The flag hanging above Baozhou City is still the flag of the Yuan Dynasty.
Zhang Hongfan walked out of Zhang Mansion and rushed to the Lotus Pond Courtyard in the southeast of the city.
Lotus Pond Villa is a commonly known name. When Zhang Rou built Baozhou City, he dug a large pond for water transportation and water in the city. He built a villa beside the pond, which was originally named Xuexiang Garden. Later, Zhang Hongji often received guests here.
, and he also inscribed a plaque with the words "Shui Jian Office".
This is where Wu Gu stayed after he entered the city.
But when Zhang Hongfan arrived tonight, he looked up and saw that the plaque on the door had disappeared.
Even the couplets next to "The literary building is green, the water is returned to the dynasty, the eight scenes are like beads inlaid on the screen; the precious duck wears the lotus, the ancient banyan is in the sun, the four seasons rhyme to stimulate the poetic heart" has been removed, and the torch light shines
, you can also see the split marks on the pillars.
He frowned, dismounted, and hurried into the other courtyard. Before he turned around, he could already see bonfires lit in the huge front yard, and many soldiers were sitting around the bonfires drinking.
As he walked further, what made him feel ridiculous was that someone actually set up a tent in the original courtyard with unique flowers and trees, while the pavilions and pavilions with carved railings and painted buildings were torn down and used as firewood.
"Where is the king?"
"On the boat."
Zhang Hongfan closed his eyes to calm down and strode inside.
Passing through the vestibule, there is a rockery with a large lake in front. There is a Guanlan Pavilion on the top of the mountain, and at the bottom of the mountain are scattered lotus ponds with blue waves, covering a vast area.
Going around the rockery, there is a white marble bridge. The original plaque on the bridge with the inscription "Green Field Ladder Bridge" is missing, and even the exquisite carvings on the bridge have been scratched out of shape.
If you turn eastward at this time, you will see Hanlu Pavilion, Xiangqin Stream, and Gaofen Pavilion in front of you. In short, there are Qiong Towers and Jade Pavilions, and flowers, fragrant flowers, and lotuses are all supported by the mountains and rivers, intertwined into a painting.
Zhang Hongfan looked at the fire over there, feeling increasingly distressed, and strode westward.
A large expanse of water gradually appeared in front of it, and the painted pavilion boat was moored in the wind and snow, perfectly integrating the grand style of the north with the exquisiteness of the gardens of the south of the Yangtze River.
Wu Gudai was sitting on a balcony by the lake drinking.
Fortunately, the plaque with the words "Junzi Immortality Hall" on the balcony is still there.
"Why don't you, Your Majesty, get on the boat and take a look?"
"I don't like taking a boat." Wu Gu said: "I inspected it today and found that there is plenty of food in Baozhou City. There is no problem for the army to defend for the first half of the year. But the fodder is not enough for my horses. Also, the place is too small.
, the horse will lose weight if he turns back."
Zhang Hongfan thought of the scene of horse manure everywhere in the city, and suddenly he could understand why Jia Wenbei didn't look good on him before.
He would not change his attitude because of these trivial matters, saying: "As long as you can hold on, eating these war horses is worth it."
Wu Gudai's face darkened and he said: "You are worth it. My warriors will not think it is worth it unless there are trophies."
"It doesn't even take half a year. We only need to defend for three months. When Li Xia is defeated, there will be a lot of loot." Zhang Hongfan said: "But please also restrain the warriors and don't treat Baozhou City as a spoil."
"I have restrained the soldiers." Wu Gudai showed a rare smile to Zhang Hongfan, "They are all rough men from the grassland, please forgive me."
"Your Majesty, please be more restrained."
Zhang Hongfan reminded me again, and when it came to business, he said: "I want the king to lend me a thousand Qingxue."
"how?"
"There are traitors in the city and they need to be found."
"Traitor? Who?"
"There are always a few people. Li Xia is careful about his background, and he always likes to use this kind of three-way method, which is not grand. Just find them out." Zhang Hongfan said: "It is best to use the method that can completely
Someone you can trust."
"Okay then, I'll ask Jawa to lead a team of a thousand people to follow your arrangements."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"One more drink?"
"No." Zhang Hongfan stood up and said, "I'm still busy tonight."
Wu Gu led the way: "By the way, where is that over there?"
Zhang Hongfan turned around and looked in the direction he pointed.
The Wugu belt refers to a large area of buildings across a lake from here.
"That's the Ten Thousand Volumes Library." Zhang Hongfan said with a slight sense of nostalgia in his eyes: "Next to it is the Zhonghe Hall, commonly known as the Lotus Pond Academy. It is the place where we studied when we were young. Hao Gong, Wang Zhuangyuan... Wang Lu'an were all here.
He taught us here."
Halfway through his words, he thought that Wang E had surrendered, so he changed his words and mentioned Wang Pan.
Wu Gudai was not interested in this, but said: "I told you where it is, there are soldiers and horses stationed there, and even I can't enter."
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. There are many precious classics in the Ten Thousand Volumes Library, and many of them are even unique. It is really not appropriate for soldiers and horses to enter."
"I understand that it is not appropriate to let my warriors in." Wu Gu said with a smile: "After so many years of friendship, it seems that in your eyes, I am still a rough man who is illiterate."
"How could it be? Your Majesty's calligraphy is very good. When the war is over, I will invite you to appreciate the calligraphy and paintings of famous artists."
"good."
Zhang Hongfan turned around and left, finally feeling a little irritated, feeling that Wu Gudai was still making himself unhappy at this time.
Where is the Ten Thousand Volumes Library?
When the Jin Kingdom was destroyed, Zhang Rou and Jia Fu went to great lengths to protect these classics, calligraphy and paintings during the war, and then transported them back to Baozhou.
Some of the calligraphy and paintings in it are treasures such as Chu Suiliang's "Thousand Character Essay", Yan Zhenqing's "Thousand Blessings Stele", and Huai Su's "Autobiography". There are so many classics in it that Hao Jing praised "Jia Hou's calligraphy is the best in the world"
.
The Wanjuan Library is the brainchild of the Zhang and Jia families and is the lifeblood of both families.
But at the same time, it doesn’t just belong to two families.
It is the cultural heritage left over from more than three hundred years of chaos in the Central Plains.
Even Yuan Haowen wanted to borrow a few more classics from them until his death...
Zhang Hongfan knew very well that this time he asked Wu Gu to garrison troops in the city. If the Wanjuan Library was damaged, Zhang Rou would definitely destroy him, and Jia Wenbei would definitely rebel.
No, Jia Wenbei has already rebelled.
The traitors in the city were found, namely Jingjie and Jia Wenbei.
"Go and tell Shishilang to control all the city gates and beware of any mutiny in the city."
"Here."
"Go and tell Li Ting to keep an eye on Jia Wenbei first, and then we'll take action together when I arrive."
"Here."
Over there, Mongolian Qianhu Gawa had already led his people over and asked loudly: "Who is the commander-in-chief sending me here to kill?"
"Follow me to control the soldiers and horses in the city and put down the rebellion."
"They are all soldiers and horses of your Zhang family, but also..."
There was the sound of horse hooves trampling on the bluestone slab. Soldiers came from Nancheng to report.
"Commander, the Tang army has moved! It has approached Shunping and Tang County before evening. It is still moving forward. It is possible to reach the city before dawn."
Before he finished speaking, another soldier came hurriedly from the other side.
"Commander, it's bad! Jia Wen rebelled and suddenly sent people to attack the south gate!"
"Follow me to Nancheng!"
However, Zhang Hongfan only took two steps when he suddenly stopped.
He turned around and murmured: "No, there's something else wrong..."
~~
To the west of the city, there is the Incense Garden.
When Zhang Rou rebuilt Baozhou City, he introduced flowing water into the city and built four gardens where the flowing water must pass: Planting Incense in the west, Fangrun in the north, Snow Fragrance in the south, and Shouchun in the east.
The Xuexiang Garden in the south is the Lotus Pond Courtyard, and the Zhongxiang Garden in the west is the residence of the Mao family, the in-laws of the Zhang family.
That night, Zhang Hongdao was having a secret conversation with several old members of the Zhang family, when a call suddenly came from outside the door.
"Wulang, Mr. Jiang Han is here."
Zhang Hongdao was startled at first, but when he heard that it was Zhao Fu, he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stood up and walked into the courtyard to greet him.
Zhao Fu was originally a great scholar from the south of the Yangtze River. When the Mongolian army conquered Jinghu Lake in his early years, he was kidnapped to the north and has always been protected by Zhang Rou.
When Li Xia sneaked into Luyi, he just greeted Zhao Fu and made the city gate guards think that he was Zhao Fu's companion, so he escaped Zhang Rou's arrest. At that time, Zhang Hongdao was still searching for Li Xia.
But not.
Ten years have passed in a blink of an eye, and none of them expected that the situation would be like this.
"The student has met Mr."
"Wu Lang, don't come out quickly, go in and talk."
Zhao Fu was already gray-haired, but his movements were still strong. He pushed Zhang Hongdao into the house again and said: "Jinggong has already told me that I know that Wu Lang has entered the city. I won't say anything else for now. I'll give this to you."
.”
Zhang Hongdao took it and looked at it, but it was a list.
Zhao Fudao: "We have all expressed our opinions, Wu Lang can rest assured."
Zhang Hongdao immediately understood that most of the people on the list were generals and officials in Baozhou City, and they had all been taught by Zhao Fu at the Zhang Family School.
"Thank you sir."
"Go ahead and promise me that you won't let the war spread to the Ten Thousand Volumes Library."
"Sir, don't worry, now that I'm back, I won't do it."
"..."
There were still many people to meet on this snowy night, so Zhang Hongdao soon left the Xiangxiang Garden again.
In order not to attract attention, he actually didn't have many people around him, only about thirty people.
However, as he hurried to the long street, suddenly there was a "whoosh" sound and an arrow was shot, hitting a soldier in the face.
"Get them!"
Many figures suddenly appeared in front of them, and people immediately surrounded them.
"Zhang Hongdao! Do you still have the nerve to come back?!"
In the midst of the fighting, he suddenly heard this shout. Zhang Hongdao did not panic. He directed his men to return to the incense garden, and then shouted: "Jiulang! Surrender. If you surrender now, I may be able to keep you alive."
Life."
"You're not very sincere in recruiting me. Maybe you can save my life?"
"I will try my best, but you killed too many people in Yanjing, not only the Dong family, but also people from the Military Intelligence Department."
"If you surrender now, I can not only protect you from death, but I can also protect you from becoming the Marshal of Ten Thousand Households."
In the night, only the bloody light illuminated by the torches could be seen. The two brothers could not see each other, and they were shouting at the top of their lungs.
After a while, Zhang Hongfan heard the answer.
Zhang Hongdao's voice sounded farther away.
"Kuro, you are at the end of your rope!"
"I have already found you out. You were in the dark and I was in the open, but in the end I got the upper hand. You are the one who is at the end of your rope."
Obviously, Zhang Hongfan is far smarter than Zhang Hongdao.
This time when the two brothers fought, he found Zhang Hongdao first and launched a siege.
However, Zhang Hongdao did not shout back, but just returned to the Incense Garden.
Then, with a "whoosh" sound, a red firework shot into the sky.
"Pull?" Zhang Hongdao murmured: "That's because you haven't seen the situation clearly yet..."