In the secluded small building at the corner of the inner court of Xijing, a large group of people knelt down in the corridor. Not far from this building, there were many dead people lying there, and the dead were all Qi practitioners who were regarded as invaluable by Bei Mang.
An old woman in black and white fur stood under the eaves, with her sleeves folded across her chest and her sleeves rolled up like bat wings.
This old woman who made all the men from Beimang kneel under her skirt was rarely angry, but today her face was very ugly. First, the real Daodezong Nanming who was good at divination in the building told her tremblingly that the bronze figure ancestor of Chess, Sword and Yuefu was alive and dead. I don't know, the sword Qi near Huang Qing is undoubtedly dead, and then the hibernating vat, the most important weapon of the country, was smashed to pieces by an unknown land god, and the real dragon that spent more than 20 years of feeding and spending countless luck was broken. That's all, under the rolling sky and thunder, the sky dragon that took advantage of the fire has not yet taken advantage of it, so she decisively decided to help it, because she has always dared to gamble with the gods and not go to the gambling table That's it, if you want to gamble, you can gamble big. Last time she won, she won a lot of money, and the entire Beimang Dynasty took her surname, but this time, the Nanming real person told her to lose. Hundreds of corpses are proof, in fact, her anger is not because she lost a battle in Beiliang Liuzhou that has nothing to do with the overall situation, or even the death of a real dragon, let alone those who have never asked the common people to ask the ghosts and gods to train their qi. scholar.
What really made the old woman unbearable was just a trivial matter that she couldn't tell anyone at all: when she was in the worst period of her life, she lost to a little-known Liaodong reckless man, and when she was at the peak of her power, she lost to a killed his son!
Taipingling stood beside the woman, and the old man was the only Beimang official who dared to stand.
She finally spoke.
"Decree Dong Zhuo, he is allowed to mobilize all border troops without authorization, regardless of the general or the order, all obey him. Anyone who violates, let Dong Zhuo kill first and then play!"
"Pass the decree to Tuoba Bodhisattva, and lead the army to go south quickly, heading straight to Liuzhou."
"Decree to Li Mibi to start preparing carp to cross the river."
"Pass down an order to Huang Song Pu, ordering him to recover and lead the army to sit in Xijing."
One after another imperial edicts came out of her mouth.
After all, she is an elderly woman who is very old, so it is inevitable that her energy will be low, and she will not be able to hide her old fatigue for a while, but today she does not even allow herself such a moment of slack, and she pulls her hand from the wide sleeve and rips it off. The old fox fur on his body was thrown into the snow outside the steps, and then he strode away without looking at the old thing that was constantly covered with snow.
…
Tai'an City has never been short of excitement, but it is difficult to join in the excitement. Once there is a excitement that you can join in, everyone will not want to be left behind.
Nowadays there are rumors that the new You Jijiu of the Imperial College, who will succeed Jin Sanlang, will give a lecture on martial arts. So whether it is just talk or a real strategy, you will know if it is a donkey or a mule. Most people are still rushing to see jokes of.
The current Minister of Rites, Jin Lanting, has a good reputation in the Guozijian. Not only did he win many court gifts for the Guozijian during his tenure, but he also founded the most famous poetry club in the capital. Including the first three in the new division, the champion Li Jifu, the second place Gao Tingshu and the second place Wu Congxian, among them, Gao Tingshu, who has the reputation of "poet ghost", made the well-known "Drunk Eight Immortals" at a banquet party, which immediately made people feel excited. The eight people present became famous all over the world overnight. Although the eight handsome men who are popular in the capital are from very different backgrounds, they often sing in harmony with each other, showing the suave and romantic style of scholars. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that although Shinsaburo, the leader of the eight handsome men, is not very pleasing to the central cabinet ministers, the "momentum" he has gathered little by little cannot be underestimated.
A provincial pawn named Sun Yin made an exception to fill in the noble vacancy of You Jijiu, which seemed extraordinarily abrupt and rude. What's even more strange is that this person did not have any strong backing, so Sun Yin's rampage, Joining the court with the local official Xu Gong as the Minister of the Ministry of War, and Chen Wang's success in one step, became the "three surprises" in the capital's officialdom at the end of the first year of Xiangfu, which was very eye-catching. After all, Gong had the background of General Longxiang before, while Chen Wang and Chen Shaobao had the double foreshadowing of the prince's attendant lecturer and the kaogongsi doctor, which made Sun Yin even more strange and strange.
What's more, Sun Yin was extremely arrogant, publicly threatening that what he was going to talk about would be a big show of martial arts, and he would be the attacking side, with two troops in his hands, a million cavalry in Beimang, and the remnants of the restoration of the Western Chu Kingdom in Guangling Road.
All the attendees belonged to the defending camp, including the army led by Lu Shengxiang, the Nanzheng coach Lu Shengxiang, who was newly appointed by the imperial court as General Hu Yi, the two Liao defense lines led by Gu Jiantang of Dazhu Kingdom, and all the vassal forces involved in Jingnan. Of course, there is also the Beiliang iron cavalry that has been deliberately forgotten by the Central Plains for many years.
This can be said to be an unprecedented confrontation of verbal swords and swords. The students of the Imperial College who participated in the observation alone went to as many as 6,000 people. In fact, most of them are destined not to hear what the new sacrificial wine is saying, but don’t worry, it will be soon. Someone will pass the message from the front to the rear, advancing layer by layer, like waves. The students who occupied the space early all sat on the floor, those who came later could only stand, and those who came later had to stand on tiptoes and stretch their necks, and then they had to stand on benches and chairs. However, in the best position not far from the Madman Sun, there are many simple but thick futons. There are about thirty of them.
The leader among them was the first prime minister of the Liyang court in thirty years, Qi Yanglong, the chief official of Zhongshu Province. On the left hand side of Zhongshuling is Tantan Weng Huanwen who is in charge of the Menxia Province, on the right hand is the "frustrated man" who failed to take over as the minister of the Baiguo Rites in the power change, Yao Baifeng, the master of Neo Confucianism who continued to be in charge of the Guozijian, and transferred from the Qingshui Yamen Rites Baiguo of the real power household department. What's more, there is a certain royal family member who is particularly proud of the spring breeze in the middle of winter, um, that is, the King of Cheshire who swaggered into the sight of the capital with the help of his good son-in-law.
This long martial arts lecture continued from noon to dusk, and there was no sign of ending, but no one left, and even new faces kept pouring in, and there was a sea of people.
During the period, His Highness the Crown Prince, who supervised the country, joined hands with the Crown Princess and quietly joined in halfway.
Soon, Zhao Youling, the old Minister of the Ministry of Officials and the assistant minister of the Ministry of Zhongshu, broke through the flow of people without concealing his identity, participated in it, and sat on a temporarily added futon.
Compared with Zhao Youling, Yin Maochun, who was promoted from the head of the Hanlin Academy to the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, was much more reserved and low-key. Qingche Jiancong arrived at the Imperial College, and stood side by side with Chen Wang, who was so young and outrageously young. I couldn't hear anything, but these two big men who could be called important ministers of the central government, a second-rank official of the chief official of the outer court, and a noble and incomparable third-rank official, stood here for a full two hours. Because they are standing at the very back, and they have no escorts, nor are they wearing noble official uniforms, and there are ordinary Guozijian students studying sage books on the left and right, no one knows that they are standing in such a place so close The two big men in the dynasty only regarded them as ordinary Confucian scholars in Tai'an City.
The Guozijian continued to be noisy and lively, and became the focus of heated discussions in the capital. The restaurants and teahouses outside the Guozijian were even more crowded, waiting for the outcome of the debate to come to light.
Scholars and scholars kept running to the street and loudly reported the "real-time battle situation".
However, in the almost empty Hanlin Academy, there appeared two dusty old faces, one was Mr. Yuan who had been depressed for many years, and the other made the official on duty almost couldn't help rolling his eyes in front of his face. When the two masters of the Song family dominated the literary world, the official gave a thumbs up and praised the Song family young phoenix. Now, the two masters are dead, and there is no mourning. Surely the infinite Song family has no chance to make a comeback? A hairless young phoenix is not as good as a chicken, who would be willing to relegate you to a poor place to be a small county captain Song Keli as a green onion? If such a cold stove can still be fired, I will eat all the stove ashes!
This official from the Qipin Qingliu didn't put too much airs on his face. After all, Yuan Pu, Yuan Huangmen, who had gone out to visit relatives before, was still holding a post in the Imperial Academy. He didn't see him when he looked up. Little by little accumulated merit.
After Yuan Pu, or Yuan Benxi, the teacher of Liyang Emperor, sat down in his room, his half-inch tongue was naturally slurred, "Why don't you go to the Imperial College to take a look? That's where your Song family started."
Song Keli, who followed Mr. Yuan through the north and south of the river, shook his head and said calmly: "It's useless to revisit the old place."
Yuan Benxi was silent for a moment, then slowly said: "Chen Wang, Sun Yin, they will be your political enemies from now on. They will not lose to you regardless of their merits and knowledge. But these two people are the first to turn from darkness to light, this is your biggest disadvantage , and your only advantage."
Song Keli nodded.
…
In the twilight, a tall old man with purple beard and blue eyes walked to the Royal Street alone in Zhaojiaweng Shangshu Provincial Yamen, not far from the Imperial Academy, and stood in the middle of the most majestic and wide street in the world, with his back to the gate of the imperial city, Looking to the southern sky.
The old man has no reason to remember a chance meeting when he was young. At that time, the man was also very young, at least his legs were not lame.
At that time, I was deliberately suppressed by my mentor in the Hanlin Academy, while my best friend was already serving as the head of the military department, and the rest of the Jinshi in the same year also had a bright future. It was a season when literati were overwhelmed by warriors. Ten years later, literati were like actors, and they were only assigned to military commanders as answerers in court. Everyone seals the borders and cracks the soil, and scholars can't even respond to their voices. If the flattery is wrong, or the photos are full of flowers but are misunderstood or not understood by the warriors, they may be cut off with a click. Such a dynasty, no It is said that the orthodox Great Chu in the Central Plains, even Dongyue who was willing to serve as a slave for Da Chu, is also qualified to laugh at this neighbor in the north as a group of uncivilized stupid barbarians. And because he was born with purple beard and blue eyes, even the northern barbarians in Liyang in the eyes of the Central Plains people would ridicule him.
In late autumn, when a certain scholar finally had a better life, it was a gloomy day. He went to the Yamen of the Ministry of War to ask a friend to open the back door to borrow a map about the territory of the Liao and Liao. He didn't dare to let the rain wet the map, so he had to hide from the rain under the eaves of the yamen gate, but the killing rain never stopped, so he could only wait obediently. Then he saw a young man approaching with an umbrella, carrying a small wooden box in his hand. He didn't like this person, because this person had a strong martial spirit. Judging from his attire, he was probably a miscellaneous school lieutenant who turned a blind eye to the imperial court. After counting, he guessed that this person might have stopped when he first entered the courtyard. As expected, the guy was blocked in the first courtyard, so he didn't pay attention to it anymore. He just waited for the rain, and occasionally He turned his head and glanced, and saw that unattractive young warrior standing alone in the heavy rain, just like that, with the umbrella at his feet, and the open box, which was white, it should be silver . It's just that this little bit of money is nothing in the eyes of the master of the Ministry of War who can swallow his appetite. It's just a matter of three or four colleagues drinking a meal of flower wine.
He vaguely heard the words of the young man who had been rejected by the door, and it was a few words that meant the same thing, "I, Xu Xiao, will promise you adults! Just give me a thousand soldiers and horses for a month, only one month, next time If you pay a visit to your lord, they will bring ten boxes, ten boxes of gold!"
The rain kept falling, and he heard the young man in the courtyard keep talking loudly and making compromises.
From one thousand soldiers and horses to eight hundred, and then to five hundred. And the boxes have also increased from ten boxes to twenty, and then to thirty boxes.
When the heavy rain finally gradually subsided, perhaps the military masters who were leisurely drinking tea and laughing inside felt that it was time to go out and go home. One after another, big figures in twos and threes came out of the courtyards, chatting happily and chatting, not looking at each other. Passing by the young man squinting, one of the staff officials finally took a look, not at the young man begging for soldiers and horses, but at the silver soaked in the rain in the box, and said There was a sneer, and it seemed that he had said something strangely, but he couldn't hear clearly when he was avoiding the people who were discharged from the hospital at the door.
He thought that since the rain hadn't stopped completely, he might as well wait until the friends in the courtyard finished their business.
It may be that there is no unparalleled road. He saw an old man wearing a tiger and leopard patch walking out of the yard with his hands behind his back. There was a military officer beside him who was eager to help hold an umbrella, and the umbrellas were all tilted towards the old man.
When the old man passed by the young man, he stopped and kicked the box. Because the rain was much quieter, he could clearly hear the conversation with different identities.
"Where are you from?"
"The last general, Xu Xiao, is from Jinzhou, Liaodong!"
"Have you lost the battle?"
"Yes! But the 700 brothers of the last general ate up Hong Chengcui's two main battalions, one of which was cavalry..."
"The main force and the cavalry are all nonsense. If you lose, you lose. I just ask you a question, and I will treat it as a small gamble and give you some manpower, but can you really make back your money?"
"able!"
"Well, that's fine, I will give you a tiger charm, and you can go to the right guard to dispatch three hundred people. As for the boxes, by the way, how many did you say you brought?"
"Master, it's thirty."
"thirty?"
"Fifty!"
"Yo, it's quite the way. Okay, I will give you three hundred people, remember to move the box directly to the official's mansion when you turn back."
"Thank you, my lord! The final general will live up to your kindness!"
"Oh, I almost forgot, what's your name? I don't want to know who to turn to if I want to kill someone."
"Jinzhou Camp Xu Xiao!"
In the end, the chief of the military department walked out of the gate of the Yamen, followed by the bratty official holding an umbrella for him with one hand, and carrying the box with one hand.
He saw the young general standing in the rain with his fists clenched, his waist straight, but he had an extra tiger talisman in his hand.
The young man put the Tiger Talisman into his arms, bent down to pick up the umbrella, and turned to the gate.
When the young general was picking up the umbrella, he had already withdrawn his gaze, looking south with his eyes and nose and heart in mind.
The latter did not rush to open an umbrella, but stopped under the eaves of the door, seemed to see him, and asked with a smile, "Still waiting for the rain to stop?"
He froze for a moment and nodded.
Then the guy grinned at him, and threw the umbrella very neatly, without giving him a chance to refuse, and strode down the steps, stepping on the mud, and drifting away.
On that day, Zhang Julu remembered the name of that young warrior.
Xu Xiao.
In that year, the year name Yonghui was not used yet.
The two young people I met by chance, one is not the chief minister of the dynasty with power over the world, and the other is not a great general with no merits.
Not to mention political enemies who never get along with each other.
At the end of the first year of Xiangfu, only Zhang Julu, an old man, was left.
The old man standing on the royal road slowly came back to his senses, smiled, and said to himself: "I don't like drinking, if I can meet you underground, I have to buy you a drink. But before that, let me Hold an umbrella for Beiliang. Not for you, Xu Xiao, but for the people of Beiliang, and the people of Liyang."
…
At the end of the first year of Xiangfu, Emperor Zhao Dun returned to Beijing on a tour.
Yushitai and the Sixth Division jointly impeached one person.
Zhang Julu, the chief assistant of Liyang, was sent to prison, and the imperial court announced the top ten crimes in the world. The emperor issued a decree to punish the nine clans.