In the next two days, the weather became cold again, and the melting ice and snow seemed to be locked. The land of Liangzhou was once again covered with ice and snow, covered with white snow and covered with silver, and all the rivers and rivers were frozen. The weak water and Yuanchuan River (Heihe) that gathered in the north of Zhangye City were frozen into two winding ice dragons by the low temperature, making it impossible for boats to move.
Fortunately, since the Renshou period, Liangzhou has invested a lot of manpower and financial resources in building roads, and built a main official road from Huining County to Xizhou County. Each county used this main line as a benchmark to southward and southward. Many official roads were built to the north, making Liangzhou's transportation accessible in all directions, like a centipede lying on the ground.
With the convenient official road network, sleds pulled by camels, cattle and horses transported the grain and grass supplies allocated by the state pastoral government to the war front, so that the combat supplies were not greatly affected by the weather.
This kind of recurring weather is very normal at the turn of winter and spring. As long as we survive these days of recurring temperatures, we will officially enter spring. The official road in the south of Zhangye City is quite lively with people coming and going. Cartmen pulling cattle and horses, and goods men carrying burdens. Everyone is walking carefully. No matter how careful you are, the ground is also covered with hay and sand, but from time to time people and animals turn over it. He fell to the ground, causing bursts of laughter.
In the afternoon, a group of about a hundred knights appeared on the official road. The leader was Mu Yangji of Liangzhou. Those traveling with him included Tongjian Zhang Dinghe, Mincao Wang Cong, Gongcao Hetuo, Zhu Can, and Zong Luohu. . There is also Li Daliang, who has been recommended by Yang Ji as the county magistrate of Zhangye County and is in charge of the county and state soldiers.
They were returning from an inspection tour of Fulu County.
Fulu County is located in the west of Zhangye County. There is a river named Beida River in its territory. This river originates from a large lake in the Qilian Mountains, flows northward and merges into Weak Water, and finally enters Juyanze together. Opposite is the Tuolai River in Tuyuhun. The source of the Tuolai River is also the large lake. The difference is that it flows southward along the Qilian Mountain watershed.
The valleys of the two rivers in the north and south are accessible for military operations, so the watershed on the mountain is also a very critical confrontation point. During the Yuanshou period of the Western Han Dynasty, in order to defend Wusun and Yuezhi in the west, the Han Dynasty established Jiuquan County here and formally incorporated it into the territory of the Central Plains Dynasty. During the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Jiuquan County, which had only one county, was named Fulu County. state.
After the founding of the Sui Dynasty, the main enemy of the Hexi Corridor was Tuyuhun. Tuyuhun also entered the Hexi Corridor from the watershed many times. Considering the need for defense, Yang Jian separated Fulu County from Ganzhou and established it in Suzhou; but soon, another At the time of the great withdrawal, it was merged into Ganzhou. The name Gan/Su in later generations was taken from the first characters of Ganzhou and Suzhou.
The defense of Fulu County is now in charge of General Hu Benlang and the Prime Minister of Fulu County, Dugu Pingyun. He did not disappoint Yang Ji and took care of the local military affairs in an orderly manner.
There are more than a dozen Suzaku Guards beside Yang Ji, one of them is Zhang Chuchen. Like the Suzaku Guards, she wears an eagle-edge helmet and fine silver armor. She holds a big sword and rides on a divine horse. above, looking heroic.
Generally, generals who go into battle to kill the enemy are proficient in two kinds of weapons. One is long weapons such as spears, spears, spears, and swords for fighting on horseback; the other is naturally short weapons for fighting on horseback and at close quarters, usually swords. Lord, of course there are also people who use Qimen weapons instead of swords. For example, Yuchi Gong, Pei Xingyan, and Zong Luohu are very unique. Their short weapons are iron whips, hammers, and short halberds.
However, there is a kind of general who is an exception. They are like Yu Zhang Chuchen and others, who have a weapon that is neither long nor short. Their swords are only one and a half meters long, which is longer than short weapons but shorter than long weapons. In one piece, it is not too long for melee combat and not too short for long-range attack. It can be regarded as a vicious sharp blade. Of course, they are still equipped with repeating crossbows and swords. After all, assassination and technical attack skills are their strengths.
Despite the cold weather, the passers-by were in high spirits, talking and laughing. After crossing the Yuanchuanshui Bridge, they could faintly see the Zhangye City Wall. He Tuo looked back at the supportive crowd on the bridge and suggested to Yang Ji: "Your Majesty, Liangzhou's business is booming and pedestrians are constantly coming and going. The bridge deck is relatively narrow and cannot meet the needs of business travelers."
Yang Ji continued seriously: "We have to build a few more."
Everyone burst out laughing.
"It really should be repaired!" Zhang Dinghe, the general judge, said: "In recent years, the weather has been very abnormal. In June last year, it snowed heavily in Zhangye, Xiping, and Chuihe. In the rainy season, there were constant rains and flash floods. In the past (this chapter is not finished yet!)
Chapter 579: Just because I looked at you one more time
The bridges are either broken or overturned during floods. Therefore, it is not only necessary to repair the Yuanchuan River, but also the bridges on the Beida River and Ruoshui River in Zhangye County, as well as the Dang River in Dunhuang and the Macheng River in Wuwei. Otherwise, the bridges on these major rivers will not be enough. "
Wang Cong, who was next to him, walked forward and said: "The celestial phenomena are indeed very abnormal. Some people thought that there was some shocking injustice somewhere, so the abnormal celestial phenomena warned."
People in feudal society were very particular about the connection between heaven and man, and any unexplained natural phenomena would be attributed to God as a warning. Since the founding of the Sui Dynasty, disasters of various sizes have occurred frequently; after the time entered the Great Age, natural disasters not only did not end, but also tended to expand. Some nefarious people took the opportunity to slander the emperor's moral integrity, which is why this happened.
Liangzhou is okay, but in the Guanzhong area, this voice has always existed.
Yang Ji was silent after hearing this. If he remembered correctly, five years after the Great Sui Dynasty entered Daye, the celestial phenomena became more abnormal and there were more natural disasters. The most typical representative of this is when Yang Guang went on an expedition to Tuyuhun. He led his army to defeat Tuyuhun and expanded the territory thousands of miles away. During the war, the Sui Dynasty lost less than 20,000 troops.
After Yang Guang defeated Tuyuhun and then held the International Trade Conference in Zhangye City, he returned to the court. However, when he was passing through the battle to pull out the valleys, a heavy snowstorm suddenly fell in midsummer in July. The heavy snowstorm hit Yang Guang, and hundreds of thousands of people were killed. Six or seven people in the large army froze to death overnight, and all the accompanying animals froze to death. Since then, the Sui Dynasty has reached the peak of its prosperity and began to rapidly turn from prosperity to decline. Floods, droughts, and insect plagues continued to attack various parts of the Sui Dynasty.
After a long while, he said: "In ancient times, when Yao was in power, there were nine years of floods, but he still managed the world in an orderly manner and became one of the Five Emperors. Shang and Tang had seven years of drought, but he was also a member of the Shang Dynasty. The continuation of the world has laid a solid foundation. That’s why Sage Xun said, “Heaven’s behavior is always constant, and it will not exist for Yao, nor will it perish for Jie. If it is governed, it will be good; if it is chaotic, it will be bad. If we strengthen our roots and use them sparingly, we will never be poor. When you are well prepared and active, you will not be able to get sick. If you practice Tao without hesitation, then Heaven will not bring disaster. Therefore, floods and droughts cannot make them hungry, and cold and heat cannot make them sick.”
This passage comes from Xunzi's "Tian Lun": It talks about changes in celestial phenomena and natural disasters, which are the laws of nature. They did not exist because of Yao's sage, nor did they disappear because of Jie's tyranny. The key is to rule. Whether the government is wise and provides appropriate relief; if the government does nothing or acts violently when a natural disaster occurs, the natural disaster will detonate the disaster.
He Tuo was He Chou's uncle, a writer, philosopher, architect, and musician from the Sui Dynasty. Compared with Yang Ji, who was an outlier, he did not believe in superstitions and prophecies. When Yang Ji heard what Yang Ji said, he smiled optimistically and said, "These are the words of a sage, and I think they are reasonable. In fact, throughout history, no matter which dynasty or emperor is in charge, the world is impossible." The key to good weather is that when disasters occur, the government should do everything possible to provide relief to the victims and work hard to reduce the occurrence of disasters, and there is no need to listen to those baseless prophecies."
"What Cao Cao said makes sense!" Wang Cong, as a civil servant, cares most about the people's livelihood in Liangzhou. He said loudly: "Since the way of heaven is abnormal, we should accumulate more food and clothes and actively prepare for famine. If there is a big disaster, Yi Zi appears The matter of cannibalism will be recorded in the history books."
"Bridges, people's livelihood and other matters will be discussed and handled by your political affairs hall." Yang Ji said casually: "If you rely on me for everything, I will be too busy, you will be busy, and the people will be anxious."
Everyone laughed out loud when they heard this.
Yang Ji is the kind of person who can be lazy and delegate power without holding on for a moment longer. He has never done anything where a layman directs an expert. At most, he just provides some opinions and direction to everyone when the inspiration flashes. Everyone feels relaxed when serving under him, and they can also use their talents in positions that match their expertise. It is precisely because Yang Ji understands and is willing to delegate power that everything can run normally after he has been away from Liangzhou for so long.
But without Yang Jilai as the leader, they felt at a loss and couldn't see the way forward and the direction.
The group of people walked and talked as they entered Zhangye City and arrived near Zhongshi. Zhang Dinghe, Wang Cong, He Tuo, Li Daliang and others went to the Prefecture Mufu to handle official business, while Yang Ji's team went directly home.
When passing by a section of the "Bagua Array" dominated by restaurants and inns, Yang Ji suddenly felt something in his heart. He raised his head and looked to the north, only to see numerous buildings within the walls of the square, one of which was the most (this chapter is not finished!)
Chapter 579: Just because I looked at you one more time
The doors and windows of the tall wine shop facing the street were closed. Only one window on the third floor was wide open and the curtains were shaking.
Martial arts masters have very strong perceptions and have an unimaginable keen insight into danger. This feeling can only be felt but cannot be expressed in words, but it does exist. The principle is like when you peek at a beautiful woman from a distance, the beautiful woman will not only sense it immediately, but also look at you immediately.
At that moment, Yang Ji was the "beauty" being peeked at, and he felt that a pair of beast-like eyes were staring at him. And the person looking at him was obviously in the room with the swaying curtains.
"Sir, what's wrong?" Zhang Chuchen, who was walking side by side, asked.
Yang Ji looked away from the window and said calmly: "Nothing! Go home."
Zhang Chuchen pursed his lips and said in a low voice: "Master, someone looked at us just now, and I felt that the other person's eyes were very unkind."
"I feel it too." Yang Ji was not surprised by this. Surrounded by a group of people, he drove his horse forward. After walking for a while, he asked: "That tallest restaurant seems to be ours." Is it Qingfeng Tower?"
"It's Qingfeng Tower!" Zhang Chuchen blinked his watery eyes and asked, "Sir, do you want to send someone to check?"
Yang Ji frowned and said, "No need!"
Since getting the news of Zhang Zhongjian's westward journey, Zhuque Xuanwu has been out in full force in the past few days, closely monitoring Zhang Zhongjian's every move. At the same time, in order to eradicate Zhang Zhongjian, a powerful thief and assassin, Yang Ji specially set up a dragnet in the city. If we rashly send people to investigate just for this one glance, I am afraid that Zhang Zhongjian will be frightened, so that he will not even enter the city, and then escape again.
But Yang Ji had left Zhangye City for a day and a night. At this time, he didn't know that Zhang Zhongjian had not only entered Zhangye City, but also that the person who looked at him just now was Zhang Zhongjian.
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In the elegant room on the third floor of Qingfeng Building, a burly man looked through the corner of the curtain and silently watched Yang Ji's team marching away. There was a bit of desolation and hatred in his eyes. The pot of hot wine on the table in front of him was empty. , the full cup is still radiating heat. It wasn't until the opponent's team turned a blind corner and disappeared that he picked up the wine glass and drank the wine in one gulp.
This person was none other than Zhang Zhongjian, whom Yang Ji wanted to get rid of, but Zhang Zhongjian had already shaved off his iconic beard, revealing his true face.
Zhang Zhongjian was originally a child of a declining family in the south of the Yangtze River. He was handsome and talented. When he shaved off his beard and put on a warrior robe, he transformed from a rough and thick man into a handsome man with outstanding grace and majesty.
Although the Jiangnan League formed by one hand disappeared, Zhuangzi in Lianzhou was razed to the ground by the army led by Wei Wentong, and his relatives were all dead. However, after all, he had been operating in Guanzhong for more than ten years and still had some personal connections. Although these connections did not dare to help him openly, they still provided some useful intelligence and news.
At first, he thought it was Yu Wenshu behind Wei Wentong who was operating. Later, with the help of these relationships, he understood that the destruction of the Jiangnan League and the death of his relatives had little to do with Wei Wentong and Yu Wenshu. They were just following orders. Just act. The real murderer behind the scenes was Yang Ji, who took over Jiangnan League's industry.
His sneaking into Zhangye this time was not due to Shen Faxing as Yang Ji and Tianmen had judged, but was aimed directly at Yang Ji.
Although he also hated Shen Faxing, Chao Tian and others who betrayed him, but now he was alone and wanted by the authorities, and his "friends" did not dare to help him. , was shocked that Yang Ji was the culprit, so he did not attack Shen Faxing, Chao Tian and others, but planned to capture the thief first and capture the king first.
As long as Yang Ji is successfully killed, the others will be easy to deal with.
"Dongdongdong~" Amidst the rapid footsteps, the door of the private room was opened from the outside, and a gentle young man walked in. This man's name was Li Dewu, and he was a descendant of the Li family in Longxi.
After Yang Liang's rebellion was put down, Yang Guang carried out a large-scale purge of more than fifty states under Yang Liang's jurisdiction. At the same time, some officials in the capital were dismissed because they had brothers who became rebel generals and were implicated after the war. These two major purges that followed one after another left a large number of vacancies in the capital and local governments.
Qian (this chapter is not finished yet!) was urgently appointed by Yang Guang.
Chapter 579: Just because I looked at you one more time
Among the many new officials, most of them were descendants of the gentry, and the Li family of Longxi naturally obtained a certain number of seats. Under the arrangement of his family, Li Dewu became a county official, but he was impatient and unwilling to go to remote areas. He wanted to settle down in a certain place, so he took advantage of his uncle Li Hun's relationship to follow Yu Wenshu's path and became a clerk in the province.
He was very talented and learned, and was highly appreciated by Pei Ju, the Huangmen servant. He thought that Pei Ju admired him because of his good family background, good looks, and high talents. He was interested in recruiting a son-in-law for marriage, and he said it in public.
And the place where they met was not only the restaurant run by Prince Wei's Mansion, but Yang Ji and Pei Shuying were in another room separated by a screen. What he said about Pei Shuying's sexual intercourse was listened to by the person involved.
Pei Shuying lost her temper on the spot and went to find trouble for Pei Ju afterwards. Pei Ju did "nothing" and just wrote a polite letter to the head of the Li family; so Li Dewu suffered a tragedy. Not only did he lose his official position, he was also arrested by the head of the family and sent to his hometown to deal with it severely. Reply to Pei Ju. But Pei Ju didn't show any sign, and the Li family dealt with Li Dewu again.
After doing this several times, Pei Ju finally replied to the head of the Li family with satisfaction, and even pretended that he had been young and understood the drunken behavior of young people. Everyone was "one of our own" and the Li family did not need to be so polite.
The Li family felt that Pei Juyou could not relieve his anger and resentment, and they also heard that Yang Ji and Pei Shuying were ambiguous. They thought that neither man nor woman could afford to offend him, and since Li Dewu was just one of countless children, they would inevitably bring trouble to the family in the future. I was annoyed, so I simply gave up on Li Dewu.
Li Dewu was an outstanding son of the Li family. He was usually a bit arrogant because of his talents. However, because of Yang Ji and Pei Shuying, he lost everything when he was most proud. You can imagine the resentment in his heart.
Li had "business" dealings with Zhang Zhongjian before, but this time Zhang Zhongjian was able to obtain the truth, and Li provided a lot of information. At the same time, he also knew about the grievances between Li Dewu and Yang Ji, as well as their current predicament, so he went to find them.
When two people who share the same problem meet together, they naturally form a party. But what Zhang Zhongjian didn't know was that, in addition to being like-minded with him, Li Dewu also received instructions from the senior management of the Li family in Longxi: as long as Zhang Zhongjian devoted himself to getting rid of Yang Ji, the Li family would have access to Li Dewu and provide him with all conveniences.
But Li Dewu had other ideas because of this.
Chapter 579: Just because I looked at you one more time
