The Great Food guards were waiting outside the castle, Ibrahim and a dozen retinues were brought into the castle, Ibrahim hurried all the way, he didn't expect that the top military commander of the Tang Dynasty in Anxi would actually be here, which made him look forward to today's meeting a little more.

The whole ichthyosaur castle is integrated, strong and abnormal, it itself has no city gate, can only go up to the side of the city wall to enter the castle, when walking through the city wall, Ibrahim suddenly heard a low voice, as if thousands of people in the throat together, Ibrahim couldn't help but slow down, surprised to look at both sides, hoping to find out the source of this strange sound.

"Envoy, look there!" Atney pointed to the northeast and whispered.

Through a cluster of green trees, Ibrahim suddenly saw a scene that shocked him, he saw hundreds of steps away, thousands of people dragging a long length of minecarts were slowly walking towards several huge houses, and dozens of heavily armed Tang troops stood next to them, due to the hot weather, these thousands of people were almost all wearing their upper bodies, their oily black skin was shining in the sun, the minecarts were heavy, they were advancing extremely hard, and their throats kept sending out a low trumpet, Ibrahim suddenly realized, he urgently asked the Tang army that guided them, " Could it be that they are the Great Cannibal Army? ”

What he said was the big food language, fast and urgent, Tang Bing in front didn't understand it, ignored him, Atney next to him quickly translated into Chinese, Tang Bing turned around and glanced at them coldly, "They are no longer soldiers, they are prisoners of war of my Tang Dynasty!" "What did he say?" Ibrahim looked back and asked, Ateni shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands, indicating that he didn't understand either, Ibrahim frowned, he couldn't help but look at the group of laborers again, and suddenly, he noticed that a person had stepped out of the house, shouting at the team, although he couldn't see his face clearly, his voice seemed to be somewhat familiar. Ibrahim looked at the man's burly figure again, and he suddenly remembered someone, Meria, could it be him?

The group walked along the city walls into the castle, which, contrary to the sweltering heat outside, was very shady inside. Faintly filled with a musty smell peculiar to the ancient castle, and walking to a few dark corridors, Ibrahim was taken to a room full of sentry posts, and the Tang army made a report, and then an officer stepped out, and said in a skillful big food language: "Please let the messenger in, and the rest will wait outside." ”

Ibrahim walked into the room with some trepidation, it seemed to be a meeting room, very spacious and bright. The room was simply furnished, with a large rough wooden table and a dozen wooden benches on either side. Seven or eight soldiers stood against the wall, watching him warily, and in front of the table sat a Tang general, about thirty years old, dark-skinned, with bright armor on the ground, a silver helmet on his head, and a very serious expression, but Ibrahim noticed another Tang general standing with his back to him in front of the window, he was unusually tall, more than half a head taller than the average person. He was also wearing a military uniform, but the uniform was clean and crisp, without a trace of wrinkles, and he wore military boots, which made Ibrahim pay attention not only to his proud temperament, but also to wear a golden helmet, which was enough to show the nobility of his status. glanced at Ibrahim, but made Ibrahim's heart tremble suddenly, this general is not as tough and rough as other Tang army generals, his appearance is very handsome, and even has a rare spirit of beauty, but his gaze is as sharp as a knife, penetrating his heart.

"I am Wang Siyu, the champion general of the Tang Kingdom and the envoy of the Anxi Festival, and welcome you to Yulong Castle."

Now there was no longer a need for the half-baked Chinese Atney translator, and the officer next to him translated his words into the language of the Great Food with accuracy and fluency. Ibrahim immediately bowed respectfully. "His Majesty the Great Caliph, Vice-Governor of Damascus, Ibrahim, see His Excellency the Governor of Ansi, the Great Caliph."

Wang Siyu smiled slightly. Showing a row of white teeth, he waved his hand, "Your Majesty, please take a seat!" ”

Wang Siyu's kind attitude made Ibrahim's inner uneasiness slowly disappear, he sat down, a soldier served tea to everyone, Wang Siyu slowly stepped forward, he pointed to the Tang army general who was sitting and introduced: "This is my Tang Dynasty Broken Leaf Governor Cao Hanchen, the person you visit today should be him." ”

The translator said quickly. Ibrahim couldn't help but be in awe. He hurriedly stood up and saluted Cao Hanchen. "See General Cao!"

Cao Hanchen smiled and stood up and bowed back to him. But he didn't say a word. Then. Wang Siyu also sat down. He took a sip of tea and asked, "The envoy said that he made a special trip to Broken Leaves on the way back to China this time. I don't know what to say? ”

Ibrahim listened to the translation. He pointed out the window and asked, "I want to ask first." Are those who work as coolies our great eaters? ”

"There are no big cannibals here. If you ask the land is a prisoner of war. That's what they are. Wang Siyu smiled faintly.

Ibrahim was silent. Those people were indeed the Great Food Army who were captured by the Tang Army. Half a day. He sighed and said, "I came here to break the leaves this time to eat prisoners of war. The caliph wants your country to release them back. You can put forward conditions. ”

Wang Siyu glanced at him. Puzzled, he shook his head and said, "I don't understand what your caliphs think. Half a year ago, His Majesty the Emperor sent an envoy to Baghdad to settle the matter of the Great Diet of prisoners of war. but was flatly rejected by your caliphs. Now they're running back and begging to be put back. I knew it was today. Why bother in the first place? ”

"The caliph's refusal was also a last resort, he had difficulties, and I hope your country can understand."

Wang Siyu walked a few steps in the room with his hands behind his back, pondered for a long time, and said slowly: "I'm sorry, I can't be the master of this matter, I must ask our Emperor His Majesty, the last peace talks failed, all the conditions have been nullified, if you and your caliph are really sincere to solve the prisoner of war issue, you can only go to Chang'an to meet our Tang Emperor." "Ibrahim's mission on this trip is to sign a secret agreement with the Uighurs, the prisoners of war are just his additional mission, and he will not delay the real mission for the additional mission of Chang'an, Chang'an he will not go, he can only go back to Baghdad to see the caliph first, and then talk about the prisoners of war.

Thinking of this, he stood up and pleaded with Wang Siyu: "It is not within my authority to go to Chang'an to meet His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, I will go back to ask the caliphate, but before leaving, I want to visit these prisoners of war." I wonder if Your Excellency the Governor will allow it? ”

Wang Siyu and Cao Hanchen glanced at each other, and Wang Siyu nodded and agreed: "Yes, but it needs to be accompanied by us." ”

With that, he gave the translator lieutenant a look and ordered him to accompany Ibrahim to visit him, and wait for the envoy to go away. Cao Hanchen, who had been silent, finally spoke: "Dashuai, their caliphate is inconsistent, which is really incomprehensible. ”

"What's so puzzling about this, at the beginning, he wanted to directly use war to solve the prisoners of war, so he tore up the agreement, but now he finds that it is unrealistic to start a war directly, so he wants to negotiate conditions to release the prisoners of war, hum! Turning hands into clouds and hands for rain, how can there be such a cheap thing in the world. ”

Wang Siyu smiled coldly. He looked out the window to see that Ibrahim had crossed the improvised wooden bridge over the Broken Leaf River and trudged through a pile of rubble. As he walked in the direction of the mine, nearly a hundred Tang soldiers followed him closely, Wang Siyu pondered for a while, and then said to Cao Hanchen: "The refined silver ingots and gold should be sent to Chang'an immediately, and I am just about to send someone to Chang'an to report to the governor about Anxi, but I can go with them and leave tomorrow!" ”

In Chang'an, the time is gradually coming to August, the heat has subsided, and the weather has begun to cool down. With the advent of early autumn, two important examinations will be held in Chang'an City, one is the examination of officials' positions, and officials from all over the country must participate in three batches in Chang'an, and the first batch of official examinations will be held at the end of August, mainly officials from the courts, Hedong, Guannei, Longyou, and the Central Plains prefectures. The ultimatum issued by the Ministry of Officials has spread throughout the country's states and counties.

In addition, a few days earlier than the official examination, that is, on August 25, the first examination since the accession of the Tang Emperor will be held, the time is less than 20 days, the entire Chang'an City is crowded with more than 200,000 scholars from all over the country, because there is no age and identity restrictions, the candidates up to 60 years old, down to 11 or 2 years old, it is said that even Cui Yuan's 12-year-old grandson Cui Yao will also participate in this imperial examination.

All the poor children pinned great hopes on this imperial examination. A lot of people remember. When the imperial court expanded the door shadow system, the only opponent was the current Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. In the two months since he took office, he has made outstanding political achievements, and the changes in the relative system and the checks and balances of power are too far away from the lives of ordinary people, except for some people who care about current affairs, ordinary people do not feel and do not care.

But in the past few months, there have been three changes in the Tang Dynasty, which everyone has clearly felt, first of all, the stability of the country, with the killing of the last separatist warlord Li Xilie, the war in the Central Plains has finally ended, although there are troops stationed in various places, but the military discipline is strict, never harassing the chaotic place, there is no war, the people of the Tang Dynasty first got the chance to survive.

In fact, it is the decline in the price of rice, during the summer harvest in June, it seems to be God's grace to the Tang Dynasty, in addition to the Central Plains and Hebei suffered from the impact of war, and Shandong encountered a drought, the rest of the Jianghuai, Jiangnan, Shannan, Bashu, Hedong, Longyou, Guannei and other regions are ripe for grain, and at the same time the recovery of Cao Yun has brought a large number of Jianghuai grain exports, making the most expensive grain price in Bianzhou area is only 100 yuan of rice, and Chang'an, which has always been known for the vane of grain prices, the price of rice fell below 60 yuan for the first time in eight years, and 55 yuan of rice, with the fall of rice prices, The prices of various daily necessities have also fallen, and the prices of oil, tea, cloth, etc., have all dropped to the level of the tenth year of Qingzhi.

Another significant change is that the early Tang Dynasty's grant of land appeared again, the imperial court in the Jiangnan region of Runzhou, Changzhou, Suzhou, Huzhou, Hangzhou, as well as Huainan Tuzhou, Luzhou, Hezhou, as well as the middle reaches of the Yangtze River Tan, Yue, Hubei, Jiang, Hong, Bashu Han, Mian, Zi, Jian, Mei, a total of 18 states began to grant land, the grant area of 1.2 million hectares, all the people of the Tang Dynasty, regardless of status, no matter where the household registration, those who have no land can receive, according to the standard of 30 acres of grain field for Ding men and 15 acres of mulberry field for Ding women, And the military land that has been obtained is not counted, and for a time, there was an endless stream of landless people from all over the country who rushed to Jiangnan.

It is precisely these three major changes that have made the war-torn Tang finally show signs of great governance, social stability, and people's excitement, which is reflected in the unprecedented enthusiasm in the imperial examination.

Now not only the inns gathered in Pingkangfang, Chongrenfang are full, the inns of other squares are also overcrowded, the late arrivals have to live in monasteries, Taoist temples, and some people live in other counties of Chang'an, for this reason, the imperial court specially allows ordinary people to accept scholars to stay at home for a fee, so they can barely solve the problem of scholars' accommodation.

At noon that day, Li Mi took a leisurely walk in Chongrenfang, which was his favorite one. Especially in Xifang, which is close to the imperial city, there is a huge complex of buildings in Guozijian, with patches of green trees, bookstores and teahouses everywhere, full of quiet humanistic atmosphere, and Li Yudi's residence is also near Guozijian. For several months, walking to the Jinshi Restaurant in Dongfang at noon every day has become a habit for him.

Moreover, the emperor also let him look for a wise man when he has free time, and living in Chongrenfang can be regarded as a public and private benefit, and he can also receive a fee from the emperor to find a virtuous person and subsidize the rent and wine money.

Compared with the tranquility of the West Fang, the East Fang of Chongren Fang is very lively, where a large number of inns and restaurants are gathered, and it is also the location of the Jinju Yuan of various states. In addition, it is also the most developed place in the entire Datang printing industry, with more than 100 large and small printing workshops. Printing all kinds of Buddhist scriptures and books, and also contracting the printing of documents of the imperial court, the business is booming, day and night.

Jinshi Restaurant is in the southeast corner of Chongrenfang, can only be regarded as a medium-sized restaurant, but because of its good name, it has become one of the most popular restaurants during the imperial examination, and it has also attracted peer competition. There are dozens of restaurants such as Shape Round Building, Jinbang and Di Restaurant, Tanhua Building, etc., but there is still no restaurant that can compare with its business.

Li Mi walked into the Jinshi Building with his hands behind his back, and the guy standing at the door saw him from afar, although this old man ordered the cheapest wine and food every day, but the Jinshi Building valued credibility, and with his patronage of the small shop every day, he was much more important than those guests who spent 10,000 gold but only came once.

The guy greeted him with a smile on his face, "Daoist Li is here, and I was still thinking about why Daoist is late today." ”

"Is my seat still there?" Li Mi asked with a smile.

"The guy was a little hesitant. There are especially many guests today, and the seats are very tight, of course, it is impossible to reserve a seat for Li Mi, "Why don't I take a look, have they eaten well?" ”

"Don't bother, I'll just ask casually." Li Mi waved his hand and smiled: "Actually, it's the same when you sit there." ”

"Thank you Daochang Li for your accommodation, please come with me." The guy invited Li Mi to the second floor, and the second floor was full of young scholars, and it was very noisy and lively. Everywhere are smiling faces full of youth and enthusiasm.

I searched for a long time. Li Mi found an empty seat in a corner against the wall, which was a small table for two people. Opposite him sat an extremely young scholar, about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a half-worn white Confucian robe, wearing a flat scarf, in front of him a plate of steamed buns and a pot of sake, it could be seen that his family was not good, although he ate and wore simple, but he was handsome, youthful and vigorous, he held a wine glass in one hand, a book in the other, was leaning against the wall and reading intently, seeing Li Mi sitting down opposite, he put down the book and smiled, which was regarded as a greeting.

Li Mi also nodded to him kindly, and at this time, there was a sudden burst of fierce applause next to him, and I saw an older scholar stand up and smile at everyone: "Since you want me to say, then I will say a word or two." ”

He cleared his throat and said loudly: "I think that the bad government soldiers in the Tianbao period are not just as simple as land annexation, various reasons cause soldiers to be unwilling to serve, a very important reason is that the status of soldiers is extremely low, wealthy nobles need to use labor to find no one, so let the soldiers to fill the number, no one can use government labor to find soldiers to replace the service, day by day, which makes soldiers synonymous with hard labor, the original meritorious service and the imperial court awarded various honors, what flying horses, brigade rides, cloud horses, etc., It was originally a symbol of honor and status, but in fact it has become a sign of low status, when it comes to someone who is a flying cavalry captain, the listener shows disdain, a hard labor, so, try to ask who is still willing to join the army, and those who have joined the army will also think of trying to get out of the military, so I think that the Tang Dynasty wants to be strong militarily, first of all, it is necessary to improve the status of soldiers, so that everyone envies, and those who join the army are naturally enthusiastic, and even our soldiers are willing to wear military uniforms for the country. ”

His speech won a round of warm applause, and Li Mi heard his unique views and was also a little interested, so he curiously asked the young people opposite, "Who is this speaker?" ”

The young man put down the book and looked back, then said with a smile: "This person's name is Guo Mu, a native of Fenyang, Hedong, speaking of which the Taoist chief may not believe it, this person is still a Jinshi in Xuanren for three years." ”

"Oh?" Li Mi became even more interested, "Why did Jinshi still come to participate in the system?" ”

"What can he do if he doesn't participate?" The young man shook his head lightly and said: "A few years ago, the door shade prevailed, most of the Jinshi in the annual examination were rejected by the officials, there is a way to be a high-ranking official staff, maybe you can find the step to enter, and there is no way to go back to the countryside to farm, depressed all his life, this Guo Mu is the kind that has no way, and extremely filial, I heard that he was ready to go to Anxi to join the army, but his mother was seriously ill, he stayed at home to take care of his mother, after his mother died, he married in front of the tomb and kept filial piety for three years, this year opened the system, he came to Chang'an again to apply for the examination, I also want to borrow a certain future from the new dynasty. ”

"Filial piety comes first, and the person who respects filial piety the most today may have a good ending." Li Mi sighed, and silently remembered the name Guo Mu.

At this time, the young man opposite picked up the book again, but accidentally dropped a note from the book, which happened to fall at Li Mi's feet, Li Mi picked up the book, and saw a poem written on it, he read it twice, with a look of surprise on his face, and asked the young man: "Is this a poem you wrote?" ”

The young man nodded and said modestly, "That's exactly what I wrote below." ”

"Good poetry!" Li Mi praised sincerely, he couldn't help but pick up the notebook again, and read it aloud: Leaving the grass on the plain, one year old and one withered to be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, xtcom, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading! )