Chapter 1062 Intercepting and Killing

Wang Fuchou always believed that his offspring were the most outstanding geniuses in the world.
As a result, he began a journey of bragging about his children, and he could not talk about them without boasting for three sentences.
Everyone is a dad here, and you're constantly boasting about how amazing your son is. Meanwhile, I'm constantly forced to compare my own son and it's...just a ton of hurt.
Some people believe that Wang Fuchou's lack of success in his career is because of his tendency to brag.
"Progress...is great!"
Huang Yao now has another layer of envy, "Zhao Guogong teaches sharply and can make you transform. By the way, does Zhao Guogong still want to accept disciples?"
You are talking nonsense!
Wang Bo thought of his current life and subconsciously said, "The teacher said that he was originally a carefree person like a wild crane, but he was forced to teach naughty children and suffered all day. So anyone who wants to be his apprentice will be kicked out."
Huang Yao laughed and said, "My dear nephew, you are lucky."
When Wang Fuchou saw that someone came to handle the matter, he left with his son.
After finishing the matter, Huang Yao sat there in a daze.
The small official beside him said, "Lord Wang is really lucky. He gave birth to a talented son and can also become a disciple of Duke Zhao...his luck is out of this world."
"It could be good fortune or misfortune, it's hard to say."
The low-ranking official was stunned.
Huang Yao calmly said, "I now understand the reason for Wang Fuchu's unsuccessful career."
The low-ranking official asked in confusion, "Isn't it because he isn't good at serving and pleasing others?"
黄耀说道：“你觉着老夫是那等要下属迎奉的人吗？”
Didn't someone just flatter you in person today?
The minor official smiled apologetically and said, "The prefect is selfless."
"Nonsense," Huang Yao said in a calm tone. "If you were to constantly hear me bragging about the abilities of my son, you would also feel dissatisfied with him. Over time, whether he gets promoted or not will depend solely on whether I demote him or not."
小吏一想还真是，“不过那王勃运气真是不错，竟然能拜师赵国公。”
“是啊！”黄耀有些唏嘘，“赵国公何许人？铁定是大唐名臣，这样的人……可惜老夫不能交好。”
……
Empress Dowager took away most of the important officials on her trip. Li Xie was originally included, but due to his advanced age, even mounting a horse seemed difficult for him. If he were to go along, there might be some mishaps on the way, and the Emperor would surely grieve!
Cheng Zhijie and others are staying at home waiting to die, while Su Dingfang is guarding against the Tibetan Empire in the northwest. Among the old generals of the Tang Dynasty, only Li Shimin can still be of use. With him around, both the ruler and his subjects can feel more at ease.
Therefore, the emperor asked Li Xie to take a break. Note that it was a break, not assisting in governance. If Li Xie were to take the lead in assisting in governance, Dai Zhide and others would only have to listen and would not even be allowed to interject.
"You hang out with your brother all day, can't you learn something good?"
Li Xi angrily said: "What's wrong with the Ministry of Justice? Five out of the six ministries are closely related to the court. It's easy to cause trouble. Only the Ministry of Justice is simple, just do your job. But look at you, yesterday someone from the Ministry of Justice came to look for me. They said you were idle all day yesterday and even went to drink with people. After drinking, you got into a fight and injured several Hu people. This is unacceptable!"
Li Jingye shrugged, "Ah Weng, you don't know. Yesterday we went to a tavern that was supposed to be a Hu woman, but it turned out to be a Baekje woman...it made me so angry..."
Li Xi was quite helpless, "Can't the children be more peaceful?"
Li Jingye was surprised, "If I stay at home honestly, I will only stare at them. It's better to go out and have fun often, and then come back home to make it feel fresh."
Li Jingye suddenly felt something was wrong, "A-Weng, you always look lethargic when you come home, you don't even look up at those women, this is not right."
Li Chen was stunned, "Get out of here!"
"Oh!"
Li Jingye retires.
After he leaves, he becomes proud again and his followers say, "Young Master, the Master has been an official in Zizhou for a while, and he should return to Chang'an."
Li Jingye is a bit worried, "Aye has been in officialdom for so long, if he sees me like this when he returns, he will surely beat me..."
The follower said, "Don't worry, young master. If the master dares to beat you, I will beat him."
Li Jingye laughed and said, "Yes! That's called like attracts like."
If you hit your son, I will hit my own son, let's see who can win.
Li Jingye felt happy again.
"Dr. Li."
An official stopped Li Jingye.
"The Crown Prince summoned you."
So many things to do!
Li Jingye, who was about to have some fun in Pingkangfang, went to the Daming Palace somewhat disappointedly.
……
"One hundred thousand taels of silver are on the way, but they have suffered several attempts at spying and attacks."
Li Hong is a little excited, and so are the ministers.
A group of people is delighted, but Jia Ping'an is particularly calm.
Dai Zhide couldn't help but ask, "Does the Duke of Zhao think it's inappropriate?"
Jia Pinao shook his head, "It's only 100,000 taels of silver."
The group of people, like patrons who had just become interested, were doused with cold water by Jia Pinao, and all interest disappeared.
Jia Pingshan said, "This is just the first batch of silver this year. As those Japanese become more skilled and more mining pits are opened, the amount of silver will also increase. You are excited by 100,000 taels, but how will you be when a million taels of silver arrive?"
Will faint a large area.
Dai Zhide laughed, "Old man has never seen so much money before!"
Wang Laowu hasn't seen it either!
Li Hong said: "The escort said there is danger on this road. I am ready to send someone to check it out."
Dai Zhide's eyes flickered slightly. "Your Majesty, the Duke of Zhao has great military achievements and should be able to deter those people."
Li Hong frowned and was about to refuse this suggestion, but Jia Pingan asked, "Where is the caravan located?"
Li Hong said, "The convoy is almost to Luoyang."
Jia Pin-A said, "After passing Luoyang, the road will become narrow and the convoy will move slowly. If someone attacks... how many soldiers do we have?"
"Two hundred!"
"It should be enough in theory, but it's better to be careful. I'll go there myself."
Jia Pinging got up and prepared to set off.
Li Hong said, "I've called Li Jingye here. Uncle doesn't need to go there personally."
This child has become more stable in doing things.
Jia Pina smiled and Li Hong said, "Please go ahead, gentlemen."
The assistant ministers knew that the uncle and nephew had something to say, so they stood up and took their leave.
After they left, Li Hong asked, "Uncle, why did you have to go?"
"Are you worried that there might be rebellion in Chang'an?"
Jia Ping'an asked with a smile.
Li Hong nodded, "Although the officials are capable and calm, they might not be able to handle urgent situations. I am worried about the military."
Jia Pingan looked at him and said, "Don't worry."
The two of them wandered outside for a long time and even prevented Zeng Xianglin from getting close.
"Your Highness, Li Jingye, the Criminal Department's Langzhong, requests an audience."
That fool!
Jia Ping'an bowed and said, "In that case, I will take my leave now."
He met Li Jingye on his way out of the palace.
"Go home and pack your things, then follow me immediately," said Li Jingye.
Without a second thought, Li Jingye went to find his grandfather.
"Ah Weng, I'm going with my older brother. Take care of yourself at home."
Li Xi was about to speak, but Li Jingye ran away with a 'whoosh'.
The official who was working was confused, then laughed and said, "When receiving an order from the Crown Prince, everyone rushes to obey. But this young lord remembered to come here, showing filial piety."
Li Xie smiled, "This kid is reckless, but he's sincere."
An eunuch arrived.
"Just now, Your Highness received a document, stating that while the silver convoy was on its way to Chang'an, it was spied on and attacked by several groups of bandits. Zhao Guogong volunteered to go and assist."
Li Xie pondered for a while and said, "Tell His Highness to stay calm."
The eunuch nodded and left. After he was gone, Li Xie looked at the map.
The map had been looked at by him many times. The old marks mainly appeared on the border or outside the territory, but this time he looked at Luoyang.
A thin and withered finger pointed at the area of Sanmenxia.
"The road is narrow and slow, it's a great place to strike."
Wagangzhai was originally a rebel base. Robbing wealthy landowners was a common practice, and they even had a gang of bandits to help with the job.
……
What is the weight of one hundred thousand taels of silver?
Captain Wang Yun turned around and glanced back. Forty large carts were slowly moving along the official road, squeaking and creaking, unable to pick up speed.
Lu Jin, the Dengzhou army commander who was travelling with them, was red-faced from the sun. He wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve and said, "Captain Wang, we will reach Luoyang soon. Let's take a rest for two days."
Wang Yun said: "We've been hurrying all the way from Dengzhou after receiving the silver, and it has indeed been a little arduous. We'll rest in Luoyang for two days."
The news quickly spread and everyone cheered.
The next day, the caravan arrived in Luoyang.
"They said it's worth 100,000 taels of silver!"
The people of Luoyang have never seen so much silver before! They all came out to watch the excitement.
Forty large carts slowly entered the city.
Then came the negotiations. It was learned that the caravan was only staying in Luoyang for two days to rest, and the local officials had gathered food and arranged accommodations. Only a ninth-rank official named Chen Jin was sent to make contact, and that was it.
This journey was exhausting, especially under the scorching sun. Even though he enlisted by the seaside, Wang Yun was still badly tanned.
After taking a shower and having a meal, he happily lay in bed.
Comfortable!
Wang Yun slept extremely well on the first night.
In the morning, Lu came to look for him.
"We encountered several groups of bandits on our journey. Now we need to go through Sanmenxia to reach Chang'an. Should we take a boat?"
Lu Jin was very tired on the road and didn't have any eye bags, but after sleeping well, his eyes were so big that it made people want to laugh.
Wang Yun was lazy and didn't want to move at all, "I have sent someone to explore the road already. Now the water is flowing rapidly and we cannot take the waterway."
"Why?" asked Wang Yun, who was a civil official. "This is not the sea, there are no big waves, what is there to be afraid of?"
Wang Yun yawned and said, "In the past, more than ten ships would sink here at Three Gorges every year. Although the waterway has been opened, the water flow is still fast. We are carrying silver. If one ship sinks, I can only jump into the river and drown with it, otherwise there will be no forgiveness for the crime."
Lu Jin also remembered, "Yes, in the past, what was transported through Sanmenxia were grains and other goods."
With the sinking of the silver ship, the best outcome for him and Wang Yun would be to flee to Jiaozhi and never return to the Central Plains in their lifetime.
"Captain, Chen Jin said he was curious and was looking at our big carriage."
Wang Yun frowned. "What is he looking at? Keep him away."
But he already saw it.
"So much silver."
Chen Jin exclaimed enviously as he left: "The whole cart was filled with silver, sparkling white."
The people of Luoyang were very enthusiastic, and every day there were people gathering outside of Wang Yun and the others' residence to watch the excitement.
After resting for two days, the caravan set off again.
Once out of Luoyang, the road gradually narrowed.
When they saw Sanmenxia, Lu Jin's expression changed and he said, "We definitely can't take the water route."
汪允说道：“你我都在登州为官，见惯了海浪，可看到这湍急的流水依旧心颤。”
The convoy began to enter the mountainous road.
The road suddenly became narrow and rugged, and the convoy began to slow down.
Noon was scorching hot and even the birdsong had disappeared in the grove by the mountain road. The silence was eerie.
Bang!
A loud noise behind him caught Wang Yun's attention and he turned around to see a large vehicle flipped over on the road.
"How did this happen?"
Lu Jin angrily dismounted.
Two cart drivers were inspecting it, and one shouted, "This isn't right. Someone tampered with the cart and the wheels are broken."
汪允心中一紧，急匆匆的跑过去，“哪里？”
The coachman pointed to the broken wheel and said, "Look here, this crack is almost perfectly straight. It's clearly done with a sharp object."
Lu Jin knelt down and carefully examined it. Wang Yun said, "Check all the wagons."
The carters began to inspect them.
"I've got one here!"
"I've got one here too!"
With the addition of the broken wagon, a total of seven had been hit.
Lu Jintie's face turned blue. "This was deliberate. What do they want to do?"
Wang Yun looked at the mountains and forests. "The only thing they want to do is to keep us in this wilderness."
"What should we do?"
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
Wang Yun said, "What's the fuss? We have two hundred soldiers. Who dares to lay a hand on us?"
Lu Jin began to mediate, "Transfer the silver from those six wagons to the better ones."
A cart-driver said, "If that's the case, even good large carts wouldn't be able to handle this section of the road!"
Wang Yun said, "This is drinking poison to quench thirst, it won't save much."
"What should we do with the remaining silver?"
"Three hundred catties of silver on one cart, and seven carts make two thousand catties. Who would dare to leave it here?"
Wang Yun suggested, "We can take some on the cart and some on the horses. The rest can be carried by the soldiers. As long as we get past this section of the road, we'll be fine."
They immediately began to distribute the supplies, and several soldiers carried bundles on their backs.
Someone joked, "If we could carry these back home, we would be rich."
The convoy set off once again.
The journey was difficult, and whenever they came across open areas, Lu Jin became incredibly nervous and constantly looked for hiding places.
"No need to worry."
Wang Yun comforted him with his mouth, but he himself kept staring at those places.
Bang!
A big car fell over.
"Ganny!"
Wang Yun couldn't help but curse, "Let the soldiers carry it."
Horses can carry some weight, but most of it is carried by the soldiers themselves.
Lu Jin looked ahead and said softly, "I always feel that the entrance ahead is gloomy, as if someone is waiting for us."
There is a narrow pass at the front of the mountain range, which opens up outside and inside, only the entrance is narrow. Locals call it the "Hulu Mouth".
"Be careful!"
A few soldiers are exploring the road ahead.
When the last big carriage passed through the gate, Lu Jin breathed a sigh of relief and laughed, "It seems safe now. We will be able to make it safely tomorrow."
Whoosh!
A barrage of arrows flew towards them, and many of the soldiers who had just let their guard down were hit.
In a cry of agony, the cart driver quickly grabbed the pack horse and Wang Yun shouted, "Form a defensive formation!"
The cart drivers quickly organized the big carts into a formation and dragged the wounded soldiers to hide behind the carts, looking for an opportunity to establish a defensive line.
The speed is so fast that it's amazing.
On the right is a sparsely populated forest, with several men standing by the edge. The leader waves his hand and says, "Let's finish this quickly!"
"Kill them!"
Countless big men rush out from the forest.
It's terrible. The ones in front are holding shields, and there are archers behind!
"Once we get this money, we can consider ourselves rich. But what's important is to make Li Zhi heartbroken."
The man in front had a black face and thick eyebrows, and he smiled with restraint.
The man next to him said, "One hundred thousand taels is not a small amount, but some people in Chang'an said that the silver mine can produce tens of thousands of taels of silver every year. With this money, Li Zhi's life will be much better than the previous emperors."
"Money!"
The man with a grim face shook his head and sighed, "Back then, we had money and an army, which enabled us to manipulate the situation. Later, we used the Li family to rebel and succeeded, but they turned their backs on us afterwards. Li Yuan weakened us without showing his true colors, while Li Shimin knew he had to use us to balance the power of the aristocracy, so we coexisted peacefully. However, Li Zhi, that beast, turned his back on us. It's pitiful for the once-powerful Guanlong factions, who have now become like mice crossing the street."
The man beside me had a cold and stern look in his eyes. "Li Yuan and Li Shimin knew that the foundation of the Tang Dynasty is unstable, so they won't go against us. They built this foundation, and now Li Zhi stands on it, ready to attack us."
"The gentry were initially pushing for our weakening, thinking that they could fill the gap. But look, that beast Li Zhi can't tolerate any major powers and he's targeting the gentry. He's slowly wearing them down, especially with the construction of the New Learning School that's happening everywhere. This is undermining the gentry's foundations. Hahaha!"
Ahead, the thieves began to shoot arrows.
"Shields!"
People who hid behind the shields were unharmed, but the pack horses couldn't.
As the soldiers were evading the arrows, the thieves took advantage and charged forward, while the pack horses that were hit went berserk.
"Killed!"
Wang Yun's face turned grim.
The soldier swung his sword and the packhorse hit by an arrow fell to the ground.
"They're coming up."
The arrows stopped and the bandits were now within reach!
"Long spears!"
The ratio of long spears in the Tang Dynasty army was one to one, which means that each soldier must have a long spear when going out to battle.
"Kill!"
The long spears were used for intensive stabbing.
"Kill!"
Surprisingly, the thieves also used long spears, so both sides were stabbing each other, greatly reducing the power of the army's wagon formation.
"Take it down in one attack!"
The black-faced man and his companions emerged from the woods, and the man next to him said, "With 100,000 taels of silver intercepted, Li Zhi will be furious, and many people will suffer. However, it won't undermine his foundation."
"I understand." The man with a dark face said, "Why did Yang Guang die and the country was destroyed? It was because we acted everywhere, here and there, never alone."
身边的男子说道：“难道还有别的地方会动手？”
黑脸男子从容的道：“当然。”
"Release the arrows!"
汪允面色铁青，“他们不是贼人！”
卢进拎着横刀怒道：“他们都带着长枪和横刀，更是装备了弓箭，只有世家门阀才有这等实力，是谁？”
世家门阀有无数田地资源，有无数隐户，随时都能组建起大军来。当年李渊造反就是如此。大伙儿吆喝，“上次是杨家，这次轮到李家了，赶紧上啊！”
随即各家出钱出人，很快就组建了大军。这一点让那些草头王各种羡慕嫉妒恨。他们需要筚路蓝缕蹚出一条路来，从零开始。但世家门阀却一开始就站在了他们的终点，不，已经超越了他们。
起步就被超越了，这个反还怎么造？
黑脸男子冷笑，“传令，一个不留，全数斩杀了！”