The Golden Wolf Army was intercepted near Iron Mountain, Jieli Khan and Princess Yicheng fled with only 4,000 cavalry troops, and after more than half of the Golden Wolf Army was killed and wounded, they all surrendered on their knees; After the golden wolf army of the three towns of Woye fled to Monan, the three towns were successively captured by Yang Ze, and the Sui army won a complete victory, rescuing 20,000 Han people, capturing 100,000 Turkic men and women, and 300,000 miscellaneous animals.

Yang Chong breathed a sigh of relief after reading the good news, and said to Yang Wang: "How to reward it, the three provinces will get an opinion first, and we will discuss it in the political hall." ”

Yang Wang knew that Yang Chong was going to slip away, and asked, "Where are you going?" ”

Yang Chong said with a smile: "I heard that Yu Shinan and Wei Yi held a party, and I went to study and study. ”

According to Yang Chong's status today, he has to waste time and energy to study, that is really the coldest joke of the Great Sui this year, Yang Wang has also heard of that party, Yu Shinan has been preparing for a long time, mainly for Jiang Zuo's scholars to be famous in Chang'an, knowing that Yang Chong went to see if there were any scarce talents, so Xiaoxiao was released.

Yang Chong found Ma Zhou to accompany him, Yu Xuan and Kong Yingda's reputation was too prominent, Yang Chong was afraid that he would not see the truth, so Tianqi took a large number of masters to disguise themselves as various characters to accompany him. Yang Chong and Ma Zhou sat in the carriage, watching the scenery of the streets of Chang'an through the curtains, and the sullen students walked by the gate of Guozijian; There are drunken pedestrians on the busy streets. Yang Chong asked Ma Zhou: "Back in Chang'an, which one is better or in Huating?" ”

Ma Zhou knew that Yang Chong was a smart person, and told the truth: "They are all like-minded people in Huating, and they are more handy in doing things, but in Chang'an, they have long knowledge." ”

Long insight, Yang Chong smiled, and understood the meaning of Ma Zhou's words, not to mention the court, it is his own Yue Wangfu, and it is also a mixture of various forces, and many things may backfire if you are not careful. The carriage has arrived in Dongshi, because of Yang Chong's insistence, although the closed wall has not been completely removed, the wall between the expanded part and the original Dongcheng District has been stripped off, and Dongshi is no longer a city within a city in Chang'an City.

As far as the eye can see, the bazaar is surrounded by street-facing shops, stretching into the winding alleys, which is very close to the streets of later generations, but at this time the goods are not abundant enough, and the number of merchants is not enough. Although there is no emperor now, and there is no purchase in the palace, the East Market is still because the residences of dignitaries and dignitaries are mostly in the vicinity, and there are more shops selling luxury goods in the market, and horse-drawn carriages are parked all the way.

Yang Chong changed the subject: "Do you know the plan of the West Market to seize the sea?" ”

"I've heard of it." Ma Zhou was engaged in document archiving in the Yue Wangfu, and he had seen this term in the reports of Tianqi and Wang Gong several times, but he didn't know the connotation; Yang Chong said in a low voice: "Chang'an West City takes advantage of the distance, Hu merchants who come and go like to look for buyers in the West Market, over the years, many Hu merchants have gathered in the West Market, the household department has done statistics, nearly half of the shops in the West Market are Hu merchants." They brought a large amount of gold from the Western Regions and Persia, and the trade of gold accounted for half of the transactions of the people in Chang'an City. Xishi's plan to seize the sea was to use the gold of Hu Shang to suppress the Goguryeo market. ”

Ma Zhou understood that Goguryeo was also a country that liked gold, and gold products were a money-making commodity in Goguryeo, which was already on the list of trade between the two countries; Yang Zhi continued: "We used the workshops in Helan Mountain and Dunhuang to make a large number of gold ornaments, quietly participated in the trade of the Western Market, and constantly lowered the price of gold in the market to suppress the price of Goguryeo goods. ”

Ma Zhou knew that the workshop areas in those two places were imitating the goods of the Western Regions, and Yang Chong was attacking the countries of the Western Regions while attacking Goguryeo; But the main thing is to drag down the economy of Goguryeo and create panic in Goguryeo. The carriage stopped in front of the Ruyi Building, this is the place where Yu Shinan held a party, and the entire Ruyi Building was wrapped up today, Wei Yi knew in advance that Yang Chong was coming, and he had already helped Tianqi bring a lot of people in.

With the support of his buddies, Yang Chong stepped on the horse and got out of the car, and found that the guys around him and several vendors on the street were all from the Baiqi Battalion; Yang Chong and Ma Zhou just pretended to be ordinary students and went in, and Tian Qi and the other two masters also pretended to be scholars, and they protected Yang Chong five or six steps away. The decoration of Ruyi Building is quite rich and elegant, the pink wall is tiled, the eaves are warped, the corners of the wall have views, the eaves are all carved, which is more in line with Yang Chong's aesthetics.

As soon as a few people walked into the courtyard, they saw someone arguing on the side door, and the five people who quarreled were all a little red-eyed, surrounded by more than 20 people watching the excitement, and a guard who was mixed in the crowd came over to tell him, these people were a small gathering of fellow villagers in Yangzhou, and finally quarreled over the issue of posting; This time, Du Yan, Chu Jing, and Kong Yingda were the examiners, and Chu Jing, who had always been at the forefront, became the last of the examiners, and what they were arguing about was whose door they should worship.

Yang Chong asked Ma Zhou in a low voice: "This year is the year of the big exam. ”

Ma Zhou smiled and nodded, on the one hand, it shows that the power of the Ministry of Rites is indeed great, and on the other hand, it also shows that Yang Chong doesn't care about too many things in the court. Yang Zhi asked Yu Shinan clearly in a delicate attic in the middle, so he and Ma Zhou squeezed in along the crowd, the seats were already full, Yu Shinan was at the main table in the hall, and beside him were several old men in brocade clothes, all dressed as scholars; Ma Zhou quietly introduced to Yang Chong that he knew the Confucians of the Jiangnan Wang family, the Xie family and the Zhang family.

There are still two days before the Lantern Festival, the weather in Chang'an is still cold, the people at the table are drinking, and they are a little disdainful of the people around them, Yang Chong asked curiously: "Why aren't you upstairs?" ”

When Tianqi heard this, he came over and said with a low smile: "Someone came to make trouble today, Liu Hongji, who had just returned to Beijing, entertained Jiang Duo on it, and even Wei Yi was forcibly dragged up. ”

Yang Chong knew that there were more than 50 scholars from the Western Regions and Hexi who followed Liu Hongji into Beijing. This is the case in Jiangnan and Hexi, and it must be the same for scholars in Shandong and other places. The imperial examination is a good way, but there are very few examiners who can really be selfless. Yang Chong has no dissatisfaction, any way is flawed, and such competition is not uncommon in modern society.

Yang Chong is concerned about whether the imperial examination can provide a channel for the children of the poor to rise, and for the nobles and elites, there is still a way to directly recruit into the office, and the imperial examination seems to be a redundant move. Therefore, Yang Chong was very concerned about who the other guests at the table were, and after thinking for a long time, he pulled Ma Zhou and Tianqi to retreat to the door, and sent an escort to go in, and Yang Chong asked to see him.

(End of chapter)