On the Henan Plain, a team of hundreds of officers and soldiers, with several carriages, slowly marched west along the valley waterway. This is the new Shuofang Jiedu envoy of the Han Dynasty, Zheng Guogong Shi Hongzhao and his entourage, starting from Luoyang and going to the northwest frontier.

In addition to Shi Hongzhao's slaves, Liu Chengyou also deliberately sent down grace and transferred several of Shi Hongzhao's old subordinates from the Tokyo Forbidden Army for his errand. As a result, Zheng Guogong's imprint in the Han Forbidden Army has faded again.

Since receiving the order of moving the town Shuofang, Shi Hongzhao's mood has been bad, mainly because the gap in his heart is too big.

At the beginning of the founding of the country, he was the commander in charge of the forbidden army, the number one in the army, how powerful and publicized he was at that time. In the first year of Qianyou, he was sent to Luoyang to stay, when Shi Hongzhao was already angry, but he could still comfort himself, after all, he controlled the military and political affairs of Xijing, and the officials of the feudal territory, and he had a lot of power.

Therefore, in Luoyang, Shi Hongzhao also lived happily for three years. But now, what kind of place is Shuofang, far away in the northwest, a barren land, just because of the dry flies and bugs in Xijing buzzing a few words, he Shi Gongfa assigned Shuofang!

Sent! In Shi Hongzhao's view, Shuo Fang's appointment, although it is a party festival, is tantamount to exile.

Because of his bad mood, Shi Hongzhao had a cold face all the way, giving people a feeling of anger. Finally, during the midday break, he broke out, and his mouth kept cursing:

"Xijing's gang, I'm afraid I'm proud this time, the old man was finally driven away by them! If I knew this was the case, I should have been more ruthless in the first place! ”

"Is the Son of Heaven at the mercy of the civil servants and pen officials, and the old ministers of Luoyang who have no soldiers and no power, what is there to be afraid of? That Fan quality, but a relict of the former dynasty, when I was in charge of the army, what kind of character was he? Luoyang, do I have to take his family's land and accept his family's tenants? ”

"In the years I have been in Xijing, how much land has been paid for the imperial court, how many people have been registered, and how much grain has been transported, can't these imperial courts see it?"

"That Jingfan is just a field official, he can't cure the nobles, and he can't suppress the strong. I have almost cleaned up Luoyang, and he has come to sit back and enjoy it, and there are such good things in the world. As soon as he takes office, he will give some favors and benefits to those veterans, but I am afraid that those people will have to hold him......"

In the past three years in Luoyang, Shi Hongzhao has still made some progress, and although his temperament has not improved, his political mind has still opened up a little.

Shi Hongzhao was spitting drooling here, and the entourage around him was stuffy and doing their own business, taking care of horses and livestock, eating and drinking, and didn't dare to talk.

After venting, Shi Hongzhao shook his head, his rough face softened a little, and he said to himself: "Where did Shi come from so many chatters, the matter has come to this point, this woman complains, spread out, and make people laugh!" ”

"You remember to my father, what I just said, you are not allowed to leak it!" Almost pulling his throat, Shi Hongzhao commanded the left and right parts.

"Yes!" There were a few people nearby, and they agreed quickly.

After calming down, Shi Hongzhao held a helmet in his arm, ate dry food, and said with emotion in his mouth: "Shi Mou was originally a general, but now he is going to the border pass again, and he is also worthy of the Imperial Kou Garrison City." Let's guard the country for the first emperor and repay his kindness......"

Shi Hongzhao seems to have seen it. However, putting on this heavy armor again, putting on the robe of the expedition, and stepping on the war horse, the nerves of the whole person seemed to relax a little.

Sitting on a piece of bluestone, watching the pedestrians walk with weights on the road, looking into the distance, the two mountains are opposite to each other, there is a market at the mouth of the que, even if it is far away, you can hear some noise, that is the sound of peace and tranquility.

During his tenure, Shi Hongzhao inspected a lot of the surrounding areas of Luoyang, especially the vast areas in the east and north, and basically, he went to the land, manors, and Dingkou of the nobles in Xijing. For the west of Luoyang, I haven't been here much.

"Zuo, what's the place ahead?" Shi Hongzhao asked.

A humble scribe who felt that his future was bleak hurriedly came up and said: "The two mountains in front, the east Qinglong, the west phoenix, and the mouth is Quekou City. ”

"Haha!" Hearing this, Shi Hongzhao was happy: "They all say that I, Shi Hongzhao, disturb the people and harm the people, aren't the small people in this township happy to live in peace?" ”

The little official was silent, such things, but it was not his turn to comment on this little person.

The sun of spring is warm and warm, and it is very comfortable to shine on the body, Shi Hongzhao sighed again: "It's the Shangyuan Festival soon, but the old man still has to run to the west ......"

Just when Zheng Guogong was complaining from time to time, a small group of knights rushed from the east, led by a green-robed official, handsome and handsome.

"Forbidden Army from Tokyo!" With Shi Hongzhao's eyesight, he immediately saw the origin of the knight.

The visitor saw Shi Hongzhao, a big pedestrian, and turned straight to him, the purpose was obviously him: "Dare to ask if it is Zheng Gong, the envoy of Shuo Fangjiedu?" ”

"Ben Shuai is here, who are you?" Without moving, Shi Hongzhao asked contemptuously as he pouted at the young green-robed official.

The leading official got off the horse, noticed Shi Hongzhao's arrogant appearance, his eyebrows were less unhappy, and he replied: "Xia Guan is the king in the palace, and he is specially ordered by His Majesty to come to see off Zheng Guogong!" ”

"Zheng Guogong is worthy of being a resolute person, his actions are so fast, and the lower officials have chased hundreds of miles in a row, and only then did they catch up in this Xin'an territory!" Wang Zhu said neither humbly nor arrogantly.

Since the Son of Heaven came, Shi Hongzhao sat up a little straighter, and that's all, and said: "This handsome man has to give way to others!" Unexpectedly, the Son of Heaven still remembers the old minister, say, what did Your Majesty send you to do? ”

Wang Shu took out an edict from the sleeve of his robe, handed it to Shi Hongzhao with both hands, and said, "This is a secret edict from His Majesty to Duke Zheng!" ”

Seeing this, Shi Hongzhao stood up and took it with one hand.

But seeing his attitude, it was clearly a contempt for the king's authority, and it was a world of difference from the reverence of the ministers he saw in Tokyo for the Son of Heaven. I was angry in my heart, but I didn't dare to send it to Shi Hong.

When Shi Hongzhao opened the edict to read, thinking about Liu Chengyou's advice in his heart, Wang Zhu stepped forward and said slowly: "Before the lower official left, His Majesty had an instruct to let the lower official inform Zheng Gong. ”

Shi Hongzhao put away the secret edict, added some thought to his face, listened to his words, glared at Wang Zhu with tiger eyes, and asked: "What else does the Son of Heaven have to say, you can say it!" ”

"Your Majesty said that he knows that Zheng Gong has been wronged this time, and you have made great contributions to the imperial court, and what you have done in Xijing is for the sake of the country and is conducive to the rule of the imperial court. It is understandable that the tactics may have been excessive, and the actions were misconducted. ”

"Moving the town to Lingzhou, it is really the Xijing nobles who are flocking to hold you accountable, the country is vast, the affairs are complicated, and the governance of the country needs to be channeled and compromised. The so-called accumulation of broken bones and letting you go to Lingzhou can be regarded as a kind of protection. ”

"Your Majesty knows that Gong Zheng is excited about the army, is quite good at governing the army, and the function should also be used for the side plug. Nowadays, there is chaos in the northwest, and when the force is used, please Zheng Gong endure the hardships first, find opportunities in the future, and then transfer back to the imperial court. ”

"The affairs of the family, Zheng Gong and worry-free, His Majesty has worn official clothes, and he is kind to him. Ruzi Dehun, is a talent, loyal and upright, knows Yunzhou, and has gone to Sucheng to take office! ”

Listening to the king's words, Shi Hongzhao's attitude was more correct, he looked down at the edict in his hand, and bowed his hand to the east.

Straightened up, and said to the king: "You go back and tell the Son of Heaven, just say that his mind Ben Shuai knows, please rest assured, those miscellaneous beards in Shuo Fang, Ben Shuai will definitely help him suppress them!" ”

"In addition, in a few days, it will be the Shangyuan Festival, and Your Majesty ordered the officials to bring some gifts to Zheng Gong!" As he spoke, the king waved his hand and asked the entourage to offer: "Come, bring the gift from Your Majesty!" ”

"Thank you!"

After sending Shi Hongzhao away, Wang Zhu took the guards and returned to the east. Riding on a horse, he shook his head lightly, and muttered: "I heard that Zheng Gong was arrogant and difficult to control, but when I saw it today, it was really so." This official has a low position, but he is also an angel, so despised. Accept the edict, so rude. In the long run, where is the prestige of the monarch and where is the prestige of the country? ”

"When this official returns to the court, he will definitely play this situation according to the facts!" Wang Zhu was secretly determined.

"Wang Shizhi, what should we do next, go back to Tokyo?" The accompanying commander of the forbidden army asked.

"No, go to Xijing!" The king looked to the east and said, "Your Majesty still has an edict to stay in Jingfan." ”

This Jingfan, compared to Shi Hongzhao, should be easy to deal with. Despite the exhaustion, while galloping on his horse, such a thought came to the king's mind.

The performance of Shi Hongzhao touched the young Son of Heaven a lot, His Majesty now seems to be in charge of the Qiangang, but in the locality, there are still many people who do not know the etiquette of the monarch and the minister, and despise the authority of the Son of Heaven. Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, the current situation of sluggish imperial power still needs to be improved.