Section XIII

When the fleet returned, because there was no wartime urgency, so it was slow, they set off at the hour of the hour, and at noon the next day, they returned to Nanning slowly. The spring breeze is on the south bank of the Green River, and it is April, and this spring is already very strong. This place is very close to Nanning, the news of the defeat of the northern naval army, through guò word of mouth, has spread rapidly on the land, the willow trees on both sides of the river are dense like smoke, looking at the past from a green curtain, the people have sorted out the barren farmland for a long time, holding their trouser legs and starting to plant seedlings.

Along the way, they will always stop what they are doing. Cheers abounded at the flotilla. In their eyes, these naval forces were the first contributors to repelling the Northern Han Dynasty and restoring peace on both sides of the river. These people are like weeds in the fields, even if they are destroyed by the war, they will still grow all over the mountains when spring comes, and they can live tenaciously no matter how cruel the war is. They did not know the cruelty of war, and in their eyes, this majestic fleet of ships winding for miles was a sight to admire.

Wu Ming stood on the bow of the Kaishan with his hands in his hands, looking at the people who kept kowtowing to the fleet, but his heart was inexplicably heavy. The people are good, but they are also foolish. Despite their best efforts, tens of thousands of soldiers were still killed in the south after several tough battles. Perhaps, some of the soldiers who died in the battle were the brothers and nephews of these people, and they were the murderers of the indirect killing of the soldiers under their unified orders and let them charge forward, but the people were still grateful to themselves. Just because they drove away the soldiers of the Northern Han Dynasty and gave them a peaceful living environment.

The front is the Hanning area, the number of people on both sides of the strait began to increase, there was a commotion in front, Lu Fang, who was standing side by side with him, stretched his neck and looked at it, and said happily: "Wu Hou, there is a fleet in front to greet you, scared, the pomp is really not small." ”

With the sound of a cannon, eight building ships several feet high opened the way and slowly greeted them. Even from a distance, the sheer size of the ship is still suffocating.

Bai Lan leaned half sideways, stood behind Lu Fang, pointed to a spire in the distance and said, "Lord Lu, what is that." ”

Looking in the direction of her finger, you can see that there is a white tower in Hanshui, towering like a sharp sword piercing the sky. In the midday sun, the entire tower exudes a dazzling light.

Lu Fang smiled and said, "That's the Ten Thousand Saints Tower." ”

After the knot was untied, Bai Lan had also accepted her fate, and she seemed to be downright and generous, and the two talked about everything all the way, like friends for many years. Wu Ming could only sigh, this is Wang Ba's pair of mung beans, looking at the right eye.

Bai Lan sighed: "That's the Tower of All Saints, tsk, it's really high......"

Lu Fang's chest straightened, and he said proudly: "That was built by our ancestor Lu Gongzi." Now that the Han River has been conquered, if Sister Bai likes it, I will take you to visit it all over. ”

While a few people were talking, several boats had stopped in front, and they saluted at the bow of the boat and said: "Marquis Wu has returned triumphantly, and the lower officials are here to greet him on behalf of the imperial court. ”

As he spoke, the eight building ships parted and slowly gave way to a waterway. Wu Ming also knew that this was just an inspiring passing scene of the Queen Mother, and he couldn't excuse himself, so he ordered the Kaishan to take the lead along the waterway. Shi Zhan led eight building ships to follow, and he was not majestic for a while.

The closer you get to Nanning, the cheering crowds on both sides of the strait surge. As soon as the Kaishan docked, Lu Hui shouted: "Line up, let the Hou Ye and Mrs. go down first." ”

There was also a sea of people below, and as soon as Wu Ming and Esther got off the boat, a large group of officials surrounded them, but the first one was Tao Ziqian. In the past few months, the Queen Mother has been in power, and his life as an uncle has also been tight, not only is his face full of red light, but his originally thin face also looks a little rich. When he saw Wu Ming and his wife, he immediately gave a salute and said: "Congratulations to Wu Hou, congratulations to Wu Hou, the victory of Long'an Lake, and the Queen Mother is overjoyed." Come on, come on, don't say much else, let's take the order first. ”

As he spoke, he took out a golden silk book from his bosom and said loudly: "Emperor Fu of the Han Dynasty said: Wu Ming, the Marquis of Xizhen, is resourceful, commands Ruode, and gathers the rebels in the city in one fell swoop. Now it is crowned as a product of the country, and I hope to make persistent efforts to share worries for the country. Under him, Yang Yi, the general of Jingyuan, was brave and good at fighting, loyal to the country, and was awarded the title of four products. Chin this. ”

After the holy decree was recited, Tao Ziqian smiled and said, "Lord Guogong, what are you still doing in a daze?" Don't get the order yet, thank you. ”

Wu Ming said: "Along the way, General Yu has made a huge contribution, why don't you talk about it?" ”

Tao Ziqian said: "General Yu naturally has a reward, but he is directly under the Jiangnan Water Army. The promotion decree of the Jiangnan Navy was fully delegated to Commander Yang yesterday and was read out by him. Therefore, it is not stated in this purpose. ”

Although these words are plain, there are many sharp thorns in the words. The implication is that Yu Zhaobin and you Wu Ming are not all the way, so naturally they will not listen to the seal with you. Yang Xiong's recitation of the holy decree is naturally a means of entrapment. Wu Ming felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, and the Queen Mother really spared no effort in order to cultivate Yang Xiong. He should have been very happy to be crowned the Duke of the Kingdom, but now he was as uncomfortable as eating a fly, but he said without saltiness: "Thank you Niangniang." ”

Tao Ziqian didn't seem to hear Wu Ming's displeasure, and still said with great interest: "Oh, the Lord Guogong has recently obtained a son, and he has risen step by step, and now the official is a first-class official, but he is a real extremely human minister, and the lower official will hold a banquet in Tianxiang Building on Tea Art Street tonight, congratulations to the Guogong and his double happiness, I don't know if I can appreciate the redundancy?" ”

Tianxiang Building is famous far and wide, and it is the most famous green building in Nanning. The imperial court clearly stipulated that officials were not allowed to engage in prostitution, and violators were cut to the people. But for these privileged classes, these are all meaningless. At night, Gao Yuanhua cars abound in front of Tianxiang Building, most of which are important members of the imperial court. However, when these officials traveled, most of them were dressed in civilian clothes, and although they were suspected of covering their ears and stealing the bell, they still had a fig leaf. Now Tao Ziqian has even ripped off this fig leaf and openly invited, which is too unscrupulous.

Hearing Tao Ziqian's invitation to Qinglou, not only Wu Ming, but even Esther was very dissatisfied, and couldn't help but look at Tao Ziqian angrily. If it weren't for the crowd at the scene, she would have really rushed over to be full of old punches. Fortunately, Wu Ming immediately excused himself: "Tao Hubu is kind, my father's heart is leading, after so many days of fighting, I am also tired, and I want to go home to rest and rest." ”

Seeing Wu Ming's refusal, Tao Ziqian was greatly disappointed, and said wistfully: "Alas, I wanted to have a good banquet for you before the grandfather left, but it seems that it will not work." Grandpa is going to China and the West, the mountains are high and the rivers are long, and I don't know when I can see him next time. ”

After the Hanshui incident, Wu Ming was planning to go back to Zhongxi, but he didn't say this to Tao Ziqian, he was very puzzled, and couldn't help but say: "How did Tao Hubu know that I was leaving?" ”

Tao Ziqian patted his head: "Oh, look at my memory, I forgot such an important message." That's the case, after conquering Hanshui, Niangniang has raised the rank of Huwei under the command of Yang to Sanpin, and now he can lead an army by himself, and he will preside over the Northern Expedition in the future. And Persia is about to move in the west, and the southern barbarians are deploying troops in the Duner steppe, and it seems that there is a momentum of northward expansion. ”

This is a nice thing to say, and I have found a lot of reasons, but in fact, it is nothing more than the Queen Mother driving Wu Ming back to China and the West. After conquering the Han River, all the way to the Qinglu Mountains, followed by the plain of the Pingchuan River, named the Jianghan Plain. In this vast plain, there are nearly 100 cities of all sizes. However, since the founding of Gaozu, Qingyang, as a large rear, has not been ignited by war, and the defense of these small and medium-sized cities is also limited. Compared to Hanshui, their city defenses are almost negligible. Yang Xiong is not a dumb person who does not know soldiers, so from the date of conquering Hanshui, the entire Qingyang Province is destined to be in the bag of the Southern Han Dynasty. At this time, the Queen Mother dispatched Wu Ming back to China and the West, and her intention was self-evident.

Thinking that he was born and died, but only got an empty title of Guogong, Wu Ming was even more annoyed. Lacking interest, he said: "Please tell the mother of the Tao household department, just say that this is the matter, and the ministers will return as soon as possible." ”

Tao Ziqian still smiled and said: "Yes, yes, as long as there is a grandfather sitting in China and the West, whether it is Persia or the Southern Barbarians, he will definitely flee from the wind, and he will not dare to move, grandpa is really my Dinghai God Needle, the mainstay......"

Esther was not afraid of things, and as a princess, she had no reverence for the court officials. I really couldn't get used to Tao Zi's modesty, and seeing him chattering endlessly, he wanted to shoot another sycophant, and finally couldn't bear it, and snorted coldly: "Isn't Lord Shangshu finished yet?" My father-in-law wants to go home and rest, don't you hear? ”

Tao Ziqian turned his head to look at Esther, swallowed his saliva and said with a smile: "Yes, yes, Mrs. said very much, the lower officials are verbose, ...... is verbose."

His gaze was on Esther's face, Wu Ming was a little displeased, and was about to say a few words, but saw that his eyes were dull and he didn't move. Wu Ming followed his gaze and secretly screamed in his heart that it was not good.

What he was looking at was Bai Lan. Bai Lan was standing beside Lu Fang, as if there was no one next to the two, pointing at the surrounding scenery, talking and laughing. Wu Ming was a little uneasy, this Tao Ziqian is famous for his lustful nature, so he won't fall in love with Bai Lan.

Tao Ziqian retracted his gaze and pointed at Bai Lan and said, "Grandpa, is this your new concubine?" ”

Although he tried to pretend to be calm, Wu Ming could still hear the trills in his tone. It is true that Bai Lan is indeed extremely beautiful, strong and graceful, and her whole body is full of heroic energy, with that egg white-like face, but there is a strange charm, otherwise, she would not have fascinated Lan Ling. As soon as he asked, Lu Fang had already said: "Tao Hu Department, this is the wife of this servant Lang Xinna, named Bai Lan ......."

Hearing Lu Fang say this, Tao Ziqian almost laughed out loud. Lu Fang is a eunuch, others don't know, as an old man of the Southern Expeditionary Army, Lu Fang's details are clear, this kind of person actually talks about accepting a wife? And it's such a beautiful woman, isn't this a tyrannical thing? He pretended to be careless and said, "Oh, Lu Shilang is married? I didn't know that it was not enough to inform me of such a big event. ”

Lu Fang's invention and creation zào is okay, if you talk about scheming, there is a difference of 108,000 miles between Tao Ziqian. As soon as I heard him say this, he replied truthfully: "That's the case, Sister Bai used to be from the Organ City, and I am going to marry her in the near future......"

Before he finished speaking, Tao Ziqian had already lowered his face and said: "Since he is a person from the organ city, he is a prisoner of war, that is, a prisoner of war, then he has to be sent to a prisoner of war camp, and after a public trial, he will be uniformly sent by the military department." ”