The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 75 Hunting
East of Dali County, Chaoyi Taohuali.

Zhu Wenzhi defended Tongzhou and fought with Wang Chongrong, leaving corpses piled up in Luoshui. After that, the land on both sides of the river was nourished, forming a large area of peach forests that stretched for dozens of miles. Every March, peach blossoms are in full bloom, thousands of trees are covered with petals, and bees and butterflies are flying around the trees. Therefore, in the spring and summer months, men and women of the gentry and common people come here to travel - outing, looking for flowers, picking fruits. Migrant poets and poets recited poems under the trees, and lovers in love made love in the forest.

The people living on both sides of the river are rich and happy, and many villages near and far are along the Luo River. Usually, the scenery is full of green, the sound of water lingers in the ears, the wind blows the willows, and the clouds meet the smoke from cooking, which is full of pastoral charm. As for the spring water and plum rain, the whole river is hazy, and the distant mountains, nearby water, forests, trees, and masts seem to be covered by an endless curtain, all shrouded in clouds, mist, rain and fog, leaving only faint and blurred outlines, which is intoxicating.

Wei Jue, the magistrate of Chaoyi, named the villages in the forest Peach Blossom Li, Cloud Mist Li, Xiaguang Li... so romantic and elegant.

In the bamboo forest, in the dim morning light, with leaves and dust intertwined, a girl was running fast with her back bent - in the morning she went fishing on the south bank of the Luo River as usual, but she didn't expect that the red Luo River was actually filled with densely packed limbs, arms and heads, floating in the water with the waves. Water plants were wrapped around swords and spears, and clothes, headbands, quivers and shoes washed ashore could be seen everywhere on the river beach.

This frightened her - experience told her that Feng Ling must have been fighting again upstream. Without thinking too much, she picked up a broken sword and ran straight into the bamboo forest. After running for a while, the girl was a little tired. She leaned on an old bamboo and took a few deep breaths. While resting, she looked around.

"Tsk." The girl suddenly held her breath.

Right in front of her, on a low grave, several people were lying on it casually. The girl even forgot to breathe for a moment. That feeling was exactly like the hair standing on end. She covered her mouth and squinted her eyes to observe for a while, and she found that those people were silent. Some were wearing armor, and some were wearing scarlet clothes. Of course, there were men and women mixed together, and all of them were like wooden sculptures, with their mouths wide open, their arms hanging down on the grave, and trickles of blood soaked the soil.

"Hey." The girl laughed suddenly.

So, she padded her legs to stretch her stiff muscles and bones, and slowly walked out from behind the old bamboo. She pressed the broken sword with her hand and strode to the grave.

Glancing down, her eyes fell on the face of the man wearing Yi Fei.

The man's red clothes were tattered, with an arrow stuck in his left cheek. He wore a wrinkled flat turban on his head. He was lying face up with a spear stuck in his chest. The thick bamboo leaves around his body looked like they were soaked in a bucket of vermilion paint, and a group of ants and insects crawled up his body and bit him randomly.

The girl hit it with the broken sword - no response.

I squatted down and pressed my neck, and it was still beating weakly.

"Don't... do it. I have made an agreement with the Defense Envoy of Tongzhou... the King. Please send me to the court, and then..." The man rolled his eyes, his pupils began to dilate, but he tried to stand up.

"What are you doing?" The girl kicked him in the stomach, cursing, and used both hands to hold down the struggling warrior. A man and a woman were shoving each other on the grave, and the outcome was obvious - the girl pressed her knee on the warrior's chest, punched him in the face, and knocked him down with a few hard blows.

“Look at this!” The girl waved her hands, suddenly picked up the broken sword, and pointed the dirty blade at Wang Xingyue’s eyes.

"Woo..." Wang Xingyue raised his hand.

"I took your gear, don't hate me." The girl deftly lifted up the warrior's clothes and touched them.

With a "puff", the girl bit her cheek and the broken sword pierced vertically into the rough belly - Wang Xingyue kept making a hoarse sound in his mouth, spurting blood, and his white intestines flowed out, steaming, and a strong fishy smell instantly filled the air.

"Haha." The girl let go of her hand, ignoring the broken sword stuck in the warrior's stomach. She sat on the ground and stripped off Wang Xingyue's hat and clothes. She also took away all the valuable items from the other dead bodies of men and women.

She wrapped up the valuables in a coat and put it on her back. She glanced at the seven naked corpses on the grave mounds and turned to go deep into the bamboo forest. Since the defense envoy was seriously injured and fled here, there must be unrest in Tongzhou. Taohuali is only more than 20 miles away from Chaoyi, Changchun Palace, and Fengling County. It is possible to encounter unrest at any time. We must return to the village quickly and let everyone take refuge in the mountains.

The fog gradually dissipated, the sun rose slowly, and the girl disappeared.

On the river plain, chickens crowed and dogs barked. Willow trees and willow trees were swaying in the shade. Smoke rose from the roofs of every house in the village. The fisherman rowed a bamboo raft, sang a song, and cast his fishing net. The cormorant flapped its wings and jumped into the Luo River. Seeing the girl running on the shore, the fisherman shouted, "Shao Shiyi Niang——"

"The enemy is coming, and you're still fishing?"

----

At Qujiang Lake, the sage was sitting on the ground with his concubine He Yuqing, his virtuous concubine Zhu Xiewusi, the envoy of Xuanhui Yuwenrou, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council and the wife of Xinqin County Yang Kezheng, as well as their children, and more than 40 generals and their families including He Chuyu, Li Zan, Wang Congxun, Zhang Fan, Liu Bo, Zhang Jide, Liu Xianyuan, Li Sizhou, Li Yanzhen, Mo Zangqiqi, Zhazhu, Fu Cunshen, Helian Weihuan, and Tuoba Weicai.

Making tea was one of the social activities of this era. It was less formal than the banquet in Linde Hall. It was more suitable for ministers to get to know each other and build unity than hunting in the suburbs. It was less biased than summoning a few people individually. Moreover, the content of the activity was not restricted, and the wives, concubines and children of the monarch and his ministers could all attend the event. Men chatted casually, women sat in groups of three or four to chat, and children could play together even if they didn't know each other.

Making tea is, of course, superficial.

Deepening one's influence and promoting the cohesion of the core group is the purpose and the emperor's job. So far, the effect of the first "team building" is quite good.

"Hey! Hey--Hey!" Zhazhu roared three times. He and Mo Zangqiqi were sitting on opposite sides of the stone table, wrestling with each other. A group of generals were talking around them. Mo Zangqiqi's arm didn't move at all. Zhazhu took a deep breath, his muscles bulged, and the blood vessels on his forehead could be clearly seen. He shouted, "Aren't you a shepherd? How can you be so strong!"

"Let me show you how powerful we Dangxiang people are!" Qi Qi's eyes bulged out red, and he pressed his thigh with his other hand and exerted crazy force.

Fu Cunshen sat quietly in the corner, holding a thick book - "Tongdian" compiled by Du You, a famous prime minister in the middle Tang Dynasty, and reading it. He would ask the general for advice from time to time. Du Rangneng admired this young man very much - in this day and age, such a gentle and studious warrior is comparable to a three-legged toad, so he would answer any questions he had. The old and the young sat opposite each other, which seemed harmonious.

Li Sizhou, Li Yanzhen, Pei Chan and other relatives of the royal family surrounded He Yuqing, whispering about something.

Li Zan, the former commander of the Fengxiang Iron Axe Army, Liu Bo, the former commander of the Sword Army, Zhang Fan, the deputy governor, He Jin, the judge, and Li Jimi, the guard, were all very nervous. They kept drinking tea with their heads down and did not dare to talk to others.

Xuanhui Envoy Yuwenrou played the zither and performed a piece of "Guangling San", which drew cheers from the women.

Prince De, Princess Pingyuan and a group of children were chasing and playing.

The Privy Councilor Zhao Ruxin changed into a black veil with golden threads and covered her face with a hazy purple scarf. Her graceful figure flashed and swayed in the music, as fast as lightning, and the audience could hardly see her face and back. Seeing that she was dancing the Huxuan dance, Zhu Xiewusi became excited and took over the wooden stick to beat the 羯鼓 for her. Kang Lingzhong, Helian Weihuan, and Tuoba Weicai joined with eight Shatuo military academies to dance with Zhao.

The second prime minister, Liu Chongwang, sat next to the sage.

Someone invited him, "Why don't you come out and dance with us, Mr. Liu?"

"Haha." Liu Chongwang smiled and waved his hand. He was a true descendant of the Xiongnu people. When he was young, he was good at dancing, singing, fencing, riding and shooting. Unfortunately, he was old and could not do it anymore.

He looked around.

Although there may be conflicts between them, under the auspices of the saint, the scene is peaceful and warm. The saint continues to manage and does not make big mistakes. As time goes by, the people present at Qujiang Pool today will interact with each other and marry each other. The relationship will only become stronger and stronger, forming a Yuancong force with the emperor as the core. If the saint wins a few more battles, his position will be unshakable.

"The leaves fall in the third autumn, and the flowers bloom in the second month. The waves are a thousand feet high, and the bamboos are leaning against the bamboo poles..." Looking at the rippling waves of Qujiang Lake, the sage actually chanted this poem. He stretched his neck and suddenly saw Wenren Chuchu, the official of the Privy Council, standing in the White Bird Tower and waving at him.

The saint hooked his finger.

Wenren Chuchu walked down the White Bird Tower quickly and saw everyone singing and dancing, so she walked up to him and whispered, "Huayin magistrate urgently reported that the army in Tongzhou was in chaos. They killed the chief secretary Deng Chuduan and thirteen other civil and military officials. The defense envoy Wang Xingyue fled to Chaoyi, but was killed by bandits on the way. The rebel army occupied Fengling County, Chaoyi, Changchun Palace, and Pujin Pass, and elected the ten generals Shi Cong and Fei Zhongkang as the regents. The military envoy Xie Jun led a thousand people to retreat to the south bank of Luoshui and asked to enter the court."

"Why is the army in chaos?"

"Minister Li sent an envoy to Tongzhou, ordering Wang Xingyue to return to the court in person. Otherwise, he would order the troops to cross the Yellow River. The Tongzhou army was afraid that they were the army of evil people, so they gathered at the official residence and asked to surrender Tongzhou to Bian. The chief secretary Deng Chuduan persuaded them, saying that Zhu Quanzhong was not a good person, so the warriors killed him and forced Du Yuhou Cheng Qian to be their leader. Cheng Qian refused and was killed. The deputy defense envoy Wu Mian was angry and fought with the rebel army and was killed..." Wenren Chuchu replied with a serious face.

Then, the Tongzhou army fell into complete chaos.

"There is one more thing." Wenren Chuchu hesitated for a while, and then added: "The previous emperor's concubine Meng Cairen moved to Changchun Palace to become a nun, and the seven people in Chongxian Temple, including Princess Jinyong, Princess Tangxing, Princess Yongping, and Zheng Zhaoyi, were all...humiliated. Princess Jinyong jumped into the river, and Tangxing committed suicide. Yongping, Zheng Zhaoyi, and Meng Cairen disappeared..."

The emperor's brother's concubines and several sisters of the royal family had already met with misfortune. The saint bowed his head and sighed.

"The rebel army has looted Changchun Palace and is now sorting out their baggage, planning to flee eastward to the Central Plains by boat. If the people of Bian hear the news, they may send troops to support them," Wenren Chuchu reminded.

"I understand." The saint touched his chin. Now, some vassal states were afraid of Chang'an's punitive army again and fled without fighting. He thought they were all the stubborn people of Qi.

"I will go back to the palace to deal with this matter later. You go ahead and get busy. You have worked hard." Patting Wenren Chuchu's shoulder, the saint handed her a glass of wine and tidied her hair that was wet with sweat. "It's hot. Drink some ice wine before you go."

"Thank you, everyone." Wenren Chuchu took it and drank it all in one gulp. He bowed and then jumped on the horse, lying on its back and galloping away.

(End of this chapter)