Great Han Empire

Chapter 377

"The Journey to the West"

Author: Scarlet Coral
Chapter 12 The Sound of Wind and Rain in Chang'an

North of Chang'an City, Guanshu Street

"Great victories in the Western Regions, it is impossible to win." "The great army passed by, and the wind surrendered." Spread the word.People gathered together, whispering to each other, excitedly exchanging the details of what they had inquired about—although from time to time they would find contradictory and self-contradictory places in various news, but it did not hinder the atmosphere of heated discussion in the slightest.

Zhao Tong turned a deaf ear to these rumors, bypassed the crowd, and walked to his carriage, but heard someone shouting from behind: "Xiang Zigu, are you in a hurry to go home?"

Zhao Tong sounded familiar, looked back, and said with a smile: "Sure enough, it is Mr. Boyan, the student is going home."

"You and I are not in Taixue now, what are you still called Mr.? I am a minister in the same hall, just call me Brother Boyan." Lu Xun walked over with a smile, took Zhao Tong's arm and said, "It's better to meet by chance than to invite each other. You don’t have to go. How about letting Brother Yu be the host and going to Dongjia City (one of the nine cities in Chang’an) for a drink?”

Zhao Tong thought that there was nothing wrong with his family, so he followed Lu Xun into his carriage.

Lu Xun and Zhao Tong have known each other for five years. At that time, Zhao Tong had just entered the Imperial Academy, and Lu Xunshang was one of the doctors of the Imperial Academy, and was in charge of teaching the students "Zuo Zhuan".Zhao Tong's family has a long history, although he is young, he is not shallow. Although Lu Xun is eight years older than him, he is still young and vigorous. The two often quarrel with each other because of the different interpretations of ancient and modern scriptures. friend.It wasn't until Lu Xun left Taixue to become the chief historian in the prime minister's mansion, and later moved to Sizhi, that he gradually lost contact with him.

After getting in the car, the two exchanged casual greetings, and Lu Xun got straight to the point and asked, "I heard that Ziyuan (Zhao Guang) is now serving in the Zhengxi Army?"

"That's right, my younger brother joined the army last year, and this time he went out with the convoy team." Zhao Tong said with a wry smile, "but he is still a child at heart. After going there for more than half a year, it was just that Uncle Neng sent back a letter when he was in Dunhuang County to report his safety. Caring about my younger brother day and night, but my father never talks about official business at home, it is really worrying."

Lu Xun approached Zhao Tong's ear, and said mysteriously: "Zigu, don't worry, brother Yu saw the merit list sent by Sima and Pang in the mansion today, and Ziyuan ranked first. But nothing has happened, and he has made great achievements repeatedly. Maybe after the Western Regions are pacified, the big man will have another little General Zhao."

Zhao Tong was overjoyed and hurriedly asked: "So, the rumors of the great victory in the Western Regions are all true?"

"Victory is indeed a big victory, but it's hard to say whether those rumors are true or not." Lu Xun lifted the curtain of the car to look at the scenery, and sighed, "There is an undercurrent surging in the court recently, what will the great victory in the Western Regions cause in the court and the opposition?" Influence? What will some people with good intentions do with this? Brother Yu doesn’t know.” After hearing this, Zhao Tong thought about the exaggerated rumors he heard during the day.

Palaces, aristocratic mansions, government offices, ancestral temples and other buildings in Chang'an City accounted for about one-half of the city's area.Palaces are concentrated in the central and southern parts of the city, including Weiyang Palace, Guigong Palace, Beigong Palace and Mingguang Palace (the Western Han Dynasty also had Changle Palace named after Weiyang Palace, which was destroyed by war at the end of the new century).The aristocratic mansions are distributed in the Beique area of ​​Weiyang Palace, which is called "Beique Jiadi", and most noble families such as Zhao Tong also live there.The residential areas of ordinary people are distributed in the north of the city, divided into more than 100 "Lili" by criss-cross streets.The famous "nine cities of Chang'an" are located in the northwest corner of the city, separated by Hengmen Street, divided into three cities in the east and six cities in the west.The East Market is a place where merchants gather, while the West Market is densely covered with various handicraft workshops.The Dongjia City where the two institutes went has more restaurants and restaurants, and it is also the place with the largest number of people in Chang'an City.

When they arrived at the entrance of the city, the two got off the carriage and walked into a restaurant named Wu Chunyuan. Tang Xin invited the two of them to sit down in an elegant and quiet room.As soon as he sat down, Zhao Tong mentioned the news about his younger brother. Just as he was about to say thank you, Lu Xun stopped him and said, "It's a trivial matter, nothing to worry about! Brother Yu is willing to drink with brother Yu, which shows that he is not special to brother Yu. Say a thank you It seems vulgar. I wonder if I want brother Yu to inquire more about Ziyuan in the mansion tomorrow, so that Lingtang can feel relieved?"

"No, no, this matter is not in line with the court's rules after all. Brother Bo Yan is an official, and I don't want my brother to make an exception for this. To avoid common customs, I have no choice but to refrain from expressing gratitude for the time being. "

At this time, the waiter came into the room and reported more than a dozen items.They discussed how to order a few kinds of hot raisins and a platter of wine, and they would order other dishes later, and asked him to bring the platter and wine quickly.After the waiter left, the two casually chatted about anecdotes and anecdotes about Chang'an, and Zhao Tong asked, "My brother has only been an official for a short time and has little knowledge, but I don't know what Brother Boyan said about the undercurrent in the court?"

Lu Xun smiled and said, "Nowadays, the Han Dynasty is in power. It can be summed up in one word: Under the prosperous age, hidden diseases lurk."

"Brother, please talk a little bit,"

The waiter first brought a platter and a jug of wine on a tray, and then brought up two hot dishes one after another. While eating the wine, Lu Xun talked about various situations at home and abroad.Since he was highly valued by the prime minister Li Wei, he handled many important state affairs in the prime minister's mansion, and he secretly expected Zhao in his heart, so he said all the things he usually did not talk to outsiders.At last he twitched his short beard and said:
"In short, although the current fortune of the Han Dynasty is like a young man who is vigorous and fierce, he already has a hidden disease in his skin. If he hides the disease and refuses to treat it, and waits for the disease to die, even if Bian Que comes back to life, there is no hope of rejuvenation. In the past 20 years, the Marquis of Jinyang has asked for food and clothes, fought in the south and fought in the north, and worked diligently to seek governance, so the world is peaceful. Today he is young, and he is also the master of sages, but if he is not aware of it for a while, it will be taken advantage of by Xiao Xiao, and it will be a disaster for a great man?"

Zhao Tong was taken aback, and said in a low voice: "According to my brother, who is playing tricks? The Sun family? Jingnan? King Guangyang?"

Lu Xun shook his head, knocked on the table with his chopsticks and said: "The Sun family is now in Jiaozhou, and they are forced to live with the Yue people. They are no different from savages, so there is nothing to worry about; For the imperial court, Liu Xuande, the king of Guangyang, was originally a clan, but now he has no generals or soldiers, and he is in northern Xinjiang, so I am afraid he can only Just be his Taiping prince with peace of mind." After finishing speaking, he dipped his right middle finger in the wine and wrote the words "Inside Chang'an City" on the table, then looked at Zhao Tong, and whispered: "Although his actions are secretive, he has some eye-catching."

"Are these people planning to do it in Chang'an City..." Zhao Tong didn't dare to continue, so he also dipped his finger in the wine and wrote the word "anti" on the table.

"But not necessarily." At this moment, the waiter brought a plate of white-cut mutton and two bowls of three delicacies soup made with sea cucumber, silver fish shreds and dried shrimp, which made Lu Xun stop talking.As a native of Wujun, Yangzhou, Lu Xun is very familiar with the rules of Wuyue restaurants, which is to serve soup to guests—in addition to the soup that the guests ask for, the waiter will also serve soup several times as a respect.Most of these soups are made of dry ingredients shipped thousands of miles from the south of the Yangtze River, and they are all delicious and unique in flavor. However, this soup came at an untimely time, which disturbed his secret heart-to-heart conversation with Zhao Tong.He said to the waiter: "You don't need to serve soup today, and don't come to serve too much. When we need some soup, we will call you."

The waiter smiled and agreed with the word "yes", standing by the side still refused to leave, he secretly glanced at the two people's clothes and waistbands (group ribbon, the ribbon is the ribbon on the official seal, and the ribbon is made of colored silk) It is a strip-shaped ornament that covers the official seal or is tied on the front of the abdomen and the waist, so it is called the seal ribbon.) Respectfully asked: "My lords, the shop has some live fish that were just fished up from the Wei River this morning. Carp, how about one?"

"Really? It's not urgent. We're going to drink slowly. You can come later,"

The waiter smiled and agreed with "yes" again, then bent down and left with the tray.

Lu Xun picked up the spoon as a gesture of letting the customers in, took a sip, and said, "Well, the taste is very good, the authentic flavor of the Wu region, I'm afraid there won't be such a good soup in other restaurants in Chang'an."

Zhao Tong drank a spoonful and said, "Let's get back to the topic. Brother, please continue."

Just as Lu Xun was about to speak, he heard an uproar in the street downstairs. The sound of cursing, fighting, and breaking things could be heard for a while, so he stopped talking and went to the window with Zhao Tong to watch.I saw two groups of people wrestling with each other on the street, there were more than 200 people on both sides, and they looked like they were all students of Taixue.While fighting on both sides, they scolded each other with words such as "national thief", "treacherous", "pimp" and "little man".Fortunately, both sides fought with bare hands. After fighting for a long time, there was not much blood, but it attracted the crowds on the third and outer floors of Dongjia City.Not long after, a group of well-armored Habayashi soldiers arrived and separated the two sides with long spears. Zhu Sheng knew the depth, so they stopped doing anything, just separated the two sides and kept yelling.

Zhao Tong seldom came to Jiushi to have fun, so he was dumbfounded when he saw this scene. He turned around and saw Lu Xunxi's normal expression, and asked in surprise, "Isn't it surprising that all the students are so messed up?"

"This is the third time this month. Brother Yu is no stranger to it. But the scale this time is indeed larger than the previous two times." Seeing Zhao Guang's dumbfounded expression, Lu Xun couldn't help laughing, "Brother Yu Concentrate on official affairs, and understand the current situation in Chang'an City and Taixue as well as Brother Yu. These two groups of people are indeed students of Taixue, and the ones they are fighting for are also about the affairs of the Western Regions. It is said that among Taixue, Now there is a clear distinction between the two factions, and they have been arguing endlessly within Taixue, and after coming here to drink two cups, they started to fight. Today's incident may also be related to the rumors of the great victory in the central Beijing and the Western Regions."

"May I ask what kind of two factions they are?"

Lu Xun dipped a piece of mutton into the sauce, took a bite into his mouth, and said leisurely: "One group believes that we should immediately increase troops to the Western Regions, wipe out the countries with thunderous force, and then relocate people to enrich the farmland; the other group believes that the current Western Regions The maintenance of the war situation has already cost a lot, so we should stop the battle and leave only a small number of troops to guard the key points, just like the beginning of the dynasty to make the Western Regions surrender. In fact, these two factions are not the contradiction between the students of the Imperial Academy. , isn't it the same?"

Zhao Tong was in a cold sweat and didn't know how to deal with it. Seeing this, Lu Xun smiled slightly and stopped talking, only persuading Zhao Tong to drink and eat.Until the end of this dinner, Lu Xun did not talk to Zhao Tong about the court affairs, but only chatted with him about other gossip.

When Zhao Tong returned home, it was already time to hold the lamps.He didn't care about changing his clothes, so he hurried into the inner hall, told his parents about Zhao Guang's news from Lu Xun, and what he saw in the restaurant, but kept the matter of the court hall secret.

Cai Yan finally let go of his long-sustained heart when he heard Zhao Guang's news. After ordering Zhao Tong to go down to wash up, he said to Zhao Yun: "Husband, Guang'er has made great achievements, and the battle in the Western Regions is going well. Can you be ready soon?" How about going back to Beijing to report on your work?"

Zhao Yun is over 40 years old this year. Years of wastage and perennial battles don't seem to have left any traces on him. He is still handsome and tall. Come mighty.He listened to his son's words, but thought far more than Cai Yan: Why did Lu Boyan choose this time to invite his son to drink?Why did my son see the fight?Why did you tell yourself you knew it through your son?Is this what the prime minister meant?Could it be that the prime minister also intends to rectify Chaofeng?In a daze, he didn't hear his wife's words.Seeing that her husband was in a trance, Cai Yan walked behind Zhao Yun, gently massaged his shoulders with his hands, and asked softly in his ear, "What are you thinking, so ecstatic."

"Well, it's all troublesome things in the court, so don't worry about it. Are you asking about Guang'er? I'm afraid he won't be able to return to Chang'an for a while. Young man, it's good to practice more." Zhao Yun looked at his wife who was still beautiful With a charming side face, she said affectionately, "Wen Ji, Guang'er is the queen of the generals, and he is destined to fight on the battlefield. My mother is worried about traveling thousands of miles, but it's just hard for you! But don't worry, Zhongda and Lingming will take care of you. It’s okay to think about it. Besides, he is my Zhao Zilong’s son after all! With my Zhao family’s silver gun, what can some bandits from the Western Regions do to him?”

Infected by her husband's strong self-confidence, Cai Yan put her arms around her husband's neck and said with a chuckle, "That's right, he's the son of General Zhao, so can he be invulnerable?"

The next day, Weiyang Palace, front hall.

During the court meeting, the news of the great victory in the Western Regions was officially announced. After all the ministers congratulated the emperor in unison as usual, the emperor Liu Shuo asked: "Sima Qing, the governor of the Western Regions, and Pang Qing, the general who conquered the west, asked me for reinforcements. What do you think?" ?”

As soon as the words fell, Dahonglu Huaxin came out of the class and said: "Your Majesty Qizuo, I think that now that the Western Regions are established, we should gather the army as soon as possible and return to the Han Dynasty in the east, so as to broaden the hearts of the countries in the Western Regions and show the benevolence of China. The virtues of Emperor Yao and Shun. The words of Pang and Sima are so absurd!"

Liu Shuo nodded and said, "What do you think about Hua Qing's words?"

Zhong Yao, the captain of the Sili School, came out of the squad and said: "The Western Regions are not yet peaceful. If you withdraw the troops rashly, you are afraid that they will rebel. I think it is not enough. But the tens of thousands of troops have been fighting so far, and they have consumed food and salaries. I roughly calculated that if you want to If you increase your troops, there may be no food supply in the capital before the autumn harvest."

"Your Majesty Qizuo, I impeach Pang De, the general of the Peking University, and Gao Shun, the leading general, for massacring the people of Kucha and looting. They should be sent back to Chang'an for questioning. "Censor Zhongcheng Xinpi came out and said loudly.As soon as this remark came out, there was an uproar in the hall instantly, and all the ministers talked about it, and it became a mess.The corners of Liu Shuo's eyes twitched slightly, he ignored Xin Pi, but looked at Li Wei.But Li Wei didn't care, and with a smile on his face, he took the time to gather his cuffs with his hands.

At this moment, a loud voice shouted: "Your Majesty, Hua Xin and Xin Pi can be killed!"

(End of this chapter)