Chapter 288 Winter Solstice

Fan Yang.

It was cold, the ground was freezing, the snow was blowing, and the wind was blowing. A city stood tall in the wind and snow.

The knights, wrapped in thick sheep furs, drove their horses out of the city gate and galloped south.

In the city, many people were busy preparing for their trip at the gate of Jiedu Envoy's Mansion, while in a lobby deep in the mansion, a fire was burning brightly and smoke filled the air.

An Lushan was wearing a Sogdian costume, a green robe with left lapels, triangular lapels and rimmed cuffs. He was sitting on a high bed, like a mountain of meat.

What was placed in front of him was another mountain of gold, silver and jewels, which were smuggled by the caravans he sent to do business in various places. Every year they came back to offer treasures, and he would personally preside over the sacrifices.

The wizards beat drums, sang and danced, while the barbarians prostrated themselves in front of Anlu Mountain and shouted "God of Light".

An Lushan is known as the "Yingzhou bastard" in Chang'an. He is a bastard Hu. His biological father is a Sogdian named Kang; his mother-in-law is a witch from the Turkic Ashina clan; his adoptive father's surname is An, so his surname is also An.

.

But his original name is "Galuoshan", which means "light" in the Sogdian language. He is the incarnation of the Zoroastrian god of light.

The generals who worshiped in front of him at this time, including Kang Jie, An Taiqing, An Shouzhong, An Wuchen, He Qianqian and others, were all enthusiastic confidants who believed in Zoroastrianism and regarded him as the god of light.

"The God of Light will lead us to wash away all the filth in the first half of our lives and build a new Kingdom of Light..."

The murmurs in Sogdian continued until the fire swallowed up the sacrifices. With the help of believers, An Lushan stood up and walked out slowly.

All the way to the front hall, there were many staff and generals waiting there.

A Kongmu official stepped forward. This man was less than forty years old, with a thin appearance and deep eyes. He was a scholar from Hebei recruited by Anlu Mountain, and his name was Yan Zhuang.

"Dafu, do you want to set off?"

"Let's go." An Lushan said with a smile: "There is a villain in Chang'an who falsely accuses Hu'er of rebelling. Go to Chang'an and let the saint understand Hu'er's loyalty."

Before setting off, he had already started performing and looked very much looking forward to the trip to Chang'an.

No one in the hall laughed, only solemnity was felt.

The castrated attendant Li Zhuer hurried outside into the cold wind and stood next to a tall horse. He slightly bent his legs, lowered his head, and supported An Lushan's belly to help him get on the horse.

At this time, Gao Miao hurried over and reported: "Dafu, Gao Shang and Ah Hao are back."

Only then did An Lushan rein in the reins. Hearing this, he narrowed his eyes and looked at the wind and snow in the distance.

Gao Shang was ordered to go south to deal with Xue Bai. Now Xue Bai has returned to Chang'an and is using Wang Wen to plot a rebellion to frame him, but Gao Shang has just returned to Fan Yang? What a coincidence that he arrived just when he was about to leave?

I'm afraid that I know I have committed a serious crime, so I hide and wait and see what happens.

Thinking of this, An Lushan showed a surprised smile on his face and shouted: "A Shang, A Hao is still alive?! That's great!"

In a hurry, he turned over and dismounted, causing everyone around him to scramble. Li Zhuer was even pressed into the snow, and his femur was almost broken, causing severe pain.

"Quick, I want to see them."

Soon, two people were brought over by the sergeants. They should be Gao Shang and Tian Qianzhen.

An Lushan no longer recognized Gao Gao. The once handsome man was now burned into an ugly ghost-like creature, which was shocking.

"Master, I'm so ashamed..."

"A Shang! Is that you?" An Lushan held Gao Shang's scarred face and shouted, "Who harmed you like this? I'm going to kill him!"

"Be careful, the government. I am now a wanted criminal by the imperial court. I hid my identity all the way and finally rushed back to Fan Yang. I was afraid that I would not be able to persuade the government in time." Gao Shang said: "Going to Chang'an is full of dangers."

"I know."

"No, we underestimated Xue Bai. He is a ruthless man. He must be ready to get rid of the big man in Chang'an. We have to guard against him."

An Lushan said: "That's why I want to get rid of him and avenge you."

"The time has not come yet, so I have to endure it temporarily." Gao Shang said: "Please ask the palace to hand me over to the court in exchange for the saint's trust."

"No!"

Now that Gao Shang is back, An Lushan has no reason to send him away again, saying: "Go to Xiongwu City and wait for me to come back with Xue Bai's head."

Hearing this arrangement, Gao Shang breathed a sigh of relief and gratefully knelt down in front of An Lushan.

An Lushan helped him up and said: "The God of Light has washed away the filth of your first half of life, and we will do great things in the future."

"yes."

Gao Shang couldn't help but have tears in his eyes when he thought of his humble origins and now he was reborn from the ashes.

An Lushan laughed, patted him and Tian Qianzhen, and got on the horse again with the help of the servants.

"My sons, return to Chang'an!"

~~

Chang'an, Imperial City.

The Yushitai is just south of the Secretary's Department. Xue Bai came over today and first went to visit his former colleagues.

Xiao Yingshi, Li Hua and others had already arrived at the government office and were working meticulously. When Li Hua saw Xue Bai, he hesitated to speak, but he still started talking about national affairs.

At the newspaper office, Wang Changling has not yet arrived. According to the officials, he is very willful and comes very late every day. When everyone else has left the office, he stays to work, then drinks with friends and criticizes the current affairs.

Xue Bai read the newspaper in Chang'an City and learned that Wang Changling had recently written a new poem, in which the sentence "Suddenly saw the color of willows on the street, regretting teaching my husband to find a prince", which seemed to be similar to the past attitude of "Unless Loulan is destroyed, it will never be returned" After seeing some differences, I originally wanted to chat with him, but I had to give up today.

After leaving the Secretary's Office and crossing the street, there is the Yushitai.

The gate of Yushitai faces north and has a rather solemn atmosphere. There are three courtyards inside, Chaoyuan, Dianyuan and Taiyuan. The three courtyards are separated and have different duties. Taiyuan is in the middle and in the back, Chaoyuan and Dianyuan are arranged on the left and right.

Xue Bai was the supervisory censor and served in the procuratorate, while his teacher Yan Zhenqing was the imperial censor and served in the palace courtyard.

The supervisory censor can only be of the eighth rank, but people in the Tang Dynasty do not judge the official position based on rank. The censor is one of the most noble official positions. He is in charge of the wind and constitution, and is the eyes and ears of the saint. It is said that "the censor worships Chi Qixia and receives Wu Kuilong. If there is a court meeting, Yan Zhenqing, the imperial censor, will stand next to the saint.

The Procuratorate has two front and back halls, the capital hall and the main hall. The capital hall is where the supervisory censors work, and the main hall is the official residence of the president of the procuratorate and the supervisory envoy.

Xue Bai had been here several times, but he had always come here to litigate cases, and this was his first time serving here. When he arrived at the capital hall, he saw more than ten supervisory censors already standing on both sides, so he stood at the end.

After waiting for a while, the supervisor Mao Ruoxu came out and sat upright on his seat.

Mao Ruoxu was over fifty years old. His beard and hair were all white, and his eyebrows were very long, covering his eyes. He looked very serious. He took out a name book in no hurry and started to do it. This was what Xue Bai did in the Tang Dynasty. This is the first time I have seen it since becoming an official.

"Xue Bai."

It wasn't until the name was sung that Mao Ruoxu raised his head.

Xue Bai then came out of the queue and saluted: "I've seen the supervisory envoy."

Mao Ruoxu put down the name book in his hand and said calmly: "Inspector Xue is well-known in Chang'an. Now that he is serving in the Yushitai Procuratorate, I wonder if he will be arrogant and unruly because of his talent?"

Normally, when you encounter such inquiries from officials when you first take office, most people have to be humble.

Xue Bai did not answer immediately, because he knew that Mao Ruoxu was Li Linfu's man, so he obviously had bad intentions in asking this question, and he was probably going to set up a trap soon.

He then responded: "Of course you won't be arrogant because of your talents, but I think you will have reasons and evidence."

Mao Ruoxu remained calm and nodded slowly, saying: "The Supervisory Censor has the responsibility of patrolling the prefectures and counties. Now someone in Yishi County, Puzhou has reported that the county magistrate is corrupt and perverting the law. Supervisor Xue should go and push for a judiciary."

Xue Bai said: "I first came to the Yushitai, and I'm afraid I won't be qualified to take on such a big case."

"Inspector Xue has made outstanding achievements in the Secretary Province, Yanshi County, and Chang'an County. He has moved three times in two years. I believe you can handle it."

"Inspector, the road to Puzhou is far and difficult, and I am weak. Can this case be handed over to someone else?"

This was Cui Youfu's answer when he was conferring an official position in the Ministry of Personnel. Xue Bai did not expect that one day he would be able to use it.

Mao Ruoxu paused for a moment, and where he looked, Xue Bai's figure was upright and full of energy. Didn't he look weak at all?

His face was serious, and just as he was about to shout, a burst of laughter sounded outside the capital hall, and then, Yang Guozhong, who was also the censor Zhongcheng, walked in.

"The Procuratorate is so lively today." Although Yang Guozhong is already a purple-robed official, he still can't hide his rogue temperament, as if he is just visiting. "Hey, Abai is here too. Let's go to the Taiyuan. I have an errand for you to handle." .”

"Zhongcheng." Mao Ruoxu stood up and said with a salute: "I have an important case to hand over to Supervisor Xue."

Since he was tit for tat, he was not afraid of Yang Guozhong at all.

The Yushitai has been under the control of Wang He for these years. In fact, it was to eliminate dissidents for Li Linfu. To be honest, in Mao Ruoxu's eyes, Wang He and Yang Guozhong were the traitors of the Right Prime Minister lineage.

"You and I both have cases to handle." Yang Guozhong said, "Which one is your official, or mine?"

"Inspector Xue is under the direct supervision of the lower official. I'm afraid it would be inappropriate for Zhongcheng to bypass the lower official and give him errands."

"You impeach me."

Yang Guozhong snorted coldly, lifted the jade belt around his waist, greeted Xue Bai and left. He would not stay and quarrel with Mao Ruoxu. No matter what the outcome of the quarrel, he would be the one who suffered.

After leaving the capital hall, he spat on the ground and said, "You old man who eats dog intestines."

Xue Bai asked: "You can't control the Yushitai?"

"I was promoted too quickly." Yang Guozhong said, "I have only been in office for a short time, and the chief officials of the three academies are not mine yet."

He was not ashamed of this, but showed a very righteous attitude, put his arm around Xue Bai's shoulders, and said: "But don't worry, as long as I am here, no one can take you out of Chang'an."

"Gone."

"Where to go?"

"Look for my teacher."

Yang Guozhong's time as censor Zhongcheng may not be long, but in fact it is not short. He failed to establish his prestige. In the final analysis, it was because he was incompetent and had no other talents except recruitment.

Where does prestige come from?
To be continued...