Starting from the imperial palace guards, his clones spread all over the world

#35 - Tanhualang

The Western Desert.

The wind and sand that filled the sky finally began to subside.

Liang Jin's clone originally thought that this sandstorm would last only a few hours at most.

But who would have thought that the sandstorm would last a full day and night.

In the sandstorm, most of the camels ran away.

Liang Jin relied on his hands to hold back two camels, which prevented all the camels from running away.

After the sandstorm subsided, half of Liang Jin's body was buried in the sand.

After he crawled out of the sand and shook his clothes, he heard a faint cry for help.

So Liang Jin reached out his hand and pulled the young man, who was also sheltering from the sandstorm, out of the sand.

This young man had been seriously ill, and now his body was extremely weak.

He lay on the ground, opened his chapped mouth and couldn't speak, just pointed to the luggage on a camel, his throat making non-stop noises.

"Is there water in there?"

Liang Jin was slightly puzzled, so he stepped forward, took off the luggage, brought it to the young man, and opened it.

But after opening it, what appeared inside was a set of official robes and an official seal.

Seeing that it wasn't water, Liang Jin was greatly disappointed, and casually threw these things aside.

This thing is useless in this desert.

However, the young man pounced on it and held the official robe and official seal tightly in his arms.

As if these things were more important than his life.

Liang Jin then searched in the luggage of another camel, and fortunately found water and dry food.

After he ate and drank for a while, he threw the remaining water to the young man.

After the young man gulped down a few mouthfuls of water, he finally regained his strength and could speak:

"Thank you for your help, benefactor!"

"My name is Gao Hongzhe, I am extremely grateful!"

"I haven't asked for your honorable name, benefactor."

As he spoke, he bowed deeply to Liang Jin.

Liang Jin looked at this guy who called himself Gao Hongzhe and replied:

"My name is… Meng Xinghun."

Liang Jin just made up a fake name and then asked him:

"Are you an official?"

This Gao Hongzhe was too young.

And he didn't have the aura of a bureaucrat, but rather the Confucian air of a scholar, and even a bit of naivety.

But he had an official seal and official robes, and seemed to be a newly appointed official.

Gao Hongzhe proudly replied:

"Brother Meng, to be honest, I am this year's Tanhua!"

"Now I am even the prefect of Hanzhou, personally appointed by His Majesty!"

Liang Jin smiled:

"Are you kidding me?"

"Why would a Tanhua need to run to this ghostly place?"

"And the prefect of Hanzhou? This official position has been abolished for many years, and I have never heard of a Tanhua serving as the prefect of Hanzhou in our dynasty."

Seeing that Liang Jin didn't believe him, Gao Hongzhe hurriedly took out various official documents from his luggage to prove his identity.

Then he gave a thorough explanation, which gradually made Liang Jin believe him.

It turned out.

After Gao Hongzhe became the new Tanhua, he originally had a bright future. If nothing unexpected happened, he could work in the Hanlin Academy and marry the daughter of a high-ranking official.

But the bad thing was that this Gao Hongzhe was a "zealous youth."

In the past two years, the imperial court has become increasingly weak and unable to invest more money in the chaotic bottomless pit of the Western Desert.

So it finally decided to completely abandon the Western Desert and withdraw all the people and horses from the Western Desert.

After Gao Hongzhe learned about this, he was always depressed.

So after he became the new Tanhua, he spoke up for the Western Desert, which caused a stir in the court.

In the end, His Majesty appointed Gao Hongzhe as the prefect of Hanzhou to take office in the Western Desert.

After listening, Liang Jin sighed greatly:

"So the Western Desert has not belonged to Daqian for two years…"

If it weren't for Gao Hongzhe, he would still think that the Western Desert still belonged to Daqian, but its rule was weak.

It seems that the imperial court chose to deal with this matter in a low-key manner, so the people know very little about it, and only those in the temple are clear about it.

Gao Hongzhe said angrily:

"The imperial court has given up, but I will not give up."

"We scholars should aspire to recover the Western Desert for the country!"

Liang Jin glanced at Gao Hongzhe and shook his head greatly:

"What's the point of you, a Tanhua who has been demoted and exiled, saying such big words?"

A new Tanhua would never be reduced to being an official in this Western Desert.

Liang Jin could also guess that this Gao Hongzhe had offended His Majesty.

After all, abandoning the Western Desert happened during His Majesty's reign, which can't be considered a glorious thing.

Even the imperial court chose to deal with it in a low-key manner and did not publicize it.

But this new Tanhua actually talked about this matter in the court several times, forcing His Majesty.

In a fit of anger, His Majesty naturally rewarded him with a nominal official position and let him roll to this barren land to fend for himself.

Gao Hongzhe refused to accept it:

"I am a prefect of the fourth rank, and my power is even greater than that of the same-level prefects."

"This is the emperor's grace, how did it become demotion and exile in your mouth?"

Liang Jin asked:

"Daqian doesn't have a single soldier in Hanzhou, and His Majesty didn't send anyone to escort you to take office."

"Just you with those few short-lived followers, do you really think you can accomplish anything here?"

Gao Hongzhe was still arguing.

As a scholar, he naturally speaks eloquently.

But his voice became weaker and weaker, obviously lacking confidence.

As a Tanhua, he is naturally extremely smart. Liang Jin's two sentences hit the nail on the head and made him understand everything.

Or rather, he already understood, but he still didn't want to believe it, so he kept deceiving himself.

In the end, Gao Hongzhe could only raise his voice and say:

"Now that I'm here, I won't back down."

"Even if I die in office, I will never let the world laugh at me!"

Liang Jin gave a thumbs up:

"What a spirit!"

"May I ask Tanhua, where do you plan to go now?"

Among scholars, there are more who are stubborn than those who are tough.

Liang Jin didn't take Gao Hongzhe's bold words too seriously.

Gao Hongzhe replied:

"Naturally, I'm going to Hanzhou City."

"My followers and I originally planned to go to Dingfeng City nearby to rest our feet before continuing on our way."

"But I didn't expect that now only I am still alive…"

Speaking of this, Gao Hongzhe's face was full of sadness.

He really didn't expect this Western Desert to be so dangerous, and so many people were lost halfway.

Liang Jin continued to ask:

"Then may I ask Tanhua, which direction should we go to Dingfeng City now?"

Gao Hongzhe stood up:

"Naturally…"

He stretched out his hand to point in a direction, but in the end his face was full of surprise.

After a sandstorm, the surrounding terrain has completely changed.

Gao Hongzhe looked around and didn't see any familiar places.

This made Gao Hongzhe dare not make a rash judgment.

Otherwise, if he accidentally goes in the wrong direction, he will really die in this desert.

Liang Jin shook his head helplessly, it seems that this Tanhua cannot be relied on.

So he decisively opened the panel and activated the [Thousand Mile Tracking] feature.

Liang Jin immediately entered Gao Hongzhe's name:

"Let me see if this guy is deceiving me."

In Liang Jin's heart, he maintained a certain suspicion of Gao Hongzhe's words.

After all, so many people died in the quicksand before, and only Gao Hongzhe survived, which inevitably made Liang Jin more careful.

He had also heard that a strange thing had happened in Daqian:

A county magistrate took his followers to take office, but was killed halfway. The followers simply impersonated the county magistrate to take office, and it was not revealed until many years later.

So Liang Jin also needs to confirm.

On the panel, a string of information quickly popped up.

[Target: Gao Hongzhe]

[Location: Desert]

[Strength: None]

[Martial Arts: None]

At the same time, a portrait photo was also displayed on the panel.

Also appearing was a map and a red dot, representing Gao Hongzhe's location.

Liang Jin looked at the portrait photo and confirmed it:

"It seems that this guy didn't lie to me."

The portrait matches the name, and the name matches the official documents.

With the map, Liang Jin can easily judge the direction.