Xin Er asked, "What rumors?" ”

Tang Ai said: "The rumors show that the public wants to borrow the Hu people to destroy the Longzhou scholars, and it shows that the public has a heart of disobedience. ”

Xin Er was surprised and asked, "How can such rumors appear?" ”

Tang Ai said: "I think it should be related to the Tang Hu marriage proposed by Jing Huan. ”

"Something to do with this?"

Thinking about it, it is really possible, Tang Shi looked down on the Hu people, regarded the Hu people as beasts, so what kind of Tang and Hu marriage, although it is not mandatory, but it will inevitably cause the resistance of the Tang scholars, if this kind of resistance, by Xin Er's political enemies, take the opportunity to slander Xin Er and despise Tang Shi, and even alarmist, saying that he is trying to buy Hu people, and he has a heart of disobedience, it is indeed possible.

Tang Ai said: "It is estimated that Ai is eight or nine times out of ten. ”

Xin Er was shocked and angry, and said: "Does anyone believe this kind of nonsense? ”

"Ming Gong, the little people are ignorant, what do they not believe?"

Furious, Xin Er temporarily had no intention of correcting Tang Ai's erroneous statement, asked him, and said, "Do you know the source of the rumors?" ”

"I've only heard about it, but I don't know where it came from."

Xin Er called the attendants outside the hall and ordered: "Summoning beggars to come vigorously!" ”

The intelligence system under Xin Er's subordinates is mainly in charge of Zhang Gui's position, in order to get some military merits for Zhang Gui and make promotions, this time Zhang Shao attacked Shuofang, Zhang Gui was sent by Xin Er to be the chief officer of the intelligence system in the army, and now in Beijing.

In less than two quarters of an hour, the beggar was called.

Compared with Fu Qiao's description, Qi Dali's face was full of red light.

He shook his fat body, walked lightly, entered the hall, and bowed.

Xin Er had calmed down at this time, slowed down his tone, and said, "Dali, the recent rumors of Jingshi, have you heard of it?" ”

The beggar was stunned and said, "Rumors? What rumors? The villain didn't know it. ”

Xin Er knew him well for a while, sighed secretly, and thought: "If Changling was in Guyin, I would have known this rumor a long time ago!" The decision was made to remove Qi Dali's intelligence deputy, but he didn't have to say it right away, nor did he blame him, motioned to Tang Ai to tell him the rumor, and then said, "You go check it now, and see when and who this rumor started!" Give you three days, you have to find out! ”

The beggar was furious and scolded: "Where are the bastard things, chewing their tongues and talking nonsense!" Take off your pants when you're full, and fart! He said loudly, "Ming Gong rest assured, within three days, the villain will definitely find out who spread this rumor!" Capture it and let Ming Gong fall! ”

"Nope! After you find out, just report it to me, don't take people, and don't leak the news. ”

Beggar vigorously rolled his eyes and said, "The villain understands, the villain understands!" ”

"Go ahead!"

The beggar vigorously agreed, skillfully lay on the ground, respectfully bowed again, maintained a bowing posture, pouted his buttocks, retreated to the door of the hall, climbed out upside down, buckled his head again, and then stood up and left. The three days were very tight, the task was very heavy, and compared with the lightness when he came, the pace of begging to leave the house was much heavier.

Tang Ai said suspiciously: "Ming Gong, three days? Will he be able to find out? ”

Qi Dali's political sensitivity is not strong, but his execution ability is still good, otherwise, Xin Er would not have promoted him to be Zhang Gui's deputy, because he was still confident that Qi Dali would find out the source of the rumors within three days, and said: "Take a look!" ”

Tang Ai said: "Ming Gong, this rumor actually doesn't need to be checked, where it comes from and who it comes from, you can guess it." ”

"Really?"

Tang Ai sneered and said: "Except for the remnants of Fan Kuan and Song Hong's henchmen, there will be no one else!" ”

Although Song Hong and Yan Kuan have both been expelled from the court and are both idle at home, they are the leaders of the Longzhou valve clan after all, and there are really many Dingxi officials and scholars gathered around the two of them, and in the words of later generations, they have formed a rather powerful opposition party force. When the system of three provinces and six ministries was implemented, his two henchmen said a lot of strange things and spread a lot of criticism, and the policy of changing the military system to a conscription system has not yet been officially introduced, but the news has spread, and it has also attracted their criticism.

Xin Er has participated in politics so far, he has long known the difficulty of politics, and he knows that these are essential, after listening to Tang Ai's words, although Tang Ai is the same as his speculation, he did not show anything unusual because of this, touched his short mustache, and said with an unchanged complexion: "Whether it is passed down by the disciples of Song Gong and Fan Gong, it is still unknown, and we will find out vigorously." ”

"After finding out, what does Ming Gong plan to do with them?"

Xin Er said: "They are all well-dressed soldiers, no matter how they are handled, they always have to be decent." ”

Tang Aicai didn't believe Xin Er's words, shook the feather fan, and said, "Decent? Observing Xin Er's expression, he said, "Ming Gong, I think you seem to have an opinion, can't you speak directly to me?" ”

Xin Er smiled silently.

At the moment when he was waiting for the beggar to come, Xin Er had indeed thought of what benefits he could get from the rumors about this case, but the reason why he didn't say it at this time was not because he couldn't believe Tang Ai, but because whether he could get this benefit depended on the specific situation of the beggar investigation. Now the situation is unclear, and it is useless to say it, so he simply does not say it.

Tang Ai saw that he couldn't ask anything, so he didn't ask any questions, said goodbye and left, returned to Zhongtai, looked for Lu Shuang, and asked him to convene the officials of the household, soldier, and industrial departments to discuss the matter of dividing the Hebei grassland in Xi'anyangxi to Zhang Shao's soldiers and Zhao Ran's cadres. -- The Ministry of Household is in charge of the people, the Ministry of War is in charge of the soldiers, and the family is changed to the household and the people, and at the same time it involves the Ministry of Household and the Ministry of War, and it is inevitable that the Ministry of Industry will participate in the participation of the Ministry of Industry because there is a division under it, called the Yu Division, Yu, which is "that is, the deer is not Yu", and is in charge of the mountains, forests and grasslands, and the grasslands in Hebei are of course grass and are in charge of it, so in addition to the Ministry of Household and the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Industry also has to participate in this matter.

Xin Er personally sent Tang Ai to the door of the hall, waited for him to go away, turned back to the hall and sat down, and continued to meet with the officials of the various official parties waiting to be seen outside.

Busy until noon, a little bit of food, the officials outside have not finished seeing, and they have been busy for two hours, the sky is about to be dusk, and it will be later, Zuo and Ling Hule are about to return to the Lingjuntai of the dormitory, Xin Er will spread the word, and the officials who are still waiting will come again tomorrow, and tell the house to prepare a car and leave for the Four Seasons Palace.

The Xin Mansion is not far from the Four Seasons Palace.

Go out of the house gate and go north, and you will arrive after two streets.

Since the Western Regions were heavily incorporated into the rule, under the protection of the three major battalions in Shazhou, the trade route from the Western Regions to Guyin was unimpeded, and in the past two years, the number of Hu merchants from the Western Regions who came to Guyin to trade or went south and east through Guyin has been increasing. In Guyin City, nearly half of the foreign population is Hu people from various countries in the Western Regions. Driving on the street, from time to time you can hear the words of Qiuzi and Sogdia coming in from outside, and when you reach the corner of Toutiao Street, Xin Er hears a camel bell, opens a corner of the curtain, and sees seven or eight camels parked on the side of the road, the camels are full of bags containing goods, more than ten people from the Western Regions who cut their hair and eyebrows, have blue eyes and high noses, wear cut and close white clothes, and are equipped with jewels and short-term swords. Xin Er didn't need to ask to know that this was obviously a caravan from the Western Regions that had just entered the city.

A scent lingers on the tip of the nose.

Xin Er called the coachman to stop the horse, and instructed Wei Xian, who was following the guards, and said, "Go and ask, what goods are they carrying?" ”

Wei Xian quickly came back and said, "Spices and wine." ”

Xin Er said, "Go and buy their best spices." ”

Wei Xian went over, and he didn't get off the horse, and told those merchants in the Western Regions what he wanted. The interpreter in the caravan translated the words, and the merchants of the Western Regions hurriedly took out the best spices they brought and presented them to Wei Xian. Wei Xian took money with him, but they didn't dare to accept it. Wei Xian was too lazy to talk nonsense with them, so he directly threw the money on the ground, returned to the side of the car with the spices, and presented it to Xin Er.

There are not many spices, just two palm-sized brocade bags, Xin Er took the tip of his nose and sniffed it, and put it on the side of the couch.

Wei Xian asked, "Duke Ming, is it going to be dedicated to the Queen Mother?" ”

"What is on the side of the road, how can it be offered to the Queen Mother?"

Wei Xian suddenly said, "That's for Lord Weng!" ”

Wei Xian was right. Xin Er has been too busy recently, and she hasn't been with Ling Huyan and Liu Le for several days, and the fragrance is fragrant, so she immediately got up and thought about buying some, and gave them to Ling Huyan and Liu Le when she went home, and the right to please the two of them.

The car continued to move forward, and after a short time, it arrived outside the palace gate of the Four Seasons Palace.

After the briefing, Zuo sent a decree and allowed him to meet him.

Xin Er got out of the car, didn't take Wei Xian and other guards, untied the sword and the short dagger on the belt, and entered the palace alone.

Twilight has arrived, the afterglow of the sunset sprinkles all over the palace, green trees, red flowers, white gushing springs, and various palace walls from far and near, bathed in the yellow light together, giving people a colorful, quiet and far-reaching feeling.

In this situation, he was sandwiched by a team of palace guards in armor and holding a lance, walking alone on foot, walking on the road in the palace, but suddenly felt empty, and it seemed that he was not touched, but he was afraid. He touched his waist, the sword was not there, and the dagger was not there. "This is the reason why even a hero like Cao Mengde is afraid to enter the palace, is this why it is said that the power of heaven is unpredictable?" He thought.

In the summer, the Zuo family waited for Xin Er in the four halls of the Qianguang Palace, the main hall of the palace, which was used in the south of the Zhuyang Red Hall for three months in the summer. The walls of this hall and the utensils in the hall are mainly red. From afar, Xin Er saw the red of the temple wall.

As the distance from the temple wall approached, it was faint at first, and then it became larger, and it was clearly the sound of shouting and killing, which clearly drifted with the evening breeze.

Xin Er changed color and stopped, and said, "What sound?" ”

The eunuch who led the way smiled and said, "Don't be surprised, if you dare to do so, that's the king practicing the formation." ”

Xin Er relaxed and said, "There has been no rain for days, and the weather is very hot, how can you practice by the king?" What should I do in case of heat stroke? ”

The eunuch replied: "It's also evening, it's not as hot as the day, and the queen mother only allowed the king to practice one or two." ”

Listening to Zuo's permission, Xin Er didn't say anything more.

Those who practice are not serious soldiers, but those playmates who were given to Linghule before and after, the protons sent to the palace by the Hu people of Longzhou and the children of the Longzhou scholars sent to the palace to study.

Linghu Le grew older, he grew up in troubled years, there is no lack of daily contact with war, and he is more and more interested in the things of conquest, he is not yet in government, and has no opportunity to lead troops to fight, so he organized these playmates, protons, and companions, and selected his strong people, a total of 100 people, organized into a battalion, gave armor, and often personally taught them in accordance with the art of war, and practiced them, which was also enjoyable.

Walking to the vicinity of the Zhuyang Red Palace, Xin Er saw that Ling Hule was wearing a small armor tailored for him, holding a bow and pressing a sword, standing majestically on a temporary platform outside the hall, and the audience was divided into two teams, fifty people on one side, a total of one hundred people, all teenagers, the older ones were nothing more than fourteen or fifteen, and the younger ones were only eleven or twelve, and they were all wearing armor, each holding weapons, and was conducting offensive and defensive drills.

Some of these teenagers are Tang people, some are Hu people from the Western Regions, and some are Xianbei and other Hu.

The Hu people of the Western Regions are the princes and clans of the Western Regions, and they are the playmates of Ling Hule after Xin Er discussed the Western Regions; Xianbei and other Hu are protons sent by the Hu chiefs of the various departments of Longzhou; The Tang people are the children of the Longzhou Dashi family, and because of their clan status, they enter the palace to accompany them.

Ling Hule was condescending, and he had already seen Xin Er's arrival.

He had the intention to show off in front of Xin Er, did not step down, nor did he stop the drills below, but instead instructed the eunuchs behind him, waved the flag, and urged the two teams of "enemy and enemy soldiers" in the audience to start a more fierce confrontation.

For a while, the sound of killing shook the sky, and the birds and finches in the nearby gardens that were alarmed were all panicking.

Xin Er stood on the sidelines, watching the battle.

Although the age of those "soldiers" is not very old, but their backgrounds are very good, they are born with sufficient nutrition, and they are carefully selected by Linghule, because they are tall and strong, some are taller and stronger than ordinary adults, and they fight, not only the offensive and defensive formations change like the same, but the impact and fighting with each other are also tiger and tiger, and the weapons they use, the ring knife is not open, and the long lance is not equipped with a lance, otherwise, I am afraid that there will be casualties.

Rao is like this, in the battle, there are also several teenagers who were injured one after another and withdrew from the battle.

In the end, the battle ended with the team from the west winning and the flag from the team from the east.

Ling Hule jumped off the high platform, and when he arrived in the field, he gave the carved bow in his hand to the leader of the western team, and said majestically: "Good job! ”

The leader of the West Team was triumphant; The leader of the Eastern Team hung his head.

Ling Hu Le straightened his face and said to the leader of the East Team: "You lost last time!" Lose again this time! It's only three things, if you lose again next time, Lone will remove you from your post and drive you out of the palace! ”

Afterwards, Ling Hule went to the side of the wounded boys, bent down to check their injuries, and ordered the eunuch to immediately summon the medical officer to come over, treat them with wounds, and take out a few gold coins and reward them separately.

After doing these few things, Ling Hu Le came to Xin Er, and said with his hand: "Ah Gua, what do you think of the lone soldier?" ”

"The king's soldiers can be called elite."

"How are you better than your soldiers?"

"The ministers have no soldiers, and the soldiers under the ministers' tents are all the king's."

"As far as the soldiers under your account are concerned, who is stronger than these soldiers of Lone?"

"The soldiers of ten ministers are not as good as the soldiers of a great king."

Ling Hule couldn't hold back, laughed happily, and said: "Ah Gua, I know that you are coaxing Lonely, but these words make Lone happy!" ”

Xin Er was sincerely frightened and said, "How dare the minister coax the king!" ”

"When you came to the palace, did you have something to do with the queen mother?"

"Yes." Xin Er paused and said, "Your Majesty, the minister received a good news from Zhang Shao today, and most of Shuofang County has been obtained by our army!" ”

Linghu Le was overjoyed and said, "Won the war? Ah! What a happy event! Turning suspicious, he said, "Why is most of it for me?" And what about the rest? ”

Xin Er simply told Ling Hule about the situation at the moment.

After hearing this, Ling Hule's face was full of anger, he drew his sword, slashed it fiercely, and said: "Hu Lu forgets his righteousness when he sees profit, it's really unbelievable!" Ah Gua, when I grow up, I will personally lead the troops, set foot in the north of the Pingping, and cut off the heads of Tuoba and Helan Yannian! Returning the sword into the sheath, he looked up and thought about it, and said, "Although Zhang Shao has not done his best, he is also meritorious, and he deserves to be rewarded!" ”

Xin Er said respectfully: "Yes, the minister will obey the king's will, and tomorrow I will ask Zhongtai to discuss a reward and repay it to the king." ”

Ling Hule let out a sigh of relief and said, "What's the use of reporting to Lonely? Let's report it to the queen mother. ”

Xin Er did not answer Hu Le's words.

Ling Hule waved his hand and said, "The queen mother is waiting for you in the palace, you go to see the queen mother." ”

Xin Er saluted and responded, "No." ”

Before turning around to go to the hall, he glanced at the hundred young armor soldiers who were resting in the field, and then looked at Ling Hule's gradually growing figure, and then noticed that Ling Hule had a faint layer of hairy whiskers on his lips.

Isn't it? Ling Hule's birthday was in late midsummer, and he celebrated his birthday this year only last month, counting his age, he is already fifteen. On his birthday last year, he was still like a child, and in just one year, unconsciously, he has matured a lot this year.

Walking slowly, Xin Yi entered the temple.