Red Tang

Li Kuo flipped open the note written to him by Big Brother Nan, and looked up at the plaque above his head.

"Jiyuan Restaurant!" is here.

Ever since he learned that he had become a member of the hermit, Li Kuo was secretly delighted.Regardless of the prospects after becoming a hermit, simply being valued by His Majesty the Emperor and being cultivated as a confidant is enough for a young man to be happy for a while.

Brother Nan urged him many times to recover from his injury and come to this hotel to meet with the shopkeeper. It seems that he has an important task.Since Marshal Ge Shuhan rushed to Hexi with hundreds of soldiers three days ago, Li Kuo felt the change in the atmosphere in Chang'an City.Yala Restaurant, which used to be full of people, now has few drinkers except for some old customers.The leather shops and spice shops run by Tibetans seem to be cursed, and there are only a handful of buyers who buy books all day long.Even the Tubo envoys in Honglu Temple seemed to be squeezed out and ignored by officials from other countries, and they could hardly speak a few words.The assassination case of the Tubo prince was overwhelmed under the deliberate suppression of His Majesty the Emperor. The envoys who clamored to solve the case within a time limit had no choice but to hang their heads and go back to Luoxi City in disgrace.

I'm afraid His Majesty is going to use troops to the west!The young man shook his head. After this incident, the conflict between Tubo and Datang was irreconcilable.I'm afraid that even if His Majesty wants to bear it, the Tubo barbarians will show their spears and machetes mercilessly.

After entering the restaurant, Li Kuo went straight into the back hall.He has a handwritten letter from Big Brother Nan in his hand, and he only needs to find a shopkeeper surnamed Guan.It was not time for meal at this time, and there were very few customers in the store.A middle-aged man in Tsing Yi, wearing a jacket and a headband, was sitting in front of a desk, fiddling with his abacus.Judging from this appearance, it should be checking the money income of last month.

"May I ask this elder brother, but is the shopkeeper Guan?" Li Kuo cupped his hands at the middle-aged man and asked in a low voice.

"The man stopped the abacus in his hand, looked up at Li Kuo, and said: "It's Guan, I wonder if this little man wants to be a top student or stay in a hotel? "

Li Kuo waved his hands lightly and said, "I'm not here for dine-in and lodging, but to discuss business with shopkeeper Guan."

"Oh?" The shopkeeper surnamed Guan suddenly became interested, and carefully looked at the young man in front of him.

Li Kuo cleared his throat, lowered his voice and said:

"Hidden as golden scales, when encountering wind and cloud, the three-inch claws and teeth are fully displayed."

The shopkeeper surnamed Guan heard the shock here, nodded his head, and replied:

"A scholar is a confidant, and he meets the king's order. How about the world?" After speaking, he took out a jar of secret brewed wine, lightly lifted the lid of the altar, and pushed it to the young man.

"Brother Guan!" Li Kuo was overjoyed, since this person answered the hermit's code, he must be a hermit.

"I don't know what to call this little brother?" Shopkeeper Guan poured a bowl of wine for Li Kuo, his face full of charity.

"My surname is Li, with one single character. I am the seventh in the clan, so Brother Guan called me Xiao Qi." Li Kuo responded in a calm voice, too.

Looking around and seeing that there were no other people, Shopkeeper Guan smiled slightly: "I heard from the organization in the past few days that a military attache will come to discuss the sale of goods with me. I can't wait for the left and wait for the right. I just want to Go and ask what happened, Xiaoqi, you are here."

Li Kuo scratched his head, and said with a smile: "I just learned about the mission. If it wasn't for Brother Nan's urgent urging, I might still be estimating the performance!"

Shopkeeper Guan sighed, and frowned slightly: "This matter is urgent, so let me tell you briefly. Your Majesty intends to use troops to the west in the near future. You must know this better than me in the army. This Jiyuan Restaurant is on the bright side It is the property of Gao Huqi, and secretly it is a place for hermits to contact. This time, the superior ordered that a batch of ordnance be transported to Wuwei, and it needs army guards. This matter is a secret, and His Majesty does not want to leak the news, so it cannot be escorted by the Ministry of War. I will pull a caravan out from the famous head of Jiyuan Merchant, and your regiment camp will be the guards."

Nan Jiyun mentioned this matter to himself many times, and Li Kuo already knew it in his heart.He nodded lightly, and said to the shopkeeper Guan: "Brother Guan, since that's the case, I'll go back and talk to the brothers in the camp. Anyway, the Shence Army will have to go to Longyou sooner or later, so it's better to leave a few days earlier."

The shopkeeper Guan shook his head, and said with a wry smile: "If you don't leave a few days earlier, you have to leave tomorrow!"

"What!" Li Kuo was startled and shouted loudly. "Why the urgency, and how do I and my brethren explain this?"

Shopkeeper Guan pressed his hands down, signaling to the young man to be safe and calm: "Don't worry, just listen to me slowly. This matter is going through the way of the inner government. Since I don't want too many people to know, Gao Biao The cavalry did not report to the court. However, since it is His Majesty's order, we must ask for an oral order. Gao Hussar has already greeted the Ministry of War in his own name. You just need to gather all the soldiers in the battalion, and you can go! As for The date of the departure has been delayed for a long time. The border is no better than Chang'an. The soldiers are all living the days of licking blood. The military supplies and salaries cannot be delayed for a day. Since His Majesty has made a decree, we just need to carry it out. Yes. I have already organized the merchants in the caravan, and now the horses are ready, waiting for the martial artist!" Shopkeeper Guan joked with a smile, and patted the boy on the arm.

Li Kuo frowned slightly, puzzled and said: "Since this matter is of great importance, why do you need to organize some kind of business. If you accidentally leak military secrets, what should you do?"

"You don't understand." Shopkeeper Guan smiled mysteriously, and slowly explained: "The more confidential things are, the more they have to be exposed to others. How many times a year does Jiyuan Cargo Depot make business trips outside the Great Wall, and every time it is not a gathering of merchants, Gather them all under our merchant banners for a picture? If all of a sudden the caravan turns into nothing at all, how can it not be suspicious?"

"Oh!" The boy touched his forehead and suddenly realized.

"Don't worry, I'm looking for these old brothers who have been on the road for many years and know the rules of the caravan. They will never ask them if they shouldn't ask. The big guys are just keeping company and trying to be safe." See the boy Still a little skeptical, shopkeeper Guan nodded lightly and comforted him.

"Go back and make arrangements. We'll meet at Mingde's gate tomorrow morning!" Shopkeeper Guan was very straightforward, and immediately issued a death order to Li Kuo.

Although Li Kuo's identity on the bright side is much higher than that of shopkeeper Guan, he is a lieutenant in the first army.But in fact, shopkeeper Guan's status in the hermit organization is quite high, and the young man has absolutely no qualifications to rely on in front of him!

"I heard Gao Hussar said that the sage was really angry this time. While the Tubo people sent envoys to beg for peace, they even let their soldiers burn, kill and loot the people at the border gates of the Tang Dynasty. What is even more infuriating is that the people in Hexi, Long In the right generation, there is actually a ballad called Luoshu Jue. Now many people in Guazhou and Liangzhou have been bewitched by the Tubo barbarians and joined the Wudou sect. It is really unreasonable!" When the shopkeeper Guan said this, his heart was full The anger was hard to calm down, and he hammered the case in resentment.

"Your Majesty, the old man only gave us one sentence. The men of my Tang Dynasty are not cowards who are bullied by others (Note 1). Whoever robs the people of my Datang behind their backs will slap the men of Datang in the face. If a man , we have to pull it back in front of him, crackling, and he kowtows to admit his mistake. Anyone who offends the Great Tang Tianwei will be punished even if he is far away, and the Great Tang court will never allow a barbarian to show off his might on the land of the Central Plains!"

Li Kuo's chest felt hot, and he felt a warm current rushing up.Yes, we are men, we are men from Datang.We have things to protect, we have dignity to defend.Anyone who offends Tang Tianwei will be punished even if he is far away. This is not just a slogan.

Regardless of whether he is Tubo or Turkic, don't even think about bullying our fathers and fellow villagers on the land of the Central Plains. This is the promise made by the men of the Tang Dynasty, and we will prove and protect it with iron and blood!

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Note 1: Rare counselor: Guanzhong dialect, describing a person who is timid and fearful, and has no responsibility.

ps: We have things to protect, we have dignity to defend.Anyone who offends the might of the Tang Dynasty will be punished even if he is far away!Guys, the life of Jin Ge and Iron Horse is about to begin, are you ready?