Chapter 194 Mu Tianbo Escapes to Sichuan

Faced with Pu Mingming's invitation to jointly attack Sichuan, most of the other forces agreed after some discussions.

Universal reputation has ambitions and desires, and who among the other leaders of the forces does not have their own little thoughts?

Who knows the name of Sichuan, the Land of Abundance?

As long as we can occupy Sichuan, we can advance, attack, retreat or defend, and there will be no shortage of food and supplies, isn't that the best place to gain a foothold?

As for who is the winner in the end, it depends on their respective methods.

In this way, many power leaders began to go to Kunming to form an alliance.

As the initiator and the most powerful force, Pu Renming naturally became the well-deserved leader of the alliance.

After that, everyone made an alliance with each other and began to lead the team to the border of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan.

On the other side, just when Pu Mingming was conquering the east and west to regain the combined forces, the Duke of Guizhou, Mu Tianbo and others, who had escaped, had also arrived at the junction of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan.

At this time, everyone began to hesitate, wondering whether they should go to Guizhou and then to Huguang, or to Sichuan and then to Huguang.

After all, no matter where it is, it is no longer under Ming's control.

But in comparison, Sichuan is a real enemy country.

As for Guizhou, although there are still some Ming court officers and soldiers remaining, more places have been divided by the local chieftains.

Moreover, there are constant frictions between the major forces, and fighting and bloody conflicts will break out from time to time.

To be honest, it feels even more dangerous than Sichuan.

In comparison, Sichuan seems relatively easy.

After all, Sichuan's border does not prohibit the surrounding people from traveling.

After some discussions with his mother, Mrs. Chen, the housekeeper, the Ruan brothers, and others, they finally decided to take a detour to Sichuan.

After all, safety is the most important thing.

Compared with the chaotic Guizhou, Sichuan, which has stable public security despite being occupied by the People's Liberation Army, is obviously the first choice.

Well, it really doesn't work

The Ruan brothers looked at each other with a smile on their faces.

It is not impossible to sell the Duke of Guizhou for a good price.

Of course, they would not choose this path unless they had to.

After all, they don't have any privileges in the territory of the People's Salvation Army.

How can they, who are used to enjoying themselves, endure this?

After cautiously entering the Sichuan border, they discovered that it was indeed as legendary.

No one inquired about their origins in detail, but let them enter the city after they paid the entry fee.

Well, under normal circumstances, there is no entry fee for entering and exiting the city in the territory of the People's Salvation Army.

However, that is for the people of the National Salvation Army.

As for outsiders, unless you are a refugee, you must pay the corresponding entry fee based on the materials you carry.

For example, Duke Mu Tianbo of Guizhou and others had to pay an entry fee of one tael of silver because they brought some valuable items.

As for whether this is unfair?

Well, when you bring supplies, that’s goods, isn’t it normal to pay import duties?

In comparison, just asking them to pay one tael of silver is already very little.

Well, it was mainly because Mu Tianbo, Duke of Guizhou, and the others did not carry many valuables in order to escape.

As for whether someone could pretend to be a disaster victim to avoid import tariffs?

As long as you don't bring money or goods, the local Salvation Army doesn't care.

As for the victims of the disaster, they all have to be transported to work.

How many of those rich people are willing to work as laborers for ten cents a day?

Not to mention, ordinary disaster victims may even be moved to the border.

If so, they welcome it.

The People's Salvation Army is very short of manpower in territorial construction.

After entering the city, Mu Tianbo and others saw bright and spacious streets, rows of houses, row upon row.

The ordinary merchants who were walking back and forth were neat and tidy, not to say that everyone was dressed gorgeously, and everyone had smiles on their faces.

It's completely different from Kunming. Most of the ordinary people are in ragged clothes, with sallow complexion and thin skin, and there is always a look of sadness on their faces that is difficult to erase.

In the late Ming Dynasty, the life of ordinary people was really difficult. Even in an important city like Kunming, people still lived in poverty.

And all of this seems to have disappeared in the territory of the People's Salvation Army.

Even though this was a small town on the edge of Sichuan that had only been occupied for less than a year, no one would worry about food and clothing.

Food is the most indispensable material for the National Salvation Army today.

Under the rule of the People's Salvation Army, people may not necessarily become wealthy, but there will definitely be no famine.

He was even able to work and save some money, which made the business in the two provinces more prosperous. Many ordinary people would buy things that were usually considered luxuries, such as mirrors.

"Mom, look, is that a glass mirror?

I didn’t expect that a small vendor like this would also sell glass mirrors.”

Mu Tianbo pointed to a street vendor and whispered to Mrs. Chen in surprise.

"Uh-huh!"

Mrs. Chen looked at the mirror on the roadside stall. Even though her mind was relatively calm, she still couldn't help but her eyes were shining.

What woman doesn’t like this kind of mirror where she can clearly see her face?

You know, even Prince Mu's Mansion doesn't have a few mirrors like this.

Each mirror is expensive, and even requires dozens or hundreds of taels of silver.

And here, it seems that even ordinary people can buy it.

Unable to help herself, Mrs. Chen took two steps closer.

But soon, she reacted suddenly. Now is not the time to consider these things. They are now running for their lives.

What they need to do most now is to leave Sichuan and go to Huguang as soon as possible.

Although it seems that these people's salvation troops occupying Sichuan will not really do anything to them.

However, they are still uneasy in their hearts. Only by leaving Sichuan and returning to the territory of the Ming Dynasty can they completely settle down.

"Hu~!"

Take a deep breath secretly, suppress the surprise and desire in your heart, and Mu Tianbo and others quickly enter the depths of the city.

There are too many new and strange things seen along the way. I vaguely heard passers-by mention that it seems to be something from the Western Regions.

They didn't expect that there would be so many things from the Western Regions in the southernmost part of Sichuan.

In addition, there are all kinds of people, including Han people, Miao people, and many other ethnic minorities.

If that was all, Mu Tianbo and the others would not be surprised.

After all, this is the border of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, and there are already a large number of ethnic minorities.

Take Kunming for example, there are many ethnic minorities.

What surprised them was that there were actually quite a few Mongolians and people from the Western Regions among them.

Obviously, those goods from the Western Regions were not necessarily purchased and transported by the merchants of the Ming Dynasty or the Salvation Army, but might have been transported by merchants from the Western Regions.

This is what surprised them.

You know, it takes thousands of miles from the Western Regions to Sichuan, which takes nearly three or four months.

It takes more than half a year to go back and forth.

What kind of merchants would travel thousands of miles to this Sichuan border town to do business?

However, everyone vaguely heard some content.

It seems that they came by train, and it doesn't seem to take long.

But from what they said, it seems that the train has not been allowed to be taken recently, but has been used to transport military supplies instead.

I don't know what this train is, and how fast it can be even if it is faster?

And they said they would send military supplies instead.

Is it possible that the Salvation Army is going to fight?

I just don't know where they are fighting?

But just thinking about it, they roughly know that it is nothing more than their Daming, the Tusi tribes of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, or the Duosi Zang in the west.

But now, there is no point in thinking about these things, and they can only hurry up and hurry on their way.

Walking and observing along the way, everyone soon left this border town and headed towards Chongqing Prefecture along the wide and solid official road.

There is the nearest prefecture to Huguang.

When they left Wusa Prefecture and entered the inland of Sichuan, they were shocked to find that the city of the Salvation Army had no curfew, and even the city gates were not closed.

What's more, the newly planned and even the cities that have already started construction have no city walls.

This made everyone a little confused. How can this city without city walls resist the enemy's attack?

However, as they continued to move forward, everyone gradually learned the reason from the discussions of the people around them.

That is the confidence of the Salvation Army. No enemy can break through the border defense line of the Salvation Army.

When hearing this, Mu Tianbo and others couldn't help shaking their heads.

This Salvation Army is really arrogant, or arrogant.

From ancient times to the present, I have never heard of any dynasty where the city was without walls. Even the powerful Han, the Tang Dynasty, and the Ming Taizu and Chengzu, all cities had walls.

However, that has nothing to do with them.

It can even be said that the more arrogant they are, the better, and the Ming Dynasty will be easier to counterattack again.

Until one day, they entered Longchang City in Xuzhou Prefecture, and something happened. They suddenly realized that the confidence of the Salvation Army might be justified.

When they arrived in Longchang City, they had basically traveled most of the way, and the next step was Chongqing Prefecture.

In about a month, they will be able to pass through Chongqing Prefecture and enter the territory of Huguang.

When they arrived here, the people who had been nervous all the way could not help but relax a little.

Finally, finally, they are almost there.

Therefore, they have been traveling so fast and exhausted, so they decided to find an inn and rest for a day.

"Rui Xiang Lou!"

Looking at the magnificent three-story inn in front of them, everyone decided to rest here today.

Nothing happened overnight, but when they woke up the next day, they suddenly realized that something was wrong.

Because their packages were lost, that was all their belongings.

In an instant, everyone's faces became extremely ugly.

They still have hundreds or nearly a thousand miles to go, which will take at least a month. If all the money is lost, how can they cross nearly a thousand miles?

The first thing they thought of was to report to the police.

But the next moment, they suppressed this idea.

They were walking in the territory of the Salvation Army, and the Salvation Army didn't care about them.

But that doesn't mean that they will be indifferent even if they deliver it to the door.

But now, if they can't find the lost money, they will be unable to move forward.

After some discussion, everyone decided to look for the owner of Ruixianglou first.

The owner of Ruixianglou was surnamed Zhou. He was in his forties, slightly fat, and always smiling.

After listening to everyone's story, Boss Zhou's face immediately changed and he cursed in a low voice.

"These damn dogs actually stole from me. Isn't this ruining my reputation?"

Then, Boss Zhou looked at the waiter at the door.

"Xiao He, go to the Public Security Administration and tell them that my Ruixianglou was robbed."

"Ah~? Okay, boss!"

Xiao He was stunned at first, then he quickly reacted. After looking at Mu Tianbo and others, he trotted out the door.