Starting boy Ma Kongqun

Chapter 208 Li Yuan, Man Qing

In the early spring of the eighteenth year of Wanli, Baoding Mansion, Li Garden.

"One school has seven Jinshi, and the father and his son have three talents."

The couplet on the door is a good thing to others, but it is a pity to Li Xunhuan and his father and brother.

It was not until three years ago that Li Xunhuan's only son, Li Manqing, finally made up for this regret by becoming the top candidate in the imperial examination and high school in his weak year.

Also in that year, Li Manqing declined the marriage offers from many dignitaries in the court and married a folk woman named "Shangguan Xian'er".

After his son established a career and started a family, Li Xunhuan left the ancestral property of Li Garden to his son and daughter-in-law to take care of, while he took his wife Sun Xiaohong to roam around the world.

Li Manqing originally worked in the Hanlin Academy, and as long as he stayed in the officialdom step by step, he would have a bright future.

However, he saw that the emperor had only been in power for a few years, and he began to indulge in drinking and neglecting government affairs, so he wrote a letter to advise him, and his words were quite sincere and fierce.

Wanli Lanzou was furious and had originally intended to imprison Li Manqing for questioning on the charge of "insulting the emperor". Fortunately, Xu Jianbai Su, the right servant of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, had a good relationship with Li Manqing and tried his best to mediate and negotiate with Li Manqing to avoid this catastrophe. However, he still It is inevitable that he will be reduced from his position to serve the people.

At that time, after Li Manqing received the order to dismiss from office, he did not show any sign of sadness or anger. Instead, he laughed three times with relief, left Beijing with his wife and returned to Baoding Mansion. They lived in Liyuan behind closed doors and no longer cared about temple matters. .

On this day, Li Manqing, who rarely saw outsiders, opened the front door and personally went out to welcome the visiting guests.

Someone recognized the identity of the visitors. They were Ma Qingfeng, the son of Ma Ji, the Marquis of Weiyuan, and his wife Gongsun Lan, the governor of Liaodong who had been in charge of the customs for more than ten years. They looked down on Li Manqing, thinking that this noble Li Gongzi also had the tendency to follow people's influence. One day.

But someone else explained at that time that Li Xunhuan and Ma Ji were both close friends of Ma Kongqun of the "Ten Thousand Horses Hall". After all, Li Manqing and Ma Qingfeng were family friends, and such enthusiasm was natural and had nothing to do with power.

While outsiders were talking about it, Li Manqing had already invited Ma Qingfeng to sit down in the front hall, while Gongsun Lan was invited to the back house by Shangguan Xian'er to talk.

Speaking of which, Ma Qingfeng and Gongsun Lan also got married three years ago, and gave birth to a son in the second year after their marriage.

Although Li Manqing and Shangguan Xianer are harmonious, they still have no children.

Shangguan Xian'er talked to Gongsun Lan alone, naturally asking for some experience.

In the front hall, Li Manqing was about to order his servants to prepare food and drinks.

Ma Qingfeng waved his hand to stop him and said with a smile: "Man Qing, I brought some special wine and delicacies to share with you this time. Are we considered friends enough?"

Li Manqing said happily: "Now that the caravan of 'Ten Thousand Horses Hall' is traveling farther and farther, the wine and delicacies that you can take a fancy to must be extraordinary." Ma Qingfeng greeted the door, and immediately an accompanying guard sent in a wooden From the box, he took out a narrow-necked bottle, a square jar, two tall glasses, and two silver spoons, and placed them on the table between the two of them.

Those utensils were all made of extremely pure colored glass. Li Manqing could clearly see that the bottles contained a light gold and slightly green wine, and the jars contained dark black sauce.

Ma Qingfeng took the wine bottle first, opened the lid, which was also made of colored glass, poured half a glass of wine into two tall glass cups, and while pouring the wine, he explained: "This is brought back by the caravan from the Western European continent. The white wine is said to have been cellared for hundreds of years and is the most mellow and refreshing.”

Li Manqing picked up the wine glass, brought it to his nose and sniffed it gently. His eyes immediately lit up and he praised: "The aroma of the wine actually contains the fragrance of flowers, which is really unique."

Ma Qingfeng opened the jar again, took a spoon and handed it over: "This is caviar brought back from Japan. It uses the eggs of butterfly sharks. To the north of Kunlun, many people call it 'Kavi'." Ya', the flavor is excellent, Manqing will try it first."

Li Manqing tried to pick up some caviar with a spoon and put it into his mouth, but he only felt it was greasy, fishy and salty, and could not taste any benefit at all.

Ma Qingfeng chuckled, but first raised his glass and took a sip of the wine, then put the caviar in his mouth with a spoon, then closed his eyes slightly and shook his head as if he was having endless aftertaste.

Li Manqing knew that he was teasing him, so she snorted angrily, and imitated his example. She immediately felt that the taste was very different from the previous one.

This white wine is sweet and slightly sour, forming a wonderful balance with the caviar. The taste is fresh and delicious.

At that time, the two of them drank this bottle of wine, one spoonful at a time and the other in my mouth, and finished the jar of sauce.

Li Manqing put down the wine glass and spoon. Although he still had some unfinished thoughts, he began to ask about the business: "Qingfeng entered the customs this time, is it because the imperial court intends to summon his uncle to the capital?"

Ma Qingfeng sneered and said: "Recently, there are a lot of scoundrels in the capital jumping up and down, saying that my father is proud of his troops and enjoys all his power and wealth. The land of Liaodong is like a country within a country. In the end, he is still jealous of the thousands of miles of fertile land in Liaodong and the growing number of people. It has a huge population. It would have been unthinkable that if my father had not defeated the grassland barbarians in the north and subdued the Jurchen tribes in the east, the vast Liaodong would still be a vast wasteland with sparsely populated land and poor people's livelihood.

"The man in the palace also had his own plan. He was only willing to offer an empty title of dukedom with no position and no power, and wanted us father and son to give up everything.

"Hey, I've heard that he was a mean and ungrateful master. In the early years when Zhang Taiyue was in power, no matter whether he was a little domineering or not, he managed a Ming Dynasty to prosper for him. As a result, his corpse was still cold, so he couldn't wait to order the house to be confiscated and cut into pieces. Official rank, exiled family members, only to open the coffin and whip the corpse.

"Also, my uncle had great achievements in the Nanping Japanese pirates and the Beizhen border area. Just because he once attached to Zhang Taiyue, he ordered him to be transferred back to the south and idle, and he was left to be indifferent after he resigned. He was poor and sick. If it weren't for my father Taking him outside the customs and getting back together with my aunt, a generation of famous generals would probably end up dying of cold, illness and hardship. It was really heart-breaking!

"Furthermore, Toyotomi Hideyoshi of the Japanese country is now gradually assuming power. I said that this man is a tycoon of his generation, with great ambitions. He has been involved in both the Ming Dynasty and North Korea for a long time. In a few years, the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Japanese country will definitely use North Korea as the basis. There will be a battle on the battlefield. The Liaodong Army will definitely be the main force fighting in Korea. If my father is transferred back to the capital, the Liaodong Army will immediately become a mess and there will be no need to fight this battle!"

After listening to him complaining for a long time, Li Manqing pondered for a moment and then asked: "Since Qingfeng is here, do you think there is something you need me to do?"

Ma Qingfeng said sternly: "Although Man Qing has resigned, he still has several close friends with high positions in the court, and many connections left to you by Uncle Li. I don't expect to be able to reverse this matter, I only hope that Man Qing can Qing can help delay it for a while - at least until after the Mid-Autumn Festival."

Li Manqing looked stern: "On a full moon night, the top of the Forbidden City?"

(Caven, I feel bad. This is the last plot, and it’s a bit difficult to write. There is still a second update, but it will be later.)

(End of this chapter)