Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

A few minutes later, Li Zhi patted his palms twice to ask the servants to clean up the pieces of dishes and food residues on the floor, and then drank a few mouthfuls of buttermilk. His anger had calmed down. Understand one truth - you must not let your emotions control yourself.

"Your Majesty, Liu Rengui has arrived and is waiting outside the palace!" The servant's voice came from the outside, mixed with the sound of wind and rain outside the palace, a bit indistinct.

"Let him in!" Li Zhi put down the spoon in his hand: "It's raining so hard, bring a bowl of buttermilk to warm him up!"

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"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!" Liu Rengui kowtowed to the emperor, and then took the buttermilk. Perhaps because of the heavy rain, his face was pale, and his gray beard stuck to his wrinkled cheeks, making him look a little old.Li Zhi smiled: "It's raining and cold outside, Liu Qing will use some buttermilk first, and then talk about things!"

"Yes!" Liu Rengui replied gratefully. Although he had changed his coat just now, the flesh-clothed inner coat was still a little wet, and it felt cool and uncomfortable to wear.He drank the buttermilk in two gulps, his body warmed up a lot, and then he handed the bowl to the servant at the side, and said in a deep voice: "The old minister has run out!"

"Okay!" Li Zhi nodded: "The widow intends to let you be the governor of Longzhou (now Longxian County), what do you think?"

Liu Rengui didn't answer right away, he twirled his beard for a while and then replied: "Your Majesty wants the veteran to deal with the thieves?"

"Not bad!" A satisfied smile appeared on Li Zhi's face: "You can know the elegant meaning after listening to Xiange, and it really saves effort to talk to Liu Qing!"

"Don't dare!" Liu Rengui let out a long breath secretly. He was originally an official in the Political Affairs Hall and was one of the ministers. The emperor asked him to go out to be the governor of Longzhou. According to the political conventions of the Tang Dynasty, he was relegated to other states. At this age, it is estimated that it will be difficult to return to Chang'an in this life.But combined with Tang Jun's defeat to Tubo in Dafeichuan just now, Longyou's emptiness, and his past experience, being the governor of Longzhou at this time has another meaning.Longzhou is located in today's Longxian County, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, on the eastern slope of Longzhou, which happens to be the west gate of the Guanzhong Plain. From Guanzhong to Longshan, to the Hexi Corridor or into the Hehuang Valley, you must pass through this place.Obviously, the emperor sent a minister who he trusted and had rich military experience to guard the key points to ensure that nothing was lost in Guanzhong.In the early Tang Dynasty, there was no distinction between civil and military affairs. It was normal for ministers to go to the frontier to supervise the frontier army to seek thieves after making great contributions. If Liu Rengui could be the governor of Longzhou well, it would undoubtedly greatly affect his future political future. beneficial.

"Liu Qing once led the army in Baekje, what do you think is the most important thing in Longyou right now?" Li Zhi asked.

"I don't know much about the situation in Longyou, so I don't dare to speak nonsense!" Liu Rengui changed the subject when he said this: "However, Xue Rengui lost one hundred thousand soldiers this time, and the Longyou military mansion must be empty. I think the first thing should be What you do is to comfort the orphans, reduce taxes and labor, and show the court's care, and then move the household registration from the inland to make up the gap, and after you have recuperated, you can talk about the war!"

"En!" Li Zhi nodded, "What else?"

"Anything else?" Liu Rengui was taken aback when he heard the words, he carefully looked at the emperor's face, wondering if he wanted revenge right away?But the Longyou Tang Army in the battle of Dafeichuan hurt its vitality. At the beginning, it was not enough for Xue Rengui to draw all the elite soldiers in Longyou. , Even if it is transferred from the Mainland military government to make up for it, the combat effectiveness is incomparable.Pulling this kind of army to compete with the Tibetans, isn't that sending food?
"What if Tubo takes advantage of the victory to attack?"

Hearing that the Son of Heaven did not ask him to counterattack immediately, Liu Rengui heaved a sigh of relief, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, although the Longyou soldiers are newly defeated, they are not aggressive enough, and they have more than enough rules. If the Tubo people don't come, they will be defeated if they come!"

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Li Zhi asked: "I heard that Qin Ling is a famous general in the world, with more than [-] men under his command. After the First World War in Dafeichuan, our army was empty in Longyou. Isn't this a good opportunity to send troops? "

"Your Majesty doesn't know something!" Liu Rengui said with a smile, "The military system of Tubo is different from that of my Tang Dynasty. Once they go to war, they will sweep the ground and serve as soldiers. The young and strong will be the front army. The old, weak, women and children will live in the back and graze and harvest them as military resources. This kind of soldiers If it’s a field battle, it’s okay, after all, the winner will be determined in ten days and a half months. If Tubo attacks Longyou with this, there will be countless barriers and pavilions built by the local dynasties. , as many as a few months, as little as [-] or [-] days, and you will be defeated without a fight!"

"So that's it!" Li Zhi showed a smile on his face, just as Liu Rengui said, since the Han Dynasty, the Longyou area has been a battleground for military strategists, and all kinds of fortifications have been built in the past dynasties, and the density is much higher than that of the mainland. .If Tubo invades, even if Longyou's field army suffers heavy losses, they can completely repel the Tubo militia with military and ration tactics. Li Zhi heaves a sigh of relief: "Then the matter of Liu Qing's appointment as the governor of Longzhou has been decided first. If the bandits Invasion, you will be added as the guardian ambassador of the Longyou march!"

"I obey the order!" Liu Rengui hurriedly bowed down.

Seeing that Liu Rengui accepted his appointment, Li Zhi's face became a little more happy. He asked Liu Rengui a few things about Longyou, and suddenly asked: "Liu Qing, someone impeached Wang Wenzuo in the court a few days ago, and he is also yours. The old subordinate is here, take a look at this bullet!"

"Yes!" Liu Rengui was taken aback when he heard the words. He took the bullet from Li Zhi and looked at it.It turns out that the bullets accused Wang Wenzuo of being ordered to guard Songzhou and resist Tubo.But after he took office, he did not think about how to resist Tubo, but did business with Tubo for personal gain, and did not fulfill his responsibility to contain Tubo all the way, so that Wang Wenzuo was also responsible for the defeat of the Longyou army in Dafeichuan.At the end, Liu Rengui went to look at the inscription, but found that it had been blacked out. Obviously, this was done by the emperor, and he didn't want to reveal who the impeacher was.

"The veteran thinks that this bullet is nonsense from the beginning to the end!" Liu Rengui put the bullet back on the table: "If the person presenting the memorial knew a little bit about military affairs, he would not have written such bullets! "

"Oh?" Li Zhi laughed: "In Liu Qing's opinion, Wang Wenzuo is not responsible?"

"Yes, not only is there no responsibility, Wang Wenzuo has already done a good job in Songzhou Governor's Mansion. At least if I am in his position, I can't do better than him!"

"Why do you say that?" Li Zhi smiled and said, "Don't tell me he didn't have the responsibility to restrain Tubo all the way?"

"Your Majesty, Jiannan is the western mansion of the imperial court. Every year, the winter and summer clothing gifts, Turkic, Tiele, and Uighur rewards for the officers and men of Longyou, Beiting, and Western Regions are mostly brocade and silk tributes from Central Shu. There is no such thing as Central Shu The imperial court has absolutely no ability to send [-] troops to conquer Tubo. Wang Wenzuo is in the position of governor of Songzhou, the first thing to do is to protect Xichuan, not to contain Tubo. Your Majesty, how many soldiers are there in Jiannan? You know, Wang Wenzuo only has such a small number of soldiers at hand, but he has to screen and protect Xichuan for several times. Jiannan is not just an enemy of Tubo. It is necessary to increase the number of troops and pay, who to ask for it? Shouldn’t they be looking for Chengdu? Chengdu gave him more, but less for the court. The court did not have the gold and silk in the middle of Sichuan, so what to use to maintain the army in Longyou Beiting? After Wang Wenzuo took office, after repelling Tubo twice, he established a business relationship with him. He not only shielded Xichuan, but also made money. Last year, the brocade tribute from Xichuan to Chang’an was half as much as in previous years. Here is Wang Wenzuo’s Credit!"

"Hehehehe!" Li Zhi laughed loudly when he heard this: "Liu Qing is indeed a prime minister, and I agree with what I see!" Having said that, he took out a piece of paper from the desk, but it was from there. It was cut out from the end of the bullet, with Li Zhi's familiar characters on it: "You don't know about Jiang Chen's affairs, so don't say more!"

"Your Majesty is wise, I am too old to worry too much!" Liu Rengui hurriedly thanked him.

"I wanted to order Wang Wenzuo to come to Longyou, but when I thought about it carefully, if I changed to Songzhou, I was afraid that something would happen again. Wouldn't it be possible to press the gourd to float the ladle? I simply let him stay in Songzhou! It's going to be too much work for you!" Li Zhi paused for a moment: "Liu Qing stayed in Longyou for three years, repaired the big hole Xue Rengui stabbed this time, and then returned to Chang'an Zhengshitang to do errands for the widow, how about it?"

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Outside the city of Yingzhou, the pier by the river.

The sun was setting, and its last rays, iridescent, reflected the fur hats of the men.The sound of drums came from Yingzhou City not far away, and pedestrians on the road couldn't help speeding up their pace, but fortunately they closed the gate and entered the city.

On the pier by the river, people from Dahe Huai'en had already sat down on the boat, and the boatmen were still busy carrying their bags. From the vicinity of the branch that poured into the Liaohe River, a gust of cold wind blew in, shaking the torches erratically.The fire light reflected on the river surface, it looked blood red, and the blood red river was flowing northward, as if it was flowing to an unknown dark place.

"Okay, I wish you a smooth journey!" Ah Zhiluo enthusiastically held Da He Huai'en's hand: "Be sure to take care of yourself along the way!"

"I'll be careful in everything!" Dahe Huai'en said with a smile: "bless the gods and Buddhas, we will meet again soon!"

"Yeah!" Ah Zhiluo nodded: "In Yingzhou, on the meadow, or somewhere else! We will see you again!"

"Hehe!" Dahe Huai'en laughed: "What you said is a bit strange. It's okay in Yingzhou, but what the hell is that place on the meadow, anyone will meet, and anything can happen! No one I don't know who is the enemy and who is the friend there!"

"Then what else can I say?" Ahzhi Luo shook his head nonchalantly: "We are destined to be people who draw bows and shoot arrows, and we can't help ourselves when we fly there!"

"Yes!" Dahe Huai'en sighed: "In this current situation, no one knows what will happen in the future!" He opened his arms and hugged Ah Zhiluo: "May the gods and Buddhas bless you, and the arrows will bypass you! "

"May the gods and Buddhas bless you, and the arrows will bypass you!" Ah Zhiluo also whispered, and the two let go of their arms, and Dahe Huai'en went to the boat without looking back.

The oars slapped the water, and the boat slowly left the dock.

Dahe Huai'en stood at the stern of the boat, the river bank and the flame quickly receded in front of his eyes. He stared at Ahzhi Luo on the bank for a long time, gradually being swallowed up by the night, and his heart was gradually filled with a kind of sadness. Going farther and farther away, leaving everything he loves, is like a ruthless fate pulling him away from this light, into a wild land, into endless darkness.

The boats pass through the mouth of the river and enter the wide Liaohe River. The wind roars across the river, the oars rattle, it looks monotonous and sad, and the boatman sings sad songs.Da He Huai'en was wrapped in a cloak, lying on his shop, recalling Yingzhou and the colorful life it represented, and all of this no longer belonged to him, waiting for him Endless war, darkness, danger and despair , he thought hard, trying to find a way out, exhausted, and finally fell asleep amidst the sound of songs, oars and wind.

Early the next morning, Dahe Wynn woke up. He only felt that he was light and healthy. His strong body was like a full wine glass, full of energy.He went to the deck and found that the sky was clear, and the warm and gentle wind was blowing the overflowing wide river, wrinkling layers of ripples.Under the cover of the morning fog, the two sides of the bank were blurred and connected with the river surface, and the boundary could not be seen clearly.A young boy servant woke up. He looked around in panic, but he couldn't see anywhere.

"Bodhisattva!" he yelled, "Couldn't we be going out to sea?"

"This is a rising river. It rained a lot a few days ago, so the Liaohe River is much wider than usual!" Da He Huai'en said: "When the sun comes out and the fog clears, you can see the river bank!"

"So that's the case. I thought we had already reached the territory of the Silla people!"

"If necessary, we will go! You see, we are not the only boat on the river, and there are many boats passing by!"

Sure enough, they soon saw many boats on the river, the most of which was a kind of small boat with a skeleton made of wood, covered with birch bark or fish skin, and could be carried by one person after landing on the bank to dry. .This kind of boat is fast when going downstream, but long oars must be used when going upstream.The Mohe people like to use this kind of boat very much. They fill it with dried fish, nuts, dried berries, honey, and fur, and transport it to Han villages and towns along the river for sale. When they return, they bring salt, tea, iron utensils, cloth, etc. Goods are sold to tribal people living in meadows, forests and swamps.

On both sides of the Liao River, there is a large wilderness, no villages, only white or brown tents can be seen occasionally, which are nomadic Khitan and Mohe people. Even for these lonely nomads, this season is a rare time of convenient transportation. They are willing to exchange the goods they need with the boat people on the river.

The boy servant looked at the shore in surprise, it was the first time in his life that he saw such a magnificent scenery. (end of this chapter)