It was almost dusk, and Zhao Tong slowly walked out of the imperial city.
Cai Jing, Wang Fu, Deng Xunwu, Tong Guan, Gao Qiu and others came out with him. Everyone's face was gloomy and their thoughts were heavy.
Wang Xiang, who knew the Privy Council at the same time, led 20 commanders of the Imperial Forbidden Army, and joined the local Imperial Army on Huainan East Road and Huainan West Road, as well as nearly 20,000 Xiang troops, rural soldiers, etc., and Wang Qing was in Huaixi Shu There were three fierce battles in the state.
All three battles were severely defeated, Shuzhou fell, and 20,000 people were killed, with only 5,000 or 6,000 left.
Now Wang Qing has occupied two states and nine counties and is heading towards Luzhou, the capital of Huainan West Road.
Luzhou is an important town in Huaihe and Huaihe Rivers, closely connected to the main north-south road, and the throat of Jiangnan, Zhejiang and other roads leading to the capital.
Once Luzhou fell, half of the land routes between the capital and the southeast were cut off. Money, food and goods in the south could only go through waterways, or make a half-circle to Tokyo.
Going around in half a circle would be aggravating at best in normal times, but if there is a war, especially a war on the northwest border, this can be fatal!
So... Luzhou can't make any mistakes!
Emperor Daojun went into a thunderous rage in the palace and punished everyone indiscriminately. Even Cai Jing, who had always been rewarded with a chair to sit on, stood until the end and almost fainted.
Then Emperor Daojun ordered that Deng Xunwu, the minister of the Privy Council, ordered 30,000 forbidden troops and 20,000 Xiang soldiers, a total of 50,000 troops, to march to Huaixi and join Wang Xiang's remnant troops. They were bound to defend Luzhou and wipe out the traitor Wang Qing.
No one spoke on the way out of the palace, and everyone looked gloomy. When he arrived at the palace gate, Zhao Tong directly mounted his horse. After returning home, he stayed in the study until midnight before going to rest.
Two days later, Deng Xunwu, the minister of the Privy Council, ordered 30,000 horse infantry troops and 20,000 Xiang troops to leave the city and head towards Huaixi...
That evening, Duan Yichang changed into a new sapphire blue robe and went to accept Zhao Tong's banquet.
Although he didn't know what was going on in the Song Dynasty, and troops were frequently mobilized outside the city, but those were not what he cared about. He only cared about one thing, the thing that others asked him to do before leaving Dali.
Please ask the King of Qi to write a calligraphy painting of Sauvignon Blanc!
This is easier said than done, because as long as you ask sincerely, given the current relationship between Song and Dali, you won't refuse.
To put it bluntly, Duan Yichang never asks for help!
From childhood to adulthood, including the cultivation of Caiyun Colt, nothing was asked for.
He doesn't ask for anything, not even his parents. When he wants something, he always states the truth and makes it easy for the other party to compromise. If he doesn't compromise, he won't get what he wants and won't be able to do what he wants to do. It's a conspiracy. If the means can't fool the other party, then that's it.
In short, it is impossible to ask for it!
But now, as he traveled across mountains and rivers to be an envoy to the Song Dynasty, someone asked him to ask for a calligraphy treasure from the King of Qi.
This man was so close to him that he couldn't refuse.
He tried to use some means to achieve it, but was sidetracked several times. He deeply suspected that the King of Qi was pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger, but he had no evidence...
After exiting the gate of the Guest House and looking at the two lush pine trees in front of the door, Duan Yichang got into the carriage.
Zhao Tong hosted a banquet for Duan Yichang in the Split Golden Pavilion, but this time it was not as good as the last time he hosted Xiao Min. There were many sweets, pastries and drinks, but the dishes were also light, with fish, shrimp and seafood as the mainstay.
This time, it was all done by a hero, including game cattle and sheep, whole chickens, ducks and geese, some smoked, some grilled, some braised with spices, and various ingredients fed and steamed.
The wine is also different, there is no sweet fruit wine at all, Huadiao Nuer is red, Green Ant Stuff is white, Maple Bridge is blue, and Western Desert is yellow. Duan Yi feels dizzy after watching it.
As for the songs and dances, there are naturally some music, but the softness and softness of the Yingge and Yanwu can't be seen. The first one is the Hujia Eighteen Beats, and even the dances are branch dance, sword dance, and exotic dance to the sky!
Duan Yichang had grown up in Dali and had never seen these strange things. At this time, he was holding the wine glass and turning his eyes again and again, not knowing what he was thinking in his mind.
After three glasses of wine, he suddenly said: "Your Majesty, although the singing and dancing are good, it is always difficult to participate in them and it is not enough fun."
Zhao Tong smiled and said, "What do Prince Duan have in mind?"
Duan Yichang said: "My lord, do you think it would be better to give a drinking order?"
Zhao Tong said: "It's just you and me, we're going to have a drink. Do we want to compose poems and lyrics? Or do we want to shoot arrows?"
Duan Yichang shook his head like a rattle when he heard this: "Your Majesty, I thought of a novel way to play. I wonder if Your Majesty would like to try it?"
"A novel way to play?" Zhao Tong looked at him and said, "I like to hunt for novelties the most, but I don't know how to play this novel way of playing?"
Duan Yichang's eyes flashed and he said: "Just now I saw those singers and dancers dancing with rough and wild movements and a unique flavor, so Yi Chang came up with a novel order of throwing pots and drinking wine."
"Tour pot wine order?" Zhao Tong nodded.
The pot-throwing wine order is relatively common. People who are not good at archery often use copper pots instead of targets and throw arrows for fun. In order to increase the difficulty, they sometimes put a screen in front of the pot to do "blind throwing", or play "back-throwing" with their back to the copper pot. .
"Chang Yi knows that my archery skills are ordinary, so he came here to throw the pot. Could it be that he wants to lose to me on purpose again?" Zhao Tong added with a smile.
"Your Majesty, the pot throwing I am talking about is slightly different, it is the flying flower pot throwing." Duan Yichang said respectfully.
"What is Feihua Touhu?" Zhao Tong was a little confused. He knew that Duan Yichang had a purpose. This was obvious from the first time he came to visit. That time was for appraisal, but as an appetizer, there must be another purpose. .
"Your Majesty, Feihua Touhu requires not only throwing the pot, but also two people throwing the pot at the same time. During this period, the opponent's arrows can be shot away, preventing the opponent from entering the pot."
"So..." Zhao Tong frowned: "Are we going to prepare two-color arrows?"
"Exactly." Duan Yi said: "Ten arrows can be used as a round, and the loser must drink."
Zhao Tong said: "Ten branches are too few."
Duan Yichang nodded: "So Chang Yi wanted to make a game of ten, the loser would drink, and a hundred would determine the final winner, and then establish a lottery."
"Let's make a colorful head..." Zhao Tong looked at him with a half-smile.
Duan Yichang said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, it was your Majesty who won the horse racing prize last time. This time it is Yi Chang's turn."
Zhao Tong said: "This is how it should be, please tell me."
Duan Yichang said: "The lottery means that the loser must promise the winner a small thing. Naturally, it is a small thing that can be done easily and is harmless."
Zhao Tong smiled and said: "That's very good. It's just a small matter. I will order people to prepare it now."
After a while, Lei San moved a large copper pot to the pavilion, and then two more guards from the palace brought two hundred arrows, one hundred of which had white feathers dyed ink, and distributed them to the two of them.
Naturally, the copper kettles cannot be placed too close, nor too far away. After all, it is too easy to place them too close. If they are too far, one or two is fine, but if there are too many, the wrist will not be able to reach them.
Although arrows are also used in throwing pots, they are completely different from archery. What is tested is the strength of the wrist. This is why many people are not good at archery and cannot perform archery orders at the wine table, but they can still perform pot throwing orders.
Lei San placed the big copper pot almost at a distance from the two of them and said, "Your Majesty, you are ready!"
Zhao Tong took ten arrows in his hand and looked at Duan Yichang with a smile: "Prince Duan, is it ready?"
Duan Yichang said respectfully: "Your Majesty, I'm ready. Please take the lead."
(End of chapter)
