Tibet

The next day, Li Ye's fleet crossed the Yangtze River and headed for Jiangxia County on the other side of the Yangtze River, which is Ezhou.

Ezhou was the result of the road borrowing agreement between Li Ye and Li Lin, which ceded Ezhou to Shannan East Road. But Li Ye also knew that Ezhou and Mianzhou were completely different. Mianzhou was west of the Han River and was geographically completely different. Integrated into Shannan East Road, it also belongs to Huainan Road. It is not Li Lin's territory. It was occupied by Li Lin. Now that Li Ye has taken Mianzhou back, it has almost no impact on Li Lin.

But Ezhou has an important strategic position. It is located on the south bank of the Yangtze River, bordering Yuezhou to the west and Jiangzhou to the east. It is right between Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake. Once Ezhou is occupied, it will be equivalent to cutting into the Jiangnan West Road and destroying Jiangnan. Everything on the west path is two.

Li Ye also knew that Li Lin would definitely retake Ezhou, so he ordered Lei Wanchun to lead five thousand soldiers to station in Jiangxia. As long as Jiangxia was controlled, Ezhou would also be controlled.

When Li Ye arrived in Jiangxia, only Lei Wanchun came to greet him at the dock, but he did not see the governor Wei Shouchun.

Lei Wanchun explained: "Chief Wei went to inspect other counties and has not come back yet. He only has a humble position in charge of Jiangxia!"

Li Ye nodded and looked around. There were ships all around, almost all flat-bottomed cargo ships of about three hundred stones. They were densely covered with thousands of ships on the river. If Hanyang is the most important wholesale center in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, , then Jiangxia is the most important logistics center in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Almost all private cargo ships from Shannan East Road and Jiangnan West Road gather here. There are dozens of shipping companies in Jiangxia City, specializing in cargo transportation. They not only have the Yangtze River, but also several important They also appear in the tributaries of Han River, Xiang River, Yuan River, Gan River and so on.

When Li Ye inspected Jiangxia, he was not considering commerce and trade, but military defense. Li Ye wanted to develop Hanyang and use Hanyang's prosperity to support his army, but doing business with a sword is the kingly way. Where is the sword? Li Ye cast his eyes on Jiang Xia.

Build Jiangxia into a military port and protect Hanyang from the side. Any force that wants to attack Hanyang will be attacked by Jiangxia.

But in order to build Jiangxia into a military port, we must first establish a foothold in Jiangxia. Li Lin wanted to take back Ezhou and Jiangxia, but Li Ye wanted to firmly control it in his own hands.

Accompanied by Lei Wanchun, Li Ye entered the city of Jiangxia. During the Three Kingdoms era, Hanyang was the easternmost town in Liu Biao's territory. The eldest son Liu Qi occupied Hanyang. Hanyang also became the last habitat of Liu Bei's power. Xia on the other side of the Yangtze River Kouye was originally Liu Biao's land. Huang Zu, who was stationed in Xiakou, was defeated and killed. Soochow immediately built a city in Xiakou, which is now Jiangxia County.

Thousands of years have passed, but Jiangxia City still stands tall.

There are only four counties in the entire Ezhou, Puqi, Yongxing, Wuchang and Jiangxia. Jiangxia County is the seat of the state government and the essence of the entire Ezhou. The population, culture, and economy are almost all concentrated in Jiangxia.

The city wall in Jiangxia County is about thirty miles in circumference. The city wall is tall and solid, with a wide moat. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is an important military fortress in itself.

Li Ye looked at the densely packed houses in the city and asked: "When Ji Guangchen evacuated, he probably laid hidden stakes in the city in advance to prepare for his return to seize the city. General Lei must be careful."

"Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness, I will definitely be careful in this humble position!"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "We stand on the bank and look at the river. We can't see everything happening under the water. The best way is to send people to dive underwater and become a part of the underwater world. Then we will see the underwater world clearly."

Lei Wanchun nodded silently, understanding what Jiedushi meant.

At this time, Li Ye pointed to the Yellow Crane Tower in the distance and said with a smile: "I have wanted to visit the Yellow Crane Tower for a long time. Let's go!"

Li Ye led a group of people into the Yellow Crane Tower in the northwest corner of the city. The Yellow Crane Tower is actually part of the city wall defense system and an observation tower. However, there have been no wars for hundreds of years, so the Yellow Crane Tower has become the symbol of Jiangxia County. Scenic place.

Walking into the gate on the first floor, there are wooden carvings engraved with famous poems hung in the main hall. One is "Yellow Crane Tower Farewell to Meng Haoran at Guangling" by Li Bai, and the other is "Yellow Crane Tower" by Cui Hao. These two poems are written by Li Bai. Ye Du liked it very much, especially the two sentences in Cui Hao's Yellow Crane Tower, "The Yellow Crane will never return, and the white clouds will remain empty for thousands of years." ’

More than a thousand years later, in another era, he once stood here and silently recited these two sentences, 'The yellow crane is gone and will never return, and the white clouds are empty for thousands of years.'

At this scene, more than a thousand years of wind and smoke passed through his eyes, which made Li Ye sigh and couldn't help crying.

"Your Highness! Your Highness!" Lei Wanchun reminded Li Ye in a low voice.

Li Ye came back to his senses and realized that he had lost his composure. He laughed to himself and said: "Li Bai went to Xiangyang a few days ago as an envoy. Today I suddenly saw a poem he wrote hanging here. There is a sense that things are different and people are different." It feels very emotional!”

Next to him, Liu Yan also sighed and said: "Your Highness is right. I was a young man when I was the crown prince, and I was a colleague of Cui Hao. It was just two years after he became a Jinshi. I was high-spirited and suave, but in the blink of an eye, he was gone. , which is infinitely sad.”

"Cui Hao is dead?" Li Ye asked in surprise.

Liu Yan nodded, "He died of illness last year, and I went to his funeral."

Li Ye sighed slightly and said: "Even if he lives a mediocre life, it is worthwhile to have a poem that can make him famous forever. Let's go up!"

Everyone went up to the top of the building and walked out of the pavilion door. Their eyes lit up, and the melancholy before was suddenly swept away. They saw the river flowing horizontally with vast waves. As far as the eye could see, the white sails on the river were dotted, which made people feel relaxed and happy.

Lei Wanchun said helplessly: "I have long discovered that this is a good place to observe the enemy troops on the river, and wanted to use it as a sentinel, but the officials were opposed, saying not to destroy its elegance with swords, guns, and swords."

Li Ye smiled and said: "It was originally a sentry tower. Of course, in special times, it can still be used for military purposes. The elegant items inside should be packed properly and stored in the warehouse. The engravings on the walls and wooden pillars can also be used for military purposes. It needs to be protected with oil paper, and when the world is at peace, it can be repaired and restored to its original state. This way, it will have a bit more masculinity in its history, which is not necessarily a bad thing."

"I understand the humble position!"

Li Ye smiled and asked again: "Do you know the situation of King Yong's navy and warships?"

Lei Wanchun nodded, "As soon as I came to the humble position, Jiangxia sent spies to Jiangzhou to investigate and got a rough idea of ​​the opponent's naval situation."

"Tell me!"

"The King of Yong's navy has about 30,000 people and thousands of warships. Among them, there are more than 200 warships with more than 3,000 shi. Among the remaining ships, the largest number is the fast ship with about 500 shi. Li Zhen currently leads 20,000 warships. The navy and more than 200 large warships went to Bashu, leaving about 800 ships stationed in Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake."

"There are also warships in Dongting Lake?" Li Ye was a little surprised.

Lei Wanchun nodded, "The men sent by the humble post saw a large number of warships at the mouth of Dongting Lake with their own eyes. There were hundreds of warships, but they were all small and medium-sized warships of about 300 to 500 shi."

"What flag is planted on it?" Liu Yan asked from the side.

"It's Kang Xianchu's flag. It happened a few days ago. His subordinates only came back yesterday to report it to their subordinates."

Li Ye quickly asked: "Are your men still there?"

Lei Wanchun said apologetically: "In my humble position, I asked my subordinates to continue to explore detailed information, such as the number of navy soldiers, who their leaders are, etc. They have returned to Dongting Lake."

Li Ye had no choice but to say: "Okay! If you have detailed information, send me a pigeon letter to Xiangyang."

"I humbly obey my orders!"

At this time, Liu Yan smiled and said: "Your Highness might as well tell General Lei your thoughts. General Lei is based in Jiangxia and should be able to see more opportunities!"

Li Ye nodded and said to Lei Wanchun: "My biggest goal in the near future is to seize Yongwang Li Lin's warships, especially the warships with more than three thousand stones. This is too important to us. General Lei should pay attention to this matter. Find opportunities for me!"

Lei Wanchun pondered for a moment and said: "Actually, I have actually considered it and have a bold idea."