"Huh?" Fan Ziming's face was surprised.

The light in my father's study was on.

Fan Chong is a businessman, and he rarely goes to the study on weekdays. In addition, he has the habit of going to bed early, so he goes to bed early at this time on weekdays. At this moment, the light was still on in the study, which made Fan Ziming feel very surprised.

"Tuk Tuk!" There was a knock on the door outside the study.

"Is it Ziming? Come on in! Fan Chong's tired voice sounded in the study.

Fan Ziming entered the study, and he was taken aback when he looked at his father under the light. I didn't see him for a few hours, and my father seemed to be a different person.

"Father, you are ......"

Fan Chongqiang said energetically: "It's nothing, my father may be tired!" By the way, how is the situation when I went to Lu Gongzi's mansion for a banquet today? ”

Fan Ziming told the story before and after.

Fan Chong couldn't help but bow his head and ponder.

After a long time, Fan Chong said to his son: "Ziming, this Lu Gongzi is not simple, you have to try your best to make friends with him, maybe in the future, our Fan family will be in trouble, and he can still help!" ”

"Is the Fan family in trouble?" Fan Ziming was shocked, "How could it be?" Why did my father say this? ”

Fan Chong sighed and said: "From ancient times to the present, businessmen are nothing in the eyes of the government, they are guests when they are needed, they stand aside when they are not, and they are prisoners when they are scapegoats!" Everyone thinks that our Fan family has infinite scenery, and maybe one day it will suddenly fall like a building. ”

Speaking of this, Fan Chong suddenly asked, "You used to have a little success in reading, do you know why your father didn't let you continue to study?" ”

Fan Ziming lowered his head: "I know, it's because of the identity of our Fan family, even if the book is read well, it's useless!" ”

The Tang Dynasty was divided into Shinong and industrial commerce, and merchants were ranked last, and their children were not allowed to participate in the imperial examination. A businessman's son like Fan Ziming basically has no other chance to enter the ranks of scholars except to inherit his father's family business and become another businessman.

Fan Ziming has loved reading since he was a child, and he can't participate in the imperial examination because of his identity, which is an eternal pain in his heart. Perhaps his future life will be to engage in trade between the north and the south, or to be a small shopkeeper engaged in usury. However, this is not the life he wants at all!

"There are reasons for this, but more importantly I want you to know that this world is not as beautiful as you think, and there are many cruel and ugly things. Through experience, you should understand that there are many things in this world that are unpredictable. We can't control the chances, but we can control ourselves. We can't predict the future, but we can grasp the present. We can't know how long our lives are, but we can arrange our lives in the moment! ”

Fan Ziming looked at his father in a daze, it was the first time he had heard his father say such profound words.

"As for our Fan family's merchant status!" Fan Chong's voice changed and he suddenly asked, "You said that Lu Xiaoxian is a student of Guozijian?" ”

Fan Ziming nodded: "That's right, his pass is recorded like this!" ”

Fan Chong smiled faintly: "I dare to conclude that he is by no means a student of Guozijian!" ”

"Huh?" Fan Ziming's eyes widened.

"Therefore, identity is not reliable, and there will be exceptions to many things in this world. is like this Lu Xiaoxian, no one knows where he came from, but he can get the identity of a student of Guozijian. Fan Chong solemnly admonished, "Remember my words today, if one day our Fan family is down, you must try to enter the ranks, become a member of the official family, and be a good official in the future!" ”

Coming out of his father's study, Fan Ziming was preoccupied. Father's words tonight made his heart extremely heavy.

"Young Master!" The butler waiting outside the door cautiously asked, "How is the master?" ”

Fan Ziming asked strangely, "What's wrong with my father today?" ”

"I don't know!" The housekeeper shook his head and said, "After Yan Changshi came to visit the master, the master's mood became very bad, he locked himself in the study, and he didn't even eat dinner!" ”

"Has Yan Ke been here?" Fan Ziming's heart swelled with a hint of ominousness.

……

In the dark, Yan Ke quietly came to an inconspicuous small courtyard.

He stood in the doorway and hesitated for a moment, then knocked softly.

The courtyard door opened, and a man in black glanced at Yan Ke and said in stiff Chinese: "Follow me!" ”

Yan Ke followed the man in black to a room with the lights on.

In front of a table in the room, there was an old man in his fifties, and his clothes obviously did not look like those of the Central Plains.

Yingzhou is a place where all ethnic groups live, and there are many aliens living in the city, and it is common to meet such aliens.

The old man saw Yan Ke, smiled slightly, and said in fluent Chinese: "Yan Changshi, I haven't seen you for a long time, don't come unharmed?" ”

The old man's voice was very soft, but Yan Ke's body couldn't help but tremble when he heard it.

He knew very well in his heart that this person looked amiable, but his methods were ruthless.

The old man's name is Tun Desire Valley, and he is an important minister under the Turkic Khan Mosi.

In the fourth year of Zhenguan, the Turkic Jieli Khan was captured, the Turks fell to the country, and the Turkic tribes under the rule of the Tang Dynasty were basically stable. Because the imperial court often recruited the Turkic subordinates to conquer the east and the west, which gradually aroused their dissatisfaction, some of the Turkic nobles had the ambition to restore the country.

In the winter and October of the fourth year of Yifeng, the Turkic chieftain Ashdwin Fu under the Dadu Protectorate led the two departments under his jurisdiction to oppose the Tang Dynasty and made Ashina Ni Shushu as the khan. The Turkic chieftains of the twenty-four states responded, and the total number of troops reached hundreds of thousands.

In the spring and March of the fifth year of Yifeng, Pei Xingjian, the general manager of the Dingxiangdao march of the Tang Dynasty, broke the Turkic army in Montenegro, and the mud was killed by his subordinates.

In the first year of Yongchun, Ashina was aggressive and rebellious.

Gu Lulu was originally the chief of the British department of the Tang Dynasty, the governor of Yunzhong, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, and he led 17 people to flee, gradually gathering 700 people, and occupied Heisha City. By recruiting the remnants of the Turks, the number of troops soon increased to 5,000, and a large number of sheep and horses were plundered by the nine surnamed Tiele.

At the same time, Gu Lulu gathered a group of strategists such as Ashide Yuanzhen and Tun Desire Valley under his command, and after his power gradually became stronger, he established himself as the Khan of Jiechuan Lishi.

Ashid Yuanzhen was originally a tribe that had descended to the Imperial Palace, but when Gu Lulu invaded, Yuanzhen asked him to persuade the Turkic tribes to retreat in order to atone for their sins. When he arrived at the enemy camp, he surrendered to Gudulu, who appointed him as Apodagan and commanded all the troops and horses.

Tunyugu was originally a Turkic nobleman, and later he traveled to the Tang Dynasty for many years and was quite familiar with the internal affairs of the Tang Dynasty. After Gu Lulu established himself as a khan, Tun Desire Valley immediately defected to him. Gu Dulu sealed the Valley of Desire as the Turkic Tutun, and he and Yuan Zhen were the two most important advisors under Gu Dulu.

Due to the frequent invasions of Gu Lulu, the Tang Dynasty appointed Cheng Wuting, the general of Zuo Wuwei, as the ambassador of Shan Yudao to pacify and defend against Turkic incursions. Later, Cheng Wuting violated Wu Zetian's will and was unjustly killed. After Gu Lulu got the news, he set up a special banquet to celebrate, and at the same time set up a shrine for Cheng Wu, and went to pray before each army.

After Gu Lulu established himself as a khan, he conquered the east and the west, frequently attacked, and the Turkic department quickly expanded to tens of thousands, laying the foundation of the post-Turkic khanate.

The political situation in Datang is turbulent and internally unstable. The Tang army coped with many aspects, exhausted, military spending increased day by day, and the people were poor. Gu Dulu continued to grow, and soon had hundreds of thousands of cavalry, constantly attacking the northern borderlands of the Tang Dynasty, winning again and again, and the Tang army resisted everywhere, losing more and winning less, and fell into strategic passivity.

In the winter and November of the second year of longevity, he died of illness. At a young age, his younger brother Mo Si established himself as a khan.

After Mo Si became a khan, he accepted the advice of Yuan Zhen and Tun Desire Valley, and changed his strategy to curry favor with Datang in order to gain support.

In the winter and October of the first year of the Book of Heaven, he sent an envoy to ask for surrender. Wu Zetian was very happy and awarded him the title of General of the Left Guard and the Duke of Return.

In the second year of Long Live Tongtian, Mo Si asked the Tang Dynasty for abundance, victory, Ling, Xia, Shuo, and the land of the Turkic surrender in the six states of Dai and the land of the capital protectorate, as well as grain seeds, silk, agricultural tools, iron and other things.

The imperial court was worried that the Turks would sit big because of this after obtaining the materials, so they did not allow it, which made Mo Si very dissatisfied in his heart.

In the northeast of the Tang Dynasty, the Yingzhou Governor's Office managed the Xi, Khitan and other ethnic groups, which was originally intended to use the Xi, Khitan and other ethnic groups to restrain each other with the Turks. The rise of Tubo put a lot of pressure on the Tang Dynasty, forcing the imperial court to transfer troops from the northeast for defense, resulting in a shortage of troops in Yingzhou.

Under these circumstances, the Turks devised a new strategy: to lure the Xi, Khitan and other ethnic groups into rebellion, to exert more pressure on the Tang Dynasty, so that the Turks could maximize their interests in it.

When Tunyugu came to Yingzhou this time, he was tasked with persuading the Khitan and other tribes to rebel.

Although Yan Ke is only a small role in the eyes of Lust Valley, it is a key part of the plan.

Dealing with people like Yan Ke is not difficult for Tun Desire Valley.

At the end of last year, Yan Ke went out of the city to inspect, and set up an ambush in Tunyu Valley to kidnap Yan Ke. After some coercion and temptation, Yan Ke soon surrendered to Tun Desire Valley. In order to make Yan Ke die for the Turks, Tunyugu gave Yan Ke a large amount of money. Since then, Yan Ke has become a meticulous worker placed in Yingzhou City by Tun Desire Valley.

"Lord Tutun! You are in a hurry to summon Yan to come, I don't know what to order? Yan Ke nodded and bowed, long since he lost his usual high-spirited appearance.

"What's going on in Yingzhou Mansion lately?" Lust Valley asked quietly.

Yan Ke didn't dare to slack off, and told all the recent situation in Yingzhou to Tunyugu.

Tun Lust Valley listened to it and pondered for a long time.

Zhao Wenhui prepared a birthday gift for Wu Sansi, and it was not easy for Yan Ke to get hold of the three treasures.

A thought suddenly flashed in Tunyugu's mind: he could make full use of this matter to further intensify the contradictions between Zhao Wenhui and the Khitan and the Xi people, and maybe he could force the Khitan and Xi people to oppose him.

Thinking of this, Tunyugu whispered to Yan Ke: "Yan Changshi, you have to ...... next"

After listening to what Lust Valley said, Yan Ke suddenly showed a bitter color.

Lust Valley's face sank, and he said coldly: "What? Is there a problem? ”

"Oh! No! Yan Ke was stunned and hurriedly said, "No problem! ”

"That's good! You go back first! I'll send someone to find you! Lust Valley waved at Yan Ke.