Chapter 1848 Entering the city to express condolences
Zhang Liang and his entourage galloped on horseback, heading straight from Tongguan to the capital. The willow trees on both sides of the Ba Bridge were already green. Standing on the bridge and looking at Chang'an in the rain, I felt a sense of the long absence and the changes in things and people.
Last spring, hundreds of thousands of troops set off from here and headed east, vowing to create unprecedented achievements. When they returned here after a year, what greeted them was a building that was almost completely destroyed in the flames of war. The ruins of Chang'an City...
Arriving all the way outside the Chunming Gate, Zhang Liang took out Li Ji's general seal and handed it to the city guard: "I am Zhang Liang, Duke of the State of Yun. I have entered the city on the orders of Duke Ying to express condolences to Princess Baling. Please inform the commander immediately. Kaicheng is released."
The lieutenant inspected the seal and handed it back with both hands. He did not dare to neglect: "Please wait a moment, Duke Yun. I will see you later."
Now Li Ji has led hundreds of thousands of troops to garrison Tongguan and is eyeing Chang'an. Once the army comes, the mountains will collapse and the earth will crack. The people in Guanlong are frightened by this. Facing Zhang Liang, Duke of Yun who entered the city on Li Ji's order, Who dares to treat someone lightly?
The captain turned around and ran up to the city tower. Not long after, a group of generals quickly came down from the city tower. When they got to Zhang Liang's horse, they knelt down on one knee and saluted very respectfully: "The last general Chunming Gate is guarding Yuchi Gang. I have seen Yun Guo." male!"
Zhang Liang raised his eyebrows: "Yuchi?"
The captain paused for a moment and replied: "The last general is from the same clan as the Duke of E, but he is just a distant branch."
"Xianbei Yuchi" is a large family in the Northern Wei Dynasty. There are many outstanding people in the family. Since the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty and even the former Sui Dynasty, they have been military generals. They are powerful and powerful and can be regarded as part of the Guanlong clan. But since Yuchi Jing Since the death of De's grandfather, the Yuchi family and the Guanlong clan have gradually drifted apart. Even today, although they are known as the "Guanlong clan", they have actually gone their separate ways. Yuchi Jingde's achievements and status are all due to his inability to work hard, and he has nothing to do with the Guanlong clan. The Longmen Valve has nothing to do with it.
It would be difficult to understand if a member of his clan served as a garrison general at an important place such as Chunmingmen under the rebels...
However, the captain was obviously spiritual. After hearing Zhang Liang's inquiry, he immediately understood the key and clarified it.
Of course, most people with the surname "Yuchi" have the same surname, and no one can tell whether they are related to each other. Of course, the Tang Dynasty was built with the help of Guanlong, and the Li and Tang royal family itself was a member of Guanlong, and the empire In terms of top and bottom, it is actually difficult to completely separate the relationship with Guan Long...
The city gate opened, Zhang Liang and his party rode in, heading straight to Princess Baling's mansion.
Zhang Liang is representing Li Ji on this trip, so naturally he cannot go directly to Yanshoufang to meet Changsun Wuji. Li Ji does not want Guan Long to think that he is siding with the East Palace, and conversely, he also does not want the East Palace to think that he is having an affair with Guan Long - you guys are fighting I'll just take a look at yours and won't interfere... This is Li Ji's stance.
At the same time, the Chunming Gate guard Yu Chigang immediately reported the news of Zhang Liang's entry to Changsun Wuji of Yanshoufang.
After hearing the news, Changsun Wuji pondered for a moment, then called Yu Wenjie in and ordered: "Get the car ready and take me to Mingfu Temple."
Although the Tang Dynasty respected Taoism as the state religion, many temples were built since the Sui Dynasty, almost everywhere. Princess Baling's Mansion was once part of the Mingfu Temple. After entering the Tang Dynasty, Princess Baling was given a mansion to build, which is adjacent to the temple. ,beautiful landscape.
Yu Wenjie naturally understood what Changsun Wuji meant: "Here! I will go to the princess's mansion later to express my condolences."
Changsun Wuji nodded with satisfaction.
Not long after, a carriage came out of Yanshoufang and headed for Mingfu Temple. Yuwenjie rode with several soldiers and rode to Princess Baling's Mansion.
…
Zhang Liang entered the city from Chunming Gate and looked around. The streets were full of soldiers from Guanlong and Guanlong. The spacious area where the streets met was full of military camps. It was noisy and chaotic, with feces and urine flowing everywhere. The once prosperous and beautiful Chang'an City
Now it has become dilapidated and dirty.
Fortunately, the Guanlong Clan's restrictions on soldiers entering the city were quite strict, and no troops were stationed in Lifang. Although ordinary people were imprisoned in Lifang, they were at least safe.
But Zhang Liang knew that as the fire outside Jinguang Gate burned away all the grain stored in Guanlong, the food shortage situation would spread among Guanlong's army. If this situation continues, sooner or later the morale of the army will be unstable.
, discipline is loose, and hungry soldiers will break into the village and snatch food.
By that time, the huge city of Chang'an and its hundreds of thousands of residents will be completely plunged into dire straits. This most majestic capital city in the world will also be completely destroyed by war and disasters, irreparably...
Although Zhang Liang has never considered himself to be a virtuous minister who "cares about the country and the people" and "has the country at heart", seeing the current situation of Chang'an City at this moment, he still feels heavy-hearted. This is already the case in the area controlled by Guan Long, and the East Palace has repeatedly
One can imagine what kind of situation the imperial city is competing for...
At the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the world was in chaos, all industries were ruined, and the people were in dire straits. Zhang Liang had also seen it with his own eyes. However, he was still young and had little experience at that time, and could not yet understand that in such troubled times, "people's lives are as cheap as dogs" and "the bones are covered with bones."
"There is no rooster crow for thousands of miles in the wild". When I see this scene today, I feel deeply sad.
Arriving outside Princess Baling's house, Zhang Liang calmed down, cheered up, and pushed out all the sadness and sorrow that arose from his mind. Later, he tried his best to deal with Changsun Wuji, hoping that he could survive in this situation.
Try to seize greater benefits during the mutiny...
Zhang Liang came to the gate of the mansion, looked at the few carriages and horses in the streets outside the gate, shook his head, and got off his horse. Even though Chai Lingwu had no real power, he was the prince-in-law of the dynasty, and his brother Qiao Guogong Chai Zhewei was in charge of Zuotunwei.
, so the Chai family can be considered a prominent family.
Now that Chai Lingwu died violently, during the funeral, there were only a few guests and carriages in the mansion, which is really sad...
After handing over Li Ji and his own seal and famous assassin, Chai Xu, the elder of the Chai family, went out to greet him in person.
At that time, Zhang Liang was also a free-spirited and fast swordsman in the world. He had five hundred adopted sons and roamed the streets of Guanzhong. He and Chai Xu, known as the "wall dragon", were both prominent figures in the streets of Chang'an. Although they did not have a close friendship with each other, they had a good reputation.
We meet each other in front of the door now, and we have some similar spirits.
Chai Xu clasped his fists, out of politeness: "The Chai family is extremely grateful that Duke Yun is here. Please go in first to see His Highness, and then I will have a talk with him."
Zhang Liang returned the greeting: "As a member of the military, I can't help myself, so I came late. I hope you don't take it personally."
Chai continued: "You are polite, there are many who are adding insult to injury, and there are few who are sincere and sincere. If the Duke of Yun can come, everyone in the Chai family feels friendship."
It is widely rumored in the city that Chai Lingwu was killed by Fang Jun. As a victim, Chai Lingwu should be given more sympathy and criticized and cursed the murderer Fang Jun. However, the result is that now the East Palace has gradually reversed the situation and defeated Guanlong's army.
Jun became more and more famous and popular, and many relatives and friends of the Chai family were afraid that coming to pay homage would offend Fang Jun, so they did not come because the situation was tense...
The two of them entered the mansion gate one behind the other.
When everyone inside and outside the mansion heard the news about Zhang Liang's arrival from Tongguan, everyone became excited and talked among themselves. Countless messages were sent from the mansion to various parts of Chang'an City...
Zhang Liang and Chai Xu entered the mansion. They first went to the mourning hall to pay their respects, and then went to the back hall to see Princess Baling. They met the two princesses Changle and Jinyang, as well as Nanping, Sui'an, Yuzhang, Pu'an, and Dongyang. , Linchuan, Ankang and other princesses were all present and hurriedly came forward to salute one by one.
Princess Baling returned the gift with a sad face and an extremely weak look: "Thank you so much, Duke Yun, for coming. Please also express my gratitude to the Duke of England on my behalf."
Zhang Liang said hurriedly: "This is the duty of our ministers."
Princess Linchuan on the side suddenly said: "Duke Yun has returned to Beijing to express his condolences. I don't know what will happen. Do you want to go to Neizhongmen to see His Highness the Crown Prince?"
The hall fell silent for a moment.
Li Ji's position has always been inexplicable, and there has been a lot of speculation from all parties in Chang'an. Now someone has finally come to Beijing on behalf of Li Ji. Every move may have a deeper meaning and can also indicate Li Ji's position. After all, the East Palace has turned the tide of the war and completely taken the initiative. , if Li Ji continues not to express his position, when the East Palace wins in the future and the prince foils the mutiny, he will definitely be dissatisfied with him, and even resentful in his heart.
Zhang Liang smiled slightly, bowed and said: "This time I am just here to express my condolences to Chai Prince Consort on behalf of the British Duke. I have no other intention. After the condolences are over, I will leave immediately to return to Tongguan."
Princess Linchuan was slightly disappointed...
She was probably the one in the hall who least wanted to see Dong Palace turn the tables on her and turn defeat into victory. It wasn't that she had any objections to the prince, but she really didn't want to see Fang Jun flourish after the prince's throne was stabilized. That scene.