"Long time no see, Governor Hou."
"It's been a long time indeed, Lord Pingguo."
Hou Junji looked at Tang Ping. When he left Chang'an, this boy was not yet a prince. At most, he was a young man who was just showing his talents.
Unexpectedly, when they met again, the other party would already be a duke who could be on an equal footing with him.
Tang Ping also didn't expect that Hou Junji actually brought a few people directly into his commercial street.
You must know that Hou Junji has been guarding against Tang Ping. It stands to reason that even if he wants to negotiate with Tang Ping, he will at least find a place that is safe for both parties.
He brought a few people to the commercial street, and the cavalry team of several hundred people who escorted him stopped five or six hundred meters outside the commercial street. This behavior really puzzled Tang Ping.
However, although he could not figure out Hou Junji's intentions, Tang Ping was not afraid of him. After all, behind him was an increasingly powerful Tang Dynasty.
After meeting Hou Junji on the third floor of a teahouse, he asked straight to the point: "If Hou Duhu comes alone, aren't you afraid that I will take you back to Chang'an?"
Hou Junji did not answer Tang Ping's question, but asked: "A few days ago, I saw you brought over Old Wu Tou, who makes soup cakes from Chang'an West City? I haven't eaten the soup cakes he made for a long time. You asked him to give it to you?" I’ll make a bowl.”
"You..." Lao Cui didn't get angry when he saw Hou Junji being so angry. To others, Hou Junji was an arrogant feudal official, but he had often caused trouble for Tang Ping back then.
"It's okay, Lao Cui, go and invite Lao Wutou to make a bowl of soup cake for our Houduhu."
Lao Cui left angrily, but Hou Junji didn't care and just sat leisurely drinking tea.
"If Hou Duhu had been in the same state as he is now, he wouldn't have reached this level..."
Tang Ping sighed softly on the side. Hou Junji did not expect Tang Ping to say that. He was slightly stunned and then said with a smile: "This is the most reasonable sentence I have ever heard you say."
"Back then I... was really a little anxious."
While talking, the soup cakes that Hou Junji wanted to eat were also brought to him. Hou Junji came closer to take a whiff, and then nodded with satisfaction.
"This is the taste. I have eaten all kinds of delicacies here over the years, but I just wanted to take this bite."
After saying that, he didn't care whether it was hot or not, he just picked it up with chopsticks and ate it vigorously.
A large bowl of soup cakes was quickly consumed by Hou Junji.
"This is the same restaurant where His Majesty took us to eat."
After wiping his mouth with his sleeve, Hou Junji looked at Tang Ping and asked, "Didn't His Majesty give you any orders when you came this time?"
"What order do you think His Majesty will give me?"
"How about taking my head back?"
"Haha, Hou Duhu, you still underestimated our Majesty!" Tang Ping smiled slightly, and then walked to the railing.
In the commercial street, this teahouse on the third floor is relatively high. Here you can see the pair of cavalrymen who escorted Hou Junji waiting a few hundred meters away.
Tang Ping pointed to the cavalry team and said to Hou Junji: "Houting Protector, did you see the tooth flag there?"
In ancient times, when troops traveled, they would have many flags. Among them, the flag with the surname of the commander, also known as the tooth flag, was the most important.
Therefore, among all the flags, the tooth flag is also the largest.
Hou Junji has very good eyes, so he can see clearly from this distance.
"Rengui, shoot him down." Tang Ping said it lightly. Before Hou Junji could figure out what it meant, he heard a muffled sound coming from upstairs.
Then he saw the tooth flag with the big word "hou" written on it break and fall down.
Hou Junji felt a chill go down his spine. Even the brave Li Xuanba he knew could not reach such a long distance with a bow and arrow.
So that muffled sound should be the same thing as the Tang Dynasty Shenwei Cannon, right?
A few years after I left Chang'an, had the Tang Dynasty already researched the Tang Dynasty Divine Cannon to such an extent?
he since
However, he didn't know that the sniper rifle used by Xue Rengui upstairs was bought by Tang Ping from the beautiful country. It was not something that Datang's current technology could produce.
Now Hou Junji even regrets it. If he had not made a mistake, then with his seniority in the military, he would have been able to lead a troop equipped with such equipment on the battlefield.
"Hou Duhu, did you see it? If I want to kill you, it's really not difficult." Tang Ping took a box from Lao Du and threw it to Hou Junji: "This is His Majesty's decree for you. "
This was given to Tang Ping by Li Shimin before he left Chang'an.
If Hou Junji stubbornly resists to the end, he will naturally not be able to see this will.
And if he had the intention to surrender, Tang Ping would show him this decree.
Although Hou Junji didn't say anything now, the fact that he brought so many people to Tang Ping's territory can actually show that he intends to surrender.
That's why Tang Ping handed over this imperial edict to him.
Hou Junji took the imperial edict with some trembling and opened it carefully.
There is nothing too official in it, just a few words:
"Go back to your old house in Chang'an and live there for your retirement with peace of mind!"
The implication is that as long as Hou Jun returns to Chang'an, Li Shimin does not need to kill him.
There is certainly some past affection between Li Shimin and Hou Junji in this.
It was also because of the presence of more than 100,000 troops under Hou Junji.
Li Shimin had broader ambitions and did not want to put his military strength above the internal conflict with Hou Junji, so he made such a decree, hoping to take back Hou Junji's Yanbei Protectorate army for his own use.
"That's all!" Hou Junji knelt down facing the direction of Chang'an: "I was wrong all these years. I asked Duke Ping to bring back all the Tang troops who followed me to Yanbei. They were just following my orders. , and has no intention of rebellion.”
Tang Ping was puzzled. Hou Junji meant to hand over the part of his army that originally belonged to the Tang Dynasty to him, but he himself was still unwilling to return to Chang'an?
"Hou Duhu, my second uncle has treated you like this, and you still don't want to go back to Chang'an?"
"It's because Your Majesty treated me like this that I have no shame to go back." Hou Junji looked at Tang Ping and said, "Now half of the soldiers in the Yanbei Protectorate are from nearby countries. Because of my connivance, if they are brought back Datang is not a good thing."
You must know that he is in the Yanbei Protectorate and uses force to coerce several small surrounding countries. It is inevitable that there will be some conflicts.
After those ronins from Buyeo Silla joined his command, they have been doing some unattractive things.
"So you want to protect the throne?"
After listening to Hou Junji's explanation, Tang Ping probably guessed his intention.
At this time, Hou Junji seemed to have returned to the past when he was full of high spirits: "Let me help the Tang Dynasty conquer the Northeast again!"
