After Ni Chenyi finished speaking, Changsheng nodded slowly. According to Ni Zhuo's previous words, the appearance of the glow in Gonggeer Mountain was just a sign that the Immortal Palace was about to open. The official opening of the Immortal Palace was three days after the appearance of the glow.
At this time, everyone in the goods yard was also looking at the rays of light from a distance, but they did not know about Kunlun Immortal Palace. They just felt puzzled and strange because the rays of light appeared so suddenly and dazzlingly.
The two left the goods yard and rode back to the city. The people in the city were also watching and talking about the sudden glow in the southern sky, but they knew nothing about Kunlun Celestial Palace. It had been nearly three years since Kunlun Celestial Palace was last opened. A hundred years later, everyone who knew the inside story has long since passed away.
Since the city gate has not yet been closed, one can clearly see from the main north-south road that the cavalry brought earlier are still outside the south gate. Seeing that the cavalry has not yet left, Chang Sheng is not in a hurry to return to Ni Mansion, but goes to the south with Ni Chenyi. Door, these soldiers have just surrendered not long ago, and their loyalty is not high. Now everyone on our side has to stay here, and these cavalry will return on their own. To be on the safe side, it is best to beat them to prevent them from not going to Qingyang. Instead, he ran back to Fengxiang.
At this time, the top four men had already picked out a thousand cavalry, and the other four thousand cavalry were lining up. Seeing the arrival of Changsheng, the cavalry immediately knelt down on one knee and shouted, "See the prince."
Our cavalry suddenly shouted in unison, and the defenders turned pale with fear. In fact, it was already time to close the city gates. However, the Khotan court was worried that closing the city gates would cause Chang Sheng and others to misunderstand that they meant to resist, so they ordered the defenders to The general kept the city gate open. If Changsheng suddenly changed his mind at this time, with an order, five thousand cavalry would immediately march in and massacre the city.
Changsheng did not dismount, but raised his hands to everyone, "No courtesy."
Datou quickly came to Changsheng and said, "Your Majesty, the person has been selected. What other orders do you have?"
"How did you choose it?" Changsheng asked casually.
Seeing that Chang Sheng did not lower his voice, Da Tou replied loudly, "The one thousand cavalry left behind need to escort food and grass back and forth. Although they are a little tiring, they are still safer than fighting with the army, so the ones I left behind are all with families. .”
Although Datou's words were high-sounding, Changsheng knew that the reason why Datou made such a choice was that he was worried that the cavalrymen with families would defect because they missed their relatives. However, Datou's approach seemed clever, but in fact it was not smart. This move made it clear that he did not believe it. Secondly, they ignored that the more people with families, the more anxious they are to regain Fengxiang, and they will be more brave once they join the war. Secondly, people with families are homesick all day long and cannot be raised well, so it is better to leave some carefree bachelors. Son, over time you can start a family here.
Changsheng did not rush to express his position, but quickly weighed in his mind whether to change the decision of Datou and others. After thinking for a moment, he finally decided to change it. He was determined to turn these thousand cavalry into Ni Zhuo's private soldiers, and soldiers with family members could not be there. Put down roots and settle down here.
Thinking of this, Changsheng said loudly, "The imperial court will send troops to recover Fengxiang today. The soldiers who have married will soon be reunited with their families. It is not appropriate to keep them here."
Changsheng paused briefly when he said this, then raised his voice and spoke, "Listen to my order, those who are free from worries and are willing to stay to protect the food team will go westward for a hundred steps, and the others will stay where they are!"
After hearing the order of longevity, all the cavalry were overjoyed. Some of them didn't want to stay but were left behind, and some wanted to stay but couldn't. Those who didn't want to stay were undoubtedly concerned about their families, while those who wanted to stay were. I know that if I stay here, my life will definitely be better than before.
Everyone got their place and lined up again. There were more than 1,200 people who chose to stay, which was a little more than before.
Changsheng called together the cavalry generals who were about to return. He first asked if he had brought enough dry food, and then told him to pay attention to safety on the road. Finally, he lowered his voice and said, "The current governor of Qingyang, Li Zhongyong, is my second senior brother. General Chen Liqiu He is my third senior brother. After I return, I must fulfill my duties faithfully, fight bravely, make meritorious service to the court, and win face for my king."
The leading general was not a fool and immediately understood the implication of Changsheng's words. To put it bluntly, Qingyang soldiers and horses were equivalent to his direct lineage. With Changsheng as his backer, it would not be a problem in the future whether it was military salary supply or promotion due to merit.
The general nodded understandingly and responded loudly.
Changsheng gave an order, and a group of cavalrymen shook their reins and galloped eastward in the dusk.
Watching the cavalry go away, Changsheng turned to face the remaining cavalry, pointed at Ni Chenyi and said loudly, "This is Miss Ni, the daughter of Duke Ji, and also my confidante. The silver you received earlier was also rewarded by Miss Ni. We When the five of you are away, you must obey the instructions of Duke Ji Guo and Miss Ni, and do not violate the orders and prohibitions!"
"Yes!" Everyone responded in unison.
Seeing Changsheng introducing herself like this in front of everyone, Ni Chenyi was very happy and said to Changsheng, "You go back first, I will take them to the camp."
"Okay." Changsheng smiled and nodded.
Ni Chenyi got on his horse and waved his arms, "Follow me."
More than a thousand cavalry responded again, each driving their horses and galloping away with Ni Chenyi.
"Your Majesty is still thoughtful and considers the long-term." Da Tou admired him sincerely.
"I don't mean to refute your face," Changsheng said, "I usually won't change the things you have decided, but it is really inappropriate for you to keep those cavalrymen who have already married. Even if they don't run away this time, they will be homesick in the future. Sooner or later you have to run."
Datou nodded repeatedly, "That's true, that's true."
Shi Xuanming is not a big head, he does not just pick the ones that Chang Sheng likes to hear, "Such selection also has disadvantages, and most of the people left behind are those who are greedy for money."
Before Changsheng could speak, Datou said first, "Who is not greedy for money? I am greedy for money too. As long as you are capable and obedient, greed for money is not a problem."
"You have mastered the Kung Fu of flattering a horse in the wind." Shi Xuanming said with a smile.
Datou was not angry, but raised his hand and pointed north, "There is a good place in the city, I will show you around."
"It's time to eat. Let's go after eating." Changsheng said.
Everyone chatted and walked into the city. When the five people were far away from the city gate, the soldiers guarding the city cautiously closed the city gate.
"The glow has appeared, when should we set off?" Yang Kai asked.
"What do you mean?" Changsheng asked casually.
Yang Kai said, "Although it has been many years, those who are interested will still know that this colorful glow is a sign that the Immortal Palace is about to open. If nothing unexpected happens, a large number of masters will come here from all over the country in the next few days. Let's lead our troops Shocking Khotan will definitely arouse their resentment. If we continue to stay in the city, we may cause more trouble."
Changsheng nodded slowly and did not answer.
Datou said, "If we had left early, they would have thought that we were afraid of them. What I mean is that if we stay in the city for another two days, if anyone is dissatisfied and wants to cause trouble, we will take care of them."
Seeing that Shi Xuanming and Yu Yi had no intention of talking, Chang Sheng made the final decision, "The peak where Kunlun Immortal Palace is located is a snow mountain, and the environment there is very harsh. Let's stay in the city for another two days to recharge our batteries. , rest and prepare for war."
When everyone returned to Ni Mansion, Ni Zhuo was waiting in the main hall. Datou and others did not follow Chang Sheng into the main hall, but led by the servants of the mansion to the room prepared for them by Ni Mansion.
There are three large boxes in the hall. They are not wooden boxes, but leather boxes inlaid with various gems. The binding and lifting ropes on the leather boxes have not yet been untied, and the seals on the boxes are also intact.
These three boxes were a gift from the King of Khotan to Changsheng. The relationship between countries seems to be very complicated, but in fact it is very simple. If you can beat them, you will bully and plunder. If you can't beat them, you will pay tribute to please them. It is very shallow and very realistic.
The minister who came to deliver the gift also attached a gift list. The gift list alone had five folded pages. Changsheng took a few glances and found that the box contained mostly rare treasures produced in Khotan and unique to various countries in the Western Regions.
"I roughly estimated that the value of these three boxes of things is at least 30 million taels. For a small country like Khotan, taking out these things is very sincere." Ni Zhuo said.
Changsheng knew that Ni Zhuo liked to collect, so he said, "Keep what you like, and sell what you don't like and use it to buy rice."
"No, my opinion is to transport it back to the Tang Dynasty intact and hand it over to the emperor." Ni Zhuo said.
"No," Chang Sheng shook his head, "The disaster is serious now, and it is important to raise food and provide relief."
Ni Zhuo frowned and shook his head, "Don't be arrogant. This matter will definitely not suppress the rumors. If the emperor learns that Yu Tian sent you a generous gift, but you quietly accepted it, the emperor will probably be dissatisfied."
"I'll give him a discount to explain the matter," Changsheng said. "At the moment, Datang can't afford much silver. You need silver to buy rice grains. You can't always make up for your losses."
Ni Zhuo said seriously, "You must not feel resentful because the emperor intends to move the capital to Luoyang."
Chang Chang sighed, "Don't tell lies in front of the real person. At this time, the Tang Dynasty is only an empty frame. The court can't even come up with money and food for disaster relief. Moving the capital is not a trivial matter. Just building the palace will cost countless silver taels. If the emperor If we really decide to move the capital, it will definitely bring down the Tang Dynasty. What troubles me now is that I know clearly that this matter must not be done, but I still can't go to the court to advise. Those high-ranking civil servants slandered me for intending to settle in Luoyang and seek to usurp the throne. If I speak out By admonishing, wouldn’t it just prove that I have a disobedient heart?”
Ni Zhuo reached out and patted Chang Sheng on the shoulder, "It's not easy to be a loyal minister. If it's just you and the emperor, the matter can be handled easily. The troublesome thing is that those civil servants with ulterior motives who have ulterior motives interfere with it."
"I hate these guys who have little success but more than enough failure, but I can't kill them all." Chang Sheng took a deep breath.
While the two were talking, Ni Chenyi came quickly from outside.
Seeing Ni Chenyi return, Ni Zhuo left his seat and stood up, "Okay, let's not talk about this, let's take a seat..."
