Time flies, and three years have passed in a flash. The Tang Dynasty is still strong and powerful, and all nations come to the dynasty. However, behind the prosperity, there is hidden an increasingly serious crisis of land annexation. Many landless peasants are forced to become tenant slaves and become vassals of wealthy families. The seeds of unrest have been sown quietly. Some people have predicted that if the land annexation trend is not effectively curbed, war will break out in Datang in a few decades.
Although inequality is increasing, for a vast empire, these inequalities are far from a crisis and are covered up by the glory of prosperity.
Xin'an County, Gyeonggi Prefecture, is a small county about fifty miles west of Luoyang, with a population of more than 8,000 households. It is surrounded by endless wheat fields, dotted with beautiful mountains and hills. It is midsummer, and the wheat fields have turned into a vast expanse of wheat fields. Golden, the waves of wheat are blown by the wind, like a golden carpet spread across the vast land, with countless harvest figures in between. The annual wheat harvest has finally begun.
At noon on this day, the official road was bustling with people, and there was an endless stream of pedestrians. There was a simple greenhouse on the roadside, which provided simple tea and rice for pedestrians. It was also the most popular resting place for businessmen.
There is a group of Hu merchants from the Western Regions in the greenhouse. Nearly a hundred camels are carrying heavy goods. Unlike ordinary merchants, these hundreds of camels all have the same logo. They obviously belong to the same caravan.
There were about twenty or thirty people in the caravan, all of whom were barbarians from the Western Regions. They were all strong-looking and wore long swords at their waists. They gathered at several tables to drink and eat, and their eyes occasionally glanced at a large table in the middle.
There were only two people sitting in front of the big table. They were both about the same age, in their thirties, but the Westerners looked older and had big beards. They looked like they were in their forties.
There is a man on the right who has a majestic figure and looks quite bold. He drank more than a dozen bowls of wine without blinking, while the man on the left is gorgeously dressed, with a white turban on his head and a chicken egg-sized turban in the middle. The ruby ????and the short knife on his waist were also shining brightly, flashing with different colors of gemstones. This young man was a little quiet, but he seemed a little worried. He seemed to have no appetite at all when facing the table full of wine and food.
"Alan, are these wines and dishes not to your liking?" the rough-looking man asked with a smile.
The young man sighed, shook his head and said, "I'm worried about my homeland, and I really don't have much appetite."
"You are thinking too much. I heard that there is also civil strife in Dashi, and we won't be able to fight against Bukhanna for a few years."
"Having said that, was your Kang country not invaded? At that time, everyone said that the Dashi people were suppressing the uprising in Persia and would not go north. As a result, in less than a year, the Dashi cavalry reached Samarkand. , both of your shops were looted, have you forgotten?"
"It's okay! We didn't have much inventory at the time, so the loss wasn't big."
There were two men. One was named Kang Ning, the burly bearded man. He was a famous businessman in Kang State, doing jewelry and spice business with the Tang Dynasty. The other young man was named Allen, the prince of Bahna. He is also the only heir to the throne.
Since the White-coated Dashi began his western expedition thirty years ago, first conquering the Sasanian Empire of Persia, and then continuing to move north and east, the Sogdian countries and Bakhna in the east were constantly invaded by Dashi's army, and the kings of the Sogdian countries continued to An envoy was sent to Chang'an for help. This time Prince Allen of Bukhanna went to the Tang Dynasty again, hoping that the Tang Dynasty could send troops to help Bukhanna defend against the invasion of the cannibals.
"Kang Ning, do you think the Tang Dynasty will agree to send troops to help us this time?" Allen asked worriedly.
"I think it should be so. After all, the Tang Dynasty had troops stationed in Suiye. Suiye is so close to Bukhan. If Bukhan is occupied by the cannibal, Suiye will also be in danger. What is it called? His mouth is dead. And then the teeth¡ª"
"The lips are dead and the teeth are cold!" Allen studied in Chang'an when he was a child, and he is proficient in Chinese and has learned this idiom.
"Yes! That's the word."
Kang Ning smiled and patted Allen on the shoulder, "I have a relationship with the General Qianqiying of the Tang Dynasty. He will help you intercede with the empress."
Allen nodded silently, still frowning, thinking that it was useless for Sogdian countries to come to the Tang Dynasty for help. Is there any hope for his eastward journey this time?
At this time, there was a rapid sound of horse hooves in the distance, kicking up billowing yellow dust. After a moment, dozens of knights rushed towards the shed, and a young man's voice laughed: "Uncle Liquor, let's go over there and take a rest!"
Everyone looked at these dozens of people, all of whom were wearing Tang Dynasty cavalry armor. The leader was a fat man with a round face, about thirty years old, wearing a silver helmet and iron armor. This is the attire of a general or a general.
However, everyone's attention was focused on the two young men in the middle. They were riding rare ponies. They were only eight or nine years old, but they were slender and handsome. Perhaps because of the hot weather, they were sweating profusely. , face flushed.
"Okay! Let's go to the greenhouse to rest."
The fat general waved his riding crop and ordered the shopkeeper: "Make room for us!"
At this time, businessman Kang Ning laughed and whispered to Prince Allen: "I may have met an old friend."
The Tang Army cavalrymen left their horses to the waiters, walked into the shed one after another, and sat down at seven or eight tables. The originally spacious shed was suddenly full.
The fat general knocked on the table and said: "First bring some tea to quench your thirst!"
The shopkeeper and the waiter hurriedly ran to get tea and were busy in a huddle. At this time, the businessman Kang Ning walked up to the fat general with a glass of wine and said with a smile: "Old fat man, do you still recognize me?"
The fat general was stunned and looked at him, "You look familiar, a bit like an old friend of mine."
Kang Ning cleared her throat and her voice changed, "We only broke up ten years ago. Do you really not know me anymore?"
"You are Da Zhuang!"
The fat general jumped up immediately. The two laughed and hugged each other tightly. The fat man punched him hard on the shoulder, "You bastard, why do you have such a big beard?"
Needless to say, this fat general is Jiu Zhi, who has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General in Qianqi Camp, and Kang Ning is Kang Dazhuang back then. He is already a wealthy businessman with a fortune, but this time he came to Datang, not for business.
The two hugged again, and Kang Dazhuang's eyes fell on the two young men. He had long seen that these two young men looked very much like Li Zhen, so he smiled and said: "These two young men are both A Zhen's children, right? "
"Yes! One is called Jinyang and the other is called Liyang."
Jiu Zhi smiled at the two little guys and said, "This is your father's good friend of Sogdiana, Uncle Da Zhuang. You should have heard of it!"
When both young men heard about Kang Dazhuang, they hurriedly knelt down and saluted, "My nephew pays homage to Uncle Kang."
Kang Dazhuang has changed his name to Kang Ning. He has a distinguished status in Bahan. He quickly picked up the two children and said, "No gifts! No gifts."
He took out two top-quality sapphires the size of pigeon eggs from his arms, handed them to the two of them and said with a smile, "It's the first time we meet, this is a meeting gift from uncle to you."
Seeing that the gem was so dazzling and extremely valuable, the two little guys hesitated to accept it. Jiu Zhi smiled and said, "Uncle Kang is a famous jeweler. This is just a trinket to him. Take it!"
The two of them thanked and accepted it. They looked at the gems in their hands carefully and couldn't put it down. At this time, Jiu Zhi asked with a smile: "Where is your princess sister? Why didn't you come together?"
Because Kang Dazhuang and Li Quan had business contacts, everyone heard a little news about Kang Dazhuang's family from Li Quan. Because of the war in Kang State, the Kangmed family moved to Dawan City, the capital of the Bakhna Kingdom, six years ago. Kang Sisi married She was given to Prince Bakhna and became the princess. The following year she gave birth to a son, who became the third generation heir of Bakhna.
Kang Ning pulled Allen over and said with a smile: "The princess sister didn't come, but the prince's brother-in-law did. This is my brother-in-law Allen, who will be king next year."
He then introduced to Allen: "This is Jiu Zhi, my friend since childhood, and now he is the general of the Tang Dynasty."
Allen couldn¡¯t help but stand in awe, and bowed his hands in salute: ¡°It turns out he¡¯s General Jiu, I¡¯ve admired him for a long time!¡±
Jiu Zhi blushed. Zhonglang General was still one level away from a general. However, his position as a casual official was called a guerrilla general, and he was considered a general. He quickly returned the salute and asked the brothers Jinyang, Liyang and Allen to meet him. After the ceremony, ask them to sit down.
The three of them drank a glass of wine, and Jiu Zhixiao asked, "Why did you come to Datang?"
Allen sighed, and then threatened the Dashi army against Khanna. He told the story of coming to the Tang Dynasty to ask for help on the order of his father, and asked: "Does General Jiu think it is possible for the Tang Dynasty to send troops?"
Jiu Zhi shook his head, "It's not the turn of a small person like me to get involved in such a major military matter, but I personally feel it's a bit unsettling."
He lowered his voice and said: "In the past year, the Wu and Li families have been fighting for the right to inherit the throne. I guess the imperial court cannot care about the Western Regions."
"What should we do?" Allen's face suddenly became filled with worry.
Kang Ning smiled and comforted him: "It's not certain, we'll talk about it after we see the general."
He asked Jiu Zhi again, "Is A Zhen in the capital?"
"Of course in the capital."
At this time, Li Liyang next to him interrupted: "Uncle Jiu, my aunt said that my father is coming to the villa today."
"What villa?" Kang Ning asked puzzledly.
Jiu Zhi smiled and said: "This is Baique Villa, Lao Li's villa, only twenty miles away from here. My wife, daughter, and Lao Li's family have all come to the Villa to escape the summer heat. They have been here for more than half a month. I I happened to have free time today and came to see my wife, so I was grabbed by these two boys to ride with them. "Kang Ning was overjoyed, "Since A Zhen is at the villa, we will go there now."
Baque Villa was a villa that Wu Zetian gifted to Li Zhen. In the past six or seven years, Li Zhen's family had basically never been there. Until two years ago, Li Zhen was transferred back to Luoyang and served as the general of Qianqiying. Queshan Villa has officially become their family's summer resort.
This year is the second time they have come to Baque Villa. Along with them are Jiu Zhi¡¯s wife A Ling and his two daughters, as well as the wife of the palace¡¯s chief physician Yao Xi and his son who is less than one year old.
There are enough rooms in Baque Villa for many people to live. In fact, this is what Di Yan meant. She likes to be lively, so she stepped forward and invited several families to come to the Villa to escape the summer heat.
That afternoon, Li Zhen hurried to the villa and brought bad news to Di Yan. Her father Di Renjie fainted while discussing matters in the political hall and is still unconscious.