Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

"King Pei has left Fan Yang!" Wang Wenzuo said: "He has probably arrived in Chang'an now! Lu Twelve, please give us a rough idea of ​​the situation!"

"Yes, General!" Lu Twelve's voice was dull due to exhaustion. His clothes were stained with dust, and there were several tears on his sleeves and the hem of his robe. He looked extremely miserable.

The room calmed down, everyone shut up and stared at Lu Twelve. In the spacious conference room, only the firewood in the stove was crackling.

After experiencing arduous marches and desperate battles, everyone in the room was full of beautiful visions and expectations for the future. A moment ago, many of them had eaten and drank enough, lying on warm and soft beds, hugging each other. A woman's soft body. Then they heard a banging on the door, reporting that the general had summoned him for something important. When they heard this shocking news, everyone realized that all their previous hard work was in vain - the soles of their feet and the inner thighs were worn out. The long march, chewing on bacon and flour cakes that were harder than bricks, calves that were pricked with thorns, and the sharp spears and arrows of the rebels, all came to nothing. King Pei returned to Chang'an with the general on his back. The general's wealth and life may not be saved, let alone whether his achievements can be realized.

"How is this possible?" Sha Zha Xiangru groaned in despair, "How is it possible? Why would King Pei do this? We have put down the rebels, and he is the biggest beneficiary! What's the use of him running back like this? The Emperor I will definitely not spare him lightly!"

"I'm afraid the emperor can't do anything to King Pei anymore!" Di Renjie responded, his expression calm, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him: "King Pei is not a fool. He left the capital under an imperial edict to lead the army. Soldier, now he just left Fan Yang without even informing the general. He just resisted the imperial edict. Even if he is the emperor's brother, it is still a serious crime. It is not surprising that he is deprived of the king's title, and it is not surprising that he is removed from the clan. ."

"What does Mr. Di Lang mean?" Sha Zha Xiangru asked.

"It's very simple. The emperor has died, or even if he is not dead, he has lost his authority!" Di Renjie sighed: "And once King Pei returns to the capital, he will probably be able to inherit his brother's legacy and ascend the throne as emperor!"

"The emperor passed away? This, how is this possible?" Sha Zha Xiangru was surprised: "Why is there no news at all? The emperor is also very young?"

"It's not surprising!" Di Renjie continued to explain: "King Pei returned so suddenly. It must have been news sent to him by Beijing. In other words, someone in Beijing has already taken control of the situation and is waiting for him to go back and decide the overall situation. . With such a person, it will not be surprising for anything to happen to the emperor!"

"Is there someone in the capital who is in control of the overall situation?" Lu Zhaolin's voice trembled slightly: "That's probably Shizhong Pei. He is the only one who has this ability. His daughter is the queen and the master of the harem."

"Pei Judao? Why is he doing this?" Shen Fenseng asked anxiously: "He has reached the rank of servant, and his daughter is the queen. There is no reward for him. Even if he makes King Pei the emperor, what will happen? Why should he take all the rewards? Risk your clan’s life to do such a thing?”

"Although the emperor made Pei Judao's daughter the queen, she was not favored!" Wang Wenzuo said solemnly: "Before I left Chang'an, the emperor had already welcomed a niece of Yang Sijian into the palace. He loved her very much and even stayed with me. I dissuaded you from revealing your intention of empress Yi!"

"Is there such a thing?" Shen Faseng showed an unbelievable expression: "How could it be like this? How could it be like this? Sanlang, why did you say a few words at that time? Now there won't be so much trouble!"

"If you want to change the queen, you have to depose the prime minister. If the emperor just loses his mother and changes the queen and deposes the prime minister, the reputation outside will not be good!" Wang Wenzuo sighed: "I have also considered the dangers in this regard, so I brought King Pei out. , I was just afraid that someone would use this person as a sign to harm the emperor, but I didn’t expect—"

"Lu Twelve, the general asked you to keep an eye on King Pei, why did you let him run away!" Shen Faseng was so angry that he didn't dare to get angry at Wang Wenzuo, so he turned on Lu Twelve: "What should we do now? He Once Chang'an ascends the throne, we will all be rebels!"

"This subordinate deserves to die!" Lu Twelve's usual arrogance has long since disappeared. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed to apologize. Wang Wenzuo sighed and helped him up: "I can't blame you for this. It's me. What you originally thought was too simple, I just asked you to monitor King Pei, but you forgot that he is the emperor's brother and the marching marshal after all. If he really wants to leave, can you stop him?"

"Then we can't wait five days before King Pei runs out to find out!" Shen Faseng said angrily.

"The matter has come to this, what's the use of talking about it anymore?" Wang Wenzuo sighed: "In the final analysis, unless you plant nails around King Pei, it will be a matter of time that you are tricked into it. And except for me, you are the only one who can do this. I’m afraid no one will dare to do it! Now I can only think about how to deal with it!”

"What else can we do?" Sha Zha Xiangru wailed: "When King Pei ascends the throne, all he needs to do is send an edict to recruit the general to Chang'an. Will the general accept the edict or not? If he does not accept the edict, it is disobedience. Yes. The crime of treason, if we follow the order and leave the general, we people will be nothing!"

Di Renjie said coldly: "Sha Zha Xiangru, I appreciate you pointing out the obvious facts, but the top priority right now is, what should we do next?"

"What else can be done? If we want to raise troops, how many people are willing to obey orders? There is no problem with the soldiers of Japan and Xiongjin, but it is hard to say about the soldiers of Silla. Most of the soldiers in Liaodong will not obey orders, let alone Hebei and Turks. said!"

"The military meeting in Hebei will only obey the orders of the general!" Lu Twelve said solemnly: "As long as the general can rush to Fan Yanglai before the court angel arrives, the prefectures and counties in Hebei will definitely raise their flags and obey!"

"Shut up!" Sha Zha Xiangru scolded: "You just ruined the general's important affairs, how dare you talk nonsense here? Who do you think you are? Why do you say that Hebei prefectures and counties will obey the orders of the general?"

"I am not anything, but Lu Guangping, the eldest son of the Lu family in Fan Yang!" Lu Twelve said proudly: "We, the Lu family, can still be somewhat in charge of Fan Yang's affairs. The general's first wife is Qingzhou Cui The daughter of the surname, there are many children of the Wang, Zhao, Cui, Lu, Li, Gao, and Feng surnames in the army. With us here, how can Hebei not just obey the orders of the general?" At this point, he asked Wang Wenzuo bowed and bowed: "General, although King Pei has sneaked back to Chang'an, as long as you drive quickly and rush back to Fanyang, hold up the banner and advocate righteousness, the heroes of Hebei will definitely follow the scenery. Even if King Pei really does If someone can ascend the throne and become the emperor, then he will be the emperor of Guanxi, and the good horses and soldiers of Hebei are enough to compete with him!"

Wang Wenzuo crossed his fingers and raised his chin, only his eyes moved slightly while listening. The short beard on his cheeks framed a motionless face, like a beeswax mask. However, Yanliang noticed that there were small beads of sweat on his father's forehead, and he realized that his father might not be sure at this time.

"Sanlang!" Master Shen's voice was trembling: "If you do that, there will be no room for maneuver. In fact, we can write to the court. You can complain to them about your illness and request to stay overseas and establish yourself as king. This is better than fighting with the court. Lose your face and become a rebel, okay? Even if you get to Fanyang, you can only reach half of Hebei at most. How many state and county troops are under the jurisdiction of the imperial court? This is one against ten! There is no chance of winning!" "Calling sick?" Di Renjie Smiling, he suddenly stretched out his arm and swept the inkstone on the table to the ground: "General Shen, if you do what you said, this will be the consequences! The day the general supported the prince to ascend the throne and forced the emperor to abdicate. Since then, it is impossible for him to seek peace by giving in! The things he has done to be in power today are the merits of the dragon, and if he changes to another person, it will be the crime of annihilation of the emperor. If the emperor is really killed today, then it will be a big disaster The only way for the general to protect himself is to avenge the emperor and kill the traitors! Unless you can restore this inkstone to its original state, the general will not be able to beg for peace by giving in!"

"But King Pei is the emperor's brother. Even if the emperor dies, he can only succeed!" Shen Faseng said with a bitter smile: "The court is obedient, and we are rebellious. How can we win by resisting obedience?"

"The moment King Pei escaped from Fan Yang in private, he was no longer the first heir to the throne!" Di Renjie sneered: "Returning to the capital without the emperor's edict is disobedience. This also shows that he and the emperor His death is not unrelated. No matter who becomes emperor in the future, it will not be his turn!"

At this time, Wang Wenzuo stood up. "The Emperor's life or death is unknown!" he repeated, his voice cutting through the noise like a sharp sword cutting through grease. "As a minister, you should put the King's diligence first!"

Everyone immediately shut up and bowed their heads in obedience. Wang Wenzuo's gaze swept over everyone's face, and finally landed on Yan Liang's face, showing a rare warmth.

"Except for my son, everyone else should go out first! Wait until I call and then come in!"

Yanliang looked at Wang Wenzuo in surprise. He didn't expect his father to talk to a child like him at this critical moment. He clenched his fists and licked his lips at a loss.

"Come, have a drink!" Wang Wenzuo poured a glass of wine for his son and handed it to Yanliang: "I see your lips are a little dry, are you thirsty?"

Yanliang picked up the wine glass at a loss and took a sip.

Wang Wenzuo sat down next to his son: "Di Renjie is right, I must try my best at this time. Fame can help people, but it can also be tiring. You just saw it. With the reputation in the past, as long as I give an order, thousands of Tens of thousands of people are willing to do whatever it takes to stand on my side; and even if I really give in and act like a happy man, Pei Judao and King Pei will never let me go, because they will worry that one day I will bring those people in the past. Let’s do it again. I have nothing to complain about. From a poor man with nothing to today, fate has been very kind to me. Even if I lose in the end with nothing, it’s just a return to the way it was. But you are different. You lost your mother just after you were born. It was Xiayu who took care of you and brought you up. Unexpectedly, she left early again. Before she died, she told me to be nicer to you. I wanted to make it up to you, but I didn’t want to meet you this time. matter--"

"Father, you have been very good to me!" Yanliang stood up, his cheeks burning: "You don't have to think about me, just do what you want to do! I am the son of Wang Wenzuo, the great god of the country and the great god of Amaterasu. The descendants of you will not be disappointed!"

Wang Wenzuo opened his mouth wide, not knowing what to say for a moment. After a moment, he put his son in his arms and stroked his soft hair: "Yes, we, father and son, work together, what difficulties can we not overcome?"

A few minutes later, people outside the hall heard Wang Wenzuo's voice. They returned to the hall and waited for their leader's decision.

"Mr. Lu, Lu Twelve, you two will follow me back to Fan Yang and set off immediately!"

"Yes!" The three people whose names were called breathed a sigh of relief and responded in unison.

"Master Shen, you stay in Wuerta! Be sure to capture Qi Sibiyu. If you want to see him alive, you want to see his corpse!" Wang Wenzuo said.

"Begging Si Biyu?" Master Shen was stunned when he heard this. After such a turn of events, everyone had almost forgotten about this person. But he didn't expect that Wang Wenzuo would not let this person go at this time. He was about to say something, but he heard Wang Wenzuo say: "No matter whether we will fight with Chang'an or not, this is my foundation. There can be no more Turmoil. Qi Si Biyu is a man who likes chaos and enjoys misfortune. When he learns that King Pei has fled back to Chang'an, he will definitely come back to cause trouble. Among the generals here, you are the only one who has followed me the longest. I will leave the guarding to you! "

"Yes!" Master Shen had no choice but to bow and accept the order.

"Huaiying!"

"My subordinate is here!" Di Renjie responded quickly.

"After I left, the old places of Liaodong and Goguryeo were guarded by Yanliang. He is still young and inexperienced, so you joined the army for him and assisted him!"

Di Renjie did not expect that Wang Wenzuo would leave everything behind him to a teenage boy like him, but when he thought about it, it was not surprising. After all, Wang Wenzuo could be said to have rebelled, and the important position must be given to someone he trusted. , then who else can be more trustworthy than his own son? Although Yanliang is not old, he is talented and matures early. Moreover, he already has personal followers and a loyal Japanese army around him. In this way, he does not have to worry about being ignored. With the help of civil servants like himself, he will be able to about there.

Wang Wenzuo finished allocating the tasks to his subordinates in a few sentences, and after asking everyone to retreat, he said to Yanliang: "I originally wanted Fujiwara Fubi to assist you, but he was unable to come in Japan for a while, so I had to let Di Renjie temporarily take over." , after I leave, you immediately write to the Japanese country and ask Fujiwara Nobi to lead the troops!"

"What about uncles He Ba and Yuan Aolie?" Yan Liang asked.

"That's not true!" Wang Wenzuo shook his head: "How can I not believe this, an old brother who has been almost twenty years old? It's just that they are different from these people. They are all ministers of the Tang Dynasty like me, and these people are all If my retainers want them to join me in raising an army, they have to go through one more hurdle, and I don’t want them to be in trouble in this matter!" (End of Chapter)