Qin Minxue left the prince's palace, and looking at Qin Minxue's leaving figure, Shi Zhaoxi ordered the guards in the palace to keep an eye on him. Shi Zhaoxi returned to the inner palace, and the prince Zhao Zongmian had not rested yet. He had returned from praying at Nanshan Zen Temple in the past few days. They began to summon military generals from various garrisons in Guangnan. The meeting hall was brightly lit. Zhao Zongmian, who had just finished his work, was sitting at the table reading a secret letter. Shi Zhaoxi walked in: "Prince, I just went to see that There is someone from the capital, and that person is not the Xuanfu envoy sent by the imperial court."

Zhao Zongmian said without raising his head: "I'm just saying, I think you are too cautious. There will be too many officials passing by Guangnan, and they have to meet them all. I'm afraid only the useless civil servants like the entertainment will be left. Already."

"Prince, this is a critical moment. You must not take it lightly. This man has a low official position and is not an envoy, but he carries the emperor's handwriting."

"Oh?" Zhao Zongmian raised his eyelids and looked at Shi Zhaoxi: "What's wrong with bringing the emperor's handwriting? Why did he come to Guangnan? Does the emperor still dare to send someone to check me? Since he is not honest in Guangnan, he will Get rid of him!" After a series of rhetorical questions, Zhao Zongmian made his decision without hesitation.

Shi Zhaoxi hurriedly said: "Prince, I think this matter is not that simple. If he was really secretly investigating you, he would definitely not come to the house to tell you. And he said that he was here to find someone, someone who would be very loyal to the emperor." Important person."[

"Looking for someone..." Zhao Zongmian put down the secret message in his hand this time, raised his head and looked thoughtfully at the bright candles in the hall. After a while, Zhao Zongmian said, "Send someone to keep an eye on him!" The person he is looking for is not only important to the emperor, but may also be very important to us."

Shi Zhaoxi heard that his tone was different from before, and he didn't seem to have as many questions as before. He asked cautiously: "Prince, it seems that you know who he is looking for?!"

Zhao Zongmian tapped the secret letter on the desk with his fingers: "If I guess correctly, I'm looking for him!"

This secret letter was sent from the imperial palace in the capital. The letter stated that the emperor's eldest son Zhao Zhongzhen had not been seen for a long time. Even Empress Cao summoned Zhongzhen by decree, but the emperor and empress pretended that Zhongzhen was ill. Now the Empress Dowager is urging the Emperor to establish a crown prince, but the Emperor has yet to reply. There are rumors that the prince Zhao Zhongzhen left the capital privately, but no one knows where the prince went. Papers cannot contain the fire, no matter how careful the emperor is, Rumors will leak out about such a big event. Now the emperor is on pins and needles every day. If this continues, he may become acutely ill even if he is not sick. What's more, Emperor Yingzong himself is already sick.

"Look!" Zhao Zongmian moved the secret letter forward. Shi Zhaoxi walked to the desk and took the secret letter respectfully. He read it two or three times and said, "This letter is interesting, Prince. It seems that the Empress Dowager is interested." Favoring you, you see, we should establish a crown prince instead of a crown prince."

"Well, this is the empress dowager's good intentions! It seems that there must be a reason for this person to come today. You should immediately order someone to guard the city gate. No matter who he is looking for, he is about twenty years old. No one can leave the city!" The county king issued an urgent order.

When the king issued the order, Wang Pang and Zhao Zhongzhen were discussing in Nanshan Zen Temple how to find the king to escort Prince Ying back to the capital. Wang Pang secretly thought that it was not a big deal for Zhao Zhongzhen to follow him like this. In his impression, Yingzong only He has been the emperor for four years, and the time for establishing the crown prince is not far away. If Zhao Zhongzhen is not in the capital at this time, history may really change because of his presence. Moreover, he also hopes that Zhao Zhongzhen will return to the capital as soon as possible. There is another reason , after all, I don’t know where my son is now, so I can’t help but sympathize with Song Yingzong because of the same illness.

The next day, Wang Pang accompanied Zhao Zhongzhen after offering incense. On the way back to Shaozhou City, Wang Pang suddenly felt that something was wrong with the atmosphere. There were many people on the way to Shaozhou City today, and most of them were young and middle-aged people. How could a Shaozhou City So many people would suddenly arrive at the same time, and even though these people were dressed in plain clothes, they could be seen as either official or noble. Because if they were ordinary people, they would rarely ride on horseback. Within a short time, three or four of them passed by. Batch people.

Normally, Wang Pang might not be so sensitive, but now he was with the prince. Wang Pang seemed relaxed during this journey, but his nerves were always tense. He reined in his horse and stopped, beckoning over to Zhe Kejun.

"Sir, what's the matter?" Zhe Kejun came closer and saw Wang Pang frowning slightly.

"I always feel that something is wrong today. How many groups of horses passed by us just now? And the carriage just now, did you see it?"

"I saw it! Young Master, is there something big going on in Shaozhou City?" Zhe Kejun asked.

"Well, if it were a normal gathering, there would be a lot of people going to the city, but most of the people would go in oxcarts, and there would be men, women, old and young. There were many mature men on the road today, and some of them had tattoos on their faces. (Tattoos on the faces of soldiers in the Song Dynasty)

Zhao Zhongzhen listened and came closer: "Brother Wang, could it be that my father found this place?" He said with a slightly excited tone.

Wang Pang shook his head: "If your father sends people, just send one or two teams, instead of sending several teams scattered. Brother Zhe, please go to the city gate first and have a look. We will wait here. You!" Wang Pang, Zhong Zhen and others stopped on the roadside. Occasionally, people passing by them would look at these people. Especially Wang Pang's horse was really eye-catching, so Wang Pang ordered Zhang Ping to stay with him. On the spot, he led the horse with Zhong Zhen, walked down the post road, and tied the horse. Zhong Zhen smiled: "Brother Wang, you are too careful."

"We don't know what the situation is yet, but we are standing on the roadside like that, which is really conspicuous. Look how nice this is, with green trees and shade. Let's take a rest here."

While waiting for others, Zhong Zhen looked towards the road from time to time. Wang Pang knew that he had the idea of ​​returning to the capital and wished he could go back as soon as possible: "You have such a serious idea. It has been almost two months since you came out." "I didn't expect to go this far, did I?" Wang Pang smiled and looked at Zhao Zhongzhen who was distracted.

"Hehe, isn't it?! I really didn't expect that we only have four roads and a dozen states in just over two months. Think of me, the Song Dynasty, which has twenty-three roads and more than two hundred states. This is such a big place. !" Zhao Zhongzhen said, his eyes were bright, and he felt a little proud in his heart.

But in Wang Pang's eyes, what does that mean? The land area of ​​the Northern Song Dynasty was 4.6 million square kilometers, which was less than half of the 9.6 million square kilometers during Wang Pang's time. He smiled slightly and looked at Zhong Pang. With a proud look on his face, Zhongzhen suddenly asked: "Brother Wang, you have also been to Xixia and Liao Kingdoms. Are they much smaller than our Song Dynasty?" [

Wang Pang has long seen that Zhong Zhen is very ambitious. Now he has to hold back and tell the truth. If he is distracted in the future, it is not a joke to send troops to fight: "It's better than us just by talking about it." The Song Dynasty had less land, but the Western Xia and Liao Kingdoms, plus Tubo and Uighurs, together had more land than the Song Dynasty. Therefore, although the Song Dynasty had a large area, it was not easy to make enemies. What’s more, I didn’t tell you yesterday that there were many Important resources are in other people's hands, such as horses and mines!"

"Haha, I know. I listened to everything you said yesterday. Aren't we just short of money now? Brother Wang, don't worry. One day I will be able to make the decision. I will definitely listen to you and your father-in-law and replenish the treasury first. "

This guy is thinking very far. If Yingzong is finished now, are you still in Shaozhou? It would be good if you are not punished, and you will be allowed to make the decision? Wang Pang thought in his heart, and he said, now it is his own business So much, I originally planned to go south to see the mine mentioned by my master Zhang Yi, and then consider opening the ancient tea horse road. If this continues, this kid Zhao Zhongzhen will definitely interfere with it.

"Hey~Brother Wang, I remembered something. Do you remember Wang Shao Zichun?"

"Zichun?? Of course I remember. He wasn't visiting Shaanxi back then. What? Have you met him?" Wang Pang still had a deep impression of Wang Shao. He was one of the few friends he made at the beginning. Wang Shao left the capital and rarely had the chance to meet him.

"Just now you mentioned Tubo, and I remembered it. I met him before you returned to the capital, and we became good friends with him. He said, 'To take Xixia, we must first restore Hehuang, so that the Xia people will be attacked from both sides.' I will take him He told his father about his idea, and he also appointed him as the stationed soldier and horse commander on Huanqing Road, specializing in managing the affairs of this road and Pyyan Road, and stationed in Qingzhou."

"Oh? What is the responsibility of Zichun, the stationed soldier and horse commander?" Wang Pang suddenly became more interested. He wanted to take the Ancient Tea Horse Road, which was really from Shu to Tubo. It would be great to have Wang Shao's line. .

"Zichun is responsible for monitoring the situation of the Tibetan tribe and handling the lawsuits of the Tibetan tribe. If there are rewards or punishments for the Tibetan tribe, he will discuss the disposal with the generals of the road. Major events will be reported to the court. He is also responsible for uniting the Tibetan tribe and helping the Tubo people resettle them. Old people and children. Also, if the Xixia army attacks Tubo, they will assist Tibet in fighting."

Great, this is so on point, I really want to eat ice and hail.

Wang Pang was overjoyed after hearing this. With Wang Shao's path, it could be said that walking on the Ancient Tea Horse Road was twice the result with half the effort. He was secretly happy. At this moment, Zhe Kejun came back, and there was another person following Zhe Kejun. Woke up.

"Young Master, as expected, something happened!" Zhe Kejun jumped off his horse on the side of the road and walked into the woods and said, "Shaozhou City is heavily guarded. You can only enter but not leave. But this is not a generalization. It's just that people of the same age as the two young masters are all the same. You are not allowed to leave the city, and anyone who is not from Shaozhou will be brought to the county prince's mansion. Also, I met Wazhuang who was about to enter the city, so I brought him with me."

Wazhuang was sent by Wang Pang yesterday to inform Nan Jifeng. Why did he return to Shaozhou City so quickly? When Wang Pang saw Wazhuang, Wazhuang hurriedly came over and said, "Sir, I was planning to go to Lianzhou yesterday, and there was a way station on the way. I met General Nan’s team, they are also coming to Shaozhou. But I heard that you are in Shaozhou, he said that he would not go into the city yet, and he would like to invite you to come over for discussion!"
Chapter completed!