After the Tang Dynasty destroyed the Eastern Turks and the Xueyantuo Khanate in the year of Zhenguan, the main enemy has always been in the west.

From Gaozong to Wu Zetian, and then to the current Kaiyuan Tianbao year, the Western Regions have always been a problem for the Tang Dynasty, especially after the combination of Tubo and the small countries in the Western Regions, the Tang Dynasty's control over the Western Regions has been declining one after another, and it has been a saw-like stalemate.

The evil consequences of the encirclement of the powerful landlords to measure the land are presented in the foreign war, the land encirclement has caused an increase in the number of landless peasants, the government military system has gradually been destroyed, and the emergence of the mercenary system has reduced the combat effectiveness of the army, so although the Tang Dynasty is now a prosperous era that is rare to see in a thousand years, the victory and defeat rate in the foreign war is much lower than that of Taizong Gaozong.

There are more and more defeats, morale is getting more and more sluggish, the wolves in the Western Regions are waiting, the pressure on the soldiers of the four towns of Anxi is getting heavier and heavier, and the monarchs and ministers of Chang'an are immersed in the singing, dancing and drinking of the prosperous era, but they neglect to pay attention to the Anxi Protectorate, which is thousands of miles away, and even the logistics supply is intermittent.

This is the current situation in the four towns of Anxi.

Zhang Jiuzhang and Gu Qing talked a lot, and their tone was full of pessimism.

"Gao Xianzhi is a famous general, but unfortunately he is too stubborn, too conceited, so there is the defeat of Talas, the old man speculates on the holy will, Your Majesty may have the intention of transferring Gao Xianzhi from the Western Regions, but Gao Xianzhi has a high prestige in the hearts of the soldiers in the four towns of Anxi, and he was rashly transferred away for fear ......of mutiny" Zhang Jiuzhang shook his head and sighed: "Your Majesty is already jealous of Gao Xianzhi, if he is transferred back to Chang'an, most of them will be crowned high-ranking officials and tied up in the cabinet." ”

Gu Qing thought for a while and said: "I think Gao Xianzhi's strategy for the Western Regions is wrong, my nephew asked Zuo Wei some soldiers who had been in Anxi, they are all General Yun Gao is too strong and tyrannical to the countries of the Western Regions, and any small country or tribe will destroy the country and the clan at every turn if it is a little reckless, so that the countries of the Western Regions dare not speak out against the Tang Dynasty Anxi, and the destroyed Shi Kingdom led the Great Food Country to the Western Regions to fight with the Anxi Protectorate, and then there was a defeat of Talas. ”

Zhang Jiuzhang pondered for a moment and said with a smile: "Your understanding of the Western Regions is quite unique, yes, Gao Xianzhi's suppression and tyranny of the countries of the Western Regions is also one of the reasons why the hearts of the people of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions are gradually lost. Now that you know this, you may be able to do something when you come to Anxi......"

Immediately, Zhang Jiuzhang sighed again: "Gu Qing, if you can refuse, it's best to refuse, the four towns of Anxi are dangerous and complicated, you can say it all in a few words, after entering Anxi, you can be described as killing step by step, not only to beware of the sneak attacks and assassinations of the countries in the Western Regions, but even to beware of the hostility of the soldiers within the Anxi Protectorate." ”

"I am an official transferred by the edict, why are the Tang soldiers hostile to me?"

"Because the soldiers of the Anxi Protectorate are not only my Datang Guanzhong disciples, but also many soldiers of different races and foreign countries, who are hired by the Tang Dynasty and obey the orders of the Jiedu envoys, these people are not my race, unruly, quite hostile to outsiders, and even many people secretly collude with the countries of the Western Regions, these are all things that the old man heard in Honglu Temple, I don't know if it's true or not, but you have to listen seriously and prepare in advance."

Gu Qing nodded.

I have long heard that the Tang army in the Tianbao period was mixed, and later historians even joked about it as the "United Nations Army", and there are many foreigners in the Tang Dynasty army today, including Khitan, Xi, Turkic and even cannibals, the tolerance policy of the Tang Dynasty is one of them, and after the government military system was destroyed, it had to lead barbarian soldiers into the army to improve combat effectiveness.

Thinking that he was about to face the internal and external troubles of the four towns of Anxi, as well as all kinds of open and secret battles, Gu Qingtou was big.

He even began to seriously think about whether it was too late to regret it with Li Longji at this time, and it was better to change places casually.

The thought was fleeting, he didn't dare to mention the words of repentance, if Li Longji changed him to An Lushan's territory, it would be better to go to Anxi, the wolves were waiting for him to use his brains, and throwing him on the territory of An Lushan was equivalent to entering a tiger cage, and there was nowhere to run.

Zhang Jiuzhang can only say these things about Anxi, and he actually doesn't know many things, after all, it is only Honglu Siqing who has been in Chang'an for a long time, and Zhang Jiuzhang can only say part of what he hearsays selectively, and he has too many words to say true and false, he is afraid that it will affect Gu Qing's judgment and cause irreparable consequences.

Gu Qing was originally going to say goodbye, but then he thought of something, sat down again, hesitated for a moment, and said softly: "Second uncle, Huaiyu is in trouble with her parents......"

Zhang Jiuzhang smiled indifferently and said, "Don't worry about us." ”

"He's your nephew after all, don't you care?"

Zhang Jiuzhang smiled and said: "The old man's nephew has a mediocre temperament, but the good thing is that he married a good lady, she was born in a family, and her temperament is quite spicy, since she is so capable, why should the old man take action?" The old man believes that she will be able to solve it perfectly. ”

Gu Qingle is very old, and his speech is still so bad, it seems that Zhang Jiuzhang is also quite dissatisfied with Zhang Zheng's wife in the main room, this time seeing that his nephew's family property is in trouble, he is not willing to help, most likely because of the lady in the main room.

Gu Qing has only one side relationship with her, Zhang Xie gave him the impression that he was domineering, and there was an inexplicable sense of superiority between his words and deeds, maybe it was the background of the family that gave her confidence, if she was a child of the family, she might get used to her style, but in Gu Qing's eyes, she only felt tired and uncomfortable.

…………

After saying goodbye, he walked out of the front hall, Gu Qing also planned to go to the backyard to meet Zhang Huaiyu and invite her to go to Qujiangchi for a stroll.

Walking into the garden in the backyard, Gu Qing heard someone talking not far from the left, so he slowed down his pace and then frowned.

There was a man's voice.

"Zhang Huaiyu, what's the use of the Zhang family's support? In such a desperate situation at home, you actually stood by and watched, have the Zhang family's food been fed to the dogs over the years? The man's voice was hoarse and emotional.

Zhang Huaiyu's cold voice came: "When I was in the Zhang family, why did you treat me as the Zhang family?" Everything in the Zhang family has nothing to do with me, Zhang Huaixing, you have found the wrong person. ”

Gu Qing suddenly turned out to be his nominal brother-in-law.

Listening to the voice, he is not angry, revealing a bit of the taste of Fang Tang Mirror, "Come on, come on, come and beat me stupid."

"Zhang Huaiyu, don't ask you for anything else, your parents can't pull their faces, you go and beg the second ancestor, he is one of the Jiuqing, if he makes a move, our family's industry will definitely have a turnaround."

Zhang Huaiyu said coldly: "My parents are juniors, why don't they go to the second ancestor by themselves?" ”

"They begged when they first came to Chang'an, but the second ancestor Weng was unwilling to help."

Zhang Huaiyu snorted coldly: "I should go and beg him?" Zhang Huaixing, this is the trouble you caused, you can solve it yourself, don't involve others. Even if it can't be solved, it doesn't matter, without three silk shops, our family still has hundreds of hectares of fertile land, and the Zhang family will not die of hunger. ”

Zhang Huaixing was silent for a moment, and said in a low voice: "No, you also help beg Gu Qing, he is a very favored courtier in front of His Majesty, an official in the middle of the general, and a county marquis." It is said that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also has a good impression of Gu Qing, Du Feng's father Du Hong is gradually quite loyal to the East Palace, if Gu Qing says something to the prince, maybe the Du family will be restrained......"

Zhang Huaiyu sneered: "Zhang Huaixing, your skin is not ordinarily thick, the trouble of these three silk shops is caused by you, you are set up by others, you are fascinated by beauty, and you lose money gambling with others, but today you are embarrassed to let me help you ask for someone, worthy of the Zhang family's unicorn, good luck." ”

Zhang Huaixing finally became angry: "Zhang Huaiyu, it's good to say that you just don't agree, the Zhang family has really raised a wolf that can't be fed well over the years!" ”

Zhang Huaiyu's voice became colder and colder: "I live under the eaves of the Zhang family with my mother, why did you treat our mother and daughter as people?" Zhang Huaixing, the Zhang family raised you since you were a child, but you lost the Zhang family's industry in one fell swoop, you are the real wolf. ”

Zhang Huaixing was furious: "The is looking for death!" ”

Gu Qing chuckled in his heart, hurriedly rushed out with an arrow step, and saw a young man of medium stature in front of Zhang Huaiyu who was slapping Zhang Huaiyu in the face.

Gu Qing was furious, and without thinking about it, he kicked the man upside down, and flew four or five steps before falling heavily to the ground.

Too lazy to see Zhang Huaixing's fate, Gu Qing turned to look at Zhang Huaiyu and said softly, "You're not injured, are you?" ”

Zhang Huaiyu glanced at him angrily and said, "What are you doing when you come out?" With his skills, do you think he can get close to me? ”

Gu Qing was suddenly a little embarrassed: "...... You give me a chance to save the beauty as a hero, otherwise it seems that I am too incompetent, and it will be difficult for my husband to cheer up in the future. ”

Zhang Huaiyu's face flushed, and he turned his head to look away, but there was a shy chuckle on the corner of his mouth.

Only then did Gu Qing turn around and look at Zhang Huaixing.

Zhang Huaixing's appearance is extraordinary, there is a bit of similarity between Zhang Huaiyu's eyebrows, Zhang Zheng's genes are very strong, but at this moment Zhang Huaixing is very unbearable, lying on the ground with his stomach covered, ouch and screaming, there are even a few drops of sweat oozing from his forehead, and his face is painful.

Gu Qing was a little strange.

The kick I had just now wasn't heavy, so it wouldn't be so painful, right?

"You...... Who are you? Zhang Huaixing finally remembered the perpetrator after calling for a while.

Gu Qing squatted in front of him and smiled: "My name is Gu Qing, you just said that your sister is a wolf, then I am about to be a wolf man." ”

Zhang Huaixing's face changed immediately: "You are Gu Qing?" ”

"Yes, I was the one who kicked you just now, and you can fight back if you are not convinced."

Zhang Huaixing didn't dare to fight back, although he was the son of the county order, but for some reason he was quite familiar with the officialdom of Chang'an, who was the celebrity in front of today's son, who had great power, and whose family background was deep.

This kind of problem of touting the big man and exalting himself incidentally still exists after thousands of years.

Gu Qing is also the person he often mentions with his friends about wine and meat recently, especially the friendship between the Gu family and the Zhang family in the old years, which is even more catchy and never tires of talking.

Who knew that when they met for the first time today, Gu Qing rewarded him without saying a word.