Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Seeing that Wang Wenzuo relaxed so easily, Wang Shaojian was overjoyed and hurriedly said: "Then I will go back and report to the Queen first!"

"Well, I'll bother you, Young Supervisor Wang!" Wang Wenzuo nodded.

"General!" As soon as Mr. Wang went out, Zhang Wenguan said with a smile: "I didn't expect you to let go so easily!"

"Why can't you think of it?" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Is it possible that in Zhang Xiang's heart, Wang is such a power-hungry person?"

"That's not true!" Zhang Wengui shook his head: "I have known the general's abilities for a long time, but the North Gate Forbidden Army is really a confidential place. Our political hall is in the imperial city. If Yang Sijian is allowed to If you take charge of the North Gate Imperial Army, the lives of our three old guys will be in your hands! Don’t you think so, King Han?”

King Han smiled: "In that case, why didn't you say anything to stop it, Mr. Zhang?"

Zhang Wenguan sighed: "How can it be my turn to speak about this kind of thing!"

"There is no need to test Prime Minister Zhang!" Wang Wenzuo stroked his beard: "Yes, I agreed to Yang Sijian to take charge of the North Gate Forbidden Army, but whether he can grasp it depends on his own ability! You two can rest assured now Bar?"

Zhang Wenguan and King Han exchanged glances, and both showed knowing smiles.

"With these words from the general, I feel at ease!" King Han smiled and patted the back of his head: "I can finally have a peaceful sleep!"

"What's wrong? Could it be that King Han has trouble sleeping these days?" Zhang Wenguan said with a smile.

"It's not stable!" King Han shook his head: "It's very cold at high places! It's easy for the three of us to get up, but it's not easy to get down! If you accidentally fall and break your head, you're lucky to save your life! "

"What King Han said is true!" Zhang Wenguan sighed and turned to Wang Wenzuo: "General, what are your plans for the future?"

"Me?" Wang Wenzuo smiled: "When Tubo is pacified, I will resign and return to Hebei to retire!"

"You retreated so easily, your son is so confident, and your retreat has been arranged!" Zhang Wenguan sighed, "What will King Han and I do then?"

"You and King Han?" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "The emperor's health will not be well for a while. The prince has just been born. The queen can't live without veterans like you."

"That's not necessarily the case!" King Han said with a bitter smile: "Maybe the Queen has been disgusted with us for a long time, but it's just preventing you from speaking, General. Otherwise, why would she be in such a hurry to push Yang Sijian out to control the North Gate? Forbidden troops? There are as many people as possible in Chang'an City who have heard the news, and as long as the Queen reveals her secrets, there will be as many people as possible who will jump out and try to kill us!"

"What are your plans?" Wang Wenzuo laughed: "When the time comes, I will be out of reach of Hebei!"

"General!" Zhang Wenguan said: "It's easy for you to retire to Hebei to retire, but what about Mr. Huliang? He married Princess Taiping, so he won't go back to Hebei with you, right?"

"That's natural!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "He is still young and has been serving the court and the emperor for a long time! Why are you going to Hebei?"

Zhang Wenguan's eyes lit up and he laughed: "If that's the case, then King Han and I can rest assured!"

"Don't worry!" Wang Wenzuo laughed uncontrollably: "A kid in his early twenties, do you two still count on him? According to me, he needs to rely more on your advice and guidance in Chang'an!"

"Haha!" King Han laughed: "I don't think so. General, you weren't that old when you were in Baekje, right? I think Mr. Hu Liang is someone I can trust!"

Wang Wenzuo smiled and said nothing. Empress Yang pushed Yang Sijian out to seize the military power of the North Gate Imperial Army. Anyway, Hu Liang was about to leave Chang'an in the spring to lead troops to fight against Tibet, so she simply gave in to the empress. But he didn't expect to frighten these two people. To put it bluntly, he could go back to Hebei to retire. He had sons and soldiers, and the court couldn't do anything to him; the two of them still had to make a living in the court. Who knew that he had great power during this period? No one was offended? In the future, if someone has a grudge or an injustice is avenged, what should we do? Engaging in politics is like climbing a mountain. It is certainly not easy to go up the mountain, but it is even harder to go down the mountain. So when they learned that Hu Liang would stay in Chang'an to inherit Wang Wenzuo's political resources, they immediately expressed their attitude.

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Things are going to change in Chang'an City. People are saying it so loudly without caring about being heard by others.

"General Wang's son has resigned, and his successor is the Queen's uncle, Si Wei Shaoqing!" When Zhang Quanwen was resting at a roadside wine shop, a green-robed official shouted: "Now the North Gate Imperial Guard is in control. In the hands of the Queen, the capital will change!"

Zhang Quanwen looked at the petty official who was spitting. He recognized this person. When he was working in the Ministry of Industry, the other person was one of the several petty officials under him. However, the other person definitely did not recognize him. This was not true. Strangely, even if Zhang Quanwen looked in the mirror, he couldn't identify who this unshaven, thin and haggard middle-aged man was. This was also a good thing, because he could hear many words that he would not have heard when he was the governor.

"It's not that simple, right?" the young scholar across the table retorted: "Master Hu Liang is married to the emperor's sister, how can he resign so easily?"

"Amitabha, Bodhisattva is compassionate!" A wandering ascetic murmured in a low voice while fiddling with his rosary beads.

"In my opinion, it won't be long before Chang'an is going to be in war again!" A Sogdian businessman sighed: "I remember the time more than ten years ago when the court sent a son-in-law and a bad boy to supplement Longyou, the whole city was in a war. , the Western City was burned. By the way, General Wang was also in Chang'an that time, and he was the one who put an end to the chaos. Hey, I don't know how many people will suffer this time!"

Zhang Quanwen was sitting at the table by the window, feeling that his left ear was going in and his right ear was going out, and a glass of grain wine was forgotten in his right hand. Chang'an and the imperial court, he tried to recall the appearance of his hometown and family, but his mind was still blurry anyway. He had left Chang'an for ten years. He hoped that everything was fine with them, and that no matter what happened, he would be with his family.

The next day, at Zhang Quanwen's request, they set off on the road at dawn and moved forward as fast as possible. He hoped to reach Chang'an early and see his family.

When the majestic city wall of Chang'an appeared in front, dusk was already thickening. Zhang Quanwen came to the school captain who was escorting him back to Chang'an and whispered: "How will you arrange for me after returning to Chang'an?"

"According to the rules! It must be sent to the Ministry of Punishment first!" The captain said with a smile: "But you don't have to worry too much, it's just a formality. The superiors also said that rewards and punishments will be given after the limelight is over. I guess it will be handed over at the Ministry of Punishment. After the procedure, you can go home!”

Zhang Quanwen let out a long breath. The word "go home" made his whole body relax. He coughed: "Then I'll bother you all!"

"Zhang Langjun, what are you talking about!" The captain laughed: "Everyone knows that the incident in Ganzhou was not your fault, but at this time, there are many things that cannot be said. Please wait for a while. Months, when the limelight is over, the court will naturally give you justice!" "Justice?" For Zhang Quanwen, this word has made him numb. What is justice? As the governor of a state, he received a salary from the imperial court, but he handed over the city to the Tubo people intact. Yes, there was no food in the city, but did this mean that he could surrender? At least you can commit suicide and die for your country, right? Various voices were arguing in his mind, and each voice seemed to represent justice, but were there so many kinds of justice in the world?

The city gate was wide open, and the road outside the gate was lined with carriages. The carriages were loaded with toilet barrels. The strong and pungent smell made Zhang Quanwen unable to open his eyes. He found that the guards guarding the gate were collecting the toilet barrels from the carriages. money.

"What's going on?" Zhang Quanwen asked.

"Poop money!" replied an idle man next to him: "According to the government, these are the best fertilizers, so we have to charge money!"

"We didn't need to do this before?" Zhang Quanwen asked.

"That was before! Now you have to pay for everything. The court wants to fight the Tubo people and is short of money!"

"Get out of the way, let us go in first! It stinks!" the officer responsible for escorting Zhang Quanwen shouted loudly. He waved his credentials to the leader of the guards guarding the gate: "We are from Longyou. Official business!”

The captain of the guard read the letter and quickly asked the carriage transporting excrement to move out of the way: "Is it about the military situation in Tibet? Come over quickly! Don't delay!"

When a group of people walked on a familiar street, Zhang Quanwen found that no one glanced at him. He really didn't know whether he should be happy or sad. "No one knows me here!" He said to the officer escorting him.

"This is Chang'an!" The officer smiled: "Besides, this is a good thing, isn't it?"

It's indeed a good thing, you won't be caught easily when you run away! Zhang Quanwen thought to himself, he was taken to the Ministry of Punishment by the escort, and the captain handed over the report. The clerk on duty took the report and looked at it, then took down a document from the wooden shelf behind him and compared it. After he finished, he looked at Zhang Quanwen and asked.

"Are you Zhang Quanwen, the governor of Ganzhou?"

"Yes, that's right!"

"As long as it's me!" The clerk compared the appearance and features on the document for a while, and finally nodded: "Please stay! Someone will naturally deal with you later!"

"Hey!" The captain was surprised: "Didn't you say that if you take him to Chang'an, you can let him go home on his own?"

"Who said that?" the clerk sneered: "The document above clearly said to leave it for investigation. Is it you who has the final say or the document?"

"Of course it's the officials from the Ministry of Justice who have the final say!" The captain's voice suddenly dropped a bit: "Yes, but that's not what the superiors said when I came here!"

"Here, take it!" The clerk stuffed a piece of white linen paper over him: "This is the voucher. When you get back, you can use this thing to give to your boss. Okay, why don't you leave? We don't care about the food here!"

"Okay, okay!" The captain had no choice but to take the receipt, carefully put it in his arms and put it away. He bowed to Zhang Quanwen and saluted: "Zhang Langjun, after seeing you for thousands of miles, I will say goodbye. I will take my leave now." !”

"Thank you for taking care of me all the way!" Zhang Quanwen cupped his hands, returned the gift, and sent the captain away. The clerk packed up the copy and said, "Come with me!"

"As ordered!" Zhang Quanwen did not dare to say anything and followed the clerk out of the courtyard. The clerk called two yamen servants and took Zhang Quanwen out of the yamen, all the way east, to an empty courtyard, and opened the door Open the door and let Zhang Quanwen in.

"Zhang Langjun, you will live here from now on!" The clerk said, "Of course someone will provide you with food and clothing, so you don't need to worry. But you can't leave here, otherwise you will be treated as a fugitive. Remember ?"

"remember!"

"Well! You two will keep watch here, and someone will naturally replace you tomorrow!" The clerk ordered the yamen servant, and then went out to go home.

Zhang Quanwen opened the door. The furnishings in the room were very simple: a bed, a stool, a table, and a wooden shelf for hanging clothes, but it was very clean. He walked to the table, picked up the clay pot, poured himself a glass of water, and drank it. His whole body suddenly relaxed. He walked to the bed, lay down, and started snoring after a while.

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Qizhou.

The horses' hooves splashed smoke and dust, the spear shafts collided with each other, the flags fluttered, and the armor leaves and the sharp edges of the spears shone coldly in the sun. The farmers gathered on both sides of the official road and looked at the army heading west in surprise. This season was not the time for large-scale military operations.

"This is Qishan Mountain!" Changwulang looked at the bulging black shadow in the distance and asked Gao Yannian: "Do you remember what is written in the documents of the Tang Dynasty? King Wen of Zhou built cities under Qishan Mountain and cultivated fields, thus establishing The foundation of Wangye!”

"Well!" Gao Yannian looked at the rugged fields around him: "That's true in the book, but it seems that the land here is not very fertile? Why did the Zhou people start from here and defeat the merchants to rule the world? What about?”

"That's true!" Changgoro looked around. The Guanzhong Plain in winter was deserted. Only the occasional withered forest could be seen. From time to time, there were raised areas covered with thorns. Only the low places in the distance had rivers. , in sharp contrast to the wheat fields they imagined with no edges at a glance.

"Forget it, forget about it!" Gao Yannian shook his head: "Anyway, after defeating the Tubo people, we will go back! Find the guide and ask how far it is to the next campsite!"

"Yes!" Changgoro responded. He called the guide and asked for a while, then turned around and said, "It's not far. Just walk more than a mile ahead and we'll be there!"

"That's good!" Gao Yannian nodded with satisfaction: "I heard that the road ahead will be difficult. We need to save some horsepower. If the horse fat is gone, we won't be able to fight in the spring!"

As dusk fell, the army arrived at the camp. It was an open space by the river, with a forest next to it. It had very convenient access to water and fuel. Gao Yannian skillfully gave the order for the advance team of 1,000 people to camp along the river. When everything was done, he returned tiredly to the campfire and sat down cross-legged. (End of chapter)