After sending Chen Jue off, Li Yuan went straight back to his military office, where he happened to see Peng Shigao sulking. After asking, I found out that as soon as Chen Jue and Li Yuan left, Liu Yanzhen inexplicably vented his anger on the generals in the hall. When the name of the Dian Zhijun was mentioned, since Li Yuan was not around, the commander of the army, Peng Shigao, naturally Taking the blame.
"Marquis Li Yu, the orders from the military commanders have come down, asking our palace team to mobilize troops and assemble at the Beiyuan camp later this year."
Li Yuan asked doubtfully: "Our direct team has fewer people and few elite soldiers. We only guard in the imperial city on weekdays. Why did you come up with our idea?"
"Hey, Liu Yanzhen has an order from the Privy Council, can we still disobey him? When I went to the barracks to announce this, most of the generals were not very happy, and I couldn't force it, so I had to wait until you came back. In the end, you and Chen If you get close to each other, all the generals will obey you..." Peng Shigao sighed helplessly.
Li Yuan only felt a strange feeling. You, Peng Duzhi, was the one who made the decision on this imperial army. There was also the Privy Council's order on top of it. Why not force it? I'm afraid that these people below are used to being comfortable, and Master Peng won't be able to do his job well, so he just throws the burden over. However, thinking that Peng Shigao had been treating him well these days, Li Yuan accepted the offer.
"Mr. Peng Du, since your majesty has made a decree, even if the generals are not happy, we must comply with it. According to General Yi, the soldiers of the battalion who followed me to Chuzhou were considered brave, and they also defeated the bandits with General Yi. Why don't we just transfer him."
Peng Shigao stroked his palm thoughtfully and said, "That's very good! Then I will order that after the new year, Liu Du, the envoy of the right wing, will take him to Beiyuan."
Li Yuan smiled and replied: "Peng Du is wise."
The order to mobilize troops was quickly sent, and this little episode was finally resolved. At this time, the sun was already rising fiercely, and the government provided lunch. After Li Yuan finished his meal in the government office, he went out to mount his horse. Just after crossing Yinhong Bridge, Li Yuan suddenly remembered something, turned his horse's head again, and ran towards the east.
Different from the west side of the city where Li Yuan lives now, the east side of Jinling City is obviously more popular. Walking east from Zhenhuai Bridge and passing the Imperial College, you will see a large commercial area and residential area. Nengren Temple, Mianbo City, and Qingxifang, apart from the former, the latter two places are the favorites of women and men respectively. The only thing that makes Li Yuan feel strange is that it has just reached noon, and it is clearly not the time for the wine shops in Qingxi Square to open their doors to welcome customers, but there are already no less than dozens of young scholars, in groups of three or two, insisting on standing by. Looking forward to the noon sun in front of every house.
Li Yuan took a look and found that these scholars were generally dressed in a rather shabby way. How to describe it could only be said that they were relatively neat, but it was just neat. There was no book boy waiting behind them, but they all looked anxiously waiting. Li Yuan rode by silently, thinking to himself, you guys don't study hard all day long, so you come here so early, aren't you driving up the market price...
After a while, Li Yuan found his destination, a huge courtyard in the east of the city that stood prominently in the busy city, the Zhou Mansion.
"Li Yuhou, why are you here so early today? Can you have lunch?"
This wonderful sound of the oriole coming out of the valley, this lovely looking girl, plus those willow-leaf eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes, aren't they none other than Qiu'er, the maid of Emperor Zhou E?
Li Yuan smiled awkwardly: "Qiu'er knows how to make fun of me. I've been visiting every day for the past half month. Have you ever seen me come in for lunch? Why, is Ehuang willing to see me today?"
Qiu'er stepped forward gently, her soft waist directly touching Li Yuan's horse's head, and said coquettishly: "Yu Hou, you know the temper of the young lady, I'm afraid you can't rush..."
He was indeed at fault for this matter. He dared to shout in front of his future father-in-law that he wanted to take a concubine. He, Li Yuan, was probably the first in the Tang Dynasty. He had to smile bitterly and said: "That's all, I'd better go back to my hometown. As expected, I got another rejection today. I don't think I need to eat lunch. I'm full."
Then Li Yuan took out a page of silk book from his arms and handed it to Qiu'er: "This is for today."
Qiu'er laughed out loud, then calmly put the silk book away, and whispered: "Please return home first, the lady said -"
Li Yuan took over the conversation with a look of helplessness: "Your young lady must have said that according to ancient rituals, it is inconvenient to meet each other before marriage. Okay, Qiu'er, I already know everything by heart, let's go now!"
Seeing Li Yuan running away with a frustrated look, Qiu'er sighed softly, then turned around and entered the house.
On a pavilion covered with flowers in the deep courtyard of Zhou Mansion, the trickling music of the piano flowed freely like clear water. After a moment, the sound of the piano suddenly stopped, and a cold voice came: "He is gone?"
I don't know if it's because her young lady looks too stunning, or because she feels weak in her heart, Qiu'er always lowers her head, not daring to look directly.
Zhou Ehuang has always been known as the most well-dressed lady in Jinling City. Today, against the autumn colors of the garden, she specially wore a light yellow dress with several blue peonies embroidered on the cuffs. The craftsmen from Yangzhou also used silver Silk threads drew out several auspicious clouds on the chest, and with just a slight movement of the body, the brocade clouds wrapped around the chest instantly became three-dimensional, and one was about to come out, it was so captivating!
At this time, Emperor Zhou E was silent and had a cold and quiet look on his face. After taking the silk book, I could only read the first two sentences: "My clothes are getting wider and I will never regret it, and I feel haggard because of Yi." After that, my cheeks instantly turned red, my starry eyes were like waves, and I couldn't help but bite my red lips and whispered softly. Said: "This scumbag..."
"Sneeze!" Li Yuan, who was inspecting the soldiers in his front yard, sneezed unexpectedly, causing Luo Erhu to laugh and say: "Brother, according to what you said before, could it be that someone scolded you?"
While Li Yuan tied his legs, he glared at the black guy and said, "Nonsense, I only hit him once, but someone missed me!"
As he was talking, Xu Kuangheng was leading a middle-aged man with a dignified figure. Taking a closer look, although this man was dressed in Tang Dynasty costumes, his appearance was very different from ordinary people. His fair complexion and tall nose made outsiders look puzzled, but Li Yuan knew it well.
The man humbly put one hand on his chest, bent down and said in a deep voice: "I, Wumu Teqin, pay my respects to Li Yuhou!"
Li Yuan stepped forward to help him with a face full of joy: "The Uighur warriors are here! Stop being so polite!"
Luo Erhu had been confused for a long time and couldn't help but ask: "Brother, who is this country man? What are you talking about?"
Seeing that Li Yuan had already started chatting affectionately with the "foreign man" named Wumu Teqin, Luo Erhu had no choice but to turn his gaze to Xu Kuangheng, who was smiling and saying nothing: "Why is my elder brother so happy? Mr. Xu, can you tell me something?" ?”
Xu Kuangheng just blinked slightly, showing a mysterious expression that could only be understood but not explained.
At this time, Wumu Teqin was listening carefully to Li Yuan's eager words, with a strange look in his eyes from time to time. When he was "invited" out of his house by dozens of armored Tang Army soldiers in Changzhou Prefecture half a month ago, he felt extremely angry and helpless. In the end, he had to say goodbye to his wife and children, followed the soldiers' instructions, and packed up in confusion. The weapons passed down from his family follow the chariots and horses on the road.
What made him even more puzzled was that riding in the same car with him was Mr. Xu, who seemed to be weak but had an extraordinary conversation. After a few words of conversation, he only said that he was here on the military order of Marquis Li Yu and asked him to come. I’ll talk about it in Jinling, but there’s not much else to say. Seeing the good intentions of this man, Wu Mu Teqin could only obey obediently because he was "protected" by a group of strange sergeants.
But after finally meeting this Li Yuhou today, Wu Mu Teqin's assumptions were overturned. This Li Yuhou was not the ruthless and rude warrior he imagined. Not only was he young, but he was also handsome and tall. He was always polite to me, and even unexpectedly told about his distant and unfamiliar hometown.
"...In the past during the Anshi Rebellion, Emperor Xuanzong went on a hunt to the west. Fortunately, with the help of your Uighur warriors, the cavalry marched for more than two thousand miles towards Hebei, and finally wiped out the remaining rebels in one fell swoop. Shi Chaoyi was the leader, and our Tang Dynasty finally won See the dawn again! The Uighurs and I, the Tang Dynasty, were brothers. Now, in the world, there are wars and wars, and there are many kingdoms. However, my Majesty has always had the ambition to restore the Central Plains and unify the world. Since I have received great kindness from your Majesty, I dare not settle for peace and happiness. Therefore, I have taken the liberty to invite Brother Wumu here, and I hope you can help me! If the Central Plains is settled in the future, I will ask your Majesty for your orders to help you attack the Khitan and restore the glory of our ancestors..."
Ebony Special Qin’s eyes were filled with tears when he heard this! A hundred years ago, after the Uighur Wujie Khan rashly raised an army but was defeated by Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty, the Uighurs fell apart. Some tribesmen fled to the Western Regions to establish a country and continue their lives. Some tribesmen stayed in the grasslands and were eaten away by the rising Shiwei Khitan. The remaining Some tribesmen were forced to move south. Among the Uighurs who moved south, there were 27 tribes and 300,000 people captured by the Tang army alone, including his tribe. After that, except for some tribesmen who died in the war, most of them were moved to the unfamiliar Jianghuai area by Tang Wuzong.
This is a history of blood and tears that the Uighurs do not want to mention but are deeply ingrained in their bones. A hundred years have passed, and these people from other lands have already taken root in the south. They wear Han clothes and speak Chinese. Apart from not marrying Han people and looking very different, they are actually no different from most Han people. In the past few decades, these Uighurs have personally experienced the chaos of warlord rule. Although they still practice martial arts for generations, the so-called idea of restoring the country has long been lost in their hearts.
But Li Yuan's words today instantly awakened the Uighur grassland nature in Wu Mu Teqin's heart. For some reason, when Li Yuan recounted those past events, he gradually felt close to this talkative young man. When Li Yuan said these words, "The Uighurs of the Tang Dynasty are one family," his eyes were so happy. There was a flash of fire, saying that I had met a rare soulmate, and I couldn't hold back my inner excitement.
Wumu Teqin said loudly and resolutely: "Li Yuhou, starting from today, if Yuhou does not give up, I, Wumu Teqin, will let Yuhou drive me, and my tribe will be willing to serve for Yuhou! I will not give up even if I die!"
Such a reaction was just as Li Yuan expected. After all, the Uighur leader was still upright and it was not difficult to convince him. In addition to sincerity, it was just two words - hometown.
Li Yuan held Wumu Teqin's hands tightly and said excitedly to everyone: "Everyone, from today on, Wumu Teqin is our brother! From now on, I will let him teach martial arts, and I am no exception! You can wait for the need Study it diligently and make great achievements with me in the future!"
Xu Kuangheng, Luo Erhu and a group of soldiers quickly raised their hands and shouted in unison: "Yes!"
