"Bang bang bang...huhuhuhu..."
Thirty-six burly sergeants, wearing red clothes and golden armor, stood in the middle hall, holding shields in their left hands and swords in their right hands, constantly jumping back and forth.
Under the firelight, the blade shone with a cold light.
The long knife kept hitting the buckler, making a dull but rhythmic sound.
The sergeant danced and jumped, shouting loudly, which shocked people's hearts.
The long sword moves back and forth quickly, like stabbing, dense and orderly, making it even more dangerous.
The military formation is constantly changing, with circles on the left and right, moving first and behind, fishes and geese, storks, wings spread, staggered, flexing and stretching, head and tail returning to each other, all very skillful.
The sounds played by dozens of musicians around him have gradually fallen into the lower levels, and everyone's hearts are focused on dancing.
The king of Qin broke the formation and danced.
In the Governor's Mansion, all the Yangzhou officials couldn't help but follow the music and clapped their hands in response, their excitement beyond words.
Li Xuan's eyes fell on Silla's Qin Dujiaogan, who was slightly behind.
Who would have thought that the second time Silla sent an envoy to plead guilty, the person sent would still be him.
But at this moment, although his face was calm, there was still a hint of worry and uneasiness deep in his eyes.
Silla lost all three battles on the East Island. After the defeat, they actually sent him to the Tang Dynasty as an envoy to plead guilty. Embarrassment and anxiety did not exist for people like him, but more worries and concerns.
The withdrawal of troops from the Tang Dynasty is indeed a good thing for Silla. So what happens next, can the peace talks really guarantee that war will never break out between the Tang Dynasty and Silla?
…
Shi Dou Xuande, the governor of Yangzhou, is sitting at the top. Below and on the left is Li Xuan, the king of Nanchang, Sima Changyu of the governor's office, Lu Yuanfang, Sima of the governor's office, and other officials. Sitting on the right is Xinlin Prefecture. Yang Shan, the new captain of Guoyi.
Yang Shan was born in the Yang family of Hongnong, and was responsible for the command and training of 6,000 newly recruited soldiers in Yangzhou.
After Yang Shan, there were Deng Liang, the son of Deng Jiuguang, the governor of Dengzhou, and Tan Lun, the captain of the Yangzhou Navy and other military children.
Further back are the Japanese envoy Daozhen and the Silla envoy Qin Yujiagan.
The two are not strangers to each other. They had been in contact with each other when Li Xuan first arrived in Yangzhou.
It was only later that one of them went west to Chang'an and the other went south to Hangzhou, and they separated from each other.
Now the two are reunited, but they look like they don't know each other.
The two people's eyes fell on Li Xuan from time to time, with a hint of anxiety in their expressions. They wanted to step forward, but in the end, they were helpless.
The two of them were sitting at the back of the entire banquet. They both loved Linglong, so they naturally knew that this arrangement was because Datang didn't want to pay too much attention to them.
Li Xuan couldn't care about these two people now, because at this time, one person was pestering him.
"Your Majesty, you have to give me an explanation for this Eastern Expedition, otherwise I will really have no shame in going back." The person who said this was none other than Shen Zhuang, a member of the Yangzhou Hucao Army. He grabbed Li Li with one hand. Xuan's sleeves had a hint of dissatisfaction on her face, but she was helpless.
This time the army went east to aid Anton, and the Shen family sent a caravan to follow them eastward.
Originally expecting the army to enter the hinterland of Silla, the Shen family took the opportunity to gain profits. However, they never expected that the army would only stick to Maixiao City. Although they fought three battles and won three victories, they finally withdrew from Anton, and the Shen family caravan had to conduct a brief search. He hurried back to the west.
"Shen Shenjun, it was you who came to see me that day. I have also said that there is no guarantee of victory in military battles. It was you who had to forcibly send the caravan to follow the army eastward." Li Xuan He glanced at Shen Zhuang coldly. He didn't say anything positive that day.
"But, but..." Shen Zhuang didn't know what to say for a moment. The Shen family paid such a high price and gained very little in the end, how could it satisfy people.
Li Xuan glanced sideways at Shen Zhuang, and then said softly: "Besides, who said that the Shen family suffered a loss on this trip eastward?"
"Huh?" Shen Zhuang raised his head and looked at Li Xuan in surprise.
"Brother Shen doesn't think that after Silla apologizes, the two countries can reconcile with each other and stop attacking each other, right?" Li Xuan stunned Shen Zhuang with one sentence.
His face was full of confusion and he said: "Isn't that the case? Our focus has turned to the Western Regions and we are unable to conquer the East. Silla sincerely apologizes. From then on, there will be normal business exchanges between the two countries..."
"Brother Shen may have misjudged Silla." Li Xuan raised the wine glass on the table, took a sip, and then continued: "It is winter now, and there will be no more caravans from the Tang Dynasty to Silla. , next year, when our country goes to war with Tubo, Silla will be restless by then, and its people will definitely go north to attack Pyongyang. By then, the trade routes between Datang and Silla will be completely cut off."
Shen Zhuang suddenly came to his senses.
Li Xuan nodded slightly and said: "I'm afraid that within the next year, the trade route between Silla and Datang will no longer be opened. Before that, the Shen family who made the last trip to Silla only needed to send the goods If the selling price increases, then all the previous efforts can be recovered.
What's more, the Shen family has its own secret channels in Silla, and all it takes is..."
"Understood." Shen Zhuang interrupted Li Xuan directly, and there was no need to explain some things too clearly.
"Brother Shen, please!" Li Xuan raised the wine glass on the table and touched it lightly with Shen Zhuang.
After finishing the drink, Shen Zhuang looked at Li Xuan and asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, have you heard that Prince Peng has a caravan that runs to the Western Regions all year round?"
"Yeah!" Li Xuan didn't deny it and nodded directly.
As he appeared more and more in the eyes of the Southeast family, the details of the Nanchang Palace were quickly revealed.
Of course, this is only something on the surface. What is hidden deep in places where people cannot see it is unknown to outsiders.
"I wonder if the Shen family can cooperate with the prince?" Shen Zhuang whispered the true purpose of this trip.
Li Xuan looked at Shen Zhuang with some confusion: "Brother Shen, the Shen family should have its own caravan in the Western Region, why did they come to see me?"
"The prince is joking. The Shen family is considered a prominent figure in Yangzhou City, but in the whole world, it doesn't matter." Shen Zhuang's face was full of bitterness.
Not to mention the Yangzhou Shen family, the entire Wuzhong Shen family is just one of the sixteen Wuyue families.
Even the Wang Xie family and the rising Wu, Lu, Zhu and Zhang families were not conspicuous at all in Chang'an.
In this regard, from the past queens, princes, and princes, few married women from the Wuyue family as concubines.
Li Zhi's first wife was the Wang family of Taiyuan. Although Empress Wu later became a talented person, her father was also an old minister of Taiyuan who started his career.
Later, even Li Hong and Li Xian married women from the Central Plains family, not from the Jiangnan family.
Among the Jiangnan aristocratic families, even if there were occasional people like Yu Shinan and Chu Suiliang who reached the top of the imperial court, the prestige of the aristocratic family fell rapidly after they fell from the imperial court.
Li Xuan had already figured this out in the blink of an eye, and then he said softly: "Brother Shen, the caravan of Prince Peng's Mansion is not my family, and there are many other aristocratic families involved in it. It is far from Xuan who can have the final say." , the complexity of this is far beyond your imagination, even more so, and..."
When Li Xuan said this, she stopped completely. Her cautious attitude made even Shen Zhuang feel stunned.
Their caravan has fallen into the eyes of the palace. If it weren't for the fact that although the benefits of the entire caravan were higher, they were still within the scope of the combined efforts. Otherwise, they would have been swallowed up by all possible means. Lost.
As far as Li Xuan knew, many people in the palace had already asked Yuchi Xunyu about the caravan.
Yuchi Xunyu, that big fool, had already said everything he knew and could say in the palace of the Crown Prince.
Nowadays, many elites from aristocratic families are involved in the palace. As soon as Yuchi Xunyu's words came out, almost the entire palace knew the news.
After gathering her thoughts for a while, Li Xuan continued: "Next year, the Tang Dynasty and Tubo will go to war. After all, it will affect the trade routes in the Western Regions. I have ordered the caravan to shrink in size. Tomorrow's profits will definitely be far less than expected. It is even better to go to Silla. .”
Li Xuan suddenly looked at Shen Zhuang with bright eyes and said softly: "Brother Shen, how about we cooperate with each other and take the Silla and Japanese trade routes?"
Shen Zhuang was stunned. He was originally coveting Li Xuan's Western Region trade route, but how could he be targeted by his family's Silla trade route instead.
Li Xuan raised the wine glass and said softly: "Brother Shen, you might as well think more about it. I will lead the Tang Dynasty and Silla to negotiate a treaty..."
Li Xuan stopped talking in one sentence, but with Shen Zhuang's intelligence, he couldn't see through Li Xuan's true meaning.
This kind of leading alliance and leading standard matter, as long as the slightest hint of fingertips is exposed, it will immediately become a gold mountain and a silver sea.
Unknowingly, the dinner was coming to an end. When the Silla envoy and the Japanese envoy finally stood up, Li Xuan was nowhere to be seen.
At this time, a Qianniu Guard came over and handed a short note to Monk Daozhen, the Japanese envoy.
Monk Daozhen looked down, his face suddenly filled with joy.
Raising his head, Daozhen glanced at Qin Yujiaoqian who was visiting here, snorted coldly, and turned around to return to his own courtyard.
Qin Dujiaoqian looked behind Daozhen, his eyes full of murderous intent.
…
Under the night, Li Xuan walked calmly on the stone path, but she was thinking about the Shen family in her heart.
The Shen family wanted to intervene in Prince Peng's caravan, but Li Xuan didn't mind. After all, Li Xuan had already taken away the foundation of that caravan, so it didn't matter if the Shen family joined in.
However, after knowing that there was not much benefit in it, Shen Zhuang was no longer interested. He was actually interested in the Silla-Japanese affairs proposed by Li Xuan.
However, rather than intervening in the Shen family's southeast trade route, Li Xuan hopes to attract more Yangzhou families to join the family for the future.
The four families in Yangzhou are the Shen family, the Lu family, the Meng family and the Xu family.
The Xu family was from the same clan as Xu Jingzong and had a close relationship with Empress Wu.
A descendant of the Yasheng of the Meng family and an heir of poetry and calligraphy, although he did not agree with the idea of Empress Wu proclaiming himself emperor, it was unlikely that she would raise an army to resist, and even if the Meng family took action, they would not have much power.
The key lies in the Lu family and the Shen family.
The Lu family is one of the top aristocratic families in the south of the Yangtze River, and Empress Wu's visit to the court will not be a big hindrance to the Lu family.
Even if the rebellion is successful, they will not be able to gain much, so there are only two companies that will really help Li Jingye in the future.
Yangzhou Li family and Yangzhou Shen family.
Yangzhou Shen family, Wuzhong Shen family, Wuzhou Shen family.
Li Xuan has not forgotten that the empress of Nanchen is named Shen. There are many maneuverable aspects in this.
Li Xuan shook his head. He was a little biased. The Shen family was also a Jiangnan aristocratic family. How could an aristocratic family easily raise an army? Therefore, it was probably the Shen family in Yangzhou.
The wealthy Shen family in Yangzhou will either seek refuge with Li Jingye in the future, or have their homes confiscated by Li Jingye and seize all their property.
Thinking of this, Li Xuan thought clearly. No matter what, he couldn't let go of the thread of the Shen family.
…
In the evening, outside Yangzhou City, an official ship came slowly.
Gao Ping stood at the bow of the ship, watching the ship sail into Yangzhou Pier, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.
Along the way, there were strange sounds from both sides of the canal from time to time, making the two of them uneasy.
In the end, the two of them could only take turns guarding each other, one inside and one outside. Now they finally arrived in Yangzhou safely.
The curtains rose, and Gao Ping entered the cabin. Leng Lin held his knife and sat on the chair. Behind him, more than a dozen police officers from the Criminal Department stared at each other with bright eyes.
In the two deepest cabins, there was a faint rustling sound.
There are people in both cabins.
Gao Ping walked to the deepest part and took a look through the curtain. In one of the rooms, the one who was chained to the shackles was Xiaoshan County Wei Wenxu. In the other room, lying casually on the bed, it was Xue Zhongzhang, a member of the Hangzhou Facao Army. .
Xue Zhongzhang had originally been left in Hangzhou, but just after Gao Ping and his two men set off, the Ministry of Punishment suddenly sent an order ordering them to take Xue Zhongzhang back eastward.
The two had no choice but to accept the order, but what made them relax a little was that the King of Nanchang had already left Hangzhou first, and there was no need to worry about what happened next, being known to the King of Nanchang.
In the corner of the dock outside the ship, a gaze was fixed on the cabin.
At this time, there was a sudden noise in the distance, and it seemed that the sound coming from the wind could be faintly heard.
"The imperial edict has arrived!"
(End of chapter)
