The protruding cheekbones, the dark and red faces weathered by the sun, and the copper and gold ornaments on their belts all indicate the identities of those assassins.
Thule people.
It was normal for the Thule people to assassinate themselves. They knew the purpose of my coming to Beijing this time, and I also killed two Thule great adjuncts one after another, which led to the direct defeat of Thule's southward strategy. There is nothing wrong with wanting to kill me.
But their intention to kill Zhou Shilang is a bit unbelievable.
Su Lu glanced at Shilang Zhou. Although Shilang Zhou was a senior official in the Ministry of War, he had always been a peacemaker when it came to the use of troops in the northern border of the imperial court. He was a moderate toward the Thule people. It was unjustifiable for the Thule people to kill him.
.
"Captain Su, can I not let He Chongxin and his gang go to you?"
Zhou Shilang's words brought Su Lu back from his thoughts. After the battle just now, Zhou Shilang felt that he must have underestimated the strength of He Chongxin's group of forbidden troops. Although Su Lu's command was very powerful, He Chongxin's men had to be the best.
Two brushes.
It is really uneconomical to give up such a powerful group of people to the Dingxiang Army.
When Su Lu heard this, he glanced at He Chongxin and saw that he lowered his head. He immediately understood in his heart that Zhou Shilang must have promised He Chongxin a benefit. This boy still wanted to stay in the Ministry of War, no, he wanted to stay with the benefit.
"Okay, the person is yours, Master Zhou, you have the final say."
Su Lu said nonchalantly. He was just asking casually. He Chongxin had some potential, but it was only potential. Without experience, he would end up doing nothing.
When the group arrived at the Ministry of War, Zhou Shilang handed Su Lu to Yan Tong and went directly to Li Shangshu.
Such a big thing happened today. Zhou Shilang believed that the patrol battalion was targeting him and the Ministry of War. The Ministry of War must come up with a response strategy, otherwise it would be suppressed by the eldest son of the emperor at every turn. How could he persist in the court in the future?
Strategy.
Yan Tong led Su Lu to the archive room of the Ministry of War.
"These rooms are used to store daily official documents. Over the past century of the dynasty, there have been more and more official documents. Mr. Li has already decided to set up a special courtyard to store official documents."
"These rooms are used to store the lists of captains and soldiers from various places of defense."
"This is a mountain and river geography map. Two copies of the mountain and river map that you snatched from the Thule people, Governor Su, are here."
"These are the records of the imperial court's border troubles over the years."
Yan Tong devoted himself to introducing the archives of the Ministry of War to Su Lu. He was quite curious in his heart. General Su Lu was invincible. Who did he learn from and whether his teacher list was also in these files.
Su Lu pointed to the room where the war record books over the years were kept and asked Yan Tong.
"Master Yan, are the records of this year's wars in Xuanfu and Bingzhou and the official documents of the Weifu here?"
Yan Tong looked at the junior official beside him. The junior official was quite old. He nodded and said, "Yes, sir, all the war documents sent to the Ministry of War from various places in the Xuanfu are archived here and merged with the Weifu in all prefectures."
The writing is in the room next to it."
Su Lu said to Yan Tong: "Master Yan, go and do your own business. I will leave after I find the case file I want to see."
Yan Tong asked his subordinates to look after Su Lu carefully and satisfy any requests as much as possible, and then went about his business. As the head of the Ministry of War, Yan Tong never touched the ground every day. He was able to lead Su Lu just because of Zhou.
The minister's instructions are given.
After Yan Tong left, Su Lu asked the clerk in charge: "Is there any information about Thule that is only in Xuanfu and related to Dongtang Camp and Xuanfu Jiedufu?"
The clerk frowned and rummaged for a while among the case files that were piled almost to the roof. He took out a few case files, put them on the table and said:
"My lord, they are all here. The rest are in your lord's offices and have not been filed yet."
Su Lu nodded and took out a case file.
On the second day of the first lunar month of the seventh year of Tianzheng, Xu Song, an Orion hunter in Xiaowangzhuang, reported that the whereabouts of the Thule people were found in Siming Mountain. The Wei Mansion gathered patrolling city camps and village warriors to inspect Dongshi Township, and encountered a group of the Nine Surnames of Tule Zhaowu in the backing village of Dongshan Township.
…
Su Lu looked at the cover. It was the records of Wei Prefecture in Weizhou, Xuan Prefecture, but it was only recorded up to the twelfth lunar month of last year, and there were no case files for most of this year.
The clerk in charge of the treasury rummaged through the case files a few more times and found the case files of Yanzhou and Beiyang and gave them to Su Lu.
The more Su Lu saw, the more frightened he became. Tule's infiltration into Xuanfu was almost pervasive. Xuanfu had jurisdiction over various prefectures and counties. There were records of encounters with Thule troops almost every month, and villages were plundered every month.
Putting down the case file, Su Lu let out a sigh of relief. The Xuanfu affair had gone so far.
Chang Ning saw Su Lu put down the case file and stood up happily. He could finally go back. He hated reading books. He got a headache when he read them. He really didn't understand what was so interesting about these case files.
Su Lu took out a piece of silver from his pocket and handed it to the clerk: "Brother, take it and drink some tea. Looking at the records in the case file, you thought our northern border had been captured by the Thule people. There are people everywhere.
They are from Thule."
The clerk in charge of the Treasury declined a few times, took the money, and said with a smile: "The Xuanfu Jiedufu is corrupt. All the lords in the capital know this. Millions of dollars are invested in the Xuanfu every year. Follow the figure
The people are strangled and beaten to the death. They are defeated every year and beaten every year. It is really a miracle that Xuanfu Jiedufu can persist until now."
Su Lu's expression froze. The more he listened, the more something was wrong. The Xuanfu was still the Xuanfu of the Han Dynasty. According to the clerk in charge, it seemed that the Xuanfu was about to fall.
After leaving the Ministry of War, Su Lu walked on the street and asked Chang Ning casually: "How come your princess was assigned to be a county captain in Beiyang?"
Chang Ning took it for granted: "The county lieutenant is just a false position. There are no county lieutenants in all the prefectures and counties in the imperial court. The county lieutenant is just a false position assigned to various places by the princes and princesses. The prince guards the country, and the second princess was granted the title of Jiangzhou. My family
Naturally, the princess can only go to the North."
Su Lu was even more surprised. The county lieutenant only had a false position, and now there is a saying that the prince is guarding the country. No wonder Li Dingyuan, the great emperor, dared to go to the Xuan Mansion in person for a picture album. The emotional old Li was also a person guarding the country back then.
"Step aside"
"Snapped"
There were sounds of whips and shouts ahead.
Su Lu looked up in shock and saw Chang Ning rushing out, with a body as strong as a cheetah, and pounced on a bearded knight waving a whip.
"If you dare to block my master's way, look for..."
Before the big man finished speaking, he swung out the whip in his hand and hit the little girl crying in the middle of the road.
Chang Ning's shot was like lightning, and he reached out and grabbed the whip, protecting the little girl holding her head.
"Hurry and take the person away, don't block the way of my family."
Big Beard is also a master who bullies the weak and is afraid of the strong. When Chang Ning grabbed the whip, he tried to take it away twice, but then he surrendered with a stern face.
Chang Ning loosened his whip, bent down and picked up the little girl. Just as he was about to stand up, shouts and curses rang out from the crowd watching the excitement on the roadside, mixed with exclamations of surprise.
"Snapped"
My back hurts.
Chang Ning hugged the little girl, took a few steps back, put the little girl down, and glared angrily at the bearded man waving a whip. This man was so shameless. He was soft on the front, but actually attacked from behind.
"Shua"
Changning had already drawn the sword from his waist.
The bearded man had a proud expression on his face. He lifted up the hem of his clothes and said triumphantly, "Did you see that I am an envoy of the Tang Dynasty? You can try to touch me, kid."
