In the lobby of Jiyuan Restaurant in Xishi City, Nan Jiyun sat on a bench with a golden sword and pushed a bowl of strong wine to Li Kuo.
"Brother Nan, I really can't drink anymore. Last night at Mrs. Guo Guo's house, I was drunk to the fullest!" Li Kuo waved his hand repeatedly, declining Nan Jiyun's kindness.
Nan Jiyun's eyes widened and he yelled: "Why, now that I have become a school captain, I don't recognize you, Brother Nan? You can drink Mrs. Guo Guo's wine, but you, Brother Nan, can't drink it?"
"No, it's not!" The young man was teased by Nan Jiyun and was at a loss as to why.
Nan Jiyun put the wine bowl in his hand in front of the young man and said without hesitation: "You just did it, like a man!"
"Alas, alas." Li Kuo picked up the wine bowl helplessly, raised his neck and drank a few sips of it. The wine was very strong, and the young man choked and coughed as soon as he entered. A quarter of the very good wine fell from Li Kuo's neck.
It's a pity that the edge flow has slipped away.
After patting the young man's back a few times, Nan Jiyun said in a harmonious and caring voice: "You drink slowly, because no one will compete with you. The faster you drink this wine, the more exciting it will be. You are so young."
, but don’t hurt your body.”
"Hey." Li Kuo took a deep breath and smiled bitterly: "If you hadn't forced me to drink, I wouldn't have drank so hard!"
Knocking on the square table with his hand, Nan Jiyun pretended to smile mysteriously: "I'm calling you here. Of course something good will come of it. I heard that your boy was made a captain after joining the Shence Army. I think he will have a bright future in the future.
Wu Liang. For your own future, Brother Nan must please you well so that he can get a golden rice bowl in the future!"
"Brother Nan!" Li Kuo protested loudly, his neck red with embarrassment.
"Look at you, you don't have the demeanor of a school captain." Nan Jiyun patted the young man's slightly thin shoulder heartily, with a kind face. "The Shence Army is destined to go to Longxi. The army is not as good as Chang'an.
There are many rules and taboos. Although you are a young boy, although you have high qualifications, you have no background in the court, so you will inevitably be hated by others. Although your brother Nan has no ability, he has some experience in the army. When doing things in the army, you must do the minimum
If you tell me to do more, please don’t take care of things that are not yours to do. You will miss out on a great honor!”
"Alas, alas." The young man repeatedly claimed that Brother Nan treated him like a brother. How could he not be moved by sharing his life experience with him without reservation?
"Your Majesty has established the Shence Army, and he must be using troops to the west. You are part of the Shence Army, so you won't be able to rush to the front line. However, it is better to have many friends and multiple paths, and an elder to take care of you.
You're just fooling around. When you get to Wuwei (Note 1), you go find a bodyguard named Xue Feng. He has been traveling as a bodyguard at the border all year round. He knows a lot of people from both the black and white communities!"
"Oh." Li Kuo nodded lightly and silently remembered the name Xue Feng in his heart. In his early years, Brother Nan was a knight-errant who traveled around the world. He made many friends on the road. Although most of these friends had no political background, most of them had no political background.
They have a strong sense of loyalty and a sincere friendship will make them a lifelong brother!
"Do you know why I called you to Jiyuan Restaurant? Although this hotel is open every day to welcome guests, it is also engaged in the fur business from time to time. Every spring, silk and tea bricks are sold from Chang'an to Mobei, and rawhide from the grassland is purchased at a low price.
, silverware, and then rush back to Guanzhong before winter. This back and forth is a tenfold profit difference!" Nan Jiyun shook his fingers and gestured: "There are only two ways to enter the fortress. One is from Hedong.
Go straight north through Mayi, cross the Great Wall, and enter the vast grassland. Secondly, you go from the Hexi Corridor to Wuwei and then pass Liangzhou. After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, four towns in Anxi were built one after another, and the Silk Road
was re-opened. As a result, the northern route gradually weakened, and the caravans chose the more prosperous and safer western route."
Li Kuo listened quietly. Although he didn't know why Brother Nan said these words to him, the young man still listened to Nan Jiyun's instructions gently and humbly.
"It is no exaggeration to tell you that 90% of the money income of this Jiyuan Restaurant comes from trafficking goods. A trip outside the Great Wall is equivalent to the income of this restaurant for half a year!" Nan Jiyun took a sip of strong wine and continued:
"They are going to Wuwei for a short trip in a while. You and them can be used as bodyguards!"
"Ah!" Li Kuo jumped up in shock. He never thought that Brother Nan came to him to be the bodyguard of the caravan. Not to mention that there has never been a precedent for the army to protect the merchants, but there are examples to follow.
, what should Marshal Ge Shuhan say?
"Brother Nan, I am now affiliated with the Hexi Army, and I follow rules and regulations in everything I do. I'm afraid..."
"Alas!" Nan Jiyun interrupted the young man's words with a wave of his hand, "The regulations are not all determined by humans, and besides, this is also His Majesty's wish."
"Your Majesty!" Li Kuo's face turned pale. He really didn't understand why a small caravan could cause such trouble.
After looking around for a week and seeing no one else except himself, Nan Jiyun lowered his voice and said: "Actually, your brother Nan, I am also a hermit! This time I am telling you that you have passed the examination and officially become a hermit.
.”
Boom! The boy's mind went blank. Brother Nan, a hermit? I became a hermit too?
Seeing the surprised look on the young man's face, Nan Jiyun shrugged his shoulders: "What's so strange about this? The hermit is His Majesty's mouthpiece and is everywhere. Let me tell you the truth, the shopkeeper of this building is also a hermit of the Tang Dynasty.
It’s just that everyone has different identities and different division of labor and responsibilities!”
"So, I have become a hermit? This bodyguard is His Majesty's will?" The young man shook his head suddenly, trying to become more sober.
"Yes, you have become a hermit. During the one-month assessment period in the military camp, you performed very well, and His Majesty is very satisfied! Don't make this move public. Ge Shuhan will return to Hexi in a few days to handle urgent military affairs. He only brought a few people with him.
Hundreds of soldiers have left the capital." Nan Jiyun looked at the young man with a half-smile, which made people unpredictable.
The young man worked hard to calm down the doubts in his heart and connected the clues one by one. It seems that starting from the polo match is his own assessment, right? The knighthood in the polo match, the training of leading soldiers in the Shence Army, and the actual combat exercises
Becoming famous, these three are all part of the assessment. It turns out that I am under the control and gaze of His Majesty the Emperor all the time!
"In order not to attract attention, the only ones escorting me this time are you, Suzaku. In other words, the decision of what happens on the road is entirely up to you!" Nan Jiyun thought for a while and finally confessed his worries frankly.
"But, I told my mother, A Tian and the others said that the tug of war would not start until next year. How should I explain this?" The young man argued hurriedly.
"You are still thinking about what these troublesome things are for. Being valued by His Majesty is a blessing that you have cultivated for several lifetimes. This escort is just a cover. You have to remember that the slower you go on the way to Hexi, the better.
We need to find out the origin of a ballad called 'Luo Shujue'!" Nan Jiyun said as he hugged the boy's neck.
"Luo Shu Jue?" Li Kuo asked suspiciously. This thing happened so suddenly that he was not prepared at all.
"Hmm. A few days ago, from Longyou and Hexi, there was a nursery rhyme called Luo Shu Jue." After thinking for a moment, Nan Jiyun read out in a low voice: "Luo Shu appeared in this world, the Central Plains tribulation; the Buddha
Break the fast, the two capitals fall. Five buckets of rice enter Shambhala, and the melons and Liangshan rivers change!" (Note 2)
Li Kuo frowned and said displeasedly: "This nursery rhyme is so arrogant!"
"Didn't you notice that there have been many Tibetan Buddhist monks in Chang'an City recently?" Nan Jiyun tapped his fingers, and the look in his eyes became more and more serious: "Don't be idle these days, check more of these Tibetan monks."
The origins of Buddhist monks are pretending to be gods and ghosts, pretending to be mysterious. I don’t believe there are any songs or prophecies. These strange and confusing things can deceive ignorant believers!"
Tubo monks, Longyou Hexi, five buckets of rice, Shambhala... What does this series of nouns in one place mean? What amazing secrets are hidden behind this Luoshu Jue? Li Kuo felt a burden on his shoulders.
Note 1: Wuwei: Wuwei was the capital of Hexi in the Tang Dynasty. Because it was located at the throat of the Hexi Corridor and the only way for the Silk Road, Wuwei was very grand during the Tang Dynasty. There is a poem that goes: "There are hundreds of thousands of families in Liangzhou, half of them are barbarians."
This is evident from this.
Note 2: Luoshu: Luoshu was called Turtle Book in ancient times. It is said that a divine turtle came out of Luoshui, and there was this image on its carapace. It is said that when Luoshu appeared, the world changed.
ps: Liu Yun took almost 4 hours to write this chapter, please give me some encouragement.
The pace is much faster, isn’t it? Isn’t it very refreshing? Liuyun does what he says!
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