Chapter 181: Zong Lu summons the old department, and heir industry welcomes Shangguan
On a starry night with cold wind and lush snow peaks, Zong Lu led the carriage on the dry, cold and lonely plateau. Every few steps he would stop, push up his sleeves and rub his hands.
The climate in Congling is too harsh, with a huge temperature difference between day and night. It is as warm as spring during the day, but as cold as midwinter at night.
He looked back at the things in the car from time to time, and his heart couldn't help but tremble. He didn't expect that Li Siye would be willing to pay such a high price. There were thirty pieces of linen cloth, forty pieces of fine brocade, two hundred pieces of Tongbao, and more.
There are some gold, jade and porcelain.
Wealth made him excited. For the relatively poor Tubo people, this money was enough for him to live a stable and prosperous life, provided that he avoided the exploitation of the Dongdai nobles.
When he thought that all this money would be given to the greedy Dong Ben, his heart twitched, as if his beloved woman had been snatched away. And Li Siye was willing to pay so much money, which also frightened him. The Han people
It is all without profit and cannot be done early. The more money he invests now, the more ferocious the methods he will use to extract returns in the future. For him, this is undoubtedly a political loan shark.
He looked back and saw dots of torches on the wasteland behind him, like headless flies or scattered fireflies.
He was flustered but waited in disbelief. If nothing unexpected happened, this would be Li Siye's second promise.
Zong Lu stopped his horse, turned around and came to the back of the carriage, stepped onto the top of the carriage, held the scabbard in his hand and drew out the broad-edged sword. If these were some bandits in the green wilderness, he would risk his life.
Preserve this life-saving wealth.
The fireflies seemed to have found their direction, holding torches and gathering into one force, swarming towards the Udo River. They crossed the bonfire in the distance, then saw the ruts, and followed the traces of the ruts to the carriage.
Everyone held torches and surrounded the cart in the center. The blazing firelight shone on Zong Lu's face, making him look wary but sad.
"Five hundred total?"
Although Zong Lu was in a sorry state at the moment, he was much stronger than they imagined. He was still wrapped in chain mail, holding a scabbard in his left hand and a sword in his right hand. He looked not majestic but majestic.
"Will Five Hundred always be here waiting for us?"
"That's right," Zong Lu said with enthusiasm, "I'm waiting for you. Let's go back to Tanjuling and go home together!"
"But, Mr. Five Hundred." The two leading veterans said, wiping away tears and runny noses: "We have suffered such a huge defeat. How can Dongbenka Gelu forgive us? Even if we go back, we will be sent to the glaciers and snowy mountains.
Zhongsheyang.”
"You don't have to worry, what's under my feet now is the property of the Hidden Department seized by Mr. Ben Qian, a whole cart full of it! As long as these seizures are handed over to Dong Dai Dong Ben, I will also show them in front of Dong Ben.
Please intercede for everyone and we will all be exempted from punishment. Suck!"
Zong Lu raised his sleeve and wiped his nose, then asked everyone with hesitant expressions on their faces: "Did any of you pick up a precious sword?"
Everyone looked at each other in confusion, and Zong Lu felt a little cold. It seemed that Li Siye had broken his promise.
"I picked it up!" One person raised the horizontal knife in his hand high and pushed the crowd to the front of Zong Lu. He raised his hands and offered it to him: "I picked this up outside the sheep pen that was guarded by Congling.
, the others were just trying to escape, but I was the only one who saw this ownerless knife."
Zong Lu took the Heng Dao, held it in his hand and pulled it out. Silver light suddenly emitted into the night. He then closed his hands and felt that the knife was ordinary and not like the saber often used by generals.
However, it is up to him to explain. As long as he determines who the knife belongs to, then it belongs to whom.
"No, the owner of this sword is General Gayancong, the leader of the Sanya Division, but now he has been captured by us!"
The knife-presenter opened his mouth in confusion. This was obviously a picked-up knife, so why did it become a confiscated one?
The others had already pushed him aside, and shouted loudly with understanding: "Yes, this is the sword that the Five Hundred Masters seized from the Master of the Hidden Kingdom. It is also a great achievement. We don't have to worry about punishment when we go back, let alone exile!"
"
Zong Lu nodded with satisfaction, hung the knife on his right waist, stepped on the shaft of the chariot himself, held the whip, raised his arms and shouted: "Everyone, follow me, let's return to Tanju Ridge!"
In the night at the foothills of the Karakoram Mountains, a group of ragged people were on their way home. Zong Lu sat on the shaft of the carriage and looked back in the distance. The guards were lined up in a long line, and no one was left behind. They never imagined that they had already
They became traitors to Tubo, and even they themselves were the conditions for this rebellion.
…
Two days later, Congling Shouchuo welcomed a superior who had never set foot before, Shule Town envoy Fu Meng Lingcha. Since Fu Meng's family is one of the Qiang people with the surname Ma, the Anxi army often called him Ma Lingcha.
Check.
The weather was sunny and cloudless on this day, with snow-capped mountains in the distance and excellent visibility, which was just the right time to welcome the leaders for inspection.
Li Siye gathered more than a hundred soldiers in Congling. The two teams lined up on both sides of the city gate, eagerly awaiting Ma Lingcha's arrival.
Since he came to Anxi Congling and took office, he has not met his direct superior. However, according to his known historical knowledge, if not counting the Qixi Governor Gai, who commanded Anxi and Beiting,
With good luck, this Ma Lingcha will be the governor of the four towns and the protector of Anxi in the future. Although such thighs are not too thick, they must be carried up as a temporary step.
Li Siye looked up and saw dozens of crimson flags appearing between two mountains in the distance. The flags were fluttering in the strong west wind. A horse team of more than a hundred people stepped on the flying dust and slowly marched towards the defenders.
Come here from Zhuocheng.
"Here we come," Li Siye solemnly rearranged his clothes to make himself look more energetic. Unfortunately, he didn't have a small mirror, so he could only make up his own mind about his appearance.
The first impression is very important in the eyes of Shangguan. People with good looks can easily get high positions. Even if a person with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks is a talented person and wins the Jinshi, he may only be a ninth-grade official in his life.
Ma Lingcha led the cavalry team to the front of Shouchu City. Li Siye quickly dismounted with everyone else, knelt on the ground and crossed his hands on his chest: "I will lead the Congling Shouchu 183 Cavalry to visit the Ma Zhen Envoy!"
Ma Lingcha's face was plump and slightly elongated, his complexion was red, and his long beard hung down to his chest. His appearance slightly resembled that of Guan Gong, but he did not have the spirit of Guan Gong. When he heard the number of people reported by Li Siye, he was slightly surprised and stroked his beard and said: "Why?
So many people exceed the established establishment, right?"
Li Siye raised his head and answered truthfully: "There are many young talents in the Hepantuo and Sanya tribes who are eager to join our Tang army. My subordinates saw that their archery skills were good, so they accepted them under the banner. Although they were overstaffed,
The humble post is still reported as one hundred and sixty-three people, and the salary of the more than 20 people is paid by the humble post out of its own pocket."
Ma Lingcha nodded approvingly. After dismounting, he stroking his beard and walked around in front of the guards in formation. From time to time, he would pat a soldier on the shoulder or ask them to open their palms and look at them.
"I heard that many of the border guard cities are living on empty pay. There are only a few dozen soldiers, but they dare to report more than a hundred people to pretend to be paid. When a superior officer comes to inspect, they find a group of white men to pretend to be soldiers.
.You guys are on guard in Congling, so there is nothing like this, right?"
Li Siye replied angrily: "As the envoy of Ma Zhen, I have never done anything deceitful in capturing the city."
Ma Lingcha walked up to him, held his arms with both hands and helped him up. He nodded approvingly and said, "You are doing your job well as a guard. Your armor is brand new and your soldiers are like soldiers. You can fight with one hundred and forty soldiers."
Yu Qi defeated a thousand-man Tibetan army, defeating the many with less, and defeating the strong with the weak. This can be regarded as an example for me to defend and capture the city in Anxi!"
Ma Lingcha was very stingy with verbal praise, at least in Li Siye's view. If others didn't praise him, he couldn't help but praise himself, so he loudly replied: "What Ma Zhenzhao said is wrong. Although he can win with less, he can't help but praise himself."