Chapter 168: The Emperor's Barrage is robbed

Before dawn, Li Qing left his house to work in the prefecture. It was not because he was diligent, but when the sun came out, the ground would be like a fire. Almost everyone who went out would choose to go out at this time, and Li Qing also followed the local customs.

It was dawn, and the air was fresh at dawn, and there was still a hint of coolness. Shazhou could not accumulate heat. In midsummer, morning and evening were relatively cool. At this time, there were more people on the street than at noon. They were all people who rushed out early, and people came and went on the street, and carriages rushed past Li Qing.

Li Siye has been there for five days. To be honest, Li Qing has no idea whether he can borrow troops. Not to mention that this kind of cross-regional troops requires the approval of the Ministry of War or Li Longji's approval, even if he transfers troops privately, it is not clear whether Gao Xianzhi is willing to take this risk for him. After all, it is just a small bandit, and he began to regret it. If Li Siye is held back by Gao Xianzhi again, it would be more than worth the loss.

"Yangming! Governor Li! Governor Li!"

Li Qing was awakened in contemplation, as if someone was calling him behind him, saying a title. He hurriedly looked back, but the abortion was blocked by his vision.

"Governor, it seems to be Lord Wang?"

Through the crowd, the personal soldiers around him saw the man calling him from afar. Soon, a carriage stopped in Li Qing, and a black and thin face poked out from the car window, covered with folds. It was indeed Wang Changling. Li Qing just made the rule yesterday that only officials in Shazhou could ride a carriage for only over fifty years old, and all others were riding horses, including him, which saved the huge carriage from being congested in the yamen gate, affecting ventilation.

"It's early!"

Li Qing smiled and said hello to him, "Since Brother Yuhu is in the carriage, it's okay to come later."

Wang Changling did not answer. He also poked out the window and tried to look back. Li Qing was surprised and was about to ask, but he saw a carriage galloping over, parked behind Wang Changling's carriage. The door opened. A middle-aged man got out of the carriage. When Wang Changling saw him, he immediately jumped out of the carriage, pulled him to Li Qing, and introduced to Li Qing: "This is one of the top merchants in our Dunhuang County, traveling between the Western Regions and Chang'an. His surname is Ma, and I met at the dinner table the day before yesterday."

When the horse merchant saw Li Qing, he immediately stepped forward and saluted respectfully, "Little Min Ma Yuan has met the governor."

Li Qing looked at Wang Changling in surprise. This man had a bad temper and was never slutty with others. Why did he change his temperament today? He actually introduced himself to a big businessman. Although he thought so, he still smiled and said, "I wonder which businessman Ma is in?"

"Xiaomin is in the silk business, so today I plan to go to Chang'an to purchase goods."

"Silk!"

Li Qing immediately became interested and smiled and said, "If you go to Chang'an to purchase goods, I will introduce you to a store. In the Bashu Tour in West Chang'an, you will say it was me who introduced it to you, and you will guarantee that you can buy good goods with good quality and low prices."

"Haha! Xiaomin went there once in spring. The shopkeeper who had a pair of wind-eared ears was so good. He actually made my inn. I really don't know how they found me."

The two were discussing business, but they were anxious that Wang Changling next to him. He stomped his feet in anger and shouted: "Ma Yuan, you are looking for me. Didn't you say that you have something important to report to the adults?"

A sentence reminded Ma Yuan that he had something big, so he quickly said to Li Qing: "When I passed the east gate just now, I suddenly remembered something my father said, and maybe adults would be interested."

Seeing that he was speaking solemnly, Li Qing smiled and restrained, "What's the matter?"

Merchant Ma thought for a while and said, "The third or fourth year of Kaiyuan, I forgot which year it was. You can check the county annals. At that time, the city wall was built again. I heard from my father that for some reason, the main entrance of the East City Wall cut corners. The thickness of the stone used was half thinner than normal, and it was still hollow inside and not compacted with mud and sand."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Qing staggered two times. Fortunately, this brother was quite low in his focus and was not pulled down because he was strong.

"Take me a look!"

Li Qingfei whipped the horse on his body with a fierce whip. The war horse was in pain and ran towards the east gate.

"Sir, I heard from my father that this is probably the case."

The Ma Shangren started from the city gate, walked three steps north, and pointed forward, "Move forward for more than eighty steps, this section of the city wall is what I said."

Li Qing's face was gloomy, and he pointed his hand and turned around to order the dozen soldiers guarding the gate: "Pry off a brick and stone to see!"

When the soldier heard his order, he quickly found iron bars, pry sticks, etc. However, as soon as he tried his best, the bricks and stones cracked and broke into several pieces, falling into pieces, and fell into pieces, scaring a group of soldiers to scatter and run far away, as if the city wall was about to collapse.

"It's not today if it collapses!" Li Qing glared at them and looked forward in detail. A big hole two feet square appeared on the city wall, which was pitch black and a wet air rushed towards him. He picked up a pry stick and stabbed it inside. He sank most of it, but he encountered a soft thing, as if it was a rotten wood, which was indeed empty, and supported by wood, just like a prop wall used by later generations to make movies.

Wang Changling lit a torch and reached into the hole to see that there was insufficient oxygen inside, and the torch was weak and quickly extinguished. However, Wang Changling also saw a corner and sighed: "It's all supported by wood inside. It seems that the wood has rotten. If there are a few years, this section of the city wall will collapse."

Li Qing remained silent. He gestured with his palm to the thickness of the wall and suddenly punched the wall hard, saying hatefully: "If the Tubo people use a giant trencher, they can smash it with one stone."

Wang Changling was stunned and hurriedly said, "I want to go to the yamen to find information. In the early years of Kaiyuan, I should still be here!"

Li Qing shook his head and sneered: "This kind of evidence will not be left to the later generation. Even if there is, it is still fake! Forget it, let's find a way to solve it ourselves!"

"But there is less than a hundred stale money in the warehouse, and there will be taxes to be put into the warehouse until August."

Wang Changling hesitated and glanced at Li Qing. His words changed again when he spoke, "Or what I'll go and ask how much money the county still has?"

"Our county only has more than 300 stakes!"

Dunhuang County Magistrate Zhang Xun also arrived after hearing the news. He looked at the situation and quickly estimated it in his heart. He said to Li Qing: "Sir, if you want to rebuild this section of the city wall, you need at least 3,000 guan. Now the plan is only for the court to report and ask the court to allocate money to repair it."

Li Qing smiled bitterly and said, "When will the imperial court allocate money? First, I have to send someone to check it, then hold the previous governor accountable, and then debate it. Then the Ministry of Works will queue up the fortifications and the Minister will hit another haha. The Prime Minister said, "It's so cold and autumn, and I'll talk about it tomorrow spring! I'll talk about it tomorrow spring! In this way, after a while, you can't get money without a year or two."

"Then what should Yangming do about this?" Wang Changling said with a relaxed tone, but his eyes were staring at him.

Of course, Li Qing understood what he meant, and said angrily: "The thing I regret the most was that Yibin paid for his own money to build a bridge. Now, I don't want to increase revenue and reduce expenses, so I stared at my money all day long."

Wang Changling laughed and punched him casually, "I don't show my money, who told you that you are so arrogant? Even the bandits can make you think of you, why can't I?"

"You" Li Qing was about to punch him when he heard a quick sound of horse hooves from afar. A horse ran from the direction of the state yamen. When he approached, he found that the person on the horse was his aide Gao Shi. He called Li Qing loudly: "Sir, go back quickly! The imperial edict has arrived."

Li Qing had an idea, "Did Li Longji believe it?"

Then he felt that time was not so fast and the possibility was not high. If not, what would happen? He didn't care about thinking about it and walked towards his mount.

"Yangming, what should I do about this city wall?" Wang Changling couldn't hold him back and shouted in a hurry.

"Forget it! Forget it! Who told me that such a bad thing was on my head?"

He sighed helplessly and said to Wang Changling: "You can do it yourself! Don't forget to keep the account."

After taking two steps, he turned around and smiled at the two of them, "I'll say first, I'll just advance the payment first this time. I'll have to pay it back when the court allocates the money. You two need to prove it for me."

Wang Changling only curled his lips, but Zhang Xun was stunned when he heard this. Three thousand guan! He took out three thousand guan at once. How much does he have? He grabbed Wang Changling's arm and almost broke several of his old bones. He said anxiously: "Mr. Wang, Lord Governor, how much did he bring?"

Wang Changling glanced at him and whispered a few words in his ear. Zhang Xun's eyes flashed with strange light, and he rubbed his hands and chased after him with excitement, "Mr. Li, no! Governor Li, take a step slowly, I want to discuss something with you!"

Of course not a good thing

Li Qing rushed to the prefecture yamen, but saw the streets full of people watching the fun. Hundreds of light cavalry in front of the prefecture yamen were blocked. He finally squeezed over and saw dozens of Yulin soldiers standing at the prefecture yamen. There were several carriages next to them, covered with oil cloth. I guess this was the thing to reward him. Looking up, three eunuchs in yellow were standing on the steps and waiting anxiously. Their faces turned black, their eyes were covered with blood, and their complexion was not very good. It was probably because they had been rushing to the night road last night. Li Qing knew him. It was Bian Lingcheng, the eunuch next to Li Longji, who had seen him when he returned to Beijing from Nanzhao.

But would his appearance in the Western Regions have any special meaning? Li Qing knew that this person was the one who came to the Western Regions to supervise the army in the later period of Tianbao.

"Governor Li is fine?"

Bian Lingcheng saw him at a glance and hurriedly waved to him with a smile.

Li Qing turned over and got off the horse, ran up the steps quickly, grabbed his warm hand and smiled, "I said why was it so hot today? It turned out that Eunuch Bian arrived. I met an old man in a foreign land. Li Qing was happy!"

Seeing that he was sincere, Bian Lingcheng was also moved. He pointed to the imperial edict and said, "Your wife needed to accept the edict, but I heard that she was in poor health, so you can take it for her!"

He quickly walked to the back of the table, took the imperial edict from the eunuch next to him, and whispered: "Governor of Doulu Army and governor of Shazhou, General Yunhui Li Qing received the imperial edict!"

Li Qing rushed forward and knelt down on the ground, "My minister Li Qing received the order!"

Bian Lingcheng smiled slightly, unfolded the imperial edict and began to recite it. His voice was clear and he passed the content of the imperial edict to Li Qing's ears without missing a word.

"He was specially appointed as the wife of the third-rank imperial decree, with a reward of 10 million yuan and 500 pieces of silk. I hope that my dear will be careful to be an official, cherish the people of Shazhou, and be loyal to the border. Don't let my wishes down, and I admire this!"

Li Qing breathed a sigh of relief in his heart and bowed, "My minister Li Qing remembers the holy grace and wishes His Majesty a long life!"

He stood up and took the imperial edict, but Bian Lingcheng held his shoulder and whispered: "This time the emperor ordered me to go to the Western Regions to reward me. There were only four people in total. Longyou, the governor of Hexi, Huangfu Weiming, the governor of Anxi, Gao Xianzhi, and Cheng Qianli, the capital of Beiting, and you are all you. You are all kinds of excuses. For example, Huangfu Weiming, the council of his son as the doctor of the Ministry of Rites, Gao Xianzhi, the council of Kaiguo County, and Cheng Qianli, the council of his wife, but the reward is the same. Do you understand what I mean?"

Li Qing nodded slowly. How could he not understand that he was just a little governor, but he put it together with the governors and the arch-protectives to reward him. Is this suggesting something to him?

"I have received the reward without any merit. Eunuch Bian asked the emperor to tell him that Li Qing was ashamed of accepting it!"

"It's too late for others to envy you, and you still feel guilty about it?"

After the imperial edict was announced, Bian Lingcheng stretched tiredly and smiled at Li Qing: "The conditions in your Yumen Pass are too poor. I really don't like you. I rush to the road overnight and want to come to Shazhou for a good sleep."

When Li Qing heard that Bian Lingcheng had not slept all night, he hurriedly called Wang Changling and asked him to arrange the best place to stay.

"Thank you, Governor Li."

Bian Lingcheng strode down the steps and ordered the Yulin Army to move boxes one by one from the carriage. He pointed to several carriages and smiled at Li Qing: "These are things that the emperor rewards you. It is not easy to carry them all the way. If you give them, I will be very relaxed."

“Are all mine?”

When Li Qing saw Bian Lingcheng walking empty-handed, he couldn't help but wonder, "Where is the rewards from Gao Duhu and Cheng Duhu?"

Bian Lingcheng laughed, "Those are all rewards for you. I will hold the rewards of those two protectors in Yumen Pass to save the trouble of walking back and forth."

"Yumen Pass Office?"

Li Qing's face suddenly changed drastically. He suddenly remembered the group of horse bandits and asked anxiously: "Is there anyone there to take care of him?"

Seeing that his face was wrong, Bian Lingcheng felt a little nervous. Last night, the guards at Yumen Pass told him that the bandits in this area were causing trouble. He just thought that the guards thought it was the troublesome thing to coax him, but instead scolded them. But Li Qing's expression made him feel vaguely uneasy.

"I let fifty soldiers take care of the inn, there should be no problem!"

"Fifty people?"

Li Qing smiled bitterly. He almost finished his 300 people. Fifty people and ten people at the post station were only sixty people, which was not enough for people to get stuck in their teeth. There was no time to explain. He turned over and hurriedly said to Bian Lingcheng: "Please send guards to the post station as soon as possible. I will support you later. Soon! If it is too late, the things will be gone."

As soon as he finished speaking, he whipped away, and the horse neighed and rushed straight towards the military camp outside the city.

Yumen Pass Post is one hundred miles north of Shouchang County. Its functions were relatively complex during the Li Longji era. Its functions were both the post office and the official guesthouse. It was also responsible for delivering official documents and was busy receiving officials all day long, so the efficiency of transmission was greatly reduced. It was not until Emperor Daizong of Tang that the functions of transmission were separated from the inn, and the inn was only responsible for the reception work of welcoming and sending.

The function of Yumen Pass is focused on delivering documents. Generally, officials do not stay here, but go to Shouchang County or Dunhuang County to rest. There is only a group of soldiers stationed in the post station. The "club" is the smallest military unit in the Tang Dynasty army, equivalent to the current squad, with a total of ten people, each of which is very poor, and there is no need for any oil and water. The horse bandits usually don't have any ideas about them, but if there is food and grass here, they will still be robbed.

Li Qing's worries were correct. In fact, as early as Liangzhou, Bian Lingcheng's reward team was starved. The bandits had no knowledge, so naturally they didn't know that this was the person sent by the emperor. However, even if they knew, they would still attack, "Man died for money!" No matter who he was, Bian Lingcheng had five hundred light cavalry guards, which made them a little worried and dared not take action. However, Bian Lingcheng actually placed his things on the post station, and there were only dozens of people guarding him. If he didn't attack, the robber's ancestors would probably crawl out of the ancestral grave and scold them.

When Li Qing led 500 soldiers to Yumenguan Post, it was already in chaos. The walls of the office were pushed down and the things were robbed. Bian Lingcheng looked at all this with his eyes blankly. The things were gone. This was a matter of losing his head. The guards were sent out to search, but he didn't even have any hope.

Li Qing sighed in his heart. The incident happened to his administration, and he probably couldn't get rid of it. He jumped off his horse and walked to Bian Lingcheng, patted him on the shoulder gently. Bian Lingcheng turned around, and a glimmer of hope suddenly burst out from his mute eyes. He grabbed Li Qing and said tremblingly: "Governor Li, you must help me with this matter!"

Li Qing nodded. The gang must help, but the bandits came and went without a trace. Where can I find them? Even if I found them, I only had 1,200 people. If I really fought hard, I might not be pleased, unless Gao Xianzhi was willing to send elite troops to help.

"Then I'll wait for your good news!"

Bian Lingcheng lowered his head powerlessly. He felt that he was exhausted and could no longer stand, so he slowly walked towards the inn. Li Qing looked at his staggering back and suddenly a thought flashed through his mind, "With this person here, is he still worried that Gao Xianzhi will not send troops?"
Chapter completed!