With the arrival of Tong Guan, all the guests no longer talked and laughed and drank tea, but came forward to greet him and congratulate him. Naturally, they were busy for a while. Then, Tong Guan smiled and said: "It's getting late now. Please come with me to have a drink. It's not too late to talk to me during the dinner if you have anything to say."
As a result, these hundreds of guests gathered around Tong Guan and went to sit down in the lobby, which was already brightly lit and with the sound of music and music constantly playing.
The lobby is quite spacious. Even though hundreds of tables are set up, it is still not crowded. There are also slaves from the Tong family to guide officials and guests at all levels to sit in the seats suitable for their status - even in later generations, they sat at the round table for formal occasions. There are too many things to pay attention to, not to mention the separate banquets of the Song Dynasty - but under the guidance of the Tong family servants who had been prepared, everything seemed to be in order, and in a short time everyone was in their places.
As a newcomer in the officialdom, Sun Tu had a low status. Naturally, he could only accompany him to the last seat, sitting far away from the entrance to the lobby. However, he was not dissatisfied with this. Instead, he felt that it would make him more relaxed.
As the host and guests were all seated, today's birthday banquet officially began. Platters of delicacies and fine wines were brought to the table. Naturally, these arrangements were made equally, whether it was a burly general sitting at the top, or a burly general sitting at the top. Sun Tu, the food and wine on the table are all the same. Today's food and drinks were quite sumptuous, mostly featuring large fish and meat. Sun Tu even saw a golden and crispy fried chicken on the plate in front of him, but he didn't know if it was prepared by Liu Fangju. Sent here.
Most of the guests at this banquet were from martial arts backgrounds, so the arrangement of wine and meat was naturally to their taste. Everyone was not very restrained. After complimenting and congratulating each other, they started to nibble for a while, and some people started to eat directly. Even the chopsticks were thrown aside.
Not only did Tong Guan not mean to blame him for this performance, but he seemed very happy. He repeatedly persuaded the generals not far away from him who were full of oily food to drink. At the same time, he also explained the methods of several dishes. These military attachés made voices of admiration from time to time.
"Tong Shuai, today's banquet reminds me of the celebration banquet held after the victory against the party members in the northwest a few years ago. It was also normal at the beginning. The brothers drank and talked happily, but no amount of meat was enough to eat." The general wiped the oil from his mouth and mentioned it nostalgically.
These words made Tong Guan also look stunned. After a while, he picked up the wine glass and took a sip: "Yes, we were so prosperous back then. Even the leader of the Xixia Kingdom had to give in after hearing my name. The only thing is that It's a pity that I couldn't cut off Liang Qigu's head that day, which is really a pity."
"Does Commander Tong still remember this traitor? To be honest with you, the general who came from the northwest this time to celebrate his birthday took his helmet and flag as a birthday gift." The general said in a flattering manner.
Tong Guan became interested as soon as he heard this: "Are you serious? Han Tao, please quickly present the gift and let me take a closer look."
Han Tao didn't need to say anything else. The steward of the Tong family nearby had already quickly ordered the people below to fetch the birthday gift he had left in the concierge early in the morning. After a while, a huge box was carried to the hall by three domestic slaves. After unpacking and opening the locked lid, everyone saw a broken flag and a half-used helmet lying inside.
When Tong Guan saw it, his face suddenly flushed with excitement. He quickly asked someone to take out the things and bring them to him. After looking at them carefully, he nodded repeatedly: "Yes, this is the helmet and the flag. I still remember that day." In the battle outside Longgu Pass, Liang Qigu wore this kind of armor, and it was only because of his speed that he escaped with his life. This time, did you bring his head as well?"
"Tong Shuai forgives me, but I let him escape this time. However, he was also hit by several arrows. Even if he goes back, he may not be able to save his life."
"Hey, what a pity." Tong Guan sighed, obviously still worried about this enemy.
Sun Tu listened to their conversation from a distance, and his opinion of Tong Guan deepened. It seems that this famous treacherous minister in history is not just a tyrant and a sycophant as in the legend. In fact, he also has the heart to serve the country and kill the enemy.
Then, Tong Guan smiled cheerfully: "But now the little Liang Qigu is no longer in my eyes, and even Xixia has long been nothing. What I want now is to one day make the northern expedition and regain my hometown in the Central Plains - Yanyun Sixteen states.”
Naturally, these words aroused the unanimous praise of everyone. They all said that the young man is strong and the old man is strong, and he is really a rare loyal minister and good general in the Song Dynasty. At the same time, there were also people who wanted to inquire about the plan. After all, this was a major event related to everyone's future, but Tong Guan remained silent on this and was just vague.
Seeing that Tong Guan didn't want to mention this matter, some close friends quickly changed the subject and showed off the birthday gifts they had prepared. Then there was a lot of competition in the hall, and various valuable treasures were displayed in front of everyone. , complementing each other with the candlelight, it is really brilliant and blinding people's eyes.
This is also because most of the people attending the meeting today are military and rough people. If it were civil servants who regarded themselves as noble and noble, they would not be able to compare each other with gifts so directly, even if they wanted to show their respect for their superiors. But no one in the hall, including Tong Guan and all the guests, felt there was any problem with this, and the atmosphere became more and more lively.
Sun Tu was secretly dumbfounded when he looked at these birthday gifts given by the guests. These gifts alone must have cost more than one or two hundred thousand yuan. Everyone said that the officials of the Song Dynasty were rich, and they had gained experience this time.
After a while, those valuable birthday gifts were finally displayed, and everyone returned to their seats. At this time, Zhou Yun also stepped forward and joked: "Uncle, my grandson has also prepared some thoughts. Although it is not as valuable as your seniors, it still took a lot of thought on my part."
"Oh?" Tong Guan was in a good mood and glanced at his grandnephew: "Then take it out and show it to me."
Zhou Yun immediately clapped his hands, and soon a domestic slave came to the hall holding a white fur. Everyone didn't pay much attention to it at first, but after careful observation, someone already sighed: "It's actually a white tiger skin!"
Tiger skins are not uncommon in this era, especially since many people here are generals in the army and have hunted tigers on daily basis, but white tiger skins are something they have never seen before.
Even Tong Guan nodded with satisfaction after seeing this white tiger skin and said: "Yes, this thing is rare and valuable."
"My grandson knew that my uncle suffered from cold legs because he led troops outside the Great Wall. He also heard that the white tiger skin has miraculous effects in curing cold diseases, so he worked hard to find this tiger skin to show his sincerity." Zhou Yun said. In the meantime, he glanced at Tong Mu at the two tables in front of him intentionally or unintentionally. Today, he showed his face.
After seeing his provocative look, Tong Mu just smiled calmly without any expression. This made Zhou Yun feel that his punch was in the air and felt unspeakably uncomfortable. In this way, even with the compliments from the guests nearby, Tong Guan was quite satisfied, and he felt a little uncomfortable.
During this period, Zhou Yun felt even more anxious because Tong Mu had passed the Jinshi examination and obtained an official status. He always wanted to step on the opponent hard at some point to relieve the hatred in his heart, but seeing that the other party had no intention of competing with him made him even more annoyed. At that moment, he felt a sudden surge in his heart and said again: " My uncle is highly respected in the government and the public. Not to mention my grandson, all the guests here respect you very much and have prepared many birthday gifts for you."
The words sounded pleasant to the ears, and the other guests nodded in agreement. But at this moment, Zhou Yun suddenly turned around and looked at Sun Tu, who had been noticed by him a long time ago and was sitting in the last seat: "Even Sun Dutou said when he came today that he had carefully prepared a birthday gift. Then It must be a very good treasure. I wonder if Sun Dutou can be taken out so that everyone can see it?"
Attacking Tong Mu directly would only make his uncle dissatisfied with him, so Zhou Yun learned his lesson this time and started with Sun Tu, Tong Mu's good friend. Anyway, with Sun Tu's status and financial resources, it is almost impossible to give him a decent gift. As long as he loses face, Tong Mu will naturally lose face too!