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Western capital, Chang'an.

General Wei's Mansion.

At three o'clock, all the subordinate officials of the General's Mansion were busy and performing their duties.

Shang Shuling Li Xuan and Shizhong Li Ru have not been to the court in recent days, and they have stayed in the general's mansion all day, and their food and lodging are also here.

Ten days ago, the Yuvro coalition army attacked the border and conquered three fortresses in one day, including the northern city of Saibei, burning, killing and looting, and tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians were slaughtered. Now, the army of Yu Fuluo has driven straight in, and in a few days has swept hundreds of miles of territory to the west and north of Beidi County, and has been rampant and unable to resist, and has now approached the county town, perhaps at this time the barbarian army has already attacked the city.

In the past three years, the Xiliang army has been strong, invincible and invincible. The surrounding territory of the land of Xiliang Sanzhou is no longer the original border, and the entire border is almost all expanded outward for hundreds of miles, making the territory of the entire Xiliang unconsciously increase by 2,000 miles. The splendor of the soldiers can make the surrounding barbarians avoid and flee in panic, and no tribe dares to resist the soldiers of the Xiliang army head-on.

Therefore, for more than two years, it has always been the Xiliang Army that sent troops to attack others, and he has never had the experience of being beaten to the door of his house by others. During this period, things like abandoning the city and losing land and being burned and looted by the barbarians have never happened, and the major war battalions stationed on the border have always been defending by attacking, and if they don't attack the barbarian territory, they have already let the barbarian leaders burn high incense, who dares to take the initiative to violate the border?

Perhaps it is precisely because the Xiliang Army has enjoyed peace in the troubled times for too long, and the border has been stable for two years, and there has been no war except for the Xiliang Army taking the initiative to attack. Unexpectedly, Yu Fuluo suddenly led his troops to invade the territory, and caught the tiger camp stationed in Beidi County by surprise. In addition, the generals guarding the pass were careless, so that they lost the city and lost the land one after another. In the middle of the moon, Yu Fuluo's army actually marched all the way, attacking the city and pulling out the village, unstoppable, faintly revealing the trend of swallowing the northern county.

Such a drastic change is undoubtedly a great shame for all the generals of the Xiliang Army. For the civil and military officials in Chang'an, some people are happy and some are worried, and some people who have been suppressed by Li Dao and Li Li's uncle and nephew for a long time finally see the dawn of overthrowing Li's uncle and nephew. Secretly excited, drink wine to celebrate. On the other hand, most of the civil and military officials under Li Li's rule brace their spirits and carefully check the affairs for which they are responsible, for fear that there will be a slight mistake, otherwise they are very likely to lose their lives.

Especially the various subordinate officials of the General's Mansion. As people who have been by Li Li's side for a long time, they know very well that their master has always pursued the character of not moving, and thunderous when moving. This time, the army of Furo invaded the territory. undoubtedly angered Li Li. made the entire Xiliang army humiliated. As soon as the news of the loss of the city and the loss of land came out, it meant that the Xiliang army, which had been fighting for two years, woke up from its slumber, showed its edge again, and sent troops to exterminate the barbarian army.

Now that the subordinate officials of the General's Mansion can't take care of the matter of sending troops, their urgent task now is to check whether there are any mistakes in their own affairs, and they must not follow in the footsteps of Duan Xuan, the deputy commander of the Tiger Battalion. On the third day of the invasion of Northland by the army of Yufro. The cause of the disaster has been ascertained, and Duan Xuan, the deputy commander of the Huben battalion, was negligent in his duties, slack, and did not properly hand over the garrison when he left the garrison on leave. As a result, the army of Fuluo took three passes lightly and attacked the hinterland of Northland County in a few days.

This kind of thing is unique in the Xiliang Army, Duan Xuan is the first of its kind, and it is not difficult to imagine what will happen to him. In view of this, the subordinate officials of the general's palace dared to slack off a little, and for more than ten consecutive days, they worked overtime to verify the affairs they were responsible for, and assisted Shang Shuling in raising grain and grass to do a good job in various matters before the army set out for the expedition.

General Wei's Mansion suddenly became tense, and its chain effect was huge, and the Great Sima Mansion followed closely behind, and then drove the civil and military officials in the entire Chang'an City.

For a while, Chang'an City, which had been quiet for two years, became lively again.

In half a month, tens of thousands of troops gathered outside the city, the treasury of the imperial city was opened, and the soldiers of the baggage battalion kept transporting grain, grass and ordnance day and night, and removed all the remaining stocks of ordnance. From day to night, the sound of horses' hooves in the gates and streets of Chang'an continued, and tens of thousands of soldiers entered and exited, and a lingering haze of war shrouded the hearts of everyone in Chang'an City.

Unconsciously, the people of Chang'an City were panicked, and many people who didn't know the truth couldn't help but think of the Chang'an Rebellion three years ago. As a result, the people closed their doors one after another, hiding in their homes with trepidation, not daring to go out, or even daring to peep outside, for fear of incurring an unwarranted disaster.

Tom tom!

A heavy sound of footsteps entered the main hall of General Wei's mansion, and then the great Sima Li Dao appeared at the door and strode into the hall.

"Oh, it turned out that Da Sima was coming, and his subordinates were missing the distance, please forgive Da Sima!" When he looked up and saw Li Dao suddenly coming, Shang Shu, who was guarding the general's mansion, ordered Li Xuan to quickly get up to meet him and bow down.

"Yuan Zhong is busy with everything, why be polite." Li Dao smiled and leaned over to make the appearance of reaching out to help Li Xuan, but in fact, he didn't move an inch under his feet, three steps away from Li Xuan.

Obviously, Li Dao's move was just polite words, and there was no sincerity.

Li Xuan heard the sound and got up, as if he didn't see Li Dao's politeness, he invited Li Dao to take a seat as usual, and waved his hand to greet the maid to serve tea.

However, Li Dao this time was different from last time, he did not sit in the handsome position undeniably, but went straight to the first place on the left side and sat down, and beckoned Li Xuan to sit beside him.

Li Xuan sat down with a smile on his face, and when he leaned over, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, obviously Li Xuan's inadvertent behavior aroused his vigilance. However, this kind of vigilance is not a bad thing, but a good thing, after all, the enemy is at present, if Li Dao still does not put himself in the right position, it will be a very troublesome thing.

Tong guò last time he was tempted, Li Xuan knew that the lord Li Lizhi still had not made up his mind to let Li Dao step down, and he always remembered the love of his uncle and nephew. This made Li Xuan feel helpless, and he couldn't help but be a little discouraged, because the last incident was a clever plan carefully planned by him and Li Ru, and its intention was to urge Li Dao to reveal his intentions, so as to find out a group of henchmen along the vine, and finally force Li Dao to step down and retire.

The whole layout went very smoothly, and all of them were in the hands of Li Xuan and Li Ru, but unexpectedly, after the stolen goods were obtained, the lord Li Li actually let Li Dao go lightly and suppressed the matter, but instead sent Hu Zhen and Xu Dinger directly to Li Dao's men. He also gave Li Dao 20,000 county soldiers.

This time, it made Li Xuan and Li Ru clearly realize how heavy Li Dao's weight in Li Li's mind was, and how high his position was, which was almost unbreakable. Even if Li Dao has different intentions and the evidence is conclusive, Li Li will not do anything to Li Dao, but will repeatedly tolerate it.

This made Li Xuan and others feel helpless and worried, but after all, this involved the family affairs of the lord Li Li, even if others were willing to help. But he is powerless, has too many scruples, and it is difficult to grasp the proportion.

Therefore, after Li Xuan and Li Ru were frustrated, they had decided to completely let go of the matter. I don't want to get involved, so as not to get into trouble in the future.

"I don't know what Da Sima is doing here? If there is something that needs to be done. Da Sima commanded. As long as Li Xuan does his best, he will not disappoint Da Sima. After a cup of tea, Li Xuan asked softly with a smile on his face.

Li Wei's expression changed slightly when he heard this, and he observed Li Xuan's expression suspiciously out of the corner of his eyes, and said with a smile: "Yuan Zhong is too polite, we are a family." Why be so polite. I came here to know when Wenchang would arrive in Chang'an, so that the Manchu officials would go out of the city to greet them. ”

"Hundreds of officials are out to greet you?" Li Xuan was stunned when he heard this, turned his head to look at Li Dao, and said in surprise: "Da Sima's words are true. Not a joke? ”

"Hehehe!" Li Wei smiled happily: "Today morning, I have given the son of heaven, and on the day of Wenchang's return from Sili, the Son of Heaven will come to the city tower to greet him, and I will lead the civil and military officials out of the city for ten miles to welcome Wenchang's safe return." The Son of Heaven has already been played, just waiting for the confirmation of the time, and I will do it! ”

"I'm just afraid that this 、、、 is inappropriate!" Li Xuan's expression changed suddenly, and after hesitating for a moment, he shook his head and said: "The lord has traveled to the Central Plains and Jiangnan states this time, and his whereabouts are very secretive, and there are very few people who know about it. Now that the Lord has returned, he has naturally returned quietly, and he will not alarm anyone at all. What's more, the lord is not returning from an expedition this time, so he doesn't need to make such a big move, right? In case the lord is unhappy and blames him, his subordinates and others really can't afford it. Therefore, this matter is definitely not feasible, please think twice! ”

"Huh?" Li Wei groaned, pondered and said: "Last night, I read the Si Lijie report that you copied, which said that Wenchang had made a lot of gains on this trip, and there was a lot of money and food with him, which shows that Wenchang's trip was not as simple as traveling. In addition, there is a particularly important sentence above: 'Kill the evil dragon that has been a disaster for hundreds of years on the banks of the great river'. I don't know if this is true, did Wenchang really kill a dragon? ”

"Ugh!" Li Xuan was stunned when he heard this, but subconsciously nodded and said frankly: "This is indeed the case." More than half a month ago, the lord and his entourage went up the river, and were hijacked by water thieves on the way, and the thief leader Gan Ning coerced the lord to sneak into the poisonous dragon pool, wanting to take the opportunity to get the treasure at the bottom of the pool. As a result, the head of the thief was severely injured by the evil dragon and is still unconscious, and hundreds of thieves were slaughtered by the evil dragon. At the critical moment, the lord and General Huan Fei were not afraid of life and death, and joined forces to fight against the evil dragon, and finally the lord killed the evil dragon with his own hands. It is said that this evil dragon is more than eight feet long, the body is huge, invulnerable, has been hundreds of years, and its lifespan is longer than the 400-year-old Han Dynasty. ”

Speaking of this, Li Xuan continued with a slow breath: "Now this evil dragon is in Xu Rongjun, and it will be sent to Chang'an in the near future. ”

"Ahh Seeing that Li Xuan said so much, Li Wei was shocked and said urgently: "In this way, this matter is true!" Is Yuan Zhong sure that the evil dragon that Wenchang killed was not a big snake, but a real dragon? ”

"Of course! Tens of thousands of soldiers in Xu Rong's battalion have already witnessed it with their own eyes, how can it be fake! Li Xuan said affirmatively without hesitation.

"Huh———" After being stunned for a long time, Li Wei sighed and sighed with a complicated expression: "This is an unprecedented auspicious omen!" God bless my Li family, God bless Wenchang! Such shocking things must be known to everyone in the world, and the people within a radius of 300 miles of Chang'an City must see the evil dragon killed by Wenchang with their own eyes, and let the world know that my nephew Wenchang is the protector of the sky, God blocks and kills God, and the dragon blocks and slays the dragon! ”

After a word, Li Dao said with a resolute expression: "Since this matter is true, then I will handle it, and if Wenchang is guilty, I will bear it alone!" This time, I will not only lead the civil and military officials out of the city for ten miles to greet them, but also take the Son of Heaven to welcome Wenchang back to the city! In addition, I will also send thousands of county soldiers to post notices, and flying pigeons will send letters to all counties and counties of Sanfu, and widely distribute notices, ordering county soldiers from all over the country to organize people to come to Chang'an to see the evil dragon with their own eyes. This matter also requires Yuan Zhong to inform General Tietuo and ask him to order the soldiers of Sanfu County to cooperate. I don't know what happened to Yuan Zhongyi? ”

"Is it necessary for this 、、、 to make such a big scene?"

Li Xuan was already frightened by Li Wei at the moment, and he couldn't keep up with his train of thought, because he hadn't thought about using the evil dragon to make a big fuss before. Unexpectedly, Li Dao uncharacteristically prepared to handle this matter in a big way.

If Yiqiē really does what Li Dao said, then the scene will be big. At least more than 100,000 people in the land of Sanfu flocked to Chang'an, plus tens of thousands of people in Chang'an City and the surrounding people, at least 200,000 people gathered inside and outside Chang'an at that time. If you add the 100,000 Xiliang troops who have been assembled at this moment, then on the day Li Li returns to the city, there will be 300,000 people inside and outside Chang'an City to witness this grand event, which is rare in scale so far.

"Of course it is necessary!" Seeing Li Xuan's stunned and inexplicable expression, Li Wei said undoubtedly: "Why can't Yuan Zhong figure it out? Since ancient times, emperors have called themselves the true dragon emperor, but who in the world has seen what the real dragon looks like? This time, Wenchang killed the evil dragon. This is an auspicious omen that has not been encountered in a hundred years or even a thousand years! What does that mean, and do you still use me to sue you? Shouldn't we be doing such a big deal? Miss this opportunity and wait until the news of Wenchang's dragon slaying spreads, even if it is true. I'm afraid no one believes it. Rather than miss the opportunity, let's do it now. A sensation all over the world in one fell swoop! ”

Speaking of which. Li Wei said excitedly: "Once this matter is completed, at least two or three hundred thousand people in Chang'an City will witness the grand event, and when the time comes, it will spread all over the world and be widely known in less than a month." At that time, there will be no Son of Heaven sitting on the court for us. It's all irrelevant, who in the world dares to disrespect Wenchang, who doesn't know Wenchang's feat of killing the evil dragon! In this way, great things can be accomplished. Hegemony is expected! ”

Listening to Li Wei's words in his ears, Li Xuan couldn't help but nod again and again, with an inexplicable look of surprise on his face.

Until this moment, Li Xuan had to admit that Jiang was still old and spicy. In particular, some people who are hungry for power, when they encounter this kind of good thing, they react amazingly, and they know in an instant how to maximize the use of this matter to achieve a sensational effect, so as to seek greater benefits for themselves.

However, the ultimate beneficiary of Li Wei's careful planning is not himself, but Li Li.

In this regard, what reason does Li Xuan have to object? He is naturally happy to see it happen, not only that, but he also has to do his best to help Li Dao do this thing well, so that it will become more perfect and impeccable.

"One qiē is all in charge of Da Sima, and his subordinates will do their best to assist, please rest assured that Da Sima!" After figuring it out, Li Xuan happily responded.

"Good! Yuan Zhong understands the righteousness, Wenchang didn't misunderstand you! Li Wei clapped his hands and applauded, then stood up, and wanted to start handling the matter immediately.

"Ugh! By the way, when will Wenchang return to the city? As he strode to the door, Li Wei suddenly stopped, turned his head and asked.

Li Xuan responded: "Three days later." ”

"Lack of time, how can this be?" Li Dao's expression changed when he heard this, and he said urgently.

Li Xuan walked quickly to Li Dao's side and said in a low voice: "Don't worry, Da Sima, his subordinates immediately sent a message to the lord and pushed the time to return to the city to noon six days later." I wonder if six days is enough? ”

"Six days?" Li Wei was stunned when he heard this, and then thought about it: "Six days is still too tight, but fortunately, my Xiliang official road is unobstructed, and there are many war horses and carriages in the post stations along the way, so it shouldn't be a problem." However, Yuan Zhong still needs to order that the post stations along the way will be exempted from the cost of carriages and horses within half a month, otherwise ordinary people will not be able to afford to sit in carriages, and they will not be able to hire horses to hurry! ”

"Well, that's not a problem!" After thinking about it for a while, Li Xuan said: "Although Da Sima is relieved, his subordinates immediately sent an order to go down, open the post station, and temporarily dispatch 10,000 war horses from the Right Fufeng County Horse Farm and 5,000 war horses from the Yiwu County Government to escort the people to Chang'an along the way. In addition, I will send an order to General Tietuo to lead 50,000 soldiers from the county government to assist Da Sima in handling this matter. In this way, it should be foolproof! ”

"Well, that's good!" Li Wei nodded happily and walked away quickly.

Seeing Li Dao rushing away, Li Xuan's expression was extremely complicated, and there was both surprise and a little regret in his eyes.

The surprise was because Li Xuan didn't know until this time that the great Sima Li Dao was not a traitor, nor was he a person who was greedy and greedy for power. On the contrary, Li Wei has a clear sense of priorities in the face of major rights and wrongs, and the uncle-nephew relationship between him and Li Li still occupies a dominant position, and has not been exhausted by power and fame.

And this is precisely the source of Li Xuan's self-blame and remorse. Until then, he had always thought that Li Dao was a greedy person with a lust for power, and he always coveted the military power in the hands of the lord Li Li, and seemed to have the ambition to replace him. Therefore, he and Li Ru are always on guard against Li Dao, lest he grow bigger day by day, thus threatening the supremacy of the lord Li Li Xiliang.

Fortunately, Li Xuan and Li Ru never got rid of Li Dao's heart, because they knew that the lord Li Li would never attack Li Dao, even if Li Dao really rebelled, Li Li would not be ruthless to get rid of Li Dao. Therefore, Li Xuan and Li Ru set up a situation to force Li Dao to show his feet, and their real intention was nothing more than to force Li Dao to step down and retire, nothing more.

Now seeing Li Dao running for Li Li so hard, Li Xuan is deeply ashamed, knowing that he had wrongly blamed Li Dao before, and almost made a big mistake. Fortunately, Li Li has always adhered to the relationship between his uncle and nephew, and is unwilling to blame Li Dao, otherwise Li Dao is now imprisoned and will never turn over.

"Shang Shuling, my lord asked the villain to pass the word, General Duan Xuan will not die for his crimes, and I also asked Shang Shuling to say a few kind words in front of General Wei." Just when Li Xuan was in a daze, the butler who had just followed Li Wei ran back quickly and said respectfully.

"Oh, okay, I got it." Li Xuan woke up when he heard this, and said to the housekeeper: "You go back and tell Da Sima, the most important thing at the moment is the matter that was discussed just now, and everything else is easy to say." Please be relieved, I will definitely persuade the lord's subordinates to be merciful. ”

"Thank you Shang Shuling, the villain will retire first." After receiving a satisfactory answer, the housekeeper happily waved his hands and left.

After the housekeeper left, Li Xuan smiled slightly and said to himself: "Why did I say why Da Sima is here, it turned out to be interceding for Duan Xuan." However, this matter is not so much compared to the matter of slaying the dragon, as long as this matter is done now, why is it difficult to spare Duan Xuan's life? ”

—————————————— (To be continued)(To be continued......