Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 707 Recognition
"You want to go to Fan Yang first?" Cao Sennu looked at Li Shangdao in astonishment. This Young Master Li has changed a lot since he learned that Wang Wenzuo wanted to recruit two thousand crossbowmen Ping Liao.From an arrogant and lewd dandy to an aspiring young man who strives to make contributions, Cao Sengnu sometimes complains in his heart: Others don't know how your ancestors were treated after they established unparalleled achievements, but you still don't know?Besides, you now want money and power in Yangzhou, and you still have the title left by your ancestors. You don’t need anything. Do you think you can tie your head to a belt and fight for your life?I really can’t figure it out!

"Not bad!" Li Shangdao pointed to the river in the distance with great interest: "Look at the scenery on the river. The general has made big moves. It's not just Ping Liao. If my guess is right, he is We need to redo the entire Guanwai area, and then seal it off! For such a big event, it will be more beneficial to arrive early, but we can’t delay it here!”

"It is the emperor's business to seal the grass and block the soil. Why are you, a man named Li, so active?" Cao Sennu complained in his heart, but said in his mouth: "Then according to Mr. Li's arrangement, you first lead the troops to Fan Yang. I'll stay here and slowly move the baggage!"

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Fan Yangcheng.

"The Khitans have raised the flag of rebellion!" Wang Wenzuo stood next to the map and slid his fingertips on it: "The Uighurs asked to send troops to help quell the rebellion. The reward was the Khitan's land. But in this way, the Uighurs' cavalry was weakened. At the foot of Yanshan Mountain, it's like a wolf is gone first, and then a tiger comes back!" At this point, Wang Wenzuo shook his head: "Mr. Lu, write a letter for me, politely rejecting the Uighur people's request, and be gentle in your tone. Thank you. Their loyalty and courage to the Tang Dynasty, and they said that this was just a rebellion of domestic slaves, using sticks and whips instead of spears and crossbows, do you understand what I mean?"

"My subordinate understands!" Lu Zhaolin's pen quickly slid across the paper. After only a moment, he presented a document with both hands. Wang Wenzuo looked at it and said with a smile: "Sure enough, it's a test of ten thousand words a day, and you can do it by yourself." , if I leave Mr. Lu, I really don’t know how to deal with these things!"

"I don't dare to be a great general!" Lu Zhaolin said with a smile: "If the general thinks it's okay, then I'll let someone send it out!"

"That's it!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "It's just that the Uighurs may not be able to understand the beauty of Mr. Lu's article, which is a pity!"

"There is no need to worry about this general!" Lu Zhaolin said with a smile: "If it was possible a few decades ago, it is definitely not possible now. Since the collapse of the Turks, the Uighurs have controlled the trade routes on the grasslands, and many Uighur nobles have been There are Huihe merchants who travel back and forth between the grasslands and the Central Plains, such as Taiyuan, Fanyang, and Chang'an. Their children's speech preferences are not much different from those of the Tang nobles, and they can naturally understand their subordinates' articles!"

"Can the Uighurs also understand the articles of the Central Plains?" Wang Wenzuo frowned and thought to himself: "I'm afraid only a very small number of Uighurs in the Central Plains can understand it! Otherwise, they live on the grasslands chasing water and grass, and make a living by shooting and hunting livestock. How can the production and lifestyle support the etiquette and music articles of the Central Plains ruling class? In the final analysis, this is just an illusion!"

When Lu Zhaolin saw Wang Wenzuo suddenly stopped talking, he thought he had made a mistake somewhere. He felt a little uneasy and asked carefully: "General, this document -?"

"Just do as you say!" Wang Wenzuo waved his hand, signaling Lu Zhaolin to step back. Lu Zhaolin breathed a sigh of relief and was about to leave but was stopped by Wang Wenzuo again.

"You told me two days ago that you have a brother named Lu or something like that. He is good at making moves and is extremely brave, right?"

"Yes!" Lu Zhaolin hurriedly said: "His name is Lu Guangping. He is the twelfth in his generation in our clan, and some people call him Lu Twelve. This man has been very powerful since he was a child, and he is good at making weapons. I admire you. He also followed me to Chang'an to take the exam. Later, when he learned that the general was going to send troops to Liaodong, he immediately rushed back to Hebei and recruited a thousand people from the Xiangqu clan, complete with equipment, to form a battalion of his own, hoping to serve the general! "

"Thousands of people, forming a battalion?" Wang Wenzuo smiled. Of course he knew the meaning behind this. There were many Hebei wealthy families who came to seek refuge with him along the way, but the number of people they brought with them was no more than three or four hundred, and no more than a few dozen. Like this Lu Twelve was unique in being able to recruit thousands of people at once, and he said that the equipment was complete. The equipment was complete, which meant that the thousands of people had brought their own equipment. Even though people were prohibited from possessing weapons such as armor and crossbows at that time, it was difficult for them to carry weapons like crossbows and armor. Indispensable things such as livestock and tents are all provided by oneself; forming a self-contained battalion means that these 1000 people are well-trained on weekdays and have their own officer system. There is no need to deploy additional officers. To put it bluntly, this is Fan Yanglu's private soldiers.So what does this mean?To show one's strength or to show one's allegiance?Or both?
"Then let him station himself at the military camp outside the city first! I'll see him again when I have time!"

"Subordinates obey!"

After Lu Zhaolin left, Wang Wenzuo returned to work. He had many soldiers, a large number of weapons and armor, many horses, and enough food, but this was not an army, at least not yet.To turn them into an army will require patient drills, marches, a field hunt or two, and preferably a few small-scale battles, just like a blacksmith.This all requires time and patience. Sometimes he can't help but recall his time in Baekje and Japan. At that time, he was surrounded by people like Cui Hongdu, Shen Beoseng, He Bayong, Heiji Changzhi, etc. who had experienced hundreds of battles and worked together with one heart and one mind. companions and subordinates, so he could start from scratch and establish a military and political group with himself as the core.Although these Hebei heroes were far superior to them in social status and cultural accomplishment, after all, they had not experienced battlefield experience and had far fewer talents to rely on.

"What a brave warrior!" Wang Wenzuo sighed subconsciously.

"General, general!" Wang Pu's voice came from outside the door.

"what's up?"

"There is a Khitan man named Da Ting Huai'en who is asking to see you outside. He claims to be the son of the leader of the Khitan Dading Department and the shooting general of the Anton Dudu Mansion. He claims to have urgent military information to report to the general! He also said that he would personally negotiate with the General. General, tell me!"

"Dating Huai'en? Khitan?" Wang Wenzuo sighed. He looked at the endless documents and pictures on the desk. Maybe it would be good to meet this Dating Huai'en to change his mind!

"Bring him in!"

When Wang Pu walked into the room with his guests, Wang Wenzuo looked at the visitor up and down. Suddenly he felt a little familiar. Could he have seen the visitor before?He raised his right hand and asked: "Da, your name is Da Tinghuai'en, right? Have we met before?"

"Yes, I am honored to have paid homage to Zunyan once in my humble position!" Da Tinghuaien raised his head in surprise and joy: "That was a few years ago. At that time, I came back from patrol and rested in a wine shop near Liucheng. I happened to meet Da Ting Huai'en. General, you were only the Governor of the Xiongjin Governor's Mansion at that time, I didn't expect you to recognize me!"

"Liucheng, the wine shop! Yes, I remembered it!" Wang Wenzuo patted his thigh and said with a smile: "Isn't there a large swamp next to the wine shop? There were beekeepers, pork dealers, and all kinds of people in the wine shop at that time. Yes, yes, yes! The mead in that wine shop is quite good. If I have the chance, I really want to drink it again!"

"Yes, yes, the general has a good memory!" Da Ting Huaien was overjoyed. He never expected that this big man who already had power over the world would actually remember a few little people he met in the hotel. This added to his excitement. With some confidence, he kowtowed: "General, I have urgent military information to report to you!"

"Is it about the Songmo Governor's Mansion? Tell me!" "Yes!" Da Tinghuaien hurriedly drove him back to his hometown Yazhang overnight. The clan leaders and shaman were bribed by the Silla envoys and raised the flag of rebellion. He repeated it once, and finally kowtowed: "The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty and our Khitan people have the kindness to rebuild, but my clan actually raised the flag of rebellion. It is an unforgivable crime. And most of the people in our clan do not know the truth of the matter at all, and they are deceived." , as soon as the army arrives, I will look forward to the scenery and return to the throne of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty!"

"You mean you want me to send troops immediately to the noble tent to quell the rebellion?" Wang Wenzuo asked.

"Yes, my father is willing to be the internal response!" Da Tinghuaien replied.

Wang Wenzuo did not give an answer immediately and fell into deep thought. Da Tinghuaien did not dare to speak out to disturb Wang Wenzuo's thoughts, so he could only wait with bated breath.After a while, Wang Wenzuo asked: "How many days did you walk from Yazhang to Fanyang?"

"Twelve days in total!"

"Twelve days? In other words, all this happened twelve days ago! And even if I send troops immediately, it will take twelve days to get there. No, it should be said that it will take at least twelve days, or even more. So After a long time, anything can happen, not to mention that you may be a dead space, specially used to lure our troops so that you can set up an ambush!"

"This -" Da Tinghuaien was choked by Wang Wenzuo's analysis. After a while, he sighed: "What the general said is that I really can't produce any evidence to prove my innocence!"

"You don't have to worry about this!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "It's not difficult to verify what you said through other aspects. Please step back and rest first! If you don't remember anything later, you can tell the guard!"

After asking Dating Huai'en to retreat, Wang Wenzuo let out a long breath, came to the map and began to re-estimate the distance from Fan Yang to Turkic Yazhang. Regarding Dating Huai'en's words, he felt that they were not lies, but this kind of Things cannot be done based on intuition; they need to be confirmed one by one by information from all aspects before acting.

"General, two thousand Xuanrun crossbowmen from Yangzhou have also arrived and are waiting outside the south gate!" Wang Pu reported from outside the door.

"Okay, okay!" Wang Wenzuo was very happy. At that time, the greatest advantage of the Central Plains dynasty's army against the nomads was the powerful crossbow, and the Xuanrun crossbowmen were the leaders in the Tang army. With these two thousand more crossbowmen, Wang Wenzuo would have a few more He was confident: "Is Cao Sengnu also here? Let him come to see me quickly!"

"The person who came with us is not Cao Sengnu!" Wang Pu said: "He is a noble young man in his early thirties, who claims his surname is Li, and his name is Li Shangdao!"

"Young Master? Li Shangdao?" Wang Wenzuo was stunned. Normally, it would not be strange for Cao Sengnu to send another officer to command these crossbowmen, but it is unlikely that he would send a noble son to lead the army. He was born with fine clothes and fine clothes. Food, who can bear this hardship?

"Yes, you will know if you don't go to the south gate to have a look, but it is new," Wang Pu said.

Outside the south gate, the business travelers coming and going have become a porridge. People pointed at a young man in brocade robes under two vertical flags erected on the hill beside the road. On the flags, they saw the words "The Great Tang River" "Jianjun Wang Miao Yi", "Yangzhou Strong Crossbow General Li Shangdao", the brocade-robed young man wearing Qieyun Gaoguan, sitting on the Hu bed, with a long halberd standing behind the bed, he didn't care about everyone's advice, he looked satisfied. The appearance of getting it.

"What is this guy doing? Playing monkeys, or singing?" Wang Wenzuo frowned and asked, "Also, when did the Tang Dynasty have the official position of General Yangzhou Qiannu?"

"This -" Next to him was the veteran who had followed Wang Wenzuo to Songzhou. This time he was recruited again and became a Yuhou in the army. He smiled and said, "This Mr. Li can be regarded as a local tyrant in Yangzhou. He likes to wear fancy clothes and be unique. As for the crossbow general, he must be joking!"

"Are you kidding?" Wang Wenzuo laughed angrily: "Can a famous imperial weapon be a joke? What about that? What's going on with the Miao Yi, the king of Hejian County? Is it also a joke?"

"That's not true, he is indeed a descendant of Hejian County Prince Li Xiaogong!"

Wang Wenzuo snorted coldly, and his expression softened slightly: "I see, go and call this guy over, it's too ridiculous!"

Yuhou moved very quickly, and within a moment, Li Shangdao was summoned. He was still more than ten steps away from Wang Wenzuo when he took off his brocade robe, took off his hat, took off his shoes, and kowtowed: "The sinner Li Shangdao pays homage to General Wang! "

"Sinner?" Wang Wenzuo snorted coldly: "Do you still know that you are guilty?"

"I am just a distant member of the clan with little virtue. If I don't pretend to be arrogant, I am afraid that it will be difficult for me to get into the eyes of the general. When I am in despair, I turn my hat and shoes upside down and do the opposite, hoping that the general will help me in the next step. Heart, use it!"

After hearing Li Shangdao's statement, Wang Wenzuo's expression softened slightly: "Cao Sengnu is my old friend. You helped him a lot in Yangzhou, and you are the king of Hejian County. How can I not look at you differently? Why do you need to do this? Like causing trouble?"

"That's what the general said!"

Seeing Li Shangdao's appearance, Wang Wenzuo couldn't express his original anger, so he had to teach him a few more words and then gave up.He still values ​​​​the two thousand Xuanrun crossbowmen. After all, the next enemies, whether they are Mohe or Khitan, are famous for their light cavalry and good walking, and the powerful crossbows of the Central Plains can restrain these. The Xuanrun crossbowmen have always been able to fight far and wide. It is famous for quenching poison with arrows. It was used well last time in Songzhou, so I made a special request this time.

(End of this chapter)