At noon the next day, Li Zhen and his party were about to arrive in Chang'an, which they had not seen for a long time, and drove into Badong Town.
In addition to ten carriages, his team also had more than 80 bodyguards and cavalry, as well as four heavyweight scribes. One was Chen Ziang. He offended the Wu family and was almost dismissed from office and imprisoned. Thanks to Di Renjie, he interceded for him. , was finally acquitted, but lost his official position, so Di Renjie recommended him to Li Zhen as Li Zhen's staff and took charge of documents for him.
Next is Wang Jianzhong, the number one expert in solving crimes in Dali Temple. This is the person Li Zhen personally requested from Dali Temple. Li Zhen witnessed his reasoning ability in investigating cases several times and admired him deeply. Wang Jianzhong has also been unsuccessful. He He was also willing to follow Li Zhen to serve as an official in Chang'an. He was appointed as a sixth-grade judge, which was a direct promotion from his former Dali Temple Secretary.
Another person is Di Guangyuan, the second son of Di Renjie. Di Guangyuan is about thirty years old. He is low-key and humble, smart and capable, especially good at material storage management. Li Zhen originally wanted to recommend him to join the military as a recorder, but Di Renjie But he insisted that he join the military for Cang Cao.
The last of the four was Zhang Shuo, a staff officer under Wang Xiaojie. After Wang Xiaojie died in battle, Zhang Shuo led his troops to break out of the siege and escaped with his life. He offended Wu Sansi for impeaching Su Honghui and was demoted to the position of Shaxian County Magistrate. Di Renjie He admired his talent very much and made him a member of the Ministry of War, in charge of military service in Xijing. He also followed him to Chang'an as Li Zhen's subordinate.
These four people do not have their families with them for the time being. They will not bring their families with them until they settle in Chang'an.
Badong Town is named because it is located east of Ba River, about 30 miles away from Chang'an. It is the only place to go east to Tongguan. The business is very developed and the population is large. There are more than 200 households in the town, almost half of them. They all do business, and the official road passes through the middle of the town. Both sides of the official road are lined with wine shops, inns, brothels and various shops. People come and go, and business is very prosperous.
It was lunch time when the group of people arrived in Badong Town. The five or six restaurants in the town were basically full, and the simple tea sheds were also full of hawkers. Seeing that Li Zhen couldn't find a place to have lunch, he had to order Several soldiers said: "Go buy some dry food!"
They basically rested in the woods and ate dry food along the way. Seeing that they were approaching Chang'an, Li Zhen wanted to take everyone to have a good meal in the town, but unexpectedly they couldn't find a restaurant, which made him very disappointed.
At this moment, a middle-aged man who looked like a shopkeeper ran over in a hurry, saluted and asked: "Are you General Li and his party coming from Luoyang?"
His voice was not loud, but Di Yan heard it, pointed at the middle-aged man and said with a smile: "Husband, that man seems to be here to see you?"
Li Zhen was startled. Could it be Jiu Zhi? It's impossible. Jiu Zhi should be in Chang'an. This is just a small town in Badong. How did Jiu Zhi know that he was coming?
But other than that, Li Zhen really couldn't think of anyone else coming to pick him up. He felt wary and held the hilt of his sword. At this time, the soldiers led the middle-aged man up, "General, This person said he had prepared a special wine shop for us."
The middle-aged man hurriedly stepped forward and saluted, "General, you have worked hard all the way. My master has booked the largest Linjiang restaurant in this town for the general and his party to rest and dine."
Li Zhen loosened his grip on the sword hilt. He smiled faintly and asked, "I wonder who your master is?"
"My master is the master of the Dugu family."
Di Yan whispered to Li Zhen: "It's Dugu Mingxi, the leader of the Guanlong nobles."
Li Zhen nodded. It turned out to be this person. He did not refuse and ordered: "Go to Linjiang Wine Shop!"
The group of people followed the housekeeper towards the wine shop. As expected, the large wine shop covering an area of ??five or six acres was empty. There was not a single customer. A young man had been waiting here for a long time. He seemed to know Li Zhen and stepped forward to ask Li Zhen. He bowed and saluted, "Your Excellency, Duguhan, is here to greet General Li and his wife on my father's orders, and to welcome General Li to take up his post in Chang'an."
"You know me?"
"I love polo. I went to Luoyang to watch a polo match last year and had a glimpse of the general's style."
So that¡¯s it. Li Zhen smiled slightly, cupped his hands to him and said, ¡°Please tell your father to thank him for his kindness.¡±
After lunch, everyone rested for a while before setting off again. At this time, Zhang Shuo came to Li Zhen and whispered: "General, it is best not to accept too many favors from the Dugu family."
"How do you say this?" Li Zhen asked puzzledly.
Zhang said and sighed, "The Guanlong nobles are the largest force in the Tang Dynasty. They are powerful enough to change the political situation. Even the Holy Emperor is quite wary of them. Once the Holy Lord learns that the general has close contacts with them, I am afraid that he will give The general brought death."
Li Zhen thought for a while and asked: "Since they are powerful enough to change the political situation, why can the Holy One still tolerate them?"
¡°There are many reasons, mainlyThe Wu family also wanted to use this power for their own use. In addition, they themselves were relatively low-key and did not directly interfere in politics, so the Holy Emperor could still tolerate it. "
Speaking of this, Zhang looked both ways and lowered his voice: "The former prime minister, Li Dezhao, was dismissed because he had a close relationship with the Dugu family. There is also the imperial concubine who was killed by Wei Tuan'er. She is also the daughter of the Guanlong Dou family, so be careful, general!"
Li Zhen nodded, clasped his fists and said with a smile: "Thank you, Brother Zhang, for speaking out. Li Zhen will remember it."
Everyone set off again. In the afternoon, the team entered Chang'an City, and the lively and noisy atmosphere suddenly hit their faces.
Although Chang'an is no longer a political center, it has a solid foundation and developed commerce. Although it has been neglected for decades, its prosperity is still no less than that of Luoyang, and even surpasses Luoyang to some extent. The most obvious one is the Silk Road Regarding trade, there were far more Western Hu people in Chang'an than in Luoyang, and teams of camels loaded with goods could be seen everywhere.
But as the team slowly drove into the former imperial city, the lively and prosperous atmosphere suddenly disappeared, and all they saw were government offices with padlocked doors. Although the government offices were majestic buildings, they were deserted and dilapidated. The locks and chains were covered with rust. , the deserted streets are also covered with wormwood as tall as a person.
This was the original Central Court. Since the court moved to Luoyang, this place has been abandoned. 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 sneaked into even more decaying palaces, the dilapidated desolation in front of him still made him feel a sense of being abandoned. Di Yan held his hand tightly beside him. Li Zhen felt the coldness of her little hands.
Not long after, they came to the Xijing Left-behind Government Office. It was a huge government office covering an area of ??hundreds of acres. It was also the only popular-looking building in the imperial city. There were no big rusty locks or wormwood as tall as a person. , the yellow flag of the Tang Dynasty was flying high on the flagpole in front of the gate.
At this time, the door opened, and more than a dozen officials poured out of the government office. The leader was an official in his forties, wearing a gauze hat and a fourth-grade official uniform. He looked quite shrewd. He stepped forward and bowed. He saluted and said, "I am sent to the governor of Xijing, Shi Zhou Yaosi, to welcome General Li!"
Li Zhen was named Deputy Liubei of Xijing. In fact, he was at the same level as Chang Shi. They were both fourth-rank officials. However, the Deputy Liubei was in charge of the army while Chang Shi was in charge. Both of them were assistants of Liubei in Xijing. However, since Xijing Liubei was appointed by Wu Youning served concurrently, but he basically did not come to Chang'an. Therefore, before Li Zhen took office, the military and political power left behind in Xijing was in the hands of Zhou Yaosi, the long history official. "
Li Zhen knew the details of Zhou Yaosi before he came. He was originally the chief guard of the Zuo Prison. He was recommended by Wu Sansi as the chief historian of Xijing three years ago. He was actually Wu Sansi's man.
It stands to reason that when Li Zhen took office with his family, he would first go to the official residence to settle down, and then come to the official office to officially take office. But this Zhou Yaosi did nothing. On the surface, he was welcoming him, but in fact he was resisting his arrival. .
Li Zhen knew it well and returned the gift with a smile: "It turns out to be Zhou Changshi. I have admired you for a long time. I wonder where my official residence is? I want to settle down my wife and belongings first."
"oh¡ª¡ª"
Zhou Yaosi pretended to be suddenly enlightened, and turned around to question an official, "Liu Canjun, have the arrangements been made for the official residence where Deputy Li will stay?"
The official said tremblingly: "The arrangements are made, it's just"
"It's just nothing! Why don't you take the deputy left behind to settle down the family? Go quickly!"
The official had no choice but to step forward and salute, "General Li, please follow me."
Li Zhen felt that there seemed to be some problem, but he didn't show his face or ask any questions, so he smiled and said, "Then I will help Liu join the army."
Li Zhen said goodbye to the chief minister Zhou Yaosi again, and then led everyone to turn around and follow Liu Canjun to the outside of the imperial city. Zhou Yaosi watched Li Zhen's back with his hands behind his back. He was really worried in his heart. Wu Sansi asked him He gave Li Zhen a severe blow, and he didn't know whether his approach was wise or not.
Everyone left the Imperial City and entered Wubenfang opposite the Imperial City. This Fang is also where Chang'an's mansions are concentrated. There are more than 20 mansions covering an area of ??more than 100 acres. At this time, Li Zhen ordered Liu Canjun came to him and asked him, "Liu Canjun seemed to have something to say just now. What was it?"
Liu Canjun sighed and said: "I originally planned to clean up the residence of the left-behind general, but the house was in a state of disrepair and needed at least three thousand guan to repair it, but Zhou Changshi refused to approve the money. The officer had no choice but to rent a house temporarily, and the rent was a hundred dollars a month, which the general had to bear. "
Li Zhen was furious. He had never heard of a local official who had to pay for renting a house. He asked with a sullen face: "Where does Zhou Changshi live? Where can he live?"Want to pay for rent yourself? "
"Reporting to the general, Zhou Changshi lives in Pingrenfang. He lives in an official residence of 80 acres and does not need to pay for it himself."
Li Zhen snorted coldly, "If I remember correctly, a fourth-grade official can only live in an official residence of ten acres at most. He actually lives in eighty acres. Does he think he is a county king?"
"This I don't know what a humble position is."
Liu Canjun was sweating profusely. He knew that he had met a powerful person this time. This Li Zhen was able to bring down Xue Huaiyi and Lai Junchen. How skillful he was. Zhou Yaosi did not know his own strength and actually wanted to fight with him. He was immediately arrested. Got the handle.
Li Zhen stopped chatting with him and said coldly: "I am a third-rank Yunhui general, and I have the title of county marquis. According to the court regulations, my official residence cannot be larger than thirty acres. Liu Canjun will arrange it for me. As for me, I will decide where to live now, I don¡¯t need you to worry about it, just go ahead!¡±
Liu Canjun had no choice but to turn his horse around and go back to the imperial city. At this time, Di Yan whispered: "Husband, do you want to stay with my eldest sister temporarily?"
Li Zhen nodded. His 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 Zhou Changshi. Since this person named Zhou If you want to fight him, then Li Zhen will accompany you to the end.