The day after the soldiers who reported the news left, Guo Song ordered the construction of thousands of carts. This news made many people doubtful. Shi Cui Wenjing, the governor of Hexi Jiedu Prefecture, was one of those who didn't understand. He found
Guo Song.
"Why did the envoy build thousands of carts?" Cui Wenxiu asked doubtfully when he entered the door.
Guo Song smiled lightly and said: "Whether it is from Hexi to Beijing or from Ganzhou to Shazhou, a large amount of materials need to be transported. However, there is no big river in Hexi, so we can only rely on animal power for transportation. But I still think that camels alone are not enough. Large trucks are still needed.
For transportation, is Cui Changshi satisfied with this explanation?"
"Of course I can understand, but there are rumors in the city that the emperor wants to transport supplies from Hexi to Anxi. The emperor has made it clear that he will no longer support Anxi. We ourselves have insufficient supplies. Will this cause dissatisfaction among the people and soldiers?"
"Since it's a rumor, why should Cui Changshi care?"
"This humble post is just a friendly reminder."
"Thank you Cui Changshi for your kind reminder. As the chief officer of Hexi, I will consider everything and take responsibility for my own decisions."
Guo Song's answer was very decisive and he would not give Cui Wenjing any chance. Cui Wenjing was asking for trouble and had to leave in anger.
The military room of the Heavenly Supervisor has been closed these days. Tian Wenxiu stayed in the palace and did not come to the government office. The impeachment letter of ten thousand words three months ago ended up in vain, which made Tian Wenxiu extremely frustrated. The emperor did not give any explanation. He did not know where it was.
Something went wrong, and Tian Wenxiu spent a whole month in anxiety.
Finally, two months ago, he received a secret letter from the head of the family, Yuan Xuanhu, telling him that the impeachment letter had taken effect, but it would take time. Yuan Xuanhu asked him to stay as low-key as possible to protect himself.
Following the instructions from the head of the family, Tian Wenxiu no longer appeared in public and spent most of his time dormant in the house. However, he did not close his ears and eyes. He still sent his followers out to understand the situation and learned some information from Cui Wenjing.
At noon, Cui Wenjing arrived at the Supervisory Army Mansion, got out of the carriage, and saw a dozen internal guard soldiers standing in the distance, looking at them coldly.
"Tian Jianjun, it seems that everything around your house is under surveillance."
Tian Wenxiu snorted with a sullen face: "Of course our family knows that half of the entourage sent out by our family has not returned. In the past half month, our family has not dared to send anyone out, and the one named Guo has become more and more unscrupulous.
, our family thinks that apart from not publicly announcing it, he is actually separatist and rebelling."
The two walked into the lobby and the guests and hosts took their seats. Tian Wenxiu asked again: "How is the situation over there with Chang Shi?"
"Similar to you, the Sogdian merchant who sent me the pigeon message has disappeared. I haven't received any news from Lu Xiangguo for three months. I don't dare to send anyone out to deliver the message now. I'm afraid of being caught. I won't hide it from the supervisors.
My house is also being monitored."
The two of them were speechless for a moment. It was meaningless to even scold Guo Song now. Guo Song did this. This was power. They had no power to fight back in the face of power.
Tian Wenxiu was silent for a moment and said: "Our family still wants to send a letter to the Holy Emperor. Is there anything Chang Shi can do?"
"Is a letter important?" Cui Wenjing asked.
"Very important."
Cui Wenjing was silent for a moment and said: "There is actually only one way now, and that is to monitor the army and return to Beijing. Don't write any letters and report to the Holy One in person."
Tian Wenxiu said worriedly: "But... our family is afraid of being ambushed by someone named Guo on the way."
"This should not be the case. He did not really rebel. He would not assassinate the supervisor just to silence you. Once the supervisor is killed, the imperial court will blockade Hexi. All kinds of supplies cannot come, including wine.
Enter Beijing.
Although the military salary is in arrears now, the imperial court's transportation of other materials to Hexi is normal, and the wine of the Hexi Army can also be sold normally. No matter how much he hates you, there is no need to cause serious consequences of being blocked by the imperial court just to kill you. You are too young.
Look at Guo Song."
Tian Wenxiu was a little relieved. The head of the family also asked him to find an excuse to return to Chang'an. If he stayed in Hexi, he would be killed by Guo Song sooner or later. Before everyone turned against each other publicly, he left Hexi first.
Cui Wenjing took out a thick stack of information and gave it to him. He collected various situations in Hexi as the basis for Tian Wenxiu's work report.
In the afternoon, Tian Wenxiu found Guo Song and proposed that he would return to Beijing to report on his work. He hoped that Guo Song could send troops to protect him.
Just as Cui Wenjing judged, Guo Song did not embarrass Tian Wenxiu on this matter, but readily agreed to send a hundred cavalry to escort him back to the capital.
.........
There is a manor covering an area of 100 hectares in the northwest of Chang'an, called Fishing Manor. This is named after the manor owner Zhu Si loves fishing. There is no farmland in the manor, only large forests and grasslands, as well as rivers, ponds and lakes. Every summer and autumn,
Sometimes, Zhu Si would come here to stay for ten days and a half, fishing, hunting, and cultivating his character.
But this time, Zhu Si has lived here for a longer time. He has been here for three months since he resigned from Jingyuan in March. In his words, he is fat and riddled with all kinds of diseases.
He needed to find a beautiful countryside to rest and recuperate. Every day, famous doctors came from Chang'an to treat him. In addition to seeing the doctor and taking medicine, Zhu Si spent most of his time fishing by the river every day.
At the beginning, Emperor Li Shi often sent people to visit him. As time went by, Li Shi saw that Zhu Si was really recovering from his illness, so he gradually stopped paying attention to him and handed over the task of monitoring Zhu Si to the Cangjian Pavilion.
In fact, the reason Zhu Si wanted to live in the manor outside the city was not to recuperate and fish. The military power of the Jingyuan Army was still firmly in his hands. He needed to listen to reports and give instructions. It was inconvenient and easy to be discovered in the city.
In the manor outside the city, he could even sneak back to the military camp without anyone noticing.
Zhu Si successfully deceived the emperor Li Shi and began to implement his plan in full swing.
At noon that day, Taichang Qing Yuan Jin came to Fishing Manor on behalf of his father Yuan Xuanhu. Zhu Si personally came to the gate to welcome Yuan Jin's arrival.
The two rode horses slowly on the grass in the forest.
Faced with Yuan and Jin's dissatisfaction and doubts, Zhu Si had to explain: "The original plan was to take action in April, but the Youzhou Army's defeat on the Hedong battlefield disrupted our plan. I have already explained it to the head of the family and got through it."
The Hedong Corridor is a very important link connecting Youzhou and Guanzhong, and there is nothing I can do about it."
"My father means to modify the plan and not consider the support of the Youzhou Army. Now the Longyou Army, Fengxiang Army and Jingyuan Army are all in our hands, which is enough to deal with the tens of thousands of troops stationed in Bashang."
"And where are the defenders in the city and the palace?"
"Don't worry about that, we will make arrangements."
Zhu Si was silent for a moment and then asked: "What does the master of the family mean, when will he take action?"
Yuan Jin smiled slightly and said: "It's almost time. If you wait patiently, the time will come soon."
"What will you say after it's done?"
"We have agreed long ago that the Zhu family will benefit from the Zhu family's interests, and the Yuan family will benefit from the Yuan family's interests. We are collaborators and allies, and there is no conflict of interest."
Zhu Si squeezed out a fake smile on his face and nodded, "It's just as Yuan Gong said."
At this time, Zhu Si suddenly asked: "Although Zhu Tao failed to attack Hedong, do you believe that the Yuan family still has a backup plan?"
"What do you mean?"
Zhu Si smiled sinisterly and said, "I haven't seen my brother Yuan Lu for several months! How is he now?"
Yuan Jin glanced at him warily and said calmly: "Everything is fine with him. Don't worry, Duke Zhu is worried about him."
.........
At the foot of Hutu Mountain in the west of Taiyuan Prefecture, there is a large manor with a mountain area of 200 hectares. There are rivers, forests, hills and valley bottoms, as well as rows of houses. In a wide open space, there are nearly 10,000 Qingzhuang Villages.
Ding is training intensively.
"Kill!"
Ten thousand villagers were waving their spears in uniform. Seen from a high place, the dark training formation was very spectacular.
On a high platform in front of the open space, Yuan Lu watched Zhuang Ding's training expressionlessly, followed by five or six generals.
"Sanlang, why don't you put on armor and train?" Yuan Lu asked with some dissatisfaction.
Sanlang is a Yuan family child next to him, named Yuan Ren, who is Yuan Lu's nephew. He once served as the training envoy of the Shizhou regiment and has rich experience in training the army. Several other generals are all generals of the Yuan family and have served the Yuan family for generations.
, loyal and loyal.
Yuan Ren quickly bowed and said: "Reporting to my second uncle, if you wear armor, you will be too conspicuous. If you are seen by others, you will get into trouble."
In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, land annexation was extremely serious. Rich and powerful manors abounded. A large number of people disappeared from the government registration books and became vassals of the powerful. It was an open secret that the manors had villagers, but most of them only had one or two hundred villagers. In order to protect the manor,
Safety, like this large manor with tens of thousands of villagers in front of us, is still relatively rare in the Tang Dynasty.
Yuan Lu shook his head, "This won't work. You must wear armor and train. This is called a soldier. They themselves will also have military consciousness. Do you understand?"
"My nephew understands, let them put on armor."
Yuan Lu added: "I'm going to Jinyang County. I hope to see the majestic military training when I come back!"
"Follow the order!"
Yuan Lu immediately asked people to prepare horses, and he rode with more than a dozen followers to Jinyang County, which was dozens of miles away.