After the first lunar month, the weather did not seem to get warmer at all, and there was even a heavy snowfall in Fan Gucheng. But it's better than the side of Langru Mountain. After all, the grassland is unobstructed. There is not even a mountain within hundreds of miles as far as the eye can see. The wind blows from the north and there is nothing to block it. In addition, there are not many Mongolian and Yuan Empires. In big cities, herdsmen like to live in tents, and the wind is particularly violent.
The wind is mixed with snow, which is called white-haired wind by prairie people. A white wind is a disaster, and the white-haired wind is the nightmare of the prairie people. And every time they think of this, the Han people in Fangu City are very happy. The people in Fangu City don't farm. When the weather is cold in this place for half a year, the crops can't grow as tall as the weeds. They used to rely on the imperial court for supplies, but now they rely on trade. Therefore, they were not worried about the strong wind and cold weather at all. Anyway, Fangu city would not be able to finish all the food in three years.
Because of the snow, Li Xiaozong skipped the normal drills of the frontier troops. But the soldiers of the border army could not go home because of the horse-trading incident by the Northern Liao people a while ago. The Mongolian and Yuan Empire did not know whether there would be any trouble and had to be on guard against it. In the seventh year of Jianye's reign in the Sui Dynasty, this small city could withstand the 40,000 men of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, and could withstand the Mandu wolves of Mandu Latu. Li Xiaozong did not want to be unable to stop Mandu Latu when he was in office.
"Fang Jie hasn't come to report for half a month, right?"
Li Gandang, who had been promoted from deputy lieutenant to school captain, squatted on the ground and lit his cigarette pipe: "I don't know who was so bold as to do this. Logically speaking, that kid is good at martial arts. Although he can't practice, he can deal with ordinary Han Qi. Eight is not a problem, why was he beaten so badly? Besides, who in Fangu City would hate him?"
Tobacco leaves are grown by the people of Fangucheng themselves. They are called smokers and cannons. They are very choking and very strong.
"How about we go ask for leave with the general later and see how Fang Jie goes?"
Fu Baobao picked up the snow on the ground and rubbed his face. Although the snow was cold, it would not take long for his face to warm up after rubbing it. He was a scout and had some habits that he couldn't change. The people who were with him in the scout team were all dead. He would rather not be the leader of the scout team, but also asked to be transferred to the ordinary team to become a corps leader. Sometimes after seeing too much death, you will not become cold and indifferent, but will become more afraid of death.
"The general has strict orders that no one is allowed to leave the camp."
Li Gandang sighed and said, "I usually don't like that kid, but I feel really panicked after not seeing him for a few days."
"Captain, do you want a solution, or do you want dog meat hot pot?"
Qiu Xiaoshu came over and asked with a smile.
"Get the fuck out of here! Do you understand the deep brotherhood I have?"
Li Gan glanced at Qiu Xiaoshu and said, "Look at that bitch of yours. You have no loyalty at all. If it comes to a life-and-death situation, you are the first traitor. You only have dog meat hot pot in your heart and have no sympathy." "Young man, I can see your true nature clearly. On the day when Fang Jie was beaten, I would have run away even if I didn't say anything."
Qiu Xiaoshu blushed and wanted to argue but finally endured it.
Li Gandang took a puff of native smoke and said: "Since we are destined to be in the same camp, we must cherish it. Fang Jie is our brother, and his life is tied to a horizontal knife. He has been bullied, and we cannot Just sit back and ignore it. I'll beg the general later and take our team to check again tomorrow!"
Fu Baobao nodded vigorously and said: "The team leader is right. Having you as our team leader is a blessing we have earned over several lifetimes. If Fang Jie knew about it, he would also be grateful for your kindness."
As he was talking, he suddenly saw a group of people suddenly appearing outside the gate of the camp in the distance. They were all wearing white cloaks, so they could only see clearly when they got closer. They were riding tall horses. There were not many people, only about thirty or fifty people. The leader took off a sign from his waist and handed it to the border soldier guarding the door. The soldier looked at it and ran into the camp straight to General Li's tent.
"Who is he? So arrogant He didn't dismount even when he arrived at the gate of the camp."
"Although it is stronger now than it was during the late emperor's time, the entire Youxiao Guard can't muster two thousand cavalry. From a distance, these people's horses are not commonplace, and they must have a great background."
As soon as Li Gan finished speaking, he saw Li Xiaozong walking out of the tent, looked in the direction of the camp door, straightened his clothes and walked over quickly.
"I heard that the imperial court sent law enforcement envoys from Dali Temple and the Ministry of War to inspect, are they here?"
Qiu Xiaoshu guessed.
Li Gandang glared at him: "What? You saw a big shot from the court, and you plan to go over and fawn over him?"
Qiu Xiaoshu endured the anger in his heart, stood up and walked towards the camp. Li Gandang looked at his back and sneered: "Fu Baobao, do you know why I never arrange for Qiu Xiaoshu to cut off the queen every time?"??¡±
"I don't know, why?"
Li Gan said: "This man has many thoughts, but he has no courage. When he talks to others, his eyes flicker, which shows that his heart is not right. I dare not hand over our backs to such a person. We are fighting on the battlefield, brothers. Our lives were damned lost at some point, and I won¡¯t do anything that leaves us with no way out.¡±
"No way."
Fu Baobao said in surprise: "I think the little tree is pretty good."
¡°You think it¡¯s good?!¡±
Li Gan said seriously: "If we really encounter a crisis, I can block you behind me. People like him can only escape behind you. Although Fang Jie is afraid of death, he is loyal enough. If something really happens, Fang Jie Xie won¡¯t run away, so I treat you as a brother and Fang Xie as a brother.¡±
Fu Baobao was moved and said: "With you here, our team is happy!"
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Li Xiaozong secretly glanced at the eunuch sitting high in his seat. Although he was annoyed, he couldn't get angry. After all, this eunuch has a special status, he is the eunuch Bingbi of the Imperial Study Room. This seat is next to His Majesty the Sui Emperor. His sometimes casual words may change a person's future.
"Eunuch Wu, please don't take offense if you are not able to greet me from afar. I am rude."
Li Xiaozong said, clasping his fists.
"General Li is too polite"
Wu Peisheng, who was sitting on Li Xiaozong's chair, said with a smile: "Our family has followed His Majesty's order and followed the adults of Dali Temple and the Ministry of War to secretly investigate the four military accounts. Naturally, we dare not make it public. If we go somewhere first, If someone knows about it, it will be difficult to check the accounts. If we can't handle His Majesty's errands, we won't have much to gain when we return to Chang'an."
Li Xiaozong was extremely disgusted with the tone of the eunuch's speech, but he didn't show it on the surface: "What my father-in-law said is that since my father-in-law is here to check the accounts, I will have all the accounts brought up later."
"Not urgent."
Wu Peisheng waved his hand and said with a smile: "Since we're here, there's no need to rush. Our family encountered a heavy snowstorm along the way, and we were hungry and coldWhy, General Li doesn't want to treat us to a drink to warm us up?"
"I was negligent."
Li Xiaozong quickly turned around and ordered his soldiers to prepare food and drinks, and then ordered people to prepare the accounts and bring them up at any time.
"What my family dislikes the most is snow. It looks white and clean, but is actually the dirtiest. The clothes on my body were stained with snowflakes, and soon they became terribly wrinkled and ugly General Li, would you mind bringing some with you?" Can we find a place to change clothes?"
Li Xiaozong said: "Please, father-in-law, come to my study. I will lead the way."
Wu Peisheng nodded, stood up and said to the officials of Dali Temple and the Ministry of War: "The food will be served soon. Sir, please use it first. You don't need to wait for us. We will come back naturally after changing our clothes."
The people from Dali Temple and the Ministry of War quickly stood up, clasped their fists and said, "My father-in-law, go on your own, I'll just wait."
Wu Peisheng didn¡¯t say much and followed Li Xiaozong back. When they were about to reach the study, Wu Peisheng suddenly smiled and said: "Before coming to Fangu, our family went to Woxian Mountain first and met Tang Gong Li Yuanshan, the general of You Xiaowei. When we sat down to chat, Tang Gong specially I have mentioned you, General Li. He said that you are a rare general and your future achievements will be higher than his. We think that such a general cannot be buried, so we will show up in front of His Majesty after we return. mentioned."
Li Xiaozong was a little puzzled by Wu Peisheng's 180-degree turn. But he was also quick-thinking and immediately clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, father-in-law. I still have some good tea from Jiangnan in my study. How about you, father-in-law, have a cup of tea to warm yourself up first?"
"It's okay, after leaving the capital and heading northwest, it's hard to drink tea from the south of the Yangtze River. Especially when you get to Shandong Road, you can't even find a few taels of decent tea in Governor Yuan Chongwu's study."
Wu Peisheng said as he entered Li Xiaozong's study and sat down by the stove. He stretched out his hand and heated it on the stove. After a while, white steam began to rise from his body. Li Xiaozong made tea himself, placed it next to Wu Peisheng and said, "My father-in-law has come a long way. The journey must be very hard."
"We are all doing things for His Majesty, and it cannot be said to be hard work."
Wu Peisheng took the tea cup, pondered for a while and said: "Since we meet you in private first, General, we will open the skylight and speak openly Our family went to Woxian Mountain first because we have a good personal relationship with Mr. Tang. Mr. Tang specifically mentioned it You are not like what we just said, nothing is too much As for what we are talking about, we think that General Li must also know very well, so we don't need to waste words, we just ask. General Li is ready?"
?"I don't knowwhat my father-in-law needs me to prepare."
Li Xiaozong's heart tightened and his face looked a little painful.
"Since that Fang Jie is a spy sent by the Mongolian and Yuan Empire, trying to bribe the generals of the Sui border army to obtain information, then naturally this matter cannot be delayed. If General Li is ready, then our family will ask the law enforcement envoys from Dali Temple to go Take the person, take the person, and we will leave. You write a memorial and we will help you take it back to Chang'an and present it to His Majesty."
"Thiscan you think of another way?"
Li Xiaozong couldn't help but ask.
"General Lido you thinkit's easy for our family to tell you this? If things get serious, our family will also lose their heads!"
"I know¡¡"
Li Xiaozong¡¯s face became increasingly ugly, and he felt like a knife was twisting in his heart.
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"Obviously, the taxes collected by Fan Gucheng are enough to support itself, but you still ask for money and food from the Ministry of War every year. For this reason, His Majesty will never forgive you if you know about it. To be honest, if we hadn't had a good personal relationship with Mr. Tang, Our family is too lazy to take care of your business. But you are hesitant. Do you want our family to report it truthfully? The military opened a brothel and a casino. His Majesty would be furious if he knew about these things. Got the bookcase!"
"Mr. Tang thinks that you are his nephew and is helping you. Don't you still appreciate it?"
"I see."
Li Xiaozong took a deep breath and said with a wry smile: "It's all my greed, but now I have to blame others Okay I'll send someone to arrest Fang Jie later."
¡°It¡¯s not enough to catch one solution.¡±
Wu Peisheng smiled and said: "Since he is a spy sent by Meng Yuan, if you find him, there must be a process, right? How was he found? Who are the accomplices? Who was bribed? You need to prepare for these. Just tell our family when you are ready. We will take people one by one and no one will be able to escape."
¡°Can¡¯t we just use Fang to solve it?!¡±
Li Xiaozong stood up suddenly, his face getting paler.
"Take one? Do you think it's easy to manage the Dali Temple and the Ministry of War? Or do you think His Majesty is confused and can't see it?"
Wu Peisheng sneered: "Seeing as you don't have any thoughts, let's give you some advice Since that Fang Jie has a military position, he naturally wants to bribe his teammates. The people in that team naturally have his accomplices, There are also people who have betrayed the imperial secrets. A team of fifty peopleif half of them die is almost enough. If General Li can't do it, just gather them together and let someone do it."
"If you find out the details, you will gain military merit."
Wu Peisheng smiled and said: "We are here to congratulate General Li first. After our family returned to the capital, His Majesty was so happy that General Li, a tooth general from the fifth rank, was promoted from a fourth rank to a fourth rank in one step. He is a general. Even if he is not as strong as an eagle and a tiger, he can be a strong general and there is no problem."
"General Li hasn't written the list of people yet?"
He asked with a chill in his voice.
Li Xiaozong, slightly entangled, walked slowly to the desk, picked up the brush, melted the thick ink, and slowly wrote four words on a piece of white paper: The main criminal Fang Jie
After writing these four words, his expression became ferocious and scary. The trembling of my hand became more and more severe, so much that the ink on the pen shook off. He didn't know how long it took before he put down his pen as heavy as a thousand pounds and continued writing on the white paper.
Accomplices: Li Gandang, the captain of Zhengguoyi of the A-shaped teamLiu Sansheng, the deputy of the team, and Qiu Xiaoshu, the commander of the team