First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 254 The Strangeness of Jinzhou

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Seeing how kind Li Yuan's attitude was, how he treated his son-in-law like an old father-in-law, Gao Chong also let go of his heart, no longer straightened his body, and said with a smile: "A minister is just a brick, and Datang can move it wherever it is needed."

Li Yuan laughed heartily when he heard the words. After the joke was over, Li Yuan restrained his smile a little, "I believe Erlang also told you about the real purpose of my transferring you to Kuizhou."
Hearing this, Gao Chong immediately said seriously: "I must do my best to assist King Zhaojun to calm down Xiaoliang as soon as possible."

Seeing Gao Chong's statement, Li Yuan nodded his beard, very satisfied, and said directly: "One of you is my cousin and the other is my son-in-law. I am relieved to leave such important matters to you."

"The minister will live up to the emperor's grace," Gao Chong said.

Li Yuan nodded, and then said in a heavy tone: "In the land of Bashu, your father had a good management strategy. Your father was strong and soft when he was in Bashu, so that all parties in Bashu did not dare to act rashly. However, Xiaogong is gentle and gentle. He is too soft to others, so he often rebels.

The reason why I let you go to Kuizhou is because you are familiar with the military. After several battles, you are already able to stand on your own. Xiao Xian is no different from ordinary bandits. You need to completely conquer it, are you sure? "

Hearing these words, Gao Chong was full of ambitions, "I will fulfill my mission, but I have never been to the south, and it will take some time to get familiar with Xiao Mian."

Li Yuan appreciated the words very much. If Gao Chong agreed and guaranteed victory, then Li Yuan was really worried. Seeing that Gao Chong was already more stable, Li Yuan also felt relieved, "I will transfer you to Kui in advance. This is what the state means."

"Your Majesty is wise," Gao Chong said with a smile.

Li Yuan thought for a while, then wrote a handwritten letter, and then said: "Xiazhou is close to Jiangling, and its geographical location is very dangerous. The governor of Xiazhou, Mr. Xu Sizong, is loyal to the country. He is an old friend of mine. If you bring this handwritten letter, you will need Xiazhou every day." When you cooperate with each other, pass this letter to Xu Sizong, and he will do his best to help you."

Gao Chong hastily stepped forward to take it, thanking him again and again.

Xiazhou is Yiling, a thorn in the heart of the Tang Dynasty's Xiaoliang regime, and also the front station of the Tang Dynasty's attack on Jingchu. If Xu Sizong fully cooperates, it will be twice the result with half the effort.

Gao Chong also heard about Xu Sizong. Xu Sizong's name was Shao. He was originally from Gaoyang, Hebei, and later moved to Anlu, Anzhou. Li Yuan's father, Li Yan, was the governor of Anzhou at that time. Li Yuan spent his childhood in Anzhou. Then we will meet each other, and we will have the friendship of classmates.

In the last years of Daye, Xu Shao served as the governor of Yiling County. After Yang Guang died, Xu Shao led the people to cry and mourn for three days to pay respects to Yang Yu, the king of Yue Zunyue. Until Wang Shichong killed the king and usurped the throne, Xu Shao returned to his old friend Li Yuan in anger.

Li Yuan changed Yiling to Xiazhou, worshiped Xu Shao as the governor of Xiazhou, and made him the Duke of Anlu.

Gao Chong knew very well that Xu's family came out in large numbers. Xu Shao's youngest son, Xu Yu, was a Jinshi and ranked first. He was an official to the prime minister. He had a lot of official voice. The monument commemorates him and later became a local scenic spot, which can be seen.

Xu Shao's two grandsons, Xu Qinji and Xu Qinming, one died in the battle to quell the Khitan rebellion, the other died in the battle to quell the Turkic rebellion. The two brothers died in the battle in the same year, and everyone admired them.

And Xu Shao also had a granddaughter who married the poet Li Bai.

"Have you met Liu Niang yesterday?" Li Yuan asked straight away, changing the subject.

Gao Chong nodded, "After returning home last night, I had a rest, Liu Niang is fine."

"You should leave early tomorrow morning. It's not that I'm unkind. When the world is stable in the future, your husband and wife will have more days to reunite." Li Yuan said with a smile: "Liu Niang is in Beijing, and I will take care of her from time to time. You don't have to worry about it." Your Majesty, feel free to lay down the land of Jingchu for the Tang Dynasty, and I will definitely reward you at that time."

"Thank you, Your Majesty Long En", Gao Chong bowed down, "If it's something else, I will leave", and then slowly retreated.

After returning home, when they learned that Gao Chong would go to Kuizhou the next day, Mrs. Lu and the others were very reluctant to give up, and gave them some advice.

After a brief reunion, they parted. Early the next morning, Gao Chong took Jiang Baoyi and set off, heading straight for Kuizhou.

As for Jiang Baoyi, Gao Chong also discussed it with Gao Junya. Since Li Yuan knew that Jiang Baoyi would return to Beijing but did not ask about it, then he would let Li Shimin make arrangements. Jiang Baoyi would be reinstated as an official, or even added to his post, after Xiao Mian was calmed down in the future. When entering the rank.

After leaving Chang'an, Gao Chong and others headed south all the way, this time to Kuizhou, thousands of miles away, and the road was difficult to travel through mountains and ridges along the way.

A few days later, Gao Chong and others arrived in Jinzhou, namely Ankang. In the first year of Taikang in the Western Jin Dynasty, Ankang County was established. In the third year of the Western Wei Dynasty, Ankang was changed to Jinzhou. state.

Jinzhou's geographical location is very dangerous, with Qinling Mountains in the north and Bashan Mountain in the south. It is the southwest gateway of Guanzhong, so Datang also attaches great importance to this place. The current governor of Jinzhou is Lujiang King Li Yuan.

Li Yuan is Li Yuan's nephew, he is cowardly and incompetent, but he has a cunning personality, relying on the background of Li Tang's clan, he has just occupied this high position. It is worth mentioning that Li Yuan has a very good relationship with Li Jiancheng, and he is loyal to Li Jiancheng.

Before arriving in Jinzhou, Gao Chong thought of this level, but Gao Chong thought that he was only passing through Jinzhou and went to Kuizhou by way. He expected that Li Yuan would not make things difficult for him. After all, Jinzhou is the way for Chang'an to go to Kuizhou. A must pass.

But what Gao Chong didn't expect was that Jinzhou was not stable at this time.

Gao Chong had just entered the border of Jinzhou, and he felt that something was wrong. Although Jinzhou is mostly mountainous and has a small population, it is not far from the capital, and it is in an important place for transportation. No matter how many miles he walked, he did not see it on the official road. one person.

Jiang Baoyi was also very surprised, he clenched his spear, looked around the jungle vigilantly, and said: "Why is this Jinzhou official road so desolate, we have been walking for an hour, but we haven't met a single person."

Gao Chong also became wary when he heard the words, "I always feel that something is wrong with Jinzhou, everyone be careful."

After walking for a while, the guards who were exploring the way ahead came back in a hurry, "Your Majesty, there are signs of a fight ahead."

Hearing this, Gao Chong rushed to pat his horse, and saw that the ground at the corner of the official road was covered with blood, and the corpses had been cleaned up, but judging from the traces, there should have been an ambush here not long ago.

When he got close, Gao Chong got off his horse and picked up a handful of soil. The blood-stained soil had already dried out, "This was at least a day ago."

Jiang Baoyi walked around and looked around, and came back and said: "The scale of this battle is not small, no less than a thousand people, it must not be as simple as ordinary bandits robbing merchants."

"It doesn't take such a big battle to rob merchants." Gao Chong frowned and nodded, then got up and said, "Go to Ankang, and you will know what happened when you meet the King of Lujiang."

(End of this chapter)