In the fifth year of Zhongping, October 20.

On the wide and gentle river, five 300-ton cargo ships with sails were escorted by two 22-meter-long and four-meter-wide pointed paddle wheels in front and behind, and lined up in a column against the Luoshui River.

The remarkable fleet was still three miles away from the wharf southeast of the Imperial City of Luoyang, and the sound of a short and three long copper whistles sounded crisply, and each ship slowly lowered the main sail stirred by the north wind, and then retracted the side sails of the stern, leaving only a bulging auxiliary sail behind the top shipbuilding.

In a few breaths, the entire fleet seemed to be slowly dragged from the rear by an invisible raised hand, and its speed dropped by nearly half, and it calmly sailed in a neat formation to the big pier where the king's flag was hoisted in front of it, triggering the exclamation and cheers of thousands of soldiers and civilians watching the excitement on both sides of the strait.

Five flags fluttered high on the big ship following the paddle wheel of the navy in front, the highest and largest one was the Qincha banner that symbolized the emperor's authority, and the red flags on the front and back two red flags that were reduced by one-third of the height were embroidered with the words "General Dangkou" and a small "Liu" respectively, and people who were familiar with officialdom knew that this was the arrival of the emperor's Qincha and Liu Cun, the Qingzhou assassin who was ordered to enter Beijing.

The flag fluttering in the bow of the big ship is the battle flag of the Langya army, the flag above the bow is red and black, and the white pattern in the center of the flag is two crossed swords and a high mountain, and the insiders in the crowd on both sides of the strait shouted out the prestige of the "Langya Army", which once again caused bursts of cheers and cheers, and everyone knows that the Langya Army is the powerful army in the east that is loyal to the current emperor and the Han Dynasty and is invincible.

In the middle of the blue and black battle flag above the stern of the ship, there is a white shark pattern jumping out of the sea, which is the battle flag of the Langya Navy. It is unfamiliar to the vast majority of people in the interior, but on the coast of the Bohai Sea and the East China Sea. Even further south, in the coastal areas of Wuyue, people only need to see this battle flag. will be in awe.

Liu Cun, who was dressed in a civilian uniform, and Zhang Dun, who was also tall, stood side by side on the front deck of the first cargo ship, and behind them a group of civil and military officials who frequently looked at the imperial capital Xiongcheng in front of them, namely Qingzhou Bei Zhi Guan Ning, Wang Lie, Zhao Li, Zhao Li, Sima Tai Shi Ci of the other department, Xu Sheng, the cavalry captain, Zhang He, the cavalry lieutenant, Xu Yan, the commander of the Assassin's Guard, Lu Pei, the commander of the Lingshan battalion, and Li Mian, the commander of the Penglai battalion.

The reason why Liu Cun brought all the love generals he could bring was to let them all meet the emperor, so as not to leave a lifetime of regrets.

Zhang Dun had been on the ship for twelve days, and at this moment, looking at the navy paddle wheel warship that was slowly guiding the fleet in front of him, he still felt incredible, this kind of narrow warship that could be used for sails or relied on two huge water wheels hidden behind the side of the ship on both sides to advance quickly. He'd gone up there four times to see it himself, and he still felt like he couldn't get enough of it.

Liu Cunke was not as interested as Zhang Dun, he saw from a distance Huang Wan, the Shaofu standing on the big dock, as well as the three civil and military ministers wearing high crowns and brocade robes beside Huang Wan, as well as hundreds of civil and military officials standing behind them.

"My lord, who is the tall man on the left of Lord Huang Wan?" Liu Cun asked in a low voice.

Zhang Dun calmly looked at the dock that was getting closer and closer: "It's the general He Jin, the one on the right is the servant Qing who appreciates you, Lord Yang Biao, the Marquis of Linjin, and the one on the right is Lord Liu Yan who succeeded Lord Liu Yu as Zongzheng, and behind them are the Shaofu officials except Lord Huang." Most of them were attachés, and when they met these boats of tribute, they would be received by the people of Shaofu. ”

Liu Cun didn't expect that He Jin, Yang Biao, and Liu Yan, who were in high and powerful positions, would come to greet him, and he suddenly felt a little nervous in his heart, and wanted to ask Zhang Dun a few more words. Unexpectedly, the paddle wheel of the navy led in front suddenly accelerated, drawing a beautiful arc of white flowers on the rippling blue water, entering the center line of the channel above and falling lightly and flexibly over the bow of the ship again. Begin to slow down and cruise, and take on the task of guarding the fleet.

This series of fast and beautiful moves is very common in the water army. But it aroused bursts of cheers and exclamations from thousands of people on the shore, which made Liu Cun embarrassed. I'm afraid that people who don't know the inside story will think that he is deliberately showing.

Liu Cun's big ship was the first to approach the wide dock, and the sergeant on the dock immediately put the wide and thick pedals on the middle of the ship's side.

Seeing that He Jin, Yang Biao, Liu Yan and Huang Wan had already greeted him with a smile, Liu Cun didn't care that the big ship was not yet secured, and quickly stepped on the shaking pedal, and in the loud reminder of Huang Wan and a few sergeants under the boat, he steadily crossed the gangplank and stepped on the dock, and took the first step to bend down deeply in front of He Jin and the four of them: "Liu Cun He De How can he be, dare to work and the three ministers to greet each other in vain, Liu Cun is guilty, and he is sincerely afraid!" ”

He Jin laughed: "How could Zijian be so polite? I've heard that Zi Jian is a fierce general who has repeatedly entered the thief formation to take the head of his general, haha! ”

Liu Cun was even more frightened: "Don't believe it, general, the rumors are exaggerated, the subordinate has done it once, and he still succeeded in a sneak attack with a horse, and the other few times were cavalry clusters charging, and the generals on the side were afraid that the lower officers would be injured, so they desperately squeezed forward, and in the end they found that they had not killed a few thieves, and an ordinary soldier in the army was much stronger than the lower officers." ”

He Jin laughed, the two mustaches on his upper lip and the beautiful short beard on his chin trembled frequently: "Oops! Zijian, you are really the legendary benevolent and open-minded person, I have learned today, haha! ”

Yang Biao, who is tall and thin, and Liu Yan, who is tall and thin, have already looked Liu Cun up and down, and when they saw that the handsome Liu Cun had such a real personality, they couldn't help laughing, and after laughing, they turned to Huang Wan, who was so happy: "You didn't say that Zijian was so interesting before!" ”

Huang Wan looked at Liu Cun, who was respectfully saluting him, and deliberately said with a straight face: "Lord Liu, this official is not here to greet you, this official is here to receive tribute by the order of the Empress Dowager and the Holy Lord. ”

Liu Cun didn't expect that it had been less than half a year since they were separated, and Huang Wan, who was not smiling, had learned to joke, He Jin and Yang Biao saw Huang Wan's deliberate embarrassment and Liu Cun's stunnedness, and they suddenly felt very funny, and couldn't help laughing again, envying the hundreds of civil and military officials who were watching.

Huang Wan then cordially saluted Liu Cun: "The Queen Mother and the Emperor were very surprised and very happy to see the list of tributes sent back by Lord Qincha first!" The Queen Mother said happily, I really didn't expect Langya to finally get a two-foot square glass flat mirror, and there are as many as five sides, and the auspicious sky is nothing more than that! I heard that Zijian's fleet had been transferred from the big river to Luoshui, and the queen mother sent the foolish brother here, and the message said that everything else could be left alone, and the five-sided Langya glazed flat mirror could be sent into the palace immediately. ”

Liu Cun showed a humble smile, and then turned to Yang Biao and saluted deeply: "The meticulous care of adults, Liu Cun also feels warm thousands of miles away!" ”

Yang Biao smiled elegantly, but his heart was extremely useful: "It's all the grace of the saints, and it is also what Zijian deserves, the old decay is just moving his mouth and being a favor, I don't dare to be such a big gift to Zijian, haha!" ”

Liu Cun still respectfully saluted Yang Biao and Liu Yan, and turned to He Jin with a smile on his face: "Xiaguan came in a hurry this time, and only prepared two pairs of infantry armor for the general, and a broadsword made by the master craftsman Mr. Huo Jian, to show the admiration of the 50,000 soldiers in Qingzhou for the general!" It's just that the messenger sent by the general to order armor for the Xiyuan Army General Colonel was only seen by the lower official when he arrived at the upstream wharf of Gaotang, so he could only hurriedly write a note, asking the messenger to go to Linzi to contact Gongsun Changshi, and ask the general for forgiveness for the neglect! ”

He Jin was overjoyed when he heard this: "I was able to obtain the artifact created by Mr. Huo, the giant of the Mo family, such a generous gift, how can money be measured?" Zijian, don't say anything else, tomorrow the dynasty is over, just go to my house to get together, I will introduce you to a few heroes of the eight departments of the West Garden, they have been talking about the several battles commanded by Zijian in the conquest and suppression of thieves, and they are full of praise! ”

Zhang Dun, who was forgotten by everyone, suddenly squeezed in, followed by a sweaty little yellow door behind him, Zhang Dun didn't care about being polite, and briefly explained: "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry!" The emperor's edict: Summoning Lord Liu Cun to wait outside the Zhongnan Palace and Zhongde Palace! At this moment, it is the beginning of the hour, Lord Zijian still has to bathe and change clothes, our family has to lead Lord Zijian to take the first step, I am afraid it will be too late if I don't hurry. ”

Everyone was surprised, they didn't expect the emperor to be so important to Liu Cun, ordinary people from all over the world too shou assassinated Shi to enter Beijing to see, and it took ten days and eight days to get summoned at the earliest, and it was very common to wait for a month or two, which is like Liu Cun just arrived on the front foot, and the back foot was summoned, how is this an ordinary weight and trust?

Only Zongzheng Liu Yan knew that Emperor Liu Hong quietly summoned him last night, and discussed with the Queen Mother how to include Liu Cun in the clan and how to give Liu Cun a reward for many matters, and finally came up with the most secure way: with Liu Cun's merits, as well as his long-term loyalty to the emperor and the imperial court, referring to Liu Cun's ancestor Liu Yan's status before being expelled from the court, it is most appropriate to entitle Liu Cun as a county marquis, and then in the name of the marquis, Liu Cun and his ancestors above the four generations will be included in the royal genealogy, which can show the majesty of the royal family. It can also reflect the emperor's grace.

Liu Cun, who didn't know what was going on, was also stunned, but under the urging of Zhang Dun and Huang Wan, he could only salute He Jin, Yang Biao, and Liu Yan to say goodbye, and turned around to tell Guan Ning, who had not yet had time to introduce to everyone, under the gaze of thousands of admiring eyes, he took Xu Yan, who was carrying a suitcase, and followed Zhang Dun to board the carriage waiting on the side.

Yang Biao and Huang Wan were very free and easy, and He Jin also temporarily left behind Liu Cun's regret of leaving in a hurry, and stepped forward to greet the famous Guan Ning, and then under Guan Ning's introduction, they met Wang Lie, a famous man who had risen in the past few months, and Xu Sheng and Tai Shici, the fierce generals of the Langya Army who had lost their armor and suffered heavy casualties in Zhang Chun's 80,000 rebels. (To be continued......)