Chapter 270: Hou Junji Has No Days Off

Li Shimin was very proud of himself after checking the results of the General Works Supervisor.

Hou Junji, who returned to Chang'an, was full of confusion.

After the first month, Hou Junji was ordered by His Majesty to rush to Hexi to preside over the collection and summary of military intelligence.

When the Tang Dynasty was founded, Hexi was occupied by Li Gui, and it has been destroyed for more than ten years.

However, there were no major wars, but small wars were frequent.

Tuyuhun occasionally invaded the border and plundered, and the Dangxiang people who were not on good terms with them chose to respect His Majesty's name in order to destroy this great enemy.

After leaving the Hexi Corridor, it was the Western Regions, where the situation was a little more complicated. The Western Turks pressured the Western Regions, and among them, Gaochang, Ashina Mina Tribe, Qiuci, Yutian, Shule and other countries were paying homage to the Tang Dynasty on the one hand, and dared not offend the Turks who were close at hand on the other hand. Therefore, Hou Junji needed to think carefully and send out his spies to target the target.

In mid-April, Hou Junji met an unexpected group of people in Lufu County.

"Master Xuanzang, Wang Xuance?"

Lufu County is named after the Lufu River. It is said that when the Champion Marquis won the war against the Xiongnu, he poured the fine wine into the Lufu River and drank with his soldiers. Therefore, the county was named Jiuquan in the Western Han Dynasty.

However, this name is not easy to pronounce. Hou Junji has already written a memorial suggesting that Your Majesty should simply change the name of this city to Jiuquan.

It is not only unified with future generations, but also to commemorate the achievements of the Champion Marquis, showing the determination of the Tang Dynasty to unify the Western Regions.

This Lufu County, to the west is Yumen Pass and Dunhuang, to the north is the West Sea Juyan Lake, so it is also a transit point for east, west, south and north.

Hou Junji stayed here, not only to get information, but also to let his spies change their identities and easily blend into the traveling caravans.

However, on this day, the county magistrate of Lufu County came to inform Hou Junji:

"There is a group of people coming from Chang'an, holding the emperor's order to leave the country."

"General, do you want to check it out?"

No one should dare to forge the handwritten order of the Khan, but Hou Junji is a duke and the general of the right guard, and his status is extraordinary.

And this group of people, like General Hou, are from Chang'an, so it is reasonable to inform them.

It is not uncommon for visitors from Chang'an, but holding the emperor's order to leave the country... Hou Junji immediately thought of one person:

"Are there any monks in this group?"

When he heard the magistrate of Lufu County confirm that there were monks and said that the leaders of this group were named Xuanzang and Wang Xuance, Hou Junji immediately became interested:

See! Must see!

But Hou Junji was disappointed after the meeting.

Xuanzang looked ordinary, and after he reported the titles of Duke of Lu and General of the Right Guard, he still ignored him, which made Hou Junji quite discouraged.

"The monk complimented, the dukes humbled themselves, and the two sides had a good conversation, leaving a good reputation for the future generations."

This script that Hou Junji had written in his mind could only be torn up and thrown into a corner, and he turned his attention to another person.

"Has Xuan Ce seen the wonders of Ganlu Temple?"

Hou Junji's question was a little abrupt, but Wang Xuan Ce understood his meaning.

He was a little embarrassed, but finally nodded and said truthfully:

"In early April, I met with your majesty and the dukes."

Hou Junji understood, and unconsciously became closer to the other party, and immediately asked:

"Did he talk about me?"

That's right! Wang Xuan Ce nodded honestly.

Hou Junji's face was happy:

"What did that person say when talking about me?"

That person naturally refers to the younger generation in the future.

Wang Xuance felt even more embarrassed, thinking of the warning from His Majesty, the way the general was called "Old Hou" by Guangmu, and the earth-shattering but ineffective thing that the other party had done.

In the end, he chose to tell part of the truth:

"People are often close to the general when talking about him."

"What the general has done is rare in ancient and modern times."

Hou Junji, who listened attentively, gave him a look:

That's it?

Looking at the merits of the Duke of this country in destroying the country and being a pillar of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, shouldn't you say something nice like "his achievements will be remembered for thousands of years"?

But Wang Xuance felt that he had tried his best.

Therefore, the two of them, together with the eighteen guards, felt at ease to treat Hou Junji to a sumptuous meal.

Perhaps because of this meal, Xuanzang took the initiative to talk to Hou Junji:

"General, I hope you can take care of yourself."

After eating and drinking, the group walked towards Yumen Pass leisurely.

Hou Junji was left standing there, confused:

This strange monk should really learn how to bless people from the monks in the temples of Chang'an.

This Wang Xuance, relying on his merits in destroying a country, thinks he can be on an equal footing with him, Hou Junji, and refuses to say a single nice word?

Looking at the group of people going away, Hou Junji felt a little indignant:

Humph! This time, this prince will not only destroy Gaochang, but also destroy two more countries!

It's just destroying one country, so young and arrogant?

This matter was quickly put aside by Hou Junji for the time being.

The journey to Tianzhu is long, and most of them have tasks entrusted by His Majesty.

It's unknown how many years it will take for Wang Xuance to come back, and by then, Hou Junji doesn't know how many merits he has made.

By mid-May, the spies in his hands had been almost all sent out, and the intelligence on Hexi and the Western Regions had been preliminarily sorted out.

Hou Junji also embarked on a calm journey back to Beijing.

The fall of the Eastern Turks last year was a major event, and the aftermath is only now slowly showing.

All the counties in Hexi cheered, and when they looked at the Dangxiang and Jiehu tribes beside them, their eyes became unceremonious.

And the Hu tribes did not give in either:

What are you so proud of? That's not only your emperor, but also our Heavenly Khan!

The Western Regions countries were much more peaceful. The Hu people in the north weighed it and decided to snatch the leftovers from the Tang Dynasty's destruction of the Turks from the Xueyantuo.

Therefore, Hexi became more peaceful than ever before.

Then Hou Junji frowned: Except for that ignorant Tuyuhun.

This time when I enter the capital, I must strongly advise His Majesty to deploy troops in Longyou and look for an opportunity to destroy Tuyuhun!

Only by destroying this beast can Longyou and Hexi have no worries and go all out to conquer the Western Regions.

And Hou Junji thought very clearly:

Who will be the vanguard in the conquest of Tuyuhun? Of course, it is Hou Junji who knows all kinds of intelligence!

After Tuyuhun is destroyed, Gaochang should be targeted. This is the military achievement of Hou Junji and he must not give up!

After the two countries were destroyed, the troops were directed to the Western Regions. He, Hou Junji, is experienced and is the most suitable to lead the expedition!

That is why he carefully considered the wording and changed several versions of the memorial.

But when he returned to Beijing to report on his work, he did not see any old officials of the Qin Palace in the three provinces and six ministries, and Hou Junji felt that something was wrong.

His Majesty did not take the initiative to summon him. Hou Junji asked about it and heard that the Qianniu Guards had recently surrounded the back garden, and no one except the people from the General Works Supervisor was allowed to approach.

Then... go to Fang Xuanling to ask about the situation?

As far as Hou Junji knew, Fang Xuanling had been frequently in and out of the Imperial College since last year.

On the one hand, he was preparing for the preliminary preparations for the revision of "Book of Jin", and on the other hand, he insisted on learning advanced mathematics with the Imperial College's Jijiu.

After entering the Imperial College, Hou Junji saw several students holding a piece of glass and arguing in the sun.

After the sunlight passed through the glass raised by the students, it scattered spots of light and various colors on the ground.

Hou Junji ignored it and hurried in.

Last year, he took the initiative to ask for permission to make glass according to the methods of later generations, but he got nothing. In the end, the appointment of making glass was given to the General Manager.

With the guidance of the general direction and the help of the alkali production method, the General Manager soon achieved results.

The impurities in today's glass are still obvious, but it has initially become transparent.

As for the specific uses of glass? The General Manager simply sent a lot of it to the Imperial College, letting the students think about it.

After passing through the courtyard and asking, Hou Junji knocked on another door. After pushing it open, he saw several students and doctors arguing fiercely:

"Since it is a history, how can you confuse the gods and strange stories with the history?"

"This is not fabricated by us! It is appropriate to write it down, which can be used as a reference for future generations to read history!"

Looking around, there was no sign of Fang Xuanling. Hou Junji went out disappointed, then turned right to the end and knocked on the door of the priest.

After getting the permission and pushing the door open, all he could see was paper, with the same numbers as the light curtain written all over the paper, which made Hou Junji dizzy.

"Minister Fang came this morning."

The chief priest recalled and shook his head:

"He left after noon."

Hou Junji, who had nothing to gain, stood in front of the Imperial College and thought about it for a while.

In this case, why not go find Li Jing and Li Shi?

After learning about the theory of gunpowder from the light curtain, the two generals summoned many Taoists to discuss the method of gunpowder.

As a result, because they often went in and out of the Taoist temple, the two generals were impeached by the censor, which almost made Hou Junji laugh to death.

Now... when he found the Taoist temple by memory, Hou Junji was afraid to recognize it:

"I remember this Taoist temple was called Cangsong Temple, wasn't it?"

Hou Junji's personal attendant explained:

"After Yuanzheng, the Duke of Dai personally renamed this Taoist temple."

Looking up at the three words "Wulei Temple" again, Hou Junji shook his head and stepped in.

As a result, he was immediately blocked by the gatekeeper:

"General, please hand over the fire stick on your body."

The guard pointed to a plaque in front of Hou Junji, on which was a striking line of characters:

Anyone who brings fire into Wulei Temple will be beheaded!

The signature was the more eye-catching three words "Li Shimin", so Hou Junji didn't get angry at all and obeyed obediently.

This Wulei Temple is very different from the one he came here last year. Not only is it closed to outsiders, but the houses that used to house the statues of gods have become small warehouses with signs in front of the doors:

"Charcoal, cinnabar, realgar, sulfur, saltpeter, sugar, orpiment..."

Hou Junji read them out and realized that they should be materials for alchemy, but now they are all used to make gunpowder.

The Wulei Temple now has a strict execution system. The Taoist priests need to write the recipes first, and then hand them over to the guards to get the materials.

After the arrangement is finally completed in a separate room, the guards in charge of ignition are asked to test the effect.

Afterwards, a summary must be written and recorded in a book.

Hou Junji felt that he had no place to intervene. To his disappointment, Li Shiqi and Li Jing were not there.

"It is said that they are accompanying His Majesty in the north of the city."

The young Taoist priest who received Hou Junji replied.

Just at this moment, Hou Junji heard an explosion from the back of the hall, and there was even more billowing smoke.

The young Taoist priest in front of him was delighted:

"Ah, great!"

"Senior Brother Songcheng has attained enlightenment!"