"We want to see the Holy One, please give way." At the stern of the fleet, more than 1,000 men were stopped by the escort soldiers, who were not allowed to go any further. However, although these scholars were tired and tired all the way, when they saw that they could see the emperor and make appeals to him, they were stopped by the soldiers and spoke ill of each other, and everyone looked angry and indignant.

Behind the Zhige soldiers, Dou Fengjie, who was riding on a war horse, watched this farce indifferently, these scholars were no different from begging wild dogs in his eyes.

"General, these scholars are too excited, why don't you arrange for them to eat something first to appease and appease?" One of the generals whispered.

Dou Fengjie snorted coldly, "These scholars, they are still so arrogant with an empty stomach, and they will only make more trouble when they are full?" ”

"What if they rush over?"

"We have the duty to protect the driver, and we have the right to kill suspected assassins on the spot, as long as these people dare to cross the line, kill a few people to make an example."

The general didn't dare to say anything, and Dou Fengjie ordered again: "Block the way, whoever dares to break through will beat me, and I will be responsible for killing and maiming me!" ”

Dou Fengjie was not interested in accompanying these scholars to make trouble. In the scorching summer, it was already irritable, if it weren't for his duty, he would have hid in Dou's merchant ships, enjoying the iced sour plum soup, these scholars really wanted to rush through the police line, and Dou Fengjie just killed a few discouraged.

At this moment, dozens of cavalry rushed to the west, and the soldiers had already stopped them, "Stop, who is it?" ”

"I'm Xiao Yu." One person responded loudly.

Dou Fengjie heard Xiao Yu's voice, and hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, "The last general will see Xiao Xiangguo." ”

"General Dou has worked hard." Xiao Yu said with a smile.

Dou Fengjie said: "The responsibility is not hard. ”

Xiao Yu said: "General Dou, I'm here to deal with these problems, please give way to the general." ”

Dou Fengjie arched his hand and said: "These people are very irritable, let the soldiers escort Xiangguo over." ”

"No need." Xiao Yuce stepped forward immediately, and suddenly a large group of waiters surrounded him.

"Please Xiao Xiangguo call the shots for us!"

"Xiao Xiangguo, please give us an explanation from the imperial court!"

“……”

The scholars shouted and shouted, drowning out Xiao Yu's voice, Dou Fengjie was afraid that these scholars would hurt Xiao Yu, so he hurriedly gave his own soldiers a look, and the personal soldiers rushed into the crowd and forcibly separated Xiao Yu and the soldiers.

Xiao Yu finally took a breath, and secretly thanked Dou Fengjie for sending someone to escort him in time.

Dou Fengjie stepped forward immediately and roared loudly: "Shut up for me, hurt Xiangguo, Lao Tzu cut you all." ”

When the scholars heard this, they immediately closed their mouths.

Xiao Yu said to everyone: "Everyone, don't be impatient, listen to me convey the Holy Lord's message!" ”

Hearing that there was an emperor's dictation, it was even quieter, and the scholars stretched their necks one after another and listened carefully, as if they were afraid of missing a word.

Xiao Yu said unhurriedly: "The imperial court was originally going to open a department in Xiangyang, but because of an emergency, the saint decided to take the exam in Chengdu. The Holy One also knows that everyone is working hard, but this is a test of your will, please don't complain, let alone make trouble. Otherwise, it will only be detrimental to you, after all, you are not the only ones who want to enter the government through the imperial examination. ”

Xiao Yu's last words were extremely lethal, and many scholars who just wanted to protest closed their mouths, they knew that there was only one Yizhou left in the Li Tang Dynasty, and the positions were extremely limited, but they were far more than them who were qualified to participate in the imperial examination, as well as the children of high-ranking officials, Yizhou scholars, and Jingzhou old officials...... And according to the practice of the imperial court, priority will be given to the old officials from Jingzhou, so that there will be fewer positions. And the children of high-ranking officials have a backstage door, but they have nothing, so they can only hold their grievances in their hearts.

The scholars of Jingzhou were even more depressed, and the feeling of being deceived spontaneously arose, when they were in Xiangyang, they didn't say so, but that as long as they followed the imperial court into Yizhou, they could also go to Taixue to study at the worst of the worst, and they also included food and accommodation, and the expenses on the road were also subsidized by the imperial court, but now there is nothing, and some people are thinking about turning around and returning to Xiangyang.

Someone had the courage to ask: "Xiao Xiangguo, when will the department be opened, our family is all here, and the cost is very great every day, if the court does not give a clear time and make no arrangements, we have to return to our hometown." ”

When everyone heard this, they all looked at Xiao Yu.

In fact, these words are also the common voice of the scholars of Jingzhou, because along the way, they all felt the perfunctory things of the Li Tang court, and they all regretted it a long time ago, and it was not why they were obsessed with it at that time, and they actually fell into Li Tang's old clothes.

If Xiao Yu did not have a satisfactory answer, some people decided to turn around and return to their hometowns, after all, Luchuan is not far from Jingzhou, only a few days away, if you return to your hometown in time, you can still become a citizen of the Great Sui, not only get the land, but also get all the treatment of the people of the Sui Dynasty, and the Great Sui is a vast area, and there are quite a lot of officials admitted to each imperial examination, and the opportunity is much stronger than Li Tang, who has only one Yizhou.

Xiao Yu sighed secretly, and could only say: "The specific time has not been set yet, but it will definitely not be opened in the middle of the course, and we can only wait until Chengdu to decide when to open the department, after all, the imperial court also needs a long time to settle down, and it is really impossible to complete it in one or two months." So you don't have to worry about missing out, it's time to rest. ”

"In other words, if there is a war between the Sui and Tang Dynasties, not only will the scientific expedition be far away, but we will not even have the most basic living guarantee? Live like a dog in Chengdu? If the Sui army comes to the city, will we still have to go to the city to block the arrows? Shen Guang, who successfully blended into the crowd, said a word.

The scholars were not fools, and after a brief moment of shock, there was an uproar.

"Presumptuous." Xiao Yu said angrily: "My Tang Dynasty has the ability and confidence to keep the Sui army out of the country. ”

"Hehe......" Shen Guang smiled dryly, he had already sown the seeds of uneasiness among the scholars, and successfully broke the luck of the scholars, just waiting for the blossoms to bear fruit, and it would not be beneficial to say more anyway.

Xiao Yu said to everyone again: "This place is very close to Hejiang County, let's go to the county seat to rest first!" The magistrates will prepare food for you. ”

The crowd could only drag heavy steps towards Hejiang County to the west, and the crowd finally dispersed.

But what Xiao Yu didn't know was how much impact Shen Guang's words had on everyone.

…………

After leaving the sight of the army, Shen Guang led more than a dozen of his men to break away from the scholars and go to a high place to watch.

It was not yet dark, and you could see the mighty fleet covering the entire river, Shen Guang said to his soldiers: "In terms of time, the Tang army fleet will be able to enter Luchuan County tomorrow, if we don't do it tonight, we can only go to the front to prepare and intercept them in Mianshui, but I am worried that it will be easy to change after a long time, so I think it is better to do it tonight." ”

"General, how do we do it?" A guard asked.

Shen Guang said: "The soldiers are divided into two routes, all the way to seize the ships upstream, set fire to the ship from above, and rush into the fleet. Approaching with a bamboo raft all the way, set fire to it from the middle, which is full of grain ships, there is not much vigilance, and it is also easy to catch fire. Is there anything you would like to add? ”

One of the guards said: "General, I think the Tang army is tired and slack, if it can set fire to the camp, it will definitely cause great casualties." ”

"It's just that we have too few, and if we do it everywhere, I'm afraid it won't cause fatal injuries anywhere."

"General." One person smiled: "Isn't Fairy Yuan also in Luchuan?" ”

"Then send her an eagle letter and tell her that we have a plan for tonight's fire. If she can make it, she will be in charge of burning the camp. In order to facilitate contact, Shen Guang not only told Yuan Ziyan's contact information, but also gave her a few eagle scouts.

"Whoa."

"Now go and bring the army, and prepare more oil and fire. Pay attention to fire prevention. ”

"Whoa."