Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 14

Someone is going to cause trouble in Kuizhou!And it was only after the news spread that Li Longji had added a casual official to Zheng Shuqing as Chaoyilang.

Why?Why?
Zheng Shuqing was a little confused and couldn't understand the brain circuits of those people.Not only was he acquitted (temporarily), but he was also promoted to an official position by the court. Why do some people just ignore him?

Fang Chongyong and Zheng Shuqing discussed it, and decided to let Wang Zhongsi and Yang Ruoxu lead troops to take the initiative to attack Baidi City at night!

This sounds like a heart-wrenching job on the surface, but in fact it is similar to chasing mice with an iron rod, and it is extremely boring work.

In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, Baidi City was an important military town, responsible for sending troops from Bashu to conquer Jingxiang.

Because of its unique location, the other side of the river is Kuizhou Fucheng and Kuizhou Jiangguan. The water transportation of the Yangtze River can provide a steady stream of supplies.

At that time, there were many troops stationed in Baidi City. They used this place as a stronghold to radiate in all directions, and the naval warships parked on the shore could be said to block out the sky and the sun.

However, with the pacification of Bashu, the pacification of Jingxiang, the pacification of Jiangdong, the Grand Canal was dredged again.The Yangtze River water transport route starting from Bashu and ending in Yangzhou was activated.The development of Kuizhou Fucheng began to accelerate, leaving Baidi City far behind.

Because there was no war, the garrison in Baidi City had already evacuated, and the vacated land became a tourist attraction for literati. Countless poets from the Tang Dynasty visited Baidi City and stopped to check in. It appeared very frequently in Tang poetry!
Just imagine if this was a major military town, would those well-fed poets still be able to run around freely and freely in the military camp, drinking and writing poems?

Nowadays, Baidi City has been abandoned, and Kuizhou's garrison has been moved to Wushan County, east of Kuizhou's capital, and there is only one military mansion left to train soldiers.

The reason for this phenomenon is very simple, because no generals are willing to come to Baidi City (except for those who have been sent and demoted). There is no war in the westernmost part of Shannan East Road. On the contrary, the water transportation is a mess!
From the overall situation, the only way forward for the Tang Dynasty is the Western Regions, and the main enemy in this direction is Tubo.

There are also two directions of defense, one is the Khitan, Shiwei and other tribes in Youzhou; the other is the southwest border with Tubo and the rising Nanzhao.

Among the many vassal towns on the border of the Tang Dynasty, the ones in the west that conquered the Western Regions were the strongest, followed by the Hebei vassal town that defended the Khitans, and the weakest was the Jiannan vassal town.

In other places, except for Chang'an and Luoyang, the field forces are almost in a vacuum!
No one cares if there are any white dragons in Baidi City!How the Shu army deployed defense here during the Three Kingdoms period!

Today's impetuous people are thinking about how to make money and live a good life.

Not to mention here, even Yangzhou, a water transportation hub, has no established Tang army.Datang has its own national conditions here, elite soldiers are located in border towns and capitals, and there is no need for regular troops to garrison other places.

On the contrary, after the Anshi Rebellion, Kuizhou rose as an important military town, and Baidi City was reborn again. It was even more brilliant in the Southern Song Dynasty, and it survived the mad attack of the Mongolian army.

These are all later stories.

What Wang Zhongsi and the others were going to do this time was to suppress bandits in the abandoned Baidi City.

As for whether this attack will kill the wrong person... Zheng Shuqing doesn't want to think about this question, and Fang Chongyong is even less willing to think about it.

Datang's rule is to only talk about strength and the right to speak, and after all, it is still the fist that speaks.Without strength and without the right to speak, death will be in vain.

That night, Zheng Shuqing led the armed civilians to inspect the city wall on the bank of the Kuizhou River. You could see groups of five civilians everywhere in the city, holding torches and patrolling the night.

Fang Chongyong looked at the fire on the other side of Baidi City from the top of the city, and his heart was pounding.

He knew there was killing over there!
Fang Chongyong felt that Wang Zhongsi and Yang Ruoxu led the troops to attack Baidi City. It was probably just the intensity of suppressing bandits, and there should be no surprises.

At this critical moment, Fang Chongyong also found that he couldn't help at all. He was just a waste. It would be good if he could protect himself.

This made him feel depressed, with a powerless feeling that the situation was out of control.

"coming!"

Fang Laique couldn't help shouting, Fang Chongyong turned his head and glared at him and scolded: "What's coming?"

"General Yang is back, are you using the fishing fire to give me orders?"

Fang Laique argued.

Fang Chongyong was stunned for a moment, and then remembered the secret code that Yang Ruoxu and Zheng Shuqing had agreed upon before setting off in the daytime.

He didn't remember it himself, but he didn't expect Fang Laique to be able to remember it just by describing it.

A ruler is shorter, an inch is longer, that's all.

As expected, Zheng Shuqing came over to Fang Chongyong with relief and said: "The thing is done, let's go and see who is coming from Baidi City."

After a while, Wang Zhongsi led Yang Ruoxu, a group of less than a hundred people. Almost everyone was holding a bloody human head in their hands, which looked extremely scary.Reminds Fang Chongyong of scenes in some horror movies.

"These are dead men, they couldn't beat us, and they all committed suicide in the end. You can deal with this matter."

Wang Zhongsi said to Zheng Shuqing in a deep voice, he didn't have a good face.

Zheng Shuqing didn't bother to say anything, he simply bowed his hands and saluted.

Wang Zhongsi walked up to Fang Chongyong, put a hand on his shoulder, looked at Zheng Shuqing and said: "I will take him away first. In two days, I will send someone to Wushan County to pick him up. If he misses the time, I will send him back to Chang'an. , this is his father’s request.”

Eh?God of Wealth can't go!

Zheng Shuqing was shocked, just about to rush over to snatch him, but then he thought that Wang Zhongsi's identity was not easy to mess with, so he had to give up temporarily.

The main reason is that you can't beat it single-handedly.

He couldn't help threatening: "The new policy of Jiangguan in Kuizhou was all thought up by Mr. Fang Xiaolang alone. If there is any trouble here, he needs to come back to deal with it. General Wang, don't delay the important matter of the saint!"

Zheng Shuqing took the word "sage" very seriously.

"You are the governor of Kuizhou. You can't make the final decision on such a small matter. Why do you want to listen to a kid with a bad mouth?"

Wang Zhongsi asked back.

Zheng Shuqing was speechless. He was really confused.

After all, he had never seen such a monster prodigy before!
Fang Chongyong didn't say a word the whole time. He found that everything he said seemed to be in vain.Wang Zhongsi's hand on his shoulder was like an iron pliers, holding him down so tightly that he couldn't move at all!
"General Wang is good."

Zheng Shuqing threw down a harsh word, and left with many followers.Now he has no place to threaten Fang Chongyong, as long as the other party wants to leave, he can leave Kuizhou at any time!

"Don't worry, there is something waiting for me to deal with when I come back."

Before leaving, Fang Chongyong left behind a word and followed Wang Zhongsi without looking back.

……

In the cabin, Fang Chongyong and Wang Zhongsi sat opposite each other, the atmosphere was very awkward, neither side knew how to speak to break the deadlock.

Wang Zhongsi himself is a boring gourd and not good at words.

"Back then, your father and I had a drink together on the outskirts of Chang'an. I shook hands with him, and your father lost twenty to me."

Wang Zhongsi said with emotion as he recalled what happened in the past.

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly, he happened to know what holding a lance was.

This kind of game is similar to special backgammon. The board is divided into upper and lower lanes, each direction has 12 lanes, and a total of 24 lanes together form a chess game.The chess pieces are the same as the backgammon played now, divided into black and white, and each color has 50 chess pieces.

At the beginning of the game, one party rolls the dice to get the result, and then starts to walk from the upper right, and the other party has the same steps, but starts from the lower right.

He doesn't know exactly how to play and the rules.

"Twenty dollars, you guys are betting big."

Fang Chongyong couldn't help but complain.

"No, no, no, it's not twenty guan, but twenty coins. And your father didn't even have twenty coins at that time. He just took out your birthday and birth date, gave it to me and said: I'll pledge it to you, and I'll have money in the future." and redeemed it again. He has not redeemed it to this day.”

A rare smile appeared on Wang Zhongsi's stern face.

I'm worth [-] cents for riding a horse?

Fang Chongyong was stunned, how much his scumbag father looked down on him!

During this period of time, someone from the other side had tens of thousands of guan in his hands. If it wasn't too tiring, he would have had [-] guan in his hands!
Seeing Fang Chongyong's confused look, Wang Zhongsi laughed and said, "I won't hide it from you anymore. I heard in the past that you have a foolish temperament. If I recruit you as my son-in-law, I will not be helping you, but harming you. Right?" I'm quite doubtful about this.

I don't want to break my promise, and I don't want to harm you and my daughter.

Now it seems that those are just rumors and you are not an ordinary person.

Now I have been reduced to the point where I only have more than a dozen government soldiers under my command, and the military government under my jurisdiction is useless.

This is not necessarily the worst. It may become even worse in the future, and it cannot be ruled out that the worse it gets, the worse it gets.

For the sake of my long-standing friendship with your father, would you like to be my son-in-law and help me share the important task of revitalizing the family?
If you can't do that, take good care of my daughter, then that's okay. "

Wang Zhongsi said very sincerely, took out a piece of red paper from his arms, and put it on the table in front of Fang Chongyong.

This is his daughter's birthday horoscope!

Wang Zhongsi was right when he said that if he continued to fall into despair, the marriage of his children would become a big problem.Even if the daughter reluctantly gets married, she will not marry into a good family.

This was also one of the main reasons why Wang Zhongsi came to Kuizhou Fucheng before. He wanted to see if his future son-in-law was a fool as Fang Youde said.

If so, then I'm afraid there will be no way to protect my daughter in the future.

It's just that it seems that Fang Chongyong has been wronged by such an arrangement.Now this child prodigy is famous, but he is not a simple person.

Wang Zhongsi put aside his seniority to make friends in this way, and he also took this point into consideration.

"Thousands of miles of yellow clouds and white sun, the north wind blows wild geese and snow.

Mo Chou has no confidant, no one in the world knows the king.

General Wang, please encourage yourself. "

Fang Chongyong pushed the red paper in front of Wang Zhongsi again.

This poem is really... deafening.Wang Zhongsi's mind went back to his first expedition, his indomitable spirit when he faced Tubo, and he remembered that the man next to him fell under the sword of a Tubo soldier.

Who knows them?Who remembers them?
Who in the world doesn’t know you!How did he write it!

"It's interesting, are you trying to comfort me?"

Wang Zhongsi forced a smile, his nose was a little sore, and he didn't know what to say for a while.

He was actually comforted by an eight or nine year old child!
"Then thank you for your kind words."

Wang Zhongsi waved his hand, pretended not to care, and put away the red paper.

Fang Youde's child prodigy son is indeed very assertive.Marriage is more complicated than I thought.

"Has General Wang ever thought about why you were hidden by the saint?"

Fang Chongyong asked in a deep voice.

"Forget it, I said, don't mention these."

Wang Zhongsi didn't seem to want to talk about this topic.

In fact, he still can't understand to this day why Li Longji demoted him, and directly demoted him to Wushan County!Didn't he just say that Wang Yu's border town strategy was wrong?What is the problem?Now Wang Yu has been dismissed and investigated!
Thinking about this, Wang Zhongsi was also very angry.

"I heard that when General Wang was young, he fought without risking his life. There were many dangers, and the saint was very worried."

Fang Chongyong didn't shut up, but went on to say: "Maybe the sage just hid you because he was afraid that you would die on the battlefield? Is there such a possibility?"

Hearing this, Wang Zhongsi fell into deep thought, neither of them continued to speak, only the sound of boats running in their ears.

"What you said may make sense, but...it doesn't matter anymore."

Wang Zhongsi said disheartenedly.

"If someone can return to Chang'an this time, it may be possible for General Wang to return to Chang'an."

Fang Chongyong suddenly said with a smile.

"really?"

Wang Zhongsi stood up suddenly and hit his head on the deck of the cabin, but he didn't feel any pain at all!
What it means to go back to Chang'an, for a general, no matter how you describe it, it can't be overstated!

"Those who are difficult will not, and those who meet are not difficult. General Wang can do this by himself. It is extremely difficult, but it is easy for me, a boy, to do it."

Fang Zhongyong said broadly.

Wang Zhongsi suddenly wanted to force the red paper in his arms into Fang Chongyong's hands!
He was silent for a long time, and slowly asked: "You really don't want to be my son-in-law?"

There was a hint of resentment in Wang Zhongsi's tone. He felt a little regretful as to why he didn't settle the matter in the first place and insisted on hearing Fang Youde's words before they met.

"General Wang, if I want to marry someone, I can just do it myself, I don't need to rely on my father's legacy. What I want to do, I can definitely do it!"

Hearing this, Wang Zhongsi felt the other party's determination, and nodded slightly.

Talented people have high spirits and cannot be treated with common sense.For example, Li Mi, a child prodigy who can write poetry at the age of seven, is not an ordinary person.Wang Zhongsi had met Li Mi several times because of his good relationship with Li Heng, and was impressed by his wisdom.

That's why he was willing to pinch his nose to help Zheng Shuqing these few times.That's not helping political enemies, but paving the way for his future son-in-law!

"Do you want to know how the loss of Kuizhou's tax money came about this time?"

Wang Zhongsi suddenly asked in a deep voice, he didn't want the other party to say it bravely, but seeing that the other party was so smart, he said it more sincerely.

"General Wang, please just say it doesn't hurt."

Fang Chongyong still refused to call that "uncle".Before the two parties had any friendship, calling him this would make Fang Chongyong feel awkward. He didn't want to live in Fang Youde's shadow.

"The tax money sent by Zhangchou Jianqiong was stolen by your father, and I went to meet it, but the order was... sent by the sage."

Wang Zhongsi told Fang Chongyong a "meaningless" secret.

"Zheng Shuqing misappropriated the Jiangguan tariff behind the saint's back, and the death penalty is inevitable. It is inevitable to be punished by the saint secretly. These things are also reasonable."

Fang Chongyong sighed and said that he had already guessed the whole story, but there was no evidence before.

Zheng Shuqing's misappropriation of tariffs was not punished in the end, but Li Longji was used to being mean and ungrateful. He was the only one who punished others, and no one else punished him.Misappropriating tariffs is a violation of the law. How could Li Longji be polite to Zheng Shuqing and steal the tariffs sent by Zhangchou Jianqiong? This is what it should be!

"It seems that you are not surprised at all, but you are a little disappointed."

Wang Zhongsi laughed dumbly.

Fang Chongyong sneered, sighed and did not speak.

Not only did he know that the taxes were robbed by the imperial court's own people, but he also knew that Li Longji and Li Linfu had a bigger plot in Kuizhou. This plot was something that Wang Zhongsi couldn't see, and there was no need for him to talk about it. .

Fang Chongyong had a premonition. Judging from Li Longji's behavior of asking for more than [-] guan, this emperor no longer has any ambitions to pay attention to state affairs.

It's a bit of a pity that this game will have to be played out in the future to show off in front of Zheng Shuqing.

Who can understand the itch of Jinyi's night walk!
At this moment Fang Chongyong looked at the calm Wang Zhongsi, thoughtful.

He suddenly felt that Wang Zhongsi was actually a golden mountain, which could strengthen the piece that he lacked most now.

Who can guarantee that the Anshi Rebellion will not come after more than ten years?

Do you want to learn some art of war to save your life?
This idea appeared in Fang Chongyong's mind and he couldn't shake it off.

(End of this chapter)