Hearing the veterinarian's words, Yang Kai was the first to rush into the stable, followed by Chang Sheng and others. The veterinarian had already cut open the afterbirth on the foal, and the mare was licking the black foal.
After confirming that the mother and child were safe, everyone felt relieved. The happiest person was Yang Kai. He had been dependent on Gu Yan in his early years. After Gu Yan died, he had always been taciturn and depressed. There was rarely a smile on his face. But this time he Full of joy and excitement, he looked around the colt, looking back and forth.
Even though it was a premature birth, the mare had already begun to lactate. Everyone stood at the door of the stable until the foal's fetal hair dried and started to get up to nurse before they left with peace of mind.
It was a great joy to have a new baby, and Da Tou originally wanted to order the kitchen to make some wine and food to celebrate, but Yang Kai never left the stable, so Da Tou had no choice but to give up and continue to follow Chang Sheng back to his residence to handle official duties.
Changsheng had prepared a lot of medicine some time ago, and Datou happened to be there, so he gave him some. After the emperor reviewed the new army, the two of them were going to the southwest border to find giant eagles that could carry people. The journey was long, so they had to bring some with them. Medication just in case.
Knowing that the trip was imminent, Changsheng dealt with the urgent official affairs of Yushitai and Hubu one by one in the past few days. This departure will not be returned in ten or eight days, so he must be fully prepared before leaving.
On August 12, Long Haotian led his army and set up camp in the east of the city. The Beggar Gang already boasted a hundred thousand members, so it was not troublesome for Long Haotian to recruit troops. However, the new army he recruited was obviously a ragtag group of people. , lax and lax, and the military appearance is not in order.
On August 13, Tongchen's troops arrived and were ordered to set up camp in the west of the city. Most of Tongchen's troops were young monks and Buddhist laymen. The reason why Emperor Wu had massacred Buddhists was mainly because monks were exempted from labor service. , many temples have land, and monks and nuns do not have to work, they can just rent the land to tenants and enjoy the profits. Moreover, when the court is in trouble, the monks will stay out of the matter and stand aside. This time, Tongchen may have learned from previous lessons and vigorously called on Buddhist monks and nuns to come out to serve when the Tang Dynasty was recruiting people.
Tongchen's approach is undoubtedly correct. It doesn't matter if you don't work, it doesn't matter if you don't have children, it doesn't matter if you collect land rent and eat ready-made food. What matters is that you have to help the court when it's in trouble, otherwise why would the court support you?
Since most of the new troops recruited by the Beggar Clan and Shaolin Temple were in the north, they came relatively early. However, the new troops recruited in Longhu Mountain are mainly from the south and the journey is far away, so they will arrive later. Changsheng has already received news from the Ministry of War that Zhang Shan and others will arrive at noon on August 14th.
Changsheng has been cleaning the room very clean these days, and the medicines prepared for Zhang Mo are also prepared and neatly placed in a small box. In addition to the ones he prepared himself, he also has three pills in his hand. They are the detoxification silver pill, the healing silver pill and the heaven-returning silver pill. He also put these three pills into the box. Zhang Mo and Zhang Shan need these three silver pills more than him because it is very dangerous to lead the army.
In addition to these, there is also a detailed list of the Ni family's properties in various places and a gold seal of the Ni family in the box. With the gold seal and this detailed list, Zhang Mo can call the Ni family at any time when the New Army's military supplies are tight. Property left behind.
Earlier, Zhang Shan had asked eight Purple Qi masters to escort the Ni family. The journey was long, and it was very hard for these eight Purple Qi masters to sleep in the open air. Ni Zhuo also asked him to pick some Taoist instruments from the Taiping Inn. He came out and gave them to everyone as a thank you, and Changsheng had prepared these eight gifts, but he did not pick any magical weapons, because the common magical weapons are nothing more than the wat tablet, Ruyi, the magic sword, the nectar bowl, the ghost stick, and the three clear bells. This kind of thing, and Taoism also has a big feature, that is, the conferring ritual. To put it bluntly, it is a magical weapon only. Whoever owns it belongs to whoever. The magical weapons left by the predecessors are not allowed to be used by future generations of Taoists. He gave them to these eight The gift prepared by the Purple Qi master is eight strings of coral beads, which are made from a whole red coral tree that is said to have been collected by Shi Chong in the Jin Dynasty. The eight strings are of the same size and have the same number of beads. Twenty-eight pieces, the size of pigeon eggs, each one red and flawless.
There are many considerations why Changsheng prepares such gifts for everyone. Firstly, he can't find eight of the same magic weapon. If everyone is different, some people will feel uncomfortable. Secondly, coral is one of the eight treasures of Taoism. Wearing it can help you calm down and concentrate. Thirdly, corals are rare and precious, and red corals are even more precious. One bead is worth a hundred taels of gold. It is sheer nonsense to say that the highest level of gift-giving is not to be expensive but to suit one's liking. The more expensive the better, the better.
Eight strings of red coral beads are paired with eight pure gold boxes. Each box weighs more than three kilograms, making it heavy and expensive.
Datou accompanied Changsheng to get the box and Liuzhu back from the Taiping Inn. People who are weak in physical strength can only rely on their minds to make a living. Datou is very smart, especially well-versed in the ways of the world. When he sees the golden box and Liuzhu, he understands why Changsheng did it. It was so grand. In addition to thanking everyone on behalf of Ni Zhuo for escorting him all the way, he also left a way out. No one who takes such an expensive gift will take it in vain. If Ni Zhuo encounters trouble again in the future, Chang Sheng would like to ask everyone to come and help. , and you can also attract people.
Everything is ready, just waiting for Zhang Mo and others to arrive.
In fact, Changsheng was a little disappointed, because the new army was led by Zhang Shan, and Zhang Mo did not need to accompany the army. He thought that Zhang Mo could come to meet him in advance, but he waited until August 14th and Zhang Mo did not come.
Getting up early in the morning, Changsheng, Datou and others put on their official military uniforms and went to the west gate with everyone from the Ministry of War. Today, the group of veterans from the Western Regions were going to enter the city. The emperor had previously issued a decree, ordering him to represent himself and the officials from the Ministry of War. Go to the west gate to greet you.
Chang'an has more than four gates in the southeast, northwest, and more than a dozen large and small gates. Among them, the main gate on the west side is called Jinguang Gate. It is closed on weekdays and is only closed during grand celebrations or when state guests come to visit. Open, this time the emperor issued a special decree to allow this group of veterans from the Western Regions to enter the capital through the Jinguang Gate.
The cities where the capitals of the past dynasties were located were all called the capital. It is not that the city name contains the word "京", Chang'an is the capital, and Luoyang is also the capital.
After being conferred the title of General of the Hussars, the imperial court quickly issued the official uniforms of military generals. Datou and others were also awarded the title of General of Yulin because of their contribution to killing Yang Fugong. Therefore, the four of them also had the official uniforms of military generals. This time, the five of them are wearing the official uniforms of military generals. They are all military attache costumes.
In addition to officials from the Ministry of War, they were also accompanied by musicians from the Ministry of Rites. This was a treatment that only soldiers on expeditions received when they returned to the court.
At 3 o'clock in the morning, Yao Liqin and his party arrived. The journey back this time was long. In order to return to Chang'an before the fifteenth day of the 15th, they traveled day and night. The party was very tired and tired.
At this time, in addition to Changsheng and others and officials from the Ministry of War, there were also a large number of people waiting outside the city. Seeing the crowd greeting them and hearing the sound of the war drums, Yao Liqin and others were all moved to the bottom of their hearts and shocked.
When he arrived outside the city gate, Yao Liqin rode forward and shouted, "Yao Liqin, the vanguard of the Dingxi Army, the left camp general, led the soldiers of the left camp to return to the court according to the order."
After Yao Liqin finished speaking, Chang Sheng stood up and dismounted, "Your Majesty ordered the Dingxi Army to perform its duties loyally and perform meritorious service in guarding the border. I have specially ordered General Hussars to lead the officers of the Ministry of War to greet me on my behalf."
Hearing Changsheng's words, Yao Liqin and others all dismounted their horses, and all the women and children in the carriage also got off their horses and knelt down to express their gratitude.
Changsheng stepped forward and walked hand in hand with Yao Liqin. The war drums sounded again, and a group of veterans entered the city in tears. They were watched by everyone and received the honor.
It was already time to send Yao Liqin and others to the post house. Since Zhang Shan and others were coming at noon, Changsheng did not stay at the post house for long. He told Yao Liqin some schedule for tomorrow and rode to the south gate with Datou and others.
There were also many people waiting outside the south gate. In addition to the eunuchs who delivered the decree and the accompanying guards, there were also many people from Chang'an. When Chang Sheng and others arrived, they could already see the military flag flying due south. There was no national flag in the Tang Dynasty. , the style of the military flags is also the same, but the font sizes on them are different. Most of the flags have a large character "Zhang" on them. The flag where the coach is is tattooed with the four characters "Zhenren Zhenren Protector of the Country".
"Sir, you seem to be very nervous." Da Tou joked in a low voice.
"Shut up." Changsheng glanced at Datou.
"You're right," Shi Xuanming said with a smile, "You are indeed nervous."
"Damn bald donkey." Chang Sheng scolded with a smile.
Shi Xuanming didn't take it seriously and laughed loudly, "Niubi."
"A true man." Long life exposes shortcomings.
This trick worked so well that Shi Xuanming felt embarrassed and coughed to cover it up.
Since most of the new troops recruited were infantry, the army moved very slowly. It took a long time to see Zhang Shan riding a horse in front. Zhang Shan was wearing a purple high-gong Taoist robe, followed by Zhang Mo and others. A group of purple energy and high skills.
While seeing Zhang Mo, Chang Sheng suddenly noticed that there was a young man in luxurious clothes beside Zhang Mo. This man was not a Taoist priest. He wore a long sword on his waist and was riding a white horse walking beside Zhang Mo.
Chang Sheng did not recognize this young man, but the appearance of this man made him frown. It was just that this man was walking with Zhang Mo. While riding his horse, he turned to talk to Zhang Mo from time to time.
Not only was the longevity unexpected, Datou and others were also surprised. Although the young man did not do anything excessive, he talked to Zhang Mo with a smile on his face. This was out of proportion. You must know that Zhang Mo had been granted marriage and immortality by the emperor. , any man should take the initiative to avoid suspicion.
"Where did such a thing come from?" Big Head cursed.
Yu Yi had already noticed Chang Sheng's frown, and seeing that Da Tou was still adding fuel to the fire, he hurriedly tugged at the corner of his clothes secretly.
Chang Sheng originally thought that he had experienced too many hardships and his mind was already very calm. Only then did he realize that he was not calm. He saw the man in rich clothes not only riding his horse and walking beside Zhang Mo, but also smiling and talking to Zhang Mo from time to time. , instantly filled with anger, rushing straight into his heart.
What made him angry was not only the cheerful look on the man's face, chatting and laughing happily, but also Zhang Mo's attitude. Although Zhang Mo never showed any intimacy and had no smile on his face, he kept talking to the young man.
There is also Zhang Shan. Zhang Shan clearly knows that Zhang Mo has been married to him by the emperor, but he still allows others to walk beside Zhang Mo.
Datou and the others had never seen a person trembling with anger. Seeing this, Datou hurriedly said to comfort him, "Sir, please calm down."
Changsheng didn't answer. At this time, he had the urge to turn around and leave, but he felt that it would be too useless to leave like this.
As the distance approached, the man in colorful clothes still did not stop talking to Zhang Mo, and seemed to have seen him at this time, casting provocative looks at him from time to time while speaking.
At this time, Datou and others also discovered that the man in colorful clothes was indeed coming towards Zhang Mo, and he was obviously provoking Changsheng.
"My lord, everyone is in the spotlight, so don't be impulsive." Yang Kai said in a deep voice.
"He is provoking me." Changsheng said with a trembling voice.
"He won't survive tomorrow." Big Head said coldly.
"I won't let him survive today..."
