At the end of the first year of Changyuan, the good news of the northwest border of the Tang Dynasty spread to Chang'an, and the government and the opposition celebrated. Cheng Qianli, the general manager of the march of the Luo Dao, controlled the Long March athletes and more than 100,000 border troops of Longyou Province in Shanzhou, Langzhou, Jishi Mountain and the Tubo Tuguhun coalition army, claiming to be 600,000 people, fought for several months, taking advantage of the lack of supplies of the Tubo army to retreat, decisively attacked and pursued Baili, beheaded tens of thousands, intercepted cattle and sheep and captured prisoners, and won a complete victory.

So far, the north of Jishi Mountain, east of the Yellow River, originally belonged to the Xianbei people, the vast areas suitable for agricultural and animal husbandry production have all fallen into the hands of the Tang people, Cheng Qianli and built fortifications everywhere in Jishi Mountain to consolidate the fruits of the war, and the people in the court have predicted: Longyou will become the richest granary of the Tang Dynasty.

Princess Taiping was overjoyed, substantive interests were not the main reason, but the influence of this dynasty's martial arts made her the most happy. More than 40 years ago, during the reign of the "Two Sages", the famous general Xue Rengui was wiped out in Dafeichuan, and the Tang Dynasty lost its strategic advantage for nearly half a century. Now taking advantage of this great victory is an opportunity to regain the offensive advantage.

Princess Taiping has been comparing herself with her mother Wu Zetian, what neither her father nor mother has done, she has done it, and this mood is incomprehensible to ordinary people.

As a result, the imperial court quickly rewarded meritorious deeds, and many people were rewarded. Feng Cheng Qianli was the general of the right Xiaowei, and the ancestor of the Cheng family was knighted as the Duke of Dongping County. The once prominent Cheng family fell in the Wu Zetian period, and when Cheng Qianli's generation regained his status, this kind of glorious achievement of the ancestors was really the greatest gratification for him.

Xue Chongxun also made the "great merit" of resisting the 200,000-strong army of Tuyuhun on the northern front, and was crowned the head of the march of Fuqidao (Tuyuhun Wangcheng). Xue Chongxun was surprised: I didn't do anything, I didn't know anything. The name of the head of the march of Fu Qidao is also very nonsense, there are few soldiers in the hands of a thorn history, what kind of army?

The imperial court couldn't wait to give an order: seize Shibao City, occupy Xihai Dafeichuan and other places, and completely surrender to the Tuyuhun people and let them become vassals of the Tang Dynasty again. Taiping wants to complete her mother's unfinished work, so that future generations will remember her name!

However, the Shanzhou military did not immediately respond to the order of the imperial court, and first raised the city there to celebrate the achievement. As for Shancheng, which had been sacked for most of the city, and the surrounding people who were affected by the war, no one paid attention to it.

The main banquet was placed in the shogunate of Cheng Qianli's festival, and because there were too many people celebrating the achievement, the roads outside were closed, and some wine tables were placed on the street, and a tent was pulled on top to make do.

As soon as Xue Chongxun arrived on the ground in the carriage, his ears were full of human voice......s, and too many people were in a mess and couldn't hear what they were talking about.

When he got out of the car, he immediately saw Li Yi, the general of the Jiannan Army, greet him, and he bowed with a smile and said, "The envoy of Jiedu has been waiting for the Duke of Wei Guo for a long time. ”

When the two entered the gate, Xue Chongxun saw that there were many generals in the hall on the north side of the courtyard watching and dancing, and couldn't help but look at it twice. ”

"Okay, General Li goes first."

As they walked through the front yard, the slave behind them closed the door, and suddenly the noise outside seemed to be blocked by a wall, and the noise was much quieter, and after walking a little further north, it became clearer and clearer.

Later, a pipa sound came, attracting Xue Chongxun's attention, and he looked from a distance to see a woman in a Luo skirt playing the pipa alone under the eaves, although she couldn't see her face clearly, but she could see that her skin seemed to be very white, the same color as the snow outside.

Li Yi said with a smile: "Originally, she was a singer, but she was bought for one hundred and fifty silks...... Hey, I usually have to buy a slave who does miscellaneous labor at least 200 horses, I don't want to spend a little money to find good things, get it back and change my clothes, it's really pitiful, where is it like a secret prostitute who sells X at home? provoked several brothers in the army to go to the wine store if they were fine, and they also wanted to find one to go home. ”

Saying this, Xue Chongxun found that Li Yi's mouth was quite happy, and his mood was better, and he laughed: "Interesting." ”

Li Yi said again: "The festival envoy won't let us touch it, but if Wei Guogong wants it, he may be more generous." ”

Xue Chongxun smiled and didn't care. At this time, the two of them had approached, and they saw that the little lady who played the pipa was very docile with low eyebrows, and she blushed when she saw the living, but there was a bit of natural and pure fun. There was a pavilion on the opposite side of the eaves, and there was some white snow on the top of the pavilion, and a stove of red charcoal was burning in it, and two people were sitting and talking.

One of the middle-aged people in a kudzu robe is not Cheng Qianli, who is it? In today's scene, Xue Chongxun is wearing a formal dress of Vermilion Xiaoke, but Cheng Qianli still looks like that...... Thinking about it, Xue Chongxun really hadn't seen him wearing an official robe and a brocade belt, if he went to Beijing to see the emperor, he probably wouldn't be able to dress up in a cloth suit, right?

The other person is also an acquaintance, Zhang Jishi, the nephew of Zhang Jishi, the secretary of the military department. This product is really not too far away, and it came from Chang'an to Longyou.

Zhang Jishi had already seen Xue Chongxun, and was waving enthusiastically to this side, and Cheng Qianli also said: "Red furnace thin wine, just wait for Wei Guogong." ”

Xue Chongxun thought that not long ago, this old boy almost didn't let him lose Zhang Wulang when he saw that he was dying, and the boss was unhappy, so he deliberately embarrassed him, pretending not to hear, but walked to the little lady under the eaves and said, "You play the pipa well." ”

The little lady hurriedly stood up, standing cramped with the pipa in her arms, and did not say a word of greeting, but lowered her head and said: "I just learned, in the past, slaves could only sing and not play." ”

Zhang Jishi and Li Yi looked at each other silently when they saw this, Cheng Qianli seemed to understand the reason, but they still had a smile on their faces.

Xue Chongxun saw Cheng Qianli's calm expression from the afterglow, and immediately said to the little lady: "You can only sing and can't play, so will you blow it?" ”

"Blow...... What instrument to play? Slaves won't. ”

Xue Chongxun pretended to be surprised and said, "No? I don't believe that you only let you learn the pipa. ”

Li Yiqiang held back his laughter, wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh, Xue Chongxun dared to humiliate the envoy with a joking tone, but he Li Yi didn't dare anyway, he had to pretend to be serious, and his face was already as big as a pig's liver at this time. The little lady lowered her head but could see the straight vermilion official robe on Xue Chongxun's body and the spotless white silk in the sleeves, she should know that the person in front of her was also a person with status, she honestly didn't dare not reply, and also thought of the meaning of this Lang Jun's teasing, so she whispered: "Ah Lang will let the slave sleep, and the matter between the beds is ...... Go ask Ah Lang! ”

Xue Chongxun let go of the little lady at this time, walked straight to the pavilion, and said seriously: "The little lady is so strange, it is really rude for me to ask Cheng Jiedu about the bed for some reason." ”

Cheng Qianli looked embarrassed, waved his hand and said, "You go down!" The little lady hurriedly turned around and ran away, as if she were trotting away.

Zhang Jishi didn't laugh either, and arched his hand and said, "Duke Wei Guo is okay." He then took the opportunity to change the topic and said: "But it seems that it won't be long before we don't have to be called Wei Guogong, but also the prince." ”

Xue Chongxun returned the salute to Zhang Jishi and asked, "How do you say this?" ”

Zhang Jishi said with a smile: "The message of the day before yesterday was not to let Wei Guogong be the head of the march of Fu Qi Road, there is a deep meaning here, just think about it." ”

Xue Chongxun sat down and turned his head to look at Cheng Qianli: "What do you think?" ”

Cheng Qianli sighed lightly and said, "I haven't thought about the things in the past two days...... The Xianbei people besieged Shancheng and robbed the surroundings, the people over there are afraid that it is a little difficult to survive this winter, the state capital's grain storage is definitely not enough, and the military food cannot be moved, where to transfer some food from above? ”

Xue Chongxun also put away his joking tone after hearing this, and said in a deep voice: "What the Jiedu envoy said is very true, and this matter must be handled by the state officials as soon as possible." ”

Several people were silent for a moment, and Zhang Ji Shicai said: "Tubo is newly defeated, and the Duke of Dongping should make arrangements as soon as possible to take down the stone castle and include the area of Chiling Dafeichuan into my Tang territory." In this way, Dongping Gong can not only restore the lintel of Cheng's house, but also make history for complementing each other, and pass it on for the ages, so why not? ”

"Out of the phase?" Cheng Qianli smiled faintly meaningfully.

Zhang Jishi was stunned and said: "Uncle is definitely not a jealous and capable person!" I have already heard the rumors of the political affairs hall that if Dongping Gong enters the court, he will just replace the elderly Wang Shangshu of the Ministry of Works. Zuo Xiang Lu Ge Lao (Lu Xiangxian) is a thick person, and you and he will definitely have peace of mind. ”

Cheng Qianli said "ha" and said: "Master Zhang has thought too much, I just didn't want to be the prime minister, and I was a little surprised to hear you say this." ”

Zhang Jishi was a little embarrassed. Seeing this, Xue Chongxun said in his heart: The Zhang family kid is young in the end, and he is really not as deep as Cheng Qianli.

Zhang Jishi's horse face looked over again: "I brought the official document of the Ministry of War, and I was about to inform the Duke of Wei Guo that the imperial court appointed you as the head of the march of Fu Qi Road, and the Ministry of War naturally can't go against the meaning of the political hall and let you hang an empty title, right?" ”

Xue Chongxun said with a smile: "I'm also wondering, the Shanzhou border army is almost finished, there are less than a thousand people left, and two thousand new strong men who can't be used have been recruited, and it's not enough to see them together, what kind of army can I do?" ”

Zhang Jishi said: "All the 8,000 people of the Jiannan Army were transferred to the Fuqi Dao tent, and the Shanzhou Army should restore the size of 20 regiments, adding up to more than 10,000 people, waiting for the opportunity to move around the Xihai from the northern line, destroying seedlings, burning forage, and killing sheep if there are sheep, forcing the Xianbei people to surrender, and it would be better if they could occupy Fuqi City." The southern line of Dongping Gong to take the stone castle city, can attract the main force of the enemy, Wei Guogong has a lot to do in the West Sea! ”

Cheng Qianli sighed: "The defense line of Jishi Mountain has been completed, and in the end, we still have to storm the stone fort......"

Zhang Jishi frowned and said: "Naturally, we can't be enough to defend, we should take advantage of the victory to expand, surrender the Xianbei people together, and restore the sphere of influence of the ancestors!" ”

Xue Chongxun glanced at Cheng Qianli, and said quietly: "I understand the meaning of the Ministry of War, isn't this to let Cheng Jiedu gnaw stones in the stone castle, but take all the credit on me?" We Mingren don't say secret words, and the things that are open are fair to Cheng Jiedu? ”

Cheng Qianli hurriedly said: "It's already very fair to restore my Cheng family's ancestral business, isn't this still a promise to be a prime minister, what else do I want?" But Wei Guogong needs credit to restore the position of the king of the county in a bright and bright way, isn't it? ”

"Whether it's the prince of the country or the king of the county, in fact, I don't value it very much." When Xue Chongxun said it, he found that it seemed to give people a very fake feeling, but in fact, he was telling the truth...... Any title is empty, if the Taiping Party loses in the power field, it is useless for you to be a prince, isn't Li Chengqi's brothers an example?

Zhang Jishi said: "Did Dongping Gong agree to take the stone fort?" If you give me a clear word, I'll go back and make a good deal. ”

Cheng Qianli sighed: "There are tens of thousands of casualties, and countless money and food have been consumed...... The 100,000 officials in Longyou have been fighting for many months and cannot afford to settle the fields, and they must have to transport military supplies from all over the country...... The former dynasty (Sui) conquered the people of Goryeo, and the past is not far away, and the teachers of the future, are the doctors of the court not afraid of repeating the mistakes of the past? ”

"Dongping is a big man!" Zhang Jishi's expression was cold, "Zheng Xinai is a fellow acquaintance of the political affairs hall, and it is not the words of the military department, so the hat cannot be buckled indiscriminately...... Do you mean that you still don't want to fight the stone fort? ”

Cheng Qianli said coldly: "If I don't fight the imperial court, do I want to change people?" ”

Zhang Jishi was stunned and said: "This is not something I can talk about...... But we are old acquaintances, I advise you, if the court is replaced, the stone castle is still beaten, but don't you miss the good future of the prime minister? ”

Cheng Qian is not worried: "Is Cheng a person who disregards the social plan for his own interests?" Isn't it chilling to be afraid that the newcomer blindly attacked without regard for the lives of the soldiers? ”

A smile appeared at the corner of Zhang Jishi's mouth: "So it is most appropriate for Dongping Gong to preside over this matter, and the central decision is not for you and me to change, please think twice." ”

Cheng Qianli looked at the frozen pond not far away and was speechless for a long time, and then said: "Okay, the daily ration of a soldier is at least one catty and two taels, and 100,000 people have to eat 1,000 stones a day." You go back and say that Longyou is not enough grain, and then adjust the grain for 100 days, plus the fine grain and forage for mules and horses, you need 200,000 stone of grain and grass, and I will fight if there is grain. ”

Zhang Jishi said with a smile: "I have money and food in Datang, so I don't need to worry about logistics and supplies." So it's settled, you write a copy of the fold and present it, and I'll speak to my uncle. ”

Cheng Qianli suddenly laughed, as if he had heard a joke. Xue Chongxun said helpfully: "Director Zhang really doesn't know how expensive firewood and rice are in charge. ”

Zhang Jishi said: "This is not something we should consider. ”

Cheng Qianli picked up the teacup on the cork table, untied the lid and fanned it again, Zhang Jishi got up and said when he saw this: "Then Zhang is waiting quietly for the news of Dongping Gongjie." ”

"There is a banquet today, but the old man is not feeling well to drink, and General Li accompanies Wei Guogong and Zhang."

Xue Chongxun also got up and said: "I have to go back, I should have celebrated with everyone, but today Ting'er cooked by herself, if I don't go back, she won't be able to spare me." ”

Zhang Jishi said with a smile: "Wei Guogong is really favored by one person." ”

Cheng Qianli looked at Xue Chongxun and said seriously: "You can treat her well, as long as I can watch her have food and clothing for the rest of her life, I can calmly meet my brother after I go underground." ”

Xue Chongxun said: "When the court really restores my throne, I will give Ting'er the title of princess." ”

After a few people said that, it was Li Yi who sent them out, and Xue Chongxun couldn't help but ask: "General Li goes in and out of the inner mansion at will, and his relationship with Cheng Jiedu is quite close." I'm just curious about this, are you from Jiannan? How did you get mixed up with Cheng Jiedu? ”

Li Yi hesitated, and finally said: "Actually, it's not a secret, my sister is in the Jiedu envoy's room." ”

Xue Chongxun and Zhang Jishi glanced at each other and didn't say anything.

At this time, Li Yi said again: "Under the transfer of the Jiannan Army to the public account of the defense of the country, I will not be the chief general of the Jiannan Army, and even Deputy General Huang will be transferred." ”

Xue Chongxun said: "Cheng Jiedu has thought it through. ”

The three of them walked to the gate, Zhang Jishi stayed in the shogunate and wanted to drink with Li Yi, so they were sent here and hugged each other's fists to say goodbye. Xue Chongxun got into the carriage, and the groom went straight to the state office. This made him suddenly think that Pang Er, the groom of Chang'an, was here, and if he was replaced by Pang Er, he would definitely ask if he was going home.

Back in the state office, Cheng Ting was really happy to see him, she was a woman who said a lot when she was happy, and kept talking, "I thought my uncle would keep you drinking, I heard that it was so lively over there today, and the road was not allowed to pass, and everyone had to go a long way." ”

Xue Chongxun said: "I'm also angry, I was going to drink in his house for a long time before coming back in the middle of the night, but your uncle didn't keep me!" ”

Cheng Ting suddenly lowered her face: "If you want to drink, then turn back now!" I can't eat the little cake I made, so I just sent it to the Cai family's sister to let her nourish her body! ”

Xue Chongxun had a smile on his face, Cheng Ting looked at his face carefully, and suddenly said: "You are lying, how can my uncle not know etiquette!" It's too bad to ignore you! ”

Xue Chongxun grabbed her hand and said: "I declined the hospitality of others, and Zhang Shangshu's nephew also came from Chang'an, it was not easy for him to come all the way, I didn't accompany him to have a glass of wine, isn't it because I thought you said that you would cook and cook yourself tonight?" ”

Cheng Ting gave him a blank look: "Then why did you lie to me and say that my uncle didn't keep you before coming back?" ”

"I'm subtle, not taking credit."

Cheng Ting frowned again and said: "Actually, Lang Jun should stay in the house to accompany Master Zhang, it's rare to see one of the people in Chang'an here, you ran back like this, others may say that I don't know the general situation." ”

"The head of a small military department, I have friends with his elders, what does he do? A hundred Zhang Jishi can't compare to the position of your finger in my heart. ”

Cheng Tingjiao said angrily: "If you are flamboyant, you will know how to lie to me." ”

Xue Chongxun stretched out his hand to feel the beauty of Xiaoman's waist on her skirt, and said with a smile: "I'm happy to deceive you, it's not just ...... night."

Cheng Ting's face blushed and broke free, "Let's try the little cake I made first." ”

Xue Chongxun said: "Yes, only when you are full can you have strength." ”G