Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

"Is Princess Gao'an's mansion located on this street?" the leading knight jumped off his horse and pointed to the alley and asked, his accent sounded a little weird. However, the truck driver was used to meeting foreigners in Chang'an: "Princess Gao'an? There is indeed a princess in this alley. She seems to be the emperor's sister, but I don't know if she is Princess Gao'an!"

"Then it must be right!" The knight turned around and said: "You guys can dismount here and rest and wait. This is Chang'an, and the emperor is here. Don't cause trouble! You two bring your things and follow me into the mansion to meet His Highness. !”

The accompanying knights responded and dismounted one after another to rest on the roadside. Upon seeing this, the driver quickly packed up his car and left.

------

The smoke emanates from the mouth of the incense burner and reflects on the screen in various ways. Li Suwen was the only one at the long partition table, holding a half-embroidered round fan in her hand.

"Your Highness, there is someone outside the house asking to see you!" The maid's voice came from behind the screen. Li Suwen stopped embroidering: "If you don't see me, just say that I am ill today and I won't see the outsider!"

There was silence outside the screen, and after a moment the nervous voice of the maid came: "Yes, but the messenger is from Liaodong, and he also said he brought Mr. Yanliang's letter and gifts!"

"Yanliang?" Li Suwen stood up subconsciously. The next second she felt a stinging pain in her left index finger. When she lowered her head and looked down, she realized that she had been pricked by her own embroidery needle. Blood suddenly gushed out and dyed her fan red. . She quickly put down the fan and put her injured index finger into her mouth to suck: "Invite someone to go to the study. I'll be there soon!"

The study room is not large, with only a bookshelf, a desk, and a short couch. A picture of "Spring Night in Wujiang" hangs on the wall. There is a guqin on the desk. Judging from the dust on it, the guqin The owner hasn't touched it for a long time!

Black Teeth Changzhi stood next to the bookshelf, looking at the paintings on the wall. He saw a lady sitting by the window of the boudoir on the second floor, holding a fan in hand, looking up at the moon in the night sky. Although there was no stroke or stroke, The words "loneliness" are mentioned, and the expressions of the ladies in the picture cannot be clearly seen, but the word "loneliness" has already appeared on the page. It is truly a masterpiece of ladies' paintings. From this point of view, the life of Princess Gao'an in Chang'an was indeed not very good!

"General Black Teeth, it turns out to be you!" A surprised female voice came from behind him. He turned around and saw Li Suwen standing in Mankou, looking at him in surprise.

"By the order of the general, I will go back to Chang'an!" Heiji Changzhi bowed and bowed, took out a letter from his sleeve and presented it with both hands: "Master Yanliang heard that I was going back to Chang'an, so he asked me to Come back with a letter and a gift for you!”

"Yanliang? Isn't he in Namba Capital? How did he know that you were going back to Chang'an?" Li Suwen took the letter and asked in confusion.

"Oh, Mr. Yanliang is no longer in Namba. The general led the troops to conquer Silla, so he led the troops across the sea to be with the general!"

"This child!" Li Suwen sighed: "I am still a baby, so I am rushing to go to the battlefield, and the general doesn't care?"

"Although Mr. Yanliang is not very old, he is very thoughtful. All the generals admire him very much and dare not treat him like a child!" Hei Te Changzhi said with a smile: "The general keeps him by his side for safety. No worries!"

"Okay!" Li Suwen shook her head: "I hope so! He was my sister's favorite when she was alive. If she learned that he went to the army at such a young age, I don't know how worried she would be!" She opened the letter. , the letter started with a normal greeting, asking Li Suwen whether she was used to living in Chang'an. If she was not used to it, she could go back to live in Namba. Then she said that she heard that Chang'an was much colder than Namba in winter, so she asked Li Suwen to ask. Changzhi gave him a sea dragon skin jacket, gloves, and hat for keeping warm in the winter. He also said that he could not come to Chang'an to visit Li Xiayu's grave for the time being, so he asked someone to bring sacrifices and asked Li Suwen to do it for him. Together they were burned to Li Xiayu; at the end of the letter, Yanliang stated that after following his father to quell the chaos in Liaodong, he would personally come to Chang'an to see the emperor, and asked the emperor's permission to take Li Xiayu's coffin back to Namba and bury it in the capital. Next to Shitennoji Temple, you can worship and visit during the four seasons.

"Yan Liang, this kid!" Li Suwen sighed: "He's so childish, but it's not in vain that my sister loves him so much!"

"Master Yanliang treats people with sincerity and can win over people to their death!"

"That's true, he has been like this since he was a child." Li Suwen said with a smile: "I just hope he won't suffer from this in the future, right? By the way, when will you go back so that you can bring me a reply!"

"Now that I'm here, I won't be going back in a short time!" Hei Te Changzhi said with a smile.

"Not going back? What do you mean?"

"That's what happened. The general asked me to return to Chang'an this time, not alone, but with a thousand cavalry and a letter to the emperor. After I arrived in Chang'an, I left the cavalry outside the city and brought the letter. I’ve met the emperor. The emperor has already named me Youyu Linwei Yuhou, and I’m on duty in the Beiya Imperial Army!”

"So that's it!" Li Suwen thought of some recent rumors in Chang'an, and her face changed slightly: "That's also a good thing, but the Bei Ya Forbidden Army is within the palace city, just like you were at the border in the past, so you should be more cautious when doing things!"

"That's natural!" Hei Te Changzhi said with a smile: "Fortunately, the immediate boss of the Bei Ya Forbidden Army is General Cui Hongdu Cui. The general asked me to obey his orders more, so it's better!"

"You are the general's confidant, so I won't beat around the bush when you say something!" Li Suwen said solemnly: "Ever since Tubo sent troops to attack the Hehuang area in the autumn of last year, Guanzhong has been uneasy, and the imperial court has been dispatching troops to the northwest day and night. Adjust wages and mobilize troops. Although the amount of grain shipped from Henan is also increasing, the price of rice in Chang'an City is also getting higher and higher. You have to know that when the price of rice in Chang'an rises, people in the city will be in turmoil. He sent you to lead this Thousands of cavalrymen must have come to suppress the movement in Chang'an!"

"Your Majesty, please remind me!" Hei Te Changzhi sighed: "I have heard what you said before, but it's okay for my cavalry to kill thieves on the street. What happens in the real palace, I'm afraid I can't do it. Nothing!"

"There are people inside the palace, and those outside are your errands!" Li Suwen sighed: "But after you come to Chang'an, there will definitely be people who want to win you over. You have to control this joint, but don't do it. It’s a happy thing for those who love you and hate your enemies!”

——————————————————————————————

New town.

"The general plans to put the headquarters of the Anton Protectorate in the new city?" Xue Rengui asked. "Well! What does Mr. Xue think?" Wang Wenzuo asked.

Xue Rengui did not answer immediately. It took a while before he heard his voice: "The general's courage is unparalleled!"

"Hahaha! Does Mr. Xue think I've trespassed?" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile.

"If it were someone else, he would definitely be rash, but the general's talents are what ordinary people cannot do, so naturally they cannot be regarded as ordinary people!" Xue Rengui said.

Wang Wenzuo smiled and put aside the etiquette nonsense. What Xue Rengui meant was that you can do this if you are awesome. Anyway, I think it is not good to do this. The new city is probably located in Gaoershan, Fushun City, Liaoning Province today, on the north bank of the Hun River. It is roughly at the same location as the "Xuantu" old city in the Han and Wei Dynasties. Going south, it connects Xiangping, Jian'an, Beishacheng and other mountain cities as well as the Han and Wei Dynasties. Gujun can also connect the tribes such as Mohe and Shiwei to the north, and the city belts of Wandu, Namsu, and Mudi in Goguryeo. Using this as a base, in addition to connecting the Korean Peninsula, it can also control the entire Northeast region. The hinterland, that is, the deeper development of the Tumen River, Songhua River, and Nen River basins. Moving the headquarters of the Andong Protectorate from Yingzhou to Xincheng is a very aggressive move. It shows that Wang Wenzuo's purpose here is not only to quell the rebellions in the Korean Peninsula and Liaodong, but also to take Xincheng as the foundation. , establishing rule over the entire vast land of the Northeast Plain is undoubtedly far beyond Xue Rengui's imagination.

"What does Mr. Xue mean?" Wang Wenzuo asked.

"According to what I want, the new city will naturally need to be rebuilt. After all, if we want to regain peace in Liaodong, we must wipe out the power of the Mohe people and the remaining Goguryeo parties. We must not tolerate adultery and think of future troubles. As for what to do next, it is not something I can think of. Come on!"

"Yes!" Wang Wenzuo nodded: "Is the new city the administrative center of the marching road?"

"That's it! Qi Sibiyu's group must die, and then the remnants of the rebellion must be moved to the interior, so that the barbarians can be frightened, and then they can show mercy!"

Xue Rengui's attitude represented the Tang army's common strategy for dealing with the conquered at that time: first win, kill enough, and knock the conquered down, then move away the upper echelons and backbone of the rulers, and finally think about governance. matter. Although this strategy is crude, it is indeed very effective. The only problem is that if you cannot win, it may cause a chain reaction and even vomit out what you have eaten before. However, this is also a common problem among foreign conquerors, and no one can do it. Free from vulgarity.

"Then think about how to win first! If you can't win, the rest of the exhibition will be just a castle in the air!" Wang Wenzuo walked to the window and looked at the mountain shadow outside, and the lines of his chin became hardened.

Just like a tiger, before it pounces, it usually has to step back slightly to leave room for the pounce. After Wang Wenzuo made up his mind, he did not immediately send troops to the north. On the contrary, he gave up some of the frontier strongholds he had just recovered, moved the population inland, and set fire to villages and supplies that could not be transported away. It gives the impression that they intend to accept the rebels' terms, draw a boundary line, and be content only with the victory they have gained. At the same time, he ordered that all efforts be made to repair the roads and bring the newly repaired roads to a standard that could allow new four-wheeled carriages to pass, in preparation for the next attack.

September 674, AD, was later recognized as the beginning of the "Great Eastern March". At least a dozen villages and towns were arguing over the "starting point of the Eastern March", but one thing is certain, that The first battle broke out in a hilly area more than miles northeast of the new city. The cavalry of the Tang Army attacked the rebel camp from two directions at the same time. After a short and fierce battle, the Tang Army broke through the camp. The fortifications forced the rebels to abandon their fortifications and baggage and flee, and in the pursuit, they were killed with corpses scattered everywhere.

"Wang Wenzuo never thought about peace talks with you from the beginning! He tricked you!" Jian Moucen looked at Qi Sibiyu coldly, with a hint of ridicule in his eyes.

"It's nothing!" Qi Sibiyu said with a smile: "I also got what I wanted!"

"What?" Jian Moucen sneered, "What did he give you?"

"Time! It's been nine months. In these nine months, I have done a lot of things, which will be very useful to us in the future!"

Jian Moucen looked at Qi Si Biyu suspiciously. There is no airtight wall in the world. During this period of time, he had heard a lot of news about Qi Si Biyu's talks with the Tang Dynasty, and quite a few of them were about himself - Qi Si Bi Yu planned to hand over his head, that of King An Shun, and a huge sum of money in exchange for Wang Wenzuo giving up the pursuit of him. Jian Moucen believes that the latter is quite true - Qi Sibiyu is such a person. No matter the oath or agreement, it is worthless to him. The only thing he cares about is power and his own life. .

"You don't believe me?" Qi Si Biyu laughed: "Okay, I admit that I once thought about betraying you in exchange for peace, but in the end I didn't do it, right? This is life, neither of us are Even a gentleman with integrity will not survive today. The Tang people have forced us together, and we can only work together to deal with them!"

"How do I know you won't sell me out next time?" Jian Moucen said coldly: "As long as Wang Wenzuo hooks his finger, you will run over obediently!"

"Because this time I see hope!" Qi Si Biyu smiled: "I see the hope of defeating Wang Wenzuo and establishing our own country!"

"Defeat Wang Wenzuo? Build your own country?" Jian Moucen sneered: "Just you? I don't think so!"

"You don't understand!" Qi Sibiyu said with a smile: "Let's put it this way, if Wang Wenzuo and I brought 30,000 people to a decisive battle on the battlefield, I would not be able to win once a hundred times; but who told you that I would win against him? Where will I end up on the chosen battlefield? By the way, do you know what I have been doing these nine months?"

"What?" Jian Moucen asked.

"Sending gifts, proposing, getting married, marrying off daughters, marrying wives, I have been doing these for the past nine months!" Qi Si Biyu said with a proud smile: "In these nine months, I have married twelve wives. Eight daughters, and even married wives for my twelve sons! Also, my treasury is now empty, and they have all been given away!"

"Are you crazy?" Jian Moucen asked anxiously: "The Tang Dynasty is about to attack, and you still have to be busy with these things. Also, there is no money in the treasury. What do you use to reward the soldiers? Encourage them to kill the enemy. ?”

"Even if I empty the treasury, my soldiers can't defeat the Tang army!" Qi Si Biyu said with a smile: "I just said, it is impossible for me to defeat Wang Wenzuo on the battlefield!"