At noon the next day, Li Zhen and his party were about to arrive in Chang'an, where they had been away from for a long time, and drove into Badong Town.

In addition to ten carriages, his team also had more than 80 personal guards and four heavyweight scholars, one was Chen Zi'ang. He offended the Wu family and was almost removed from prison. It was thanks to Di Renjie's plead for him that he finally got rid of the crime, but his official position was lost. Di Renjie recommended him to Li Zhen as a staff member and took charge of the documents for him.

The second is Wang Jianzhong, the first expert in case-breaking, Dali Temple. This is the person Li Zhen personally asked Dali Temple. Li Zhen witnessed his ability to investigate and reason with his own eyes several times and admired him deeply. Wang Jianzhong has always been unsuccessful. He is willing to follow Li Zhen to Chang'an to serve as an official. He was appointed as a sixth-rank judge, and he was promoted one level from his former Dali Temple Department.

Another person is Di Guangyuan, the second son of Di Renjie. Di Guangyuan is about thirty years old. He is low-key and humble, smart and capable, and is especially good at material storage management. Li Zhen originally wanted to recommend him to participate in the military as a record officer, but Di Renjie insisted on letting him participate in the military as a warehouse manager.

The last of the four was Zhang Shuo, the staff officer under Wang Xiaojie. After Wang Xiaojie was killed, Zhang Shuo led his army out of the siege and fled to his life. He offended Wu Sansi for impeaching Su Honghui and was demoted to the county magistrate of Shaxian. Di Renjie admired his talent very much and turned him into a military officer of the Ministry of War, in charge of military service in Xijing, and also followed him to Chang'an as a subordinate of Li Zhen.

These four people did not bring their families for the time being. They would only bring their families after they settled in Chang'an.

Badong Town is named after it is located on the east side of the Ba River. It is about thirty miles away from Chang'an. It is a must-pass place to go to Tongguan east. It has a very developed business and a large population. There are more than 200 households in the town, almost half of which are in business. The official road passes through the middle of the town. Both sides of the official road are filled with taverns, inns, brothels and various shops. People come and go, and business is very prosperous.

It was lunch time for the group to arrive in Badong Town. The five or six taverns in the town were basically full, and the simple tea shed was filled with pawns and peddlers. Seeing that Li Zhen could not find a place to have lunch, he had to instruct a few personal soldiers and said, "Go and buy some dry food!"

They basically rested in the woods and ate dry food along the way. Seeing that they were about to arrive in Chang'an, Li Zhen wanted to take everyone to have a good meal in the town, but unexpectedly they couldn't find a restaurant, which disappointed him.

At this moment, a middle-aged man with the appearance of a shopkeeper hurried over and asked, "Are you General Li and his party coming from Luoyang?"

He didn't speak loudly, but Di Yan heard it, and pointed at the middle-aged man and smiled, "Husband, that person seems to be here to look for you?"

Li Zhen was stunned. Could it be that it was Jiuzhi? It was impossible. Jiuzhi should be in Chang'an. This is just a small town in Badong. How did Jiuzhi know that he was coming?

But in addition to this, Li Zhen really couldn't remember who would pick him up. He felt a little alert and held the hilt of the sword in his hand. At this time, the personal soldiers led the middle-aged man up, "General, this person said that he had prepared a special restaurant for us."

The middle-aged man hurriedly stepped forward to salute, "General, thank you all the hard work, my master has booked the largest Linjiang restaurant in the town, and will give the general and his party a rest and meal."

Li Zhen's hand holding the hilt of the sword tightly released, and he smiled faintly and asked, "I wonder who your master is?"

"My owner is the head of Dugu family."

Di Yan whispered to Li Zhen: "It's Dugu Mingxi, the leader of the Guanlong nobles."

Li Zhen nodded, it turned out to be this person, and he did not refuse, and ordered his left and right to say, "Go to Linjiang Restaurant!"

The group followed the housekeeper to the restaurant. A large winery covering an area of ​​five or six acres was indeed empty, without a single guest, a young man had already been waiting here. He seemed to know Li Zhen, so he stepped forward and bowed to Li Zhen, "I am here to welcome General Li and his wife on my father's order, and welcome General Li to Chang'an to serve."

"Do you know me?"

"I love polo. Last year I went to Luoyang to watch the polo competition and saw the general's style."

So that's it. Li Zhen smiled slightly and bowed to him, "Please tell Ling Zun, thank you for your kindness."

After lunch, everyone rested for a while and was about to set off again. At this time, Zhang Shuo came to Li Zhen and whispered: "General, it is best not to accept too much of Dugu's favor."

"How do you say this?" Li Zhen asked in confusion.

Zhang Shuo sighed, "The Guanlong nobles are the largest force in the Tang Dynasty. Their power is enough to change the political situation. Even the emperor is quite concerned about them. Once the emperor learns that the general has had a close relationship with them, it may bring death to the general."

Li Zhen thought for a while and asked again: "Since their strength is enough to change the political situation, why can the emperor tolerate them?"

"There are many reasons, mainly because the Wu family also wants to use this power for themselves. In addition, they are relatively low-key and do not directly interfere in politics, so the emperor can tolerate it."

Speaking of this, Zhang Shuo looked at both sides and lowered his voice: "The former prime minister Li Dezhao was dismissed because he had too close relationship with Dugu. The imperial concubine killed by Wei Tuaner was also the daughter of Guanlong Dou. The general must be careful!"

Li Zhen nodded, clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, Brother Zhang, for telling you bluntly, Li Zhen remembers it."

Everyone set out again. In the afternoon, a team entered Chang'an City, and the bustling atmosphere suddenly came to their faces.

Although Chang'an is no longer a political center, it has a strong foundation and a developed commerce. Although it has been neglected for decades, its prosperity is still no less than that of Luoyang, and to some extent it is even more than Luoyang. The most obvious is the Silk Road trade. The number of Hu people in the Western Regions in Chang'an is far more than that of Luoyang, and teams of camels loaded with goods can be seen everywhere.

But when the team slowly drove into the former imperial city, the lively and prosperous atmosphere disappeared. There were only official offices with door locks everywhere. Although the official office buildings were magnificent, they were deserted and dilapidated everywhere. The locks and iron chains were covered with rust, and the deserted streets were covered with artemisia grass.

This is the original central court. Since the court moved to Luoyang, it has been abandoned. In a flash, decades have passed, and the power of the past has gradually been buried in dust.

Everyone's mood became dim. Although Li Zhen had sneaked into a more decaying palace, the dilapidated and desolate in front of him still made him feel like he was being exiled. Di Yan held his hand tightly beside him, and Li Zhen felt the coldness of her little hand.

Soon, they came to the Xijing left behind the government office. This was a huge government office covering an area of ​​hundreds of acres. It was also the only building in the imperial city that looked a bit popular. There were no large rusty locks, nor were there any artemisia grass that was tall for one person. The yellow Tang Dynasty flag was flying high on the flagpole in front of the gate.

At this time, the gate was over, and more than a dozen officials rushed out of the official yamen. The leader was an official in his forties, wearing a veil hat and a fourth-rank official uniform, looking quite smart. He stepped forward and bowed, "Zhou Yaosi, the chief of the left-behind office of Xijing, welcome General Li!"

Li Zhen was named deputy left-behind Xijing, and was actually the same level as Changshi. He was both the fourth-rank official, but the deputy left-behind commander, and Changshi was in charge of the army. Both were assistants to the left-behind Xijing. However, since Wu Youning served as the left-behind Xijing, he basically did not come to Chang'an, so when Li Zhen took office, the military and political power left-behind Xijing was in the hands of this Changshi Zhou Yaosi."

Before Li Zhen came, he learned about Zhou Yaosi's background. This person was originally the chief clerk of the left-level guard. He was recommended by Wu Sansi as the chief secretary of Xijing three years ago. He was actually Wu Sansi's person.

Logically, when Li Zhen took his family to take office, he first had to settle down at the official residence and then come to the official office to take office. However, Zhou Yaosi did nothing. On the surface, he was welcoming himself, but in fact he was resisting his arrival.

Li Zhen knew it well and replied with a smile: "It turns out it was Zhou Changshi. I have been reverent for a long time. I don't know where my official residence is? I want to settle my wife and my belongings first."

"oh--"

Zhou Yaosi pretended to be enlightened and turned around to question an official, "Has Liu Shenjun and Deputy Li left behind the official residence?"

The official said tremblingly: "The arrangement is an arrangement, but"

"It's just something! Why don't you take the deputy left-behind to Anden's junior high school, go!"

The official had no choice but to salute, "General Li, please come with me."

Li Zhen felt that there seemed to be some problem, but he did not show any expression or ask more questions, and then smiled and said, "Then it will be a blessing for Liu to join the army."

Li Zhen said goodbye to the chief minister Zhou Yaosi again, and then turned around and followed Liu Ganjun out of the imperial city. Zhou Yaosi looked at Li Zhen's back with his hands behind his back. He was really worried. Wu Sansi asked him to give Li Zhen a strong warning. He didn't know whether his approach was wise.

Everyone left the imperial city and entered the Wubenfang opposite the imperial city. This yard was also the concentration of Chang'an mansions and giant mansions. There were more than 20 large houses covering an area of ​​more than 100 acres. At this time, Li Zhen asked Liu Shenjun to come and asked him: "Liu Shenjun seemed to have something unfinished just now, but what."

Liu Shenjun sighed and said, "Xiaoguan originally planned to clean up the residence of the left-behind general, but the house was a bit disrepaired and needed at least 3,000 guan to repair it. However, Zhou Changshi refused to approve the money. Xiaguan had no choice but to rent a house temporarily, which required 100 guan a month, and the general had to bear it himself."

Li Zhen was furious in his heart. He had never heard of a local official who wanted to pay for his own house. He asked with a gloomy face: "Where does Zhou Changshi live? Does he have to pay for his own house?"

"Report to the general, Zhou Changshi lives in Pingrenfang. He lives in an eighty-acre official house and does not need to pay for it himself."

Li Zhen snorted coldly, "If I remember correctly, the fourth-rank chief can only live in a maximum of ten acres of official houses. He actually lives in an eighty acres. Do he think he is the prince?"

"This... I don't know about it."

Liu Shenjun was sweating profusely. He knew that he had met a powerful person this time. How skill was Li Zhen able to defeat Xue Huaiyi and Lai Junchen? Zhou Yaosi was overestimated and wanted to fight him. He was immediately caught by someone.

Li Zhen no longer talked to him and said coldly: "I am a third-rank general Yunhui and have the title of county marquis. According to the imperial court, my official residence cannot be greater than 30 acres. Liu Shenjun went to arrange it for me. As for where I live now, I will solve it myself. You don't need to worry about it anymore. You can go!"

Liu Shenjun had no choice but to turn his horse's head back to the imperial city. At this time, Di Yan whispered: "Do you want to stay in the eldest sister's place for a while?"

Li Zhen nodded. His eldest sister Li Quan bought a house covering an area of ​​about ten acres in Chang'an, located in Xuanyangfang near Dongshi. Of course, he would not accept the humiliating arrangement of Zhou Changshi. Since this Zhou surnamed wanted to fight him, Li Zhen would accompany him to the end.
Chapter completed!