived at the governor's office in Dengzhou. Before he could get off his horse, the horse under him staggered and threw him off his back.

Xue Li didn't rush. He flipped a few times in the air and rolled a few times on the ground before he relieved most of his strength.

The yamen servant in front of the governor's yamen saw it and hurriedly stepped forward to check.

"Who are you? Don't you know this is the Governor's Mansion? You don't want to live anymore and want to cause trouble here? Why don't you leave quickly?"

Xue Li endured his physical discomfort and said in a solemn voice: "My lord, Xue Li, hurry up and report to the governor Yao, saying that you have one hundred thousand urgent matters to report."

The yamen servant was stunned and looked at Xue Li. Although he was very dirty, he could tell that it was made of good quality fabrics and he must not be an ordinary person.

This man was exhausted and looked like he had been traveling for a long time.

Seeing the yamen's hesitation, Xue Li took out his husband's token without hesitation and said, "Give this to Governor Yao and he will understand."

When the yamen servant saw a crystal clear jade ring, he knew it was worth a lot.

Without any hesitation at the moment, he respectfully accepted the jade ring and hurried in to report it!
Xue Li seemed to have completed the task at this time, and the physical fatigue came over him like a wave.

He pinched his thigh hard a few times, and then he felt a little more energetic.

Governor's Mansion, backyard.

Yao Chang was talking to Liu Zhan, who was already the top person in charge of Dengzhou Port.

They looked sad, as if they had encountered something difficult.

"What do you think this is? Shandong had just started to improve, and then it encountered a flood that had not happened in ten years. The fertile farmland was washed away, and the people suddenly lost hope.

If the chaos of Wang Bo in the previous dynasty happens again, what will happen? "

They can't help but worry. Shandong has only slowly improved in the past few years, but this flood has brought all previous efforts back to their original form.

Food, or food.

Nothing could be said now. If there was no food relief, he couldn't believe that the people would starve to death?
They're all going to die anyway, so it's better to just rob them.

But what is different now from the previous dynasty is that there is no food for them to plunder in Shandong at this time.

Shandong and other places have been beaten to pieces long ago, so how can they still have food?

Even a wealthy family doesn't have much food.

"Your Majesty, there is someone outside asking to see you!"

Suddenly, a voice sounded. Yao Chang was stunned for a moment, and then said angrily: "You bastard, didn't you see that the governor was receiving guests?"

The yamen servant quickly said: "This is a token given by the visitor. It is said that you will know it at a glance. I don't dare to neglect it."

Neither Yao Chang nor Liu Zhan listened to what he said next.

When they saw this jade ring, they had only one thought in their minds, that is, the victims could be saved.
(End of this chapter)