In the fourth year of Yonghui (653 AD), April 18, the time of Si.

On the east gate of Wuzhou City, Wu Kang led the team, and the Wuzhou officials were behind. The day before yesterday, after receiving an official document from Taizhou (Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province), the Fanbang Mission paid tribute to Chang'an, but due to the sudden flood in Yuezhou (Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province), it was temporarily diverted to Wuzhou. Cui Yixuan presided over Lao Lu's funeral, the three pension officials stood aside, Di Renjie was still investigating the case, and the rest were all there.

For Yuezhou, Wukang is interested, is the Yuezhou Governor's Office, supervising Yuezhou, Hangzhou, Wuzhou, Quzhou, Wenzhou, Kuozhou (Lishui City, Zhejiang Province), Taizhou and other six prefectures. Now it is only nominally in charge, and the affairs of Wuzhou do not pass through the Governor's Mansion. The so-called Metropolitan Governor, before the Anshi Rebellion, was the commander of the Mongolian Navy; After the Anshi Rebellion, the commander of the military district.

Yesterday, Yongkang County reported that the mission had been set out and was expected to arrive in Wuzhou City on time. Early in the morning, Wu Kang ordered Yu Hongzhi to lead 700 militiamen to carry out security and protection work. I took my colleagues and stood at the city gate to greet them.

What interested him was the Japanese Mission, which was now called the Tang Envoy. News came from Taizhou: The envoys of the Tang Dynasty, Ji Shi Changdan and Gao Tian Gen Malu, led 121 people, including students and scholars who entered the Tang Dynasty, and another ambassador, Gao Tian Genma, entered the Tang Dynasty in two ways.

According to the history books, Takada Nema was wiped out at sea and failed to arrive. This is the first time that an envoy came to Tang after the Dahua reform of the Japanese Kingdom. The Wa Kingdom sent Tang envoys, which lasted from the Zhenguan year to the late Tang Dynasty, bringing the customs and culture of the Tang Dynasty and Buddhism back to Japan. After the Tang Dynasty, there was no more mission, which led to the stay of the Wa Kingdom in the Tang Dynasty, and later generations said that the Tang Dynasty was in Japan, which made some sense.

In contrast to his great interest, his colleagues lacked interest and did not have a good impression of the mission. In their opinion, Fanbang, which has a big palm, has nothing to welcome, it is better to attend Lao Lu's funeral. Of course, Wu Kang had no good impression of them, so he had no choice but to speak. After all, a country's mission can't have an accident in Wuzhou, otherwise it will be unlucky.

Wandering in the world, I listened to Zhang Lushi's report: "Wu Lu will take a look at you, is that the Nine Ladies, beckoning to you." ”

Following the guidance and looking at the city, the familiar luxury carriage and more than a dozen security guards slowly drove towards the city gate. Wu Shun was holding Minyue, Cui Xiaoqing was holding something in his hand, and he was waving his hand towards the city gate. What's going on? Wu Kang didn't know why, but also stretched out his hand to say hello.

got a more enthusiastic response, and when she heard Minyue shouting at her uncle, she couldn't help but be happy again, and asked Si Gong next to her to join the army: "May I ask Uncle Wang, what is the importance of the clay doll that Jiu Niang takes?" From this morning to now, a great number of women have gone out of the city and come back with it. ”

Wang Lin Rui explained in a low voice: "Today, April 18, is the birthday of the god of Taishan Temple, also known as the day of prayer. Every year today, the woman will go to the grandmother's temple in Wuzhou Mountain to burn incense and pray for blessings, appreciate the mud dolls in the temple, and pray for blessings and many children and grandchildren. ”

It's a bit interesting, Taishan temple god and send the son Guanyin, a unit. Cui Xiaoqing is a yellow flower girl after all, no matter how bold she is, she will not pray for an heir. It must be Wu Shun, she is quite concerned about my marriage.

The priest joined the army Wei Dingzhou and said: "Taishan Temple in Bozhou, also known as Grandma Temple, it is said that Cao Cao's wife Bian is infertile, Cao Cao went to Grandma Temple to burn incense and bow, and soon his wife was pregnant. It is handed down that on April 18, the grandmother temple prayed for the doll. ”

This allusion is interesting, and I will visit it when I have time. Bozhou belongs to Anhui, I have heard of the grandmother temple, not far from Wuzhou, the customs of the two states are similar. Since Cui Xiaoqing is so active, she will work hard after getting married to meet her wishes.

When his colleagues saw his obscene expression, they all laughed lightly, and the old foxes immediately said that they would dedicate ancestral secret recipes and secret medicines to ensure that he had one child and two treasures. Jokes were playing with each other, and the atmosphere was more harmonious, and then Di Renjie hurriedly came up.

After a few words of greeting, Wu Kang asked the city gate soldiers to stay away, and his colleagues formed a group. Di Renjie took a breath, lowered his voice and said: "Back to Wulu Shen, the murder of Lu Gong has been investigated clearly, and it really has nothing to do with the sixth lady, the murderer is a servant girl of Lu Mansion, named Chunping. ”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, Wu Kang put his mind at ease, and finally got out of the sea of suffering. Poor Liuniang, who has lost weight in three days, has to listen to me sing a little song at night to sleep peacefully. Fortunately, the spoof reply letter, she didn't have time to read it, and it was on the boudoir bookcase. patted Di Lao Xi'er on the shoulder and gave a thumbs up.

Colleagues understood the meaning and praised one after another, Lao Di was a little embarrassed, and said: "Chunping has been in the Lu family for thirteen years, responsible for the daily procurement of the Lu family, and combined with the Lu family's Qu Wang Zhi, and has two sons and a daughter. After investigation, it was learned that Chunping poisoned the cake and tea, which had nothing to do with the six ladies. ”

Everyone's expressions were strange, and they all felt incredible, why did the old slave who got married and had children harm his master? Wu Kang asked: "Is she the mastermind, is her family involved, has the owner of the tea shop investigated, and what is the motive for the killing?" ”

Di Renjie replied: "The family and the owner of the tea shop don't know that Chunping is the mastermind. During the interrogation, she was delirious and kept saying that the Nine Heavens Xuannu helped all sentient beings, and all the corrupt officials and corrupt officials died. Dare to ask Wu Lushen, there are nine heavenly Xuannu in Wuzhou? ”

Wuzhou does not have Muzhou, this widow Chen, Muzhou is not enough for you to toss? At the beginning, the Seven Fairies made money in the oil pot, but they were found out and fled, and there was no similar incident in Wuzhou. In this way, they are thieves who are not dead, and they have broken through the point of preaching?

After pondering for a moment, he instructed everyone: "After you return home, investigate your own slaves and maids, and control all those who talk about the Nine Heavens Xuannu." There is an unknown enemy who deceives the people of various prefectures and murders Wuzhou officials, the purpose is to cause panic in Wuzhou, and it must be dealt with carefully! ”

Realizing that there was no time to delay, colleagues walked down the city gate one after another, looking for an entourage to give orders. Di Renjie continued: "When she was escorted back to the Ya, she said that she wanted to be Gong, but the Ya Servants were waiting outside the thatched house because of the defense of men and women. When she realized that something was wrong and rushed into the thatched house, she committed suicide by hanging the beam, hanging the beam from her belt, and stepped on the toilet. Wu Lushen, in his room, found this..."

Seeing the thing in his hand, Wu Kang gasped, slapped a big cloth man, wrote small characters on the front, and had dense needle eyes. This is a witch Gu disgust, whether it is the palace or the place, it is a taboo. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, because of the curse of the rag doll, punished his own three clans.

The Tang Dynasty learned a lesson and punished the curse with extreme punishment. The Law of Thieves stipulates that those who create disgust and charm and make talisman books to curse, and want to kill people, shall be reduced by two degrees for murder. The so-called murder is the premeditated murder of a person, which cannot be carried out.

Travel back to the Tang Dynasty, if you shout "Whoever you want to kill" on the street, then congratulations, you are convicted of murder and sentenced to three years in prison. The second degree is reduced by murder, which means two years in prison, which roughly means: whether you curse a small paper figure or draw a circle to curse, even if the cursed person is not hit, you will be sentenced to two years in prison.

Let Di Renjie put away the rag doll, Wu Kang took the wood carving and looked at it, the carving was quite exquisite, painted with bells and whistles. Look at the shape is a woman, with kind eyebrows and kind eyes like a Bodhisattva in the temple, wearing silk and satin, stepping on colorful auspicious clouds.

The bottom of the wood carving is engraved with the words "Nine Heavens Xuannu", Wu Kang laughed, Widow Chen continued to be a demon, you are a grasshopper after the autumn, and you can't jump for a few days. Di Renjie leaned over and whispered: "Wu Lu Shen, the lower officials have asked the bad guards, there is no Xuannu Sect in Wuzhou, this..."

Wu Kang waved his hand to interrupt, not planning to tell him that this item could not be left in the official mansion. Take off the money bag around your waist, find hemp rope and wear dozens of copper coins, and tie them to the statue. Take two steps back, put on a shot put, aim at the moat outside the city, and draw the perfect parabola.

The statue sank to the bottom of the river, Di Renjie was very puzzled, and when his colleagues came back, Wu Kang continued to order: "Anyone who has anything to do with the 'Nine Heavens Xuannu' will bring bad luck, if you see it, destroy it as soon as possible." Huaiying, who used the cloth man as evidence in court, ended the case. ”

Thinking of Lu Fu and the ill-fated Liuniang, she coughed twice and asked, "Uncle Lu's funeral, there is no accident, right?" Is the sixth lady emotionally stable, is she still not eating? ”

The faces of the colleagues were strange, and Di Renjie replied in a low voice: "Early this morning, the ninth lady came to the Lu family and accompanied the sixth lady for half an hour. After the nine ladies left, the maidservant girl sent rice porridge to the boudoir, and the porridge bowl was empty when she came out. As for whether the six ladies ate it or not, the lower officials don't know. ”

Wu Kang has white eyes, you are a thick-eyed and big-eyed goods, and you are not a kind person. Thinking about his few words, smoke and dust rose in the distance, and the sound of horses' hooves could be faintly heard. When the Japanese mission arrived, everyone was not interested, so they regained their positions and looked out of the city.

Three knights stopped at the gate of the city, the red and blue flags were waving, and the mission arrived in half an hour. Sure enough, it didn't take long to see a large group of men and horses, fifty cavalry in front of the road, and the militia with guns in the rear were cut off, with three carriages in the middle, followed by dwarf winter melon people.

As the team got closer, Wu Kang made a strange smile, remembering the idol Zhang Dashuai's copycat "Song of the Great Wind". Slightly adapted, shaking his head and chanting poems: The ballista bombarded his mother, Weijia returned to his hometown, several heroes Xi Wukang, and the giant whale swallowed Fusang.

Can our big guy also write poetry? Congratulations! The colleagues were dumbfounded, and when they saw that the atmosphere was embarrassing, they hurriedly patted their: "This poem by Wu Gong is slightly inferior to Liu Bang's "Song of the Great Wind", but it is also a rare masterpiece. ”

The atmosphere continued to be embarrassing, except for the three military officers, the rest all scoffed, and Di Renjie turned his head away. Wu Kang doesn't matter, anyway, Zhang Dashuai is behind the blame, in fact, Dashuai is quite chic. The soldier doesn't know how much, he doesn't know how much money, and his aunt doesn't know how much, a typical winner in life.

Think about yourself, the first two may be able to do it, but my aunt's wife estimates that it is difficult, and there is a tigress at home. found that Di Renjie was disdainful, and a bad taste swelled up, disgusting him, "I said Di Lao Xi'er, it is rare for this official to make poems, give me some advice." ”

Di Renjie's eyes rolled, and he hugged his fists and smiled: "The last sentence is okay, the lower officials don't know the giant whale, but they know that Fusang is another name for the Japanese country, and it has the heroism to expand the territory." However, Wu Lu Shen, your heroism will be in vain, the Japanese country bows down to the vassals, and it is separated by the vast sea, and the imperial court will not agree to send troops. ”

Tapping his fingers on the city, Wu Kang muttered to himself: "This world is not fair, the Tang Dynasty is vast, and minerals such as gold, silver, and copper are extremely rare. Some Fanbang barbarians, sitting on mountains of gold and silver, are really tyrannical. Huaiying, please rest assured, I will give the imperial court a reason why I have to send troops. ”

Colleagues continued to be confused, facing the Japanese mission, discussing the crusade against the Japanese state, which is not very appropriate. Di Renjie was stunned, and said for a long time: "My navy is more prosperous before the Sui Dynasty, especially the huge building ship, which can carry soldiers and sailors, as many as 700 people, and has the strength to destroy the Japanese country, but there are no sailors to destroy the country. ”

Qin Li, who joined the army, agreed, and then said: "Di is right, the ships of our dynasty have never been to the Wa Kingdom. Even if the Japanese country is vulnerable, even if they have mountains of gold and silver, there is nothing we can do. Without experienced sailors, our large-scale fleet will not be able to get to the place at all. ”

Di Renjie added: "Since the Qin and Han dynasties, there have been large-scale sailors. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent a large fleet to Nanyue, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty to Goguryeo, and Emperor Taizong to Goguryeo. But these three places are offshore and can be reached by local fishing boats, with experienced fishermen acting as guides. ”

The meaning is obvious, the fishermen do not know the route of the Japanese country, and they cannot charge the guide to lead the way. Wu Kang was thoughtful, and his stomach began to run bad, and his smile became more and more weird. Except for Di Renjie, the rest of the people understood that Wu Yanchen had begun to calculate again.

Yu Hongzhi came up to report, Wu Kang paused his thoughts, glanced at the mission outside the city, his eyes flashed with contempt, and ordered Sicang to join the army: "This official has changed his mind, and the place where the mission will be received will be placed in Huamanlou." Although the women of the church are lowly, they are also nobler than these dwarf winter melons, and they do not deserve to be served. ”

Regardless of everyone's surprise, he continued to order: "Wang Senjun, Di Senjun, and Dr. Hua, together with Commander Yu, are responsible for the reception of the mission. Lu Gong went to the funeral today, after all, the same state is a minister, and the rest of my colleagues will accompany me to send Lu Gong on his last journey. ”

After speaking, he flicked his sleeves and strode down the city tower. Everyone looked at each other and left, leaving Wang Lin Rui to look at each other. Di Renjie was stunned, our top boss had a weird style. I've been waiting for a long time, and I've finally waited for it, and I'm going to pick it directly.

Yu Hongzhi saluted the three of them, went down to the city wall to carry out the order, and the remaining three looked at each other and smiled bitterly, sighing and following.

Wu Kang walked to Lu Mansion, three minutes away from noon, and did not delay the funeral. went to the mourning hall to salute, greeted Cui Yixuan, and stood quietly next to him. Only Lu San and Liuniang are the only ones who attach importance to filial piety, and the other relatives of children who are not in Wuzhou will not be able to go out of the funeral.

According to the normal situation, when parents are in their old age, their children generally do not travel far away, for fear that they will not be able to catch up with the funeral. In this era, transportation was not developed, and it was unrealistic to keep the corpse for a long time, Lao Lu died suddenly, and when the children outside came back, the corpse stinked.

After standing in the mourning hall for a while, Cui Yixuan arranged for him and Qin Li to go outside the gate to pick up the visiting guests. When I greeted the guests, my mind was full of the Japanese country and the huge silver mines that were eye-catching. It is said that the output of those silver mines once reached one-third of the world's, and they must be shared.

The more I thought about it, the more itchy I became, and I decided to take precautions, in case the prime minister of the official residence in the future has military power in his hands, it is not impossible to conquer the Japanese state. The guide that Di Renjie said has a ready-made one, that is, the sailors of the Japanese envoy ship. After hesitating for a moment, he finally made up his mind, called the nearby bodyguards, and whispered to explain the task.

When the auspicious time for the funeral came, Wu Kang and his colleagues helped carry the coffin outside the hospital and put it on the funeral ox cart. Lu San was supported by Zheng Da and Sun San, and he couldn't straighten up crying. Originally, according to the rules, Lao Lu's remains were to be sent to Fanyang for burial in the ancestral tomb of the Lu family.

I heard Lao Cui say that Lao Lu was not born well, and his biological mother was the maidservant of the Lu family, who was promoted to a concubine and has been excluded by the Lu family. It's good now, the funeral report brings back the news, and the head of the Lu family is not allowed to be buried in the ancestral grave.

had no choice but to be in his own field in the south of the city, and he was temporarily in the tomb, which was also the reason why Lu San was heartbroken. Wu Kang saw that Lu San was taken care of, so he followed the hearse and Sun Mingji took care of Lu's mother and daughter. They sat in the car, holding the coffin and weeping bitterly to prevent it from falling and falling.

After the funeral at noon, the funeral procession returned to the city, and Wu Kang sent Cui Yixuan back to his home, staying with his fox friends and dogs to help the Lu family with chores. chatted with Lu Mu and Lu San and comforted Lu Liuniang. At the same time, let Wu Kai's father and son live in case of emergencies.

I was busy until the evening, and finally made the arrangements, and went to the security company non-stop. Walk into the conference room, sit in the main seat, and look up at everyone. Xiucai, Qian Shun, Chu Shenke, and Lin Pinglang are all there, as well as more than a dozen bodyguard leaders.

Too lazy to talk nonsense, go straight to the point: "This time the Japanese delegation visited Tang and went ashore in Haiyou Town, Taizhou, and the ship was moored in Sanmen Bay. I want a sailor from the Wa Kingdom, preferably the captain of that ship, what do you recommend? ”

Everyone was accustomed to the big guy's whimsy, and they didn't show surprise, and they all lowered their eyebrows and pondered. In about a quarter of an hour, Chu Shenke proposed: "The ship is not as good as the land, and the supply is a problem, there are two possibilities." Crew members go ashore to purchase, or the local government transports. The former is easy to do, let's ambush and kidnap directly. ”

Xiucai took over and said: "The latter is more tricky, either blend into the supply team or lure the snake out of the hole. It's not difficult to get in, but it's hard how to tie people up and how to be unaware. It is even more difficult to lure the snake out of the hole, and if the envoy strictly orders us to disembark, there is nothing we can do. ”

Wu Kang knocked on the table and glared at Xiucai and reprimanded: "I let you solve the problem, not that you have nothing to do." No matter what method you use, how much copper money you spend, you have to tie it to me... At least two sailors. Use your brains, and within two hours, you must come up with a practical plan. ”

The venue was silent, and he glanced at everyone again, stretched out two fingers and said lightly: "That's a foreign mission, and the operation must be completely secret." If the matter is exposed, it is a diplomatic problem, and the official cannot bear the responsibility. ”

All the subordinates frowned and lowered their heads one after another. After more than ten minutes, Wu Kang slowed down his tone: "The envoy sent to Tang, after arriving in Chang'an, will learn from Chang'an scholars, monks, etc., which will take time." Add the round-trip time, at least a year of effort. With your ability, you can't tie people up in a year? I don't believe it! ”

Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief, just had no time limit, Chu Shenke said: "It's much easier to do, if you are not afraid of thieves stealing, you are afraid of thieves, let's have a heart without intention." Please rest assured that the boss will guarantee that the task will be completed. ”

Wu Kang smiled and tapped the table rhythmically, "That's right, if you show your energy, you can succeed." In this operation, Xiucai is the mainstay, and Brother Chu assists. Pick a competent man, set off in disguise tonight, and I will arrange for the doorman to open the city gate. ”

After that, he got up, pondered for a moment, and said, "If you follow me, you won't suffer." The price of this operation was clearly marked, one sailor 100 times, the deputy captain 300 times, and the captain 500 times. Again, absolute secrecy, I don't want deaths or injuries! Let's make a plan. ”