In the Tang Dynasty, the transportation was inconvenient, and the power of the magistrate has always been very large, and the assassin was the highest military and political chief of a state, and the military, political and financial powers of the counties under his rule were all in one, and he had the exclusive power to directly appoint, dismiss, or even kill and punish middle and lower-level officials and generals. Its power is equivalent to the collection of the three envoys of the Ming Dynasty, the envoy of the inspector, and the commander of the envoy, but the power of the assassin is limited to one state.

Xue Chongxun sealed the history of Shanzhou's assassination, he is the boss in Shanzhou, whether it is civil and military affairs, or criminal investigation, he has the right to control. In addition, Princess Taiping also gave him the title of imperial history, and has the right to supervise and report to officials at all levels of Longyou Dao.

As a result, although his title was demoted to the Duke of Weiguo, his real power was much greater than when he was in Chang'an. In the past, there was basically no autonomy in Chang'an; As soon as you go to Shanzhou, you will not only be in charge of a state, but also affect the entire Longyou Dao.

But now that the war is approaching Shanzhou, the situation is a bit complicated, and Xue Chongxun is not the boss there, because Cheng Qianli, the general manager of the march of Luo Dao and the envoy of Longyou Jiedu, is stationed in Shanzhou, and the 100,000 troops arranged inside and outside the city are also in the hands of Cheng Qianli.

Originally, there were more than 4,000 people in 20 regiments of garrisons in various parts of Shanzhou, and this army should have been in charge of Xue Chongxun, but in order to coordinate the military orders in the war, Cheng Qianli was not only in charge of 100,000 athletes, but also controlled more than 30,000 troops stationed in Longyou Prefecture, including the government soldiers of 20 regiments in Shanzhou. So in terms of military power, Xue Chongxun is not the boss in Shanzhou.

Xue Chongxun had never seen Cheng Qianli, and originally thought that he was a fierce general with a height of nine feet, but when he saw Cheng Qianli in Shanzhou, he was quite surprised to find that it was not at all what he imagined.

……

When they arrived in Shanzhou, it was nearly dusk, and the scene of the setting sun made the heavens and the earth seem to be so shy that they were flushed. The magistrate was greeted by Xue Chongxun and his party outside the ten-mile long pavilion, but Cheng Qianli was older than Xue Chongxun's official, and he could not be welcomed out of the city according to etiquette. It seems that he is not a person who does disgusting things for the sake of cursing up with the powerful, so he didn't come to greet him, just waited in the city and asked Xue Chongxun to see him by himself.

After Xue Chongxun entered the city, he found that Shanzhou had changed very much, and when he sent Jincheng back to Jincheng, Shanzhou had just been looted by the war, and it was a depression and miserable, but in less than a year, it was restored to prosperity...... Shanzhou, a valley of the river and the Huang, is not only rich in water and grass, suitable for agricultural and animal husbandry production, but also located at the key point of the Silk Road.

Entering the city from the east gate, walking along the east-west horizontal street for a while, a group of people came to meet him, one in front of one Wen and one Wu, one wearing official robes and one wearing armor, walked to Xue Chongxun and turned off the horse in front and back, and hugged his fists as a salute. Xue Chongxun saw that the color of the civil official's clothes was cyan, so he sat on the horse with a big grin and did not come down.

The civil official said: "Cheng Envoy Jun is waiting for Wei Guogong on the arrow tower, do you want to go back to the house to rest first?" ”

Xue Chongxun also wanted to see what kind of person Cheng Qianli was, and he was a little impatient, so he said: "Take my entourage back to the house to settle down first, and I will go to see Cheng Envoy Jun by myself...... Ting'er and I will go with you, and you can meet your uncle too. ”

Zhang Wulang at the back of the side said: "For the first time, let the Flying Tiger Regiment and Lang Jun go together." ”

Xue Chongxun thought about making a well-equipped guard entourage quite pompous, so he nodded in agreement. He rode a horse, Cheng Ting rode in a car, and continued westward in front of the army. There are two main roads about two zhang wide in Shanzhou, which extend from east to west and north and south respectively, running through the four cities horizontally and vertically, and there is no obstacle between these two streets, which shows the function of this city as a military fortress, once a war starts, it can be very quickly transferred to Guò Avenue to distribute troops. Xue Chongxun and the others walked straight along the East and West Streets, and Cheng Qianli was on the arrow tower in Xicheng.

The officials and people along the way recognized the Oxtail Festival of the Thorn History, and they all let go to the side of the road in advance, and bowed down to stand and did not dare to make noise. Seeing this situation, Xue Chongxun was a little complacent, and he had a sense of pleasure in being the emperor of the soil, but after thinking about it, this was also because of the brutality of feudal autocracy.

When I came to the city of Xicheng, I saw that the city tower was five steps up and down and one post was heavily guarded, and although those sergeants were dressed in shabby clothes and mostly sackcloth under their armor, they stood as straight as a tree and did not move. Seeing this, Xue Chongxun naturally saw that Cheng Qianli had a way of governing the army, and these athletes had just come from all over the country and had been trained to be clear-sighted.

He shouted upstairs: "Shanzhou Assassin Xue Chongxun pays a visit to Cheng Jiedu's envoy. ”

After a while, a general wearing a black cloak ran down the stone stairs, hugged his fists in front of Xue Chongxun's horse, and said, "Cheng Envoy Jun asks Wei Guogong to move upstairs for a while, please!" ”

Xue Chongxun turned over and dismounted, walked to the side of the carriage, opened the wooden door of the carriage, and said, "Ting'er, it's time to get there." With that, he stretched out his hand and helped Cheng Ting get out of the car...... This kind of thing can be said to be demeanor, but in the eyes of the Tang people, it is incredible, how can there be such a concubine? The general also showed surprise on his face when he saw this. Xue Chongxun didn't care, and now this situation shows that there is nothing wrong with showing his love for Cheng Ting.

Cheng Ting, who was dressed in a light-colored skirt, made everyone's eyes light up after getting off the carriage, and even those soldiers who stood meticulously couldn't help but look quietly. In fact, Cheng Ting's appearance is not amazing, her figure still looks a little thin in the eyes of the Tang Dynasty, and she has the temperament of a beautiful girl in her hometown, ordinary and pure, without the grace and luxury of many noblewomen. But her presence in such an environment, against the backdrop of the ancient city, the sunset, the old armor, etc., seems to add soft and lively tones to this bleak and dull environment, so it is very eye-catching.

Xue Chongxun was wearing a vermilion small official robe, with a grass and gold hook around his waist, which complemented his black skin, and red and black were originally more matching colors. The grade has dropped, and I suddenly feel a little unaccustomed to wearing red clothes. He took Cheng Ting's small hand and walked up the steps, there are such stone steps on the inside of the city wall, which is convenient for the soldiers in the city to go up the wall and stay guarded. This situation made Xue Chongxun a little unhappy, and he felt like he was being received, thinking that when he was in Chang'an, except for Princess Taiping, who could pretend to be big in front of him?

However, Cheng Qianli, a feudal official, has the title of envoy of Longyou Jiedu on his head, and he is the biggest official in Longyou Prefecture, so it is not inappropriate to meet Xue Chongxun's assassination history...... If you don't consider the status of his imperial relatives.

When I went up to the city, I suddenly saw a "down-and-out teacher" standing on the wall...... Xue Chongxun saw his back for the first time, and it was indeed such a feeling, the middle-aged man was dressed in an old gray cloth robe, with a white beard fluttering in the wind, looking forward to the sunset, what is the image of not a down-and-out literati?

The scribe looked into the distance without saying a word, and the wind at the head of the city blew his robe to and fro, as if he was about to compose a poem, and like a poet who was worried about the country and the people. But Xue Chongxun said in his heart: The real bullish poet is under me, and Cheng Qianli is a Mao poet, and there is no record in the history books.

But except for Xue Chongxun and the others, who had just come up, they were surrounded by warriors in armor, and he was wearing a robe with his hands behind his back, so his identity should definitely be Cheng Qianli.

Xue Chongxun hugged his fists behind him and said: "Shanzhou Assassin Shi Xue has seen the Jiedu envoy. ”

At this time, the man turned around, raised his sleeves and said kindly, "Duke Wei Guo doesn't need to be polite. Although he said it very kindly, what is it that such a tone in front of Xue Chongxun is not a shelf?

He buried his head and looked at it, found a stone pier to sit down, and pointed to the stone pier opposite, "Please take a seat." ”

Seeing this, Xue Chongxun also sat on the stone pier that was not very clean, but Cheng Ting, who was spotless on her body, was a woman, so it was not good to sit like this, she stood in place with some embarrassment. Cheng Qianli also noticed this woman, apparently he didn't know her at all.

Cheng Ting gently bent her knees and said: "The junior is called Cheng Ting, and the uncle ......."

"Oh!" Cheng Qianli said suddenly, "I know, when I think of it, when my brother (Cheng Ting's father) passed away, there was a red and white thing that I often walked around your house. ”

At the mention of the past, Cheng Ting's eyes suddenly turned red, and she choked up: "Our whole family...... I'm the only one left. ”

Xue Chongxun was silent, and said in his heart: You are so calculated, the person who destroyed your Cheng family is my grandmother, so we are not enemies?

But how can all the grievances in the world be settled? Only in martial arts novels will there be a plot of revenge, and the stakes in the world are far greater than feuds.

Cheng Qianli said kindly: "It's all in the past, I shouldn't mention it." ”

Xue Chongxun didn't want them to dwell too much on the past, so he diverted and said, "There is really no scenery here to see the sunset...... The sunset is infinitely good, just near dusk. ”

"The sunset is infinitely good, but it's just near dusk......" Cheng Qianli read it in a low voice, and probably felt that this poem was very interesting, it was originally a poem written by a celebrity, of course it was interesting...... He glanced at Xue Chongxun, and said with some surprise in his eyes, "It's just that the twilight is too heavy." ”

Cheng Qianli glanced at the sunset, pointed to the west and said, "The stone castle is in that direction, but of course you can't see it here." I heard that Wei Guogong once led the four regiments of southern soldiers to attack Shibao City, and his courage is commendable! ”

Xue Chongxun said embarrassedly: "I can't gnaw at all." ”

"It's really hard to attack." Cheng Qian was worried, "But with the 100,000 horses in my hands to take this fort, there should be a chance of victory." ”

Xue Chongxun looked at Cheng Qianli's expression with interest, and asked quietly, "How much does it cost you?" ”

Cheng Qianli said: "If you don't die, tens of thousands of people can't be taken down at all...... But if this place is not occupied, the safety of Longyou cannot be guaranteed, and 100,000 athletes cannot be divided into troops to guard, otherwise the war with Tubo will be in a passive situation at the beginning. ”

Xue Chongxun asked again: "What is the attitude of the military department, is it to actively attack or defend the country?" ”

Cheng Qianli glanced at him angrily: "Wei Guogong just came from Chang'an, I was about to ask you ......"

Xue Chongxun frowned and said, "The palace didn't mention this matter at all, and I can't participate in the affairs of the political affairs hall." Didn't Cheng Jiedu make him fully responsible? ”

"I've made me the chief of the marching army...... Luo Dao, the royal city of Tubo ......" Cheng Qianli groaned. G