Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 696 Farewell
"Oh!" Li Shangdao clapped his palms with the folding fan in his hand: "Have the documents from the Ministry of War been delivered?"

"Already arrived together!"

"Then why are you anxious?" Li Shangdao said with a smile: "The salary given to the soldiers last time was enough, and all the battles were won. Xuanrun people are not fools. Such a good job should not be done as soon as the notice is posted. Are they like clouds? There is a waterway connecting Yangzhou to Fanyang, and you can even climb to Fanyang in June!"

"The letter is not just about recruiting crossbowmen!" Cao Sengnu took out a document from his sleeve and handed it to Li Shangdao: "Master Li, take a look at it too!"

"Oh!" Li Shangdao took the letter and after reading a few lines, his eyebrows raised: "Old Cao! The general is really going to do something big this time!"

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Chang'an, Baqiao.

The continuous rain for several days made the nobles of Chang'an quite disappointed. They spent most of the time trapped in their homes, drinking wine, frowning at the gray sky, and worrying about the upcoming expedition. Some people even asserted that this was an ominous sign for the future Liaodong War, where the famous general would lose his prestige, just like where he gained it.

However, on the seventh day of April, a bright dawn unexpectedly emerged from the east of the sky. Then, the birds that had been silent for many days began to chirp and fly up and down. Channel.Although there was still a thin veil floating on the sky, and the fields in Guanzhong were still misty, a bright red morning glow suddenly bloomed in the depths of the dawn.It is like brocade flying out of Tiansun's loom, constantly emerging and accumulating, casting its bright brilliance to the sky, the earth, and the majestic capital city.As a result, the bulging Zhongnan Mountains, the vast wheat fields, and the weeping willows by the river were all inlaid with a colorful halo.There is something refreshing and refreshing in the morning air.

"Sanlang, I will leave King Pei in your hands this time!" Li Hong picked up his younger brother Li Xian's hand and placed it on Wang Wenzuo's: "You have to teach him how to march and form a formation and how to behave in the world. !”

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty!" Wang Wenzuo bowed and said: "King Pei is a wise man, and I should do my best to assist King Pei in quelling the chaos in Liaodong!"

"That's good!" Li Hong's eyes shifted to Li Xian: "Brother Xian, haven't you always said that you want to learn the art of war from Sanlang? This is a great opportunity. To be honest, everyone is a little envious of you. If How wonderful it would be to abandon the weight of ten thousand chariots and carry one hundred thousand troops like you to go to Liaodong with Sanlang!"

Li Xian's eyes flashed with joy on his face: "Brother Huang said that leaving Chang'an this time has been my long-cherished wish. I will definitely follow the general's advice and pacify Liaodong as soon as possible!"

"Okay, okay, as long as you have this intention!" Li Hong said with a smile.

Looking at the picture of brothers and sisters in front of him, Wang Wenzuo said nothing. Of course he knew that the relationship between the two brothers was definitely not as harmonious and friendly as it seemed. He had already told Li Hong the real reason for taking Li Xian to Liaodong. Purpose, and although Li Xian is only seventeen or eighteen years old, suffering and changes are the best accelerants of maturity. He has just experienced a palace coup and the death of his mother, and his father is bedridden due to illness. He will definitely not be the same ignorant boy.In this case, the friendship in front of you is just an illusion, and there is only an undercurrent hidden inside.

"Sanlang!" Li Hong chatted with his brother for a few words, then waved to Wang Wenzuo, gesturing for him to come closer. The palace maids and chamberlains on both sides stepped away intentionally or unintentionally before the emperor could speak, so that the emperor could say a few words to his beloved ministers. Private message.

"Sanlang, I plan to promote Pei Judao to the title of Prince's Young Master and temporarily reduce his power. What do you think?"

"Prince Young Master?" Wang Wenzuo was stunned. Li Hong obviously wanted to take over the political affairs hall from Pei Judao.But the problem is that now Li Hong doesn't even have a prince, but he promotes Pei Judao to the prince's young master. Isn't this too obvious?
"Then who does Your Majesty intend to replace Pei Judao? Yang Sijian?"

"Yes, it's Mr. Yang!"

"Please forgive me for speaking frankly. As your Majesty is in a high position, you should not appoint one person alone. Be it Yang Sijian or Pei Judao, they can both be used. Wouldn't it be better if your Majesty is on top of them?"

Facing Wang Wenzuo's advice, Li Hong fell into silence. After a moment, he nodded: "Okay, since Sanlang said so, let's take it easy first!"

Looking at Li Hong's look, Wang Wenzuo knew that the other party must be a little unwilling, but in his opinion, Li Hong's throne was actually not stable. Although Pei Judao had many faults, at least so far he still supported Li Hong's throne. Instead of If he were to be replaced by Yang Sijian, it would be better to let the two people restrain each other, and it would be more beneficial for Li Hong to balance in the middle, at least until he returns from pacifying Liaodong.He was thinking about how to better persuade Li Hong when he heard Li Hong say: "What are Sanlang's plans for the military affairs in Liaodong?"

"Chang'an is thousands of miles away from Liaodong, and it takes more than a month to get news back and forth. Even if I formulate a strategy, I can only follow the situation in Liaodong more than a month ago. When I arrive in Liaodong, I am afraid it will take another month or two, and the war situation may be too early. It has changed again! So I can only formulate a general strategy now, and the details can only be decided after Liaodong!"

"What Sanlang said, what is the general strategy?" Li Hong asked.

"Slow forward, quick fight!"

"Oh? Slow forward and fast fight? What does this mean?"

"Liaodong is a vast land with rugged mountains and rivers, forests and swamps. It produces iron, horses, salt, grains and beans. It is a land dominated by kings and barbarians. The barbarians are all over it, and their people are brave. There are countless remaining mountain cities in Goguryeo. If you defend it according to danger, it will be a great success. 20 people are not enough to fight! Although the previous dynasty built a canal, the river can lead directly to Fanyang, but it is still a thousand miles from Fanyang to Liucheng. The road is rugged, surrounded by mountains and sea, and there is only one hole accessible. If a quick war fails, only Liaodong will be lost. The world is in ruins! The division cannot last long, and the country will be destroyed if it is too long. But if you want to fight quickly, you need to select soldiers, hoard food, and use sharp weapons to catch the enemy unprepared. In the first battle, you will destroy the leader of the bandit, and in the second battle, you will destroy his lair. , and then we can apply benevolence and righteousness to the counties and counties, thinking that it will be a long-term solution. However, all the above will take time, so I plan to advance slowly, accumulate strength and nourish my energy, wait for them to slack off, and then win the battle in one battle!"

"I understand what Sanlang means!" Li Hong said with a smile: "Don't worry, I will never control matters in Liaodong. It is all decided by Sanlang. When I return in triumph, I will raise a glass to drink with Sanlang!" After that, he After tapping his palm twice, the eunuch next to him hurried forward and offered wine.

"Axian, come and have a drink too!" Li Hong greeted King Pei and was the first to pick up the wine glass: "This time we set off, we should wipe out the enemy's hatred in one fell swoop, so that we don't have to worry about it!" After saying this, he took the cup. Finished the wine in one gulp.

————————————————————————Luoyang, Gaowu Niangzhai.

"Quick, quick, you guys hurry up and clean up the backyard. Look, there are so many fallen leaves here. Don't you even have eyes? You are all lazy at this time. You really don't even have a wink! Do you want to Shall I do it for you?" Gao Wu Niang no longer had her usual composure. She stood on the steps and pointed fingers with a feather duster, keeping the feet of the hundreds of slaves in the house from touching the ground. She couldn't breathe, and she could hardly About to fly.

"Wu Niang, Wu Niang!" Gao Wen quickly ran in from outside the courtyard. He was wearing a brocade robe and a purple gauze futon on his head. At this time, he had the front of the brocade robe pinned to his waist, but he looked like a man doing rough work. Craftsman, looks quite weird.

"Why did you come in? Why didn't you wait at the alley?" Gao Wuniang asked anxiously: "If the general comes, won't there be no one to greet him?"

"Don't worry, Wu Niang. I have sent people to watch at the city gate. If the general enters the city, he will come over immediately. The general has many honors and guards, so he will definitely be slow to come to our place!"

"That's true!" Gao Wanniang breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately became nervous again: "Please help me look around to see if there is anything I have missed. The general's visit to our home is a blessing that cannot be asked for. points, but if you don’t handle it well, it will be a disaster that you can’t even avoid!”

"Wu Niang, put down this feather duster first!" Gao Wen said: "Xianggong Di told me yesterday that the general will only see one thing when he comes this time, and that is the four-wheeled carriage. As long as the object is well made, the general will As long as he is happy, he doesn’t care about anything else. So you’d better keep an eye on the four-wheeled carriage. There must be nothing wrong with that thing, otherwise it will be in vain no matter how clean the yard is!"

"Okay!" Gao Wanniang nodded and put the feather duster into Gawain's hand: "Then you keep an eye on this side, I'll go check on the carriage. The carriage needs to be ready and the ground needs to be swept clean. We won't make any mistakes at all." not allowed!"

"Okay!" Gao Wen smiled bitterly and took the feather duster. Normally Wuniang is not like this on weekdays, but she didn't want to know that General Wang was going to come in person, so she changed to someone else. This time the General went to Liaodong and had to order a lot. There are at least a thousand four-wheeled carriages. If it is done well, it is not impossible to give it to a royal wife!If she knew the news that Di Renjie secretly revealed to her, she would probably turn the entire house upside down, right?

"Langjun, Langjun, the general has entered the city!"

"Okay, you go back and keep an eye on it. When the general comes here, you come back and report!" Gawain happily took out a handful of meat from his pocket and stuffed it into the slave's hand: "Take it and buy some sesame cakes." Eat, just keep an eye on it and don’t go anywhere, understand!”

"Don't keep an eye on it!" The slave took the copper coin and said breathlessly: "He came here as soon as he entered the city. It's just a matter of front and back!"

"What, you came this way as soon as you entered the city?" Gao Wen was surprised. In his opinion, after Wang Wenzuo entered Luoyang, he must first socialize with the local officials in Luoyang. Being able to come here before dark is enough He acted vigorously and resolutely, so it wouldn't be surprising if he delayed it for another two or three days.He just came here directly, so he didn't care about the officials of Luoyang Mansion?

"Quickly, clean up the ground quickly. You, go and inform Wu Niang that the general is here. I'll wait for her at the alley!"

The entrance to the alley was already decorated with lanterns and decorations. After learning that Wang Wenzuo was coming in person, Gao Wu Niang immediately spent her own money to erect an archway at the entrance of the alley overnight, which was hung with colorful silk lanterns. It was very grand.When Gawain arrived, the owner of the workshop was already standing under the archway. When he saw Gawain, he urged him, "Where is Wu Niang? Why don't you come out?"

"I've already sent someone to call her. She'll be out soon!"

"She's still running around at this time. What if she's not here when the general comes? Women just can't do things!" The shop owner stamped his feet and said, "Don't send anyone to rush her!"

"Yes, yes!" Gao Wen was about to call someone, but he saw Gao Wuniang running over from the alley. She was wearing a crimson pleated skirt with yellow flowers on her face. She was washed away by sweat and left behind The traces looked a little funny.Before Gawain could say anything, the shop owner shouted: "Wu Niang, what do you want me to say about you? Come and stand quickly, the general will be here soon!"

"Yes, yes, Lord, please forgive me!" Gao Wuniang apologized to the Lord and asked Gawain: "How am I doing now? Is it okay?"

"Fortunately, the makeup is just a bit off!" Gawain whispered.

"Ah? What should we do? Get a mirror quickly -" Gao Wu Niang was about to ask someone to touch up her makeup, but she heard a burst of encouragement. Immediately, two groups of knights appeared at the street corner, and the shop owner hurriedly shouted: " Welcome the general and the tiger!" Then he was the first to kneel down.Seeing this, Gao Wuniang had no choice but to kneel down with everyone else, like a reed blown down by the wind.

"Ahead is Gao Wu Niang's mansion!" Di Renjie said to Wang Wenzuo respectfully: "The mansion is very big and is connected with the workshop. There are 500 craftsmen's slaves in total, and the four-wheeled carriages are made there. from!"

"Well!" Wang Wenzuo looked at the house in front of him with great interest. He saw that the courtyards were layered one after another, like a peeled onion. He nodded: "For a woman's family to be able to create such a large business, when It’s really not easy!”

"Yes!" Di Renjie said with a smile: "A few days ago, Gao Wanniang was sued for purchasing a house. If Wang Fuyin hadn't stepped in to uphold justice, she would have suffered a big loss!"

"Oh? Is there such a thing?" Wang Wenzuo's eyes turned to the old man next to him. As the highest official of Luoyang, Wang Wenzuo naturally had to accompany Wang Wenzuo throughout the whole process when the court officials came.

"It is indeed true!" Wangfu Yin replied calmly: "That man originally competed with Gao Wuniang for this house, but they never fought, so he held a grudge. The source of the money for falsely accusing Wuniang was unknown. I have verified it after investigation. Afterwards, it was confirmed that Wuniang’s money was obtained from mining and smelting. This person was falsely accused and should be dismissed. He has been sentenced to exile and went to Hunan!"

"Good judgment!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Without the old Xianggong upholding justice, diligent and intelligent people like Gao Wuniang would not be able to live and work in peace and contentment. Having good ministers like the old Xianggong is really a blessing to the people and the court! I should report this to the imperial court!"

(End of this chapter)