Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 41

Everyone mocked Zhao Dang's stupidity, and after several cups of congratulations, Wang Fu sighed: "Zhao Zhifu is cruel enough, so Zhao Xingde offended him somehow, and he is about to serve in the Hebei Army, and he will not be given an official position."

Li Bangyan said with a smile: "Private Wang has a lot of things to do every day, but the story of romance is ignorant. The crown prince accompanied Zhao Yan to admire Li Ruoxue, a talented girl in the capital, but was rejected by the Li family. Li Gefei, a stubborn old master, said that he would rather his daughter marry Zhao Xingde, and was busy making arrangements What about the marriage. The idiot Zhao Yan became sick because of lovesickness, and even the old man Zhao Zhifu also hated the Li family and Zhao Xingde."

Tong Guan suddenly realized and said: "So that's the case. No wonder the old man insulted Li Ruobing in the Liao Dynasty envoy's impoliteness, and the one who pretended to be Qingliu also stood by and watched." He asked again, "Obviously the officials have the intention of cultivating Zhao Xingde, and I don't know the prime minister. Why did you send that kid to serve in the Hebei Army?"

Tong Guan has always retaliated fiercely against those who have offended him, but he will not easily take revenge on those who have nothing to do with him.Zhao Xingde is a scholar who has recently been noticed by the officials. As the so-called young people are fearful, he might become prosperous in the future. If Cai Xiang didn't hint, he wouldn't be too embarrassed. He made a big enemy for no reason. for.

Cai Jing held the wine glass, glanced at him, drank it all in one gulp, and said slowly: "This son is after Yuanyou, one day he refuses to change his party 'color', and one day will not allow him to have a bright future."

Everyone's expressions were aghast.The dispute between the Cai party and the Zhao party in the court is a dispute between the factions of the new party. Although the old party of Yuanyou has long lost power, it has great potential among the people and localities. Members of the old party were denigrated and exiled, and their children were not allowed to be official for life. The names of Yuanyou party members were engraved on the stele as a record. All anthologies were burned, and the printing plates were also ordered to be destroyed. Even the famous ministers Sima Guang, Wen Yanbo, Fan Chunren, etc. were not spared.

Such methods are used to the extreme. Although the old party is suppressed, the enmity between the old party and the new party in power is hard to resolve.Li Gefei categorically rejected Zhao Yan's marriage proposal, partly because he had long been interested in Zhao Xingde, and partly because Zhao and Li had different party colors. Even if Li Ruoxue married into the prime minister's house, he would be caught in the party struggle and might not be well received by others.

Reminiscent of the fierce battle between the old and new parties, everyone felt chills, Li Bangyan coughed dryly, and said with a smile: "Yuanyou's treacherous party has been out of power for a long time, I have forgotten it, Cai Xiang is still thoughtful." Guan Yibing said: "I understand."

Cai Jing nodded slightly, raised his cup and said, "Your Majesty has entrusted Daofu with a heavy responsibility today. Before the old man congratulates me, let me take this cup as a respect."

Although Tong Guan is also the emperor's favored minister, he is only an eunuch, and he has a little inferiority complex when interacting with civil servants. That's why he has an extraordinary desire to make great achievements.Cai Xiang, who had power over the court, made a toast, which moved him quite a bit. He hurriedly stood up to raise his glass, and said sincerely, "Cai Xiang killed Tong." After drinking it all, Cai Jing only dipped his lips into the wine glass, except for drinking with the emperor, he hadn't had a full drink for a long time.

After Tong Guan drank up the wine, he sighed: "To tell you the truth, Tong went to serve in the Hebei Army. For the sake of the official family, even if he was heartbroken, he would do anything. He just left the official house and lived at the border for a long time. Advancing slanderous rumors in front of the officials. The officials are always in a hurry, so if you are not sure, you will believe it. Prime Minister, if there are villains who want to slander the miscellaneous family, you still have to uphold justice for Tong."

Cai Jing said with a slight smile: "The Daofu is in the heart of the emperor, and the officials' eyes are like torches. Even if a villain slanders, he will not wrong the Daofu." He glanced at Wang Fu and Li Bangyan, and the two hurriedly said : "The Daoist is going to Hebei. He needs people and food. It is a big deal to manage Youyan. From now on, the Privy Council will never treat Hebei badly."

Tong Guan was so grateful that he quickly stood up and offered a glass of wine to the three of them, and then he heard Cai Jing say, "Although Liu Yanqing has been in the border town for a long time, he has always condoned his subordinates' misbehavior, but he is in the two capitals of the east and west, and even the capital of the southeast state." They don’t want to separatize one side like Zheyang Caopan’s family does, and Daofu will go to Hebei to seize his military power, so there is no need to worry about him suddenly attacking.”

Tong Guan said with a smile: "What Cai Xiang said is true." Liu Yanqing would send someone to send generous gifts to everyone present every festival. After becoming a big official, I only want to be safe and enjoy the glory, and I am not a person who will disobey orders and rebel.

Wang Fu and Li Bangyan also nodded and said: "Exactly." Seeing that the three of them were catering to him, Cai Jing frowned, changed the topic, and said: "Although Liu Yanqing is nothing to worry about, but the arrogant soldier in the Hebei camp It has been practiced for a long time, and I am afraid it will not be easy to suppress. Although the Sanya imperial army in the capital is sharp in armor and strong in stature, compared with the Hebei frontier army, it is still not enough in terms of bravery and bravery."

Having said that, he coughed lightly, called the maidservant to bring a pot of tea soup that relieves tiredness and eliminates phlegm, poured a cup for each of them, and said leisurely: "Try it, everyone, this is a gift from the government. Duan Zhengchun, the king of Dali, paid tribute to tea, Duan Zhengchun was fond of making tea, but unfortunately he passed away in the third year of Daguan, and Duan He, who succeeded him, had a bad reputation for tea ceremony.

Seeing Cai Jing gently blowing the tea foam and drinking the tea slowly, Tong Guan didn't understand his intentions, and after the maid serving the tea stepped back, he cupped his hands and said: "How to subdue the powerful soldiers of the frontier army, please invite Cai Jing Give pointers."

Only then did Cai Jing put down the teacup, and said softly: "The powerful soldiers are all dependent on their strength. To subdue them, you need subordinates who are more daring than them." Tong Guan hurriedly said: "Since San Ya The Forbidden Army is not as brave as Hebei's fierce soldiers, so Cai Xiang wants Tong to go to Hedong or Xijing to camp and select elites?" He thought to himself: "Even if His Majesty agrees, how can Zhejia, Yangjia, Caojia, and Panjia be willing to camp? The elite hand in hand."

Cai Jing smiled slightly, shook his head and said: "Hedong and Xijing are camping. The four families of Cao Pan and Yang Zhe are all century-old generals. The camp is deeply rooted, and the subordinates are loyal. If you go to Hedong and Xijing to choose soldiers, I am afraid that even if you can conquer Hebei Daying is just making wedding clothes for others."

Tong Guan nodded. The elite soldiers in Xijing and Hedong must be the loyal subordinates carefully cultivated by Cao Yangpanzhe's four families.His Majesty will surely be furious if Cao Yangpan folds the forces of the four generals into the Hebei camp, and his Hebei camp will be deployed, I am afraid that he will not be able to bear it.He had doubts in his heart, so he cupped his hands again and said, "I also ask the prime minister to save me and give me some advice."

Only then did Cai Jing put down the teacup, and said slowly: "In the land of Hebei, there is a flat river, and it is best to use iron cavalry to gallop back and forth. If the Taoist wants to conquer the Hebei camp, the most important thing is to have a cavalry capable of fighting."

Tong Guan nodded and sighed: "What the prime minister said is that there are only a few cavalry soldiers in the Sanya imperial army. If we want to select the elite, I'm afraid five thousand is not enough. The officials can't let Tong mou Take the elite with you."

But I heard Cai Jing change the subject: "The day before yesterday, Shen Yun, the Secretary of the Imperial City, told the old man that there is a tribe called Kelei in Mobei, and there are about 3000 men in the tribe who can ride and shoot well. She was grazing among the countries, but because she was at a disadvantage in the competition for pastures, she had nowhere to hide, and wanted to join us. The old man is a cunning, fickle, shameless person, so he put down the matter. Now it seems that, The cavalry from the Kelei Department seems to be prepared for Dolf."

Hearing this, Tong Guan was overjoyed and said, "Thank you, Prime Minister, for your guidance." He knew that the barbarians in Mobei were born able to ride horses, and adult men usually have to ride and shoot to hunt for a living, and they compete with each other for pastures all the year round, and eat and drink with the people of the Central Plains. Lazarus is normal.The Kelei tribe came all the way to Neibei, it is like a rootless duckweed in the Central Plains, and it is good at riding and shooting, which is just right for him.

Cai Jing shook his head, and said with a smile: "Don't thank the wrong person, Taoist. You can go and discuss with Shen Yun about the matter of subduing the Mobei barbarians." After speaking, he discussed the tea ceremony with Wang Fu and Li Bangyan. Well, these three people are all civil servants, and Tong Guan has a heart problem, and he is also arty.

At this time Zhao Xingde had just returned to the Taixue Zhaishe, when he was grabbed by Chen Dong, he asked loudly: "I went out to meet the emperor in the morning and came back in the evening, did you, Yuan Zhi, have a full-time talk with the official?" Zhao Xingde couldn't laugh or cry. Looking around, I saw Zhang Bing, Deng Su, He Fang, Zhu Sen, Li Rui, Meng Yuan and other classmates waiting in the dormitory.These cadres have always prided themselves on governing the country and the world.Seeing that Zhao Xingde has one foot on the road to greatness, he is the Tai Xuelang in the early days, and he is in the Tianzitang in the evening, everyone is more than envious, but more excited and celebrating.

Zhao Xingde arched his hands in embarrassment, and said with a wry smile: "Masters, what happened today is a short story." In a few words, he told the whole story about what happened in the palace city. If you treat scholars so poorly, there must be "traitors" in the court!" Feeling aggrieved, Deng Su comforted him: "Your Majesty takes care of everything every day, although I can't meet you today, but since I am in the heart of the emperor, this day will come sooner or later. " Zhang Bing also said: "Exactly. Brother Chen and I have reserved a table in Gonglou to celebrate Yuan Zhi! Let's go together."

Although Zhao Xingde had already eaten four pieces of meat pie from Grandma Pan's house, he went to drink Li Sifen's tea before returning. Seeing the great enthusiasm of the crowd, he couldn't postpone it, so he had to come to Gonglou with everyone.All the friends who came here today are close friends. As usual, Chen Dong invited Li Shishi to play the pipa for everyone. Several singers came to accompany them. Good wine and food were delivered at a low price. The appetizers tasted too light, so he called the idler downstairs in the feast room, and went to the night market at Zhuqueqiao to buy night snacks such as mop belly, spicy slots, brain meat, and roasted rabbit meat.For a while, the table was full of delicious food and wine, Li Shishi's clear voice, all the scholars yelled loudly to persuade them to drink, the atmosphere was very lively, after a while, Zhao Xingde had completely forgotten the depression of the day, and exchanged glasses with his friends.

Just when the wine was in full swing, suddenly there was a commotion from outside the pavilion. There were male and female voices, who seemed to be arguing loudly. Then, there were crying, cursing, shouting, and booing from watching the excitement seemed to explode all of a sudden. Pots, occasionally mixed with the sound of overturning dishes, tables and chairs, one after another.

Together with Zhao Xingde, all the scholars didn't know what happened, it was so noisy outside, they didn't have the mood to listen to the music and drink.Suddenly, he heard a loud shout, "I, Han Shizhong, recognize you, but my fists don't recognize you!", just like thunder on the ground, the silver cup in Zhao Xingde's hand fell to the ground with a jingle.