The Lord

In the Tang Dynasty, transportation was inconvenient, and the local officials had always had great power. The governor was the highest military and political chief of a prefecture. The military, political and financial power of the counties under his rule were all combined, and he had the authority to directly appoint, remove or even kill and punish middle and lower-level officials and generals. His power was equivalent to the collection of the governors, censors, and commanders of the three ministers in the Ming Dynasty, but the power of the governor was limited to one prefecture.

Xue Chongxun was granted the title of governor of Shanzhou, and he was the boss within Shanzhou. He had the right to control whether it was civil affairs or military affairs, or to prosecutors. In addition, Princess Taiping also granted him the title of censor, and had the right to supervise and report officials at all levels in Longyoudao.

In this way, although his title was demoted to Duke of Wei, his real power was much greater than when he was in Chang'an. In the past, he had basically no independent power in Chang'an; once he went to Shanzhou, he not only took over the power of one state but also influenced the entire Longyou Road.

But the situation of the war is approaching Shanzhou is a bit complicated. Xue Chongxun is not the boss there, because Cheng Qianli, the governor of Longyou, is stationed in Shanzhou, and the 100,000 troops arranged inside and outside the city are also in the hands of Cheng Qianli.

There were originally more than 4,000 troops stationed in various parts of Shanzhou. This army should have been under the control of Xue Chongxun, but in order to coordinate military orders during the war, the governor Cheng Qianli not only commanded 100,000 soldiers, but also controlled more than 30,000 troops stationed in Longyou prefectures, including the 20 regiments of Shanzhou. Therefore, Xue Chongxun was not considered the boss in Shanzhou in military power.

Xue Chongxun had never seen Cheng Qianli. He originally thought he was a nine-foot-high and powerful general, but when he saw Cheng Qianli in Shanzhou, he found that it was not as he had imagined. He was quite surprised.

It was almost dusk when they arrived in Shanzhou. The setting sun made the world seem to be shy and blushing. The local officials welcomed Xue Chongxun and his group outside the Ten Mile Long Pavilion, but Cheng Qianli was older than Xue Chongxun's official position and could not be welcomed out of the city according to etiquette. It seemed that he was not a person who did disgusting things to curry favor with the powerful and did not come to greet him. He just waited in the city and asked Xue Chongxun to see him by himself.

After Xue Chongxun entered the city, he found that Shanzhou had changed a lot. When he was sent back to Jincheng last time, Shanzhou was looted by war and was depressed and miserable, but in less than a year, it was prosperous here... The Hehuang Valley in Shanzhou is not only rich in water and grass, suitable for agricultural and animal husbandry production, but also located on the key to the Silk Road. Various people come here in places with interests, so it is naturally very easy to restore the population.

Entering the city from the east gate, walking along the Hengda Street that extends east and west for a while, a group of people came towards him, including two people in civil and military, one in official robes and the other in armor. When he walked to Xue Chongxun, he turned off from the horse and held his fists as a ritual. Seeing that the civil servant's clothes were blue, Xue Chongxun sat casually on the horse without getting off.

The civil servant said, "Envoy Cheng is waiting for Duke Wei in the Arrow Tower. Do you want to go back to the mansion to rest first?"

Xue Chongxun also wanted to see what kind of person Cheng Qianli was. He was in a hurry and said, "Take my entourage back to the mansion to settle down first. I will go to meet Cheng Jun... Ting'er and I will go with me, so you can also meet your uncle."

Zhang Wulang, who was behind the side, said: "I am here for the first time, let the Flying Tiger Group and Langjun go there together."

Xue Chongxun thought that a well-equipped guard entourage was quite pompous, so he nodded in agreement. He rode a horse, Cheng Ting took a car, and continued to travel westward with the army in front of the army. There were two main roads about two meters wide, extending from east to west, north to south, and running across the four cities horizontally and vertically. There were no obstacles in the middle of these two streets, which showed that this city was a military fortress. Once a war broke out, it could quickly transfer the troops through the avenue. Xue Chongxun and others walked straight along the east and west streets, and Cheng Qianli was on the arrow tower in Xicheng.

The officials and people along the way recognized the governor's oxtail and flags, and all gave them to the side of the road in advance, and bowed to the side of the road and did not dare to make noise. Seeing this, Xue Chongxun felt a little contented and felt the pleasure of becoming a local emperor. But then he thought about it, this was also because of the cruelty of the feudal ***. If the bureaucrats were unhappy, they could just commit disrespect and kill a few people. There was nothing they could do if the people were in awe.

When he arrived at the city of Xicheng, he saw that the city tower was full of vigilance for five steps up and down. Although the soldiers were worn out and mostly linen under the armor was linen, they stood straight like a tree and motionless. Seeing this, Xue Chongxun naturally saw that Cheng Qianli was good at governing the army. These athletes were trained to be precise and concise as soon as they came from signs from various places.

He shouted to the upper floor: "Xue Chongxun, the governor of Shanzhou, paid homage to the governor Cheng."

After a while, a general wearing a black cloak ran down the stone stairs, went to Xue Chongxun's horse and clasped his fists and said, "Envoy Cheng asked Duke Wei to move upstairs and talk, please!"

Xue Chongxun turned over and got off the horse, walked to the carriage and opened the wooden door of the carriage, and said, "Ting'er, you're here." After that, he stretched out his hand and helped Cheng Ting get out of the car... This kind of thing can be said to be demeanor, but in the eyes of Tangren, it was incredible. How could he treat his concubine like this? The general came to the commander to show his surprise when he saw this. Xue Chongxun didn't care. It was not wrong to show his favor for Cheng Ting in this situation.

Cheng Ting, wearing a light-colored skirt, made everyone's eyes lit up after getting off the carriage. Even the soldiers who stood meticulously couldn't help but look quietly. In fact, Cheng Ting was not very stunning, and her figure seemed a little thin to the Tang Dynasty. She had a bit of the temperament of a beautiful girl from her hometown neighbor, ordinary and pure, and not as elegant as a noble lady. But she appeared in such an environment, and against the backdrop of ancient city, sunset, old armor and other things, it seemed to add soft and lively tones to this desolate and dull environment, so it was very eye-catching.

Xue Chongxun was wearing a vermilion small official robe with a straw hook tied with a waist, which complemented his dark skin. Red and black were originally a matching color. The grade was reduced, and he suddenly felt a little cheaper in red clothes. He held Cheng Ting's small hand and climbed up the steps. Generally, there were such stone steps on the inside of the city wall, which facilitated the soldiers in the city to come to the wall to guard the guards. This scene made Xue Chongxun quite unhappy and felt that he was being received. When he was in Chang'an, except for Princess Taiping, who could pretend to be big in front of him, a prince?

However, as Cheng Qianli, the chief official in the border area, had the title of Longyou Jiedushi, and was the largest official in the Longyou prefectures. It was not wrong to meet Xue Chongxun, the governor... If he did not consider his identity as a royal relative.

When I got up to the top of the city, I suddenly saw a "depressed and out-of-out teacher" Xue Chongxun standing on the wall for the first time. It was indeed like this. The middle-aged man was wearing an old gray cloth robe and white beard floating in the wind, looking up at the sunset. What is the image of a depressed and out-of-out literati?

The scholar looked into the distance and said nothing. The wind at the top of the city made his robe move around, as if he was about to write a poem, and he was like a poet who was worried about the country and the people. But Xue Chongxun thought to himself: The real poet is under my hands, Cheng Qianli is a poet Mao, and there is no record in history books.

But except for Xue Chongxun who just came up, there were warriors in armor around him. He was the one wearing a robe with his hands on his back. Such an identity must be Cheng Qianli.

Xue Chongxun clasped his fists behind him and said, "Xue, the governor of Shanzhou, met the Jiedushi."

At this time, the literary man turned around, raised his sleeves and said kindly, "Duke Weiguo doesn't need to be too polite." Although he spoke very kindly, what is it that he is not an air in front of Xue Chongxun?

After saying that, he looked at it, found a stone pier to sit down, and pointed to the stone pier opposite him and said, "Please sit."

Seeing this, Xue Chongxun sat down at the unclean stone pier, but Cheng Ting, who was spotless on her body, was not easy to sit like this. She stood there a little embarrassedly. Cheng Qianli also noticed this woman, obviously he didn't know her at all.

Cheng Ting bent her knees gently and said, "My younger brother is Cheng Ting, uncle..."

"Oh!" Cheng Qianli said suddenly, "I know, remember that before my brother (Cheng Ting's father) passed away, I often walked around your house."

When talking about the past, Cheng Ting's eyes suddenly turned red and she choked and said, "Our family... is only me left."

Xue Chongxun was silent and thought to himself: You guys who killed your Cheng family were my grandmother, so we are no longer enemies?

But how can all the grudges in the world be calculated clearly? Only in martial arts novels can there be a plot where the world is revenge, and the interests in the world are far greater than the world's feud.

Cheng Qianli said kindly: "I shouldn't have mentioned everything that has passed."

Xue Chongxun didn't want them to be too entangled in the past, so he said in a different way: "Looking at the sunset here is indeed a unique scenery... The sunset is infinitely beautiful, but it's near dusk."

"The sunset is extremely beautiful, but it's near dusk..." Cheng Qianli read it in a low voice, probably thinking that this poem is very interesting. It was originally a poem written by a famous person, of course it was interesting... He glanced at Xue Chongxun and said with a little surprised look, "It's just that the dusk is too heavy."

Cheng Qianli glanced at the sunset and pointed to the west and said, "The stone castle is in that direction, but of course I can't see it here. I heard that the Duke of Wei led the Fourth Regiment of Southern Yamen to attack the stone castle city, and his courage is commendable!"

Xue Chongxun said embarrassedly: "I can't bite it at all."

"It's really difficult to attack." Cheng Qian felt worried inside, "but using the 100,000 troops in my hands to win this fort, there should be a chance of winning."

Xue Chongxun looked at Cheng Qianli's expression with interest and asked quietly: "How much does it cost?"

Cheng Qianli said: "If tens of thousands of people die, they will not be able to take them down... But if they do not occupy this place, the safety of Longyou will not be guaranteed, and 100,000 soldiers will not be allowed to be divided into troops to guard them. Otherwise, the war with Tubo will be in a passive situation from the beginning."

Xue Chongxun asked again: "What is the attitude of the Ministry of War? Should we actively attack or defend the national gate?"

Cheng Qianli looked at him angrily: "Duke Wei just came from Chang'an, I was about to ask you..."

Xue Chongxun frowned and said, "The palace did not mention this matter at all. I cannot participate in the affairs of the Political Affairs Hall. Wouldn't I let Duke Cheng be fully responsible?"

"I have a great commander of the army... I have a lot of Taoism, the royal city of Tubo..." Cheng Qianli pondered.
Chapter completed!