It was a simple banquet, and the dishes were nothing more than roasted lamb and sesame cakes. The person sitting opposite Zhang Zhao was Guo Xuanli, and the little wild cat Guo Waner was waiting between them.
"Wan'er, are you still used to living here?" Guo Xuanli stroked his beard with a kind smile on his face.
Apart from being a little embarrassed when he first came in, the old guy has now adapted to it.
He looked at Guo Waner, who was flying around like butterflies with a happy smile on her face, and nodded with satisfaction.
The only thing I'm a little worried about is that Guo Waner's appearance is really not outstanding. I don't know if she can win the heart of Duke Zhang. You must know that Li Guoshou's daughter-in-law is the famous beautiful young widow of Balasagon.
"Back to Third Uncle, Wan'er is still used to living there!" Guo Wan'er blushed and replied in a low voice like a mosquito humming.
What could she be dissatisfied with? She lost her temper and said she wanted to elope with the Uighurs, but it was just to resist a marriage that she was extremely uncomfortable with.
As for Zhang Zhao, apart from not being able to give her the status of a head wife, he is young, rich, powerful, and handsome, which completely fits Guo Waner's fantasy of her partner.
As for lustful, well... Zhang Zhao will definitely be a scumbag who will be criticized by thousands of people in future generations, but in this era, for a man who is almost equivalent to a monarch, Zhang Zhao actually has good self-control and is not
A lustful and lustful person.
"Something has happened here. I am about to return east. I wonder if Mr. Guo would like to go back with us to see his motherland?"
Zhang Zhao took the mutton chops handed over by Guo Waner, and then said to Guo Xuanli with a smile.
Guo Xuanli glanced at Zhang Zhao, thought for a moment, and then said another thing.
"Master Titexigu, Pugu, and Yaogeluo knew that the Duke wanted to return eastward, and it was indeed me who revealed it.
Privately, I must support the Duke. After all, it is Guo's ambition to return to his homeland.
But on the other hand, Guo's family has been living in Balasagon for decades, and every bit of it has been built by Guo and everyone with great effort.
Before he was a Tanger, Guo was already a Balasagon man."
Sure enough, it was Guo Xuanli who said it, and the reality was even more extreme than Zhang Zhao thought.
Zhang Zhao originally thought that they just felt that he had few confidants and could take care of him without spending too much money.
But in fact, they knew that Zhang Zhao would return eastward sooner or later, so they just wanted to use Zhang Zhao as a sign and did not want to give him any benefits at all.
By the time they became stronger, Zhang Zhao would have returned to Dunhuang long ago. Apart from the name Ju'er Khan, they had done almost nothing.
What can Zhang Zhao say? Guo Xuanli has already stated that before he was a Tang son, he was a Balasagon man.
Obviously, compared to the uncertainty of returning to the east, Guo Xuanli preferred to stay in Balashagon
Relying on the religious strength of the two great men of the Guo family, and the status of Nestorianism as the largest religion in Balasagon, Saktu and the Persians were also defeated by Zhang Zhao and escaped. How can they stay in Balasa?
Sha Gon is more reliable than Dong Gui.
"Mr. Guo, I really appreciate a saying, that is, don't treat others as fools. I finally understand why Balasagon always keeps fighting. It's because you people have taken advantage of Balasagon.
No matter who comes, the first thing you think about is how to protect your own interests from being damaged. In order to give less benefits, you dare to do anything!
Aren't you afraid that someone might get angry and wash Balasagon directly?"
Since Guo Xuanli wants to be Gao Hua, Zhang Zhao also feels that he doesn't need to be polite. He only talks about interests and not feelings. Wouldn't a certain Zhang Erlang not do the same?
Fortunately, he got the news out of Guo Wan'er, otherwise it would be troublesome when he really became a Ju'er Khan.
You can't just kill all these monolithic nobles under your command as the Great Khan, right?
"The Duke will not do that. I don't think the Duke is such a ruthless person, and secondly, it is not in the Duke's interests.
There are tens of thousands of people in this city, and the population controlled by Yehu and eminent monks in Balasagon is even more than hundreds of thousands.
Since the Duke wants to return east, he will definitely not choose to plunder. This kind of thankless thing, now that the Duke knows about it, it is just more for us."
Guo Xuanli was not too nervous, because he felt that Zhang Zhao was a smart man, and since he was a smart man, it meant he could negotiate terms.
Originally, he did not agree with using this method of slicing sausages to deal with Zhang Zhao, but unfortunately everyone else agreed, and it was hard for him to object.
"Yes!" Zhang Zhao sneered and nodded, "X is indeed a smart man, but Mr. Guo had better know that X is also a young man, a young man who has made such a big difference.
Young people always think about things more simply. You think I have no good choice but to compromise with you and be a Juerhan who looks good on everyone, right?"
Zhang Zhao said, and stood up a little depressed. Damn it, I thought it would be like Tang Qizhong, who met a group of Tang'ers in Anxi who were determined to return to their homeland eastward. Everyone worked hard together
Go everywhere and return with honor.
But reality gave him a slap in the face. When he came to Anxi, he had seen not only 10,000 but also 8,000 Tang children. Those who really cared about the Tang Dynasty like him were probably only a few people such as Huitong monk Zheng Tong.
Already.
And now, it's time again when he has to fight with his own people.
"Mr. Guo thinks there is no good way to do this, because you think that as long as your Ye Hu family and the Buddhist, Jing and other sects unite together, it will be enough for me to throw a tantrum at you.
But you don’t know that Zhang actually has a habit of preferring to get the straight way rather than asking for the hard way, and you are too confident in your so-called abilities.”
As he spoke, Zhang Zhao turned around suddenly and quickly pulled out the sword from his waist under Guo Waner's horrified gaze. Guo Xuanli also looked at Zhang Zhao in confusion.
"Is the Duke planning to attack Guo? The Duke doesn't think that killing Guo will solve the problem, right?
You have to know that Guo is the person who is least willing to deal with the county magistrate like this. If it were someone else, I'm afraid the request would be even more excessive."
Zhang Zhao looked at Guo Xuanli with a sneer and cut off a large piece of mutton with a barrier knife.
"They won't make more extreme demands because I have no intention of giving them this opportunity.
How about Guo Liugong and Guo Tiance? Are you right? The third uncle is old and only thinks about how to maintain his power. He has long since lost his ambition as a martyr."
Guo Xuanli looked horrified in the direction of Zhang Zhao's shouting. The curtain was gently opened. Guo Xuanqing, the sixth most dignified figure in Guo Jiaxuan's generation, and Guo Tiance, the leader twice as young as the Guo family, slowly walked out from behind the curtain.
.
"Lao Liu? Tiance? What are you doing here?" Guo Xuanli's heart sank. This was terrible. He should never have agreed to the proposal of the Buddhist clan and the Yehu nobles.
Originally he wanted not to be a traitor to Balasagon, but now he wanted to become a traitor to the Guo family.
"Third brother! I have already said that Titsigu and Zhuoyehu are greedy and stupid. How can we advance and retreat with them?
Last time when we gathered an army to fight in Julan City, I advised you not to listen to Titsigu. As a result, the Guo family had to take refuge on Jiedan Mountain.
This time I advised you to cooperate with the county prince and share the power of Balashagon, but you didn’t listen, so you can’t blame me, the sixth one.”
Guo Xuanqing burst into anger and looked dissatisfied for a long time.
"Tiance! Have you gathered all the people you asked to summon?" Zhang Zhao did not look at Guo Xuanli, but asked Guo Tiance, who was specially wearing a Tang Dynasty robe.
"Go back to the Duke. The two hundred warriors have been gathered. We are just waiting for the Duke to give the order!" Guo Tiance held his hand towards Zhang Zhaoyi.
"I just don't know whose house the Duke wants to touch?"
"I heard that you are famous for your resourcefulness among the Guo family. Which family do you think we should destroy today?"
"Tiance thinks that we should attack the Pugu family, because the Pugu family is the most powerful, with hundreds of warriors in the city alone, while the Yaogeluo family has long been in decline.
If we try to harm the Geluo family, we will only make Yuzuo die and the foxes mourn and gather under the command of the Pugu family.
But if we capture the Pugu family, we will kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, leaving the two groups to fight, so we will never dare to go against the Duke again!"
After Guo Tiance finished speaking, Guo Xuanqing added with a smile, "Moreover, the people under the Pugu family were cruel, even the people of their own tribe would break their bones and suck out their marrow, which is unpopular.
Moreover, they have lived in Balashagon for hundreds of years and accumulated gold, jewels and jade without any means. They ransacked their homes so that the county magistrate could use them to reward the three armies."
"At the same time, the Pugu family owns tens of thousands of acres of farmland in Balasagon and more than a dozen of the best pastures by the Chu River. After these are all owned by the Guo family, they will be the first family in Balasagon!" Zhang Zhao said at the same time. said.
"Hahahaha!" The three of them and Guo Waner laughed at the same time. Guo Xuanli suddenly seemed to have aged dozens of years, no longer as calm as when he first met Zhang Zhao.
"It is unknown what the Duke will do with his servants?"
"Although the third uncle is old, he is still a certain Zhang Erlang and the elder of the Guo family. If I want to promote Nestorianism and write classics, I still need to rely on him. However, the secular things of the Guo family head and Balasagon are still left to Liu. Come, uncle!"
Zhang Zhao said lightly, and Guo Xuanli nodded lightly. Writing books and talking about it was considered his best, but Guo Xuanli looked at Zhang Zhao.
"The prince wants to promote Nestorianism, but he also wants to eradicate the ancient master Titexi?"
"How is this possible?" Zhang Zhao shook his head repeatedly, "Master Titusi is highly respected, and the Great Sage and Emperor have long wished to discuss Buddhism with him. Shule has a new acquisition, and Dayun Temple is in urgent need of reconstruction. Master Titusi is here. Go and be put into great use!"
"In this case, I have nothing to say, but my son Guangsheng, Guangcheng is still in the Talos army, please pay one or two for me!" Guo Xuanli said very solemnly.
"Third uncle, don't worry. Guang Sheng and Guang Cheng are still Mr. Zhang's confidants. Mr. Zhang Erlang wants to revive the Han family and will never attack his own people."
....
At nightfall, Pugu Naluo called his confidants, drank wine and sang songs in the house. Now that the threat of Balasagon has been eliminated, all he needs to do is to keep Zhang Jungong, who does not care about Balasagon, in Balasagon for a few months. The situation will change. It will stabilize.
At that time, the Pugu family will once again become the most powerful family in Balasagon.
As for the title of Ju'er Khan, just give it to me. When Duke Zhang leaves, you can even give it to the Great Sage and Emperor of the Kingdom of Jin. It's just a matter of the price.
When he got drunk, Pugunaro even left the stage and started dancing to the sound of drums. Suddenly, there was a loud bang and the firelight shone in the dark night sky.
Pugunara rushed out of the lobby, and then he was horrified to find that something had made a huge gap in the wall of his mansion, and a large number of warriors with torches and armor were pouring in through the gap.
Just when Pugunara wanted to run quietly to the west courtyard, an arrow shot from a distance and hit him in the throat.
To the east of the city, there is the Burana Buddhist Temple. The monks and soldiers of the temple guarded the place for a whole night as if they were facing a powerful enemy, but no rebels came.
As the sun rose, a young man wearing a robe walked in calmly and calmly. It was Guo Tiance of the Guo family.
"The Duke asked me to give the master a message. The Great Sage and the Emperor have long admired the master and hope to meet him.
In addition, Dayun Temple in Shule was destroyed, and the Great Sage and Emperor also want to rebuild it. It would be a blessing for Buddhism if the master can come to preside over it!"
Everyone's eyes were on Titsigu, and this young monk gave a wry smile.
It’s not a bad place to go. Shule is a Buddhist country, so it’s not a bad idea to go there. Anyway, there’s no way he, a monk soldier, can beat Duke Zhang’s Hundred-Fighting Lion.