After the Shangyuan Festival, the imperial court issued a relocation order.
Zhou Jun's official position as Supervisor of the City of Hexi remained unchanged, but he no longer concurrently served as the governor of Wuwei County. Instead, he was granted two special envoys - Longyou transfer envoy and interview envoy.
Longyou here is not the Longyou area in the narrow sense, but the Longyou Road in the broad sense.
Longyou Road was the most extensive road in the Tang Dynasty, including 20 counties, Beiting and the Anxi Protectorate. The transshipment envoy was mainly responsible for the transportation of grain, money, silk cloth, palace property and other official supplies.
and collection; and the full name of the interviewer is the interviewer, whose functions are somewhat similar to those of the later imperial envoys, who have the power to test and impeach officials.
Both Li Longji and Li Linfu knew that the reconstruction of the Dunhuang Ancient Road was of great importance. Not only did they need to rebuild the trade route that had been abandoned for hundreds of years, but they also needed to coordinate the relationship between the various states in the Longyou Road.
Therefore, the two envoys granted to Zhou Jun by the Central Government - the Longyou transfer envoy and the interview envoy - were not under the jurisdiction of the Jiedushi envoy and the state government, and were only responsible to the emperor alone. It can be said that they have considerable power, but in the final analysis,
The main purpose is to expand trade routes and increase tax revenue.
In addition, the post of Hexi Jiedushi has also been settled. It is An Sishun of the An family in Hexi, and he also serves as the governor of Wuwei County.
After the imperial court's relocation order, Zhou Jun packed up his luggage, said goodbye to everyone, took Hua Yue and Liu Zai with him, and set foot on the road to Liangzhou.
Before leaving, Zhou Jun did a few things.
First, let Qiu Yong take the Pang family members and stay in Bachuan, mainly responsible for the protection of Huaqiong Tower.
Secondly, a group of court ladies with superb weaving and dyeing skills were selected from the residences in Bachuan Market and sent to Liangzhou with them.
In the seventh year of Tianbao, at the beginning of March.
Zhou Jun, who set out from Chang'an, finally arrived in Liangzhou.
Before entering the city gate, Zhou Jun saw a large group of people standing outside the city from a distance, gathering there and looking forward to it.
As he got closer, he discovered that the people standing at the front of the team were actually An Bozhu, the head of the An family in Hexi, and An Sishun, the governor of Hexi.
Seeing Zhou Jun riding his horse slowly, An Bozhu and An Sishun came up to him with smiles and shouted: "We finally have Zhou Jun here."
Zhou Jun dismounted in front of the An family and his son, looked at the two of them, and asked doubtfully: "What are you...?"
An Bozhu stretched out his hand, pointed behind him, and said: "Mr. Zhou, the banquet to welcome the wind and wash the dust has been prepared, and the guests have been seated and are waiting for you."
Zhou Jun saw Kong You in the crowd. The latter nodded slightly and gave him a look that said nothing was wrong.
He entrusted Hua Yue, Liu Zai and the palace maids who were accompanying them to Kong You, and asked the latter to help arrange accommodation. He also asked Sun Aying to take Tang soldiers to the military camp, while Zhou Jun himself went to the banquet with the An family and his son.
The banquet was arranged at Lingyun Pond in Liangzhou City. The last time Zhou Jun came here was in the summer, but this time it was the beginning of spring.
Compared with the picturesque scene in midsummer, the Lingyun Pond at the beginning of spring has the vigor of a time when all things are revived, although the green plants are sprouting and the water still has floating ice.
Zhou Jun went up to the main hall of Lingyun Pool. A banquet had been set up here. The high-ranking families in Liangzhou City had gathered together, but the seats at the top were still empty.
An Bo led Zhou Jun to the main seat, and persuaded him to sit down without explanation. Then he came to the side table, raised his wine glass, and said to everyone: "The imperial court issued a decree, and Zhou Jian led the Longyou transfer envoy and interview envoy.
.The trade routes and official supervision of Longyou are not under the jurisdiction of the state capital, and they directly submit letters to the saints. It can be said that they have combined the emperor's grace and authority."
Zhou Jun frowned after hearing this, and An Bo noted that there was some ambiguity in what he said.
Longyou's transfer envoy and interview envoy sounds quite powerful, but after all, the title of envoy is different from an official position, and it only represents functional authority.
An Sishun waited for his father to finish speaking, then stood up with a glass of wine and said: "Supervisor Zhou persuaded the court, so Sishun was able to move to Hexi Jiedushi and Wuwei County governor. This kind of kindness will be held by the An family forever.
Don’t forget.”
Hearing this, the dignitaries from Liangzhou's family at the banquet looked at Zhou Jun with a look of awe on their faces.
An Bozhu said at this time: "The imperial court has decreed to rebuild the Dunhuang trade route. As Liangzhou people, we have received the care of Zhou Jian earlier, so naturally we have to help this time. I will take the lead here. This Dunhuang merchant
For the cost of the journey and money and food, the An family is willing to borrow 300,000 yuan!" Then, the guests at the banquet agreed and said they would like to lend support.
Zhou Jun looked around and saw that it was difficult to tell how many of these people spoke sincerely and how many were forced.
However, it is a good thing that so many people are willing to come forward to help with private lending on Dunhuang Commercial Road.
Zhou Jun raised his wine glass, first thanked everyone, and then drank the wine in one gulp.
The banquet officially began, the musicians and musicians began to play music, and the guests and guests drank wine and laughed happily.
Zhou Jun looked at An Sishun's spare time and asked, "Do you know about the king's protection?"
The smile that originally hung on An Sishun's face suddenly stopped.
Putting the wine glass on the counter, An Sishun sighed softly: "I know everything."
Zhou Jun: "Wang Duhu did not receive the post of governor and retired to his hometown. Do you know where he went?"
An Sishun: "I don't know about Sishun, but I heard that the Protector was tortured in the Dali Temple Prison. His body was so painful that it was no longer convenient for him to walk."
Zhou Jun: "Who told you this?"
An Sishun: "Li Guangbi."
Zhou Jun: "Is it him?"
When An Sishun faced Zhou Jun, he did not intend to hide any more, so he said: "Before being taken to Chang'an, Wang Duhu knew that this trip was dangerous and unpredictable, so he specially promoted two people, one was Ge Shuhan, and the other was
It's Li Guangbi. After he was released from prison, the Protector wrote two more letters, which were also brought to Ge Shuhan and Li Guangbi by someone else." Read the book
Speaking of this, An Sishun looked a little sad: "Among the generals under his command, these two are the most valued by Wang Duhu. I became good friends with Li Guangbi and learned some news from him.
"
Zhou Jun recalled the last meeting between himself and Wang Zhongsi in prison.
The latter once told him at that time that he had two good generals under his command, none other than Ge Shuhan and Li Guangbi. What did the other party mean when he mentioned this matter on that occasion?
After thinking for a long time, Zhou Jun couldn't figure it out, so he simply made up his mind to find an opportunity to ask Li Guangbi in person.
At this moment, the musicians and musicians finished playing. An Bo was in high spirits. After eating a few more glasses of wine, he came to Zhou Jun's side and asked with a smile: "A few days ago, the An family brought in a group of people from the west.
The musicians who came here, Zhou Jian was a master of opera when he was in Chang'an, would you be interested in appreciating it?"
The banquet was fresh and lively, and Zhou Jun didn't want to refute An Bo's elegance, so he nodded and said yes.
Not long after, a group of Caucasian girls wearing linen robes, carrying some strange musical instruments, entered the hall.
Among those musical instruments, Zhou Jun could only recognize the harp, but not the others.
Looking at the group of Caucasian girls, the oldest is no more than twenty, and the youngest is perhaps only twelve or thirteen years old. Some are blond and blue-eyed, while others have black hair and brown eyes. Their appearance is very different from that of people from the Tang Dynasty and other countries in Central Asia, but they are
Her skin is whiter than snow, and her facial features are exquisite. They are all beautiful women.
Zhou Jun consulted An Bo and found out that these girls came from the Byzantine Empire, most of them were the daughters of nobles, and were prisoners of war obtained by the Dashi army during a raid on the church.
Soon, the group of women started playing musical instruments and singing unknown songs.
After Zhou Jun listened for a while, he felt that it was somewhat similar to the chants he had heard in his previous life.
An Bo noticed that Zhou Jun was listening intently and grinned.
This chapter has been completed!