Zhang Xiancun felt a chill all over his body. He found himself standing in an empty hall, surrounded by corpses piled on top of each other.
Although he couldn't see the faces of these corpses clearly, he knew in his heart that these people were the people closest to him, because the heart-rending pain could not be faked.
"His Royal Highness, leave quickly! I can't hold on much longer!" Someone was shouting loudly in the fog.
But with the shouts, more ghost-like giants kept coming out of the fog, slashing the warriors around Zhang Xiancun one by one, and blood spurted all over his face, which was cold and cold.
"I won't be the prince anymore! I won't be the emperor anymore! Stop it, stop it!" Zhang Xiancun cried desperately.
It was late at night, Zhang Gao stood outside Zhang Xiancun's dormitory with his hands behind his hands, and let out a long sigh.
"Since ancient times, all troubles have been due to cleverness. Brother Cun is smart and has great ambitions. I hope he can get through this.
If you can't get over this hurdle in your heart, it will be bad if your inner demons break out. "
"Old slave thinks that the saint's words are not entirely correct!" Dong Shaojian said softly beside Zhang Yan.
"Oh? You rarely object to my opinions. Tell me what you think."
Zhang Gao glanced at Shaojian Dong in surprise. This was the first time he heard Shaojian Dong disapproving of him.
Dong Shaojian straightened his waist, then looked back at Zhang Xiancun's dormitory and said: "Since the old slave was selected by Zhu Wen of Liang Dynasty to serve Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty in the palace, he has stayed in this imperial city for four years. Thirteen years.
I have met the emperor Zhaozong and his disciples, I have met the emperor Taizu of Liang, and I have also met the emperors Zhuangmiao and Mingmiao of the later dynasties.
At that time, the Tang Dynasty was in such decline, Emperor Zhaozong and his disciples still valued the position of the prince more than anything else.
The disciples of Liang Taizu were so stupid, didn't they always covet the throne?
As for the King of Qin Li Congrong, his succession to the throne was already a certainty, and he was not being encouraged to carry out the old deeds of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty.
It can be seen that whether you want to be a prince has nothing to do with intelligence or stupidity. On the contrary, intelligent people can get out of the inner demons more quickly. The old slave thought that the big man would figure it out soon. "
Zhang Gao nodded slightly, "I also believe that my son, Zhang Gao, will definitely be able to untie this knot.
You go and pass the message and ask Yongle to come to Tianshui and ask her to send Cun'er to live in Chengdu Mansion for a while. "
Yongle is Princess Yongle, the shy daughter of Huajian. Her appearance is absolutely impeccable. Before Zhang Gao entered the Central Plains, Princess Yongle was fascinated by Zhang Xiancun after being sent to Chang'an by He Ning.
But in recent years, because the two of them were still young, Zhang Yan restricted their interactions.
Not because of anything else, but because he was not old enough to get married yet, and Zhang Hao was afraid that the two of them would kill each other and hurt the royal family's dignity.
Dong Shaojian also knew that Princess Yongle could definitely be a good medicine to relieve Zhang Xiancun's heartache, so he asked with a happy face: "Is the saint planning a wedding for the eldest man?"
Zhang Hao nodded, "When I carry the coffin for Duke Cao Lin from Shazhou to Bozhou for burial, Cun'er will be sixteen years old, just in time to get married."
After thinking about Zhang Xiancun, Zhang Yan began to think about Zhang Xianyu again.
Originally, Zhang Xian was planning to put Zhang Xianyu and Zhang Xiancun together in Nanxi Mansion to exercise for a while, but now Zhang Xian changed his mind.
Because judging from the current situation, it is indeed necessary for Zhang Xiancun to endure hardships and exercise, but Zhang Xianyu does not need to go.
This kid's problem is completely in two directions with Zhang Xiancun's.
Zhang Xianyu's problem is that his cautious mother has instilled in him a lot of negative emotions such as low self-esteem and timidity. As a result, the child can be pitied, but seems to have some problems.
But the situation in Suiye and Talos is more complicated than that in Dali, and the grassland people need a rough and strong leader more than the people of Dali.
In this country of Dali, the people may still need a little mercy. But for the people on the grassland, Huairou is the last thing on the list.
Because the herdsmen in southern Mon and northern Mo were scattered on the vast grasslands with no danger to defend, unlike the Han people who had cities to defend.
Therefore, on the grassland, enemies can come from all directions, and they may all be defeated at any time.
This environment of facing existential threats at any time has created their extremely cold character.
On the grassland, you can be a cruel lord, or you can be relatively kind, but there is a prerequisite, that is, you must be a ruthless person.
You must make your followers always think that if they follow you, they can at least save their lives, and you are the most ruthless person in the world.
Once they feel that you are strong on the outside but weak on the inside, they will soon leave you.
There have been many grassland lords in history who controlled hundreds of thousands of people one second, but were at the end of their rope the next. They were all abandoned by their followers because the people below saw through the nature of their decline.
Cherishing one's strength and hugging one's thighs are the first rules of survival for prairie people.
Although Broken Leaf and Talas have already settled and farmed a bit, mentally and materially, they still behave like the prairie people.
If Zhang Xianyu's character does not change, Zhang Yan cannot send him, and he cannot send his own son to die.
So Zhang Xian decided not to throw Zhang Xianyu to Nanxi Mansion, but to take him with him.
Let him see how noble and glorious it is to be the son of Zhang Shengren and Zhang Wushangtian, and cultivate the pride and ruthlessness in him.
. . . .
Zhang Yan was about to leave Tianshui Mansion for Lanzhou. The first to leave were Gao Eniang, Xiao Sage and Zhao Rongniang, because they were all pregnant and were not suitable for the long journey.
Currently, only Guo Wan'er and Mrs. Huarui's wife Fei are left beside Zhang Yan.
Everyone thought that Fei Shi would definitely be the one to favor her now. After all, Guo Waner was similar in age to Zhang Gao, and she was so beautiful that she was not even worthy of carrying Fei Shi's shoes.
But unexpectedly, two days after Zhang Yan favored Fei, this charming beauty who seemed to outsiders to be the most suitable for Zhang Yan's taste fell out of favor, and the emperor never visited his palace again.
Have no idea! Zhang Shengren took a few steps a little restlessly. You can guess who is more attractive between Guo Waner and Fei with your toes.
But as soon as Fei came here, her mentality still didn't change. She wasn't very interested in bed, which made me, Zhang Dasheng, a little unhappy. I wanted to put some pressure on Fei and not let her be proud of her beauty.
Secondly, Zhang Yan still had to take care of Guo Waner's mood.
Guo Waner has been working with Zhang Yan as his personal secretary and bed partner since she broke the leaf, but she has been unable to do anything for so many years.
Now it seems that Zhang Shengren has nine sons and seven daughters. Including those who are still pregnant, there are as many as twenty children.
This fully proves that it is not Zhang Shengren who is not good, but Guo Waner's fault.
These days, watching the bellies of Gao E'niang and others getting bigger, especially that little vixen Zhao Rongniang, who only took Cheng Huan three or two times to get pregnant, one can imagine Guo Waner's inner pain.
If Zhang Yan still abandons her to be with Fei every day, God knows how depressed Guo Waner, who has always been worried about being unable to have children, will become.
Therefore, Zhang Yan still took good care of her emotions and basically kept Guo Wan'er away from him.
After all, Zhang Yan still has a lot of affection for Guo Waner, who has been with him for a long time and has been diligently doing a good job as a secretary. Ordinary women cannot enjoy the warmth of Zhang Shengren.
A founding hero, especially when the world is not completely unified, does not have much room for personal emotions.
But even so, Guo Waner still felt very uncomfortable.
This is not really jealous. If so, it would be to underestimate the vision and ambition of Guo Waner, whose status is equivalent to the alternate secretary of the Secretariat in later generations.
What makes Guo Waner feel so uncomfortable is actually something else.
It turned out that after the bloody coup occurred in Suiye's Guo family, part of the Guo family protected Guo Wan'er's parents and fled to Khotan desperately.
But Guo Waner's brother Guo Tianxing unfortunately drowned in the Tianshui River (Nalen River) during the evacuation.
And this is not even the most uncomfortable thing for Guo Waner. When he was in Suiye, his parents and elder brother forced him to marry someone of his uncle's generation, and the relationship faded a lot.
Otherwise, given Guo Waner's status in Zhang Zhang's heart, the two elders of the Guo family and her brother would have returned to the Central Plains to enjoy their happiness.
The most uncomfortable thing for Guo Waner was that the Guo family who had fled to Khotan received news that made her extremely frightened.
After Guo Guangyi and Li Guoshou united, the two families also became in-laws.
Guo Guangyi married his daughter, Guo Ting'er, the most beautiful flower of the Broken Leaf Guo family, to Li Guoshou's youngest son.
It seems like a very ordinary marriage, right, but there is a big problem in it, that is, Guo Ting'er was originally going to be sent to Zhang Shengren's harem.
Moreover, when Guo Xuanli returned to China last time, he even reported it to Zhang Yan, and Zhang Yan knew about it.
That’s okay! The emperor's women also dared to cut off their beards.
Guo Wan'er couldn't imagine how angry Zhang Yan would be after knowing about this incident. Even if he met a common man, it would take blood to wash away the shame, let alone Zhang Yan.
In addition to this worry for Guo Wan'er, she has actually been looking forward to Guo Ting'er coming to Tokyo for a long time.
Because in Guo Wan'er's position, he naturally knows the distribution of the world in Zhang Yan's heart. Besides, women always have to have descendants to rely on.
She herself was unable to have children, so she hoped that after Guo Ting'er entered the palace, she would have more children, and then adopt one for her. A cousin's son would always be more reliable than a son who was not related by blood at all.
With her position in Zhang's family, as long as she has a son, she will definitely be able to get the position of king of the vassal state when the emperor divides the world.
Guo Waner also wants to be a carefree Queen Mother once she gets older and loses her beauty.
But now, with Guo Ting'er getting married, all the good ideas have been shattered, and it's strange that she can be in a good mood.
Zhang Yan also clearly felt that something was wrong with Guo Waner. At first, Zhang Yan thought it was because she was infertile.
Thinking about it later, Guo Wan'er may have stopped thinking about having a son for seven or eight years. It is unlikely that she is still worried about it now. It is obviously something else.
However, Zhang Yan would not deliberately ask, because he knew that Guo Waner usually couldn't hold himself back from saying it.
Sure enough, after Zhang Hao glanced at him several times, Guo Waner came over to act cute like a little female cat, and even pinched Zhang Hao's shoulders and beat his legs, making him look quite dog-legged.
Zhang Hao looked at Guo Waner's forced smile and sighed, "Tell me, how big of a deal it is, tell me now, I can still hold on."
Guo Wan'er stopped her dog-leg action and whispered: "Nuyeye sent people from Khotan to Pegasus to deliver the news. Guo Guangyi of Broken Leaf and Li Guoshou of Talas were married. Guo Guangyi gave his second daughter Guo Ting'er Married to Li Guoshou’s youngest son.”
Zhang Yan frowned because he didn't remember who this Guo Ting'er was at the first time. After all, Guo Ting'er was only nine years old when they made the agreement.
At the same time, Zhang Yan entered the Central Plains. He had forgotten all about the nine-year-old yellow-haired girl that the Guo family agreed to send.
But he knew that with Guo Waner's caution, she would not deliberately mention such a thing, because the marriage between Guo Guangyi and Li Guoshou was not a big news at all.
So, after Zhang Yan murmured the name Guo Ting'er twice with doubts, he suddenly remembered it!
For a moment, I, Saint Zhang, had a dark cloud on his face, and an urge to kill suddenly rushed to the Baihui point above my head.
"You damn dog slave! Guo Guangyi and Li Guoshou want to go to hell together with their whole family, right? I will definitely make it happen for them."
Guo Waner knelt down with a pop, "Guo Guangyi deserves to die, but not everyone in Suiye's Guo family supports him.
Li Guoshou is a humble slave and arrogant, but not all the 60,000 households in Talos are guilty ministers. Please see carefully. "
With veins popping up on Zhang Yan's forehead, he walked back and forth in the house more than a dozen times. It wasn't until he heard the report from the chamberlain outside that Zhang Xiancun, the Marquis of Shanshan, was asking for an audience that Zhang Yan felt his anger subside a little.
If Guo Guangyi and Li Guoshou carried out a bloody coup in Suiye because he could not resist the temptation to dominate, then the marriage with Guo Tinger can be called arrogant and confident.
This is completely provocative!
Um?
Feel confident?
Zhang Hao thought about the word that just came to his mind.
Could it be that Guo Guangyi and Li Guoshou were really emboldened, and even deliberately irritated themselves, causing him to make wrong decisions in anger.
Could it be that they had long been prepared for Zhang Yan to send out his troops and were waiting with a big net open?
Thinking of this, Zhang Hao's anger, which had begun to subside, quickly disappeared. He stretched out his hand to pull up Guo Waner, who was crying on the ground.
"Why are you kneeling? I won't anger everyone just because of a few thieves and slaves."
After pulling Guo Wan'er up, Zhang Hao calculated it carefully. The Guo family of Suiye controlled about 400,000 people. Li Guoshou of Talos estimated that there were more than 60,000 people, and there were almost 400,000 people.
The two forces combined have more than 800,000 people. In the Central Plains, their size is about the same as that of Ma Chu and Nanping. They are considered small countries.
But in the Western Region, it is definitely a force that cannot be ignored, and it can bring out hundreds of thousands of armed herdsmen.
There is another issue worth noting, that is, if Hamid of Saman Persia had not died, with this fool's IQ, would he have been deceived into providing equipment to Li Guoshou and Guo Guangyi.
After all, the one with large-scale iron smelting and armor-making capabilities in the river is Samampos.
A skinny camel is bigger than a horse. After all, it is a big country with a population of three to four million. Thirteen or four years have passed since the last time I took advantage of the fight between father and son to defeat their main force. Samampos may have already National strength was restored.
"Hurry out of the palace and ask Guo Guangsheng to go to Liangzhou to inform Hu Guang and tell Hu Guang everything that happened.
Just say that I am not in a hurry to let him wash away my shame, but I want him to understand the intention behind this matter.
I have a feeling that this must be orchestrated by Saktu behind the scenes. Before Talas was captured by my men, they had believed in the Tianfang Sect for almost thirty years. Maybe they have converted now and are still with Saman. Persia was involved. "
Guo Waner knew the importance of the matter, and immediately stood up, wiped her tears, and prepared to leave the palace to find Guo Guangsheng. Zhang Hao thought about it and stopped her again.
"I let you go because I want you to convey my meaning word for word. You must let Guo Guangsheng tell Hu Guang. That's what I mean. I don't want to urge him to leave Yumen Pass quickly to capture Guo and Li for me. Two thieves."
Sometimes the king's power is too high, and his every move can be interpreted by his subordinates.
Therefore, Zhang Gao wanted to specifically warn him that it would be bad if Hu Guanghui made the wrong mistake and hurriedly led people to go on an expedition but fell into a trap.
And Zhang Yan also knew that after having a heart-to-heart relationship with Zhang Xiancun, he had to set off quickly.
Maybe they will stay in Shazhou for a while. This Suiye rebellion might not be an isolated incident.
(End of chapter)
