In the fifth year of Taihe, September Gengshen, noon.

Victoria, Weichuan County, Xuecheng City.

On the fourth day of Victoria's recovery, under the rule of the Tang army, the originally chaotic order in the city gradually restored. It is said that the material dispatch was personally handled by Li Deyu, who was naturally meticulous, and the grain and grass transported by pack horses from the neighboring state cities were continuously flowing since the day after the recovery. If the Tang army came a month late, I am afraid that the tragedy of cannibalism would inevitably occur, and the people were finally at ease with the people, and the people were finally away from the risk of starvation.

To the east of the Victorian state city is the rugged Shu Road, and across the river from the north and southwest is the sparse grass and trees of the Minshan tundra.

On this day, since he came to Victoria, he felt that he couldn't breathe, and he was groggy all day long, and he was rarely standing on the west wall of Xuecheng with Yang Zong. If you want to say why, hundreds of steps to the west, the camp that was set up overnight, the smoke of cooking that rose into the sky, and the plain white military flag half-rolled in the wind can tell the whole story.

The weather turned cold, Yu Zangjian was dressed in felt, holding his forehead with one hand, standing on Yang Zong's side, squinting, and the Wuwei army soldiers beside him were holding spears, coming and going in the city.

"The Tibetans are fast enough."

In the distance, there were still several groups of Tibetan light horsemen, holding wooden forks, quickly assembled towards the camp, raising bursts of smoke and dust. Yu Zangjian has never been on the battlefield, and in the face of this situation, his experience can be said to be zero.

"Duwei Yang, how many people do you think there are in this Tubo?"

"Uh......" Yang Zong's eyesight is excellent, relying on his experience in fighting with the Tubo and Hui raiding troops in the river meander, he gave an answer after a while: "Hui Yu assassination history, I'm afraid there must be 1,500 people......

"Tsk."

According to the records of the confrontation between the Tang Dynasty and the Tubo in the past, the assembly of the Tibetan troops was often several days slower than the Tang army, but now they reacted so quickly, and it took only three days to assemble thousands of soldiers from nearby states and counties outside the small city of Victoria, which shows the importance that the Tubo attached to Victoria's rebellion against the Tang Dynasty.

Yu Zangjian secretly speculated that after Ke Mang was killed, Xi Tan plotted to punish the slave soldiers loyal to Tubo in the city, and led the defenders to Chengdu. However, in a hasty departure, I am afraid that it is inevitable that a few fish will escape from Victoria in the empty space in the city, and report to the nearby states and counties of South Tubo Province.

Victoria's strategic location is extremely important in the Tang Dynasty and in Tibet, which can be attacked and defended. Presumably, the Tibetans could not tolerate a sharp dagger against it in the southeast direction, which could pierce their henchmen at any time.

"Yu Thorn History," Yang Zong solemnly crossed his hand towards the Victorian Thorn History, "In your opinion, do you want to take advantage of Tubo's unstable foothold to attack the enemy army, strike first, or send a small force to attack the camp?" ”

With a slightly incredulous expression, Yu Zangjian looked at Yang Zong deeply, and stared at Yang Zong slightly sideways.

"Yang Duwei asked Yu a certain military? The two of us have known each other for so long, doesn't Yang Duwei know that Yu is using soldiers for a few pounds and taels? ”

"Uh...... However," Yang Zong was embarrassed for a while, so he simply changed the topic and wanted to compliment a few words, "Speaking of the time when the history of the same assassin was in Victoria, Xiangyi really felt that the history of the assassin was not bad, and it was only a few days since the Tang army entered Victoria, and everything was in order." However, at that time in Xichuan, I didn't hear much about the name of Yu Thorn, but Li Huaishen and Wei Rong were more ...... when they were in charge."

Yu Zangjian laughed, he couldn't imagine that Yang Zong, who had never been good at speech, would praise people.

"Let me ask you, what is the way to be an official?"

Seeing that Yang Zong was confused by this sudden question, Yu Zangjian asked and answered himself: "The most important thing for an official is not to be sharp. In today's officialdom, whoever comes out first will definitely die, and the ideas he came up with have to take the initiative to give the credit to Shangguan. Yang Duwei really thought that Li Huaishen and they could be so relied on by the temperance of their own talents? ”

After Yu Zangjian finished speaking, he paused, and then looked at the Tubo camp.

"But when it comes to this, before Li Jiedu left, he said something to Yu, and he was still confused at that time, but now Yu has figured it out."

Li Jiedu ...... What do you mean? ”

"The festival envoy let Yu guard the city with all his heart and wait for the news."

"What's the news?" Yang Zong was puzzled.

"That's the key, what is the 'message'? What message is not a 'message'? "Yu Zang is thrifty," it is easy to understand the defense of the city, and it is impossible to hold on. ”

"Uh...... The combat strength of the Tubo people is not as good as that of the Tang army, if Yu Assassin Shi intends to ...... Xiangyi can lead 500 elite soldiers of Wuwei Army tonight, attack its camp, and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop. ”

After Yang Zong finished saying this, he already had a posture of eagerness to try.

"It's not proper," Yu Zangjian shook his head, "Captain Yang of Victoria City Defense also saw it, there are only two gates in the east and west, the Tubo people in the east gate can't come through, and there are no tens of thousands of people in the west who can't come in at all, it's not just a matter of talking...... However, according to Yu, if this group of Tubo people is defeated, there will be the next batch, Yang Duwei really thinks that Tubo plans to send such a few people to take Victoria? ”

Yang Zong was speechless for a while, and Yu Zangjian looked calm.

"Yu has been in the office for so many years, and it is not good to command the war, and he still has his own set of ways to see the direction of the wind," Yu Zangjian finished speaking, he was silent for a long time, and he took a breath out of his mouth, and actually exhaled a breath of white air, he took advantage of the situation and pulled the felt on his body and wrapped himself more tightly, "The news that Li Jiedu said, presumably Tubo is also waiting, and before the news arrives, there will be no action; Only when the news arrives can we decide whether to fight or not. ”

"Uh...... What does the history of thorns mean? ”

"The news...... It is the decision of Chang'an Daming Palace. Yu Zangjian said carefully, "Yang Duwei thinks about it, Li Jiedu and the Bull Party in the DPRK and China are incompatible, who in the world does not know?" Now that Victoria has surrendered, no matter how it was promoted, no matter how you look at it, it is a great achievement for Li Jiedu. Yang Duwei thinks that the Niu Party will be unmoved? According to Yu, whether this Victorian state can be kept, and whether Yu's position in the history of the assassin can continue, does not depend on the Tubo people, but on whether the Niu Party is willing to let Li Gong do this. ”

Yang Zong's breath stagnated, and he couldn't help but recall the confession of Li Zhi who he had signed, and looked at Yu Zangjian in a daze, his chest was pounding with panic, and he was a little incoherent for a while: "Uh...... The Bull Party is really ...... Really going to put Victoria ...... Give it back to the Tibetans? ”

"What is Yang Duwei nervous about?" Yu Zangjian glanced at Yang Zong, "Even if Victoria returns it to the barbarian, it is Yu who will be lost, and the scarlet robe that has just arrived is about to fly again, what position should Yang Duwei be." ”

Yang Zongqiang squeezed out a smile and said again and again: "No, no ......"

Yu Zangjian's eyes stayed on Yang Zong's face for a moment, and he silently put his hand into his sleeve.

"Yu has returned to the house first, if there is any movement over there in Tubo, please ask Yang Duwei to report at any time."

"Whoa!" Yang Zong bowed his head and crossed his hands towards Yu Zangjian's back, but he couldn't calm down in his heart for a long time.

Under Li Zhi's coercion and temptation, and in order to correct the names of his father and uncle, from the moment Yang Zong signed the confession, in his opinion, he betrayed Li Deyu, who had the grace of his own knowledge.

However, Yang Zong's conscience was uneasy, and he went to the Jiedu envoy twice before and after, wanting to tell the truth and atone for his sins. The first time, he was blocked by Li Huaishen; The second time, when he saw Li Deyu, he didn't dare to tell the truth to Jiedu, and just wanted to ask for a demote and send him to the front line with wishful thinking, so as to make his conscience a little calmer.

Yang Zong took a deep breath and looked at the mountains and mountains as far as his eyes could see.

The Minshan tundra is slightly cold, just like Yang Zong's weak heart. He pondered for a long time, if this state city was really handed over in the end, would he be a Tang soldier in vain and a Tang minister in vain?

"Li Gong ......"

Jiannan Road, Xichuan, Chengdu Province.

Outside the gate of the Jiedu Embassy, you are upright.

The curfew is approaching, and the Shuai Mansion is gradually empty. It had just snowed in Chengdu in the morning, and at dusk, dark clouds gathered in the sky, and after a while, it began to rain heavily.

Since Zhang Yijun secretly visited Xi Tanmou yesterday, he buried himself in the staff house all day today, either closing his eyes and meditating, or drawing dense relationship diagrams on rice paper, drawing and kneading, rubbing and drawing. Unconsciously, it has reached the point of forgetting to sleep and eat. Li Deyu understood Zhang Yijun's irregular work and rest, so he didn't bother to ask, so he only delivered meals to Zhang Yijun's house on time.

It was only when Youzheng was that Zhang Yijun remembered to eat and feed. The three meals a day are placed at the main entrance of the house as they are, and they have already cooled, but because they are three meals, they are quite rich.

Zhang Yijun was gobbling up a bowl of cold soup cakes, when he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door.

Following the prestige, it did not come from the main gate, but from the side door.

Zhang Yijun was about to ask loudly who knocked on the door, but suddenly stopped.

Zhang Yijun couldn't help but be suspicious, I don't know if the side door of his house was due to the negligence of the design, or because of the old age, he could only open one door, so it was basically closed on weekdays, and no one would knock on the door. In addition, Zhang Yi has no official qualities, let alone official affairs to deal with, so except for Li Deyu and the people in the house, no one will disturb him later at the beginning of the unitary period.

Who will it be?

The knock on the door, accompanied by the sound of rain hitting the door, came from the side door, and sounded three times in succession, and the knocker seemed to be worried, and the sound was much softer than Fang Cai.

Although he had doubts, Zhang Yijun interrupted his thinking, got up slowly, and just in case, picked up a long-bladed dagger in the bedroom and hid it behind him. He walked to the side door, took a deep breath silently, lifted the latch, and opened the left side of the black lacquered wooden door inward.

The man was soaking wet, wearing a hat on his head, and through the thin silk silk, he could barely see the man's face clearly. Although he looked childish, his bright eyes seemed to be burning with a flame.

"The secretary of the palm order fox is silent?" Zhang Yi couldn't help but blurt out.

Ling Hu Mo hurriedly made a silent gesture and looked around. Zhang Yijun opened the door a little wider, allowing Ling Hu to dodge in.

"Please forgive me for the annoyance!"

Zhang Yijun was a little puzzled about why Ling Hu Mian came dressed as a person, but he didn't have time to speak, so Ling Hu Mian had already answered him first.

"It happened suddenly, in order to avoid people's eyes, I had to dress up like this," Ling Hu lifted the thin silk and put it on the brim of his hat, and then took out a stack of letter-like documents from his arms and handed them to Zhang Yijun.

"This is ......" Zhang Yijun glanced at Ling Fox silently, his face suspicious.

Ling Hu took off his hat, bowed his hand, and said softly: "I have come here to ask for something!" ”