On the seventh night of the first month of the first year of the Republic of China.

According to the emperor's latest edict, officials from the DPRK and China will have to return to their offices tomorrow.

And the people in Chang'an City have no one to take care of, and when they finally encounter a day when there is no curfew, they will naturally come out to play recklessly.

What's more, the atmosphere at this time is extremely open, and there are groups of big girls and little daughters-in-law on the streets.

The idle second-rate son whistled on the side, attracting many righteous men and gentlemen to look at him angrily.

In this peaceful atmosphere, a fast horse galloped from Chunming Gate into the palace.

"Drive! Drive! Move! Move! ”

Hearing the shouts, the people fled one after another, and in an instant the crowd was like a stirred wave, constantly slapping on the stalls on both sides of the road.

"What's going on?"

"Who dares to ride a horse in Chang'an?"

"My foot seems to be twisted, can you see which family it is? I'm going to sue tomorrow! ”

The people looked at the figure that was already far away and scolded angrily.

Of course, there are also many smart people in the crowd who have begun to show off.

"To sue the officer? Don't think about it, I just saw that the man was wearing a military uniform, and he should be a member of the army. ”

"I think he's coming from the east, so something must have happened in Tongguan."

"Fart, Tongguan is a natural danger, how can it be easily breached, not to mention that General Gao Shun is still guarding the town."

"Yes, when General Gao and the Beiya Forbidden Army fought bloodily, I saw it with my own eyes. General Gao is by no means a mediocre general like Chen Xuanli! ”

"If it's not Tongguan, can it be other levels? It is impossible for messengers from other places to go through the Chunming Gate to the east of us. ”

"Then how do you know that something must have happened to Tongguan? Maybe it's the thieves in Luoyang who have surrendered! ”

"Hahaha, how can it be that the thief has surrendered? As soon as I saw you, you weren't a native of Chang'an. If there is good news at the border gate, the messenger will definitely shout all the way. If it weren't for the good news, the messenger would have been silent. ”

"The messenger just now came from the east, and he was in such a hurry, it couldn't be anywhere else except Tongguan."

……

Daming Palace Zichen Palace.

Since Li Mao was framed by design, she has begun to cultivate her self-cultivation, and she has not been close to women for half a month.

Even during the Chinese New Year, except for going out to exercise in the morning, he has been staying here all the time, even sleeping here.

Although he has arranged all the government affairs to the cabinet and the celebrant supervisor, he still has a lot of things to deal with every day.

Li Mao looked at the death penalty review list in his hand, picked up the brush, and wrote the word "kill" on it.

There is a clear stipulation in the "Tang Order": "Whoever decides to make a big crime will be sentenced to five repetitions in Beijing; Outside the criminal department three recitals. ”

The meaning of this decree is that death row prisoners in the capital should be reviewed twice before being killed, and three times on the day of killing; For death row prisoners who are in other places, the death sentence is reviewed once on the first day after it is handed down, and twice on the third day.

In the Tang Dynasty, the review of the death penalty was very cautious.

In addition to the emperor himself having the highest power to review the death penalty, there were many institutions in the imperial court that had the power to review the death penalty: for example, the Criminal Department, Menxia Province, Zhongshu Province, Shangshu Province, and Yushitai, all of which could review the death penalty from different angles.

After Li Mao's reform, the process of the death penalty was changed, and the application was first made by the Criminal Department or Dongchang, and then reviewed by the Cabinet and the Imperial Historical Observatory.

After the cabinet is passed, it will be handed over to the emperor for final review.

At this time, the list in Li Mao's hands was the person who committed a life lawsuit in the process of annexing the land.

Because the list was applied for by the East Factory, the cabinet reviewed and approved it on the same day.

However, Zhou Ziliang in the Imperial History Observatory was very serious, and he was stunned to go through all the files and review them after confirming that they were correct.

Look at the names on the list.

Li Mao couldn't help but sigh.

The surname Li is the largest, and most of them are from the royal family.

These people dig up their own corners, but they are not merciful at all, and the one who harms people's lives the most is the king of the county, or the direct great-great-grandson of Li Xiaogong, the king of Hejian County.

Closing the list, Li Mao, who was about to go out to breathe, suddenly saw Zhao Gao running quickly.

"Your Majesty, it's not good, Tongguan is going to be lost!"

"What?"

When Li Mao heard this, he was suddenly stunned, and his body shook several times.

"How is that possible? Tongguan is close to the cliff of Kunshan Mountain, and next to the Yellow River, how can it be easily lost? Gao Shun has always been calm, and it is impossible for him to not be able to hold on for a few days? ”

Li Mao hurriedly asked.

Zhao Gao's face turned slightly pale, and he trembled and took out the urgent report from the eight hundred miles of urgency, "Your Majesty, the slave is listening to the messenger!" ”

Li Mao took it and looked at it, and immediately understood the specific situation.

Tongguan has not been lost yet!

The urgent report was the news that Gao Shun needed reinforcements.

He was cut off by the enemy army that suddenly appeared behind Tongguan, and he was worried that there would be enemy troops coming to attack in front of him, so he wanted the emperor to send reinforcements to eat the enemy behind him.

At the same time, Gao Shun also explained the route of the enemy's sneak attack in the urgent report, which was the old road of Hantong Pass.

"Bring me the map!" Li Mao shouted.

Zhao Gao immediately took the little eunuch to unfold the map of the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

"It's not a map of the territory of the Tang Dynasty, but a map with Hantong Pass!" Li Mao frowned and explained.

Half a quarter of an hour later.

Zhao Gao, who was in a hurry, found a very old map.

Li Mao looked at the location of Hantong Pass and Hangu Pass and understood the route of the enemy's sneak attack.

"Alas! To march and fight, you still have to be familiar with geography! ”

Li Mao looked at the twelve small passes along the Hantong Pass, shook his head and sighed.

He didn't know that there was still this way to bypass Tongguan, and he didn't know that the twelve small passes along the way were still in the hands of Li Longji.

Originally, in history, Tangtong Pass was broken by the enemy twice, both through the old road of Hantong Pass.

One time was the late Tang Dynasty Huangchao uprising, after the Huangchao rebel army found that the forbidden ditch garrison was empty, they pinned down the defenders in Tongguan City in the front, and sent elites to break through the forbidden ditch, detour back to the rear of the Tang army, and finally conquered Tongguan.

The other time was Li Zicheng, the leader of the peasant rebel army at the end of the Ming Dynasty, who also sent troops to return to the rear of Tongguan from the forbidden ditch, and attacked back and forth, conquering Tongguan City.

"Zhao Gao, immediately give an order to the four guards of the Northern Ya, tomorrow the third watch will make food, and the fifth watch will send troops. I want to go to support Tongguan in person. ”

In the current situation, there is no other way than for him to personally lead the troops.

Lu Bu has already led the 100,000 forbidden troops of the 16th Guard of the Southern Ya to Xiaoguan, and the entire Chang'an City has found a general who can be fully trusted.

Li Longji has many veterans left, but Li Mao doesn't dare to use them.