Chongren Fang.

In the evening, Jin Wuwei left the street patrol envoy Wu Kangcheng passed by a large mansion and looked inside.

"Wu Liu?"

Suddenly, Wu Kangcheng was stunned, turned around, and saw a middle-aged man in a dark green official robe straddled a horse, looking at him at the intersection.

"Ah, where is the king's envoy?"

Wu Kangcheng hurriedly crossed his hands and saluted, and said with a smile: "I heard that the king made the king return to Chang'an as an official, so I thought it would be good to see each other, so I came to chatter." ”

"It's a big deal. Thinking about the time when Helong said goodbye, there were seven or eight years, right? It is also rare for you and I to be able to get together again in Chang'an. ”

"The villain returned to Chang'an in the first year of Tianbao, and he wanted to meet the envoy at that time, but he never thought about it, and he will see him again today."

"The ups and downs of the sea are not worth mentioning, don't mention them."

"The villain brought wine, so that you can drink a glass?"

"I smelled the aroma of wine from afar, Xinfeng wine?"

"The nose that makes you feel good."

Wu Kangcheng couldn't help laughing, hung the wine jug on his shoulder, and was about to help the middle-aged man.

In the distance, Jin Wuwei came running and said, "Boss, someone is looking for you, the people of the Right Prime Minister's Mansion!" ”

Wu Kangcheng heard the words "Right Prime Minister's Mansion", his face changed, he turned around to look, and saw a young man on the other side of Fang Street pacing over, but he didn't know him.

On the contrary, the middle-aged man beside him was slightly surprised.

"Is that you? Xue Bai? ”

"I've seen Mr. Maha."

Xue Bai saluted, and then looked at Wang Wei's dark green official robe, and felt that this official robe did not match Wang Wei's temperament.

is still the plain robe, when worn on his body, Wang Wei looks more lofty and more comfortable.

Wang Wei was keenly aware of Xue Bai's gaze that fell on his official robe, and said, "Are you looking for Wu Liu?" ”

"Yes, there is something going on with the military patrol envoy."

"How many drinks will we have together?" Wang Wei said: "I also have something to say to you. ”

"Then it's better to be respectful than to obey."

After entering the house, Wang Wei confessed his guilt and went to change his clothes first.

Xue Bai left the Tian brothers and Kyauknu to sit in the front yard, and he entered the hall alone, cooking wine with Wu Kangcheng and drinking each other.

"Xue Langjun is here to find me?" Wu Kangcheng set up a small stove and put the wine on the fire to warm it.

"Yes." Xue Bai said: "The military patrol envoy once served in the Longyou Army? ”

Wu Kangcheng smiled when he heard this, nodded, and said: "I joined the army in the twentieth year of Kaiyuan, and returned to Chang'an in the first year of Tianbao, and I was a soldier of Longyou for ten years. ”

"Fight with the Tibetans?"

"Well, every year." Wu Kangcheng said: "It was a few years after the Chiling Monument was erected to meet the alliance, that is, there was no big war, and the small war was always fought. ”

Xue Bai asked: "I want to ask the envoy of the martial arts about two people, they are a pair of brothers, named Jiang Mao and Jiang Hai." ”

Wu Kangcheng shook his head and said, "I don't know." ”

Xue Bai glanced at him, with some understanding in his eyes, and talked about the several battles that the Jiang brothers had participated in.

Wu Kangcheng still shook his head and said, "There are thousands of people in the army who have fought together, how can I remember?" ”

Before he could ask again, Wang Wei had already changed into a plain robe and came out, holding a string of Buddhist beads in his hand, and sat down behind the stove.

When he was young, he was known as "white and beautiful in his youth", and when he reached middle age, he added years of precipitation in addition to his graceful demeanor.

"Where are you taking the slaves and maids in gorgeous clothes and mobilizing the right guard?"

Xue Bai responded: "I don't have an official status yet, I'm just investigating some things for the right minister." ”

Wang Wei said lightly: "Young people, the academic examination is the right way. ”

"What the gentleman taught."

"Let's talk about your business first, are you looking for Wu Liu?"

"Yes." Xue Bai said: "I am checking the two Longyou soldiers, I want to ask the military patrol envoy if he has it?" ”

Wu Kangcheng laughed and said, "I don't recognize it." ”

Xue Bai smiled and followed the topic: "I asked a Longyou veteran today, and he said that the military envoy is likely to recognize it. I came looking for it, but I didn't expect the military envoy to know Mr. Maha. ”

"It should be, twenty-five years of Kaiyuan." Wang Wei took a sip of the wine glass, and said slowly with a look of memory: "I went to Liangzhou as a supervisor of the imperial history, and concurrently served as a judge of the festival under the curtain of Hexi Jiedu. ”

"Yes." Wu Kangcheng responded with a smile: "Twenty-five years of Kaiyuan. ”

Wang Weidao: "At that time, Tubo ignored the warnings of the Tang Dynasty and attacked the Tang Dynasty in the west. The sage was furious and ordered Hexi and Longxi to send troops, and I went out to preach comfort and inspect the military situation. ”

Xue Bai knew that the Jiang brothers had not been recruited to Longyou this year, but he still listened very carefully.

"I went to Liangzhou and learned that Tubo had invaded the territory, and Cui Jieshuai, the envoy of Hexi Jiedu, had led troops to support Longyou." When Wang Wei said this, he looked at Wu Kangcheng and said, "At that time, Wu Liu was waiting under Cui Jieshuai. ”

Xue Bai's expression moved, and he blurted out and asked, "Xiao Guan is waiting to ride, and he is all protected by Yanran?" ”

Wang Wei smiled knowingly, with a different look in his eyes, and nodded.

""Make it to the Stopper"?!"

"yes."

Wu Kangcheng laughed, drank all the wine in the cup, and read the poem aloud.

"The bicycle wants to ask the side, and the subject country lives extends."

"Conquer Peng out of Hanse, return to the wild goose into Hutian."

"The desert is lonely, and the sun sets on the long river."

"Xiao Guan is waiting to ride, and he is all protected by Yan Ran."

At this moment, he is no longer the street patrol who carefully spied on Wang Wei's mansion with wine, his tone is heroic and extraordinary.

The magnificence that was restrained by the officialdom of Chang'an returned to Wu Kangcheng, he seemed to have just returned from the desert, and finally dared to speak loudly, and dared to let the wine spill on his beard and placket.

"Hahaha, 'Xiao Guan Feng Waiting Rider', everyone in the world reads Mr. Maha's poems, but few people know that my Wu Liu is the one who waits for the ride!" It was in the following year that Cui Jieshuai led the crowd from Liangzhou to enter the enemy border for more than 2,000 miles, and broke the enemy in the west of Qinghai, beheading more than 2,000 people! ”

Wang Wei also drank the wine in the cup and laughed.

The pride brought to him by the years rarely broke the silence in his eyes.

But smiling and smiling, his eyes gradually became lonely again.

"Do you know how many years have the Tang Dynasty and Tubo fought and made peace?"

Xue Bai shook his head and said, "I don't know." ”

Wang Weidao: "If you count from the sixth year of Emperor Gaozu Wude, it has been more than 120 years. If you count from the Tuyuhun dispute, it has been more than 80 years. ”

"So long."

Wang Weidao: "Hexi and Longyou must be defended by more than 100,000 elite soldiers all year round, and the system of soldiers in the Tang Dynasty has collapsed, and the military expenditure on recruiting troops is more than seven times that of the past. Although there were several big victories, the northwestern border troubles could not be completely resolved. Princess Jincheng and pro-Tubo, until the death of the twenty-eighth year of Kaiyuan, she was in Tubo for nearly 30 years, the peace season was only intermittent ten years, and this decade was only no major war, between the two countries, small wars have always continued. ”

Only then did Xue Bai know that it turned out that the entire Kaiyuan Dynasty had been fighting.

He didn't understand these things, so he didn't say much, and waited for Wang Wei to follow.

Cui Jieshuai Xiyi, after he arrived in Hexi, he tried his best to promote the alliance between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo, and finally in the twenty-second year of Kaiyuan, the two countries took Chiling as the boundary and became the country of uncles and nephews. Cui Jieshuai and the Tibetan general Qili Xu killed the white dog as an alliance, and each went to garrison, so that the people on both sides could cultivate and graze on the border. ”

Wang Wei said, drank another glass of wine, and said: "Both of them are people who value faith and righteousness, and they have fought for peace on the border for three years. Unexpectedly, a big war was inevitable, Tubo attacked the small Bolu Kingdom in the west, the sage was furious, and ordered Cui Jieshuai to cover the attack on Tubo, Qilixu was not defended, and was defeated in Qinghai Lake. Although Cui Jieshuai defeated Tubo and made brilliant achievements, he was often worried about the situation in Helong, and he felt ashamed of Qili Xu. This matter reached the ears of the sage, so he dismissed Cui Jieshuai from his position and moved to Henan Yin. ”

"And then?"

"In the twenty-sixth year of Kaiyuan, Cui Jieshuai left Helong, and I also returned to Chang'an. Not long after, he died. Some people say that he dreamed of a white dog and died of suspicion. ”

Wang Wei sighed and said: "After his death, he was disgusted by the saints and ridiculed by the world, but in his life, his military exploits were brilliant in Qinghai, and his faith and righteousness were more important than Mount Tai. He fought not for personal merit, but for the sake of peace. ”

Xue Bai was silent.

I didn't expect the coach to end so dismally after a big victory in Qinghai Lake.

He could understand what Wang Wei wanted to say - it was not easy for the soldiers of Helong, fighting a war that had lasted for hundreds of years and could not see the result.

Faintly, there is also the meaning of complaining about the saint's great achievements.

Wang Wei seemed to be drunk, holding his wine glass high and reciting poetry.

"Chang'an Young Ranger Guest, go to the garrison at night to see Taibai."

"The bright moon in Longtou is approaching, and the pedestrians in Longshang play the flute at night."

"The Kansai veteran was overwhelmed, and Zhuma listened to the tears."

"After more than 100 battles, he has favored the marquis of ten thousand households."

"Su Wucai is a vassal country, and the festival has fallen to the west of the sea."

Xue Bai looked at it, and when he saw Wang Wei turn his head, he actually cried.

Wu Kangcheng also burst into tears.

They didn't say anything, they just complained in verse.

used to be a high-spirited teenager in Chang'an, but he became a veteran in Kansai, listening to the flute every night, missing his hometown, and making a lot of military achievements. And then what? What did the soldiers who had suffered so much get from the Biansai.

Su Wu has been shepherding sheep in Beihai for 19 years, and the tricks on the Fu Festival have come to an end, and after returning, he only became a petty official like a vassal country.

What about Li Linfu?

A fortunate minister, after Cui Xiyi's death, led the two towns of Longyou and Hexi, held dozens of positions, received the endless grace of the saint, and was powerful!

How can he be deserved?

How can he be?!

The big merit rewards the small, the merit rewards the small, the ministers are in a high position, this is not enough, and today they have to persecute the soldiers of the border army?!

"The festival is over...... Hercynian head. ”

Wang Wei muttered this poem, raised his hand, patted Xue Bai's shoulder, and sighed: "Don't talk about the stuff, don't talk about it...... Luckily? ”

There was compassion in his eyes again.

The blood of the young ranger in Chang'an in the past has long been extinguished by this world.

Even so, he seemed to come forward to ask Xue Bai to stop checking those veterans.

Xue Bai said: "Okay, let's not talk about the plug today." ”

Wang Wei sighed and said, "I heard the first word in the government office today, it is the tune of the teaching workshop, "Huanxi Sha", which is well written, but you wrote it in the Lady of Qiuguo's mansion?" ”

"Yes."

Wang Wei glanced at Xue Bai deeply and sighed: "Don't take this road." ”

Xue Bai was stunned.

He felt the extremely sincere admonition and regret in Wang Wei's eyes.

"Which way?"

"In the eighth year of Kaiyuan, I went to Chang'an to take the exam, but I didn't succeed." Wang Wei took a sip of the wine glass and said slowly: "I am unwilling, so I will work with King Ning, King Qi, and ...... and Princess Yuzhen befriended, the following year, the champion and the first. ”

Xue Bai picked up the wine glass and wanted to drink, but put it down again.

He still didn't know which way Wang Wei persuaded him not to go, but he vaguely felt that Wang Wei was full of anger and wanted to confide, but he still restrained himself.

"But what about the champion and the first? This road has been bumpy, and he is still just a petty official in a green robe. Wang Wei muttered: "You are very similar to me when I was young, really similar." But remember, don't take shortcuts, it won't work. ”

After only a few glasses of wine, he seemed to be a little drunk.

He wanted to speak and stopped, raised his head, drank a glass of wine, and then opened his mouth, another poem.

"In the past, Zhu Yan became twilight teeth, and his white hair became drooping."

"How many sad things in your life, where do you not sell them to the empty door?"

……

Xue Bai listened to three poems today, from "all protect to Yanran", to "the festival falls to the west of the sea", and then to "a few sad things in his life", Wang Wei did not say too deeply, but he has shown his helplessness and powerlessness in the officialdom of the Tang Dynasty.

~~

Out of Wang Wei's mansion, the Kyauknu and Tian brothers followed Xue Bai and asked, "How is it?" ”

"Go to the Right Minister's Mansion." Xue Bai looked up at the sky and said, "It's curfew soon, move quickly." ”

Kyauknu asked, "Got a clue?" ”

Xue Bai hesitated slightly and nodded.

"Hmm."

Although he only responded, he looked a little cold.