(Thank you very much to ‘Lonely Hero’, ‘Kai Ka II’, and ‘Fat Du Du’ for their generous support and monthly ticket support.)
In November of the fourth year of Renshou's reign in the Sui Dynasty, Zhangye County experienced its first heavy snowfall of the year.
It was almost evening, and Jiang Yishan, the governor of Zhangye County, lit a pine oil lamp to add a little warmth to the room.
With his status, he has the charcoal to distribute, but Jiang Yishan is not willing to use it. He firmly believes that the more superior the environment, the harder it is to maintain a hard life. A comfortable life will make people less enterprising
, and he was born in an ordinary aristocratic family, not even a noble family. He was considered superior to ordinary people and poor families, but compared with the top noble families in the Sui Dynasty, he was like a mouse and a tiger.
And he is even the largest official in the Jiang family within the five generations. This is inseparable from his strong enterprising spirit, or strong ambition.
And this is also the reason why Jiang Yishan has always retained his simple living habits.
In addition, compared to the vast majority of prefects who are purely civil servants, Jiang Yishan is considered to be both civil and military. He even learned military skills from others when he was young, and became good at marksmanship. He has also practiced martial arts frequently over the years, and has never been unfamiliar with it.
.
Looking at the heavy snow outside, Jiang Yishan remembered that it was snowing like this on the day his father died. Then he remembered the last few words his father held tightly to his hand and said when he passed the Jiang family patriarch to him before his death.
Last words.
"I must make our Jiang family become the top family in the Sui Dynasty and become a member of the family." Jiang Yishan murmured to himself, picked up the golden gun with a tiger head and strode out of the room.
Standing in the yard, he remembered that Ying Yanglang General Li Fengyun had left the city ten days ago and has not returned yet. He also thought about the news that a few days ago the people from the Jingzhong clan came with fast horses about the young poisonous general who had succeeded Li Fengyun.
My mood couldn't help but become extra gloomy.
He could guess what Li Fengyun was going to do, and he could also think of the emperor's deep meaning in letting Wang Junlin succeed Li Fengyun without any reason. This involved the most dangerous battle between imperial power and powerful families in the Sui Dynasty. This vortex was too deep.
, with the power of their Jiang family, he, a little prefect with no background, is not qualified to participate in this matter.
It's a pity that he knows very well that the tree wants to be still but the wind doesn't stop. Li Fengyun has not come back yet, and the three thousand cavalry of Wang Junlin Gaotaicheng were ordered by Li Fengyun and the new supervisor Yu Zhongwen to the hinterland of Tuyuhun. This is
He could fully imagine what kind of battle or war was going on behind.
Thinking that he, the dignified chief officer of Zhangye County, was being ignored by both parties, he felt happy and at the same time extremely depressed. He gave a soft drink and waved his spear. It brought out streaks of light. The tip of the spear trembled, and seven or eight spear flowers danced out. Then
The big gun was like a dragon coming out of the sea. It was flying up and down, with gloomy air gushing out from the chest, and he was shouting loudly. The gun was hanging in the wind, and was dancing with the flying snow in the sky.
"Okay, Governor Jiang is good at shooting!"
Just as Jiang Yishan's gun dance was getting underway, someone nearby suddenly cheered loudly, clapped and laughed.
The big gun struck the edge and the giant python turned over. Jiang Yishan stepped back and turned to look to the side. He saw a man in his forties or fifties standing with his hands behind his back and smiling at him.
Jiang Yishan was stunned for a moment, then he recognized the person and his pupils shrank slightly. Then he looked at the embarrassed look on the butler's face next to him and the palm prints on his face. He knew that the other person had come in directly without letting the butler inform him. He couldn't help but feel angry.
, but considering that this person's identity and family status were beyond his reach, he did not dare to show any displeasure on his face. Instead, he raised his gun with a look of surprise, saluted and said, "Mr. Yu,
Why didn't you inform me in advance that you were here, so I could go out ten miles from the city to meet you?"
Yu Zhongwen was very satisfied with Jiang Yishan's attitude. He smiled and supported Jiang Yishan and said: "Master Jiang's choke gun makes him more and more beautiful. I have long heard that the prefect of Zhangye County is both civil and military.
When I see you today, your reputation is well-deserved!"
"Mr. Yu has given me the reward. I just danced casually!" Jiang Yishan quickly thought in his mind what Yu Zhongwen's arrival meant? What was his purpose?
As for Li Fengyun, he had already arranged for his confidants to keep an eye on the city gate and General Ying Yanglang's mansion. If he came back, he would know as soon as possible. Now that he has not received any news, it means that Li Fengyun has not come yet. And the fact that Li Fengyun has not come means that
What are you wearing?
"Master Jiang, there is no need to be humble. With your talents, if there is strong support in the court, how can Wang Tong, the governor of Yongzhou, take his turn?" Yu Zhongwen narrowed his eyes and said casually, and did not wait for Jiang Yishan to answer.
He waved his hand to signal the entourage behind him to leave, and pulled Jiang Yishan into the room as a guest. He suddenly frowned and said inexplicably: "I have known for a long time that Mr. Jiang is an upright official. I didn't want to have a brazier in the room during the snowy day."
No."
Jiang Yishan hurriedly said: "Yu Gong has disgraced Xianguan. When Xianguan was a child, he listened to his father reading a book. One of the passages goes like this: Heaven is going to assign a great responsibility to this person, and he must first work hard on his will, strain his muscles and bones, and be hungry.
I think this is a good saying. Those who want to achieve great things must always be alert. If they are greedy for enjoyment, they will lose their fighting spirit."
Yu Zhongwen nodded repeatedly and said meaningfully: "Master Jiang is right, but Master Jiang has high fighting spirit and no matter how good his official position is, if there is no one in the court to support him at the critical moment, I am afraid it will be difficult to achieve great things."
sky."
Jiang Yishan seemed not to hear the hint in Yu Zhongwen's words, and shouted to the butler outside the door: "Master Yu is here, why don't you order someone to bring the brazier immediately?"
After a while, Jiang Yishan's personal entourage brought a brazier, which added a little more warmth to the room.
Jiang Yishan thought about it again and again, but asked directly: "I wonder what happened when Mr. Yu suddenly came to Zhangye County and went straight to the lower official's office?"
Yu Zhongwen sighed, stared at Jiang Yishan, and said: "A few days ago, part of the Turkic army suddenly went south from the Hetao area. Li Fengyun dispatched a total of 10,000 Shapingguan and Shifengzhai defenders to ambush
The Turkic army unexpectedly colluded with the Turks and launched a sneak attack on our army. As a result, our Sui Dynasty's 10,000-strong border army was wiped out, and General Li Fengyun also died for his country."
"What, this...how is this possible? Then Wang Junlin..." Jiang Yishan was startled, his face changed, he couldn't help but stood up and said in a low voice.
Yu Zhongwen's expression darkened, and he snorted coldly, saying: "Master Jiang, are you questioning my words? That Wang Junlin has a vicious mind. All the officials in the court have long suspected that he has unknown origins, and now he has done such treasonous things."
, what’s all the fuss about?”
"Forgive me, I have no intention of doing so. I just felt a little offended when I heard the news." Jiang Yishan's face changed slightly and he bowed to apologize to Yu Zhongwen.
At the same time, while secretly cursing Yu Zhongwen, the old thief, he was also thinking about what the other party wanted to do. Now it seemed that it was a foregone conclusion that he wanted to drag him into the water, but what should he do himself?