Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 493
"The envoy held the dew cloth and was blocked by passersby on the side of the road. He had to let his subordinates come with the good news first. He was still on the way! I heard that all the passers-by sang "The Music of the King of Qin Breaking the Array", and the spectators were blocked. Blocked the road for several miles!" The servant said.

"It's no wonder!" Li Zhi laughed, "Many people in Chang'an must be drunk tonight, right?"

"That's right!" The maid exclaimed, "Such a scene like today, I have only heard about it from the elders in the palace, and have never seen it with my own eyes!"

"Preach the decree!" Li Zhi said with a smile, "From tonight onwards, the King Wu will not be restrained in Chang'an City for three days. If there are more than [-] people in the city, a pot of wine and a catty of preserved meat will be given to celebrate the happy event of the country!"

"According to the order!"

After the servant retreated, Li Zhi picked up the victory report and read it twice carefully. The words on it seemed to turn into pictures of victory. He suddenly felt dizzy before his eyes. It took a few minutes to recover, and said with a wry smile: "Others feel refreshed when happy events happen, but the widow gets dizzy when happy events happen. How can this work?"

"Your Majesty, the prince seeks an audience!"

"It's Hong'er?" Li Zhi opened his eyes, and said with a smile, "I must have heard the good news, anyway, let him come in!"

"According to the order!"

A few minutes later, the sound of hurried footsteps came from the outside, and Li Zhi seemed to be able to see Li Hong's nimble footsteps only by the sound of footsteps. There is no such a good body!"

"A Weng, A Weng!" Li Hong's face was full of excitement: "I just heard someone say that Lubu from Liaodong is back, and Goguryeo has surrendered. Is it true?"

"That's right, Goguryeo has finally surrendered this time!" Li Zhi pointed to the brocade mat beside him: "Hong'er sit down and talk!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Li Hongxie sat down and sighed: "The Duke of England is indeed the minister of the Zhu Kingdom. He led the army and wiped out Goguryeo so quickly this time!"

"Hehe!" Li Zhi laughed when he heard the words, and he put the victory report in his hand back on the desk: "Honger, you made a mistake this time, it is true that the British army led the expedition this time, but the one who really made the first contribution was someone else." Someone!"

"Is there someone else? More credit than the British Duke?"

"Well, it's still your acquaintance!" Li Zhi pointed to the good news: "You show this to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Li Hong received the victory report from the hand of the palace lady, opened it and looked at it. After reading two lines, his eyes widened: "It's Wang Jiaoyu! Wang Jiaoyu was the first to enter Pyongyang City!"

"That's right, I didn't expect it to be him!" Li Zhi said with a wry smile: "Before this expedition, I made a promise that the first person to enter Pyongyang City was Wang Zhi. This was originally intended to reward the British Duke Li Ji, but it didn't happen." It's a bit embarrassing to think that Wang Wenzuo took the lead!"

"Embarrassed? Why do you say that?" Li Hong asked puzzled.

Li Zhi had nothing to hide from his son, so he explained.It turns out that the titles of the Tang Dynasty were divided into nine grades: one is the king, who eats [-] households, and is the first rank; From the first rank; the fourth is the Duke of Kaiguo County, with [-] households in the city, and the second rank; The seventh is the county uncle of Kaiguo, with [-] households in Shiyi, and is on the fourth rank;

Among them, the first and second ranks are clans or heroes who surrendered when the country was founded (such as Wu Wang Du Fuwei, Yan Wang Luo Yi); Li Ji's British Duke is in the third rank.The relationship between Li Ji and Li Zhi is rather special. Shortly after Li Zhi was conferred the title of Queen of Jin, he was granted the post of Governor of Bingzhou, and Li Ji, the official residence of the Governor of Bingzhou, was actually in charge of the Governor's Mansion of Bingzhou at that time; Before Li Shimin died, he deliberately expelled Li Ji from Chang'an, so that Li Zhi could recall him to be kind to Li Ji after he succeeded to the throne; during the critical period when Li Zhi abolished Wang Liwu, Li Ji, who was a minister of Tuogu, said bluntly: This is Your Majesty. housework!For this reason, Empress Wu was very grateful to Li Ji, and even sent a special gift to thank him.Because of the above-mentioned matters, Li Zhi asked Li Ji, who was in his twilight years, to command the battle that must be won, and took this opportunity to break the convention and designate Li Ji as the county king, which can be regarded as a reward for this veteran who has been so kind to his husband and wife.But what Li Zhi didn't expect was that the first to enter Pyongyang City was not Li Ji as expected, but Wang Wenzuo.

"Hong'er, do you understand?" Li Zhi smiled and said, "It's not that the widow is reluctant to bear the title of the county king, it's just that Wang Wenzuo's starting point is too low. It's not unreasonable to confer the title of county king! But now he doesn't even have a county magistrate or a county man, so he jumped out of the county king all of a sudden, which is too shocking, and it can't stop the mouths of the world. !"

"That's true!" Li Hong sighed: "But your father, you have said so well, since you have promised that the first person to enter Pyongyang will be crowned king, so it must not count?"

"It's not enough in terms of fame and utensils, but it's enough to make up for it in other aspects!" Li Zhi said with a smile: "Besides, Wang Wenzuo is still young, he is only in his early thirties this year, right? If he is crowned king now, how can he do it after my son ascends the throne?" Him? Wouldn't he have to stay in Chang'an every day for the elderly? I'm afraid he himself is not willing to do that!"

"What Ah Weng said is true!" This time, Li Hong was convinced. Rewards for meritorious deeds and punishments for demerits are the basic rules for the normal operation of any political organization. If you can reward him after you come out, naturally you can't send him out to lead the army to fight.Even Datang did not have the extravagance to leave such an outstanding general in his 30s in Chang'an as a job for most of his life.

"Then what title can Wang Jiaoyu receive this time?" Li Hong asked.

"It should be the county son or county uncle of Jianguo!" Li Zhidao, he seemed to feel that it was a little less, so he added with a smile: "It is true that this is a little less than Wang Wenzuo's credit, but the matter of honor rewards is the first thing to do." The widow can judge only after the report from the Ministry of War, and you don’t just give whatever you want! You also know that Wang Wenzuo is a newcomer, so naturally he will suffer a bit in this regard, and only in the future can we find a way to compensate him!”

"My son also thinks that Jianguo County's sons or Jianguo county uncles are less!" Li Hongdao: "My son heard that Xue Rengui shot and killed the enemy general in the fourth year of Xianqing. , how can it be only one level higher than Xue Rengui? As for compensation in the future, I think it's impossible?"

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Li Zhi was not annoyed by his son's rebuttal, but just looked at Li Hong with a smile.

"The ancients said that officials are appointed for their abilities, and nobles are rewarded for their merits! The reason why soldiers are willing to face swords, face arrows, and go all out is nothing more than to be rewarded by nobles, to honor themselves, and to pass on to their descendants. It has already been built, the people sing and dance, and everyone in the world is eager to watch, how can there be any reason to delay the award? My child thinks it is absolutely impossible!"

"Not bad! Not bad!" Hearing the prince's words, Li Zhi nodded in satisfaction: "You have made progress with your insights. As a king, you are in charge of rewards and punishments. You must not be unfair! Reward Wang Wenzuo It is true that this matter cannot be delayed, but I haven't thought about it for a while!"

"May I reward you with some gold and silk?" Li Hong asked.

"Gold and silk?" Li Zhi laughed when he heard the words: "Hong'er, you really don't know you, Wang Jiaoyu! He really doesn't lack gold and silk?"

"Is there no shortage of gold and silk? Could it be that Wang Jiaoyu came from a wealthy family? It doesn't look like it! When I was in Chang'an, the children didn't think he was a child of an aristocratic family!" Li Hong asked puzzled.

"Hong'er, you don't know!" Li Zhi said with a smile: "This Wang Wenzuo's family wealth is not based on the ancestral business, but his own way of making money! Do you remember? The furs, medicinal materials, and gold that the widow gave you a few days ago Silverware!"

"Remember! That fur is really nice! But what does it have to do with him?"

"The furs and medicinal materials were all donated by Wang Wenzuo earlier!" Li Zhi said with a smile: "According to what he said, these were all exchanged by him from the barbarian chieftain of Haidong. Widow, don’t you want to take anything from yourself?”

"This——" Li Hong was dumbfounded for a moment. Although he was still a young man, he was born in a heavenly family. Wang Wenzuo left a good impression on him, and he didn't want to speak ill of him in front of Li Zhi.

"Of course, the widow did not mean to blame Wang Wenzuo. After going through life and death like him, it is the right thing to get some property for himself. If the widow does not let this matter go, it would be too mean and ungrateful. The widow told you this, just to tell you that he not only knows how to fight wars, but also has the same means of making money as merchants, and I am afraid that his family is rich by now. Instead of rewarding others with gold and silk, you might as well give something else!" Having said that, Li Zhi Suddenly sighed: "It's a pity, none of the widow's daughters is suitable, otherwise it would be good to recruit this son-in-law!"

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Just when Gaozong and his son were worrying about how to reward Wang Wenzuo for his achievements, the city of Chang'an was already full of jubilation.Pedestrians on the road, even strangers, will congratulate each other and celebrate with each other. The wine shops on the roadside are even more prosperous, crowded like a court meeting. Some people simply sit on the ground with wine glasses and toast to each other.On the streets, artisans, hired workers, prostitutes, and veterans covered in scars—conquerors of the Turkic, Xueyantuo, and Tiele peoples, ordinary women, orchids, and flexible children in small groups, batch after batch flowed endlessly. rush forward.Their lively, cheerful faces, their carefree chatter, their sarcasm and their sarcasm, all spoke of their happy mood at the time.

All this motley, tumultuous, and innumerable crowd filled the great city with an indistinct, tumultuous, but merry tumult, a tumult which consisted only of thousands of beehives setting out in the streets. Only the hum that comes out can be compared with it.

Princess Pu'an returned to her residence in Chang'an City amidst such noise. When she got off the sedan chair, she was already exhausted.

"Hurry up, prepare hot water quickly, and serve Her Royal Highness to take a shower!" The housekeeper said loudly, "It's really crowded outside today, what if it's like this every day!"

"If it can be like this every day, I will be willing even if it is more crowded!" Princess Pu'an was tired, but she was in a good mood. She smiled and said to the housekeeper: "The order will be passed on, and everyone in the house will be rewarded with five hundred coins tonight. Mi Sandou, congratulations to the Great Tang for conquering Goguryeo!"

"Thank you Patriarch for the reward!"

The servants in the courtyard bowed down one after another to thank her. Princess Pu'an was about to take a shower and rest. At this time, the housekeeper heard a few words from the gatekeeper and said to Princess Pu'an: "Master, Princess Xiping sent someone to vote for you at noon. The famous assassin said that he wanted to visit you tonight!"

"Oh, the fifteenth sister is coming, very good, you get someone to prepare!"

"Yes!"

Due to fatigue, Princess Pu'an only ate two bowls of buttermilk and a little dried fruit after taking a shower, and then went to rest.It was completely dark when she woke up, and then she massaged and dressed with the help of her personal maid. This was also the time when she was in the happiest mood of the day, and most requests to her at this time would not be rejected.

"Princess Xiping is here!" the maid whispered.

"Let's invite her here! My sister, there's nothing to be polite about!" Princess Pu'an lazily replied while enjoying the maid's massage with her eyes closed. "Sister, you really know how to enjoy it!" Princess Xiping came in. She was a fat woman with a round face. little trace.

"Life is as short as a fleeting moment, so why bother? If you have to enjoy it, enjoy it for a day!" Princess Pu'an didn't even open her eyes: "Why do you have time to come to me today?"

Princess Xiping did not answer the question directly, but asked instead: "Did you hear the voice outside? Goguryeo is flat!"

"I'm not deaf!" Princess Pu'an opened her eyes: "How could I not know such a big thing?"

"That's right!" Princess Xiping suddenly showed a mysterious smile: "Since Goguryeo has been leveled, then the east side will be fine. Brother Tianzi now has the power to take care of his brother-in-law's affairs, right?" It turned out that Princess Xiping was the concubine of Tang Taizong Li Shimin. Daughter, her husband Murong Nuohebo is Tuyuhun Khan, who was oppressed by Tubo people a few years ago, lost his original pasture land (probably in the Hehuang Valley) and fled to Liangzhou.So the couple often went back and forth between Chang'an and Liangzhou, and often asked Emperor Gaozong to send troops to conquer Tubo, but each time Gaozong shirked it by saying that the Tang Dynasty had no spare power to send troops.

"Are you looking for me this time because you want me to speak for you in front of the emperor?" Princess Pu'an waved her hand, signaling the masseur to step down: "This is a military matter!"

"How can there be so many important military and state affairs!" Princess Xiping took the wine glass, took a sip and said with a smile: "I didn't think His Majesty would destroy Tubo, but I also wanted the Tubo people to hand over the pasture land, because Tang just destroyed Goguryeo. In terms of power and influence, the Tubo people definitely dare not accept it!"

(End of this chapter)