The next day was Li Daozong's birthday. From early in the morning, as expected, many officials and generals from the four prefectures came from all directions to congratulate him on his birthday. There was an endless stream of carriages and horses. A rough estimate showed that there were at least one hundred and eighty people. When the banquet was held at noon, a large circle was formed on the three floors from the main hall to the outer hall. It was really lively.
It is worth noting that none of the officials brought any congratulatory gifts, which was obviously Li Daozong's repeated instructions.
Qin Mubai and Chu Suiliang couldn't refuse, so they were treated as distinguished guests and sat at the table with Li Daozong, which was very eye-catching. Everyone present also knew that Qin and Chu were close ministers of the emperor, and there was nothing to be jealous of when they received such courtesy. Furthermore, these local officials also wanted to leave a good impression in front of the imperial envoy, and it would be great if they could make friends with them. There are people in the capital who like to be officials, and everyone knows this.
The banquet lasted for a long time. Qin Mubai and Chu Suiliang were toasted frequently by the officials, and they were already a little tipsy. When the wine was halfway through, Li Daozong walked into the hall with a glass of wine. Everyone thought he was coming to persuade or give orders, so they all stood up and raised their glasses.
"I, the King, are so grateful that all of my colleagues have come here to congratulate me." Li Daozong was very generous and said with a smile on his face, "Actually, I know that there are many colleagues among you at this moment. A few people are wondering about one question. That is, why I repeatedly reiterate that I will not accept gifts today. Everyone knows that I love nothing in this life, and I do not want to spend money or enjoy it. , specifically to leave it to our children and grandchildren, so that they will not be poor in business in the future and live on the streets without food and clothing. "
After listening to Li Daozong's opening remarks, everyone cheered up and got to the point. What he wants to say next is probably the theme of his birthday party today!
"A few days ago, I visited the capital and had a talk with His Majesty the Emperor. After listening to the teachings of the Holy One, I suddenly came to my senses." Li Daozong raised his wine glass and bowed to the north from afar, saying, "The Holy One said, money What’s the point of having money if you don’t bring it with you in life? What’s the point of asking for money if you raise a son? - I was enlightened and understood this truth instantly. , every casual remark hits the nail on the head. Thinking about what this king has done over the years, it is indeed pedantic, ridiculous and extremely ignorant. How wonderful the Lord said, if my nephew is better than me, he can manage it. It is not the turn of your own family to live off the ancestral property; if my descendants are all unworthy and dandy, giving them gold and silver will destroy the family fortune, and they will also use their power to bully others and harm the people of the country. The king took advantage of today's birthday banquet to gather all his colleagues and announced that I have decided to use all my family funds to help the flood victims in Jiangzhou. Instead of keeping these gold and silver to corrupt my descendants, it is better to donate them to do something for the country! What do you think?"
"Great kindness!" Immediately, countless people clapped their hands and cheered, singing praises.
Qin Mubai smiled slightly and remained silent, thinking in his heart: Li Daozong did a good job with this show. It seems that he had a good discussion with the emperor. At least now he has neither been held responsible nor depressed, but has just adopted a new attitude. It is indeed a very effective way to spend all your family's funds to help the victims. Firstly, it was to show the emperor that he would no longer be greedy for money, and secondly, he also wanted to make amends for his past mistakes. After all, the Jiangzhou case was more or less related to him. If he hadn't helped Zhang Tianci and others raise their banners, how could they have done things so conveniently
"Your Majesty is so broad-minded, which is beyond the reach of others. We are all grateful for your kindness to the victims of the Jiangzhou disaster. Although we have low official positions and low salaries, we are willing to follow the example of Your Majesty and do our best for the victims of the Jiangzhou disaster! "Many people took advantage of the situation and said it in public. Obviously, it was agreed upon.
Among the officials who came to the banquet today, many had close relationships with Zhang Tianci, Cheng Songnian and others. It would be a smart move to take this opportunity to follow Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia, to "change his mind" and "make up for his mistakes".
Qin Mubai raised the corner of his mouth and smiled secretly in his heart: They are all cunning and cunning guys. After the Jiangzhou case broke out, the emperor adopted an appeasement policy of "let bygones be bygones" towards the case, but some people were still worried, fearing that the emperor would record an account for them and settle the matter in the future. With the handle in other people's hands, it's hard to sleep well at night. Now it's fine, I can repent with the King of Jiangxia. It will be much more comfortable if someone takes the lead and just goes with the flow.
Li Daozong laughed heartily: "I joined the army when I was more than ten years old. I killed countless people and was stained with blood. I only killed people and never saved anyone in my life. If I do a good deed this time, I should think of it as a way to accumulate some virtue for my descendants! Colleagues, I have no intention of lobbying you to join us in donating money for disaster relief. We all do so on a voluntary basis!"
"I will obey you!" Everyone bowed their hands together.
Qin Mubai and Chu Suiliang looked at each other and smiled. Unexpectedly, a birthday banquet turned into a charity donation meeting.
"The imperial envoy who is in charge of important military and political affairs in Jiangzhou is here. My colleagues, why don't you write down the money and materials you want to donate and hand them over to the two imperial envoys. After you return home later, you can send the envoy to Jiangzhou. Just go to the mansion." Li Daozong invited Qin Mubai and Chu Suiliang out and introduced them to everyone.
Qin Mubai and Chu Sui both knew in their conscience that today's birthday banquet was a political show for Li Daozong, and they were specially invited to witness it. Now it's better to just be a favor and help him get this matter done smoothly.
As a result, both Qin Mubai and Chu Suiliang praised Li Daozong lavishly, and also accepted many "white notes" written by officials of all sizes, which were proof of donations of money, food and clothing.
The drunkard's intention was not to drink. Everyone had been speculating about Li Daozong's purpose of holding the birthday banquet, but now they finally understood. From now on, it is estimated that no one will send money or bribe to Li Daozong, because he has already told the world that he is "no longer greedy for money"!
Li Daozong's goal was achieved.
Qin Mubai also knew that he had finally completed his mission on this trip to Jiangzhou. This time he was ordered to come. On the surface, his important task was to provide disaster relief and help the people, but secretly he was carrying an important political mission entrusted by the emperor - the contest between the emperor and Li Daozong.
Now it seems that the ending is not bad, at least the emperor and Li Daozong did not break up, and Li Daozong did not suffer a big disaster because of this. He will still be his Prince Taiping in the future, and he will still be the respected founding father of the Tang Dynasty. The emperor also benefited. At least Li Daozong was completely suppressed by knocking on the mountain and shaking the tiger, and he would not dare to do anything wrong again in the future. Moreover, most of the officials and generals in the four prefectures of Jiang, Shanxi, and Puzhou have received the emperor's pardon. From then on, they must be inspired by the emperor's power and feel the divine grace. They dare not to pull mountains, form gangs, and create their own lives as before. The tail of a country cannot be lost.
This seems to be a happy situation.
There was only one person who couldn't be happy, and that was Chen Yan.
After the banquet ended, Qin Mubai and Chu Suiliang, a pair of distinguished guests who were almost "drunk", were first sent to the guest room to rest, while Li Daozong remained in the front hall to greet his relatives and friends one by one.
Chen Yan did not attend the banquet and sat in Qin Mubai's room waiting for his return.
Qin Mubai just sat down at the table, and a bowl of sobering soup was handed to his hand. However, Chen Yan remained silent and seemed to be in a low mood.
"What's wrong? Are you unhappy?" Qin Mubai took a sip of the hangover soup and said, "I didn't see you attending the birthday banquet just now. What were you thinking about?"
"The people attending the banquet are all officials and generals, why should I join in the fun? Although I am the adopted daughter of King Jiangxia, not many people know about it, and neither the prince nor I have any intention of publicizing it. From now on, he will still It’s your prince, I will still walk in my world,” Chen Yan whispered calmly.
Qin Mubai was silent for a moment and said, "You think of Zhu Chengwen, right?"
Chen Yan raised her eyelids slightly, sighed and nodded: "I was thinking, if he was still alive at this moment, would he be included in today's banquet? A huge storm with turbulent undercurrents, like this, the thunder is loud and the rain is small. It has calmed down. Except for Zhang Tianci and the culprits, everyone seems to be safe, except for him. If he is still alive, what would it be like to have an interview with the prince now? "
"The deceased is dead, don't think too much." Qin Mubai comforted with a smile, "The emperor sent the censor to thoroughly investigate the Jiangzhou case and found out the cause of Zhu Chengwen's death. A monument of kindness was erected in front of him, and he was posthumously named the male of Jishan County. From then on, his descendants will be cared for by the court and have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of their lives. "
"What's the use? Everyone is dead..." Chen Yan whispered, "If possible, I am willing to use what I am doing now to bring him back to life."
"Don't be stupid. You forgot what you said before. Zhu Chengwen's death was not a relief for him. But you just saw today's 'happy everyone' situation, and you felt a little bit sorry for his death. It's not worth it, right? You think we all benefited from his death, and he died for us, right?" Qin Mubai said.
Chen Yan was startled for a moment, and sighed softly: "You are smart and can see through other people's thoughts. Yes, I just think that Zhu Chengwen was a victim, and in exchange for many people's peace and security. In fact, I came here today to Are many of the people at the banquet guilty? Why didn't they die, but Zhu Chengwen died... I couldn't figure it out, so I felt depressed. "
"There is nothing unreasonable." Qin Mubai said, "There is no fairness in the world. The officialdom is different from the rivers and lakes. In the rivers and lakes, if you disagree, you will draw your sword, and the blood will be splashed five steps. In the officialdom, there will be wrong sects. There are too many confusing things, and one move affects the whole body. If you kill one official, you will involve three or five officials, and there will be more... After all the officials are killed, who will help govern the people. ?”
"Let's just kill those stupid, corrupt, and evil officials!" Chen Yan scolded in a low voice.
"Official people are often very complicated and cannot be judged simply as good officials or bad officials." Qin Mubai said, "For example, let's take the King of Jiangxia. He had a great reputation throughout his life, but he also had the bad habit of being greedy for money and accepting bribes. You Is it because he is judged to be a corrupt official? "
"..." Chen Yan was speechless, and after a while she said, "I really don't understand official matters. Regarding Zhu Chengwen, I just can't untie the knot for a while, and it will be fine in a few days. You don't need to say more."
"Okay..." Qin Mubai smiled slightly, "Relax a little. If Zhu Chengwen Quanxia has any knowledge, he definitely wants you to live happily and not be too entangled in his departure. Didn't you say that before? In one sentence? To truly like someone is not necessarily to have him, but to make his life better. I think Zhu Chengwen thinks the same way, right?"
"Okay... I understand." Chen Yan nodded gently, with a smile finally showing on her face.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door.
"Is General Qin asleep?" It was Li Daozong's voice.
Qin Mubai hurriedly stepped forward to open the door. Li Daozong took one look inside the room and laughed: "It seems that I have disturbed you. Okay, I'll leave and come back later."
"Your Majesty, don't leave." Chen Yan hurriedly stepped forward to stop him. "I'm fine. I'm going back to my room to rest. You guys can talk." After that, she turned around and left.
"Haha..." Li Daozong looked at Chen Yan's back and smiled meaningfully.
Qin Mubai invited him into the room, poured tea, and said, "Your Majesty is busy, why do you condescend to see me?"
"You're not busy! The banquet is over and the guests have all left." Li Daozong sat down with a golden sword, looked at Qin Mubai up and down with a pair of piercing tiger eyes, and laughed, "This king will treat you from the beginning." I can see clearly down to his feet, yes, he is indeed a handsome and handsome man, no wonder he is so popular with women."
"My lord, don't make fun of me." Qin Mubai smiled awkwardly.
"Haha, what's the point of making fun of this? I was just like you when I was young!" Li Daozong laughed, "There's nothing wrong with being a young man if you're not romantic. In fact, women are also lustful. Who doesn't like handsome men and who doesn't love romance? A dashing young man, who doesn’t like a hero who is famous all over the world? A man works hard all his life to build a career. He talks about it for the sake of the country and the people, but in his heart he only wants to drink and make money. "
"Haha! The prince is really a straightforward person, and what he said is all the truth." Qin Mubai laughed, "Sages all sneer at wine, sex, wealth, but they themselves don't like it. It's hard to move without money, but if you love beauty, Everyone has it, it’s just nature.”
"Haha, well said!" Li Daozong clapped his hands and laughed, "As soon as I saw you, I knew that I would be in harmony with you. Because we are both real people and don't like those hypocritical politenesses! - I don't like Chu Suiliang very much. , this talented man from a scholarly family is more than refined but not straightforward enough. He is too scheming and is always scheming. Qin Mubai, let me ask you, the last time you came to my house to report to me, was it your intention or Li Ke's? the meaning of?"
Qin Mubai smiled slightly and said, "I think Chen Yan should have told the prince."
"No, she didn't say anything." Li Daozong said, "I didn't ask her either. I'm just waiting for you to tell me personally."
"That can only be said that it is both King Wu's intention and my intention. King Wu and I coincide with each other." Qin Mubai said truthfully.
Li Daozong's bright eyes stared directly at Qin Mubai's eyes, and he laughed loudly: "I believe you are not lying! If I had known this, I would not be so rude to you that day. You left. At that time, I was worried that you came to test my background, or that you and Li Ke didn't agree with each other. Therefore, I deliberately put things off for you so that you would not be able to reply in front of Li Ke and be burdened with leaking the secret. crime."
"Your Majesty has good intentions, I understand." Qin Mubai cupped his hands and smiled.
"At first glance, I can tell that you are a broad-minded person and will not care about me." Li Daozong laughed and said, "In fact, I and your father were also sworn friends. In the early years, we fought south and north, east and west. We also fought side by side in the fight. However, we have parted ways over the years, so we don’t have much contact. I didn’t expect that Shu Bao would be blessed to have such a smart son like you!”
"My lord, you are too flattering!" Qin Mubai said with a smile.
"This time I was able to be safe and sound, thanks to you dealing with it." Li Daozong nodded and smiled sincerely, "I love, hate, and love friends all my life. I will repay kindness and be happy when I take revenge. I owe you a favor. You must pay it back. That day when Chu Suiliang was present, I didn't say much. I just briefly mentioned the matter of recommending you to Li Jing's family, and I also wanted to test Chu Suiliang's words. But I didn't say much at that time. It can be seen that he does not agree very much. Although he is only a small servant, he is a close minister of the emperor, and many of his words and deeds are consistent with the emperor's. Therefore, I feel that if I really want to recommend you to Li Jing's family, you must do it. Let’s go through the emperor first. What do you think?”
Qin Mubai frowned slightly and said seriously: "To be honest with you, my lord, I have always been very attracted to Li Jing's military art after listening to Meng's father's teachings. If you can learn a thing or two from him, you will be able to solve all the problems in your life." My long-cherished wish. But... if there is any inconvenience, you don’t need to mention it. I don’t remember when and where I gave you any kindness, so I can’t even mention it as repayment!”
"Haha, never forget to repay kindness, so virtuous!" Li Daozong laughed, "I never agree to anything easily, but as long as I open my mouth, I will do my best. Now I understand your intentions , then you can rest assured to fulfill your promise. What I want to tell you now is that after returning to the court, you should not let the emperor alienate you. "
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Qin Mubai bowed his hands gratefully.
"No need to say thank you. In fact, if you can become Li Jing's sect, it will be beneficial to me both publicly and privately. I don't need to hide this from you." Li Daozong chuckled meaningfully, "First of all, I think you are a man who can be carved. If our talents can be put to use, the Tang Dynasty will have one more general and good commander in the future, and I will also have one more comrade to fight alongside me. Wouldn't that be a good thing? Secondly, in the past few years, the world has gradually become more peaceful. In the past, due to military achievements, Some of the founding fathers of the Ding Dynasty tend to be gradually forgotten, and only civil servants such as Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling are frequently seen. If the country does not emphasize military force, it is bound to decline. Among the younger generation of generals, there are almost no outstanding ones. If we are all dead, what will happen to the Tang Dynasty?"
"Your Majesty, your words are wrong!" Qin Mubai said, "Your Majesty, you are only in your forties this year; Li Maogong and others are also in their prime!"
"You are only in your early twenties, can we outlast you?" Li Daozong laughed heartily after saying this, "Actually, what I mean is that the Tang Dynasty has become a bit of a civilized and military power, so it is necessary to serve in the army. To increase your strength, especially for a rising star like you, do you understand my intention?"
"I understand." Qin Mubai nodded and thought to himself: So what Li Daozong meant was... The military commander camp was slightly weak, and the power of the court basically fell into the hands of Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling and others. Uneven civil and military strength is indeed not a good thing. He was clearly trying to lure me into his camp!
If you want to join, just join. I was born as a general, and now I am also a member of the army. Besides, I had some issues with Fang Yiai and Changsun Chong, so it was impossible to get along well with Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling. Sooner or later, we have to take sides. It is simply unrealistic to want to be able to stand on both sides of the aisle. At that time, people from both groups will dislike me, a guy who is not firm in his stance.
Rather than this, I might as well choose the military!
Because I am definitely not as good as Zhangsun Wuji who has been immersed in writing for most of his life. Having a natural advantage like my father, I am from a military background, and now I have Li Daozong’s recommendation—unless my brain is broken, I will choose to be a civil servant who fights with others all day long and is petty!
[I posted two chapters together as one today]