Xu Liang was suddenly enlightened. Yang Fan said, "I originally planned to find someone to help me with what I want to do. I didn't expect the Zhang brothers to jump out on their own. It is more appropriate for the two of them to handle this matter than that person. I don't need to trouble anyone else and can look for them directly!"
Xu Liang was about to ask Yang Fan what method he planned to use to force the Department of Ordnance to submit when Ren Wei led a person over from afar and called out, "General Yang, this Mister Li wants to see you."
Yang Fan frowned, feeling a little displeased in his heart. "It's time to set up rules in this military camp. How can anyone be casually brought in? Even if someone wants to see me, they should ask for my permission first. Now they act first and report later. What's the point of reporting to me? "
But when he took a closer look, the trace of displeasure in his heart disappeared. This person was indeed not someone the Yuan Gate guards would dare to stop. The middle-aged man beside Ren Wei was dressed in a moon-white Confucian robe. He had no beard and a fair face. He was the head steward of Princess Taiping's residence, Li Yi!
Yang Fan quickly went up to greet him. Opposite him, Li Yi had already cupped his hands and smiled, "General Yang!"
Yang Fan also returned the greeting and smiled, "Steward Li, long time no see. Why didn't you send someone to inform me so that I could welcome you at the Yuan Gate!"
Li Yi bowed and said, "I am only a servant of my master. I don't deserve General Yang's personal welcome. General is now in the army and is at a critical moment of training the new army. I shouldn't disturb you. However, my master is preparing a banquet and General is the main guest. Therefore, he sent me to deliver an invitation. General must attend. "
As Li Yi spoke, he took out an invitation and presented it to Yang Fan with both hands.
Yang Fan was somewhat puzzled. Taiping invited him to a banquet? That didn't make sense. Taiping had always looked for him in the middle of the night, when there was no one around. Ping ping pang pang, it was a fierce battle between a dragon and a tiger. Even if they had something to talk about, it would be after the victor was decided, and then they would hug each other while drenched in sweat. Why was he so high-profile today?
When Yang Fan opened the invitation and read it, he immediately understood.
Turned out Princess Taiping's invitation this time was to express her gratitude, to thank him for escorting her brother safely to the capital.
Now that Yang Fan had completed his mission, the emperor had already rewarded him. However, as the person concerned, the Prince of Luling had yet to express anything, nor could he express anything. This soon-to-be crown prince actually still had no authority. Moreover, at the crucial moment when he was about to be chosen as crown prince, he did not dare to express anything.
This Prince of Luling always felt somewhat at a loss when it came to his mother, and he had no idea what he should or should not do. Thus, the best method was to learn from his little brother and hide in the East Palace, doing nothing. Under such circumstances, it was more appropriate for his younger sister to step in.
First of all, Taiping was a woman. On the surface, she had nothing to do with the court or officialdom. Her representing her brother in holding a banquet to express her gratitude was purely a private matter of the Li family and would not cause too much of a stir or speculation. At the very least, if others wanted to make things difficult for her, they would not have sufficient reasons.
In addition, she was Wu Zetian's most favored daughter. If her actions were not in line with Wu Zetian's wishes, she could go back to the emperor and throw a tantrum, apologize, and say that she thought she was clever. That would be enough, and she would not implicate her doormat brother.
Although the court had announced to the world that a deputy counsellor would go to Fangzhou to bring back the Prince of Luling's family, in reality, everyone in the officialdom knew that the Prince of Luling had returned to the capital first and had experienced many twists and turns along the way. They also knew that Yang Fan had played a crucial role in all of this. Otherwise, the Prince of Luling would have already been buried according to the Crown Prince's regulations, with grass growing on his grave.
Thus, it was only right and proper for the Prince of Luling to express his gratitude to Yang Fan. Now that he had arrived a few days later than Prince of Liang's Wu Sansi's banquet, it could already be said to be very unreasonable. However, considering the difficult situation of this future crown prince, it was reluctantly acceptable. But if he did not express anything at all, it would cause people to despise him.
After thinking for a moment, Yang Fan nodded and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Steward Li. This general will definitely attend on time!"
It was not that Yang Fan did not consider Wu Zetian's reaction, but he did not bother to analyze what kind of reaction Wu Zetian would have if he attended the banquet of peace. In terms of understanding Wu Zetian's mentality and accurate views of the political situation in the court, Princess Taiping was much smarter than him.
He was able to become the 'Thousand Horseman General', which was crucial to the future of the Li family. If he agreed to attend the banquet, it would have a detrimental effect on him. Princess Taiping would not hold this banquet of thanks at all. Even if she wanted to put on an act, she would certainly give him some hints in advance, telling him not to go.
After receiving Yang Fan's reply, Li Yi happily left. Looking at his back, Yang Fan let out a bitter laugh, thinking, "I originally thought that I wouldn't have to trouble her with this matter, but who would have thought that she would come herself. It's fine, the Zhang brothers owe me a favor, so there's no need to rush them to return it. There will be a time when they will be needed."
…
That Lu Maofeng, Commander Lu, seemed to have been waiting outside for a long time. Not long after Bai Yiding left, someone came to report that the Left Army Commander Lu Maofeng had come to visit.
Yang Fan received this Commander Lu. This person had a square face, sword-shaped eyebrows, a tall and sturdy figure, and a dignified appearance. After talking for a while, Yang Fan discovered that this person was both civil and military, and had both. No wonder he was valued by Er Zhang and was recruited by him. If this person's political background was not taken into account, he was really a rare talent for a general.
Yang Fan had already made up his mind to use Er Zhang as a meat shield to resist the 'Thousand Horseman' that might suffer from the encroachment of various forces in the future, so he immediately agreed to invite him to join the 'Thousand Horseman' as the Right Commander. Lu Maofeng was overjoyed and returned to the Left Army Commander to make preparations. Yang Fan also immediately sent out a document to send him off to the Left Army Commander.
As soon as Lu Maofeng left, Yang Fan said to Xu Liang, "There's still an opening for the position of Commander. You and I have to seize the time to find a suitable talent. If we delay for too long, we can't guarantee that we won't be targeted by others. Even if no one else intervenes, it's just that Er Zhang is envious and wants to shove another person in, and we can't refuse him. For now, it's better to have someone inferior than lacking."
Xu Liang nodded his head in agreement. At this time, the Squad Leader guarding the armory came to ask when they could gather the soldiers to register, so that they can engrave words on the armor and equipment and distribute the weapons. His position was low and he could not enter the Marshal's tent. Yang Fan let Ren Wei out and only gave him one sentence, "I'm not in a hurry, you wait here!"
The Squad Leader was under Yang Fan's supervision, so he did not dare to say much. Moreover, his future was in the hands of the Ordnance Supervisor, so he did not dare to disobey. The Ordnance Supervisor was pressing him hard, so he had no choice but to come and ask again and again. On the other hand, Yang Fan's side was always playing it down and did not care about the armor and weapons in the armory at all. When the Squad Leader came again, he did not even pass on a message for him. This Squad Leader was really like a mouse in a bellows, being bullied on both sides.
On this day, the Yang family sent a letter home. When Yang Fan saw the letter, he immediately informed Xu Liang, Chu Kuangge, and a few other generals, then took a leave of absence and left the cavalry camp.
The letter home was written by his wife, Xiao Man. There were a few seemingly casual words mixed in, but there was a lot of meaning behind them. The meaning of those words was that someone wanted to see him, and that the other party was someone from the Dugu family.
After the establishment of the alliance between Yang Fan and the Dugu family, they had been acting in a very tacit manner, but the convenience he gave to the Dugu family was mainly concentrated in the business managed by the "Succession Hall".
In terms of politics, after he acted as the Assistant Minister of the Heavenly Official and then stepped down from his position because of his own corruption, the new examiner who was promoted was someone who had been cultivated by the Dugu family for many years. In this aspect, he did not need to worry too much. In return for a plum, Doctor Zhao would also try his best to take care of the Dugu family.
Now that the Dugu family suddenly wanted to meet him, Yang Fan did not know what had happened, so he hurried back home.
In the southern part of Luoyang, in the unknown house that actually belonged to the Dugu family.
Dugu Ningke's boudoir was covered with thick curtains, with only a small gap in the corner, revealing a faint ray of light.
Dugu Ningke was lying on the couch, and her brother, Dugu Yu, was sitting beside the couch, gently holding her hand. The brother and sister were talking in a low voice.
"Younger sister, I have an appointment with Yang Fan today, I will go to his house to visit him in a while."
Dugu Yu knew that his younger sister liked to hear about Yang Fan the most, and usually deliberately leaked as much information about Yang Fan as possible to her, especially the story of Yang Fan's clever tricks, teasing a group of Wu family assassins, making them run around in panic, and successfully escorting the Prince of Luling back to the capital. His younger sister often talked about it. Every time, her face would reveal a trace of a mischievous, complacent, and even proud smile, which was a rare smile from his younger sister. However, it was the first time that he personally told his younger sister news about Yang Fan.
Dugu Yu knew that his younger sister would not ask, so he took the initiative to introduce the reason why he wanted to meet with Yang Fan to his younger sister.
Ning Ke pondered for a moment, then said softly, "You want to intervene in the thousand cavalry?"
Dugu Yu said, "Yes! What I want is only a seat, I have no other motives. Once the thousand cavalry is formed, it is self-evident how important it will be in the future. I just want to be prepared. "
Ning Ke sighed softly, and said faintly, "Since the thousand cavalry is Erlang, Elder Brother, why do you need to do this?"
Dugu Yu hurriedly said, "I have no intention of not trusting Erlang, but … it is better to rely on ourselves than to rely on others. It is always more convenient for the Dugu family to have one of our own in the thousand cavalry."
Ning Ke said in a slightly hoarse but sweet and gentle voice, "What is the temperament, character, and disposition of the person you intend to transfer to the thousand cavalry?"
Dugu Yu said, "His name is Jizhi. In terms of seniority, he is our nephew, and in terms of age, he is more than ten years older than you and me. At the age of sixteen, he gave up his studies and joined the army. Now he is the Commandant Guo Yi of the Zhe Chong Prefecture, and has his own strengths in managing the army. He is a distant branch of the Dugu family, and usually does not have much contact with the main branch. This time, he took the initiative to ask the family to help him.
You also know that the Official Army system is declining day by day, and there is no future for him to continue to mix in the Official Army. This person's loyalty is not a problem, and he is a member of the Dugu family. If he betrays the family, no matter how big the world is, he will not be able to gain a foothold. No one will trust a person who will even betray his own family. "
Ning Ke sighed softly, "In my opinion, it is enough for the family to get involved in politics a little, and it is not suitable for us to get involved in the army."
Dugu Yu did not agree, and said, "Now there is Zhao Langzhong in the Heavenly Official Mansion, and if Dugu Jizhi leads the army in the thousand cavalry, our family will have a way out in both the civil and military fields. We can use him in politics, and lay low in the military field. But when there is a chance, he can also contribute to our family in martial arts, and then the rise of the Dugu family will be unstoppable. "
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