Chapter 31:
Gao Yin had been hangover for most of the night, and now he was a little more awake, so he had to report that Li Mu brought Luoshen to visit him, and was busy going out to greet him in person. After being seated, pay attention to Amei. She listened to the conversation between herself and Li Mu with a smile on her face. It seemed that the night of the bridal chamber last night should have been smooth, so she was a little relieved. During the narration, he mentioned that he would leave for Jiankang tomorrow.
Jingkou is not close to Jiankang, but it is not very far, and the waterway is only a few days.
But in Luoshen's sense, as soon as Gao Yin left, he seemed to be completely left here.
Although he didn't want to worry about the elder brother, the reluctance and sadness in his heart were inevitably revealed in his eyes.
Both Gao Yin and Li Mu seemed to be aware of it, and they both turned to look at her at the same time.
Luoshen suppressed the sadness in his heart, looked at Gao Yin, smiled and said: "I have brother Lao, the road is smooth, after returning, please send a message to Aya on behalf of the elder brother, A family is kind, treat me very well, let them rest assured ."
Gao Yin nodded and looked at Li Mu: "Jingchen, what are your plans in the future?"
Li Mu withdrew his gaze on Luoshen's face and turned to Gao Yin: "Because of my new marriage, Xu Situ has granted permission to return for a while. After finishing, I want to return to the army."
Gao Yin pondered.
"Before I sent my sister to Jingkou, my uncle had something to say. After you get married, he intends to ask Xu Situ for you and transfer you to Shishicheng as prime minister. This position is a bit more leisurely, but you can rest assured that you will not I will keep you there for a long time. In the future, depending on the opportunity, you can go to Guangling again and show your strengths. You can rest assured that when your uncle speaks, Xu Situ will definitely let him go. What do you think?"
Guangling, Yangzhou, in Jiangbei, is where the Gao clan's power is located, and is now Dayu's strongest buffer site in Jiangbei. It guards Jiankang, and its geography is extremely important. Luoshen's uncle Gao Yun is now the prefect of Yangzhou, the local Fangbo.
When Luoshen learned that his father had such a plan, he couldn't help but look forward to it.
If Li Mu was transferred to Stone City, obviously, he would have more reason to travel between Jiankang and Jingkou, or even stay in Jiankang for a while, and it would not be a problem.
She couldn't help looking at Li Mu.
However, he looked as usual, and said, "Thank you, father-in-law, for your kindness. It's just that Li Mu has been in the upstream for many years, and he is familiar with the military situation in the upstream. He also shares the same robes with his brothers. If you go to Guangling, I am afraid it will be inconvenient."
Luo Shen was startled.
Gao Yin was also a little surprised, looking at Li Mu: "Could it be that you are afraid of being clinging to you as a crony? If a man is established in his career, he should be informal, so why be afraid of people's words? Not too late."
Li Mu said: "Father-in-law has good intentions, but it is not Li Mu's wish to go to Guangling. I implore the eldest brother to apologize to his father-in-law on behalf of Li Mu."
Gao Yin was obviously a little unhappy, he frowned slightly, thought about it, and said, "Forget it, you have other intentions and are not reluctant, so just pretend I didn't say it."
Li Mu thanked him and gave Gao Yin a gift of confession.
Gao Yin waved his hand and glanced at Luoshen.
The smile on Luoshen's face was almost unstoppable.
After saying goodbye to Gao Yin, the smile on Luo Shen's face fell, and he quickly stepped into the car with his skirt up, and the skirt followed her pace, surging like water waves.
Li Mu, who was behind him, stretched out his hand, as if he wanted to help her, but she avoided him without even looking at him, and climbed into the car by himself.
The bullock cart went back to Li's house, speechless all the way. When it reached the door of the house, Luoshen came down and was greeted by the servants and women who heard the sound.
Li Mu didn't follow, standing under the doorstep, watched her figure disappear behind the shadow wall, and got on the horse.
He arrived at a Gaosheng restaurant in the north of the city. The guy at the door didn't recognize him. Seeing him coming, he rushed up to meet him and said with a smile: "Li Langjun is here? Jiang Er is already waiting for Li Langjun in the elegant seat!"
Li Mu nodded, handed the bridle and whip to the man, entered, walked quickly up the second floor, entered a private room, pushed the door and entered.
Jiang Tao was sitting cross-legged on the seat, when he saw him coming, he got up to greet him.
Li Mu took the seat, the two faced each other, the man served the wine and food, and bowed to exit.
The two had a drink to each other and then got to the point.
Jiang Tao said: "In recent months, I have been secretly paying attention to the movements of Tianshijiao. Those people regularly gather in a land temple in Tianshui Village outside the city, distributing some rice and noodles to the people and preaching the teaching method, in order to attract believers to join in. At present, there is nothing special about it."
Daoism prevails now. From the royal family to the common people, there are many believers. Some famous celestial masters even became the guests of honor at the noble banquet, and they were extremely sought after.
Li Mu pondered.
"Oh, yes." Jiang Tao said again, "Recently I heard that there is an altar master here, a woman. It is said that the Taoism is profound and often covered with gauze, and no one can see her true face. Yes, there are a lot of believers, and there are countless people who are willing to donate their family wealth. This woman’s status in the religion does not seem to be low.”
Li Mudao: "I'm often not in Jingkou. Many things here are related to Lao Erxiong. Tianshijiao buys people's hearts, and its power expands rapidly. In the Sanwu area, almost everyone believes in it. Sooner or later, it is a hidden danger. There is nothing else we can do, but in the Jingkou area, we can't let the Tianshijiao also occupy it. Otherwise, if there is a change in the future, there will be endless disasters."
Jiang Tao said: "Don't worry, I will pay attention."
He glanced at Li Mu, who was facing him, and finally asked, "Jingchen, you married the daughter of the Gao family, but in the future, do you want to go to the Gao family?"
Li Mu raised his eyes: "What do you think, second brother?"
Jiang Tao hesitated, and said, "Since Jingchen asked, I will say it. In the Jiangbei War, the Gao Clan made the first contribution, but the imperial court has not seen the reward for the Gao Clan. The head of the Gao family has always been peaceful, and the court battles often take the middle way. Besides, this time, because of your request to marry the Gao family's daughter, all parties are affected, the two families of Gao Lu are separated, and the battle of Gao Xu has even surfaced openly. , not as covert as before..."
"If my expectation is correct, Gao Xianggong may have already decided to retire now. At this time, you go to defect..."
He stopped.
Li Mu smiled: "To be honest with the second brother, I just came back from my wife's eldest brother Gao Yin, and refused the support of the Gao family."
Jiang Tao let out a sigh, concentrated for a moment, and then suddenly said: "Jingchen, you and I have known each other for many years, I am a few years older than you, and I have assumed the name of an elder brother, but I know that you have extraordinary power, and you are even more magnificent. I will bluntly say, this time you are asking to marry the daughter of the Gao family, making yourself the target of public criticism. The future is unpredictable, and it is not like your usual behavior. What are you asking for? Now the world is in turmoil, what will you do in the future? Intend?"
Li Mu played with a wine cup in his hand and said: "Beixia just suffered a big defeat, and the interior is now torn apart, and soon there will be chaos, and then there will be wars in Jiangbei. If I want to do something, where can I do it? A place to stand for a long time?"
Jiang Tao frowned: "The Xu family has been operating Jingzhou for many years, the Lu family holds the land of Sanwu, and the Gao family guards the Jingkou of Guangling. The upper and lower reaches of the river and the hinterland each have their own masters..."
He shook his head: "It's hard!"
Li Mu put down the wine cup, dipped his finger in the wine, and drew a zigzag line on the table. It was for Dajiang, he ordered a few points, and finally stopped at a place in Jiangbei.
"Yicheng?"
He lost his voice, very surprised.
Li Mu nodded: "Exactly. To be a major event, you must have your own base. Now the three families of Gao, Xu, and Lu are suspicious of each other and have no time to care about other things. Next, if there is a war in Jiangbei, I will be ordered to cross. Jiang fights. Yicheng County is located in Bingzhou, and it is close to Jinyang and Chang'an in the north. It is an excellent strategic place to go to Xiangyang in the south and guard Jiangling."
Jiang Tao kept shaking his head: "Your idea is certainly justified. But Yicheng is caught in the middle of the battle between the north and the south. After many years of war, I heard that the people there fled, and now the population is withered, the fields are barren, the corpses are everywhere, and the jackals are rampant and thorns are everywhere. The clumps are like an empty city, and even the northerners have abandoned them. If you have taken it, how can you stand for a long time?"
Li Mu smiled slightly: "It depends on people. What the people ask for is nothing more than a word of peace. As long as the surrounding situation is stabilized, the people will come to hear the wind and settle down to reclaim the wasteland. With people, everything will be easy."
Jiang Tao looked at Li Mu.
The young face, talking about these, reveals a kind of convincing deepness, perseverance and composure.
It is as if the world is like a chess game, and he is a man who fights against the sky.
For the first time in his life, Jiang Tao felt surging and his blood boiled.
He understood what his brother-in-law meant.
Times make heroes.
In troubled times, it requires a truly powerful and powerful person to overwhelm the Quartet and end it completely.
He has an intuition that Li Mu is the person who should rise up from the sky.
For thirty years, the dormant ambitions in his body, which had been bestowed on his ancestors, seemed to have suddenly awakened at this moment.
From the bottom of his heart, he had a strong urge to be willing to be driven by him. He actually got up from his position, stepped back a few steps, and bowed respectfully to him: "If Jingchen doesn't give up, Jiang Tao is willing to follow the driving force and do my best!"
…
After seeing the eldest brother, Luoshen returned to Li's house, accompanied Li's mother during the day, and watched her sit in front of the spinning wheel, twisting and spinning the yarn familiarly.
The old spinning wheel swayed with her and babbled, mixed with the sound of Ah Ting gossiping, and the day passed quickly. After dinner, it was getting dark, and Luoshen went back to his room.
Then Li Mu was nowhere to be seen.
Luoshen took a bath, and when his hair was dry, it was not too early, so he went to bed and fell asleep, but there was always a fire in his heart, he just forcibly endured it, how could he fall asleep? I closed my eyes, and after an unknown amount of time, I heard footsteps outside the door, and after a while, the door was gently pushed open.
Li Mu returned and entered lightly.
Luoshen opened his eyes, turned his face, saw him take off his clothes, and went to the bath room through a layer of curtains.
Although there was a layer of curtains, I could vaguely see him without a shirt on.
The shoulders are broad, the back is tall and straight, and under the smooth lines of the muscles, it seems that there is an amazing power that can burst out at any time.
Luo Shen's heart skipped a beat, he didn't dare to look any further, and closed his eyes abruptly.
There was a slight rustling sound in his ears, and he seemed to be wearing clothes.
After a while, Luoshen quietly opened his eyes again, and saw that the others were already lying on the squat, just like last night, and soon, the sound of steady breathing entered the tent.
He seemed to lie down, and soon fell asleep.
Luoshen separated the tent and stared at the hazy motionless figure. The daytime things were rolling in his heart one by one, his anger was getting bigger and bigger, how could he fall asleep?
I rolled around on the bed for several laps, and suddenly I couldn't bear it any longer. I jumped over and got up, lifted the curtain, and stuck out my head.
"Li Mu, get up for me!"