In March, spring has already begun to bloom in the south, but it is still depressed in the north. However, the north wind stopped at some point, and there is a warm breath in the air. There was a spring rain a few days ago. It seems that everything is about to recover.
The time is not far away.
……………………
The long grain team marched slowly on the official road, the packhorses pulling the grain carts creaking and making noise, and the cartmen sitting on the shafts shouted from time to time.
Chariots and horses rustled, and pedestrians carried bows and arrows at their waists. The road was not quiet these days. Regardless of whether it was a government team or not, as long as precautions were not taken, anything could happen.
A few years ago, when Li Yuan was here, Gao's son led his troops to repeatedly rob the grain and grass transported by the government troops near Jinzhou. Finally, Qu Tutong, Xu Shao and others led their troops to clear them out. At the same time, Gao Yuan, the Minister of Household Affairs at the time, was very angry.
He was embarrassed. He was later dismissed because of this. You can't even manage your family, so what else can you do?
In view of this, when traveling to and from central Sichuan, the grain teams in Guanxi, both the cart drivers and the escorting soldiers, all carried swords and arrows, as if they were ready for war at any time.
The grain convoy slowly entered the boundary of Jingzhao. When passing the boundary marker, the people in the convoy made a commotion and burst into whistles.
The road from Chengdu to Jingzhao is not close or easy to walk. In fact, the grain and grass shipped from Sichuan to Guanxi usually go to Hanzhong first, and then are shipped in batches to Longxi, Jinzhou and other places.
Then they were escorted by people from Longxi and Jinzhou to the northwest and Jingzhao and other places. This time because of the special situation, the grain and grass were transported from Jinguan City and all the way out of Shu via Mianzhou, Jianmen, Lizhou, Jinzhou and other places.
, come directly to Jingzhao.
It took more than twenty days. No wonder they were so happy when they saw the Jingzhao Boundary Monument. They had finally arrived.
"Report, Jingzhao Ambassador Pei is coming to greet you, he is not far ahead."
Li Daliang nodded on the horse. He naturally knew that Pei Shijun must be Jingzhao Yin Pei Shiqing, "Go and tell the envoy that Li has a heavy responsibility and dare not leave without permission. Please wait for a while and don't blame me."
Neglect."
The visitor left in response, and Li Daliang casually ordered, "Let everyone hurry up, we can stay in Chang'an County tonight."
After entering Jingzhao, Li Daliang not only breathed a sigh of relief, but also had a lot of thoughts in his heart.
Almost two years ago, he served as the Sima of Jinzhou, escorting grain and grass to Yongfeng warehouse and then stayed as the Yongfeng warehouse guard.
Now, he once again escorted grain and grass into the Jingzhao area, but his identity has undergone earth-shaking changes. Shi, the governor of Yizhou.
And more than half a year ago, he was still a prisoner... Li Daliang smacked the taste, and he felt like he didn't know where to start.
I always feel that things in the world have changed, but they remain the same... He, Li Daliang, has been ups and downs in the past few years. When he thinks back to the time when he served Wei Gong, it seems like a lifetime has passed.
Now Wei Gong has been dead for several years, and his old enemy Wang Shichong was also defeated the year before last. It is still unknown whether he is dead or alive. He probably fed the tigers and wolves in the mountains and hurriedly reincarnated.
After Wang Shichong came Li Yuan... Those who were famous in those days have fallen off their horses one by one... Thinking of this, Li Daliang, besides feeling quite sad, could only feel happy.
He, Li Daliang, must have done a lot of good deeds in his previous life. Even if the sky fell, he would not be hit. He could get by with luck every time, and he could reach such a high position as the Governor of Yizhou.
When he was escorted back to Chang'an half a year ago, and no one cared about him in the Chang'an Guardhouse, he never dreamed that in just over half a year, his fortune would be like this.
After a moment of emotion, he symbolically began to tidy up his gray robes, preparing to meet Jingzhao Yin Pei Shiqing.
He met Pei Shiqing once. When he followed Li Jing out of Beijing, he passed by Chang'an County and received them personally. Pei Shiqing was the head of the Pei family in Hedong. In his impression, he was a man who paid great attention to etiquette and was very knowledgeable.
Naturally, he didn't want to be rude in front of such a person...
"Li Changshi, are we staying in Chang'an County tonight?"
Someone came up from behind and asked. Without looking at the person, Li Daliang knew by his voice that it was Gao Jifu, a member of the Yizhou household Cao who joined the army. He was about thirty years old. He was from the Bohai Gao family and was a serious remnant of the Northern Qi Dynasty.
A few years ago, the Gao family took root in the Ministry of Husbandry and wanted to make a difference, so his children went out to serve as officials, mostly related to the Ministry of Husbandry.
Li Daliang and Gao Jifu were barely old acquaintances. They were both descendants of Li Mi, but Li Daliang was in a humble position at the time and could not interact with Gao Jifu and others.
Gao Jifu is very strong, has a rather rough face, and has a pair of eagle eyes that look very powerful. He looks more like a member of a wealthy family in Guanxi than Li Daliang, who was born in the Li family.
In fact, this is also the case. Gao Jifu was quite brave. When he was serving Li Mi, he led troops to fight against Luoyang. When he was an official in Yizhou, he even advocated the suppression of mountain barbarians. He asked for orders several times to lead troops south to fight against mountain barbarians.
Therefore, he was deeply disliked by Li Xiaogong. It was just that the Gao family controlled the lifeline and was no worse than the Li family in terms of family status. Li Xiaogong failed to kick him out of Yizhou.
This time he came north with the grain team. According to Li Daliang's opinion, he probably did not intend to take up a post in Shuzhong.
Thinking about it, Gao Yuan, the former Minister of Household Affairs, was killed, and the Gao family's descendants became a mess in Chang'an City. If they were not careful, they might fall into the dust, and soon they would no longer be able to associate with the Chen family, Yuwen and other big clans.
As a descendant of the Gao family, it is normal for him to not be able to stay in a place like Shuzhong.
Li Daliang cupped his fists and said, "When we arrive in Chang'an County, everyone can have a good rest... I'm afraid I'll have to say goodbye to Brother Gao then."
Gao Jifu was not surprised. Some of the grain transported from Shu might go into granaries in Jingzhao, Chang'an and other places, but most of it was actually military grain and had to be transported to Tongguan to feed the army.
It had been discussed before that Gao Jifu would transport grain to Chang'an, while Li Daliang would go to Tongguan.
When I came up to ask, I just heard that Jingzhao Yin Pei Shiqing was in front, so I came over with Li Daliang to pay homage to Pei Shiqing.
"Chang Shi and I hit it off, and we are both old people from Henan. I am really grateful that Chang Shi took care of me during our trip. It's too early to say goodbye. When we get to Chang'an County, I will have a few drinks with Chang Shi.
It’s not too late to say goodbye.”
Li Daliang laughed, but he also wanted to make friends, "Joining the army is so warm, how dare you refuse me? We won't be able to return until we get drunk."
The two of them cooperated with each other along the way, and their talents were much better than others, and there was no stake in it. They looked more pleasing to the eye, but the road was difficult and they were wary of barbarian bandits, so they couldn't make friends openly.
Now that I have entered Jingzhao, I finally feel relaxed, and having a deep friendship is exactly what the question is about.
Not far away, Jingzhao Yin Pei Shiqing led Chang'an County Magistrate Yuan Lang and other Jingzhao officials to greet them at the left side of the road. Last winter was very cold and the harvest was not as good as expected. This spring, the food pressure is very high.
Part of the grain and grass transported from Sichuan must be handed over to Jingzhao for storage in the warehouse. Pei Shiqing, Yin of Jingzhao, must come to welcome it to show his importance.
Moreover, this was not a simple grain transportation team. Among them, people who had been surrendered from Shu, including Li Zhiyun, the king of Chu, Huang Junhan, the former governor of Yizhou, and Dou Dan, the governor of Mianzhou, all came with the team and were going to Chang'an to report their duties again.
They are all considered meritorious people... Most of the pseudo-Tang Dynasty ministers who resisted to the end have been bruised or disposed of on the spot, and have no chance to come to Chang'an. Of course, Li Xiaogong is definitely not included among them.
Prince Li Xiaogong of Zhao County caught wind and cold on the way here and had to stop in Jinzhou for medical treatment. It was hard to say whether he would be able to reach Chang'an alive.
After greeting each other and greeting each other, Pei Shiqing took his people to meet the King of Chu, Li Zhiyun, and others. After almost half an hour of tossing, the team started off again.
In the afterglow of the setting sun, the long grain team meandered to Chang'an County, which is under the ancient city of Chang'an. The camp had been prepared long ago. Li Daliang, Gao Jifu and others did not accept Pei Shiqing's invitation to attend a reception banquet in the city.
.
As the chief officers of the grain transport team, they did not dare to stay away from the grain team, so they could only stay in the camp outside the city. Apart from being a little regretful that they could not have a good rest, they could also have some peace of mind.
It wasn't until the grain team was settled together with the officials of Chang'an County and everyone had dinner that Gao Jifu and Li Daliang dared to sit down, take a breath and eat.
As for not getting drunk, forget it. It was just a matter of having fun at the time. Escorting food and grass at this time was a military task. Drinking was not allowed in the army. It was a rule of the military in the past dynasties, but it was enforced more strictly at this time.
When the two of them were under Li Mi, it was nothing for the generals to drink and eat meat in the army, and most of them were accustomed to it, because they started out as Wagang bandits, and their military discipline was particularly loose. They were good at winning in melee battles, making it difficult for people to guard against them.
The regular army of the former Sui Dynasty was more strict, but it still couldn't control the military leaders. Li Po governed the army based on military regulations without showing any mercy. Later, various armies followed suit, and gradually became a trend, and the generals also
I don't dare to be presumptuous anymore.
As for how long this trend can last, only God knows.
The two people were eating food and talking in the dimly lit barracks. Accompanying them were two soldiers from Jingzhao Hucao, who were visiting their positions and meeting them.
Several people were eating when there was movement outside. Before they could react, a group of people rushed in as soon as the door opened. They were startled. Gao Jifu, for example, pulled out his knife.
These people were obviously not bandits. After coming in, they got some candlesticks and made the barracks bright. Then they opened the food boxes they brought in, took out the hot dishes and put them on the table, and then they left one after another.
After everyone had gone out, Chang'an County Wei Fang Xuanling slowly came in, clasped his fists and said with a smile: "How are you, my dear brother, after so many days apart? You have not forgotten us as your brother, have you?"
Li Daliang couldn't help but be overjoyed when he saw it was him. He stepped forward and held his arm, "Brother, why are you here? Did you make a special trip to see me?"