Tang's dining table

Xue Changfeng stood on the streets of Luoyang, not knowing where to go.

Today, Xue Changfeng no longer has the slightest trace of his former elegance. After five years of living in Yazhou, facing the sea and blooming with spring flowers, he has turned into a bald, tattooed, and swarthy southern barbarian.

Over the past few years, he had spent a period of leisurely life in Yazhou. If it hadn't been for the sudden plague in Yazhou, he would have continued to stay there.

It's actually not bad to deal with the savages on the sea. Although there is a lack of etiquette, but after getting along for a long time, it is easy to become their leader.

The main reason is that Xue Changfeng is a person who is very good at summarizing experiences and lessons. When he started to follow the savages, fishing was his weakness and he could only do the most tiring work.

Slowly, he learned a little from the savage who knew how to catch crabs, a little from that savage who knew how to fish, and then a little from the female savage who dug razor clams from the sea. He soon became the one who knew everything among the savages.

In addition, he could also cook various foods on land. Within two years, he became the leader of the savage people.

This time he entered Luoyang because the local officials of Yazhou hoped that he could be regarded as a specialty of Yazhou, and the Savage King participated in the high-end activities of the emperor's conferment on Mount Tai.

When the emperor needs all the nations to come to court, it is actually a good thing to be a savage leader. The court provides food and drink, and also spends money to help him prepare gifts for the emperor. When he returns home, the government still pays for it, and Many rewards.

The only inconvenient thing is that he cannot say that he is a Yazhou savage. He should say that he is a southern savage or a savage king. Because he admires the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he traveled thousands of miles to Luoyang just to kowtow to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

This is not actually Honglu Temple, the officials of the Ministry of Rites are cheating.

The main reason is that it is too difficult to organize a ceremony for His Majesty the Emperor to have all nations come to court.

Over the years, there have been fewer and fewer tribes and countries around the Tang Dynasty that can speak human language. Originally, Liaodong could gather more than a dozen vassal states. Unfortunately, since the Liaodong War, all Liaodong can offer is a new vassal state. The Khitan tribe that rose up under the Dahe Alliance. The Dahe Alliance originally had eight tribes and belonged to the Songmo Dudu Mansion. Because after Xue Rengui left Yingzhou, there was only one distant Khitan tribe left. .

As for Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje, the pearls of these vassal states, few people mention them now.

The same is true for the Turks in the north. Originally, there were ten royal tribes in the Turks. Now there are only three that can be called tribes. Moreover, just these three, if Honglu Temple had not tried to dissuade them, they would have been killed long ago. Disappeared into history.

There are only some vassal states in the Western Regions... However, it is difficult to describe the current situation of these vassal states.

The gunpowder workshop under the Tang Dynasty's craftsmanship produced 268,000 kilograms of gunpowder per year, of which 170,000 kilograms of gunpowder were consumed by the Anxi Army. As for where it was consumed, the Ministry of War was only willing to let the emperor and a few prime ministers It is known that it is an absolute secret to the outside world. This means that although there are still some vassal states in the Western Region, many of these vassal states exist in name only.

As for the Governor's Mansion in Guangzhou and even the Governor's Mansion in Jiaozhi, there are many savages and barbarians under their rule. When His Majesty the Emperor needs all nations to come to court for this great ceremony, there is a lot to do.

Although the barbarian tribe can pick out a lot of grass-headed kings to fool people, it's a pity that these barbarians can't speak Tang dialect at all, let alone understand the etiquette of the Tang people.

A savage like Xue Changfeng who could speak Tang Mandarin and knew the etiquette of Tang Dynasty was a rare treasure among savages even under the rule of Yazhou.

Therefore, Lingnan Road equipped Xue Changfeng with a lot of Annan savages this time, letting him be the leader so that he could answer the emperor's questions, participate in the emperor's banquets, participate in the emperor's conferment on Mount Tai, and make up the numbers as the king of the vassal state.

Why did such a good thing happen to Xue Changfeng? Not only because he could speak Tang dialect and knew Tang etiquette, but most importantly, the officials of Lingnan Road did not like to see the Feng Ang family enjoying the glory of Fengchan Taishan alone in Lingnan. .

In short, Xue Changfeng, who originally planned to enjoy the sunshine, beach, and free life in Yazhou, and escape from being taken advantage of, now comes to Luoyang and lives in Honglu Temple in Luoyang, where the doctors from Honglu Temple teach them how to do the right thing. Practice the etiquette of the Tang Dynasty.

Xue Changfeng was undoubtedly the fastest and best savage in learning. Therefore, he was given a two-day holiday to explore the capital of the Tang Dynasty, which was known as the Divine Capital.

Accompanied by two young officials from Honglu Temple, Xue Changfeng almost completed the tour of Luoyang. Although these two guys seemed to be accompanying him, in fact, they did not spend a penny on Xue Changfeng, the barbarian king, along the way. , when they went out, these two guys received a bag of money from the boss.

When passing by Baihua Building, Xue Changfeng saw what seemed to be random graffiti on the green bricks at the corner.

After looking at it for a while, Xue Changfeng took advantage of the two clerks to drink toilet water and add a few strokes to the graffiti.

Although Yun Chu is not a good person, Xue Changfeng still has many good friends under Yun Chu's command, and he also wants to know the situation of his old friends in recent years.

While Xue Changfeng was wandering around the Luoyang market with his hands behind his back, a luxurious and excessive four-wheeled carriage drove past him, escorted by a group of Tibetan people.

Just when the carriage was less than twenty steps away, the carriage stopped, and a trembling voice sounded from behind him: "Brother Changfeng."

Hearing this title, Xue Changfeng was indifferent and grabbed a small gourd from a roadside stall with one hand, showing great interest.

"Brother Changfeng. Is that you?"

A hand grabbed his arm, and Xue Changfeng turned his head in surprise, looking at Helan Minzhi who was so excited that he couldn't control himself with a pair of confused eyes.

"Gurgugu, Gagu..."

A series of words that even Xue Changfeng himself could not understand spewed out of his mouth like a barrage of words.

He Lan Minzhi was unmoved, looked at Xue Changfeng and said, "Are you not dead?"

"Brother Agagu..."

"You're not dead, are you?"

Helan Minzhi's eyes gradually became manic, and his hands holding Xue Changfeng's arms instantly became extremely strong.

"This young master, King Aga is a guest of Honglu Temple. You cannot be so rude."

Just when Xue Changfeng was pinched by He Lan Minzhi and screamed, the two clerks accompanying Xue Changfeng finally came over.

"You said he was the vassal king of the Tang Dynasty?"

"Exactly, he comes from the Annan Governor's Mansion. There are more than 2,000 tribesmen in the Annan jungle. He is a very powerful local vassal king."

He Lanmin tore off Xue Changfeng's silk clothes, revealing his dark chest. Seeing that there were no scars on his chest as he expected, he grabbed the Nanman who was wearing silk clothes and looked like a monkey. He turned around and started looking at his back again.

There was no wound on the back as He Lan Minzhi expected, so he immediately let go of Xue Changfeng's hand, pinched Xue Changfeng's throat and roared: "How dare you, a monkey, look like my brother Changfeng."

Xue Changfeng grabbed Helan Minzhi's thick arms with both hands, and with the help of two Honglu Temple officials, he broke free from Helan Minzhi's restraints.

Seeing that He Lan Minzhi was a little dull, the clerk quickly pulled Xue Changfeng into the alley.

After Helan Minzhi was stunned for a long time, he finally returned to the carriage. Dunzhu immediately asked: "Who did you see?"

Helan Minzhi said indifferently: "A person who is already dead."

Dunzhu said seriously: "Since he is a dead person, he shouldn't be alive for you to see."

Helan Minzhi's eyes narrowed and he shook his head and said: "I don't think I can admit his mistake, especially his back. It is absolutely impossible for me to admit his mistake. However, when he turned around, I found that he still admitted his mistake. ”

Dunzhu said: "Since my brother will not admit his mistake, it means that that person is not dead. In the past, when we were in Yangtong, some monks said that they would never die and would only continue to live with the help of another new body.

I didn't believe it, so I killed a few monks who claimed to be immortal. As a result, they really died and never came back to life.

My brother should have captured this person just now. Whether it was true or not, as long as he was tortured, he would figure it out. "

Helan Minzhi gritted his teeth and said: "My heart is very confused. I hope he is alive, but I don't want him to be alive. Whether he is alive or dead, it is not comfortable for me."

"Then kill him! Luosang, find that person now and kill him."

Dunzhu shouted to the Tibetan man next to the carriage, and the Tibetan man immediately led seven or eight people and chased him in the direction where Xue Changfeng was running.

He Lan Minzhi had a splitting headache, and he didn't know whether to stop Dunzhu's behavior. After a while, he screamed and fell into Dunzhu's arms. The scenes about Xue Changfeng in the past kept recurring in his mind. The ground flashed, especially when Xue Changfeng's blood-stained hands grasped the door and slowly closed it, it stirred in Helan Minzhi's mind like an awl.

"Brother Changfeng——" He Lan Minzhi roared angrily and fainted.

Xue Changfeng got rid of the two stupid clerks and walked quickly through the alleys. Occasionally he saw familiar graffiti at the corner. Following the signs on the graffiti, he passed through one market after another, and finally came to a teahouse. door.

Stepping into the teahouse, I glanced around the teahouse and saw a fat woman settling accounts behind the counter.

He came straight to the woman and said, "Mrs. Qian, something happened to me."

Aunt Qian had already seen this Nanman, but she was too lazy to entertain her. When she heard that Nanman called her Mrs. Qian, she was stunned for a moment, and took a closer look at Xue Changfeng, but she didn't recognize her.

"If something happens to you, it's none of my business. If you have money, just drink tea and listen to books. If you don't have money, get out of here immediately."

Xue Changfeng scratched his bald head and smiled bitterly: "I am Xue Changfeng, from Yazhou."

Aunt Qian was stunned for a moment, took a closer look at Xue Changfeng, then took him to the backyard, and jumped into the well without hesitation. Xue Changfeng immediately followed Aunt Qian's example and walked through the dark underground for a cup of tea. After a while, I opened another flap and came to a small courtyard.

Seeing the four carpenters who were working putting down their work and slowly approaching him, Xue Changfeng spread his hands and said, "I really am."

Aunt Qian waved her hand, and the four strong men immediately retreated and resumed their carpentry work.

Aunt Qian took Xue Changfeng into the house and rubbed a teapot for a long time before pouring Xue Changfeng a cup of tea.

Xue Changfeng smiled and said: "I am Xue Changfeng, there is no need for you to test me with a mandarin duck pot."

Aunt Qian said: "As far as I know, Xue Changfeng died in Yazhou."

Xue Changfeng smiled bitterly and said: "Not dead, not dead. I just went fishing with the savages and was taken away by the wind and waves to other places, so that I lost contact with my brothers."

Aunt Qian looked at Xue Changfeng and said: "Since you have faked your death and left us, why did you come back again? Xue Changfeng, brothers thought you were dead, and the Lord specially held sacrifices for you and gave up Yazhou. Now, you You are back again, how can you see your old brother who was born and died with you in the past?"

Xue Changfeng said in surprise: "Why, after such a long time, haven't all the old brothers died yet?"

Aunt Qian laughed like an owl. A sharp thorn appeared from her sleeve and stabbed Xue Changfeng silently.