In the afternoon of the same day, under the leadership of Zhang Xun, everyone inspected the city defense along the Yongqiu city wall. I have to say that this Zhang Xun did spend a lot of thought, although the city wall of Yongqiu is weak, but Zhang Xun has done a lot of articles on the city defense with ingenuity, which has greatly enhanced the solidity of the city defense.

Zhang Xun built a large number of 'stone cannons' behind the city wall as defensive equipment to make up for the lack of troops and city defense. The so-called stone cannon is actually a kind of trebuchet, but this kind of catapult is small in size, and the stone bullet fired is also a fist-sized small stone, which is entangled with a rope, and will be smashed down in pieces when projected, which can not only hurt people but also become an obstacle on the road, which can be described as full of scheming. It's just that the range is very short, but it is fifty or sixty paces longer than the arrow, but it is a good thing to defend the city.

Wang Yuan wondered where Zhang Xun came to get these stone cannons, after all, the small number of soldiers and horses in the inland state capital would not be equipped with such heavy equipment. When asked, it turned out that Zhang Xun was not doing his job when he was the county commander. He didn't like to manage government affairs very much, but he liked to delve into some weapons and combat equipment. I bought a lot of military books to study, and once made this kind of stone cannon by myself in Qingyuan County. After arriving in Yongqiu, it was naturally put into practice, and hundreds of such simple stone cannons were built for the purpose of defending the city.

Wang Yuan sighed very much, it turned out that there were people like Zhang Xun among the scholars in these years. Zhang Xun was born as a Jinshi, and it is not ordinary for him to be admitted to the Jinshi in Datang. Those who can be admitted are real skills, and their literary talents must be first-class. The way to ascend to the throne is actually a kind of side-door left-handed imperial examination behavior, and compared with these real Jinshi people, it seems so unjustifiable. And this Zhang Xun can not only be admitted to the Jinshi, but also obsessed with studying military books, so in a sense, this Zhang Xun is a man of all-round talents in civil and military affairs.

In addition to stone cannons, Zhang Xun also built a lot of arrow towers behind the city wall, and the city wall dug a lot of pits and made a lot of defensive preparations. He armed Yongqiu like a hedgehog, which shows that he has both the confidence to resist the enemy and his own strategy.

After patrolling the city, Wang Yuan completely relieved himself of Zhang Xun. Originally, he also planned to encourage the morale of Zhang Xun and the soldiers and civilians in the city, and asked them to hold the city and stop the rebels' path south. Now it seems that it is redundant.

That night, Xu Yuan, the Taishou of Suiyang, also rushed to Yongqiu, and when he learned the news that Wang Xiangguo was going to take him to the imperial court, unexpectedly, Xu Yuan refused.

"Thank you Xiangguo for your kindness, although Xia Guan really wants to follow Xiangguo to Chengdu, I can't let Brother Zhang guard the land of Yongsui alone. The lower officials are only shallow in their studies, and they may not be able to do anything if they go to the imperial court, so it is better to assist Brother Zhang here to defend Yongqiu and Suiyang, and I can do my best. At the beginning, I promised Brother Zhang that I would defend the city side by side with him, how could I leave him here alone at this moment. Xu Yuan said.

Wang Yuan was very moved, he saw the shadow of himself and Gao Xianzhi from Xu Yuan and Zhang Xun. These two people are also people who cherish and appreciate each other, and these two may play a greater role together, which may be beneficial to keep the land of Yongsui.

After consulting everyone's opinions, Wang Yuan agreed to Xu Yuan's request. However, the position of Yongsui Taishou has been awarded to Zhang Xun, and Xu Yuan is no longer Suiyang Taishou, so Wang Yuan ordered that Xu Yuan be awarded the post of squire of the military department, as the military official stationed in Yongsui of the imperial court, and guard the city with Zhang Xun. The matter was satisfactorily resolved.

In the early morning of the next day, Wang Yuan led everyone to set off. This time, Wang Yuan decided to rush to the army near Chang'an non-stop, and no longer made any delays on the way. The main cities on the south bank have been inspected, and the purpose of this trip has been basically completed. The rest of the matter is to hurry back to the army near Chang'an. As the weather gets colder, many things will get worse once winter comes, and you need to solve some important things as soon as possible.

……

The candles are bright in the flower hall of the back house of the Jin Wang's Mansion in the east city of Luoyang, and a table of eight immortals is full of dazzling and fragrant delicacies. An Qingxu walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, looking out of the door from time to time, looking very impatient.

Finally, a servant hurried in and appeared under the corridor of the flower hall. An Qingxu hurriedly stopped and asked, "Is Mr. Yan here?" ”

The servant hurriedly bowed down and said, "Lord Wang, Mr. Yan has arrived and is changing clothes in the front hall." ”

An Qingxu hurriedly said: "Please." ”

The servant hurried away, and An Qingxu walked to the door of the flower hall, his eyes fixed on the corridor leading to the front house. Soon after, the lights on the corridor flickered, and two servants carried lanterns one after the other, and it was Yan Zhuang who walked with his chest up and down in the middle.

"Sir is here, but I'm in a hurry." An Qingxu hurriedly stepped forward and said with a smile.

Yan Zhuang returned the salute, and said with a smile: "Give the prince a salute." ”

An Qingxu stepped forward to grab Yan Zhuang's arm, and said in a loud voice: "Come into the house and talk, the table full of wine and food is almost cold." I prepared the best bamboo leaf green wine for Mr. Yan, and Mr. Custodian liked it. ”

Yan Zhuang smiled and nodded, and the two walked quickly into the flower hall, and An Qingxu stretched out his hand to let Yan Zhuang to the table.

"So much food and drink, ho, I'm going to feast on it today." Yan Zhuang looked at the table full of wine and food.

"That's natural, Mr. led the army to quell the chaos, this road is hard, this is the king for Mr. Reception, how can it not be grand. It's a pity that I can't call someone else to accompany me, and the atmosphere is a little colder. But it doesn't matter, just order the song and dance girl to sing and dance in a while. An Qingxu said.

Yan Zhuang smiled and said, "The prince has a heart." But singing and dancing are exempt, you know I don't like those things, it's better for you and me to drink and talk quietly. ”

An Qingxu was stunned and smiled: "Okay, good, but listen to Mr.'s orders." The gentleman said whatever he wanted. ”

Yan Zhuang smiled silently. An Qingxu raised his hand to beckon the servant beside him to open the wine, and at the same time pointed to the wine jar with mud seals and said: "Mr. said that he likes to drink bamboo leaf green, no, this king took a lot of effort to collect some." Mr. Tonight you can drink all-you-can-drink. ”

The servant smashed the wine seal and began to pour wine into the pot, good wine is different, the mouth of the altar is full of wine, and the middle people want to get drunk. Yan Zhuang's nose moved, his face showed a look of anticipation, and after An Qingxu personally filled the pot with the wine glass in front of him, Yan Zhuang couldn't wait to pick up the wine glass and drink it dry.

"How? Is this wine still good? I don't know much about alcohol, but I can taste the good and the bad in one sip. An Qingxu was unimpressed by Yan Zhuang's rude behavior of drinking first, and asked with a smile while holding the wine jug.

"Good wine, high-quality wine, mellow and long, clear and fragrant, it is indeed the upper hand of bamboo leaf green." Yan Zhuang nodded in praise.

An Qingxu laughed and said, "Okay, if Mr. likes it." Come on, fill it up again. After that, An Qingxu wanted to pour wine for Yan Zhuang again.

"Wait." Yan Zhuang stretched out his hand to protect the wine glass and smiled.

"What? Is one cup enough, sir? An Qingxu said.

"The old man's alcohol consumption is not unknown, not to mention that a thousand glasses are not drunk, and a few bowls of wine will not be able to drink me. The prince prepared good wine for the old man, but the old man himself brought a pot of good wine, so you might as well show the prince how the wine is. ”

Yan Zhuang spoke, waving his hand towards the door. A servant came in from outside with a red lacquer tray and respectfully placed a tin pot on the table.

An Qingxu frowned and said unhappily: "Mr. Yan, what are you doing?" You came to my Jin King's Mansion for a banquet, do you still have to bring your own wine? Don't you think that I, An Qingxu, won't even let Mr. Yan drink good wine? ”

Yan Zhuang smiled and waved his hand: "The prince is too worried, this is a pot of good wine given to me by others, I just brought it to share with the prince." ”

After saying that, Yan Zhuang stood up, grabbed the wine jug and poured the wine cup in front of An Qingxu to the full. The wine shimmered silver, and in the light of the candle flame it looked very clear and tasted very mellow. It looks like it's not much better than bamboo leaf green wine.

"Someone else's wine?" An Qingxu didn't quite understand what Yan Zhuang was going to do.

Yan Zhuang smiled and said, "King Jin, look at how this wine is." ”

An Qingxu frowned and slowly picked up the glass of wine, sniffed it closely, looked at it, and said, "I said that I don't understand wine." I can't see it. ”

Yan Zhuang smiled: "Maybe after tasting it, you can tell the difference between good and bad." ”

An Qingxu frowned and said, "Okay, then I'll taste the wine that Mr. brought." Say

An Qingxu raised the wine cup and brought it to his mouth, and just as he was about to open his mouth to drink, he suddenly said solemnly and solemnly: "King Jin, drink slowly, I have something to say." ”

An Qingxu put the wine to his lips and said with a smile: "What? Do you want to talk about a wine order or something? ”

Yan Zhuang didn't answer, grabbed a chopstick, poked one end of the chopsticks into the wine cup and dipped some wine, then got up and walked under the parrot stand in the corner of the hall, and put the chopsticks dipped in wine to the colorful parrot's mouth. The parrot was so drunk that it retreated, and its mouth gurgled, but it was still wiped on the pointed beak by Yan Zhuang with chopsticks dipped in wine.

"What is this doing, sir?" An Qingxu was confused by Yan Zhuang's strange behavior, and asked in surprise.

Yan Zhuang pointed at the parrot and whispered, "Look." ”

An Qingxu had to look at the parrot, only to see that the parrot was smeared with wine on his mouth, looking very uncomfortable, and kept shaking his head. Suddenly, the parrot staggered off the iron frame, and hung under the parrot frame with its head and feet, and did not move.

"What's going on?" An Qingxu said in horror.

Yan Zhuang used chopsticks to pluck the parrot hanging on the red rope and spindle, the colorful feathers on the parrot's body turned blue-black, and the whole head and face were blue-black, not looking like a parrot at all, but like a crow.

"Dead, a drop of wine can teach this parrot to look like this, if the prince drank the glass of wine in your hand just now, I can't imagine what the situation will be now." Yan solemnly said in a deep voice.

"What? Are you saying that you just poured me poisoned wine? An Qingxu shouted in shock, stretched out his hand and threw the poisonous wine far away. The cup shattered on the ground with a clatter, and an imperceptible blue smoke rose and disappeared as the wine spilled.