Prince Pei's Mansion.
When Li Xian walked into the study and saw the expressions of Pei Judao, Queen Pei, Ge Dewei and others, all his thoughts were immediately forgotten. Pei Judao looked tired, the queen was angry, and Ge Dewei was excited and restless. Something must have happened. .
"What happened!" Li Xian asked.
"An accident happened!" Pei Judao took out a piece of letter paper. The letter paper could be flattened, and it could be seen that it had been looked at by many people: "It was an accident that I did not expect in advance. I am sorry. I should have prepared it in advance." Considered!"
"If your Majesty's youngest son is not handed over, we will cut off the water transportation, set fire to Shaanzhou's granaries, docks, ships, and workshops, and destroy the canal gates. The water transportation will not be able to return to normal for at least half a year. Even after half a year, every month The grain shipped to Chang'an will not exceed 10,000 shi-" Li Xian put down his interest and asked: "Who is 'we' in this letter? "
"Wang Wenzuo's few remnants left in Chang'an! Cui Hongdu, Heiji Changzhi, Yiji Lianbode and Murong Miao!" Ge Dewei sneered: "If the servant hadn't told the subordinates not to hurt anyone before, at least Cui Hongdu, Murong Miao, Hei Qiao, The heads of these three guys from Ji Changzhi have long been hung on the city wall!"
"That's enough!" Queen Pei interrupted Ge Dewei angrily: "Who would have thought that these guys would be so bold and dare to threaten the court with water transportation. My father wanted to accomplish everything without any bloodshed, but now It seems so kind!"
"I originally wanted to bleed less, but ended up having to bleed more. Things always look like this!" Godwei smiled and said, "Forget it, luckily it's not too late to remedy the situation. Your Highness, the Supervisor, give the order!"
"An order? What order?" Li Xian looked at Ge Dewei blankly.
"Of course we have to send troops!" Ge Dewei spread his hands: "The available soldiers of those rebels are only a thousand cavalry who escaped from the city. Give me 3,000 men, and in three days I will send Cui Hongdu, Heijia Chang and The heads of the three traitors of Igillenbod are presented to the palace!"
"Is this okay?" Li Xian was startled: "Didn't they say in the letter that as long as they didn't agree to their demands, they would set fire to the ships, grain, and workshops, and destroy the floodgates. If we sent troops to attack, wouldn't it immediately trigger an attack? Why do they do this?”
"Your Majesty, you don't understand the tricks of these little thieves!" Ge Dewei said with a smile: "They use these things to coerce us. If we give in, they will only become more proud and make more demanding demands; and if we are as quick as possible If we move quickly, they will be at a loss and be easily defeated by us. Even if some food and ships are burned as a result, it is nothing compared to the losses caused by the thieves' coercion!"
"That's what General Ge said!" The queen nodded approvingly: "Since the matter has come to this, it's better to just stop doing it and do it more simply!"
"What about you, my servant?" Li Xian turned to Pei Ju and said.
"This has come to this, and that's all it can do!" Pei Judao sighed, thinking further than his daughter and Godwin. Due to Murong Mu's actions, the whole of Chang'an has been in chaos. The poor and the middle and lower classes are worried that the price of rice will rise and their own survival will be threatened. However, the upper class in Chang'an cannot continue to pretend to be deaf and mute and wait and see what happens; it is estimated that in During the court meeting, some people would raise questions about the health of Emperor Li Hong, which made Pei Judao very difficult. He could not turn a blind eye to these questions. After all, these people were originally part of the Tang Dynasty's state machine; Pei Judao could ignore everything about the people on the street. It doesn't matter what they do, after all, they can't touch Pei Judao even a hair; but if he ignores the questions of the nobles in Chang'an City, then it will be a matter of time before he is finished. The only feasible way is to take advantage of this rumor before it spreads and completely eliminate the source of the rumor.
"You want 3,000 men, I'll give you 5,000, all drawn from the Nanya Forbidden Army! The sooner the better, capture Shaanzhou, open up water transportation, and capture the heads of these three traitors!"
"General, I obey!" Godway knelt down, his eyes filled with excitement.
————————————————————————
Liucheng, Yingzhou.
"Quickly, prepare hot water, a big wooden bucket, and loofah pulp, and bring them to my room! I want to take a bath. Also, invite General Xue. Yes, that's where I take a bath. Immediately
, and wine and all kinds of delicious food are delivered together. I'm starving, right now! "Wang Wenzuo kicked off his boots and issued a barrage of orders.
"Yes, yes! Hot water, a big wooden barrel, loofah pulp, wine, and delicious food, please invite General Xue!" The welcoming official repeated the Shangguan's order while carefully sizing up the man in front of him: He was thin, tired, and his whole body exuded a unique smell that was a mixture of sweat and horse sex. Could it be that he had escaped from a defeated battle? But the accompanying knights don’t look alike. Although they are dark, thin, and exhausted, their eyes are bright and full of evil energy. How can there be a defeated soldier like this?
"Go quickly! Why are you still standing here?" Wang Wenzuo urged with his eyes widened.
"Yes, yes, yes, I will go immediately!" The official ran away quickly. Wang Wenzuo let out a long breath, came to his room, lay down straight away, and immediately began to snore.
I don't know how much time passed, but when Wang Wenzuo woke up again, he found that he was lying in a large wooden barrel filled with hot water, his hands resting on the edge of the barrel, and two soft little hands were scrubbing his back. He felt very thirsty. , stretched out his right hand and said: "Bring me something to drink!"
"Yes!" the maid next to him responded and handed over a cup. Wang Wenzuo drank it down in one gulp and asked for two more cups before he felt better. At this time, Cao Wenzong's voice came from outside the door: "General, General Xue has arrived and is waiting outside!"
"Invite him in!" Wang Wenzuo pushed the edge of the bucket hard and stood up. The maid beside him hurriedly wiped his body clean. He didn't bother to put on new clothes, so he asked the maid to bring him a large bath towel and wiped himself After wrapping it up, I sat cross-legged on the floor, picked up a plate from the food table, and started eating.
"I pay homage to the general!" Xue Rengui, led by Cao Wenzong, appeared at the door. Even if he was surprised by Wang Wenzuo's dress at this time, at least it was not exposed on the surface. He knelt down and bowed to Wang Wenzuo: "General The commander in Ulta was determined, and the rebels were wiped out in one battle. From then on, there was no wave in the east of the sea. The general is really ashamed!"
"No need to be polite, Mr. Xue, come in and talk!" Wang Wenzuo pointed to a position about two or three feet opposite him and said to Cao Wenzong: "Wait at the door and don't let others disturb us!"
"Yes!" Cao Wenzong responded, first asking the maids in the room to retreat, and then he retreated to the door, sat down with his knees bent, and waited with bated breath for instructions.
“Mr. Sorry. Please forgive me for being rude!"
"It doesn't matter, Xue is also a member of the army. General, don't worry about it!" Xue Rengui said solemnly: "But you are traveling so fast, has something happened in the country?"
"Yes!" Wang Wenzuo nodded. He put down the plate and wiped the food scraps from his mouth: "King Pei secretly escaped from Fan Yang a few days ago. I suspect he has returned to Chang'an!"
"King Pei secretly escaped from Fan Yang and returned to Chang'an?" Xue Rengui was shocked by this unexpected news and stuttered: "But, why didn't I know that Liucheng is closer to Fan Yang?"
"It's very simple. Last time you reminded me that King Pei was very close to some people with Hedong accents, so I kept some caution. So after King Pei escaped, my people discovered it immediately. Then he rushed to Ur overnight. Tower, report it to me!"
"It seems that I am the only one who has been kept in the dark!" Xue Rengui showed a self-deprecating smile: "Then why is the general rushing back in such a hurry? Can't you trust me? Do you want to take away the military power in my hands?"
"It seems that Mr. Xue still doesn't understand why I have to come back in such a hurry!" Wang Wenzuo took a sip of wine: "I suspect that King Pei went back this time to usurp the throne!"
"Usurping the throne?" Xue Rengui trembled: "It shouldn't be possible, right? Is there any evidence for what the general says?"
“Mr. It is Pei Judao, the servant in charge, who is from the Pei family in Hedong!"
"General, you are saying that the Queen, Pei Shizhong and King Pei conspired to usurp
Bit? Xue Rengui smiled bitterly and said, "Doesn't this sound too shocking? You don't have any proof!"
"Mr. Xue is joking!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "For this kind of thing, either the person is captured and interrogated strictly, or a knife is put to the neck. Otherwise, how can there be any evidence?"
"That's true!" Xue Rengui sighed: "Then what are you going to do?"
"Your Majesty is very kind to me!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "If Your Majesty is still alive, then I will support Your Majesty's restoration; if Your Majesty is unfortunately killed by the traitor, then I will kill the traitor and avenge Your Majesty!"
"Reset? Revenge?" Xue Rengui chewed on the four words Wang Wenzuo just said, and felt that his mouth was filled with the smell of blood. Even though he had been in the army for half his life, he had experienced countless life and death things, but someone like Wang Wenzuo could easily general This is the first time that the lives and deaths of hundreds of thousands of people have been revealed.
"Sanlang!" Xue Rengui rarely called Wang Wenzuo in such a friendly tone: "If it is true as you said, King Pei is really trying to usurp the throne when he returns. Once the war breaks out, the world will be in chaos. No matter what After all, King Pei is also your Majesty’s eldest brother, Pei Judao is the minister and presides over the government, and his daughter is the queen. If these three people join forces, I’m afraid people in the world will still believe them more!”
"So what?" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "At most, we are outnumbered and outnumbered. When Wang was in Baekje and in the Japanese country, when was this not the case? Now the situation is much better than before. The sky is clear, and since When you understand who is right and who is wrong, you will find out on the battlefield!"
Seeing Wang Wenzuo's dull expression, Xue Rengui knew that for a person like him who had gone through so many struggles between life and death, his determination had long been like steel-making. Once something was determined, it would be impossible to look back no matter what. It so happens that this person has a heavy army. Once a fight actually breaks out, it will be like a life-and-death fight between the two most elite armies of the Eastern and Western Tang Dynasties. In the end, no matter who wins or loses, the decades of struggle between the soldiers and civilians of the Tang Dynasty since Zhenguan will be over. Vanished.
"Sanlang, you should know the consequences of this!" Xue Rengui tried his best to persuade: "There are many elite soldiers in Longyou, Anxi, Beiting, Hedong, and Guanzhong. Although your soldiers are refined, how can you defeat them with just your own strength? Are you better than the best soldiers in the Tang Dynasty? It’s better to think again and don’t act rashly!”
"Xue Gong should also know that soldiers are valuable and quick!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Let's do this! I'll have a good sleep tonight, Xue Gong, you can rest next door, enter the customs with me tomorrow morning, and rush to Fan Yang! Mr. Xue can see with his own eyes who is more powerful, Mr. Wang's partial army, or Tang Dynasty's Longyou, Anxi, Beiting, Hedong and Guanzhong armies."
When Xue Rengui heard this, he still didn't understand that Wang Wenzuo would not leave him in Liucheng. He sighed: "When things are like this, does Xue have any choice?"
——————————————————————————————
Shaanzhou.
"The problem now is that we have too few available soldiers!" Cui Hongdu said with a bitter smile: "If we must count, we can only use the thousand cavalry that escaped with us, the local soldiers from Shaanzhou, and The transport troops of the transshipment envoy will probably collapse at the sight of the imperial flag, so we can’t count on them at all!”
"Yes!" Hei Te Changzhi's face didn't look good either: "Anyway, the rightful name is still with Pei Judao, and the people here in Shaanzhou don't know the truth. It would be good if they don't switch sides in a fight. Already!"
"I think you have thought the situation too badly!" Yijilianbod said with a smile: "In my opinion, Shaanzhou's native soldiers and canal transport troops are still worth fighting!"
"Why do you say that?" Cui Hongdu asked, "Is there anything you can do?"
"We definitely can't compare to Pei Judao in terms of righteousness! But there is one thing that Pei Judao can't compare to us!" Yiji Lianbode said with a smile.
"What?" Cui Hongdu asked.
"Reputation!" Yiji Lianbod said: "Since I came to Shaanzhou to take charge of the transshipment mission, I have given the rations and wages to the craftsmen and crew members, and the money and silk from the merchants. I have never relied on the officials. The status of the company, arrears, suppression, and shoddy products! So our company still has some credibility in Shaanzhou!"
"What's the use of this?" Cui Hongdu smiled bitterly: "You have such a good reputation.
If it is used to recruit people to work, but now it is to use swords and guns with the royal master, it will lose your head. What's the use of having more money and silk without a head? "
