Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

"King Pei is very close to some people?" Wang Wenzuo asked, "Who are they?"

"His Royal Highness King Pei is the brother of the Emperor, so it is naturally impossible for me to send someone to monitor him!" Xue Rengui replied: "But I heard that these people all seem to have Hedong accents!"

"Hedong accent?" Wang Wenzuo glanced at Xue Rengui and suddenly laughed: "Thank you Mr. Xue, Wang appreciates it!"

"I don't dare to accept my gratitude!" Xue Rengui said with a smile: "It's just that Xue's reputation has been ruined on Dafeichuan in this life. If there is anyone in the world who can avenge Xue, it is only you, Sanlang. Even if Xue doesn't No matter how stupid you are, you still know whose side to side with!”

Hearing what Xue Rengui said, Wang Wenzuo couldn't help but laugh. This man is also a smart man. With his qualifications and status, it is not appropriate to openly side with him. After all, when Xue Rengui was the general manager, Wang Wenzuo was still a soldier in the army. Even if Wang Wenzuo is now above him in official position, it will not sound good if he bends down and spreads it to the outside. According to Xue Rengui, it is the entrustment of the seniors in the military to the juniors. Even if it is written in the history books, it will be a good story.

"Don't worry, Mr. Xue, after I take care of the east thieves, I will naturally deal with the west thieves when I have spare time!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "The Tubo monarch is weak and his ministers are strong, and the branches are strong and the stems are weak, so they will not last long. If my guess is correct, Qin Ling Nasi will probably die in the hands of Tubo Zampu!"

"If it can be as you said, Sanlang, that would be the best! As long as Qin Ling is alive, Longyou will have no peace. He is really a serious problem for me in the Tang Dynasty!"

"What Mr. Xue said is true!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile. He and Xue Rengui said a few more words before serving tea to see off the guests. Just now Xue Rengui said that King Pei had a close relationship with people with Hedong accents. Naturally, such a political veteran would not talk nonsense on such a sensitive issue. In the early Tang Dynasty, the famous families in Hedong only had the surnames of Xue, Liu, and Han, and the most famous among them was the Pei family. Pei Judao and Pei Xingjian were both descended from this surname, but they were divided into different houses. Pei Xingjian was still leading troops to deal with the Turkic rebels, intervening in the court, and it was unlikely that he would secretly collude with King Pei; but it was quite possible that Pei Judao would do so.

"It seems that it's probably Pei Judao!" Wang Wenzuo thought for a moment and said in a deep voice: "Here comes Lu Twelve!"

"General!" Lu Twelve came in and said in a deep voice, "Are you looking for me?"

"Well!" Wang Wenzuo said: "Recently, some people have been very close to King Pei. It is said that they have a Hedong accent. You are a native of Fanyang and have a familiar face. Go check the origins of these people and what they said to King Pei. Is it related to Pei Judao and Pei Shizhong?"

"Are you going to capture the people from the future or just ask about their origins? What did you say?" Lu Twelve asked.

"Just ask what the source said. It's best not to let King Pei notice it!" Wang Wenzuo said.

"I understand!" Lu Twelve bowed and exited the door.

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The place is full of ruins, dead silence, dense forests, and moss-covered walls.

The men brought back a wild boar and two pheasants. They dismantled the citron beams used in the village, chopped them into firewood, and piled them into firewood piles with dry shrubs in the middle. Wang Kuan cut the prey into small pieces, pierced it with sharp branches, put it on the fire, and then lit the pyre. The flames rose into the sky and made a crackling sound.

"We are back. I said that we will come back sooner or later. This time we will never leave again!" Wang Kuan shouted at the fire, and his peers responded in unison, and the shouts were accompanied by the flames and The smoke column shot straight into the sky, and the surrounding woods aroused a panic of frightened birds. It seemed that even the forest was disturbed by everyone's declaration.

As the flames burned, Wang Kuan took off the cooked prey and distributed it to his companions. The wild boar meat was thick and tough, and everyone swallowed it with difficulty. They had long been accustomed to all kinds of hardships during the escape days, and now they are back. , will rebuild their home, what is this pain compared to those?

"Found it, Uncle Wang!" A naughty boy ran over panting and shouted to Wang Kuan: "I found the place you mentioned!"

"Okay, you guys, pick up your hoes and follow me!" Wang Kuan casually named a few young and strong men. The men who were named finished the barbecue in three mouthfuls, picked up their hoes and followed, and the group walked through a chaotic area. Wood forest, came to a big oak tree. Wang Kuan looked at the oak tree and said with a smile: "Yes, this is the tree!" He looked at the sky, identified the direction, and walked twelve steps due east: "This is it, start digging!"

The men began to swing their hoes, and soon they discovered that there was a layer of wooden boards under the layer of soil. They opened the wooden boards and found a mixture of lime and dried pine needles. This is a bedding material often used by locals to prevent moisture. After all these were cleared, everyone finally saw clearly - in the cellar were bags filled with grain and various neatly tied farm tools.

"The grain stored in it is enough for us to eat for two years. All the original household items are also there. They have been moved out. We will burn the wasteland tomorrow and we can plant the next crop of grain in time!" Wang Kuan said loudly.

"Okay!"

The crowd burst into cheers. As the saying goes, if you have food in your hands, you will not panic. Wang Kuan was so eager to return to his hometown to rebuild his homeland. Many people originally complained about it. After all, the war was not over yet. Although Fan Yang's life was not very good, he could still make ends meet. Returning to my hometown sounds good, but I have to rely entirely on myself for food rations. The food in the fields cannot be planted today and grown tomorrow.

The food in the cellar made everyone excited. After they had a full meal, they started to get busy. The old women began to clear the fields again. Weeds and shrubs had completely occupied the fields. They lined up in a sparse line to confirm the wind direction. Then they started to set fire, and soon the smoke and flames spread. From time to time, small animals and birds rushed out of the flames and crashed into the crowd, becoming dinner ingredients. The men began to cut down trees and mix soil with mud in preparation for rebuilding houses. The whole village was full of life.

On the fourth day, an uninvited guest came to the village-Azhiluo. Wang Kuan welcomed him into his shed in surprise and asked about his experience after parting.

"Actually, it's nothing. Get injured, recuperate, get injured again, recuperate again!" Ah Zhiluo said with a bitter smile: "Fortunately, I was lucky and didn't lose my life!"

"If you survive a catastrophe, you will be blessed later!" Wang Kuan took the earthen pot from the fire and said with a smile: "How about it? Where are you now?"

"What a high position!" Ah Zhiluo shook his head: "I met Da Ting Huai'en in Liucheng after recovering from his injury last time. He is now working for General Wang, and I will be under him as a lieutenant!"

"Isn't this a high position?" Wang Kuan said with a smile: "Dating Huai'en is now directly serving the general. You will serve as a lieutenant under him. In the future, after the war is over, you can be appointed as a guard and guard envoy! "

"You are thinking too much. Now Da Ting Hua En is not working as a scout or shooter, but is doing other errands. I'm afraid it won't be so easy to make meritorious service!!"

"Other errands? What errands?"

"Calculating accounts, counting points, etc., do you think this can be used as a guard?"

"Settling accounts, counting points, let you?" Wang Kuan's eyes widened in surprise: "You don't use your ten fingers to pull the bow string to get the counting chips, are you not dizzy?"

"It's not like I'm dizzy!" Ah Zhiluo said with a bitter smile: "Dating Huai'en probably has no one left, so he dragged someone like me over to use him."

"By the way, you haven't said anything about it yet?"

"What else can it count? It's just wheat cakes, corn cakes, pickled pork, pickled fish, soybean oil, ale wine and so on!" Ah Zhiluo sighed: "I heard from Dating Huai'en that when the army moves, all the grain is consumed. Countless, if they are all transferred from Hebei, the cost of transportation on the way will be countless, so it is best to transfer them from the local area, which means buying from our local area. But I said there has been a war here for several years, what? If it’s all gone, how can we sell the extra food?” “Yes!” Wang Kuan sighed: “In previous years, it would have been easier to say. My family alone has three tuns of food stored in it. Now even if there is some food, it must be kept for the villagers to eat. Where? I’ll sell the extra to you.”

"The superior is not asking you to sell grain now, but next year, he asked me to first check how much grain can be produced in the farms closer to the official road. You can pay a 20% deposit first, and then pay the grain next year!"

"Deposit?" Wang Kuan cleverly grasped the key: "So I can get the money first and then provide food next year?"

"That seems to be the meaning!" Ah Zhiluo rubbed the back of his head: "But it's only 20%! The remaining 80% will have to wait until the next year's food delivery."

"Two makes 20%, and the free money is not too little for me!" Wang Kuan became more energetic: "By the way, have you heard about the interest rate?"

"How much interest? What do you mean?" A Zhiluo asked puzzledly.

"If you take the money now and pay for the food next year, isn't it like you've loaned it to me for a few months? Don't you have to pay interest?"

"Brother Kuan, what are you talking about? I didn't expect it!" Ah Zhiluo finally realized. He recalled for a while: "It seems not, at least I don't remember mentioning this!"

"Well, please ask for me. As long as the interest rate is not higher than 30% a year, I will borrow it. No, everyone in our village will borrow it. Now is the time when we are short of money. It is really a good rain after a long drought!"

After hearing such happy news, Wang Kuan called for someone to bring a bottle of fruit wine, and he and Ah Zhi Luo Er added five points to it and started drinking. Wang Kuan suddenly asked: "Azhiluo, do you feel strange? As the saying goes, soldiers are more valuable than speed. In this war, the faster the better. Why is the general dragging on like this?"

"I don't know. Could it be that there was nothing you could do to beg Si Biyu in a hurry?"

"Do you believe this kind of nonsense?" Wang Kuan rolled his eyes: "Ten beggars are not as good as one general. From my point of view, the general wants to drag him down!"

"What good can it do if we drag it on? It's impossible, right?"

"Hehe! Of course there are benefits!" Wang Kuan said with a smile: "Take what you just said, it is a benefit to us. It is the same as giving alms to the people after a major disaster, and government loans for seeds, what do you think? Whose favor will those who benefited from it miss?”

"Of course it's the general!" At this point, Ah Zhiluo also reacted: "You mean the general buys people's hearts!"

"I didn't say that!" Wang Kuan smiled: "But I advise you to be aware of it!"

"Yeah!" A Zhiluo nodded.

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Chang'an, Pei's study room.

"Sir, I went to Fanyang this time to meet His Highness King Pei and convey your wishes to His Highness." A man in gray robe stood in front of the case and whispered. The light shone on him and left traces on the ground. A long shadow.

"Then what did King Pei say?" Pei Judao asked casually, holding the brush in his hand.

"His Royal Highness King Pei didn't say anything. He just asked someone to take the persimmons on the table and gave one to the villain so that he could eliminate phlegm!"

"Persimmon cake? Eliminate phlegm?" Pei Judao put down his brush and frowned. After a while, he nodded: "You go down first. Don't talk nonsense about what happened today!"

"As you command, Master!"

After the servant who delivered the letter left, Pei Judao walked to the bookshelf and began to search. Finally he found a medical book and read it for a while under the light. Finally he stopped and saw some writing on the yellowed paper. Just a few words: "Persimmons are phlegmy, eat with caution!"

"Sure enough, it's true!" Pei Judao showed excitement, and he clapped his hands fiercely: "Presumably King Pei also knew that there were many eyeliners around him like Wang Wenzuo, so he deliberately said such confusing words. This is obvious It’s telling me that there are some things that he can’t say in person! Well, as long as he has this intention!”

After a while, Pei Judao suppressed the excitement in his heart, put the medical book back to its original place, returned to the cases, thought for a moment, wrote a letter, called his retainer, and said to him: "You are here again. Go to Fan Yang and hand this letter to His Highness King Pei personally!"

Li Suwen Mansion.

Ever since the night when her sister Li Xiayu and the Supreme Empress died together, Li Suwen seemed to have aged twenty years all of a sudden. She moved out of the Daming Palace and chose a small mansion in the southwest corner of Chang'an City. She lived in seclusion on weekdays, as if she hoped to disappear from everyone's sight.

The upper class society in Chang'an City is an extremely snobbish place. When you are in the limelight, everyone will surround you, respect you, coax you to be happy, and lift you into the air; but when the momentum passes, , everyone will throw you aside, forget you, or even step on you.

Li Suwen is a good example. She and her sister were so prosperous when they came back from Japan, but now they are miserable. If Wang Wenzuo hadn't left Chang'an, others would still have concerns. Now I really have no worries.

Not only did her mansion have no guests, carriages or horses coming and going, but instead it became a place for donkeys, carts and mules to haul goods, water, and even dung. Wherever she stopped, these animals could often be seen in front of the bluestone steps. His feces looked completely dilapidated.

At noon that day, when a melon and fruit cart was resting at the entrance of the alley, the driver was sitting on the shaft of the cart and fanning himself. Suddenly he saw dozens of tall horses approaching and jumped up quickly.

(End of this chapter)