Hanhou

Wei Shang's memorial arrived the next day. After the court meeting, Emperor Jing summoned Prime Minister Zhou Yafu, General Dou Ying and other important officials into the announcement room.The gate of the palace was closed for nearly two hours, during which only the eunuchs brought hot soup and steamed cakes, no one else was allowed to disturb, even Princess Guantao was blocked from the door.

When the gate of the palace was opened, all the people in the palace saw a rare scene. The prime minister Zhou Yafu and the royal doctor Liu She, who were rumored to be at odds, walked out one after another. They were all smiling, and there was no trace of discord.General Dou Ying even changed his usual seriousness, joking with Liu She.

The courtiers and eunuchs didn't mention it, the guards in front of the palace all looked at each other in blank dismay, not understanding what kind of wind was blowing today.

Princess Guantao didn't see Emperor Jing, so she turned to Changle Palace, and was sent away by Empress Dowager Dou after a while.

Ever since she disagreed with the Empress Dowager on Chen Jiao's marriage, Liu Xun rarely saw the smiling face of Empress Dowager Dou.

Earlier, Tang Yihou was ill, Chen Jiao returned to the mansion, she changed her obedient behavior in front of the Queen Mother, her temper became more arrogant, and she opposed her in everything.Liu Xing couldn't be beaten, and it was useless to scold him. In the end, he could only continue to suffer.

After leaving the Changle Palace, Liu Xing was about to board the carriage, and the rider reported to him, and the eunuchs of the Jiaofang Palace came to see him.

"I don't see you, send me away, go back to my house!" Things didn't go well for Liu Xing, he didn't think he had done anything wrong, he only hated Wang Zhi's bad idea, and he didn't look good on anyone from Jiaofangdian.

The scene in front of the palace gate was quickly reported to Emperor Jing.

"Sister, you have such a temper." Emperor Jing shook his head, but he didn't care too much. After dealing with the government affairs, he directly drove to Changle Palace to inform Empress Dowager Dou about the affairs of Bianjun.

Hearing Emperor Jing's words, Mother Dou showed joy from behind and said, "Ah Qi's words are true?"

"The memorandum describes martial arts in detail, and there are methods for training soldiers." Emperor Jing said.

After experiencing the initial excitement, Empress Dowager Dou gradually calmed down, and asked Emperor Jing how long it would take to build a [-]-strong army, and that there was enough money in the treasury.If Guangfa is young and strong, will farming be delayed?

"People need to go to the Beidi Racecourse to count the number of war horses; the craftsmen who distribute the casting equipment and make the armor of the cavalry. If the money and goods are not enough, they can be taken from the Changle Palace." The Queen Mother Dou counted one item, although it is a bit messy, but it is true. It's really helping Emperor Jing to check and make up for the omissions.

In the Han Dynasty, there was no rule that women should not participate in politics.

The Empress Dowagers of the Han Dynasty can call themselves "Zhen". From Empress Lu, Empress Bo to Empress Dou, no matter how they are praised or criticized by later generations, their political wisdom cannot be denied.

Knowing that there was a strategy to destroy the cavalry of the Huns, Empress Dowager Dou was even willing to take out the silk and gold stored in Changle Palace to help Emperor Jing build a strong army.This is also one of the reasons why the mother and son have disputes, but they have never been too alienated.

It's a pity that Wang Zhi didn't understand this.

She imitated the Queen Mother Dou, but did not learn from her.Using family affection as a bargaining chip, the more you want to save Liu Che, the more you will make mistakes and push the parents and children further away.

Nowadays, it is no secret that the crown prince is far away from Jiaofangdian, and even Cheng Ji is laughing at Wang Zhi.But besides laughing, he also knows that too much is too late, and he will restrain himself when finding faults on weekdays, so as to avoid causing trouble to his son.

After all, it is the biological mother and child, and the estrangement is the estrangement. If outsiders do too much, the crown prince may not sit idly by.Cheng Ji can't be moved now, and when he ascends the throne, he may not be able to attack her son.

Cheng Ji's temper is like Li Ji's, the only thing better than the latter is that she will consider the consequences.

After being warned by the Empress Dowager Dou and advised by her loyal servants, Cheng Ji began to deliberately restrain her behavior.I see the Queen Mother Dou every now and then, hoping to select some of the family's sons and give them to the three sons who have already been sealed.

The purpose of giving children to the family in the palace is not just to reward beauties.Empress Dowager Dou, who walked out of Empress Lu, knew this better than anyone else.

Therefore, after discussing the matter of strengthening the army, Empress Dowager Dou changed the subject, saying that Cheng Ji would please give her family a son, and brought up the marriage of King Linjiang again.

"I think the girls of Wuqiang Hou's family are very good." Queen Mother Dou said.

"Mother, this matter needs to be looked at again."

"The Son of Heaven doesn't want Linjiang King to marry a wife?" Queen Dowager Dou's voice was cold, and even her title changed.

"Mom, I don't mean that."

"What do you mean?" Empress Dowager Dou said in a cold voice, "I heard that someone in the court reported on the king of Linjiang, three times in one month, it was all trivial things! The emperor will not reprimand these villains, let them wantonly attack Linjiang King, what are your plans?"

"Mum, this is the law."

"Law? Don't talk to me about the law!" Empress Dowager Dou suddenly sneered, "When you killed the son of King Wu, your father could use the law to deal with you?"

Emperor Jing's face changed slightly.

"Aqi, I know you are thinking of the prince, but you have to remember that the king of Linjiang is also your son! For the prince, you can cut down his power, remove his country, and even send him to the border county. You must never take his life!" Speaking of this, Empress Dowager Dou slowed down her tone, "Once this initiative is started and future generations follow suit, what will happen to the Han Dynasty? Has Ah Qi ever thought about it?"

Emperor Jing promised in a deep voice, but he still didn't agree to take the girl from Wuqiang Hou's family as the princess of Linjiang.

Empress Dowager Dou didn't insist, and didn't mention other candidates. When Emperor Jing left Changle Palace, she immediately summoned the Shaofu and ordered her to get the list of Fu's daughters selected a few days ago.

"Record the best people and bring them to Changle Palace to teach for a few days. At the beginning of next year, two people will be given to King Linjiang, and the rest will be distributed to King Lu, King Jiangdu and King Jiaoxi."

"promise!"

The Shaofu didn't understand why it was selected from Fu's own daughters, which was completely different from the regulations set in advance.But since the queen mother gave the order, there is absolutely no room for others to question it.Immediately retreated with the roster in hand, went to Yongxiang in person, selected the selected family members, and resettled them separately.

Yunmei was the second one to be called, and she was ordered to bring a bundle and be taken to Changle Palace together with several other girls.

The girls were all uneasy, not knowing what was waiting for them.

The Shaofu naturally saw their thoughts, and after the girls settled down, they smiled and said: "The Empress Dowager decreed that the new year will start next year, and the family will be given to the princes and princes' palaces."

Prince's mansion?

Upon hearing the news, the girls froze on the spot, unable to react for a while.

The Shaofu didn't care about it, and ordered the palace people to take care of them so that they could teach them, and then turned around to report to the Queen Mother.

"Elder, please stay!" Yunmei was the first to react, ignoring her beating heart, suppressing the ecstasy that kept gushing out, trying her best to recall the rules she learned in Yongxiang, and saluted the Shaofu.

Receiving Yunmei's reminder, the girls stepped forward to salute one after another, with flushed faces and joy in their eyes.

The Shaofu looked at Yunmei emphatically for a few times, and after accepting the ceremony from several people, he turned and left.

When the door was closed, the girls looked at each other, wanting to laugh, but choked up their voices.Unable to suppress it, they just hugged each other, covered their mouths, buried their heads in the neck of their companions, and cried heartily once.

Entering the palace of princes and princes may waste half of your life, but at least stay in the Han Dynasty. As long as you are alive, you will be able to meet your family one day.

After crying, the girls seemed to have been drained of strength, temporarily put aside etiquette, or sat back to back, or leaned on each other, and sat on the ground without making a sound for a long time.

Yunmei leaned on the side of the couch alone, took off the silver hairpin from her hair, stroked the pattern on the hairpin, and thought of everything that happened during the selection, she was a little lost in thought.

"Amei, is this hairpin given to you by your family?" A girl turned her head and asked curiously.

"No." Yunmei raised her head and said with a smile, "It was a gift from a girl from the same village on the election day."

"A gift from others?" The girl was even more curious.

"Yes." Recalling that day, Yunmei smiled even more, "The girl told me that life is lived by people, and roads are walked by people. Even if there is no road, you have to cut it out with a knife! No matter where you go, you must live , but also to live well.”

After hearing these words, the girls finally understood why Yunmei regarded the silver hairpin so precious and never left her body.

"The girl also said that Mr. Zhao promised that sooner or later he would step on the grassland and slaughter the Huns!"

"Which Lord of Bianjun has no such ambition?" A girl wrinkled her nose.

"Zhao Langjun is different." Yunmei shook her head.

"What's the difference?"

Before Yunmei could answer, another girl with a delicate face turned around and said, "I remember that Amei was born in Yunzhong. The Zhao Langjun you mentioned is the son of Shaling Zhao?"

"Indeed." Yunmei nodded.

"Shaling Zhao's son?"

Some girls have heard of Zhao Jia's name, and some have not.Most of them had never heard of it, and they all looked at Yunmei with doubts on their faces.

"The method of taming a cow is presented by Zhao Langjun."

When it comes to the method of taming a cow, the girls know more or less about it.Starting from this topic, listening to Yunmei's talk about Zhao's livestock farm, new farming methods and new plows, she couldn't help but listen more and more absorbedly, and occasionally let out one or two exclamations.

"My younger brother is herding sheep near the livestock farm and playing with the boys there. When grandma sees them, she often divides each of them into two steamed buns and steamed buns with meat. After my younger brother came home and said it, Ah Weng felt very sorry. , I went to the forest to hunt gazelles and sent them to the forest, but they were both left with food. When I went home and told my mother, my mother scolded me."

What Yunmei said was funny, the girls chuckled from time to time.

"Originally I practiced riding and archery because I wanted to work in the livestock farm." Yunmei sighed.

Her parents wanted to find a husband for her, and they would rather pay money and food than marry her early.The girl also made a plan early on, but she didn't know that a choice would disrupt all the plans.

The girls' laughter gradually stopped.

After a long time, a girl with a round face said: "Don't sigh, we don't have to go to the grassland anymore, we should be happy. Even if we go to the palaces of the princes and stay away from our families, as long as we are alive, we will meet each other one day."

"Yes! As long as the prince and concubine are lenient, I may not be allowed to wait to see my family."

The girls comforted each other, and the atmosphere soon became better again.After Yunmei, each of them narrated the scenery of their hometown and talked about all kinds of things in the gathering, and the chatterbox couldn't stop once it started.

It was only then that they realized that the trivial things that they didn't pay attention to on weekdays were exceptionally clear when they recalled them.What's more, even the reed chicken can clearly remember how many eggs it lays every day.

"I didn't expect that I still remember!" A girl clapped her hands and exclaimed in shock.

The girls were stunned for a moment, but after hearing the explanation, they laughed uncontrollably on the spot, like the trembling of flowers and branches, and the first cry of the oriole, condensing into a momentary beauty.

For the sake of safety, Wei Shang's memorials were not shown in the court, only the important ministers who entered the Xuan room knew.

However, as the imperial court cast a large number of armor and harnesses, fast riding out of Chang'an and heading to the border counties for several consecutive days, the clan officials more or less heard some rumors, and inferred from various clues, as long as their heads were not too hard to turn, they would soon It can be connected in series to form a line, and the guess is almost inseparable.

The only ones who were really kept in the dark were the envoys of the Huns who were stranded in Chang'an.

Concluding that the Son of Heaven is training to strengthen his army and has made progress, the negotiating officials let go of their hands and feet, and at the same time smoked the seven orifices of Lanji, and at the same time delivered silk and delicious food, which attracted everyone in the embassy.

The marriage agreement has been dragging on, and Lan Ji can detect something wrong even if he stuffs his head with cotton.

Finally, after another negotiation collapsed, Lan Ji was convinced that the Han people were not sincere and were just procrastinating for time. He should leave as soon as possible, and please send troops southward to the border counties of the Han Dynasty.

In order to get everyone to leave, Lan Da showed his might and slashed the entourage again.

This time, he didn't just slash and kill two people on the spot.Only then did everyone understand that Lan Ji was not joking, and if he dared to delay, he would really kill him.

Pi Xiaowang had a ulterior motive, and he was the first to stand up to support Lanji, and he was more "loyal" to suggest that if the Han people refused to let them go, they might not be able to kill them, so it is better to pretend to agree to the Han people's charter and hurry up after leaving Chang'an to prevent accidents There are changes.

Lan Ji had no doubts, and patted Pi Xiaowang on the shoulder, praising him for his loyalty and strategy: "Go back to the grassland and see King Youxian, I will ask for credit for you!"

Pi Xiaowang was full of excitement, beating his chest with his hands, expressing his loyalty to Lan Ji.Waiting to turn his back, away from Lanji's sight, exchanged glances with several Xiongnu officials, his eyes gleamed fiercely, and his face was full of ferociousness.

On the grassland, Zhao Jia and his party arrived at the camp of the Tuoba Tribe, declined Tuoba Jie's invitation to enter the camp, and chose to camp one mile away from the Qiang people.

After the camp was built, the team leader sent out some guards to patrol and guard, and led the rest to lift the cloth and ropes, unload some of the goods from the car, and display them in front of the Qiang people.

The salt and grain carried by the caravan could not fill two carts, but they were expensive in the grasslands, and with the addition of silk, Tuoba might not be able to eat it with all his strength.

It was Wuhuan merchants who offered the price, and the price of salt and grain was not doubled, but increased by more than ten times.Zhao Jia thought he heard it wrong, and didn't want the Qiang people opposite to feel cheated at all, but instead said that the price was very reasonable.

"Don't be surprised, Mr. Lang. In the early years, the price of salt was higher. There are barbarian tribes in the deep grasslands, and they don't see caravans all year round. They can only sell salt from other tribes, and the price is several times higher."

The most important thing is that when exchanging salt from the caravan, you don't have to worry about half of the sand mixed in it, let alone worry about being stabbed to death by the other party with a knife when you turn around just after the business is done, and even snatch the goods you bought with the cattle and sheep.

The Xiongnu headquarters did this to other tribes, and other tribes did this to barbarian tribes. If the barbarians couldn't survive and fought back, the other tribes couldn't bear to draw their swords against their own tribes. This was another round of tribal vendettas.

Generations of feuds have been forged, and they want to work together to defend Shan Yu's tent?

Go dream.

Zhao Jia was dumbfounded.

He finally understood how powerful Maodun was, who was able to unify the grasslands and let the Huns command them like arms.

However, the descendants are not filial, and the Shanyu generation after Maodun is not as good as the previous generation. On the contrary, the Han Dynasty has successively produced several generations of Mingjun.Although Yi Zhixie is also a strong man, it is a pity that he met Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and it is a joke to want to reproduce the glory of the Huns.

One ebbs and another, it is destined that the Han army will shovel all the Huns into the air, and press them to the ground one by one to rub them.

The caravan was stationed near the Tuoba tribe, and the nearby Qiang tribe got news one after another.Knowing that this Han Chinese caravan has salt and grain, they all drive cattle and sheep to trade.

The tribes that did not deal with the Qiang people, such as Gaoche and Dibu, could only stare at them no matter how angry they were.

This pasture belongs to the Qiang people, and they have feuds with each other, and ninety percent of the time they meet they will fight.If you don't bring enough people, you can only deliver food to the other party; if you bring all the warriors of the tribe, God knows if someone else will stab them in the back.

For the time being, Zhao Jia had no way of knowing the resentment of the Gaoche people and the Di people. He was asking the Wuhuan merchants to translate for him, explaining the trading rules with the Qiang people who came to the market, and stated that he was willing to exchange silk for Han slaves.

"Lang Jun, you can't do this." The Wuhuan merchant shook his head at Zhao Jia.

"No?" Zhao Jia frowned.

"Leave it to me, Mr. Lang, and I will tell them. Follow the rules of the grassland, and you don't need to pay extra silk."

Zhao Jia was dubious, but the Wuhuan businessman made sure of his words, and he patted his chest to assure him, and the leader of the team gave him winks, and finally nodded.

"Lang Jun is impatient." Hu Bo walked to Zhao Jia's side and said in a low voice.

Zhao Jia pinched his eyebrows.

If he cares, he will be chaotic.

Just yesterday, he saw several Han children being pulled out of the sheepfold with sheep tails hanging from their bodies, and were used by the Qiang people as targets for archery practice.At that time, he had an urge to destroy this Qiang tribe and burn it clean.

In the end, the team leader stopped him and pointed to the Qiang tribes who were coming one after another, Zhao Jiacai gritted his teeth and did not make a move.

"I know I was reckless in this matter, Huber don't worry, it won't happen."

Not now, doesn't mean never.

Zhao Jia raised his head and looked at the Qiang camp where the bonfire was burning. Hearing the laughter in the wind, thinking of the women and children locked in the sheepfold, his eyes were filled with murderous intent.