Chapter 55

The drizzling autumn rain echoed down with the bells of the scattered yamen in various imperial cities. An official wearing purple scattered rushes to the stables at the Zhuque Gate. He nodded to the officials who were passing by, responded, while rubbing the raindrops stained on the public uniform, and shouted in secret: "Unfortunate". At a moment, a tall car drove to the carriage. The official said to the old man who was struggling the horse, "Old Zhang, don't go back to the house first, and always stay with him."

The old man who was riding the horse responded "Yes", then raised his whip and tapped the horse's thighs, and the sound of his hooves could reach the Zhuque Gate and Qunxianfang to the east.

These group of Xianfangs are located in the easternmost part of the imperial city, close to the Golden Light Gate, one of the three left gates in Chang'an. It is far away from the Daozhengfang where Guo Ziyi lives, and the residences of the two highest civil and military officials of the Tang Dynasty are arranged according to the court meetings of the left and right civil and civil servants, and the two sides stand separately to protect the vast royal palace.

When the carriage arrived at the Chang'an of Qunxianfang, the official in Zhuzigongfu got off the carriage. Without waiting for anyone to report, he walked straight into the door and followed the instructions of his subordinates to the Jingting Pavilion of the Houyuanyuan.

In Yuanjing Pavilion, Chang Gun, the chief minister in a common clothes, was playing chess with an old man who looked like a guest. He only looked at the ancient well on his face and knew that he must have entered the game very deeply. The officials who were looking for it all the way did not come forward to disturb him when they saw this, and waited under the pavilion to enjoy the Mid-Autumn Festival scenery.

It was not until after about two incense sticks that I saw the elderly guest pushing the chessboard and sighed and said, "My husband's move is like a general's out of the frontier. If a brave soldier is approaching the border, he will gather in the clouds. Chen joins the army company. I am not as good as that! The defeat in this situation has been presented, and it will be useless to go further!"

Chang Gun, who said this secretly and proudly, smiled and said, "Mr. Zhexian has given up." Seeing that the game was over, the husband was full of joy again, so he slowly walked up the steps to the pavilion and said with a smile: "'Several cups of short pavilion flowers and wine, a game of pine windows and chess.' My husband is so excited!"

"Oh! Zhang Dongtai is here, and there is wine, chess and scenery here. You and I can have half a day of leisure, how about playing chess in a game?" Chang Gunxun saw that Zhang Yi, the assistant minister of the disciple, arrived. He was still unsatisfied and immediately spoke out and invited him. Because the disciple was also called Dongtai, this is why he was called this.

"Mr. Zhexian's preface is my ear. I dare to make trouble for myself. Please let me go!" Zhang Yi's words attracted the three people in the pavilion to smile again.

After laughing a few times, Chang Gun was in a good mood and pointed at Zhang Yi and said to the guest: "I heard that Zhang Dongtai is most disgusted with playing chess. The first leader of the school saved time, and issued a ban order at the beginning of getting off the car. Today, he saw this. It seems that this rumor is really true!" After a word, he turned to Zhang Yi and said: "The trend of playing chess in the capital is extremely strong. This is an elegant thing. Even in the Hanlin Academy, there are also worships who specialize in playing chess. Zhang Dongtai's order is a bit too harsh. Over time, it is inevitable that a 'mean and ruthless' discussion will be left, which is not worth the loss!"

I thought I was a little stiff and I finished speaking. Without waiting for Zhang Yi to answer, Chang Gun laughed again and said, "Can Zhang Dongtai know the story of Li Shanren, a native of the Sitianjian today?"

Since Zhang Yi became an official in his youth, he has worked more than local officials. He has gradually become a rank of officials. Chang Gun also used it to be the leader of the country. Therefore, he has rarely heard of the old stories of Li Mi who lived in Chang'an for many years. After hearing this, he was stunned and said, "Please give me some advice."

"That's what happened in the Kaiyuan period. At that time, Li Mi was only seven years old and famous for her child prodigy. Even if His Majesty Xuanzong lived in the deep palace, he had to hear that one day, his Majesty and the then prime minister Zhang Shuo visited the chess, and then introduced Li Mi to Zhang Shuo to test his qualifications and talents. This Zhang asked Li Mi to give him "Fang Yuan Movement and Stillness" and set an example and said, "Fang is like a chess game, round is like a piece, move is like a chess birth, and quiet is like a chess death." As soon as he finished speaking, Li Mi immediately said, "Fang is like a wise man, round is like a wise man, move is like a wise man, quiet is like a proud man." A seven-year-old boy can have such urgent wisdom,

The speaker was even more in line with the great way of governing the country, which surprised Zhang Xiangda. He immediately bowed to the ground to express his reputation to His Majesty Xuanzong to obtain a strange boy. His Majesty was very happy and said, "This son is more spirit than his body." He gave him a bunch of silk and ordered his family to say, "This son is beautiful and good at looking at him." Since then, Li Mi's name has spread all over the world, and he has been rewarded with Zhang Jiuling. He often leads to the inner room for teachings. Later, he is known as the two great prodigy of Kaiyuan together with Liu Yan and Liu Xiang. Now both of them are famous officials in the court, which is a strange fate. Chang Gun, who picked up a chess piece and slapped the chessboard, said this matter leisurely, which made Zhang Yi and the others sigh.

"These are all gossips, but I don't know what Zhang Dongtai is going to find me?" After a moment of silence, Chang Gun pushed away the chessboard in front of him and said. Seeing that the two of them were going to discuss the court, the guest bowed and stepped down and left without mentioning it.

Zhang Yi didn't answer, and took out two memorials from his sleeve and handed them on it. After Chang Gun took it, he first took a look at the section attached to the memorial, and then moved to look at it in detail. After a long time, Fang He got up and walked around the pavilion and sighed: "I have known Yang Gongnan's talent for a long time. It's not my opinion that he can change the method of renting and retrieving taxes and implementing the two taxes. It's just that Cui Po can have such meticulous thoughts at a young age. It's really rare, but..."

"Just what..." Zhang Yi, who was on the side of the Jinghou, asked, answering the words.

"But what this son did before was really inconsistent with this copy. Looking at his actions, he has always been more enterprising and calm. Why is this "State of Taxation and Trade" so detailed? What's more, this son always lives in the north and then goes to Chang'an, and has never even seen him. Why do he know so carefully about the affairs of the coastal prefectures? I see what he said in his copy, even the six ministries may not have such detailed records. How did he know from?" Chang Gun, who was full of doubt, still walked around the pavilion and thought slowly while he spoke.

"Is this letter written by someone else, but he has given it his name?" Zhang Yi was puzzled when he heard this, so he said speculation.

"It's not impossible." Chang Gun, who had been thinking for a long time but had no conclusion, nodded slightly and said, "This son is not obsessed with his actions, and he can't take it lightly."

"Then these two memorials..." Zhang Yi looked at Chang Gun's slightly thoughtful face and said, "Do you want to refute them too?"

Chang Gun, who was holding his hands lightly clasped the memorial in his hand and heard this, turned his head and looked at Zhang Yi deeply, and said lightly: "With Cui Youfu, the old man here, these two memorials cannot be sealed. Besides, Yang Gongnan's memorial has been read by the emperor. It is imperative to abolish rent and mediocre adjustments and implement the two taxes. This is what the emperor means..."

"Isn't this a waste of money for this ungrateful villain?" Zhang Yiyu said angrily with hatred when he thought of Yang Yan's knife behind him at the court meeting a few days ago.

"It's not easy for Yang Gongnan to change his taxes for a hundred years? There must be omissions in local actions. When the time comes, the original person will have to deal with others?" Chang Gun, who has a deep sense of the same feeling, also said with a stern meaning.

"My husband is wise!" Zhang Yi, who was happy, took the opportunity to take a shot of Chang Gun, and then started to speak again: "However, what will happen to Cui Po's actions?"

"The emperor's attitude towards this son is really elusive!" Chang Gun sighed leisurely after pondering for a moment: "At this time, you must never give him a chance to show it. You should first study his memorials when you go back and study it carefully. You must find out the misunderstandings and omissions in it. When you meet in the Political Affairs Hall in the future, you will refute it first. From now on, all the memorials he submitted will be refuted one by one, so that he will always wipe out his spirit. If you want to see what tricks he can do?"

After receiving the instructions, Zhang Yi stopped staying. After taking the two memorials, he turned around and left the house.

At the same time, Lord Cui Po, the head of the Ministry of Works of the Tang Dynasty, was receiving a guest from a distant place in his mansion.

Matsuzan Sado, wearing fur, looked as solemn as before, but Cui Po, who was sitting by the side, clearly felt a sense of uncontrollable resentment from him, and couldn't help but feel a lot of surprise. Thinking about it carefully, he did not break the vows, so why did he make him look like this?

"General Songzan came to Chang'an from afar, and he was just in the friendship of a landlord, and he led the general to appreciate the scenery of Chang'an City." Cui Po, who was impatient with the dull atmosphere, smiled and said.

Who knew that there was no change in Songzan Sado's face after hearing this, and he didn't even look at Cui Po's words coldly: "Four thousand war horses have been delivered to the new army of Jinzhou. During this period, they were given 300 horses each of Jiannan, Shannanxi and Guannei Daojie Yamen. There were also 74 injuries on the way, so 3,026 were actually obtained, and the income was determined by the person named Gao Chongwen under the master. If there is no doubt, please sign the painting on this receipt and write it as a letter." After saying that, he handed over a document written in yellow mulberry paper.

Cui Po reached out to take it, carefully checked the number and Gao Chongwen's clues, and called Di Shi, who was serving the marquis, to take the pen and ink seal, and sign it and handed it back.

Songzan Sado took the receipt and read it. After carefully putting it in his arms, he even reached out to take out another piece of mulberry paper and said, "The king said that if Lord Cui is insufficient in his hands, he can charge the items listed on the paper equally. The earlier this matter, the better."

Cui Po took it and looked carefully. He saw that most of the items listed above were crossbows, especially the two lightweight and horn bows, and the most demands were required. It was fair to convert the price slightly at the bottom of his heart. He was also a good way to pay for the bill at this time.

While putting the documents in hand, Cui Po looked at Songzan Sado with a puzzled look and said, "General Songzan, there should be no problem with the items listed on the list, but how to transport them safely to these thousands of miles away is really a big difficulty."

"This matter is not a matter of worry. You just need to gather it in Jinzhou. Our department has its own caravan to transport it back safely. I just want to ask Lord Cui to keep his promise and not to use the inferior things to fill it."

"You can rest assured about this matter. What kind of horses the general sent? My weapons must be the same. I will definitely not be such a person who is unfaithful and unfaithful." After saying this, Cui Po Naixu asked again: "But I don't know what the battle between Tubo and the Black-clothed Food War is now?"

Hearing this, Songzan Sado's cold face also showed a sad look. After pondering for a while, he whispered: "Since Qu Dibo sneaked into the north, he attacked the Langya Pass in the north, and then gradually advanced south based on this. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the troops of various units, he advanced 700 miles within ten days to occupy the northern ranch. However, they were so proud that they could not help but neglect. General Chobu, who had arrived in advance, succeeded in stealing the camp and lost nearly 30,000 troops. After that, he slowed down the speed of advancement and moved to slow progress. At present, he confronted the Duomi River across the Duomi River and fought many times. Both sides won and lost each other. When I left the law that day, I heard that 200,000 reinforcements in black clothes had crossed the Qiemo River and arrived in Shicheng Town. As for the subsequent battle situation, it is unknown."

"How much military force is your troops invested in? What are your plans for restoring the country?" Cui Po asked afterwards.

"Our army invested 20,000, and the remaining 40,000 were stationed in the ancient capital of Lieutenant Philadelphia, the Tang-Tibet border. At present, Tubo has not been defeated and its military strength is still strong. Your Majesty, my great prince, dare not rashly contact Yang and the leader of the tribe to jointly investigate the matter. If you don't drive away the great feud, my Sun Bo will just drive the wolf into the tiger. Therefore, Your Majesty is still fighting the great feud together, taking the opportunity to consume the four divisions directly under Zanpu, and then we will take the initiative to take action after expelling the great feud." Songzansado finished his introduction without any expression. After waiting for a while, he saw Cui Po just lower his head and pondered and did not ask any questions. Then he suddenly asked, "Does Cui still have any questions?"

Cui Po, who was thinking, casually answered: "No", and the next moment, he heard a violent sound of "kneel". The Songzan Sado, who had just been expressionless, had already risen up at this moment, and pointed the sharp scimitar in his hand at the shocked Cui Po with anger.

Seeing this situation, Cui Po stood up in shock, took three steps and said in a hurry: "What does General Songzan mean?" When Di Shi, who was serving the marquis, saw this situation, was stunned and immediately flashed out.

"Although I, Songzan Sado, belongs to Sun Bo, I am also the descendant of the Emperor of Changsheng who grew up drinking the water of the Lancang River. Since Lord Cui was a horse racing hero that day, he even offered the lamb skin to the woman chosen by Changsheng Heaven, he should treat her well." Speaking here, Songzan Sado's face was already ashamed and angry as he was squeezing out words and said, "But Lord Cui regarded the glory given by Changsheng Heaven as a cover, throwing all the faces of the people of the plateau on the ground without any care. At this time, since the affairs of His Majesty the King have been completed, it is time for me to find glory for the descendants of the plateau." At the end of the words, he shouted loudly: "Cui Po, if you are still a man, raise your knife!"

With this loud shout, not only the eight guards of Guo who were called by Di Shi, but also a woman covered in a veil walked into the hall under the protection of two Tubo warriors. She only looked at the familiar seven-pleated skirt and graceful figure on the woman. Cui Po, who was shocked in her heart, exclaimed in surprise: "Miss Jinhua...you...why are you here too?"
Chapter completed!