In the Western Region, An Yanyan was sitting on the sand with blank eyes at the moment, watching the Tang army and Gaochang troops rushing into the village in front of him, capturing his own clan members one by one.
He grabbed the yellow sand with both hands, his eyes were red with anger in his heart, he raised his head and shouted, venting his dissatisfaction.
All this was caused by that person named Zhang Yang!
And Tian Khan, he doesn’t want to let go of the nine surnames of Zhaowu at all!
They are all evil people! They are all bastards!
At first, I thought that I could return to the Western Regions to report Tian Khan's intentions to the tribe, but who knew that the troops were following behind me all the time.
Seeing that his tribesmen were all shackled, he knew it was too late to say anything.
All this is Zhang Yang’s conspiracy!
He was escorted to Gaochang City. The Guanzhong envoy stationed in Gaochang City recorded what happened to him these days.
He didn't put up any resistance. He used to be tight-lipped in Chang'an City, but now he told everything.
After writing down all these words, the official took out another letter and said, "This is what you have to do next. Your people are all in our hands. What the Foreign Affairs Council means is that all the previous promises are valid. You still have to
Then complete the arrangements for the Diplomatic Academy."
"Can you let my people go first?" An Yanyan asked nervously.
"We in the Tang Dynasty have always done things fairly, but you violated the agreement first, and you also escaped privately. You are responsible for all this. Who can you blame?"
"This is all a trap between Tian Khan and Zhang Yang!"
The official stood up and said, "You can go out of the city to do business now. If you sell enough food, you can also let your people go."
Just as he was about to walk out of the cell, he came back and said to Anyanyan: "It turns out that it was your betrayal that caused this, so we had to take this step."
"It's all a trap!"
Anyanyan yelled and cursed louder, but no one paid him any attention.
There were three officials who came to Gaochang from the Tang Dynasty, and this one came from the Foreign Affairs Academy.
He is the most respected in Gaochang City.
Previously, Gaochang was a military city. One year after the conquest of the Western Turks, Zhang Yang handed over Gaochang City to Tian Khan.
Tian Khan sent officials and gathered 17 small tribes in villages and counties around Gaochang. Only then did Gaochang begin to pay attention to people's livelihood, and there were many fewer external wars than before.
Now, after two years of governance, the population of Gaochang has reached 80,000.
This is the only place in the Western Region with such a large population.
With the presence of officials who were good at governing, Gaochang's wealth was also the envy of other places in the Western Regions. It was also an outpost of the Silk Road.
In addition to the 20,000 Gaochang troops stationed in the Western Turks, there were also 30,000 troops stationed in Gaochang City.
Although there is governance, all the men in the city are the same ones who overthrew the king of Gaochang and his son. They go home to rest at night, and they can also change their defenses. In time of war, they pick up weapons and become soldiers.
From the beginning of the uprising in Gaochang City to the subsequent conquest of the Western Turks, all the people were soldiers. This was a problem left over from the early days.
I also discussed this issue with Adalan, but this man only obeyed Lishan's arrangements. He always dealt with matters in the DPRK as he could, and would not take the initiative to make arrangements.
He kept a record of what Any Yanyan had told him, and had people ride fast horses to leave Gaochang and send them to Chang'an City.
At this moment in Chang'an City, it is still the cold winter season, with a rare sunny day and warm sun shining brightly.
Zhang Yang sat in Qujiang Pond and basked in the sun with Li Shimin and his family.
Looking at the scroll sent from the East Palace in his hand, he looked at it for a long time and then said: "His Royal Highness the Prince wrote..."
Li Anyan stood respectfully, looking forward to Zhang Shilang's next words.
Zhang Yang sighed: "The prince's plan is too simple. What does it mean to send a scholar to the local area to cooperate with the government to open an official school? Each scholar is given three hundred yuan a year? This is too little. As for one year later,
He didn’t say anything about the future arrangements, and the prince didn’t even give these scholars who devoted themselves to supporting education any preferential treatment in the future. How could I give him money? I still asked for two thousand guan more than last time..."
After complaining about the prince's education support plan, Zhang Yang handed the scroll back and said, "Take it back and let His Highness the prince rewrite it."
Li Anyan looked at His Majesty's eyes and then at Minister Zhang.
Zhang Yang described His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's strategy in such a disgraceful way, full of loopholes, that His Majesty did not even speak for the Crown Prince...
Li Anyan felt a little dissatisfied with the prince's injustice, "How many times has this happened to Mr. Zhang?"
Zhang Yang frowned and said, "It's the third time, what's wrong?"
"Okay, I will take it back to the prince now."
Li Anyan left again with his people.
Li Shimin was sitting aside and looking at another volume of documents, which was news sent from Gaochang.
Empress Changsun and Li Yue were sitting together, and it was a rare occasion for them to take the princes and princesses to Qujiang Pond to visit the garden. It was a rare warm sunny day in the winter.
The queen originally wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to take a break from the court, so that the two families could move around. The children also missed the emperor's sister and brother-in-law.
Now look at His Majesty and Zhang Yang, the two families came to play in Qujiang Pool. The situation in front of them still made the Queen sigh. In such a good time, the father-in-law and son-in-law did not accompany the children, and they dealt with it here.
political affairs.
Li Shimin looked at the letter in his hand, "You just pushed back the prince's plan?"
Zhang Yang picked up the pen and got some ink on it, "If the plan doesn't work, I have to take it back and make it again."
"It doesn't matter. You can't always embarrass the prince."
Continuing to write down his future plans for Tibet, Zhang Yang added: "The sharpening of the sword does not waste the time of chopping wood. Planning in advance must be rigorous. If there are any changes in the future, it will be very troublesome."
"Look at this."
Li Shimin put down a volume of letters.
The letter was made of yellowed sheepskin and had a strange smell.
Zhang Yang frowned and looked at the record, which looked like an interrogation record.
Xu Jingzong was promised to buy 100,000 stones of grain and grass from the Tang Dynasty, but he did not pay the money or take away the grain and grass after leaving customs.
The escorting soldiers and horses did not leave after leaving the customs, but followed him all the time.
Anyanyan tried to persuade them to leave several times, but they didn't listen at all.
There were more than a hundred soldiers in this army. The achievements of the Tang army in Tubo had already shocked the Western Regions, and even some bandits in the Western Regions did not dare to offend them.
Everyone stayed in a small town in Shazhou. While everyone was resting, An Yanyan covered his face with a black cloth and quietly left the small town alone.
Those Datang soldiers had drunk too much, and they would probably not wake up yet.
Anyan Yanxin was glad that he had saved a hand and pretended to be drunk and fell asleep.
The small town was quiet at the moment. After leaving Shazhou, I hid in a next door for a day. I only felt relieved after making sure that the officers and soldiers did not catch up.
He carried some dried meat and a water bag with him to walk to the place where his people gathered. Judging from his experience in the desert, this small amount of water and food was enough for him.
After walking like this for half a month in the desert, Anyanyan was still very vigilant.
But he never thought that this army would find the Gaochang people.
In fact, these are nothing. The nine surnames of Zhaowu have always been low-key in life. Anyan Yan Yanyan bought a pot of grape wine from a Gaochang man, and then his whereabouts were exposed.
Zhang Yang looked at the torture record and saw that there were many words in which Anyan cursed himself and His Majesty.
"Your Majesty, this man surnamed An insulted Tian Khan and his crime is punishable." Zhang Yang put the record away again, "We need to keep good evidence. He dared to curse like this. We can keep it for the next time we come to blackmail him."
"blackmail?"
"Blackmail." Zhang Yang cleared his throat and changed his words: "Yes, blackmail!"
Anyway, Tian Khan has no bad reputation at all. No matter how vicious the sage and benevolent Tian Khan is, in the eyes of the people of the world, this Tian Khan is still majestic.
This is an emperor who cherishes his reputation.
It's very tiring to deal with this kind of emperor.
All good things are his, and all bad things are blamed on his ministers.
Zhang Yang had already had a premonition in his heart that if he could not protect himself in the future, he would die in the hands of the emperor sooner or later.
Li Shimin drank tea, half-smiling but not smiling.
Queen Changsun came over with tea. Seeing the strange expressions of Weng and son-in-law, she couldn't help but wonder what they had said.
Li Shimin took another bowl of hot tea, because the tea he had just received had gone cold because he was busy reviewing the memorial.
"Thank you, Queen." Zhang Yang also took the tea and drank it silently.
There were still many memorials in front of the emperor. Zhang Yang continued to look at the files sent by the Diplomatic Academy. Da'an had stationed a group of officers and soldiers in Liaodong. After the Japanese envoys returned, they were ready to come to congratulate them. They had just passed Goguryeo by road.
Only then did we enter the territory of Liaodong.
Judging from the distance traveled, it would take at least two months for them to reach Chang'an City.
The envoy who came was still the Fujiwara clan and the same group of people.
Zhang Yang put down this volume and picked up another one. This one said that Tang Xuanzang had passed through Zigala Mountain, which is near Uzbekistan.
I don’t know how Xu Jingzong found out about the whereabouts of the monk Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty.
You even know where others have gone.
Zhang Yang picked up another file and opened it. Xu Jingzong wrote about Wang Xuance. He didn't expect that there was a person like him who could not be defeated by a social gangster.
So far he still hasn't captured Wang Xuance.
The most important thing is that Xue Rengui has obsessions in his heart, but this Wang Xuance is simply an insufferable person. To be precise, this person has no purpose or wants.
It's like looking at the flowers in a fog, with no way to start and no solution.
What's more, Changsun Wuji is also wooing him now.
Zhang Yang turned his head and looked to one side. Li Shimin was sitting on the table nearby, engrossed in reviewing the memorial.
"Your Majesty, I have something that I don't understand."
"Say." The emperor wrote without raising his head with the pen in his hand.
Being able to have the rare warm sunshine in the dead of winter and review memorials in the sunshine is a beautiful thing in a busy life.
Zhang Yang looked at the distant scenery and tried to relax his tired eyes, "Your Majesty, you said that everyone is a mortal body. Why do some people like to pretend to be saints in front of others?"
Li Shimin turned one side of the memorial to the sun, looked at it sideways for a long time, struggled to distinguish the handwriting, and replied: "There is nothing else, just the four characters of fame, fortune, wealth, and fame, of which name is in the front. If they have a good intention, they will definitely need it."
name."
"I just don't understand. There are many people in this world who dress in rags and pretend to be arhats. They keep saying that they will not be stained by mud or dust."
"Only by becoming sages can they win the trust of others."
Zhang Yang moved his cushion and simply sat at the emperor's table. "To be honest with you, Your Majesty, I discovered something recently."
Li Shimin's mind was all on the memorial, and he was annoyed by it, "Just say it."
Zhang Yang put his hands in his hands and frowned: "I recently discovered that some people have three faces and two hearts. They look like a person in front of them, but behind them there is a ghost."
"I think you've gone crazy writing about Liaozhai."
"Maybe." Zhang Yang straightened his sleeves and stood up. Seeing that his wife had almost finished cleaning up, he stood up and said, "There are still books hanging to dry at home, so I will leave first."
"Yeah." Li Shimin nodded slightly.
The emperor was still sitting by the Qujiang Pond reviewing memorials. People's livelihood and construction must not be left behind, especially after the elderly people left, they had to keep an eye on the actions of the nobles.
After Zhang Yang and his family left Qujiang Pool, Li Shimin stood up and relaxed his sore back.
A gust of cold wind blew by, and Li Shimin suddenly came back to his senses and thought again, and asked, "Who did Zhang Yang just say pretend to be a sage in front of others?"
Eunuch Wang quickly replied: "I haven't read any books, and I don't understand these words very well."
Seeing that His Majesty's face was not so good, Wang Gonggong said again: "Shilang Zhang's speech is really profound."
Li Shimin suddenly felt bad, gritted his teeth and muttered to himself: "Who did he say was wearing ragged clothes and pretending to be an Arhat?"
The prince lowered his head and did not dare to say a word.
"Who is he talking about with three faces? Two hearts?"
"..."
"You are a human in front of you, but a ghost behind your back?" Li Shimin kicked the table over, "What a fool! How dare you criticize me?"
The prince felt bitter and hurriedly picked up the memorial on the ground.
This Minister Zhang is really good at talking.
After scolding His Majesty for a few times, His Majesty didn't come back to his senses for a long time, and then he became so angry again.
These memorials are of great concern to the country, and it would be a big deal if even one volume was missing.
The prince picked them all up, wiped them clean, lifted the table and put it back in its place.
Seeing that his father was suddenly angry, Li Lizhi came with his young slaves and asked, "Why is your father so angry?"
Li Shimin said in a deep voice: "Because of your brother-in-law."
"Did brother-in-law make a mistake again?"
"Yes!" Li Shimin said solemnly, "Your brother-in-law has three faces and two hearts."
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Zhi suddenly raised his hand and said: "Father, I understand! My brother-in-law is not a human being."
Li Lizhi was silent for a moment, and felt speechless again. She pulled Zhinu and stamped her feet anxiously, and then said: "How can my brother-in-law not be a human being?"
"But my father said that my brother-in-law has three faces and two hearts."
Li Zhi gestured as he spoke.
Raising hands to answer questions was a habit developed during class by the emperor's sister and her brother-in-law, and Li Zhi couldn't change it for a while.
Fortunately it's not a bad habit.
The father was scolding his brother-in-law, but Li Zhi couldn't understand.
As an imperial sister, I am increasingly worried about the relationship between my father and my brother-in-law.
Maybe after my brother-in-law left, he said some unpleasant things to his father.
It was probably a state matter, and it was hard for a minister to say much. Li Lizhi bowed slightly and said, "My daughter will make tea for my father."
Li Shimin nodded and said, "I've asked people to see your brother-in-law's new home. It's almost ready."