Hanhou

Zhao Jia walked into the Han Palace for the second time, feeling completely different from before.

The last time Weiyang Palace held a banquet, the sights were full of interlacing cups and bamboo strings, the voices of the singers were melodious, and the dancers were delicate and graceful.Exquisite bronze lamps light up the main hall, just like the stars in the sky illuminate the mortal world, and the prosperous colors make people intoxicated.

Now, the eaves are flying against the sky, the phoenix is ​​flying like a phoenix, and the unique sense of grandeur and solemnity of Qin and Han architecture rushes forward.

The eunuchs lead the way, and the soldiers in front of the hall stand like pines, their armor and helmets are all black, but the halberd reflects the cold light, which is cold and frightening.

"Doctor Zhao, saber."

Reminded by the eunuch, Zhao Jia untied the sword from his waist and handed it to the little yellow door holding the tray.Afterwards, the official seal ribbon was checked, and it was confirmed that it was correct, and then he was allowed to enter the gate of the palace.

Just as he stepped on the stone steps, he heard someone calling from behind: "Is the Shaling county captain in front?"

The voice was very strange, Zhao Jia paused slightly, turned his head to look, not far away, a graceful woman in a deep dress with a curvy train and a wide waistband was approaching.

The woman's face is pink and her lips are plump and beautiful, and the corners of her eyes are smudged with bright red.The demeanor is dignified, but there is an indescribable charm from the bottom of his bones.

Zhao Jia carefully recalled it in his mind, but he had no memory at all.

"Doctor Zhao, this is the daughter of the Huainan princess, the Lord of the Mausoleum."

The eunuch made a point, Zhao Jia's expression changed slightly.

He really didn't know much about Liu Ling. The only thing he knew was that in history, Liu An, the king of Huainan, conspired against him and committed suicide. She was imprisoned because of her involvement in the case.Tai Shigong commented on his "wisdom and eloquence", and there is no more record.

The king of Huainan went to Chang'an for an audience, but was neglected by the emperor for some reason, but the lord Liu Ling was good at dancing with long sleeves. He was summoned by the Empress Dowager Dou of Changle Palace, and presented a great gift to the Queen Mother and Princess Yangxin.

In fact, Liu Ling wanted to establish a relationship with Gaihou Wangxin.

It's a pity that Wang Xin acted cautiously. Every time Liu Ling came to the door, he either excused his absence or asked his wife to receive him.Several times, Liu Ling ran into a lot of setbacks, and finally realized that Wang Xin's way would not work, just like Queen Chen and the hedgehog in the palace, who had nowhere to go.

Although Liu Ling was angry, there was nothing he could do.

Due to the end of the martial arts performance, the princes and kings will set off to return home one after another.Those who set off together were iron officials and salt officials sent to various kingdoms, as well as five hundred guards.

The king of Huainan failed to test the emperor before, but he was full of troubles. Not to mention Liu Che's attitude, among the kings, the popularity is extremely poor.

After consecutive setbacks, Liu An didn't dare to continue to take chances, and honestly asked to return to Fengguo.

As a princess, Liu Ling is different from the prince. There is no strict law that stipulates that she must return to the country with her father.

After discussing with the father and daughter, they believed that in the short term, it was impossible to bury nails without anyone noticing.If the front foot is buried, the back foot will also be resolved by the court.

Now that we know the result, why bother to take pains and be thankless, why not let Liu Ling temporarily live in Chang'an, so that he can spy on the news of the court and send him back to Huainan in time, and also make friends with courtiers with great courtesy, so as to plan for the future.

After a martial arts demonstration and seeing the fighting power of the frontier army, Liu An learned a lesson and understood that the young emperor is a great man, and in time, his martial arts and martial arts will be no less than that of the late emperor, and may even surpass him.

Seeing that his long-cherished wish came to nothing, Liu An's reluctance can be imagined.

Unable to let go and unable to achieve, Liu An became increasingly depressed with this contradictory mentality.Only when you meet the discordant kings of the Liu family, turn on the talk mode, and laugh at each other, can you temporarily forget your troubles and cheer up.

Therefore, among the kings of the Liu family, Liu An's reputation and reputation plummeted. From a well-educated prince, he directly became a master of seeking out people to quarrel and talk.

It's not scary to talk loudly, it's unbearable, just shoot and fly.

But it's scary to be powerful, full of economics, arrogant, and sincere.

Day after day, King Huainan became synonymous with "God of Plague".

Dai Wang was pleasantly surprised to find that his popularity was no longer the bottom among all kings.If you are also afraid of this person's talk, you must come to the door to thank Liu An for his self-sacrifice and understanding of righteousness.

Compared with Liu An's free self, Liu Ling is still full of fighting spirit.

Having never seen Yanwu with his own eyes, but only heard about it from others, without the shock of facing it directly, Liu Ling didn't think that the frontier army was really invincible.Even if the combat power is extraordinary, after the elite return to the country, they may not be able to develop a strong army if they recruit talented generals and use their strengths to make up for their own weaknesses.

Liu Ling is not lacking in ambition, and his determination is stronger than that of his elder brother.

After being coldly received by Empress Dowager Dou and Empress Chen, she still kept her face unchanged and presented Taoist classics carved in jade.The Queen Mother and Princess Yangxin, she also didn't neglect them, and presented heavy gifts as before, and there was no mistake.

With jade and gold clearing the way, it is not too difficult for Wang Zhi, as the empress dowager, to keep a princess in Beijing.

Knowing the Queen Mother's decision, Queen Dou didn't say anything.Chen Jiao thought for a long time, and when Liu Che arrived at the Jiaofang Palace, she mentioned a few words. She said something cleverly, and she picked the queen dowager out, only saying that the Huainan princess was cunning.

Seeing Liu Che's expression, Chen Jiao knew she was doing the right thing.When she was embraced by her husband, her pink face was smudged beautifully, and her long eyelashes drooped down, hiding the complexities in her eyes.

When Zhao Jia met Liu Ling, it was a coincidence, and it was not a coincidence.

Liu Ling had long wanted to meet the person who commanded the frontier army, but the army was stationed in Linyuan, so he couldn't find the opportunity.The only way I can think of is to go to the palace every day to say hello, hoping for a chance encounter.

The hard work paid off, and Liu Ling found out from the palace population that the emperor called Zhao Jia into the palace.In order to achieve her goal, she deliberately stayed in Changle Palace for a long time, and when she left the palace, she made a detour to Weiyang Palace, and she met the rightful owner.

When Zhao Jia looked at Liu Ling, Liu Ling was also looking at Zhao Jia.

According to the information she heard, this son of the Zhao family who was born in the frontier, offered a strategy to benefit the country before Fu Ji's age, and the method of taming cattle promoted by the imperial court came from him.

Over the past few years, he has made many military exploits.

The first emperor gave generous rewards and conferred titles on officials.

No matter the official position or title, it is not too high.Put it in Chang'an, not even a splash.However, with his age, things are not so simple.

It is said that the dismissal of the prime minister has a lot to do with him.Although the rumors are unconfirmed, it may not be without reason.Thinking about his relationship with Yun Zhongshou, Liu Ling had to pay attention to it.

In just a short moment, several thoughts flashed through the minds of both of them. The difference was that Liu Ling wanted to make friends, but Zhao Jia avoided them.

The eunuch coughed lightly and reminded: "Doctor Zhao, the emperor has summoned us, so don't delay."

Zhao Jia took the opportunity to bow to Liu Ling, and followed the eunuchs to the Xuanshi.

Watching Zhao Jia's back disappear, Liu Ling smiled more and more charmingly.When he turned to leave, his wide sleeves were blown up by the wind and fluttered beside him like butterfly wings.

In the propaganda room, Liu Che was sitting in front of the screen, with a few bamboo slips spread out in front of him.

Han Yan shook her head and chuckled, bent down to pick up the bamboo slips, and put them back on the table.

These are all listed by the princes and kings, and I don't know if they have been agreed in private. The content is exactly the same, almost exactly the same.Liu Che was still in high spirits at first, but after reading for a long time, the excitement was gone, and the rest was only irritability.

"Your Majesty, these letters..."

When Han Yan was speaking, the eunuch reported that Zhao Jia was summoned to see him.

"Quick, let him in!"

Finally, he didn't have to read the table anymore, Liu Che was in a good mood, and when he saw Zhao Jia walking into the room, he even smiled and had a very friendly attitude.

"May Your Majesty live forever, Changle Weiyang!"

Liu Che had a friendly attitude, but Zhao Jia did not dare to be too casual, he was cautious and respectful, and saluted upright without making any mistakes.

"Get up." Liu Che asked Zhao Jia to stand up and sit in front of him.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zhao Jia sat upright with a serious expression on his face.

"I heard from Ah He that your childhood name is Hoduo?"

Zhao Jia raised his head in astonishment.

Before meeting the emperor, he had made many assumptions, but he never expected that the emperor would not mention state affairs, military affairs, or frontier commerce, but his baby name instead.

"Return to Your Majesty, it is true."

"Good!" Liu Che nodded and smiled, "Since that's the case, I'll call you Hodor too, how about it?"

"Respect!"

"You don't need to be so restrained." Liu Che shook his head and said, "I grew up in the palace and never left Chang'an. I only heard about the affairs in the border county, but never saw it in person. I was curious, and I always wanted to find someone to explain it in detail."

Understanding what Liu Che meant, Zhao Jia made up his mind.

The meaning of the emperor coincided with his previous plan.

"Your Majesty, I know a thing or two about this."

Liu Che was delighted that Zhao Jia was so upright.

Before the narration, Zhao Jia asked Liu Che to give him silk brush and ink, made a confession, spread out the silk cloth on the spot, dipped it in ink and drew it into a map.There is no measuring tool, and the proportion is not accurate enough, but it is amazing enough to compare with the abstract paintings in the palace collection.

As the map gradually took shape, Liu Che's expression changed from relaxed to serious.Without his order, Han Yan got up quickly and ordered the eunuch to stand guard in front of the door and not to enter unless called.

Zhao Jia's movements were quick, and he outlined Wuyuan, Yunzhong, Dingxiang, Yanmen and other counties in his pen.Due to the insufficient area of ​​the silk cloth, the two pieces were put together directly, and places such as Daijun, Shanggu, Shangjun, and Yuyang were successively added.

Afterwards, taking Bianjun as the axis, it extended to the north and south respectively, with Chang'an in the south and Longcheng in the north, and circled the general range of the Xiongnu and various Huns in turn.

Because most areas have not been actually visited, they only exist in the concept, Zhao Jia adopted a simple drawing method, a circle is the Xiongnu, and the dots outside the circle are miscellaneous Hus.

The caravan's westbound road is also drawn.

Along the way, various countries are dotted with stars.Unable to determine the size and exact name, they are all replaced by triangles and squares.

The only thing that can determine the exact location is Loulan, which is stuck on the east-west main road.

According to the members of the caravan, there was a city-state in Loulan, and the residents were half-grazing and half-cultivating. Because of the frequent traffic of caravans, the country was very rich.It's just that the country's small soldiers are weak and attached to the Huns.The caravan passed by here, and if it wasn't for the strong guide, it would have almost run into trouble.

After finishing the last stroke, Zhao Jia dried the ink.

He raised his head and was about to speak, but found that Liu Che was staring at the map, his dark eyes swept across the border, and his fingers pointed at the grassland: "The Huns have a vast land, and there are hundreds of thousands of string controllers, which is really a serious problem."

After a moment of silence in the room, Liu Che withdrew his hand and sat upright. His attitude became extremely solemn, no longer casual.

"Master Jun!"

The attitude of the Son of Heaven changed too quickly, and Zhao Jia was a little caught off guard, so he simply responded to the changing situation with no change, organized his language on the questions raised by Liu Che before, and began to speak eloquently from Bianjun.

"The frontier borders the grassland in the north, and the fields are not rich. If you harvest two stones per mu, you will have a good harvest."

"It is often said that children of Hu people can ride horses if they can walk, and shoot and hunt if they can draw bows. The same is true for border people. Most young and strong women can ride and shoot, and children can shoot bows when they are six or seven years old."

"The border people wear hemp in summer and animal skins in winter. They build houses with rammed earth and stone tiles. They are good at farming, grazing, and hunting."

"When the Huns invade, no matter men, women or children, they can defend the land and kill the enemy."

"There were bandits in the early years, but they are almost extinct."

"Since the time of the first emperor, the frontier army has become stronger and stronger, defending against the enemy, trying to go deep into the grassland, slaughtering and plundering livestock..."

Comparing with the map, accompanied by Zhao Jia's narration, the vast and desolate frontier scenery gradually unfolded before Liu Che's eyes.

In Zhao Jia's view, since the Son of Heaven is interested in Bian County, he should start with Bian County first. The customs and customs are detailed.The life of the frontier people, the war with the Huns, the difficulty of farming, and the bravery of fighting against the evil neighbors, accompanied by his narration, all left a deep impression on Liu Che.

After laying the groundwork, Zhao Jia changed the subject and introduced the method of strengthening the army on the military affairs that the emperor is most interested in.

The Han style favors martial arts, so there is absolutely no problem with the source of soldiers.

From west to east, and then from east to west, from any border county, a group of young men will be drawn, given out horses and weapons, trained for a period of time, and they will be able to go into battle and kill the enemy.

However, ordinary cavalry is very different from the elite.Just like the cavalry in Yunzhong and the cavalry in Shangjun, even if they encounter the headquarters of the Huns and go crazy, it will be no problem to "kill the five barbarians with one horse".

This kind of record is difficult for ordinary frontier troops to achieve.

"If you want to build a strong army, you need physical fitness, armor, food and wages, all of which are indispensable."

Why is the frontier army entering Beijing so strong? To put it bluntly, there are only two words: money and food.

Seeing that Liu Che was engrossed in listening, Zhao Jia let go of his fingers and wiped away the sweat from his palms without any trace.After nearly an hour, I was finally able to get to the point. Whether I can climb the steps is a matter of success or failure.

Thinking of this, Zhao Jia took a deep breath, put his hand on the map, faced the young Emperor Wu, and officially started the fooling mode.