Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

"So, you like the new way more?" Wang Wenzuo asked with a smile.

"That's natural!" Pushan pointed to the Taoist robe on his body, and then pointed to the shoes on his feet: "The Taoist robe and shoes I am wearing now were given by Mrs. Cui. The Taoist robe is made of thick brocade and has leather inside. The lining and shoes are made of hemp soles and leather, which are light and warm. How can ordinary people have such good things in their homes? Even if they can exorcise ghosts and cure diseases, they will only have two pairs of hemp shoes and a fine linen robe at most. !”

"Hahaha!"

Wang Wenzuo laughed out loud at the young Taoist priest's innocent answer, which made Chongjing next to him very embarrassed. He secretly swore in his heart that Wang Wenzuo would give Pushan a severe lesson as soon as he left, otherwise he would not be able to do anything with this piece of paper. The one who guards the door will be killed sooner or later.

"Taoist Master, I like your disciple's ancient style very much!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "I know you want to go out to preach and promote Dharma, but you don't want to rush into this kind of thing, so you can stay here for a few months. It’s time to take a rest, okay?”

"General!" Chongjing saw that Wang Wenzuo let him go so easily. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and hurriedly thanked him: "This disciple of Pindao is stupid by nature and cannot be cultivated. If I stay here with you, I am afraid that he will offend the nobleman and cause trouble in the future. A fatal disaster!"

"If I don't kill him, who will kill him!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "This matter has been settled. Taoist Chongjing, I think your disciple is a blessed person. Maybe you can still rely on me in the future." He will get some blessings!" At this point, Wang Wenzuo nodded to Cao Wenzong on the side: "I'll leave this matter to you, arrange it well, don't wait for the two of you!" After that, he turned and went out. .

"Congratulations, General!"

Having just sent Wang Wenzuo away, Chongjing breathed a sigh of relief and was thinking about how to teach his disciple a lesson so that he could remember a little longer. Then I heard a calm voice: "Taoist Chongjing, you heard what General just said. I shouldn't have offended you originally, but from what these two incompetent men said, Taoist priest's abilities are unpredictable. If I'm really worried about staying with the general like this! It's my duty, I have no choice but to offend him!"

"You are -" Chongjing narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Cao Wenzong nervously. The man in front of him was standing next to Wang Wenzong inconspicuously, but now standing in front of him, he felt like a big mountain was pressing down on him. It makes people breathless subconsciously.

"Your Majesty, Cao Wenzong, is the Marquis of Yu who lives in front of the General's Palace and is the military commander! I'm offended!" Cao Wenzong shouted, took a step forward, and stretched out his right hand to grab Chongjing's left shoulder. Chongjing subconsciously stepped back, but he didn't expect that Cao Wenzong's feet somehow touched him. His body didn't move, his shoulders didn't sway, and he slid forward a few feet as if he were stepping on the ice. His right hand could reach Chongjing's left shoulder. Chongjing had no choice but to raise his hand to block, only to hear both men groan at the same time, their bodies swayed, and they stood still.

"Taoist Master, you are very capable!" Cao Wenzong suddenly smiled: "I offended you just now, I will ask for more advice in the future!"

"Don't dare take it!" A bitter smile appeared on Chongjing's face: "General Cao is the one with good skills!"

"Where, where!" Cao Wenzong cupped his hands and exited the door. On the side, Pu Shan was looking confused, but he heard Chongjing's voice: "Quick, go get the black pottery bottle that is the master's package!"

"What's wrong?" Pushan asked inexplicably.

"There's medicine for bruises inside! I guess my arm is broken!" Chongjing said with a sad smile on his face.

Pushan took off half of his Taoist robe for his master, tied the right sleeve around his waist, and exposed his right arm. I saw that his forearm was already bruised and swollen. Fortunately, he had followed Chongjing for many years, and his bone-setting skills had been learned for a long time. He quickly and skillfully straightened the bones for the master, took out the pills from the black pottery bottle, melted it with wine, and applied it on the injured area. He also broke a few branches, found a rag from the package, tore up strips of cloth and fixed it carefully. , and just took a breath: "Master, it's done. I saw you had a fight with Cao Yuhou just now. Why did you break your arm? Did you accidentally lose your hand?"

"Shut up!" Chongjing scolded angrily: "Aren't you the one who caused so much trouble by talking too much about the new and old ways? You accidentally lost your hand, and you can save your life under Cao Yuhou. The merits accumulated by doing good deeds as a teacher for many years, otherwise the decades of Taoism would be lost today!"

"Why didn't I realize that Cao Yuhou was so powerful?" Pushan asked curiously.

"Nonsense, if you, a bastard like you, can figure it out, how powerful is that?" Chongjing scolded.

Pushan looked at Chongjing and asked carefully: "Master, I remember you said before that our breath breathing technique can temper the five internal organs and the heart. When you practice it to the extreme, the inside and outside will become one, and you can lift your hands and feet. There are so many powerful people in the world that few in the world can compete with it. You have been practicing for decades. Even if you have not reached the peak, you are not too far behind, right? Why can't you stop others all at once? Stay? Master, weren’t you trying to deceive your apprentice with the words you said in the past?”

Hearing his disciple's treacherous question, Chongjing was so angry that he almost spit out a mouthful of blood. He subconsciously raised his arms to hit him. Pushan had followed Chongjing for so many years and had long since become a roundworm in his stomach. He jumped back quickly and shouted: "Master, your arm is broken, don't move it, otherwise, if it is out of position, you will suffer again!"

"Rebellious and unfilial thing?" Chongjing retracted his arm helplessly: "Who deceived you? You have also learned the art of breathing and breathing. Don't you know whether it is useful or not?" "My disciple also knows the art of breathing and breathing. The technique is useful, but I don’t know how useful it is! After all, I haven’t fought against anyone a few times!” Pu Shan replied plausibly: “But looking at today, at least I will definitely not be able to defeat Cao Yuhou. If If you encounter an opponent like this in the world in the future, if you don't fight against him, your life will be at risk!"

"You don't have to worry about this!" Chongjing sneered: "You will definitely not encounter a master like him in the world, not to mention the world, even if he is under General Wang, I am afraid this is the only one." At this point, he may have touched the injury on his arm, and the muscles on Chongjing's face twitched: "I really didn't expect that a living person can train his muscles, bones, qi and blood to this extent. Fortunately, today he only used a little... Punish lightly, otherwise even if you have ten lives, you will be gone!"

An old Jianghu like Chongjing naturally knew that Cao Wenzong, on the surface, was trying to find out more about himself, but in fact, he was trying to get revenge on him for taking down two of his men earlier. So I guess he didn't use all his strength at that moment, he just broke his forearm. And since Cao Wenzong claims to be Wang Wenzuo's pro-army leader, Yuhou, then his greatest skill may not be bare-handed combat, but his enemy-killing skills with spears, swords, bows and arrows. If he were to wear iron armor, his hands would There is a weapon on him, and the gap in combat power between him and it will only become wider. In the final analysis, although the art of breathing and breathing can also strengthen the body and defend oneself and hurt others, it is ultimately used to support one's life. If you use it to go head-to-head with such warriors who are proficient in the art of killing, you will be naturally inferior. point.

"It seems that General Wang's residence is not a happy place. It's better to deal with it earlier and leave as soon as possible!" Chongjing sighed and thought to himself.

For Wang Wenzuo, Master Chongjing was just an episode. He quickly put it behind him and devoted his energy to building ports, organizing rivers, and dealing with relations with the gentry in Hebei. He knew very well that compared with his past subordinates, these new joiners were hugely different. Whether they were the Paoze, Baekje, Japanese, Mohe, Goguryeo, or Khitan people in the past, when they joined Wang Wenzuo's group, they all joined as subordinates, and some were even simply defeated and conquered.

In other words, their relationship with Wang Wenzuo was unequal from the beginning (with the possible exception of Cui Hongdu and He Bayong, which is why Wang Wenzuo was particularly kind to them). It was a master-slave relationship. Therefore, no matter how much Wang Wenzuo gave them, they could only accept it and had no right to complain, otherwise Wang Wenzuo could justifiably punish them. But the Hebei gentry were different. No matter how much discrimination they actually suffered within the Tang Empire, they were still part of the empire's ruling class. Although they supported Wang Wenzuo as their leader and gave their full support to Wang Wenzuo, in fact, the relationship between them and Wang Wenzuo was a kind of betting and support, just like the Hebei nobles had with Gao Huan.

Since it is a bet, there will be rewards if the bet is won. From this perspective, it makes sense for the leaders of the Hebei gentry to ask Wang Wenzuo for the position of governor of the fifteen states. After all, without their support, Wang Wenzuo would never have been able to kill all the way from Yingzhou across the Yellow River so easily, and the number of soldiers under his command had also grown from a mere 20,000 to a hundred thousand troops. But the problem is that these Hebei nobles are a bit wrong. Wang Wenzuo did not control the emperor and dominate the world like Gao Huan. If this is the case, exchanging the fifteen states of Hebei for the firm support of the Hebei nobles is also a very cost-effective deal. After all, There were more than 400 states in the Tang Dynasty.

Not only that, in Wang Wenzuo's future blueprint, in order to open up more colonies in Haidong and even overseas, he needs a large number of free people, and Hebei Road, which has the most prosperous economy and the most dense population in the Tang Dynasty, is obviously the best source of population. Land, this undoubtedly touches the interests of these aristocratic families. After all, for them, just occupying large tracts of land is useless. They also need a large number of people who depend on them, which is the basis for their ability to survive from generation to generation.

Of course, Wang Wenzuo would not be so stupid as to have an affair with the Hebei nobles now. After all, he had just used their power to defeat the imperial court not long ago. It was too fast to destroy bridges across rivers and smash pots when eating. Moreover, he still has the instinct to form a united front. He can do more by his own people and less by the enemy. He can do it without using force, divide and disintegrate, and use coercion and inducement. He has long been very familiar with these techniques. As long as he doesn't die, he is still confident that he can take care of these wealthy families.

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Wang Wenzuo's Mansion, Flower Hall.

"Mr. Lu!" Wang Wenzuo placed a letter on the table: "I invite you here today to discuss the matter last time!"

"General, are you talking about the governor of the state?" Lu Renji twirled the beard on his chin, and the trembling beard betrayed his inner excitement.

"Yes! That's why!" Wang Wenzuo nodded: "The state and county magistrates are the parents of the people. The clarity of political affairs and the well-being of the people depend on the choice of the state governor, so we have to be cautious!"

"That's what the general said!" Lu Renji nodded: "Actually, we don't just randomly select a few dudes for the general to recommend. Each family has already made an agreement and the recommended people are all outstanding talents. The general can Check them one by one and then choose the one you like!”

"Well, Mr. Lu has really thought it through, that's good!" Wang Wenzuo forced a smile, but he felt a little wary in his heart. He believed that Lu Zhenji was not lying just now. If he agreed, the candidates recommended by these nobles would definitely be top-notch talents, even better than what he could find. After all, these days, knowledge, especially political knowledge, is still monopolized by these big families. The talents you find from outside are definitely not as good as the elites from these families.

Not to mention, the talents they select will definitely get the active cooperation of their own families. Moreover, these families have long been intertwined in the local area. It is not the case that when someone becomes the governor, they will try their best to annex and plunder. Instead, they will do things for the long-term interests of the family that the governor could not do in the past. For example, building bridges, paving roads, water conservancy facilities, etc. After all, the state and county are better, and their family is also the biggest beneficiary.

But in this way, Wang Wenzuo's great plan will be difficult to implement. For example, Wang Wenzuo wanted to build a port at the southern end of the Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula (today's Vladivostok) and send three thousand immigrants there. Then the governor of the local state will express his objections plausibly, saying that the border land is not enough to enrich the country and only harms the people's strength. The people should be exempted from labor and recuperate as a long-term solution. This opposition will definitely be supported by the local gentry and even the entire Hebei Province.

The reason is simple. In ancient society, whether they were dependent peasants who were dependent on gentry landlords or seemingly free peasants, they were the wealth of the landlord class. Even if they are self-cultivated farmers, the landlord class can obtain huge benefits from them by levying labor, sharing taxes, lending, etc.

In other words, any population that escapes their control is a huge loss to the local landlord class and will arouse strong opposition from them. Wang Wenzuo's development and reclamation of Haidong and even further areas, although in the long run, increased the interests of the entire Chinese nation, it harmed the interests of local landowners in the Tang Empire. So how could he accept Lu Zhenji’s nomination? (End of chapter)