Chapter 430 Cold Wind
Yang He didn't know how he walked back to the room.
After the leader asked that question, his mind went blank. He should have said something afterwards, for example, even if the academy was gone, there would only be four or five less inner scenes in the world, so what about the other inner scenes; for example, the academy had stood for a thousand years, and countless people had tried to take advantage of it, and all of them had failed, so one should not set eyes on them.
I seemed to have talked a lot of nonsense, but I was always expressing the same meaning: don't make an enemy of the academy.
The leader seemed to say nothing, just listened to his own incoherent words quietly, and just waved his hand to let himself go.
Did the leader find out?
What does the Principal do?
The leader has changed, right?
Zhao Yushu got up from the mat on the hall floor and rubbed his hands. To a certain extent, monks are not afraid of cold or heat. Yuezhou is located in the south, so the winter is not particularly cold, but it still makes him feel a little uncomfortable.
This discomfort comes from the cultivator's sensitivity to the power of heaven and earth, and this year is another cold winter.
Last year's snowstorm in Nanyang created 50,000 refugees in Nanyang alone. If this continues this year, the two capitals will be beaten to a bloody pulp, and the grain in the granary will be poured out on the front line like water. Given the character of those two brothers, not to mention there is no grain, even if there is grain, they will not give it to the prefectures that may rebel at any time. By then, some wavering prefectures and counties will not be able to remain neutral.
But the Red Lotus Sect is also short of food. What will they do then?
Zhao Yushu scratched his swollen head. As expected, he knew nothing about military and political affairs and was not cut out to be a keyboard warrior.
There were knocks on the door. Zhao Yushu opened the door helplessly and looked at Yang He who had a serious face: "Aren't you going to sleep in?"
"Come out, I have something to tell you."
"So serious?"
The two walked out of the clinic, and Yang He hesitated for a moment: "The leader has left the city."
"Oh, what then?"
"You guys should leave quickly."
Zhao Yushu narrowed his eyes: "We agreed on this yesterday."
"Things have changed. I'm worried that the leader wants to harm you."
Zhao Yushu understood Yang He's meaning in an instant: "I'm not trying to scare people. Although your leader is an inner scene, he shouldn't be a particularly strong inner scene. If he really wants to kill me, I guess there's no need for my teacher to come. Boss Gu can beat him."
Yang He shook his head: "You don't need to try to trick me. The leader never does anything without confidence. Have you ever seen us suffer any loss since the Red Lotus Cult started?"
"Where did your leader go?"
"I don't know. I didn't even know he left. I asked Guardian Jiang and he said he went to meet a friend."
Zhao Yushu turned around decisively: "I'll let Lan Ling go first."
Lan Ling and A Dong were changing the coal in the charcoal stove in the ward. Seeing Zhao Yushu with a serious face, she gave a few instructions and followed him out.
"I'm not leaving. This is not willfulness. You should know that."
"Well, what's the reason?"
"If what you're about to do is dangerous, at least someone should collect your body."
Zhao Yushu smiled: "This kind of words are usually insults in our place."
“Here too.”
Lan Ling also smiled: "But it's the truth. If the Red Lotus Cult still has some dignity, they shouldn't threaten you with me. No matter life or death, I will take you back to Dongdu."
"it is good."
Zhu Xian once wanted to use Lan Ling to threaten Lan Rong, but he still provided her with good food and drink. No one wanted to break up until the last moment. Similarly, even if Zhao Yushu really went to war with the Red Lotus Sect, the Red Lotus Sect Leader was of noble status. As a great cultivator, he would not embarrass a mere fourth-level cultivator. As the Sect Leader, he still had to consider Nanyang's reaction.
As long as Lan Ling doesn't take the initiative, she will most likely be fine.
If Zhao Yushu and Lan Ling don't leave, Hei Lu will naturally not leave either.
Since no one was willing to retreat, they had no choice but to move forward. Zhao Yushu was eager to know which friend the leader wanted to meet.
Whether in terms of secular status or cultivation, it is difficult for the leader's friends to be ordinary people. After all, in this era, there is basically no one else like Zhao Yushu who pursues equality for all. Yang He has lofty ideals, but he still has servants to serve him.
Moreover, this friend actually asked the leader to go out of the city to meet him in person, which made Zhao Yushu more suspicious.
Yang He was still waiting outside. When he saw Zhao Yushu coming back, he asked, "You don't want to leave?"
"Well, you said you would collect my body. Haha, after all, I'm dead. You definitely don't dare to send me to Dongdu in person, right?"
The corners of Yang He's mouth twitched. If Zhao Yushu really died at the hands of the leader and he sent his body back to Dongdu, how would the legendary old immortal deal with him?
A life for a life is the lightest punishment.
"Old Yang, you are so good to your brothers. If one day you can't make it in the Red Lotus Sect anymore, come back to Dongdu with me."
Yang He sneered: "Working for that dog emperor of Dongdu?"
"Why do you only think about working for someone? Can't you just be yourself? I won't talk to you about this. Do you know what friends your leader has outside the city?"
"I won't tell you even if I know!"
"Oh, you don't know that, that's even weirder."
Yang He wanted to draw his sword again.
The two walked side by side on the newly awakened street, chatting aimlessly and occasionally mentioning next year's food problem. Yang He admitted that the Red Lotus Sect was negotiating with some governors and governors of the isolated Lingnan Road in the south, hoping to buy some food from them, or loan some food. The other party's conditions were harsh and no agreement had been reached yet.
Ever since the Red Lotus Cult cut off the south, Lingnan has been independent in fact. It is good enough that news from the two capitals can be sent there, let alone restricted. In addition, it is isolated by the Ten Thousand Mountains and transportation is extremely poor. Except for a few coastal port cities, such as the capital Guangzhou, other places are sparsely populated and easy to defend but difficult to attack.
There are five main grain producing areas in the Tang Dynasty: the Guanzhong Plain, the southeast, the Ganzhou area, the Jiannan area, and finally Lingnan.
Xijing now occupies most of the food in Guanzhong, while Dongdu mainly relies on the supply from the Taihu Lake area in the southeast. Ganzhou has been hit by disasters continuously and is now unable to make ends meet. Jiannan has an ambiguous attitude, and the Red Lotus Sect has stopped its conquest of the southeast based on strategic considerations. Now it can only start from Lingnan.
The three powers are in a stalemate, but they are all fighting on two fronts, which puts a lot of pressure on the people.
"So I guess the leader might have gone to meet his friends from Lingnan."
Yang He gave his own guess: "If Lingnan does not provide food this year, after the New Year, we must concentrate all our efforts on attacking Qiantang and conquering the southeast to ensure subsequent food supply. Otherwise, we will be trapped and die in the Jiangnan region, which should have been rich."
"I don't understand politics," Zhao Yushu sighed, "nor do I understand military affairs. I just naively hope that you can borrow grain from Lingnan, but I guess the price is to recognize or promise Lingnan's de facto independence."
Yang He nodded with difficulty.
This was a test for the Red Lotus Sect Leader. If he recognized the independence of Lingnan, even if he unified the Central Plains and became emperor in the future he would not be able to send troops to Lingnan. Otherwise, his legal principles would be questioned by the whole world. There was no other way; this was the way things were in this era.
If he did not admit it, he would have to sacrifice the lives of hundreds of thousands of his followers to conquer the southeast. If the leader was Yang He, Yang He would definitely reach a compromise with Lingnan decisively, because he did not want to be emperor, so he did not care about his reputation.
Master, what about you?