Chao Lun told the ugly slave who saw the three phases on the left and the ugly slave, and was a little worried.

After pacing back and forth, the ugly slave sighed, "No one will be happy in his heart, it is rare for Zuo Shuai to have such elegance!" Brother Chao has stood up for me, it seems that I have to meet Zuo Shuai myself and ask him for advice! ”

Chao Lun nodded: "I think only if the adults show sincerity can they take over smoothly!" If the elite soldiers can't control it, they will become proud soldiers! Although I have been in the military department for many years, I have never actually held military power, and it is far from enough to rely on what I read in books and what others tell me about the affairs of governing the army! ”

"Brother Chao, don't worry too much, everything is difficult at the beginning, didn't Zhuge Liang never lead soldiers to fight before he came out of the mountain? As long as you and I work together with all the officials and generals, we will definitely be able to do a good job! ”

"My lord has this confidence, Chao should do his best, by the way, I heard that Zuo Sanxiang was born in poverty, and he left office this time, but the court did not give a clear reward, if the lord has a heart, isn't it?"

"Brother Chao's reminder is too timely! Fortunately, I brought a lot of money with me this time, which was originally intended to be used in times of crisis. Now it's better to send some to Zuo Shuai! ”

"Your Excellency brings your own money to keep for military expenses? This, Chao never expected, no wonder the imperial court's edict did not mention that there was so much money! My lord, this was a surprise to me! ”

"I'm a eunuch, what's the use of asking for so much money? Anyway, it was all rewarded by the emperor, and I used it where it should be used, which can be regarded as repaying the emperor and the court! ”

Chao Lun's eyes widened, and in his impression, although this ugly slave was a good person, he was just a eunuch who could be a person.

In the minds of the court officials, the eunuch has left a fixed model of greed for money and insidiousness, if someone told Chao Lun that a eunuch took out his money to the court, he would never believe it.

Seeing Chao Lun so excited, the ugly slave smiled, "Brother Chao, don't be surprised, nothing in this world is set in stone!" Eunuchs are not necessarily all bad people, and Qingliu is not necessarily all good people! I think Brother Chao knows this better than I do! And good people don't have to be good people all the time, and bad people aren't always bad people! ”

"Chao is arrogant, but this time it is really an eye-opener, adults have insight into the world at a young age, no wonder the emperor handed over such a big task to you! When I say that, I have more confidence in us! ”

"I'll go to see Zuo Shuai tonight, and I hope Brother Chao will be my companion! After all, I am a eunuch, and it is inconvenient to go to see Zuo Shuai and Liu Jingchuan alone! ”

Chao Lun knew that the ugly slave had brought him with him to avoid embarrassment and Jin Liangwei's suspicion.

It is impossible for the emperor to be completely at ease with the ugly slave, although the ugly slave is appointed as the protector of the capital, but it is still taboo for a eunuch like the ugly slave to go to see the general of Zhengxi alone. In the future, once someone uses this matter as a handle to sue the court, whether it is the ugly slave or the left three ministers, they will be punished.

After all, accompanying the king is like accompanying the tiger, and the ugly slave knows this too well, maybe when the emperor will turn his face and not recognize people, settle accounts after the autumn.

"I share the weal and woe with the adults, so naturally I have to accompany the adults around, this time I went to see Zuo Shuai, I think we are all honest, and we have said all the things that should be said, one to dispel Zuo Shuai's concerns, and the other is to rely on Zuo Shuai to suppress these soldiers when announcing the decree! And I have to ask Zuo Shuai to tell me about many important things, otherwise it will be difficult for me and adults to live in the future! ”

The ugly slave held Chao Lun's hand, "Brother Chao, I won't say those polite words, you and I are ready to prepare, and we will go over together at the beginning of the year!" ”

The two of them each prepared some items, Chao Lun had no money, but he had the authentic handwriting of the famous calligrapher Wei Changhe who had been carrying it with him, and Zuo Sanxiang had gone to ask Wei Changhe several times for the words of the closed door.

The ugly slave took out half of the money he brought, loaded it into a truck, and transported it to Zuo Sanxiang's residence.

Zuo Sanxiang had not had time to build a mansion in Luntai, so he had to live with Liu Jingchuan in the house near the west gate.

This house is extremely old, the subordinates once persuaded the left Sanxiang to live in the county government of Luntai, but the left Sanxiang refused, at that time the war between the wet poison people and the Liang had not yet begun, and the left Sanxiang wanted to live in the west gate himself so that he could go up to the city at any time to command the defense of the city.

The real value in the house is a well, and it is the importance of this well that Zuo Sanxiang takes a fancy to, and he wants to control the water source

Hold it in your own hands and guard it with your trusted personal soldiers.

Liu Jingchuan came back from the fields outside the city, and was surprised to see the five carts of money that had been pulled, and only after asking did he know that it was the ugly slave who gave it to him and Zuo Sanxiang.

"Hurry up and pull it back, it is useless, the envoy sent such a heavy courtesy, I Liu Jingchuan dare not accept it! What's more, there is a system in the imperial court, and foreign ministers are strictly forbidden to associate with people in the inner court! ”

"Lord Liu is worthy of being a loyal minister and a good general, Lord Chao and I have been waiting outside the mansion for a long time, Lord Liu will not come back, and we will not dare to go to see Zuo Shuai without permission!"

A shrill voice came, and Liu Jingchuan looked at the ugly slave and Chao Lun who were shivering from the back of the car by the lantern and hurriedly greeted them.

"Please forgive Liu for being abrupt, the two envoys are too big for this ceremony, and these subordinates are too clever, so they let the two of them stand outside the door!"

"Lord Liu, it was Lord Qin and I asked my brothers not to report it, please don't blame them. Lord Liu's body of dirt must have come back from the place of Tuntian, and Lord Liu is so dedicated to serving the country, we are ashamed of ourselves. Please also ask Lord Liu to hurry into the house to eat! ”

Liu Jingchuan patted the dirt on his body, "Hey, this, there is no way, I have to do it myself when I am outside Tuntian!" It's rude for me to be so dirty on my clothes! It's rude! ”

The ugly slave picked up Liu Jingchuan's dirt-stained hand, "Lord Liu is too polite, today I came to visit you and Zuo Shuai, and I sincerely came to ask for advice!" I also hope that Lord Liu and Zuo Shuai will give advice! ”

Liu Jingchuan was a little embarrassed, this delicate and smooth hand touched his calloused hand, which felt too amazing.

"Okay, okay, then hurry up and follow me into the house, Zuo Shuai is still waiting for me to eat together!"

The three of them went in together, and saw that the door was opening under the dim light of the inner hall, and Zuo Sanxiang heard the sound of talking outside and greeted him.

"Two, don't let anyone tell me before you come, I'm cooking some wild vegetable porridge and other respects!"

Ugly slave and Chao Lun bowed together, "Zuo Shuai is polite, the two of us dare not alarm Zuo Shuai, Zuo Shuai is busy with military affairs every day, and the two of us came to ask for advice tonight!" ”

As he spoke, Chao Lun handed over the true handwriting of Wei Changhe in his arms.

Zuo Sanxiang took a look, his eyes lit up, and patted Liu Jingchuan on the shoulder, "We can drink a few bowls tonight!" ”

"Where did Zuo Shuai get the appetizers? I'm afraid this wild vegetable porridge can't be drunk! ”

Zuo Sanxiang took this calligraphy to Liu Jingchuan, and his eyes flashed: "The authentic handwriting of the calligraphy master Wei Changhe, can't you drink three bowls of wine?" Hahahaha"

"That is, I remember that you went to Wei Changhe's mansion to ask for dozens of times, but you couldn't ask for a word! Three bowls of wine is too little, at least three hundred bowls! ”

Zuo Sanxiang saw that Chao Lun and the ugly slave were snickering, and hurriedly touched his head, "Let the two of you laugh, come on, come on, there is a fire in this house, hurry up and roast it, if you suffer from the cold, you will suffer!" ”

The third phase on the left was holding the calligraphy, and Liu Jingchuan pulled the two into the house together.

There were two large bowls on the table in the room, and a large clay pot on the stove was steaming.

Inside the big bowl was the wild vegetable porridge that had been served for a while, and the ugly slave took a closer look, and saw that there was very little corn in it, and wild vegetables accounted for most of it.

Chao Lun couldn't help but have a sour nose when he saw this situation, "Zuo Shuai, Lord Liu, you two will eat this?" I've been checking the grain depot these days, and there's no shortage of food! ”

Zuo Sanxiang smiled, "When Jing Chuan and I are not fighting, we will eat less, and the meat will be saved to eat when we are fighting, and this wild vegetable porridge can also be eaten, it is nothing more than cooking more!" It is easy to go from thrift to luxury, and it is difficult to go from luxury to thrift. If you are used to eating meat, you can't stand eating this wild vegetable porridge when you are really short of food. ”

"Two adults, Zuo Shuai and I don't eat this wild vegetable porridge every day, we still have to eat meat once in ten days! As for the wine, it's really gone! It's not easy to grow some food in this place! Where can I afford to make wine. ”

The third phase on the left picked up a big bowl, "If you don't dislike it, I'll also give you both a bowl!" ”

The ugly slave didn't hesitate, and immediately picked up a small bowl on the other table, "The wild vegetable porridge cooked by Zuo Shuai himself, how can you not taste it?" You're welcome! ”

Chao Lun also took a small bowl and came over, "Of course we have to eat, this is the first thing we learned from Zuo Shuai!" ”

Four

Each individual drank porridge with a bowl, and the bottom of the bowl was clean in a few moments.

"Lord Liu Zhong, tell me, what do you feel about drinking porridge tonight? But it doesn't hurt to say it! ”

Zuo Sanxiang saw that the ugly slave had also forcibly eaten this bowl of wild vegetable porridge, and concluded that this person was indeed sincere in asking for advice.

The ugly slave looked at the bowl and jar, "Lead by example, and share the weal and woe with the soldiers!" At the head, you always have to be able to afford losses and hardships! ”

"Yes, Lord Liu Zhong is young and a person who has enjoyed a prosperous life in the palace, it is not easy to share weal and woe with the soldiers! However, in fact, I deliberately arranged to cook porridge these days, in fact, we originally had one meal of meat every three days. Since Lord Liu Zhong and Master Chao Lun came, I have changed my rules! And it was already the autumn harvest, but I still let Jing Chuan go to the ground! Does Lord Liu Zhong know what this means? ”

The ugly slave's eyes were full of gratitude, "Zuo Shuai has good intentions, so that I can have a chance to show grace to my brothers after I take over!" Thank you in advance! ”

"You're half right, and I had to do it, but I didn't do it very well. Because anyone with a discerning eye knows that I did it on purpose, this favor does not carry much weight to the soldiers. It's not easy to lead the troops, but half a month ago, I sent someone from the Fengsui Fort in the north to find a passing merchant to buy the koji for winemaking, and when the grain and grass from the Ili side are transported, we can make wine. I will leave this wine-making koji and manpower to you, if the soldiers who haven't drunk wine for more than a year drink wine in the hands of your Lord Liu Zhong, this kindness is more important than anything else! ”

"Ili? Zuo Shuai even recovered the Ili River Valley? "Ugly Nu'er and Chao Lun didn't know about Yili before

"In the Ili River Valley, there are thousands of survivors of the Anxi Protectorate of my Great Liang a hundred years ago, and thousands of people have been there, Zuo sent someone to appease them, and also repaired the military village there! By the way, if Lord Liu Zhong can move the town of Ili and move the administrative office to Ili, thousands of people in Ili will definitely swear allegiance to you! Originally, I also planned to pass after the beginning of spring next year, but now it seems that I can only ask you, Lord Liu Zhong, to fulfill my wish! ”

The ugly slave didn't know anything about the geographical situation, so he had to ask: "Zuo Shuai, is this Ili still going west?" ”

"Exactly, eight hundred miles to the northwest, and only by resetting the capital protection mansion there can we hope to restore the former territory of the Han Dynasty! To the west of the Ili River Valley, there is also a khanate established by the Wet Poison People! ”

"There is something I am worried about, if these soldiers are unwilling to go west, unwilling to go to Ili, what should I do?"

"Governing an army is like fishing. Therefore, the sake brewing I mentioned earlier can only be carried out in Yili, and bringing back a small amount of wine from Ili has aroused everyone's gluttony, even if it is to drink a sip of wine, they will go! Also, some soldiers don't have wives, and if Lord Liu Zhong can let them settle down here from the surrounding tribes and Yili, it will also be a merit! ”

"I've written down everything Zuo Shuai said, but these thousands of soldiers, I'm a eunuch to command, if someone keeps disobeying me and making trouble, I"

"It's normal for someone to be dissatisfied! Lord Liu Zhong remembered one sentence, and he had a sharp weapon to kill himself! For your own soldiers, as long as it is not a crime of great rebellion, try not to open a killing ring. For some thorns, you can think of some ingenious ways to rectify them. You and Lord Chao are going to sing black face and red face, some conspiracies can be used on them, when they are desperate and the situation is critical, Lord Liu Zhong will help them again, not only punishing them, but also sending favors. ”

"I see, I've been taught, the so-called grace and power are equally important, but in fact, it's all a routine, and you have to put the big guy in!"

The ugly slave recalled that in the palace, the emperor was very handy in doing these things, and secretly instructed someone to impeach and falsely accuse a certain minister, and when the minister was imprisoned, the emperor came to pretend to be a saint tomorrow to rehabilitate a certain minister.

This time, the ugly slave also knew why the emperor wanted to recall the left three phases, the left three phases can really be described as the dragon among people, if they stay in the Western Regions for a long time, something will really happen.

"Lord Liu Zhong has a very high understanding, it seems that Zuo doesn't have to worry too much, as for some secret matters, I and Jing Chuan will tell you all tonight. I don't need to read the will of the imperial court to know, Lord Liu Zhong can announce the decree in three days, and I and Jingchuan are also ready to prepare. When Lord Liu Zhong takes on the great responsibility of being promoted, we must ensure that there is no chaos! ”