All matters in the mansion were arranged. The unarranged inner courtyard was handed over to Madam Xiao, and the outer courtyard was handed over to the old Duke. Ye Chen and Shen Qiu only brought a change of clothes. The carriage was filled with various valuables placed by Jin'er, as well as a box of banknotes.
Chen Qiu hugged An An, kissed his little face again and again, and then handed him to the nanny. "Take your child back to the mansion. We don't know when we will be back. If you can't go home, take him back so that he can keep An An company."
Then he looked at Madam Xiao and said, "Grandmother, the servants, Xing'er and Nanny Sun, will make arrangements today. From now on, all doors will be locked except for the side door next to the kitchen and the main door. Fuxia ran away from Xiangguo Temple. Just in case, please be careful."
"You have to be careful when you go out. You don't have to worry about us at home. I don't think Fuxia will have the courage to come again." Although the old Duke still needs a cane, he looks no different from an ordinary old man now. With Lan Yu around, Chen Qiu is still very relieved about the health of the people in the mansion.
No matter how careful the arrangements are, they may not be foolproof if something goes wrong, so it still depends on how they respond.
A thousand Kyoto defenders arrived early in the morning, led by a lieutenant general named Wang Lufeng. "General Wang Lufeng greets His Majesty the Duke."
"No need to be so polite, Lieutenant General Wang. I only brought the coachman with me. I'll have to trouble you with the rest of the journey." Ye Chen bowed to Wang Lufeng. His respect for Wang Lufeng made Wang Lufeng a little bit unbelievable. Although he was a lieutenant general, he was only a seventh-rank official, and Ye Chen was now a second-rank governor, leading the emperor to tour the northwest.
"You are too polite, my Lord. I will go and prepare first. We will set off at the end of the morning hour."
"good"
At the end of the hour of Mao, two soldiers on tall horses led the way, followed by an ordinary carriage, and then dozens of carriages loaded with food and supplies, with soldiers on horseback guarding on both sides. They set out from the north gate of Kyoto in a mighty procession. The carriages in the front had already left the city, and there were still carriages at the back that had not set off yet.
The Great Yin had a pavilion every ten miles and an inn every fifty miles, but they had more people and more horses, plus more food than could fit on the carts, so they found a place to set up camp outside the inn.
Lieutenant General Wang was in charge of delivering food to each other, so naturally Ye Chen didn't have to worry about the night patrols. "Xiao Chenzi, at this rate, when can we reach the northwest?"
"It will take at least half a month, and at most a month. The northwest is dry, but it rains a lot from Kyoto to Yushan Pass, and the road is difficult to travel after it rains. But if we don't hurry to the northwest, the food will get moldy or sprout in a humid place, and then we won't be able to eat it. So after we rest today, we have to speed up our journey starting tomorrow." Chen Qiu took over Xiao Hang's words. She was very familiar with this road. She made a round trip every year, and she had been walking it for five years. She basically knew the postmasters of every post station on the road.
"Qiu'er is familiar with this road. Does Qiu'er have any suggestions?" Ye Chen asked Chen Qiu.
Chen Qiu shook his head. "We have too much stuff to carry. I don't have any good suggestions, but... do you have a map? I can show you."
Upon hearing this, Ye Chen took out a silk roll from a box on the carriage, opened it and placed it in front of Shen Qiu. Shen Qiu moved his fingers to find that position.
"Look here, on the road from Jinyong County to An County, the two counties are the farthest apart on the entire route, and there's only one small town in between. This town only makes one thing: bricks. If it doesn't rain, we can ideally get from Jinyong County to An County in a single day. If it does, we'll have to wait for the road to dry out before we can go."
Xiao Hang touched his chin, not understanding what Chen Qiu said, "If it's raining now, can't we just leave when the rain stops?"
Chen Qiu glanced at Xiao Hang. Who said he'd traveled all over the Great Yin Kingdom? "The road between these two counties is all clay. If it rains, the road is completely unwalkable. How can you walk when every step you take weighs a few pounds of mud? Even if people can't walk, carriages are even more difficult to walk."
"Because it's close to water, this town only makes bricks. This town is called Brick King Town, right?" Ye Chen asked Chen Qiu.
Chen Qiu nodded in agreement. "The bricks in this town are the best in Dayin. Every household makes bricks, and the largest family is named Wang. Although this road is difficult to travel, it is safe. This is our biggest difficulty."
Chen Qiu pointed to a mountain, "Zhaoyao Mountain"
"Yes, one hundred and fifty miles out of An County we will enter the mountainous area of Zhaoyao Mountain. The official road inside is easy to travel, but it is a place where filth and dirt are hidden. There are at least forty-nine bandit dens, if not fifty. The main reason is that this mountain range is too big. We will mainly take this route. There are two difficult guys on this route. One is a woman named Hongling, who calls herself the flower of Zhaoyao Mountain, but she is indeed good-looking. The other is an old man who loves to tease people. They don't rob civilians, but only officials and wealthy businessmen." Chen Qiu got a headache when he thought of these two people. He had to fight with them twice every year. Later, Chen Qiu wanted to change the road. If he hadn't thought about having fought so many times, he would be reluctant to change to another person suddenly. He would have changed the route long ago.
"Can we take another route? For example, this one? Although it takes a detour, we can still get there." Ye Chen pointed to another road that was a little farther away.
Chen Qiu shook his head and disagreed. "This road is not only difficult to travel, but also has more bandit dens. The two people on the road ahead bullied everyone else and drove them away. Now there are only two of them on this road, and some small villages that rely on them. So this road is still the best."
The three of them sorted out the situations that were likely to be encountered on the road. Ye Chen summarized Chen Qiu's suggestions and communicated with Admiral Wang after dinner.
"This is the specific situation on this road that I know about. Does General Wang have any suggestions or ideas?" Ye Chen told General Wang the information and suggestions he had summarized from Chen Qiu.
Wang Lufeng pondered for a moment, then nodded, "I served in the military in the northwest before, and I know the situation along this road. It was just a bit more chaotic back then, so I guess I haven't understood it since I came back. Since Your Majesty has already grasped the situation, I'll leave it to Your Majesty to direct my orders."
Ye Chen was very satisfied with Wang Lufeng. Such an obedient and listenable soldier was very popular. "Okay, I'll trouble you, Lieutenant General Wang, to take care of the night patrol. We will set off early tomorrow morning. It is important that the soldiers can get a good rest."
"Yes, I understand. I promise not to delay the trip." After Wang Lufeng came out of Ye Chen's tent, he looked back at Ye Chen's tent again. No one knew what he was thinking, and then he went back to chatting and laughing with his soldiers.
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