Han Hai Tang Ergui

Chapter 42 The King of Toxi Cao Yijin

Dunhuang City, a famous tourist city in the northwest of later generations, is actually very small and inconspicuous. The population of the entire Dunhuang is only a few hundred thousand, which is not as large as a county in the southeast.

But at the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, when the Silk Road was still showing its last glimmer, Dunhuang City could still be regarded as a bright pearl on the Hexi Corridor.

In today's Dunhuang city, there are more than 80,000 people in Dingkou with household registration alone. Including the passing merchants and people of various ethnic groups who came to sell vegetables, cattle and sheep nearby, there are about [-] people in Dunhuang, all of which belong to the rebel army. One of the population depends on this city for their livelihood.

As the most important stronghold of the Guiyi Army, the defense of Dunhuang City is also very strong and complete in the Hexi Corridor.

The entire Dunhuang city has a circumference of more than fifteen miles, and is divided into three parts inside and outside. From the outside to the inside, there are Yangma City, Luo City and Inner City.

The city is more than six feet high, and there are two artificial ditches more than three meters wide, Mengshou Canal and Wudu Canal, as the moat.

In the past, Uyghur soldiers in Ganzhou came to the city and fought around it for more than two months, but they still couldn't get in.

As the name suggests, Yangma City is the outer city where cattle and sheep are raised in captivity, and it is also a trading market for bulk commodities.

Some of these cattle and sheep belonged to nearby residents and wealthy families, and some belonged to passing merchants. At this time, the cold wind had started, and large herds of cattle, sheep, horses and camels huddled together to keep out the cold, and the herdsmen who took care of them were hoarding forage for the winter.

Luocheng is the urban area where Dunhuang residents live. The east of the city is a residential area, and the west of the city is full of post houses, small and medium-sized markets, and a large number of temples. There is a large vacant area in the north of the city, where the Jiedu Yamen are stationed and performed. big camp.

As for the smallest, but most heavily guarded inner city, it is the core of the Guiyi Army.

The Jiedu Yamen of the Guiyi Army, the Jiedu Envoy's Mansion, the Shazhou Governor's Court, the arsenal for storing weapons and armor and supervising military affairs, the Confucius Institute responsible for household registration, tax books and personnel affairs, government schools, prison cities, etc. Most of the Jiedu Envoy's yamen are here.

In the Jiedu Yamen, the sixth generation Guiyi Army Jiedu envoy, Guasha and other prefecture observation and disposal envoys, inspector Sikong, Taibao Cao Yijin, and Cao Yijin's eldest son Cao Yuande, second son Cao Yuanshen, and third son Cao Yuanzhong Sitting in the study.

The air in the study room was a little heavy, and even the maids and servants who were waiting at the door did not dare to vent their fearful atmosphere.

"San Niang has come back, right?" Cao Yijin, the Jiedu envoy of the Guiyi Army, was a rather fat old man.

Of course, when he was young, not only was he not fat, but he was a very brave warrior on the battlefield. The Tang Dynasty paid equal attention to both civil and martial arts. Although Cao Yijin served in civilian positions most of the time, he was not inferior to those generals who practiced martial arts all the year round.

Hearing his father's question, the eldest brother Cao Yuande and the second child Cao Yuanshen remained silent. The third child Cao Yuanzhong stepped forward and stood up like a schoolboy who made a mistake. He is the father of the third lady.

"Responding to my lord, Yannai arrived earlier this morning, and is waiting outside the courtyard now!"

"Call it in! It's not easy. You were kidnapped when you returned to your mother's house. You father, you uncles, including me, grandfather, are all responsible!" Cao Yuande's half-closed eyes slowly He opened it, waved his hand and said.

Mrs. Cao San walked slowly into this unremarkable small room in the Jiedu Yamen. This was the second time he had walked in here in so many years.

The last time she came in was 13 years ago as an important 'tool' for the marriage between the Cao family and the Murong family.

For the rest of the time, the house that symbolized the highest power of the Cao family was Cao Yijin's three wives, Suo, Song, and the Uighur princess Li, who were not allowed to enter.

"Granddaughter Yannai, I met my grandfather, my father, I met my first uncle and my second uncle!"

Although she felt that she was very strong, and because the three men in the room were not so eager to save her, the third lady Cao found that her tone was crying.

"Have you suffered? Come to Grandpa!" Cao Yijin patted the brocade stool next to his seat and said.

"Grandpa!" Mrs. Cao San was aggrieved and walked over like a little girl, and tears came down before she sat on the brocade stool.

"Yannai is not bitter. Fortunately, I met Mr. Zhang Erlang. After all, he is also Nu's cousin, and he still protects his granddaughter."

"How do you know that he didn't find someone to take you away? Zhang Erlang even dared to arrest Shisi. You are a woman, and you will protect you with all your heart?"

Cao Yuanzhong became angry as soon as he heard it, and began to reprimand Mrs. Cao San directly in front of Cao Yijin.

"All right! All right!" Cao Yijin waved his hand. He knew that Cao Yuanzhong was not reprimanding Mrs. Cao San, but to express his attitude.

After all, Zhang Zhao immediately released Cao Sanniang after capturing Cao Shishi, and it seemed that there was some kind of deal.

"No one blames you for the matter of Fourteenth Lang, so why are you so anxious?"

"Tell grandpa, what kind of person is this Erlang? It was the old man who took him out of this house back then. I heard that he was eating vegetarian food and reciting Buddha in Shouchang. Why did he seem to be a different person so quickly? ? And even engaged in the act of kidnapping people!"

Mrs. Cao San glanced at her grandfather Cao Yijin, thought about it and decided to tell the truth.

"My granddaughter thinks that Zhang Erlang is by no means simple, and can even be said to have the appearance of a hero!"

"Oh? Looks like a hero?" Cao Yijin didn't expect his granddaughter to have such a high opinion of Zhang Erlang. He raised his hand to stop the three sons from interjecting, and motioned for Mrs. Cao to continue talking.

"Grandpa! The granddaughter is right. Zhang Erlang is kind to people, even a lowly shepherd slave. At the same time, he can talk about poetry and Tang Wenhua with his granddaughter, and he can also talk to the most vulgar martial arts. Come together, charge ahead of the war, and reward meritorious deeds after the war.

This kind of person who can not only win the hearts of scholars, but also be respected by warriors, who is the leader of soldiers and impartial, doesn't he have the appearance of a hero?
The granddaughter often thinks that if the emperor in white had the means like Zhang Erlang back then, maybe the Jinshan Kingdom would not have collapsed! "

"Presumptuous! Presumptuous! You are a woman, how do you know what it means to be a hero? You are not talking about Zhang Erlang, I think you are talking about Emperor Taizong Wen!

You can win the hearts of scholars, and you can also be respected by warriors, and you are not biased. His ancestor Zhang's Taibao Gong didn't have this ability, I think you are.! "

When Cao Yuanzhong said this, he suddenly got stuck, and he wanted to say, 'I think you were confused by him! But it suddenly occurred to me that Mrs. Cao San was my daughter, so it seemed a little bad to say so.

Mrs. Cao San felt depressed for a while, and she suddenly became a little impatient with her father Cao Yuanzhong's style of being calm and stable, not offending others and not standing out.

When is this, once King Ling Gong is gone, the Guiyi army will immediately face a huge crisis, this kind of crisis can be overcome by relying on peace and stability alone and no one will be offended?
"The first honor that Emperor Taizong Wen received in the past was Duke of Dunhuang County. How do you know that Dunhuang City will not produce another character like Emperor Taizong Wen? Even if he can't, it would be good to have a figure of the Taibao formula. ?"

"Reverse! Reverse! I think you've lost your head. What good will it do for my Cao family to have another Grand Protector?" Although Cao Yuanzhong was scolding, he only felt guilty for a while, for fear that his father Cao Yijin would be angry. .

"Sanniang, are you so optimistic about Zhang Erlang? Our family's power comes from the Zhang family. If Zhang Erlang is really a hero, what will our Cao family do?"

Cao Yijin actually had a smile on his face, as if he thought this matter was very interesting.

"Grandpa! My granddaughter is bold. Zhang Erlang has a sentence that I want my granddaughter to bring to you. Can my granddaughter say it?"

Mrs. Cao San said, ignoring her father Cao Yuanzhong's murderous eyes, she knelt down on the ground and said to Cao Yijin.

The smile on Cao Yijin's face became even more playful, "Say, speak boldly, and tell grandpa every word. I really want to hear what this bold Zhang Erlang has to say about this old man?"

"Zhang Erlang said that he never resented you for giving up the Jinshan Kingdom, nor did he think that Cao's replacement of Zhang was to seize power. He said it was what the people wanted.

He also hoped that Grandpa you would take care of your health, saying that you are the Dinghaishenzhen of the Guiyi Army, and if you live in one day, the more than [-] Hexi Tang'er will still have a home.

He won't be detrimental to the Cao family, but he will use his own way to find another way for us lonely loyalists in the Northwest! "

(End of this chapter)