Chang'an, Yanying Hall of Daming Palace, the true heart of the empire.

Emperor Wenzong Li Ang was thundering at the moment, and an hour ago he received a report that Li Yan, the king of Ying, had been attacked in the Wild Wolf Valley eighty miles west of Lingzhou City.

A month ago, Li Yan was ordered to inspect Shuofang Town. In the history of the Tang Dynasty, it was extremely rare for a prince to inspect the border areas, and the reason why Li Yan went out of Beijing to patrol the border was actually a last resort.

Two months ago, Asermi, the leader of the Tugu Hun Quze Tribe, led his army to assist Shuofang Town in breaking through Tubo, recapturing three cities in Longxi, and killing more than 5,000 Tubo defenders.

Tuyuhun was originally a branch of the Xianbei Murong Department in Liaodong, and settled in Longxi and Qinghai in the early Tang Dynasty. During the reign of Gaozong, Tubo destroyed his country, and the Tang Dynasty moved its department to Lingzhou, placed Anle Prefecture, and took the Nuo Hao bowl as the history of thorns. One of them, the Quze tribe, moved to the area west of the Helan Mountains, where it was torn between the three great powers of Tang, Tibet, and Uighurs. For historical reasons, the Quze tribe had close contacts with the Tang Dynasty, but based on reality, they also joined forces with the Tibetans to invade the Tang Dynasty's borders.

After Wang Xilian left Zhenshuo, he encircled Quze in many ways and formed an alliance with it against Tubo. At the beginning of August, Asermi, the leader of the Quze tribe, submitted a letter to Emperor Wenzong Li Ang, expressing his willingness to send troops to assist Shuofang Town in recovering Huizhou, an important town in Longxi that had been taken by Tubo. On the condition that he wanted to be officially canonized by the Tang Dynasty, Leon agreed to Asrmi's request. Aslemi led his army to inflict heavy losses on Tibet and helped Shuofang Town recapture Huizhou. Li Ang sent an envoy to comfort him according to the agreement, set up a detention state in Helan Mountain, and took Asermi as the assassin. Zheng Chang, the envoy of the Ministry of Rites, who did not want to be sent by the DPRK, suddenly fell ill on the way and missed the agreed deadline.

Aslermi, who didn't know what was going on, thought that it was the Tang Dynasty that broke the appointment, and returned to the old land of Quze angrily. Since then, Qu Ze's cavalry has crossed Helan Mountain several times and invaded the border of the Tang Dynasty. Shuo Fang Jiedu made Wang Xilian to the court to ask for the important ministers and nobles to go to comfort, because the king of Ying, Li Yan and As'er Mi, Li Ang used it as an envoy to comfort.

"I want you to send a large army to escort you, what do you say, eighty dragoons are enough, eighty percent. How's it going? What about people? ”

"The old slave deserves to die, the old slave deserves to die." Wang Shoucheng kowtowed again and again to apologize, and his demeanor was extremely deferential.

Behind him knelt side by side two eunuchs, the one on the left was called Pang Huai, and the other was called Guo Qin, Pang Huai looked steady and kind, while Guo Qin looked a little impatient and scathing. Both of them looked disappreciative of Leon's anger. Although they were also lying on the ground, they were not as sincere and frightened as Wang Shoucheng, but made small movements from time to time: stretching their legs and shaking their wrists, just like naughty children making small movements behind the teacher's back in class.

Thunder was still rolling in the hall.

"Damn, damn, I see you deserve to die, you should have died a long time ago, you old immortal dog minion!" The emperor scolded as he pleased, but when he found out that he was actually scolding a dead wood wearing an embroidered gold python robe, his heart suddenly lost pleasure. He smashed his face at Wang Shoucheng, "Within three days, I can't find Li Yan, I will take the dog's head from you!" ”

The dry-mouthed emperor shook his hand away, and the dimly lit Zichen Hall seemed empty and silent.

Wang Shoucheng was still lying motionless on the ground, muttering the words "Thank you, Lord Longen" repeatedly. Because he had been kneeling for too long, his legs had become numb, so he could not stand up even after much effort. Guo Qin, who was kneeling on his right back, gritted his teeth and stood up one step ahead of him, hunched over his arm; Pang Huai still knelt unmoving, and it was not until Wang Shoucheng stood up straight that he leaned over and picked up the piece that had been thrown aside, and bowed his body to hand it over.

Wang Shoucheng snorted, and did not pick up the piece handed by Pang Huai, but turned his face sideways to teach Guo Qin: "I'm still blindly impatient." Let our family say what you are good about, and how many times you have taught the rules, I can't remember it. The Son of Heaven is the Son of Heaven, the courtier is the courtier, the master is the master, the slave is the slave, and the thunder and nectar are the grace of heaven! I don't understand this thing, it's going to cut off the head! ”

"What the Buddha taught is that the son must be changed." Guo Qin replied.

Wang Shoucheng helped his waist, Pang Huai hurriedly lost the fold in his hand, and his hands turned into hammers and tapped gently. Wang Shoucheng impatiently brushed away his hand, glanced left and right, and walked quickly towards the Dan Steps.

Pang Huai hurriedly took the first step to dust off the fine dust on the Dan steps with his sleeves, and then quickly took out a silk scarf and paved it up. As soon as Wang Shoucheng sat down, Guo Qin had already brought a candlestick.

When today's son advocates frugality, the lights and candles in the palace are only half on time for important celebrations, so the light in the hall is dim, the faces are not clear, and it is difficult to see the words when reading books. Wang Shoucheng pointed to the fold on the ground, and asked with a dark face, "Who handed it over?" ”

"Who else? Zheng Zhubei. Guo Qin replied sharply, looking at Pang Huai with ill will. Pang Huai, who had always been calm and composed, was drenched in cold sweat at the moment, and his face turned pale.

The Zheng Note mentioned by Guo Qin is now in the position of the secretary of the Ministry of Industry. This person was originally a traveling doctor, and was appreciated and trusted by Wang Shoucheng because of his shrewdness and eloquence.

A year ago, Emperor Wenzong suffered a wind attack and could not speak or write. Pang Huai recommended Zheng Zhu to be diagnosed and treated by the emperor, and Zheng Zhu lived up to his expectations and cured the emperor's wind disease, which made him favored, and he became an important minister in the court from a traveling doctor in the rivers and lakes.

"Ungrateful things!" Wang Shoucheng slapped his thigh viciously. Pang Huai hurriedly knelt down and pleaded guilty: "My son is not good at knowing people, please punish the Buddha." Pang Huai dared to play small moves in front of Li Ang, but he knelt like an iron cast in front of Wang Shoucheng, not moving at all.

"Forget it. At the beginning, our family also looked away, you get up. Hearing Wang Shoucheng's words, Pang Huai was moved to tears.

"What are you going to do with this person?"

"I think he can't be trusted, it's better to ......" Guo Qin made a throat-cutting motion.

Wang Shoucheng sighed and said, "It's easy to kill him, but everyone has no face." That's not right. ”

"According to my son, it's better to expel him from the capital, go, Fengxiang, and let Zhang Zhongqing do it, maybe it's safer." Pang Huai wiped away his tears and offered a plan.

Guo Qin groaned: "It's just that the Taihe Hall is over there, and you are willing to let it go." ”

"You little head always has a good idea!" Wang Shoucheng touched Pang Huai's head, and his eyes narrowed into a slit. He looked at Guo Qin again and said: "You can't guess the emperor's thoughts, he wishes that all the festival envoys were his cronies, and I don't think this matter is far from ten." ”

"Ah......" Wang Shoucheng yawned, clicked his lips, and wiped the saliva from the corners of his mouth with his sleeve. He saw a little eunuch at the entrance of the hall probing his head to look this way, and he hesitated to come in, so he raised his fat little hand and beckoned to him.

The little eunuch trotted all the way over, knelt on his knees, raised a piece of music above his head and said, "Buddha, Shuofang Jiedu made Wang Xilian play a report for eight hundred miles." ”

Guo Qin raised his foot and kicked the little eunuch: "You dare to press it on your hand for eight hundred miles, how many heads do you have?!" The little eunuch hurriedly kowtowed and apologized. Guo Qin took the chapter and opened the seal, glanced at the content of the chapter, and a smile suddenly appeared on his face.

"Buddha, great joy, His Royal Highness King Ying has found it."

Wang Shoucheng closed his eyes and snorted, with a posture that he already knew in his chest.

Guo Qin continued: "Wang Xilian said that he had evidence in his hand to prove that King Ying's distress was related to Tibet, and he asked for troops to be sent to fight against Tibet. Please ask the imperial court to urgently allocate 100,000 stone of military rations and 500,000 taels of military salaries. ”

"Crusade against Tibet?" Wang Shoucheng couldn't help laughing, "Our family thinks he's an excuse to ask for silver." ”

"He's not afraid to make people laugh out of their big teeth! He thought he was still the general of the Divine Army. Guo Qin looked at Wang Shoucheng's face and said, "In the whole world, except for the Buddha's own ** Shence Army, who dares to work hard with the Tubo people." ”

"Let him go on a crusade, lest people chew our tongues behind our backs. As for the silver grain, let him figure it out by himself, he won't even be able to send out the official's money soon, so how can he have spare money for him. ”

That's a good thing to say! Pang Huai, this holy decree is written by you. Wang Shoucheng yawned, rested his head on his arm and took a nap, "You all rest, it's strange to be tired and panicked." ”

Guo Qin and Pang bowed and exited the Yanying Palace, and the busy day was over.

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Xiao Tsing Yi is an extremely efficient intelligence organization in the hands of Guo Qin, the young eunuch of the Inner Serving Province.

He has tens of thousands of secret agents, and their footprints are all over every corner of the Tang Empire. From the temple playing the right match, attacking and defending peace, down to the rise and fall of vegetable prices in a remote town in Lingnan, nothing can be hidden from Guo Qin's eyes. If you can't hide Guo Qin, you can't hide it from Wang Shoucheng, because Guo Qin is Wang Shoucheng's most reliable pair of eyes.

Every day, the great eunuch Lin Tongwei would report the information gathered from all over the country to Guo Qin, and Guo Qin would select the most valuable things to report to Wang Shoucheng. Guo Qin listened to the report carefully, and did not let go of every detail, but Wang Shoucheng only listened to the main points, the same thing Lin Tongwei reported to Guo Qin in a hundred sentences to describe, and Guo Qin could only say three sentences at most when he reported to Wang Shoucheng, and Wang Shoucheng would be troublesome if he had more.

Unlike the impatient and scathing Guo Qin in front of Wang Shoucheng, Guo Qin, who returned to the Inner Service Province, was completely like another person, wise, resolute, alert and sharp. A group of little eunuchs, like him served Wang Shoucheng, followed him loyally and diligently.

"Have you had any interesting stories in Kyori lately?" Guo Qin took a sip of strong tea, his spirits were lifted, and then he casually asked Lin Tongwei, who was standing in front of the table.

As Wang Shoucheng's right-hand man and a hot minister in Daming Palace, Guo Qin's greatest hope is to be able to sleep happily. Every day, I have to read the official documents until the time of the child, and then I lean back on the chair and sleep undressed. At the beginning of the day, the little eunuch wanted to wake him up, but his brain was still dazed, and he could only soak his face in cold water to drive away the sleepiness. After drinking a bowl of strong tea, the busy day began again. It has been twenty-three years since Guo Qin entered the palace, year after year, month and day, and the cycle has been repeated, never dying.

"Xie Dechang, the secretary of the Guozijian office, recently married a concubine, and on the wedding night, Lao Xie told jokes to the newlyweds, which made the newlyweds giggle. Who knew that he annoyed the old wife next door, rushed over and scolded the newcomer, scolded and scolded, and pinched up, Lao Xie panicked to persuade peace, but the left side of the face was caught by the old wife, and the right side of the face was scratched by the concubine, and he had no face to see people, and he took several days off in a row...... "Lin Tongwei couldn't tell what Guo Qin meant by "Gonzo", so he picked an inconsequential idle thing to explore the direction of the wind.

"Is that Yang Hao from the Xining Hou Mansion awake?" Guo Qin suddenly interrupted Lin Tongwei's words, obviously the "Gonzo" that Lin Tongwei chose was not to his liking.

"Godfather is talking about the dumb overlord who was drunk and lying on the bluestone slab and was in a coma for eighty-one days, right? He woke up a month ago. Lin Tongwei has an amazing memory, and he is familiar with the names, places of origin, birthdates, preferences, and political affiliations of officials above the eighth rank in the DPRK and China. Although Yang Hao is only a petty official, he is also among his memories.

Guo Qin suddenly asked about Yang Hao, and Lin Tongwei was not surprised at all, because he had worked this person a few months ago. The tea in Guo Qin's tea bowl was gone, and Lin Tongwei immediately took the tea bowl and poured out the residual tea. I took out the tea caddy from the cupboard, took a handful of tea leaves and put them in the tea bowl.

"Put more." Guo Qin reminded that he likes to drink strong tea.

The little eunuch waiting by the door slipped into the kettle room and brought boiling water, and Lin Tongwei put the brewed tea bowl in front of Guo Qin. Then he said, "Godfather, don't worry, our people have been sent in." ”

"Have you figured out the cause of his coma?" Guo Qin lifted the lid of the bowl and blew the hot tea.

"I was charmed by someone with incense, but I can't be sure who did it." Lin Tongwei replied cautiously.

Guo Qin's eyelids drooped, as if he was looking at something on the ground. In fact, this is his usual posture when thinking about problems.

Lin Tongwei blinked and asked cautiously, "Godfather, did you say it could have been done by someone over there?" ”

"Yes and no, there must be evidence." Guo Qin raised his head and said thoughtfully, "With such a toss, if you send someone over, what else can you find." ”

"The son called people back?" Lin Tongwei asked tentatively.

"Forget it when you go in, it's better to be still than to be still, and see what they do." Guo Qin put down the tea bowl and pinched his eyebrows with his hand. Lin Tongwei hurriedly walked behind him and skillfully squeezed his shoulders.

"How's the preparation of King Ying's ball game?" Guo Qin asked with his eyes closed.

"It has always been the long Shi Tangmo in his house who is in charge, the venue has been decided, and the list of contestants has been obtained. The son sent it to his godfather. ”

"I don't look at it. You remember, if the saint suddenly comes to the stadium on the day of the game, you must keep an eye on me. ”

Lin Tongwei blinked and replied carefully: "My son understands." ”

"You know!" Guo Qin suddenly scolded.

Lin Tongwei's face suddenly turned gloomy, and from Guo Qin's tone, he faintly sniffed out a trace of uneasiness: "My son is confused, please ask my godfather for guidance." ”

"I don't know what's going to happen, but my right eyelid has been jumping a lot lately, so be careful."

"If my son knows, my son will definitely cheer up 120,000 points."

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1 Li Ang: That is, Tang Wenzong, formerly known as Li Han, later renamed Li Ang, this article is called Li Ang.

2 Li Yan: that is, the later Tang Wuzong, the fifth son of Tang Muzong, and the younger brother of Tang Wenzong. Originally known as Li Yan, he was renamed Li Yan before his death, and this article is uniformly called Li Yan.