Embroidered Clothes Hall.
Huo Qubing, Bai Nanyu, and Ru Bohu looked at the handwriting on the Zonghengce slip together.
"The other party added 'Han' as a prefix, which means that he is not my big Han."
"It's not Han, but it's related to Zi, and I don't know that he was killed in the imperial mausoleum last night. If you meet these conditions, you can first rule out that the other party is the immortal master banned in the imperial mausoleum."
"The word 'we' is used in the writing to indicate the identity, which shows that it is not an individual."
The three of them expressed their opinions and quickly analyzed the valuable information revealed in this line of handwriting.
"It's possible that it's the Huns, but it's also possible that it's body poison."
Huo Qubing's eyes were bright: "Send a summons to test the other party's background."
Bai Nanyu was born in Zonghengdao and was one of the nine deities. She also mastered the method of using bamboo slips to convey messages.
She formed a seal with one hand and elicited a wave of spiritual thoughts from the center of her eyebrows: "What should I say in response?"
"Ignore their inquiries and directly ask them how prepared they are?" Huo Qubing said.
The hidden technique of this question is suitable for any situation, regardless of being exposed, and can in turn extract more information.
Bai Nanyu acted according to the law, attached her spiritual thoughts to her fingertips, and wrote a brand on the bamboo slips.
The small bronze tripod and the jade sword had been sent back to the brief book by Huo Qubing. When Bai Nanyu spread the news, the people on the other side saw it and quickly responded: "In the early spring of next year, if other conditions are mature, we can treat the Han Dynasty." Use troops.
As discussed last time, how is the progress of joining forces with Shendu to conspire against traitors? "
These few words confirm that the opponent is the Huns.
Zizi was obviously connecting Shendu and the Xiongnu, and wanted to jointly deal with the Han, and the north and the south responded.
The Xiongnu had also realized that it was not easy to deal with the Han alone, so they wanted to use the help of Zi to join forces with Shendu.
Similar strategy, when the Huns were powerful, Emperor Liu Che also considered uniting with the Dayue clan to jointly send troops to attack the Xiongnu.
However, Dayuezhi did not agree and moved to avoid the Xiongnu's front, so the alliance plan failed to succeed.
Now that the situation has changed, it is the Xiongnu's turn to join forces with the others, so that they can be sure to attack the Han Dynasty.
The Xiongnu wanted to unite with Shendu and use Zi as a middleman to form cooperation more quickly.
Neither the Xiongnu nor Shen Du knew that Zi was dead, so they could only contact the great Han Lang Zhongling.
Huo Qubing smiled and wondered whether this was a trap for the Xiongnu and Shendu, a trap for Shendu and the Xiongnu, or a trap for both parties.
He and Ru Bohu looked at each other, and both could see the smile in the other's eyes.
Ru Bohu said sadly: "We don't need to respond too much. The Xiongnu is more anxious now. The more anxious he is, the more likely he is to make mistakes. Let him wait for now and let him dig deeper and deeper, and finally give him a hard blow!"
He added: "Winter is about to begin. Will Huo Hou use troops against the Xiongnu again next year?"
"It depends on the situation. If the opportunity is right, you don't have to wait until next year."
Huo Qubing said calmly: "It depends on our own preparations. We have used troops one after another during this period. We have captured and surrendered both the western and northern fronts. We have to keep up with other things in the rear before we can fight again."
After several more exchanges, Huo Qubing always spoke concisely and analyzed and responded based on the messages passed by the Huns.
…
Huns.
The great shaman Boguna and Yi Zhi were sitting in the king's tent, with an animal skin scroll spread out in front of them.
Occasionally, news comes from the other side and manifests itself on the scroll.
Not long after Boguna became the great shaman, he was a little amazed by the method of communicating through the air through the other party.
The other party seems to be able to lock on any instrument they use to write at any time and anywhere, and send messages effortlessly. But they have to use the method told by the other party to form a fixed seal and make full preparations in advance before they can contact the other party.
This method of communication alone has given Boguna an inexplicable awe for the existence on the other side.
Yi Zhixian said: "Tell him that our grassland tribes are determined to attack the Han with all their strength. Ask him if he can help us explore the North Pass of the Han Dynasty and even the Han army's defenses along the Western Regions, and the actual and false distribution."
Boguna was shocked: "The distribution of the Han army in Beiguan and even the Western Region must be the core secret of the Han Dynasty. Apart from the emperor, only a few generals in the military may know it.
How can this person master it? "
Yi Zhixian said: "You don't know something. When this person first contacted us, the way to win our trust was to tell the Han people about the true and false distribution of the Yuyang generation of defenders in Beiguan in ancient times.
It's just that the previous great shaman never trusted him and didn't dare to send troops accordingly. Later I found out that the distribution of the defenders he gave was correct. "
“In the following years, we secretly contacted this person many times, and the information he provided was rarely wrong and trustworthy.
If he can provide the distribution of the garrison at Hanguan, it can save us a lot of consumption. "
Bogugna thought that this was the case, so he passed on the news according to what Yi Zhixie said.
"Yes." The other end's response was as precious as gold.
Yi Zhi said obliquely: "Ask me again, how long will it take to figure out the distribution of Han's border areas?"
This time, after a long time, there was no response from the other party.
Yi Zhixie didn't think he was dissatisfied and said: "This person has always been mysterious, and sometimes disappears for months without a trace. It is normal not to respond. Let's wait for news."
Chang'an.
Huo Qubing ignored Yi Zhixie and went to another room in the Xiuyi main hall to wait for Liu Qing.
It was close to noon when Liu Qing came to Xiuyi to deal with some matters.
Seeing Huo Qubing coming, she made some arrangements, and they left Xiuyi together.
Huo Qubing suggested taking a walk in the city, and Liu Qing readily agreed.
The couple changed into casual clothes and came to the street, accompanied by several guards who dispersed.
Bai Nanyu followed Huo Qubing's orders and cooperated with Ru Bohu's Xiu Yi to start clearing out the dormant remnants of the Zonghengdao.
On the street, people were coming and going, and it was noisy.
Chang'an's commercial operations are mainly distributed in the "Nine Cities", located in the east and west of the capital.
Among them, the market in the west is the most prosperous, located close to Zhongwei Bridge, with convenient transportation and gathering of merchants.
There are also three cities in the east, but most of them are populated by dignitaries. The houses occupy large areas and are luxurious, and the prices are much higher than other places.
Huo Qubing and Liu Qing were strolling through the most prosperous Western Market.
There is a dazzling array of supplies for clothing, food, housing and transportation.
There are also many specialties such as pearls and feathers passed down from the Western Regions.
After the Western Regions returned to the Han Dynasty, the emperor issued decrees to support trade between the two places.
The merchant was the first to take action and had the keenest sense of smell.
In the early Han Dynasty, the status of merchants was very low and they were not allowed to wear Chinese clothes when going out. By the time of Emperor Wu, the situation had improved.
Merchants transported high-grade silk fabrics, pottery, and a small amount of bronze products to the Western Regions.
The Western Regions transported furs, exquisite lacquerware, metal products and other dazzling things to the Han Dynasty and earned the price difference.
Chang'an is the earliest and most comprehensive microcosm of changes in this era.
Huo Qubing was walking side by side with Her Royal Highness the Princess when he suddenly heard a hawking voice with a strange accent: "Naizi, Naizi, fresh Naizi, delicious and juicy..."
But she was a beautiful lady from the Western Regions, with a pile of japonica fruits in front of her.
She is obviously a new learner of Chinese, her accent is weird, she sells rice cakes on the street, and they are delicious and juicy...
According to historical records, in Chang'an during this period, Hu merchants from the Western Regions continued to pour in, admiring Han culture, running various types of business, and some settled in the Han Dynasty.
"Where are we going?"
"There is a food stall opened by people from the Western Regions in Chang'an. Let's go and try it."
The place where Huo Qubing brought Liu Qing was a shop run by Hu Shang on the street. The main thing is to use the chili pepper, a specialty of the Western Regions, to add it to food and sell it to the Han people.
Liu Qing was pregnant with a child, and after being exposed to chili peppers, she actually liked them quite well.
The two of them came to this newly opened food stall from the Western Regions and sat down by the window on the second floor of the shop, waiting for the food to be served.
When Huo Qubing and Liu Qing came over, the second floor of the store was sealed off. Only the couple sat down, and the upper and lower entrances were guarded by Imperial Guards in civilian clothes.
After a while, a dish cooked in a pottery vat was served, with a lot of spicy food on top.
The meat was fish that Huo Qubing had ordered from his house in advance. It was fresh and tender and served with chili peppers.
Huo Qubing thought that this was the earliest boiled fish.
Liu Qing picked up a piece of fish and put it on the plate in front of him. Then he took a bite and his eyebrows suddenly arched slightly.
Looking down from the street facing position, people are coming and going on the street.
Huo Guangzheng and several young people were wandering on the street.
Among them were Dong Zhongshu's disciples Bai Yu and Sima Qian. The young man on the other side was Jin Xu, the younger brother of Concubine Jin in the palace, who was now on duty under the Imperial Army.
In addition, there were several young men of the same age, all descendants of powerful families in Chang'an. They traveled with great style and were surrounded by attendants.
Huo Guang and a young man walked side by side, sometimes whispering and following behind the group.
Huo Qubing looked at the young man next to Huo Guang from the window and thought that he was really good at making friends.
At this time, Sima Qian and Bai Yu felt that they were being watched, and turned to look towards the second-floor attic. Their expressions immediately changed slightly, and they bowed downstairs to pay homage to them.
Including Jin Xu, several young people who were still very impressive just now saw Huo Qubing at the second-floor window facing the street. They immediately calmed down, just like a mouse seeing a cat. Some of them even shuddered and behaved politely.
Huo Qubing waved his hand, and Jin Xu and others fled as if they had been granted amnesty.
Huo Guang's face was full of joy, and he quickly led the young man beside him to the second floor of the store: "Zimeng has met my brother, my sister-in-law."
Liu Qing's red lips were stained with some spicy oil. She pursed her lips slightly and said with a smile: "No need to be polite."
Huo Guang introduced the young man next to him who was about the same age as Huo Qubing: "Brother, this is the friend I made when I came to Chang'an. He is also studying at Taixue. He is the unnamed disciple of the master."
Huo Qubing actually stood up and returned the gift with the courtesy of an ordinary person.
Liu Qing was slightly surprised, his eyes fell on the young man, and he looked at him intently.
You must know that the second-generation ancestors downstairs just now have extraordinary origins, but Huo Qubing didn't even bother to say hello to them.
With his power over the government and the public, and his fame all over the world, even with Dong Zhongshu, Li Cai and others, they were equals. It was rare that he was so polite to others.
Liu Qingfu followed suit and stood up to return the greeting.
The young man was flattered and said: "I don't dare to be a gift from the Marquis. Su Wu has seen Her Highness the Princess."
Huo Qubing smiled and said: "We have known each other since we were young, but you are young and mature. I am afraid you don't like my temperament very much, so our friendship has always been indifferent. I have always regretted this."
Huo Guang also blinked with a look of surprise. He had never seen Huo Qubing be so polite to anyone.
The man in front of him is none other than the son of Wei Qing's general Su Jian, the famous Su Wu.
Even after nearly twenty years of herding sheep among the Xiongnu, he never changed his mind and refused to surrender.
In history, when Su Wu was about forty years old, he was ordered to go as an envoy to the Huns. More than twenty years ago, he was detained by the Huns and refused to come back. He did not return to the Han until he was nearly sixty.
He was loyal and willing to herd the Xiongnu's sheep and ignored the Xiongnu's attempts to persuade him to surrender. He was regarded as a model by later generations and was widely circulated.
Su Wu and the Huns are a sad story that has been passed down through the ages. They almost died of old age in a foreign land when they were herding sheep.
Huo Qubing also admired this kind of national integrity, so he treated Su Wu differently from others.
Because of Su Jian's relationship, he and Su Wu had known each other since childhood and were still the same age.
But Su Wu was resolute, stubborn and proud. Huo Qubing's arrogance and arrogance were famous all over the world, but he stayed far away and never had any contact with him.
Huo Qubing looked at it carefully.
The Su Wu in front of him only had the shape of a human being, and he looked very anxious. He looked like he was thirty-eight when he was eighteen years old. There are forehead wrinkles on the forehead, a square face, thick lips, a straight bridge of the nose, the corners of the mouth tending to grow downward, and a face of bitterness and hatred.
Huo Qubing was very happy to see him, thinking that this brother's life was miserable, but fortunately I was here. Twenty years later, at least he would not be allowed to go on a mission to the Huns and suffer nineteen years without being able to return home.
However, if he defeated the Xiongnu and did not allow Su Wu to send an envoy, it would be equivalent to depriving him of the opportunity to leave his name in history.
If he knew the hidden truth, he would not know whether he would be happy or blame himself.
Su Wu inherited the martial arts training from his family, and also entered the Imperial College to study Confucianism. Although he was not top-notch, he was both civil and military, and acted with prudent behavior like a general.
Huo Qubing asked: "Su Wu, there are generations of military commanders in your family. Have you considered what you want to do in the future?"
"I plan to select six lieutenants and ten lieutenants in the Forbidden Army. If you are willing to come, I will give you the position of captain, how about it?"
(End of chapter)
