Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 370 Old and New
After confirming that Sancho had fallen asleep, Ah Cheng let out a long breath. Of course she knew how valuable a secret about the future whereabouts of "Wang Wenzuo" was, especially when she learned that this person was also a marcher. After Sima, the meaning of this move is even more valuable-when a crisis comes, if you prepare in advance, then you can not only avoid disaster, but also take advantage of it.

"Leave immediately!" Ah Cheng said to the servant kneeling on the ground: "Give this to the master, the sooner the better."

"Here!" The servant stretched out his right hand to take the small bamboo tube in Ah Cheng's hand, then got up and left.Seeing the servant's back disappear into the night, Ah Cheng looked back at the silent back room, and let out a long breath.

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The next day, Wang Wenzuo's mansion.

"Brother Chang! Here——"

Hei Chi Changzhi stopped, looked where the sound came from, and saw Huicong waving his hand, beside him Cui Hongdu, He Bayong, Shen Faseng, Monobe Lianxiong and others formed a group, talking What, while Dinghui, Cao Wenzong, Yiji Lianbode and others were standing on the other side of the courtyard, and everyone on both sides looked at him at the same time, which made Heizhi Changzhi feel a little uncomfortable.

"Brother Chang, come here!" Huicong greeted him: "It's still early, everyone wants to talk to you!"

"It's still early?" Hei Chi Changzhi looked at the sky strangely: "It's not early, is it? Why don't you go in and stand here? Could it be that the Lord hasn't woken up yet, isn't it possible?"

"I don't know if I got up or not!" Huicong said in a low voice, "But Sancho said let's wait a little longer. Today is different. The Lord went up to Chang'an and came back. Our identities are quite different. As ministers, we must be careful." This is what you should do. You followed the Lord up to Chang'an, and we still have many things to ask you!"

"Ask for advice?" Hei Chi Changzhi was stunned, and only then did he understand why Huicong called him over: "Actually, the Lord has not changed much. Although the official position has been promoted, he is still the same. I don't know what's wrong with him." Variety!"

"Then what about those people on the opposite side?" Shen Faseng interjected, "I remember that there were no such people when Sanlang went to Chang'an. Who are they?"

"Oh? You're asking those people!" Black-toothed Changzhi said with a smile, "Zen Master Dinghui and Yiji Lianbode are the leaders of the Japanese embassy. They are masters of swordsmanship that Cao Wenzong's mansion met in Chang'an. Their martial arts are very good. And he has a high reputation among the two thousand vicious youths from Chang'an who came with him—"

"Changzhi!" Cui Hongdu interrupted the black-toothed Changzhi's narration: "Seng Fashen asked a little vaguely just now. We don't want to know the identities of these people, but their relationship with Saburo. Do you understand?"

"The relationship between these people and the Lord?" Hei Chi Changzhi was a little confused when asked, don't you understand?What does it matter if these people can follow Wang Wenzuo to a place like Baekje?
"Usually, what brother Cui means is that he wants to know where these people are beside the Lord!" Huicong laughed and said, "Are they above us or below us!"

"Oh oh oh!" Hei Chi Changzhi finally understood that Cui Hongdu, Shen Faseng, Huicong, and Monobe Renxiong are from Tang Dynasty, Baekje, and Japanese. The only thing they have in common is that they are all subordinates of Wang Wenzuo. , and the appearance of these "newcomers" has given these "old people" a sense of crisis of being alienated and even replaced.

"Everyone is worrying too much!" Black Tooth Changzhi laughed: "Who is Fu Jun, you guys don't know yet? Brother Cui, Brother Shen, you all have been in the robes of Fu Jun for many years, Zen Master Huicong, you are Fu Jun's right-hand man , Brother Wubu, Brother Shoujun, you have also made great contributions, these newcomers are naturally inferior to you!"

Hearing Hei Chi Changzhi's words, everyone's faces looked better, Cui Hongdu smiled and said: "I am not a person who is jealous of the virtuous and capable, but since Sanlang has opened the mansion, there must be rules in the mansion, otherwise wouldn't it be Messed up?"

"Yep!"

"Not bad!"

"Brother Hongdu said exactly what I wanted!"

"Yes, there must be a first-come-first-served rule. This situation was brought down by us and Saburo one by one. We can't just sit back and enjoy the success without making any achievements, right?"

"Everyone, come in! The master is waiting for you!"

Sancho's voice interrupted everyone's discussion, they hurriedly arranged their clothes, lined up according to seniority and official position, and filed in.And Ding Hui, Cao Wenzong and the others consciously fell behind two steps, as if there was an invisible rope separating them.

Wang Wenzuo sat in the middle, his crimson official robes showed his rank, his eyes were slightly closed, he should be thinking about something.Everyone in the hall held their breath subconsciously, stepped lightly, and stood in their positions.

"Everyone is here!" Sancho whispered.

Wang Wenzuo opened his eyes and glanced at the subordinates on the hatchback. Under the thick eyebrows were the slightly narrow eyes. The beard on the sideburns was trimmed very neatly, which was the same color as the fur on top of his head.All knelt down in unison and saluted their lord.

"Subordinates see Duke Ming!"

"Get up! Everyone should know that the imperial court has appointed me as the comfort ambassador of the Wa Kingdom, right?" Wang Wenzuo's voice was low, but enough for everyone in the room to hear clearly: "So I plan to open the mansion, and you are my first batch of subordinates. official!"

No one uttered a sound, but everyone's eyes beamed with joy.It's one thing to hear the wind, and quite another to hear it from the person involved.For any scholar, what could be happier than joining the shogunate of a promising Shangguan?

"Time flies, and almost ten months have passed since the battle of Baijiangkou. This is very bad. The Japanese should have recovered from the initial panic, but there is no way, without the imperial court's will, we can Not much to do!" Wang Wenzuo sighed: "Lianxiong Wubu, do you have any new information here?"

"Your Majesty, the eldest brother, the prince, has ordered the construction of stone castles and beacon towers in places suitable for landing in the Chikushi area!"

"Yeah!" Wang Wenzuo nodded: "Brother Zhong, the prince, that is to say, he has not ascended the throne and become the king yet? Or is it that the Japanese supported another person as king?"

"I didn't support another person as king, and the imperial edict issued by the eldest brother Zhong was issued in the name of the crown prince!"

"Well, very good!" Wang Wenzuo nodded with satisfaction: "It seems that it's not too late for me to come back! Is there any other news?"

"Not long ago, the Japanese court issued several decrees, and this is a copy!" Monobe Lianxiong took out a silk book from his sleeve, and offered it with both hands.Wang Wenzuo took it from Sangqiu and looked closely.The above decrees consist of three articles: one is to increase the nineteenth rank of crown established in 649 (the fifth year of Dahua) to 5 ranks; the other is to grant a privileged status to the head of a powerful clan.The patriarch of the big clan gave nine knives, the patriarch of the small clan gave small knives, and the companions gave arrows and so on.The third is the "Minbu" and "Jiabu" that recognize the nobles with surnames.Wang Wenzuo looked at it for a while and asked, "What do these three edicts mean? Please explain it to me!"

"Observe!" Monobe Lianxiong responded: "The first should be to increase more official ranks and give more opportunities to become officials; the second and third are concessions to each family! It should be because After the defeat at Baijiangkou, the prestige of Prince Zhong Daxie has been damaged, so we have no choice but to make concessions!"

"Well, it should be like this!" Wang Wenzuo nodded. At that time, the Yamato regime was in the process of transforming from a clan aristocratic oligarchy to a country ruled by the emperor, and Prince Zhongda was the biggest promoter of this process. He launched an attack on the Korean peninsula. A big reason for the war is to promote domestic reforms in order to increase their prestige.But Bai Jiangkou's defeat completely disrupted his plan. Not only could he not inherit his mother's position as planned, but he had to make concessions to the clan nobles.

"By the way, why didn't the inscription of this edict belong to the eldest brother and prince? Did I read it wrong?" Wang Wenzuo asked suddenly.

"You are not mistaken, these three edicts were issued by Prince Hairen! He is the younger brother of Prince Zhong Daxiong!"

"Brother? Hahahaha!" Wang Wenzuo laughed suddenly: "Monobu Lianxiong, you did a good job, I will reward you later!"

"Thank you Minggong!" Monobe Lianxiong hurriedly knelt down to thank him.

"Hongdu, how is my shipyard doing now?" Wang Wenzuo asked suddenly.

"It's still the same!" Cui Hongdu hurriedly replied, "Boat shed and dock are fine, but most of the craftsmen have left!"

"Why? Where did they go?"

"They all went back to their hometowns to farm!" Cui Hongdu smiled wryly: "The battles are over, there are not so many ships to build, and they have to support their families!"

"Okay!" Wang Wenzuo sighed in disappointment. He knew that Cui Hongdu was telling the truth. Baekje, which had just ended a three-year civil war, was an extremely poor country. China's country certainly cannot afford to support too many non-agricultural populations - shipbuilders are no exception.

"Then prepare a few larger ships!" Wang Wenzuo said: "Send a mission to Japan first, and send over a hundred captives at the same time as a show of goodwill!"

"Okay, I'll get ready right away!"

"There is one more thing about the rotation of the garrison!" Wang Wenzuo said in a deep voice: "I discussed it with Liu Rengui and Mr. Liu Shijun when we were in Chang'an, and the imperial court should let these garrison troops return to China in September this year! "

"Is that after the autumn harvest?" Cui Hongdu asked.

"Yes, if there is more food in the government treasury, the domestic military government can also draw a few more people!" Wang Wenzuo smiled: "Cui Hongdu, you guys have time to go around the camps and see how many are willing to stay!"

"I'm afraid no one is willing to stay!" Cui Hongdu shook his head: "Even if you pay, it won't be of much use, it's too dangerous here, and it's too far away from home!"

"Okay!" Wang Wenzuo shook his head in disappointment, but he knew that Cui Hongdu was telling the truth. Cui Hongdu and the others were willing to stay because they could be big landlords in Baekje. Why should other government soldiers stay in Baekje?Even if it is paid, the problem is that these government soldiers are really not poor. On the contrary, they are at least above-average peasant households, and many of them have servants and farmers in their homes. It is better to run their own farms in their hometowns than risk their heads. The danger is that it is much better for Baekje to take such dead wages, right?

"Then you have to work hard on the 2000 people I brought!" Wang Wenzuo sighed: "And Sancho, Yuan Fei, you two should check on those who are loyal to me. Organize a hunt outside Sibi City!"

"Obey!" Yuan Fei and Sangqiu hurriedly responded, and Cui Hongdu and the others showed a gleam of joy on their faces. Wang Wenzuo obviously did this to check the available power at hand, which was naturally a good thing for them.

Monobe Lianxiong and Shoujun Oishi exchanged glances, and said in unison: "If we want to crusade against Prince Zhong, we are willing to lead the people as the vanguard!"

"It's too early to talk about using soldiers!" Wang Wenzuo waved his hand with a smile: "There is no food! The imperial court asked me to come not to let me use soldiers against the Japanese, but to be prepared for writing. Only soldiers can talk!"

"Yes!"

The meeting is over, Wang Wenzuo is still sitting on the chair, the situation in Baekje is much worse than he imagined, it cannot be said that Liu Renyuan and Du Shuang are incompetent people, but the negotiation with the Japanese is indeed in their task column It's not close to the front—they have too many things to worry about, and they don't have the energy to care about the big island across the sea.In history, the eldest brother, the prince, seized this rare opportunity for respite. Although his peninsula strategy was a mess, he quickly adjusted his strategy, negotiated peace with Tang and Silla externally, and adjusted his relationship with clan nobles internally. After ascending the throne as king a few years later, he became the famous Emperor Tenchi in history.Although the Yamato court failed to expand to the peninsula, it turned the arrow of expansion to the east, thereby annexing a large area of ​​land in the east of Honshu Island, and establishing a miniature version of the Tang Dynasty on the Japanese archipelago, which can be regarded as a loss. , Harvest the mulberry elm.

"The first thing to do now is to contact the Japanese!" Wang Wenzuo clenched his fists. Judging from the three edicts issued by Monobe Renxiong, the eldest brother and the prince have now made certain concessions. Obviously, his political opponent It put a lot of pressure on him.This kind of concession may be forced, or it may be a voluntary concession to divide the enemy and then defeat them one by one.From the perspective of historical development, there is no doubt that the eldest brother and the prince are the final victors, and the greatest possibility should be the latter.For Wang Wenzuo, the most important thing is to intervene in this conflict as soon as possible, support, guide, and use these political enemies, so as to achieve the goal of defeating the eldest brother and prince.

Of course, Prince Zhong's political opponents are not rookies who haven't seen the world. Since they can hold high positions, they naturally won't let them be driven around as soon as they see the official robes of the envoys of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.Wang Wenzuo wanted to use them, and they also wanted to use Datang's power, which was originally mutual.The prestige brought by the victory of Baijiangkou is of course very valuable, but it is not enough alone, there must be real power, real power that can be deployed to the Japanese archipelago.

(End of this chapter)