After the Qinggangling area, it is about to enter the Lingzhou boundary, Wenchi, Anle two cities are also close at hand, Li Congjing Rong Ma nearly 20 years, for the pawn to be the commander, all can do their duty, now the royal drive to this point, although there is the intention to charge into battle, and then go through the battle array to kill, but also know that it is no longer what they should do, Changxing years as the prince, when the southern expedition to Jianghuai and Jinling, let alone go into battle to fight, now there is no need to think about it, but the army camped in the afternoon, although the village and town are not far away, Li Congjing did not intend to disturb the people, he rested in the barracks, and followed Li Cunqing to fight in the north and south during the Tianyou years. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

But it's a pity that Li Cunjing can share the hardships but can't be happy, after entering the Central Plains, he lost his fighting spirit, and the way he treated the soldiers and the people has changed dramatically, Li Congjing is to witness the rapid collapse of the country in just four years with the same light, and he can't help but take it as a warning, Taizong also saw the Sui Dynasty quickly turn from prosperity to decline and even perish, so there is a feeling that water can carry a boat and overturn a boat, and always introspect and be vigilant about himself, Li Congjing has a similar experience, and his mentality will naturally be similar to Li Shimin.

As a qualified king, these truths are only known to themselves, that is far from enough, you have to often warn the courtiers around you, after all, the Tang Dynasty is governed by monarchs and ministers, whether it is good or bad words and deeds, it is a spread of ten to hundred, Li Congjing said to the people around him today, tomorrow they will tell the people around them, everyone knows the emperor's intentions, and will naturally imitate in words and deeds, if you can introspect and self-encouragement, it is great, the so-called upward and downward effect is generally like this, At present, Li Congjing personally conquered Shuofang, and the palace forbidden army brought out a lot, at this time, Li Congjing was next to him, that is, Lin Ying, the commander of the palace forbidden army, and Ding Hei, the deputy commander, Li Congjing told them some old things about the rise and fall of Li Cunqing, and at the same time instilled in them some ways to get along with the soldiers and the people, but it did not seem boring, governing the army for many years, Li Congjing's eloquence is undoubted, and as a king, he does not have to think that being a good teacher will be annoying, the whole world, I believe that there will not be many people who are disgusted to listen to the king's teachings, What's more, Li Congjing is not a faint king.

"You don't think I'm noisy, I always keep saying these big truths, you know, you are all my close ministers, and you will have to take on heavy responsibilities in the future, you don't know the origin of the rise and fall and don't know the way to be an official, that is to 'bring disaster to the country and the people', I don't want to draw a big seal on the fold of punishment for you at that time." More than 100 people left the barracks for some distance, and seeing that the countryside was in sight, Li Congjing stopped talking and said to Lin Ying and Ding Hei with a smile.

During the Tiancheng period, although Lin Ying lost his hand in Jingzhou, but in the battle of Liangchuan and the dispute between the north and the south, he made a lot of meritorious contributions with his own ability, and his loyalty was the same, and he was reinstated for many days. ”

Ding Hei looked like he had no ambitions, and said hesitantly: "Being able to guard the palace ban and always follow His Majesty is already a great honor for the minister." ”

Li Congjing expressed his appreciation to Lin Ying, and hated Ding Hei for iron and steel, and said to the other guards: "During the Han Dynasty, scholars were promoted by the court for their filial piety, and before becoming officials abroad, most of them had to stay in the palace first, called Lang Guan, which is not much different from you, that is to say, you are all Lang officials, don't be careless at the moment, you need to be vigilant from time to time, in order to make contributions to the country in the future." ”

When all the guards heard this, they all agreed to it, as Li Congjing's guard, it would mean a great opportunity for the emperor to know him, and the palace guards, many of whom were eunuchs and generals, knew this truth even more.

The town is not too big, but in the end it is located in Lingzhou, the city wall is built to be extraordinarily complete, no need to touch it with your hands, Li Congjing can see the firmness of the rammed earth, although after the wind and rain, the surface is inevitably a little rough, like the bark of a dead tree, but this also shows that the town has a long history. There are more than 100,000 soldiers and horses on both sides in Lingzhou, and the war has not spread to this side, and there are still many people entering and leaving the city gate, and Li Congjing even saw the trucks of the merchants.

The houses living outside the city are simple, the walls are more mottled than the city wall, the wooden door has been polished by the years, there are traces of old soil on the threshold, there seems to be dust falling in the afternoon sun, the leaves of the old trees outside the house have fallen, only the bare branches remain, there are old people sitting outside the door basking in the autumn sun, the eyes slightly squinted can not tell whether it is peaceful or lonely, occasionally there are children running by, the old man's dry face will show a little smile.

Li Congjing entered a soup cake shop not far from the roadside, the wine flag hanging under the eaves was broken in two places, like an old dress, there were only three high square tables in the lobby, the benches were not painted, the corners had been damaged, revealing a fibrous surface, but it was wiped cleanly, not a small table at the counter, there was a young lady, who was pulling a three or four-year-old child to say something, and wiped the sweat stains on his forehead with his sleeve, and from time to time a few children shouted a few times outside the door, The child ran out happily, the eldest lady looked at the child's figure and disappeared at the door, smiled and shook her head, doting and helpless, lowered her head, put a cloth shoe that was about to be finished on her knees, a stitch and a thread, as if there was life in her dexterous hands, Li Congjing saw the side face of the eldest lady, and felt a rare tranquility and tranquility.

Lin Ying and Ding Hei were both not far from the door, standing in an unobtrusive posture, and although the guards were standing farther away, they were all at a distance that could rush over quickly. Li Congjing ordered a bowl of soup cakes and a pot of wine, and the one who came to serve was a man in his forties and fifties, facing honest and honest, his hands were rough, and his fingers were stained with some black dirt that was probably impossible to clean, as well as meat thorns, although he was not very old, but the heavy work in the first half of his life had made him look very old, if he was compared with the rich people in Luoyang, the latter could not have such an old state at the age of sixty or seventy.

There was no wine in the shop, so the old man asked the lady to go to the wine shop next to him to buy some, maybe the appearance of the lady sitting on the shoes was too perfect, Li Congjing couldn't bear to disturb the picture, and he was not bad at drinking this wine, but it was just that the delicacies of the mountains and seas ate too much and missed the taste of the past, fortunately, the wine shop was not far away, in the words of the old man, but just a few steps, Li Congjing did not insist too much, and when he waited for the soup cake, Li Congjing chatted with the old man, and when it came to the current day, the old man's face had a little red light, The words gradually increased, and the people gradually let go, and what was said in their mouths was nothing more than the righteousness of the court.

"Listening to Lang Jun's accent, it should be from the original, our Lingzhou place, Lang Jun may not know much, because it is the border land, and those barbarians outside the border are face to face, close, because of this, people die every year on the border pass, passing businessmen, soldiers on the border, news always comes from time to time, those methods of the barbarians, but they are very cruel, killing people and doing everything, no different from the beasts in the forest, which one does not resent them? Lang Jun may not know, there are always one or two times throughout the year, there will be a big war at the border, the barbarians will move the border, the dead people are dozens or hundreds, in the past, but whenever there is such a war, the state is often more than a thousand soldiers and horses mobilized, that spending money is not the same as running water, the state grain and military pay is not enough, we have to help the people, although the tax collected by the court in the summer and autumn every year is not much, but it can not withstand the annual increase in those military salaries and grains, it is not easy to live in this place. ”

"But in the final analysis, who let us be the people of this Shuofang, our ancestors have been born here for generations and buried here, and if we really let the barbarians enter the country, then it is not a matter of apportioning military salaries and grain every year, it is a matter of ruining the family, so although the big guys are tightening their belts to live and raising food and salaries for the border army, few people have complaints, as long as they can survive, it will be ...... In any case, it is better than being displaced, and those who have left their homes to become displaced people, who are not hungry and precarious? If there is a relative or friend who takes refuge in it, although it is under the fence, it is inevitable to look at people's eyes, and there is still a hot meal to eat, if you really want to be helpless, then you can't even live as a dog, and it is good to be able to sleep in the temple and pick up vegetable leaves...... How else to say it, I'd rather be a peace dog than a mess and leave people? ”

The old man chattered and talked, Li Congjing rarely commented, just played the role of a listener, occasionally followed by two sentences, let the conversation continue, not long after, the big lady who went out to sell wine came back with a clay pot, bent over and bent her hips and poured a pot on the small table, and sent it to Li Congjing, Li Congjing turned over two pottery bowls on the table, poured a bowl for the old man and handed it over, the old man was embarrassed at first, and saw that Li Congjing's enthusiasm was indeed true, so he was no longer hypocritical.

Drink a sip of bad wine, wipe your mouth, out of thin air there is a little more pride, when you speak again, your voice is loud and the middle air is enough, but you can see that the big lady is very unhappy, she lowered her head and peeked at Li Congjing's face, and saw that Li Congjing's attitude towards the old man was peaceful and respectful, so he didn't say anything, and the old man still went to be 'high-spirited', but secretly he couldn't help but secretly look at Li Congjing, and it was estimated that he felt that this guy was doing strangely, which was really rare - originally with Li Congjing's luxurious clothes and graceful bearing, he could enter the store to eat their soup cakes, she didn't understand enough, now she could listen to the old man nagging about some trivial things that she usually didn't want to listen to, and she looked so attentive, it was really strange and weird.

"I heard that Li Lian envoy had followed His Majesty to fight in the south and north, and was valued and taught by His Majesty, and sure enough, since Li Lian made us go out of Lingzhou, the situation is very different, all kinds of miscellaneous taxes are gone, and the officials in the state and county often take people to dig wells and repair canals in the township, and meet those orphans and widows who have no children under their knees, and they also send grain to plant cattle in vain, who has ever encountered such a thing, they are all happy to the villagers, but things are more than that, I heard that when Li Lian moved to Lingzhou, he also asked for a big man's approval from any academy in the imperial court. Hey, we saw it later, they are all young offspring, all of them have fine skin and tender meat, who would have thought that all of them have great skills, and they can roll up their sleeves and go down to the field to endure hardships, ploughing and hoeing grass like us, some people say that they are all officials, who believes this, officials can squat in the field with us and eat wild vegetables? These people have so many ideas that they can't be explained, not only taking us to farm and fertilize the fields, but also teaching the ladies to weave cloth and make clothes...... Although our soup cake shop is small, they also took us to open it, the place is well chosen, and the things taught to us are good, and we are not afraid to say Lang Jun's jokes, and there are a lot of ...... in the accounts all year round."

The old man laughed as he spoke, the mouth with a missing front tooth was originally very ugly, but it was not offensive, and Li Congjing even felt a little kind.

The soup cakes in the bowl had been eaten, but Li Congjing had no intention of leaving, so he divided the remaining half pot of wine with the old man, and suddenly said: "I see that someone in your old family should be in the army, right?" ”

"How did Lang Jun see it?" The old man drank two bowls of wine with red faces, and it was rare that he was still very conscious, and his eyes widened when he heard the words.

Li Congjing said with a smile: "I saw that there were several pairs of soles in the basket of the eldest lady, and the largest ones were bigger than the shoes under your old feet. ”

The old man stretched out his thumb to express his admiration, "Lang Jun of the Central Plains, he is really well-informed, Lang Jun is right, that kid from our family...... That is, Hua Niang's husband, who was a captain in the border army, just told Lang Jun that after Li Lian moved the town to Lingzhou, the state changed greatly, but there was still one thing that I didn't have time to say, that is, the salary in the army was more than before, haha, if it weren't for our old bones, we also wanted to join the army, such a good life, we are not good to protect ourselves, and then we will be badly trampled by the barbarians, wouldn't it be a pity? ”

Speaking of this, the old man's face suddenly darkened, and he sighed: "But who would have thought that the big war would come, I heard from passers-by that there are hundreds of thousands of troops in Lingzhou, and I don't know if it's true or not, and that kid in our family doesn't know what to do now." The last time I saw him, it was still when he was in the state city, at that time he was on duty at the city wall, the sun was big, Hua Niang and I saw him sweating profusely, so we called him loudly under the city wall, and the kid didn't know if he saw us, anyway, his head didn't deviate, we also knew that the military discipline was strict, and he was not allowed to leave his post without permission, but I looked at it from afar, and I still felt sad and distressed. ”

"Lang Jun doesn't know, this kid left not long after marrying Hua Niang, and he hasn't even seen the child a few times, every time the child asks for grandpa, but it's worrying, and I don't know when he came back, this kid doesn't remember his grandpa's appearance. I heard that this time the battle was extremely tragic, the cities west of the Yellow River were lost, and the soldiers in the army were killed and wounded countless times, and I don't know if his grandfather can come back...... If he can't come back, I'm afraid this kid won't even know what his grandfather looks like in the future......"

The old man said sentimentally, the "flower girl" who made shoes over there had begun to wipe her tears, her shoulders trembled slightly, and the suppressed sobbing sound couldn't bear to hear, Li Congjing was speechless for a while, the old man looked at the sobbing lady, and sighed again: "The flower girl has not enjoyed a little blessing since she entered the door of our old Wu family." Needless to say, it is difficult to see other people's husbands and wives in and out of pairs, everything has a family of children, but she is alone, and there is no one to rely on when she encounters difficulties, so she can only grit her teeth and support it, there are few places we can help, and she has cried alone over the years. Alas, who let her marry a soldier, she has to endure this difficult ......"

"Hua Niang's craftsmanship is good, but whenever she has a little free time, she will make shoes for Wu Chun's kid, and then ask people to send them everywhere. There are many times when it is troublesome to trouble, so it is inevitable to give some reward to the people who help, which is a big burden for her...... Over the years, she doesn't know how many shoes she has made, we can't count them, but she wears them under her own feet, sewing and mending just one pair, and I haven't seen a new pair of ...... for herself."

As the sun sets, the afterglow spills into the wall of the house, adding a bit of loneliness, Li Congjing stood up, walked to the flower girl's table, lowered his body and said: "Right now I am going to Lingzhou, if you have good shoes, I can bring them to you." ”

Hua Niang raised her head, her tear-stained face was full of astonishment and surprise, she was stunned for a while, reacted, and quickly got up, "Some ......"

Probably drank a little too much, and when the old man got up, he almost didn't stand firm, and said curiously: "Lingzhou is in a big war, why does Lang Jun want to go over at this time?" ”

Li Congjing stood up straight and said to the old man: "I am also a soldier of the Tang Dynasty, and I am about to go to Lingzhou to participate in the war. ”

When leaving the shop, Li Congjing had two more pairs of brand-new cloth shoes in his hand, and the old man and the flower girl went out to see each other, and they didn't say much to thank each other, until Li Congjing walked away, and the two were still watching in front of the door.

"This Lang Jun ...... Can he really go to Lingzhou and deliver the shoes to Wu Lang? After all, she had never met before, and Hua Niang couldn't help but be a little worried.

The old man didn't have this mind, although he had known each other for a short time, but he felt that with the other party's demeanor and clothing, he was obviously not an ordinary person, and he would definitely not promise something that he was not sure of.

The next scene made the two completely worried.

As the Lang Jun they watched walked away, there were more than 100 elite men outside the city, gathered together from all over the city, and followed each other in formation.

Hua Niang's eyes widened, surprised by the other party's pomp, and the old man, who had a lot of experience and eyesight, was already secretly frightened, and couldn't help murmuring: "My God, when Li Lian came down to inspect, he only brought so many people, what kind of identity is this Langjun?" ”

After leaving the city for a distance, Li Congjing still did not get on the horse, the cloth shoes in his hand, let him have a different taste in his heart, the sun sets, the afterglow is thousands of miles, the field house is leisurely, there are few pedestrians on the road, only the farmers who return with hoes.

The flower girl I saw today made Li Congjing can't help but start to miss some people, some people who are performing their duties in Shuofang, swords and swords, mountains of corpses and a sea of blood, the world is not peaceful, and the war is endless, the glory and achievements of the Tang Dynasty are big enough, and the individuals in it are too small, and the life and death and pain of the body make everything doubly heavy.

When he was about to get on the horse, there was a cavalry team running in front of him, Li Congjing stopped his movements, took two steps, and stood in front of the horse for a long time, he had already seen the person in the lead of the cavalry, black hair and red clothes, bewitching as fire.

When the other party dismounted, Li Congjing had already opened his arms, but the other party bowed down in front of him, "The fifth military intelligence department sees Your Majesty!" ”

Li Congjing didn't let go of his lightly raised arms, "Get up." ”

The fifth girl got up, and when she saw that Li Congjing was still maintaining this movement, she couldn't help but fly her cheeks and bow her head shyly.

Li Congjing was helpless, so he had to say, "Come here." ”

Lin Ying and Ding Hei both had eyesight, turned around and waved their hands, causing the guards to turn around.

The sharp soldiers of the military intelligence department over there also turned around in unison.

The fifth girl threw herself into Li Congjing's arms like a flame.