At noon the next day, Li Zhen and his entourage were about to arrive in Chang'an, where they had been absent for a long time, and drove into Badong Town.

In addition to ten carriages, his team also had more than 80 personal guard cavalry, and four heavyweight scribes, one was Chen Ziang, who offended the martial arts family and was almost removed from prison and was finally exonerated thanks to Di Renjie's intercession for him, but he was finally exonerated from the crime, but his official position was lost, Di Renjie recommended him to Li Zhen, as Li Zhen's staff, and took charge of the paperwork for him.

The second is the first master of Dali Temple, Wang Jianzhong, this is Li Zhen personally to Dali Temple to come to the person, Li Zhen has witnessed his ability to investigate and reason several times, he is deeply admired, Wang Jianzhong has not been willing, he is also willing to follow Li Zhen to Chang'an Shiguan, he was appointed as a six-grade judge, than his former Dali Temple Division directly promoted a level.

Another person is Di Renjie's second son Di Guangyuan, Di Guangyuan is about 30 years old, low-key and humble, and shrewd and capable, especially good at material storage management, Li Zhen wanted to recommend him to join the military for the record, but Di Renjie insisted that he join the military for Cangcao.

The last of the four is Wang Xiaojie's staff officer Zhang Shuo, after Wang Xiaojie was killed, Zhang Shuo led the army out of the encirclement and escaped with his life, he offended Wu Sansi because of the impeachment of Su Honghui, and was demoted to Shaxian County, Di Renjie admired his talent very much, and turned him into a member of the military department, in charge of Xijing military service, and also followed him to Chang'an as a subordinate of Li Zhen.

These four people did not bring their families for the time being, and they would not bring their families until they settled in Chang'an.

Badong town is named because it is located in the east of Bashui, about 30 miles away from Chang'an, it is the only place to go to Tongguan in the east, the business is very developed, the population is also large, there are more than 200 households in the town, almost half of them are in business, the official road passes through the middle of the town, the two sides of the official road are full of wine shops, inns, green buildings and various shops, people come and go, business is very prosperous.

When the group arrived in Badong Town, it was lunch time, and the five or six wine shops in the town were basically full, and the simple tea shack was also full of pawn sellers.

They basically rested in the woods and ate dry food all the way, and seeing that they were about to arrive in Chang'an, Li Zhen wanted to take everyone to have a good meal in the town, but he couldn't find a wine shop, which made him very disappointed.

At this moment, a middle-aged man who looked like a shopkeeper hurriedly ran over, and Shi Yili asked, "Are you General Li and his party from Luoyang?"

His voice was not loud, but Di Yan heard it, so he pointed at the middle-aged man and smiled: "Husband, that person seems to have come to you?"

Li Zhen was stunned, could it be Jiuzhi, impossible, Jiuzhi should be in Chang'an, this is just a small town in Badong, how did Jiuzhi know that he was coming?

But in addition, Li Zhen really couldn't remember who else would pick him up, he had a trace of vigilance in his heart, and held the hilt of the sword in his hand, at this time, the soldiers led the middle-aged man up, "General, this person said that we have specially prepared a wine shop." ”

The middle-aged man hurriedly stepped forward to salute, "The general has worked hard all the way, and my master has chartered the largest Linjiang wine shop in this town for the general and his party to rest and eat." ”

Li Zhen's grip on the hilt of the sword let go, and he asked with a faint smile, "I don't know who your master is?"

"The master of my family is the head of the lonely family. ”

Di Yan whispered to Li Zhen: "It is Dugu Mingxi, the alliance leader of the Guanlong nobles. ”

Li Zhen nodded, it turned out to be this person, he didn't refuse, and ordered left and right: "Go to Linjiang Restaurant!"

The group followed the housekeeper to the wine shop, a large wine shop covering an area of five or six acres was really empty, there was no guest, a young man was already waiting here, he seemed to know Li Zhen, and bowed to Li Zhen, "In Xia Duguhan, I am here to welcome General Li and his wife on the order of my father, and welcome General Li to come to Chang'an to serve." ”

"You know me?"

"I love polo, and I went to Luoyang to watch a polo tournament last year, and I had a glimpse of the general. ”

I see, Li Zhen smiled slightly, and arched his hand to him: "Please tell Ling Zun and thank him for his kindness." ”

After lunch, everyone rested for a while, and was about to set off again, when Zhang Shuo came to Li Zhen's side and said in a low voice: "General, it's best not to accept too much of the Dugu clan's favors." ”

"What do you mean by that?" asked Li Zhen puzzled.

Zhang Shuo sighed, "The Guanlong aristocracy is the biggest force in the Tang Dynasty, the power is so great that it is enough to change the political situation, even the saint is quite scruples about them, once the saint learns that the general has a close relationship with them, I am afraid it will bring death to the general." ”

Li Zhen thought for a moment and asked again, "Since their strength is enough to change the political situation, why can the Holy Lord still tolerate them?"

"There are many reasons, the main reason is that the martial arts also want to use this power for their own use, and they themselves are relatively low-key and do not directly interfere in politics, so the saint can still tolerate it. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Shuo looked to both sides, lowered his voice and said: "The former prime minister Li Dezhao was dismissed because he had too close a relationship with the Dugu clan, and the imperial concubine killed by Wei Tuan'er is also the daughter of the Guanlong Dou clan, the general himself should be careful!"

Li Zhen nodded, hugged his fists and said with a smile: "Thank you Brother Zhang for telling me directly, Li Zhen remembered." ”

Everyone set off again, and in the afternoon, a group of people entered Chang'an City, and the lively and noisy atmosphere suddenly came to their faces.

Although Chang'an is no longer a political center, but it has a strong foundation, developed commerce, although it has been neglected for decades, but its prosperity is still no less than Luoyang, and even more than Luoyang to some extent, the most obvious is the Silk Road trade, Chang'an's Western Regions Hu people are far more than Luoyang, everywhere you can see a team of camels full of goods.

But when the procession slowly drove into the former imperial city, the lively and prosperous atmosphere suddenly disappeared, and all I saw was the official offices with padlocks on the gates, although the official buildings were magnificent, but everywhere was deserted and dilapidated, the big locks and chains were full of rust, and the deserted streets were also overgrown with artemisia grass one man high.

This is the original central court, since the court moved to Luoyang, this place has been abandoned, and decades have passed in a flash, and the power of the past has gradually been buried in the dust.

Everyone's mood became gloomy, although Li Zhen had infiltrated the more decaying palace, the dilapidated desolation in front of him still made him feel a sense of being distributed, Di Yan clenched his hand beside him, and Li Zhen felt the coldness of her little hand.

After a while, they came to Xijing to stay in front of the official office, which is a huge official office covering an area of hundreds of acres, and it is also the only building in the imperial city that looks a little popular, there is no rusty lock, there is no artemisia grass one person high, and the yellow flag of the Tang Dynasty is fluttering high on the flagpole in front of the gate.

At this time, the gate was opened, and more than a dozen officials poured out of the official office, led by an official in his forties, wearing a gauze hat and a four-grade official uniform, looking quite shrewd, he stepped forward and bowed to salute, "Shi Zhou Yaosi, the governor of Xijing, welcome General Li!"

Li Zhen was named the deputy left-behind guard in Xijing, in fact, he was at the same level as Changshi, and they were all the fourth grade, but the deputy left-behind was in charge of the army, and Changshi was in charge, both of them were assistants left behind in Xijing, but because Xijing was left behind by Wu Youning, and he basically did not come to Chang'an, so when Li Zhen did not take office, the military and political power left behind in Xijing was in the hands of Zhou Yaohe, the long history. ”

Li Zhen learned the details of this Zhou Yaosi before he came, this person was originally the head of the left prison guard, and was recommended by Wu Sansi three years ago to stay in Xijing for the long history, he is actually Wu Sansi's person.

It stands to reason that Li Zhen took his family to take office, first of all, he had to go to the official residence to settle down, and then he came to the official office to officially take office, but this Zhou Yaosi didn't do anything, on the surface he was welcoming himself, but in fact he was resisting his arrival.

Li Zhen knew this, and said with a smile: "It turned out to be Zhou Changshi, I have been looking up for a long time, I don't know where my official residence is?" I want to settle down with my wife and belongings first. ”

"Oh-"

Zhou Yaosi pretended to be suddenly enlightened, turned around and asked an official, "Liu joins the army, can the official residence of Deputy Li be arranged?"

The official trembled and said, "It's arranged, it's just"

"It's just what! Why don't you take the deputy to stay behind and settle down at home, go quickly!"

The official had no choice but to step forward and salute, "General Li, please come with me." ”

Li Zhen felt that there seemed to be something wrong with it, but he didn't show his face and didn't ask much, so he smiled and said, "Then Lao Liu will join the army." ”

Li Zhen said goodbye to Zhou Yaosi again, and then led everyone to turn around and follow this Liu Senjun to the outside of the imperial city, Zhou Yaosi looked at Li Zhen's back with his hands and went away, he was really a little worried in his heart, Wu Sansi ordered him to give Li Zhen a dismount, he didn't know if his approach was wise.

Everyone went out of the imperial city, and then entered the Wuben workshop opposite the imperial city, this square is also the concentration of Chang'an mansions, there are more than 20 mansions covering an area of more than 100 acres, at this time, Li Zhen asked Liu Shenjun to find him, and asked him: "Liu Shenjun seems to have unfinished words just now, just what?"

Liu Senjun sighed and said: "Xiaguan originally planned to clean up the officer's mansion left behind, but the house was a bit in disrepair, and it needed at least 3,000 yuan to repair it, but Zhou Changshi just refused to approve the money, and Xiaguan had no choice but to temporarily rent a house, and he had to pay 100 yuan a month for rent." The general himself has to bear it. ”

Li Zhen was suddenly furious in his heart, he had never heard of the magistrate who wanted to pay for renting a house by himself, he asked with a gloomy face: "Where does Zhou Changshi live?

"General Hui, Zhou Changshi lives in Pingrenfang, he lives in an eighty-acre official mansion, and he doesn't need to pay for it himself. ”

Li Zhen snorted coldly, "If I'm not mistaken, Sipin Changshi can only live in ten acres of official mansions at most, but he actually lives in eighty acres, does he think he is the king of the county?"

"This ...... I don't know what to do. ”

Liu Shenjun was sweating profusely, he knew that he had met a powerful person this time, what kind of skill was this Li Zhen's ability to bring down Xue Huaiyi and Lai Junchen, Zhou Yaosi was overwhelmed, and he actually wanted to fight him, and he was immediately caught by others.

Li Zhen no longer talked to him, and said coldly: "I am the general of Sanpin Yunlu, and I have the lord of the county marquis, according to the imperial court system, my official residence cannot be larger than thirty acres, Liu joined the army to arrange it for me, as for where I live now, I will solve it myself, you don't need to worry about it, you go!"

Liu joined the army and had no choice but to turn his horse and go back to the imperial city, at this time, Di Yan said in a low voice: "Husband, do you want to go to the eldest sister to live temporarily?"

Li Zhen nodded, the eldest sister Li Quan bought a house covering an area of about ten acres in Chang'an, located in Xuanyangfang near Dongshi, of course he would not accept the humiliating arrangement of this Zhou Changshi, since this surnamed Zhou wants to fight with him, then he Li Zhen will accompany him to the end.

"Turn around and go to Xuanyang Fang!"