The Great Wei Music Bureau

Chapter 292 Let’s start again

Last time, Li Yi listened to Taoist Tao Xuan telling the story of the past between Lu Sheng and Niangniang Tai'an, and the reason why Niangniang Tai'an wanted to eat souls. This time, let's continue reading and see what Li Yi will do next.

After returning to the City Lord's Mansion, Li Yi began to prepare for another journey, because their next stop was Xingxing Canyon. Before that, the Zoroastrian High Priest Lu Sheng had threatened to deal with him in Xingxing Gorge, so he must not be careless.

On this day, housekeeper Zhou prepared food and salt. Li Yi was about to put these things into the sack when the guards of the city lord's mansion came to report that the caravan from Gaochang had arrived with their goods. This was the first caravan to come to Dunhuang from the northwest grassland since the beginning of spring, which meant that the trade route from Dunhuang to Gaochang was opened.

Li Yi accompanied Wei Lue and Baozhu Faluo to receive the long-awaited guests. Needless to say, they ate and drank a lot. When Li Yi drank the pure wine of Gaochang, he was very happy. Before that, he could only occasionally drink the imitation wine of Liangzhou, which was a world of difference compared to the real Gaochang wine.

Others may not know, but Li Yi knows very well what Gaochang Kingdom produces. Gaochang Kingdom is now the Turpan Basin. In addition to wine, there are also various fruits. However, this time the Gaochang Kingdom's caravan only brought wine. After all, this is a real luxury.

Without saying anything, Li Yi assured the merchants from Gaochang that he would accept all the wine they brought, and asked them to send someone back to ask them to bring more goods from home.

You have to know that these 20 carts of wine are not a small business, and not everyone can take it. Wei Lue was unsure, so he asked Li Yi after the banquet. Li Yi smiled and said, "Your most important task as the Lord of Dunhuang is to seize the market and make more money, so as to collect taxes and provide financial support for the Wei Dynasty. I will teach you how to do this business, but you have to study it yourself in the future!"

The next day, Li Yi brought Wei Lue, Gu Zhou and others to find Guazhou's chief general Guo Chong. On the one hand, he wanted to act as a matchmaker, and on the other hand, he wanted to prevent middlemen from making a profit from the price difference. After all, he wanted Wei Lue to be the middleman.

Guo Chong had been the garrison commander in Guazhou for some time. He knew that this wine was a hot commodity, especially after it ran out of stock last winter. This first batch of Gaochang wine would definitely sell for a higher price. So the two sides hit it off immediately, and this first deal went very smoothly!

The Gaochang caravan didn't expect to get paid so quickly for such a big business, and of course they were overjoyed. They specially booked a restaurant and cooked their own food to entertain Wei Lue, Li Yi and others. During the meal, they learned that Li Yi was from Wei, and they actually expressed their yearning for Wei.

After careful inquiry, I learned that a large number of people from the Central Plains migrated to Gaochang during the Qin Dynasty. The number of people from the Central Plains in Gaochang is now greater than that of the Qiang and Di tribes. Even the king of Gaochang is from the Central Plains, with a surname of Ma and a name of Ru. It is conceivable that Gaochang basically followed the old system of the Qin Dynasty and the customs of the Central Plains.

The caravan members also said that after experiencing this disaster on the grassland, the King of Gaochang intended to pay tribute to the State of Wei and move the country eastward!

When Li Yi heard this, he thought: Damn, there is such a good thing in the world that the whole country surrenders? I must not let it go! A surprise attack on Tuyuhun, a single army conquered a country, and then recovered Dunhuang. If Gaochang surrendered, the name of the Tiger Guard Army would be known!

If I can take down Gaoche Kingdom, then I will have conquered half of the Western Regions! Yuanjun, how lucky are you?

So, Li Yi went to Liu Xun to discuss the matter of surrendering Gaochang. Now, Liu Xun's admiration for Li Yi was like a torrent of water, because the previous memorial had been approved and the emperor fully affirmed the achievements of him and the Tiger Guards, and all kinds of rewards were of the highest standard.

So after listening to Li Yi's words, Liu Xun directly replied: "Li Yuefu, no, now I have to call you Lord Li for life!"

Li Yi was surprised and asked, "Lord? When did I become a Lord?"

Liu Xun asked in confusion: "Why? You don't know about this? His Majesty has already made you a baron!"

Li Yi cursed: "Fuck, I really don't know! Is there an order?"

"Yes, of course there is. Didn't Eunuch Zhou send you the decree?"

"Fuck, Zhou is so good, he actually dared to play tricks on me! It's okay, I will go and settle the score with him later! Let's discuss the serious matter of surrendering Gaochang first."

There are two routes from Dunhuang to Gaochang. One is through Xingxing Gorge and Kunmo to Gaochang; the other is to cross the Gobi Desert.

Although crossing the Gobi Desert was the shortest route, it was full of dangers, and without Li Yi, their logistics were not guaranteed, so they could only choose to go through Xingxing Gorge. But this involved another problem, which was the threat of the Zoroastrian high priest.

Lu Sheng would not allow Li Yi to interfere in the affairs of the Western Regions, and naturally would not allow the Wei army to enter the Western Regions. Since it was a threat to Li Yi, it was naturally at the level of the Transcendent Realm, so he had to wait until Li Yi broke through the ambush in Xingxing Gorge before he could let the Huben Army march forward. In this way, Li Yi had to speed up his pace.

In addition to the marching route, the two also determined the strategy of surrender, which was to not only demonstrate military might but also the demeanor of a great power, and to convey a central idea to the King of Gaochang: there was no need to migrate the entire country, as Gaochang City was a Feng Shui treasure land in the desert Gobi. As long as Gaochang was willing to submit to Wei, Wei would send soldiers to guard Gaochang and prevent the Qiang and Di tribes and the Gaoche Kingdom from looting Gaochang.

After the discussion, Li Yi immediately rushed back to Dunhuang to make the final preparations, that is, to settle his most worried sister Yuehua. When he came to Yuehua's room, Li Yi pushed open the door and saw Yuehua was still sewing a cloak. This time he did not mock this silly sister, but just sat quietly beside her and watched her sew.

Yuehua didn't stand up either, but just asked unhappily: "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing, just came to see you. When will this cape be finished?"

Women's intuition is sometimes really accurate. Yuehua suddenly raised her head and asked, "You are leaving tomorrow, right?"

Li Yi nodded awkwardly and said with a wry smile: "I have important things to do and I can't delay."

"Then when will you come back?"

"It's hard to say whether we can come back alive."

"Pooh, pooh, pooh! Stop talking so discouragingly! I believe you'll be back soon. I'll be waiting for you here."

Li Yi nodded and said, "Okay, then take care of yourself."

"Got it, nothing else, just go and do your thing. You must have a lot of things to prepare if you leave so quickly, right?"

"It's okay. Steward Zhou and Guard Zhang are here to take care of it. Yu Jiu and Lang Ya are also here to help. I'm not needed."

"You really don't have to accompany me. I'm an adult now. I can adjust my mood and take care of myself."

"Okay, I'll ask you one more question and then I'll leave."

"go ahead."

"Do you like Quinn?"

Yuehua frowned and asked, "Why do you ask?"

"Because you've been very close to him recently, and always ask him to take you out for a walk."

"I don't like him. I asked him to take me out because he is stupid and easy to deceive."

"But Quinn likes you. Do you really think he's stupid? He's just playing dumb in front of you."

Yuehua asked doubtfully, "Is it true? How do you know?"

"That boy is very smart! No one says he is stupid except you."

"So that's how it is. Then I won't ask him to take me out anymore."

"You know what Quinn means right?"

Yuehua asked back: "What do you mean?"

"Your name is Mayilnu, which means moonlight. And Quinn means sun, right? It sounds like you two are a good match."

Yuehua lowered her head and said, "Of course I know what Quinn means, but the name Quinn is not uncommon on the grassland. There are many people named Quinn. Do they all match me?"

Li Yi shook his head and smiled: "Last time, Quinn tried his best to protect you, but you didn't feel anything at all?"

"Langya has protected me before, how can I feel about that!"

"Okay, since you said so, I have nothing more to say. I'm leaving." Li Yi stood up and was about to go out.

"and many more!"

Li Yi turned around and asked, "What's wrong?"

Yuehua looked at Li Yi with a firm gaze and said sternly: "Don't get my name wrong in the future! My name is Li Yuehua, not Mayilnu! I am from Wei!"

Li Yi was surprised at first, then he smiled faintly, stretched out his hands and said, "Come here, let brother hug you."

Yuehua put down her cape and threw herself into Li Yi's arms, saying in a tender voice, "Master Xiao said I don't know how to act like a spoiled child, and that I'm good-looking. As long as I learn how to act like a spoiled child, you'll agree to whatever I ask for. Is that right?"

Li Yi pursed his lips and nodded, smiling: "Well, you know what, since we met until now, you have never acted like a spoiled child with me. She is quite accurate in her judgment."

Yuehua rubbed her head against Li Yi's chest, then said, "When you finish your business in Tianshan, come back to see me as soon as possible. Don't make me wait too long, okay?"

"Okay! I will definitely fulfill your wish! After I finish my business, I will come back to see you as soon as possible."

"Hook!"

"Okay, pull the hook!"

"We promise not to change for a hundred years!" Li Yi patted Yuehua on the back, then left her room with a smile.

The next day, outside the north gate of Dunhuang City, Li Yi said goodbye to the people who saw him off. He didn't want to make it too depressing, as if he would never come back, so he just said a few simple words and left it at that. He looked at the crowd, but didn't find Yuehua. He shook his head and smiled, thinking that this silly sister must be afraid of not being able to control her emotions, so she didn't dare to come.

Li Yi and his party had not walked a few steps out of the city when they heard the sound of horse hooves behind them. It was Yuehua riding a horse. Everyone tactfully avoided them, leaving him and Yuehua alone to say goodbye.

Yuehua got off the horse and took out a cloak and handed it to Li Yi: "I sewed this cloak overnight, but I don't know if it will fit you. Try it on."

Li Yi nodded and said, "Okay, then sister, help me put it on."

Yuehua unfolded the cloak, helped Li Yi tie the knot, and said with a smile: "Look, have I made progress? This cloak fits me so well."

"Well, the size is perfect, and I didn't mix up the front and back. I even managed to sew a hat. That's really great progress. Did you really sew this?"

"Of course! Look at my dark circles! I spent all night stitching them! My eyes are sore." Yuehua rubbed her eyes with her hands, and it was unclear whether she was wiping away tears or expressing the soreness in her eyes.

Li Yi stretched out his hand and pinched the little girl's face and said, "Okay, I will wear this cloak. After I leave, you have to listen to Aunt Baozhu. I've told Aunt Baozhu that if you don't listen, she will spank you!"

Yuehua twisted her neck and said coldly, "Tsk! Aunt Baozhu can't bear to hit me! Do you think everyone can do that to you?"

Li Yi smiled, turned to look at Gu Zhou and Quinn, gave them a complicated look, and then said to Yuehua: "Okay, I'm leaving! You should go back to sleep, staying up late is not good for your skin." After that, he mounted his horse and headed west.

Li Yi didn't walk too far. As soon as he reached the stone tablet outside Dunhuang City, he turned around and shouted to Gu Zhou and Kun En, "I don't care which of you can marry my sister, but if I find out that Yuehua has been wronged, don't blame me for being ruthless!

Watch carefully, if Yuehua is wronged, this stone tablet will be the fate of both of you!" After saying this, he pointed casually, and the Spirit Feather Arrow directly shattered the stone tablet.

Gu Zhou and Kun En looked at each other, then clasped their fists and saluted, saying, "Brother Li Yi (Lord Li), rest assured, I will definitely protect Yuehua well!" Li Yi nodded and got on the horse.