In the vast desert of Sandbank, there is a camel walking slowly on the undulating sand dunes.
There was a man lying on the back of the camel. His ragged clothes exposed his back, and his back was covered with scars.
This former seventh-rank official of the Anxi Protectorate joined the military and had a bright future with unlimited glory. Unfortunately, he made a mistake and offended someone he shouldn't have offended. He ended up like this. In the end, he was even worse than a beggar.
He closed his eyes tightly and lay on the camel. He didn't know what he was thinking in his heart. Did he regret what he had done? It was so stupid and ridiculous to think about it. He also helped his cousin Lu Qian to exclude others, but in the end
In the end, someone else used his cousin to get rid of him.
Life is so absurd, and there are some coincidences that even he can't believe. It's like a few miles away behind him, a fool riding a skinny horse has been driven back to his hometown just like himself.
They are actually a pair of brothers who should have sympathy for each other, but they already have unforgivable rifts and conflicts between them. To be honest, if it weren't for his injuries, he would have turned back now based on his temper. As a result, that ungrateful fool
.
Lu Qian may be feeling guilty in his heart, perhaps not because of his cousin, but because he is ashamed of his stupid behavior, which is why he is unwilling to face Xiao Ting.
Logically speaking, no matter how big the conflicts between their cousins are, they should first fend off powerful enemies externally and then resolve them privately. But the real fact is that the conflicts, misunderstandings and repression between the brothers are getting bigger and bigger, and the rift between them is getting bigger and bigger.
The dissatisfaction even exceeded the fear of outsiders. So when Lu Qian learned that he seemed to be plotted by his cousin, he chose to betray him without hesitation.
Sure enough, the brothers were enemies in their previous lives, and so were the cousins.
Lu Qian was muttering on his horse when suddenly there was a shadow blocking the sunlight in front of him, but three or four swordsmen wearing sheepskin jackets with their legs wrapped in torn furs stood in front of him on horseback.
Although he was panic-stricken, he pretended to be calm and saluted and handed over his hands: "You heroes, do you want to steal your wealth? I have something worth asking for, so feel free to take it!"
One of the swordsmen smiled with yellow teeth, took out the horizontal knife from his waist and patted it in his hand, saying: "That's right. I stretched out my neck on my own initiative. We can swing the knife faster and it will definitely not hurt."
Lu Qian screamed and did not even have the guts to pull out the knife from his waist. He whipped his riding whip and ran towards his cousin Xiao Ting.
As long as his horse is fast enough and can surpass Xiao Ting, these people will definitely kill Xiao Ting first, and maybe they can buy time to escape.
The swordsmen just looked at each other and smiled, and the five of them surrounded Lu Qian in five directions. Lu Qian shouted and passed Xiao Ting, begging for mercy: "Don't kill me, don't kill me, kill the camel rider."
That person, he is not a good person!"
Xiao Ting calmly lay down on the camel and chuckled. These murderous swordsmen passed by him, and he laughed even more wildly.
"Haha, good kill!"
There was a pool of hot blood on the dry sand dunes, and Lu Qian's head was taken off and thrown on the ground. The unknown swordsman returned on horseback and surrounded the camel. Xiao Ting was still lying lazily on the camel, smiling with his eyes closed.
: "As expected, we must kill them all without leaving any further trouble. I, Xiao Ting, will not die unjustly. Come on!"
The five swordsmen looked at each other, and one of them stepped forward and drew his sword out of its sheath.
Crack!
…
The Anxi Protectorate's Cang Cao joined the army and was considered a very fat man. The transportation of grain and grass, the distribution of armor, and the supply of weapons and equipment in Anxi were all arranged by Wu Sangao. No amount of dirty work in private was enough.
It's just for outsiders.
Li Siye had been having a heated relationship with Wu Canjun these days. He entertained Wu Sangao almost every day in the most upscale wine shop in Qiuci. While they were drinking and drinking, there was a beautiful Hu girl in fox fur accompanying him, and Kang
The beauties in Juju were dancing twirling on the stage, their long pink silk skirts swaying like sea waves.
Although the consumption level in border towns like Qiuci is not as good as that of Luoyang in the east or Chang'an in the west, if Li Siye spends as much money as he does, he still needs thousands of dollars to be poured out like water every day. The eyes of Fujimu and Tian Zhen standing by are staring at him.
Jumping, frightened.
This is all the hard-earned money that the Congling shouchu used to pop out with a cotton bow, and the hard-earned money that the women of Congling sewn stitch by stitch. Even if he has a box of five hundred kilograms of gold, if he wants to make it like this,
Sooner or later, there will be a day when everything is empty.
Wu Sangao was sitting on the Hu bed, and his big butt occupied the entire Hu bed. Hu Nu had no choice but to twist her waist and sit on his lap, holding a wine glass and feeding him wine.
Fujimaki and Tian Zhen were not very comfortable with this scene, so they just sat at another table away from them, feeling quite contemptuous of the big fat man in their hearts.
Li Siye spread his hands flat on the table, and there was a Hu girl sitting next to him. However, Li Siye was not very close to Hu Nu, and Hu Nu did not dare to get too close, because his face seemed to have written - I don't like it.
you.
Wu Sangao put down his wine glass, exhaled with satisfaction and said: "Si Yelang, you are so interesting. I, Wu Sangao, don't have much ability, but the only thing I have is loyalty. In the future, Si Yelang, you will have errands.
Just give the orders, and the three high-ranking officials will go through fire and water without hesitation."
Li Siye grinned and nodded, took out a gold lotus bowl with gold patterns from his arms, and pushed it in front of Wu Sangao.
"I heard that you believe deeply in Mahayana Buddhism in Tianzhu. This golden bowl was bought from a businessman in Tianzhu. You see, the golden lotus at the bottom of the bowl is carved to imitate the Buddha Sakyamuni sitting on the lotus platform.
, if you use it with you every day, you will gain merit."
Wu Sangao lowered his head and glanced at the golden bowl. He quickly stretched out his hands to reject it: "No, no, absolutely no. How can I accept such a precious gift from you if I have no merit and no reward?"
"Please be sure to accept it, otherwise it will be difficult to bear the inheritance."
"No, no, if you need any help from me, just ask, but this gift is still not..."
"Brother Sangao, I will feel uneasy if you don't accept me."
"You speak first."
"No, you take it first."
"Okay." Wu Sangao glanced around, took the golden bowl and stuffed it into his arms, and then asked in a generous manner: "Siye Lang has grain, cloth, and ironware in his hands, do you want to sell them? If so,
You have a lot of this kind of stuff, and I can put it into my library at a price that is 10% higher than the official price."
"No," Li Siye shook his head: "I just want to spend money to buy something from you."
"Buy something from me?" Wu Sangao was surprised at first, then shook his head and smiled: "In addition to food and grass, I also have weapons and armor. There is nothing you can like."
"Yes, it's armor, and I want to buy good armor."
Wu Sangao looked embarrassed and asked, "Are you kidding me?"
The early military system of the Tang Empire adopted the fubing system. There were more than 600 zhechong fus in the country, divided into three levels: upper, middle and lower. There were 1,200 people in the upper fu, 1,000 in the middle and 800 in the lower.
They took turns staying in the capital to guard the capital, and the sixteen guards of Nanya led the army from all over the country.
The soldiers of the government stayed in the farm, cultivated during the farming season, and trained in their free time. When necessary, they went to guard the capital or guard the borders, and were exempted from rent and transfer. However, the soldiers needed to prepare their own horses, weapons, armor, and dry food. In the past, the Cangcao treasury was provided to the general public.
Fubing is open to the public. As long as you have money, you can buy armor and weapons. This is how the saying that the poor in culture and the rich in military affairs come from.
However, after the land equalization system was destroyed, the military system of the government was also in decline. Zhechong Prefecture only had captains and no senior soldiers. In the late Kaiyuan period, Emperor Li Longji adopted Zhang Shuo's suggestion and personally recruited strong men to supplement the Sixth Army of Beiya, which was called
As Chang Cong Su Wei, these people are not like regular soldiers who want everything. As long as you report empty-handedly, everything will be distributed by the court.
In order to better control the army, the Tang government did not open armor to grassroots soldiers. Only the military governors and governors of border towns could purchase military supplies. So the question came, should Wu Sangao use the military supplies in the treasury?